Extravagant Grace

Greetings All!

     Today's 'thought' could have been written by me (the first part at least)!  For it sounds very similar to conversations I've had with people who see the God of the Old Testament as somehow being different from the God of the New Testament -- as if God's nature changed between the Testaments!  The extreme example of this was Marcion (85-160 A.D.) who not only deleted the Old Testament from his Bible, but all the verses from the Old Testament that were quoted by the authors of the New Testament! (By the way 25.5% of the material in the New Testament is quotations of the Old Testament.)  He had a very small Bible!   This particular entry is found in the book, "Extravagant Grace" edited by Traci Mullins. It was written by Marilyn Meberg.  I offer it for your consideration.  Enjoy.

     "Not long ago a woman named Betty corralled me after a conference and confided: 'You know what I just love about the God of the New Testament?  He's just so much more pleasant than that one in the Old Testament.  What I mean is, the modern God is so much more liberal...  I mean liberal about the sin stuff and everything. You know that woman at the well that Jesus was chatting with? You know, the one who moved through husbands like cheesecake?  Well, Jesus was so nice about all that.  And then of course there's that woman doing you know what right in the middle of the day.  And Jesus didn't even have a fit about it!  I love that about him!'

     I wonder if Betty's sentiments are more common than we might think. Quite frankly, I understand right where she's coming from. Sunday school, church, and vacation Bible school were all a part of my life as I grew up, and I can vividly remember thinking that the stories I heard about how God wiped out whole cities, including women and children, was scary. I was convinced he was powerful, but never in a million years would I believe he was pleasant.  As I grew older I decided not to read the Old Testament at all.  If I were to be perfectly honest, I thought God was arrogant, narrow-minded, and barbaric. Of course, I never admitted that to a living soul, and I certainly didn't tell God!  I didn't want to risk being struck by a plague!

     During my junior year at Seattle Pacific University I had one of those 'aha' moments in the middle of Dr. Demaray's class on evangelism. He pointed out that in the Old Testament God was graphically illustrating his utter intolerance of sin. That's why those people who lived in total disobedience were wiped out. The law was: You sin, you're warned, you don't heed the warning, you die!  Dr. Demaray went on to explain that when Jesus became the embodiment of the world's sin, God, who cannot tolerate sin, turned momentarily away, thus provoking the anguished cry, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' It wasn't that God's heart was indifferent to the death of his Son; he simply cannot compromise his holiness by even looking upon sin.

     It began to make more sense to me why God seemed so inflexible about sinful people, but it still made him a bit scary. It took a few more years for me to finally fit the Old Testament God and the New Testament God into one integrated, harmonious whole. That all happened when I joined a Bible study on the book of Romans and finally learned the meaning of justification...  Romans 5:1 states, 'Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.'   Chuck Swindoll clearly defines this extravagant gift of justification through God's grace.  'It is the sovereign act of God whereby he declares righteous the believing sinner while still in his sinning state. It doesn't mean that the believing sinner stops sinning. It doesn't even mean the believing sinner is made righteous in the sense of suddenly becoming perpetually perfect. The sinner is declared righteous. God sovereignly bestows the gift of eternal life on the sinner at the moment he believes and thereby declares him righteous while the sinner still lives a life marked by periodic sinfulness.  God takes the guilty, believing sinner who says, 'I am lost, unworthy, guilty as charged, and undeserving of forgiveness' and extends the gift of eternal life because Christ's death on the cross satisfied His demands against sin, namely death. And God sees the guilty sinner (who comes by faith alone) as righteous as He sees His own Son."

     Do you realize what that means?  Even though we still sin and often can''t seem to stop, God declared us righteous when we believed and received Jesus. And because the sin thing stays with us like onions after lunch, we desperately need God's grace. We deserve to be overtaken by locusts, but instead we're embraced by forgiveness and miraculously accepted as righteous by the very God who will not tolerate wrongdoing of any kind!  I realize now that without knowing God's utter intolerance of sin, I could never begin to appreciate how incredible is the grace with which he embraces me.  The God of the Old Testament is the same God who ordained the Cross of forgiveness and grace. Someone needs to explain that to Betty."

     As a pastor I too have wrestled with some of the things God commanded in the Old Testament. They do seem harsh. And I have struggled seeing Jesus ("who is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of God's being" - Hebrews 1:3) carrying them out.  Yet I have never embraced the Marcion heresy of thinking there were "two different God's"  -- the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New.  Few truths stand out with more clarity than the declaration of God in Malachi 3:6, where He says, "I am the LORD, I do not change."  In fact, given the biblical understanding of God as Triune (one God indivisibly manifest in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) the same truth is stated by the author of Hebrews when he states that, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever"  (13:8).  The issue is not whether God in His essential nature changes (an impossibility according to God's own declaration in Scripture). But whether the God who is consistently and unchangeably the same changes His approach to sinners in light of the Cross.

     We live now in the Church age, or the epoch of grace, where mercy is being offered to the nations through the proclamation of the Gospel.  But we must remember that it's mercy offered in light of the wrath to come. For the Bible makes it clear that after the Gospel has been preached to all nations the end will come, and then God's wrath against sin will be exercised upon all who have not sought the shelter from it that He offers in Christ (Isaiah 61:2, I Thessalonians 1:10, I Thessalonians 5:1-3, II Thessalonians 1:5-10).  After all, if there is no coming day of wrath, there is no reason to seek shelter in Christ, and nothing that anyone really needs to be saved from. Such a belief would make the Gospel completely irrelevant.

     The Bible makes it clear that all sin will be punished. For believers it was punished in Jesus on the cross, but for those who reject Christ, it will be punished in them.  For the Gospel offer is not simply, "grace from now on, for all, forever."  It is, "grace for all who will come to Christ now, for the day of wrath (or judgment) is coming"  (Isaiah 61:2, II Corinthians 5:16-6:2).  People sometimes forget that the book of Revelation, which brings the New Testament to a close (and speaks of what will happen when the time of God's favor is finished), looks very "Old-Testament-like."

     So, it is true: God has not changed.  As a Holy God He always has, and always will, oppose and punish sin. And as a loving God He offers Christ to rescue from the coming wrath all who will trust in Him.  For those who are in Christ by faith their sin has already been punished. They are saved from the wrath to come (I Thess. 1:10). But for those who persist in their unbelief and refuse God's loving offer of grace in Christ, each day that passes draws them closer to the day (when if they continue to persist in that unbelief) they will experience His wrath in themselves. That's why we pray, and preach, and share the Gospel. As Marilyn Meberg writes: "The God of the Old Testament is the same God who ordained the Cross of forgiveness and grace.  Someone needs to explain that to Betty."

In the Service of the Gospel, Pastor Jeff

A Short Summary of the Life of John Newton, Author of the Well-known Hymn Amazing Grace

Greetings All!

     I hope you are not tired of seeing entries from L. B. Cowman's devotional book, "Streams in the Desert." Because I have one more for you today -- the last in a while -- before moving on in the next few weeks to other authors!  I wanted to pass it on to you because I found it encouraging. Many measure the influence or effect they've had on the world by the things they do directly.  Things they've said, events they've planned, things they've written, or deeds they've done.  And because they do, they can often minimize the effect their influence or ministry to others has had. I say that because there is often fruit we will know nothing about until eternity reveals it to us.
     That was the case with the mother of John Newton, and John Newton himself, author of the well-known hymn "Amazing Grace."  Few will ever know her name, but she has had a profound impact even to this day -- as this entry seeks to show. The devotion by Cowman is at the end, and rather short, but I wanted to share a little about Elizabeth Newton and her son John's life, to help you understand it. I know it's a wee bit long, but please take the time to go through it.  It will be worth your time.  Enjoy.

A Short Summary of the Life of John Newton, Author of the Well-known Hymn Amazing Grace.

     John Newton was born on July 24, 1725, to Elisabeth and John Newton Sr.  His father was a moral man, but not a believer, while his mother Elizabeth was a gentle, caring, and faithful mother whose life was tragically short-lived – dying when John was but 7 years old.  Though Elizabeth was unable to function as she might have wished, due to contracting tuberculosis, she did not waste her days. Knowing that time with her son might be short, she determined to make the most of what remained and took on the role of a teacher, spending hours with John each day.  She was a good teacher and he was an eager and intelligent student.  In fact he progressed so quickly he would later write: “When I was four years old, I could read, (hard names excepted) as well as I can now: and could likewise repeat the answers to the questions in the Assembly’s Shorter Catechism, with the proofs; and all Dr. Watt’s smaller Catechisms, and his Children’s Hymns.”

     From this list of material, we know that Elizabeth consistently trained her son in the theology of the Protestant Reformers. Elizabeth prayed and hoped God would call him to ministry. “My mother observed my early progress with peculiar pleasure, and intended from the first to bring me up with a view to the ministry if the Lord should so incline my heart.”  John later wrote, “As I was her only child, she made it the chief business and pleasure of her life to instruct me, and bring me up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”  Even though she was gravely ill for all of her son’s early life, she did not allow her condition to keep her from fulfilling her God-given duty. She used what strength she had to teach him to know of God’s existence, holiness, and demands on his life and songs that would remain in his mind and heart until his dying day. She taught him to honor the Bible and to turn to it for spiritual knowledge and strength. And she taught him the Good News - that salvation was not by works, but by grace through faith in Christ Jesus.

     In 1733 John Sr. returned from his voyage and learning of his wife’s death, wasted no time in remarrying. John’s step-mother was at first attentive, but she soon bore children of her own and lost interest in John, excluding him from family life. He became distant and rebellious. So, when John Jr. was merely eleven years old, his father took him to sea and he made six voyages with him before his father retired.

     In 1743, at the age of 18, while going to visit friends, Newton was captured (essentially kidnapped) and pressed into the naval service by the Royal Navy, where he became a midshipman. But at one point tried to desert, was captured, and punished in front of the crew of 350 by being stripped to the waist, tied to the grating, and flogged with eight dozen lashes. Following that disgrace and humiliation, Newton initially contemplated murdering the captain and committing suicide by throwing himself overboard, but He recovered, both physically and mentally and eventually convinced his superiors to discharge him to a slave ship.  Espousing freethinking principles, he remained arrogant and insubordinate, and he lived with immoral abandon: "I sinned with a high hand," he later wrote, "and I made it my study to tempt and seduce others [to join with me]."   He gave up all religious convictions, rejected his mother's teachings, and even lead other sailors into a life of unbelief. Sailors were not noted for the refinement of their manners, but Newton had an especially notable reputation for profanity, coarseness, and debauchery, which even shocked many sailors. He became known as, "The Great Blasphemer."  When he writes in his famous hymn that God's amazing grace, "saved a wretch like me," he was not using hyperbole. He had indeed lived a wretched life.

     Finally, at his own request, he was exchanged into service on a slave ship which took him to the coast of Sierra Leone, Africa. Newton did not get along with the crew of that ship and in 1745 they left him in West Africa with Amos Clowe, a slave dealer.  Clowe took Newton to the coast and gave him to his wife, Princess Peye of the Sherbro people, who brutally abused and mistreated him as much as she did her other slaves.  Newton's clothes turned to rags and he was forced to beg for food. He would later say of this period of his life that he was, "once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in West Africa." 

     Early in 1748, he was rescued by a sea captain who had been asked by Newton's father to search for him, returning to England on the merchant ship Greyhound.  The ship encountered a severe storm off the coast of Ireland and almost sank. Newton awoke in the middle of the night and, as the ship filled with water, called out to God. He recorded in his journal that when all seemed lost and the ship would surely sink, he exclaimed, “Lord, have mercy upon us.”  The cargo shifted and plugged up the hole, and the ship drifted to safety.  Newton marked this experience as the beginning of his conversion to Christ. He would later refer to this as his “great deliverance.”  The date was 10 March 1748, an anniversary he marked for the rest of his life as the point of his initial turning to Christ. From that point on, he avoided profanity, gambling, and drinking.

     Although he continued to work in the slave trade, he had gained sympathy for the slaves during his time as a slave in Africa. He later said that his true conversion did not happen until sometime later: "I cannot consider myself to have been a believer in the full sense of the word, until a considerable time afterward."  He would also write in his diary years later: “My dear mother, besides the rains she took with me, often commended me with many prayers and tears to God; and I doubt not but I reap the fruits of these prayers to this hour.”

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     This brings us to the entry by L. B. Cowman:

     "John Newton the drunken sailor became John Newton the sailor-preacher. Among the thousands of men and women he brought to Christ was Thomas Scott, cultured, selfish and self-satisfied. Because of the prayers of Newton's mother, another miracle was worked, and Thomas Scott used both his pen and voice to lead thousands of unbelieving hearts to Christ -- among them a dyspeptic, melancholic young man named William Cowper. He too was washed by the cleansing blood and in a moment of inspiration wrote:

     "There is a fountain filled with blood, 

     Drawn from Immanuel's veins, 

     And sinners plunged beneath that flood, 

     Lose all their guilty stains."

     And this song has brought countless thousands to the man who died on Calvary. Among the thousands was William Wilberforce, who became a great Christian statesman and unfastened the shackles from the feet of thousands of British slaves. Among those whom he led to the Lord was Leigh Richmond, a clergyman of the Established Church in one of the Channel Islands. He wrote a book, "The Dairyman's Daughter," which was translated into forty languages and with the intensity of leaping flame burned the love of Christ into the hearts of thousands."

     All this resulted, notes Cowman, because of a mother's earnest prayers for her son. Her instruction and prayers for a son she never lived to see grow up, bore fruit beyond anything she ever imagined and continues to do so to this day.

In His Service, Pastor Jeff

Failure, The Back Door To Success

Greetings All,

     Today's 'thought' comes to you from Erwin Lutzer. It is found in his book, "Failure, The Back Door To Success."
     He is pastor of the Moody Church, Chicago, Illinois.  His book deals with many issues regarding "failure," yet this particular excerpt has to do with how to go about living with yourself, or regaining self-acceptance (through the knowledge of God's acceptance), after failure.
     And since its something most people deal with at one time or another, to one degree or another, I thought it may minister to some of you at this time. After all, who has not had to deal with regrets and how to get beyond them?  Enjoy.

     "Mary looked as if she'd never had a problem in her life. She was friendly, attractive, and cheerful. But beneath that facade, were feelings too deep for words -- feelings of resentment, bitterness and intolerable depression. In fact, she had even contemplated suicide. And that she was a dedicated Christian only made her problem more puzzling...

     Mary's background provided the clue to her problem. Her father died when she was a child, and, as a result, she was entrusted into the care of a harsh step-father who vented his bitterness on this unwanted child. When Mary (then three or four years old) would come to her stepfather for affection, she was brushed aside. One remark he made will always ring in her ears: "I'd like to throw you out! You should be pushed into a ditch."
     Understandably Mary grew up feeling guilty for simply being alive. She felt responsible for her stepfather's misery and developed feelings of inferiority. She knew that she would always be a failure. Furthermore, she believed she deserved to be one. In later years, when friends showed concern for her, she resented it. How could anyone ever love me? she thought...

     Her self-image could not be changed merely by telling her that her opinion of herself was mistaken. Those who reject themselves cannot be convinced to accept themselves by pointing out their personal worth or accentuating their positive qualities. The point is they feel inferior, they feel worthless, they feel rejected. No amount of persuasion can convince them otherwise....

     But God has not left us without hope... Even if we are rejected by our parents, friends, or marriage partner, we CAN accept ourselves -- failure and all. But we can only do this by facing our limitations and considering our lot in life from God's perspective... People reject themselves for many reasons: physical appearance, lack of ability and intelligence, or because of failures of the past (relational and otherwise). Others, like Mary, have warped views of themselves because of their family background. Thank God this can be changed!" 

   Lutzer then gives us steps to follow that enable us to move in the direction of self-acceptance.

     "We must accept our limitations... God fashioned us in our mother's womb (Ps. 139:13-16). Therefore, our appearance was determined by Him. In fact, God even takes responsibility for physical handicaps. To Moses He said, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes him dumb, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?" (Ex. 4:11). God made us the way we are for a special reason. We must accept the fact that he knew what He was doing when we were assembled. We will never accept our physical features [nor "lack" of skills and abilities] unless we thank God that He made us as He did...

     Our outward imperfections are a reminder of God's priorities. He is concerned with character, not the deception of outward beauty (I Peter 3:4)... If we are dissatisfied with our appearance, God is trying to teach us to find our security in Him. He knows that if we were attractive we might find our satisfaction in the fleeting pleasure of popularity rather than the solid rock of inward godliness.

     We must think realistically.  Some resent God because of their lack of intelligence or ability. They spend their lives wishing they were like someone else. Their conversation is filled with self-pity and self-derogatory comments. Perhaps they believe that such an attitude displays humility... It does not. It is sin. And there will be no victory over such an ungrateful attitude until it is confessed and forsaken... If we are gifted we cannot take credit for it; if we lack abilities, that is no reason for complaining (I Cor. 4:7)...  Some overestimate the importance of their abilities, and others underestimate their gifts.

     The solution? Take Paul's advice: "I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think, but to have a sound (sober) estimation, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith' (Rom. 12:3). We must evaluate our abilities realistically, accept our limitations, and thank God for whatever He has given us...

     Self-acceptance is basically a spiritual issue. What it boils down to is this: are we able to thank the Creator for the way He made us? If not, are we casting doubt on His wisdom? If we thank Him we display our belief that He knows what is best for us. And that will help us accept ourselves -- limitations, failures and all. But even more than this, we must come to appreciate our value from God's perspective. Understanding His acceptance of us (in Christ) gives us the key to understanding ourselves... Christ died so that we would have a basis of acceptance before God that has NOTHING to do with our fluctuating experiences. Our acceptance depends on the sacrifice of Christ on the cross... Christians do differ: some are carnal, others are godly, and the majority are in between. But there is no difference so far as acceptance is concerned...

     Believers are not merely forgiven; they are not merely sinners minus their sins, they are accepted before God as Christ is accepted (Eph. 1:6)! Our acceptance before God is based squarely on Christ's acceptance before the Father -- and He is totally acceptable in every way.

     There can be no such thing as degrees of acceptance with God. He accepts perfection only, and for this reason, Christ alone is acceptable to the Father.  But the good news of the Gospel is that when we receive Christ as Savior, we are accepted "in Him."  Our acceptance before God is as certain as Christ's acceptance... if He has completely forgiven and accepted us, why can we not believe His verdict in the matter and accept ourselves as God accepts us?... If your faith is in Christ, God HAS accepted you just as you are, and to reject yourself is to reject God's grace."

     May God's truth, through the Gospel, free you from the conclusions you may have drawn about yourself by living in a fallen world, with faulty measures of value and success, and thus false solutions to a very important issue. And may the knowledge of God's full acceptance in Christ free your heart, mind and soul from being a slave to the world's unfortunate standards of what gives a person worth or makes them "acceptable."

In His Service, Pastor Jeff