Personal Testimony of Dr. A. C. Dixon (1854-1925)

Greetings All!

     I chose this week's "thought" for the sheer honesty and transparency evidenced in the heart of the pastor who penned it.  It is a personal testimony that comes from, Dr. A. C. Dixon (1854-1925), pastor of the Baptist Church in Chapel Hill North Carolina, and then later pastor at the Ruggles Street Baptist Church in Boston. His testimony speaks for itself. Enjoy.

"The hand of the Lord was upon him." 

Ezekiel 1:3

     "While I was pastor at the Baptist Church in Chapel Hill, the university town of North Carolina, I was made to realize that, as a preacher, I was a dismal failure. 

     Parents all over the state wrote to me and requested that I look after the spiritual welfare of their sons in the university. I prepared sermons with the students in mind and was glad to see that they showed their appreciation by attending our Sunday services in large numbers.  At one point we appointed a week of prayer and preaching with the single purpose of winning them to Christ, and they attended the evening meetings.

     About the middle of the week their interest seemed to turn into opposition. The spirit of mischief possessed them. One night they tried to put out the lights. As I walked through the grove around the university buildings, I sometimes heard my voice coming from behind a tree. A bright student had caught a part of my sermon the night before, and he was mimicking me in thought and tone for the benefit of his fellow students who showed their appreciation by applause and laughter.  As I walked by an open window I heard my voice being mimicked in prayer and floating out.  I felt defeated and seriously considered resigning from the pastorate.  No one had been saved.

     After a restless night I took my Bible and went into the grove and remained there until three o'clock in the afternoon. As I read I asked God to show me what was the matter, and the Word of God searched me through and through giving me a deep sense of sin and helplessness, such as I had never had before...  That evening the students listened reverently, and at the close two pews were filled with those who had responded to the invitation. The revival continued day after day until more than seventy of the students had confessed Christ.

     Now the practical question is: "What did it?"   Certainly not I; I fear it was the "I" that kept God from doing it for a long time. There came to me out of the day's experience a clear-cut distinction between [human] influence and [divine] power.  Influence is made up of many things -- intellect, education, money, social position, personality, organization -- all of which ought to be used for Christ.   But power is God Himself at work unhindered by our unbelief and other sins.

     The word "influence" occurs but once in the Bible, and that in Job, where Jehovah speaks to the old patriarch of the "sweet influences of the Pleiades" (one of the nearest star clusters to the earth) -- a good text for a young minister to preach on in the springtime, but not sufficient in dealing with a group of mocking university students.  The New Testament word "power" holds the secret, and the power from on high was no other than God the Holy Spirit touching the soul through the living Word and giving it birth from above. I had been trusting and testing many other good things, only to fail.  The touch of God did in a minute what all my best efforts could not do." 

     His testimony speaks for itself. People may mock and laugh at and easily resist all our efforts.  But when the power of the Spirit attends what we say, even our feeblest human efforts can be used of God to melt the most hardened heart. We may (by our innate natural gifts) be able to influence people in some small and temporary way (and many pastors have been content with that), but only God (by the working of His mighty power) can change a hard heart permanently for all eternally.  Therefore, it should be our earnest desire to seek the assistance of this power, and not be content until our spirit is bathed in it and our efforts are attended by it.

In The Service of the Gospel, Pastor Jeff

I would simply like to wish everyone a joyful, blessed, and soul-enriching Christmas celebration!

Greetings All,

     This week I would simply like to wish everyone a joyful, blessed, and soul-enriching Christmas celebration!
     My prayer for each one of you is that one night this week (before Friday comes) --

After friends have left, and the all the kids have headed to bed;

After all the electronic devices have been turned off,

And the lights have been dimmed,

And all is quiet...

May you find the time to spend just a few moments earnestly focusing on the miracle,

Offering God your grateful praise for the unspeakable gift of His Son,

And silently worshiping Him who took on human flesh

to redeem us from sin and make us His own.

"Sweet hymns of praise,

In grateful chorus raise we,

Let all within us praise His holy name!

Christ is the LORD! Oh praise His name forever!

His pow'r and glory evermore proclaim!"

Adolphe C. Adam

(Translated from the French by John S. Dwight)

"The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God."

C. S. Lewis

In His Service, Pastor Jeff

"The Source of All Power" and "The Love of Money."

Greetings All,

     This week's 'thought' comes to you from Aaron Tabor's book, the Jesus Daily devotional. I picked up a copy on sale a few months back and have been using it in the mornings with my girls. The entries are short, well written, and with true to Scripture.  He makes the daily verses from the Bible understandable and uses good visual contemporary illustrations.
     Tabor is founder of the Jesus Daily Facepage which has over 27,000,000 followers from 20+ countries. He is also a medical doctor, having graduated from John Hopkins School of Medicine, and president of Gene Facelift, a gene therapy biotechnology company.
      I have selected two sample entries "The Source of All Power" and "The Love of Money."  Enjoy.

The Source of All Power

"The God of Israel gives power and strength to his people." Psalm 68:35

     "In many parts of the world, electricity provides a standard of living that's easily taken for granted. Lamps, heaters, air conditioners and other conveniences rely on electric power to generate illumination, warm and cool air, and time-saving, effort-reducing assistance for our homes, businesses, schools and churches.

     When a power outage occurs for any length of time, we're forced to return to the basics of surviving. Suddenly, how we remain at a comfortable temperature is not so easy.  Ways to preserve our fresh food become a priority. Tasks that take seconds or minutes seem to require minutes and hours.

     When things are going smoothly in our lives, we might be tempted to take God's strength and power for granted. However, when our own abilities fail us, we once again get back to basics. We realize that the Lord is the source of all our power. Anything we accomplish is only because of him.

     Unplug [from the internet] for at least an hour today, using the time offline to pray, meditate, or rest in the strength of the Lord."

The Love of Money

"For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.  Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."  I Timothy 6:10

     "When a weed takes root in your garden, it drains nutrients in the soil away from other plants, such as flowers or vegetables. Many weeds often bind themselves around the roots of other plants to anchor themselves into the soil deeper. They not only choke off the other plants, but they also secure themselves into the ground. Eventually, they replace the flower and its natural systems of survival with their own roots, shoots, and tendrils.

     The love and pursuit of money can be an enormous weed in our spiritual garden. With thorns that entrap you and greed that grows like dandelions, desire for wealth can block your vision, disrupt your path, and kill your heart [for God]. There's nothing you can save, buy or spend that you can take with you for eternity. Only the fruit of the Spirit that you cultivate now will last.

     Spend time today tending your spiritual garden and eliminate the weed of greed.  Make a donation to your church, a charity, or a ministry today -- something more than just your usual tithe."

     The older one gets, the more obvious these truth become.  God, as Paul says, is the One who "gives us life, and breath, and everything else."  (Acts 17:25)  I derive from Him the gracious gift of life, and strength, and all I need for everything I do -- even if I am not conscious of my dependence of Him for all of it.  Every breath I take to fill my lungs and feed oxygen to my blood, and every beat of my heart that pumps that blood throughout my body, is empowered by Him. Were He to speak the word it would all stop.  Apart from Him I really could do nothing. He sustains my life -- and yours as well -- from the simplest functions to the most complex.

     Likewise, the older one gets, the more they realize that things are merely things, and they must leave every last one behind. In fact, in youth we seem driven to accumulate, but as we grow older we seem more driven to clean out, unload, give away and pare down to the essentials. Things that seemed so important and necessary to our happiness before, now seem so trivial and unnecessary -- as they sit stored in the attic, closet, cellar, garage or storage unit, untouched and sometimes unseen for years.

     If only we had the perspective of time and the wisdom of age when we were young.  It would cause us to travel through life with a much different focus.  As the apostle Peter could write to all in the church when in his old age: "Dear friends, I urge you, as strangers and aliens in this world, to abstain from its sinful desires, which war against the soul."  Strangers and aliens (foreigners) don't seek to accumulate.  They travel light, because they realize their true and permanent home is elsewhere. Precisely.

     I pray you might do as Aaron suggests and "unplug from the internet" -- for at least an hour or maybe an entire day or week(!) -- and use the time to pray, to meditate on Scripture (or the many things you are dependent upon God for), and not only rest in His strength, but thank Him for the gracious and continual supply of it.

In His Service, Pastor Jeff

Holy Fools - Following Jesus With Reckless Abandon

Greetings All,

     This week's 'thought' comes to you from the book, "Holy Fools - Following Jesus With Reckless Abandon,"  authored by Matthew Woodley.
     It's a short but challenging read. The word of exhortation on the cover is true: "A spiritual jolt for when your respectable faith becomes deadly dull."
     This selection has to do with power in brokenness. Enjoy.

     "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

(2 Corinthians 12:9)

     "Brokenness doesn't just imply that I'm "damaged" because life has victimized me. In the Christian story, my brokenness means that life has shattered me, but it also means that I have contributed to my own brokenness -- and to the world's brokenness. In other words, I'm not just a victim of life's gusts; I'm also a rebel and fugitive.

     Every shattered piece of my life is still marked with the Master's beauty, but I'm not whole. Whatever I am, I'm not what I was made to be. I'm in pieces. Stated less delicately, I am, at least in part, a screwed-up human being.

     And it gets even worse, because according to the biblical story, I live in a broken world. One of the central themes of the Christian story found in the Bible is what theologians call 'the fall of man,' or 'total depravity."  Don't let the labels scare you. They just mean that although we're glorious creatures made in the image of God, every human being on this planet is also deeply flawed. Total depravity doesn't mean that every part of me is as bad as it could be. It just means that all my attitudes, actions, and even my deepest and most spiritual thoughts and aspirations are bent and flawed toward sin...

     This concept of depravity sounds depressing, but it actually flows into the other core element of brokenness: power. This power -- God's power -- has been released into our powerlessness. When we look at our brokenness, we don't just throw our hands in the air and say, 'I'm a total loser; I quit.'  Not at all. Brokenness also means finding strength in our weakness. It isn't just being shattered; it's finding wholeness in Christ.

     It's interesting that the New Testament uses the Greek word 'dunamis,' or power, forty-one times, but it's often combined with the word 'asthenia,' or weakness. Power and weakness link together in an inseparable bond. God wants to share his power with us. God longs to plant and cultivate real strength in us, but it often grows in the soil of our weakness.

     The power of the powerless isn't a negative message. This God of power wants to pour his strength into broken human recipients, empowering us to live with love and courage, to enter into the mess of a frightening world, to forgive and be forgiven, to face our own sin and darkness, to live with joy and thanksgiving, to endure suffering. God is looking for people who will receive and then display his power. And he will find them. But only the humble, the open, the empty-handed, and the broken will receive his power. If he finds our hands full, or our lives preoccupied with our own self-importance, he won't give us what we don't want [or what we're convinced we don't need]...

     I'll never forget nearly twenty years ago when an Anglican priest named William laid his hands on me and prayed for the strength of the Holy Spirit to fill me and empower me. At that point in my life, I was so broken and weak. I felt inferior and inadequate. But through an unlikely source -- William's touch and voice -- the living God spoke truth into my heart. As William prayed for power to ignite my powerlessness, I had a clear image enter my mind: An oak tree had just been planted in my heart. It was strong and true. It even felt solid inside my chest. And I had the distinct impression that it would continue to grow tall and straight. For twenty years it has been growing inside my soul slowly (painfully so for others around me) settling into the core of my identity. William's simple, daring prayer became my initiation into the power of the powerless." 

     May it be so for us as well. We don't have to be "fixed" to be used by God.  His power reveals itself most fully in our brokenness, weakness, limitations, inadequacies, and powerlessness. Our prayer should not be, "Make me strong."  It should be, "Show Yourself strong through me, weak as I am."

     Have a most blessed week reveling in the God whose grace is sufficient, and chooses to use us in spite of ourselves, not because we've attained an appropriate degree of "togetherness."

In the Bonds of Christian Affection, Pastor Jeff

Trusting God

Greetings All,

     This week's 'thought' comes to you from Jerry Bridges and is found in his challenging book, "Trusting God."
     Jerry is a prolific writer whose books are wise, balanced, true to Scripture, and helpful in both understanding and living the Christian life. This particular selection (edited and shortened) has to do with growing through adversity.  For those who have been, or are presently going through hard times, his words (I trust) will inspire and give both hope and understanding.  Enjoy.

     "Every adversity that comes across our path, whether large or small, is intended to help us grow in some way. If it were not beneficial, God would not allow it or send it, "For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men" (Lamentations 3:33). God does not delight in our sufferings. He brings only that which is necessary, but does not shrink from that which will help us grow...

Pruning

     In the spiritual realms, God must prune us.  Because we still have a sinful nature even as believers, we tend to pour our spiritual energies into that which is not true fruit. We tend to seek position, success, and reputation even in the Body of Christ. We tend to depend on natural talents and human wisdom. And then we are easily distracted and pulled by the things of the world -- its pleasures and possessions.  God uses adversity to loosen our grip on those things that are not true fruit.  A severe illness or the death of someone dear to us, the loss of material substance or the tarnishing of our reputation, the turning aside of friends or the dashing of our cherished dreams on the rocks of failure, cause us to think about what is really important in life. Position and possessions no longer seem so important. We begin to relinquish our desires and expectations -- even good ones -- to the sovereign will of God. We come more and more to depend on God and desire only that which will count for eternity. God is pruning us (through adversity) so that we will be more fruitful.

Holiness

     Adversity reveals the corruption of our sinful nature. We do not know ourselves or the depths of sin remaining in us. We think we are making good progress and growing in the fruit of the Spirit... until adversity comes. Then we find we are unable to love, from the depths of our hearts, the person who is the instrument of the adversity. We find we don't want to forgive that person. We realize we are not disposed to trust God. Unbelief and resentment surge within us. We are dismayed at the scene. The growth in Christian character we thought had occurred in our lives seems to vanish like a vapor... Yet through this experience God has revealed to us some of the remaining corruption within us... In making us holy God goes deeper that just specific sins we may be conscious of. He wants to get at the root cause: the corruption of our sinful nature manifested in the rebellion of our wills, the perversity of our affections, and the spiritual ignorance of our minds... God uses adversity to pull in affections that have been drawn out to unholy desires and to subdue our stubborn and rebellious wills. 

Dependence

     God has to teach us through adversity to rely on Him instead of ourselves. Even the apostle Paul said of his severe difficulties, which he described as, 'far beyond our ability to endure,' that they had occurred so 'that we might not rely on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead' (II Corinthians 1:8-9). God allowed Paul and his band of helpers to be brought into a situation so desperate that they despaired even of life itself. They had no place to turn except to God... Whatever his thorn in the flesh was, it was an adversity that Paul desperately wanted to be rid of. But God let it remain, not only to curb any tendency for pride in Paul's heart, but also to teach him to rely on God's strength. Paul still had to learn that it was not his strength but God's grace -- God's enabling power -- that he must depend on.

Service

     God also brings adversity into our lives to equip us for more effective service... God could have taken Joseph directly to Pharaoh's palace without taking him through prison. And he certainly did not need to leave Joseph to languish in prison for two more years after he had interpreted the cup-bearer's dream. Joseph's difficult circumstances were not necessary just for him to be in the right place at the right time. They were necessary to make him into the right kind of person for the responsibilities God would give him... To the extent that we are able to lay hold of the great truths of the sovereignty, wisdom, and love of God, and find comfort and encouragement from them in our adversities, we will be able to minister to others in their times of distress... Adversity in our own lives, rightly responded to, enables us to be instruments of comfort and encouragement to others.

Relationship With Others

     Trails and afflictions also have a mutual drawing effect among believers. They tend to break down barriers between us and dissolve any appearance of self-sufficiency we may have... We sometimes worship together with another person, pray together, and even serve together in ministry without ever truly feeling a bond of fellowship. But then, in a strange way, adversity strikes us both. Immediately we sense a new bond of fellowship in Christ, the fellowship of suffering... The Christian life is not meant to be lived in isolation from other believers. It is to be lived as members of the Body of Christ. God wants to use our times of adversity to deepen our relationship with other members of the Body -- to create a greater sense of sharing together the life we have in Christ.

Relationship With God

     Part of coming to know Christ in a more intimate way is through "the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings" (Philippians 3:10). If we are to truly grow in knowing Christ, we can be sure we will to some degree experience the fellowship of his sufferings. If we are to experience the power of His resurrection, we can also be sure we will experience the fellowship of His sufferings... Repeatedly in the Bible, we see men and women of God drawn into a deeper relationship with God through adversity... The Psalms are replete with expressions of ever-deepening knowledge of God as the psalmists seek Him in times of adversity (Psalms 23, 42, 61, 62)... God, through adversity, seeks us out. It is God who draws us more and more into a deeper relationship with Him. If we are seeking Him it is because He is seeking us. One of the strong cords with which He draws us into a more intimate, personal relationship with Him, is adversity. Instead of fighting God or doubting Him in times of adversity, we will seek to cooperate with God, we will find that we will be  drawn into a deeper relationship with Him.

The Difficulty

     There is not question that adversity is difficult. It usually takes us by surprise and seems to strike where we are most vulnerable. To us it appears completely senseless and irrational, but to God none of it is either senseless of irrational. He has a purpose in every pain He brings or allows in our lives. We can be sure that in some way He intends it for our profit and His glory."

     Although our "quality of life" culture has succeeded in convincing many Christians that God's job, if He loves us, should be to protect us from all pain and every form of suffering, such a notion actually runs in the face of a tremendous portion of Scripture which teaches just the opposite.  Job, Psalm 43, Psalm 119:67 and 71, Romans 5:1-5, Romans 8:17, Philippians 3:10, Hebrews 12:1-12, and many more, assure us that trials, hardships, and the like, are fruit-producing (good fruit producing) elements in the spiritual life.

     Of course, trials, hardships and the like would not be necessary if it were not for the deeply rooted aspects of sin still embedded even within the renewed soul. But that's not the case.  The sin is there.  And because it often lurks beneath the surface hidden, and thus unaddressed in the believers life, God must stir things up (through adversity) to make known what is there, but is undetectable during times of stillness and calm. Like the hiker that comes upon a pool of crystal clear water in the woods, all it takes is a little shifting of a rock, or a stick to stir the bottom, and the mud that had settled there floats to the top to be seen and thus dealt with.

     Yet it must be remembered that the good we can derive from trials and afflictions is often misconstrued because we fail to view (or interpret) such things in light of the Gospel. A Gospel that assures us that, "our God Reigns" (Isaiah 52:7). He is in control. He is sovereign, all-knowing and all-powerful. A God whose goal in redemption is to restore His image in us, not pamper us. A God who loves us with a firm, holy, unbreakable, irrevocable, and covenant love that sees us as entirely acceptable in Christ, and thus works in us to instruct, form and mold us, not punish us. As one has rightly said, "In Christ God loves justified sinners just the way they are, yet far too much to leave them just the way they are!"

     

In the Grip of His Grace... even when we're hurting, Pastor Jeff

The Marks of Spiritual Power

Greetings All,     

     Today's 'thought' brings some needed clarity to a reality that is often misunderstood in Christian circles -- the presence, power, and evidence of a true work of the Holy Spirit and His power.

     This selection comes to you from Richard Foster in an article entitled "The Marks of Spiritual Power."

It is found in a book by Randall Harris called: "The Contemporaries Meet The Classics on the Holy Spirit."

As one who has personally seen spiritual power exercised by others with great love and humility, but also misused and mislabeled, Foster offers some helpful reminders. Enjoy.

The Marks of Spiritual Power

     "The power of the flesh relies upon such things as proper pedigree, positions of status, and connections among those in the power structure (Phil. 3:2-6). But Paul, you see, had given up on the flesh. He said that he counted those things as 'dung' for his sights were set on a greater power -- 'that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death...' (Phil. 3:10-11).

     Now, when we see people desperately striving for the 'dung' of human power we can be sure that they know precious little of the 'power of His resurrection." 

     What then, are the marks of this power that proceeds from God?

     1.) Love is the first mark of spiritual power (Rom. 5:5). Love demands that power be used for the good of others. Notice Jesus' use of power -- the healing of the blind, the sick, the maimed, the dumb, the leper, and many others... Notice in each case the concern for the good of others, the motivation of love... Power for the purpose of advancing reputations or inflating egos is not power motivated by love.

     When God used Paul and Barnabas to heal a cripple at Lystra, the astonished people tried to turn them into Greek gods, but they tore their clothes and shouted out, 'We also are men, just like you' (Acts 14:15). Many of us might not find the idea of deity status so reprehensible.  Think of the power over people we would have, and, after all, we would use the power to such good ends!  But power that is used to advance reputations destroys the user, because with it we aspire to be gods.

     2.) The second mark of spiritual power is humility. Humility is power under control. Nothing is more dangerous than power in the service of arrogance. Power under the discipline of humility is teachable (Acts 10:1-35, Acts 18:24-26, Galatians 2:11-21). Believe me, this is no small matter. Many have been destroyed in their walk with God simply because their power was not controlled by humility...

     Power destroys when it is not coupled with the spirit of humility.  To really know the power of God is to be keenly aware that we have done nothing more than receive a gift. Gratitude, not pride, is our only appropriate response. The power is not ours, though we are given the freedom to use it. When we truly walk with God, our only desire is to use power in the service of Christ and His kingdom.

     3.) This leads to the third mark of spiritual power -- self-limitation. The power that creates, refrains from doing some things -- even good things -- out of respect for the individual. Have you ever noticed the number of times that Jesus refused to use power?

     He refused to dazzle people by jumping off the pinnacle of the temple (Matt. 4:5). He rejected the temptation to make more 'wonder bread' to validate His ministry (John 6:26). He refused to do many wonderful works in His own hometown because of the unbelief of the people (Luke 4:16-27). He said no to the Pharisees' demand that He give them a sign to prove He was the Messiah (Matt. 12:38).  At His arrest, Jesus reminded Peter that He could have summoned a whole army of angels to his rescue, but He did not (Matt. 26:53).  Paul said, 'Lay hands suddenly on no man' (I Tim. 5:22 KJV)... Those who live and move in God know that there is a time to withhold the hand of power just as there is a time to use it.

     4.) Joy is the fourth mark of spiritual power. This is no grim-faced, dour effort. Far from it! To see the kingdom of Christ break into the midst of darkness and depression is a wonderful thing.  As M. Scott Peck writes, 'The experience of spiritual power is basically a joyful one.' ... 

     I hope you understand that I am referring to something more profound than the bubbly 'joy' of the superficial. The rich inner joy of spiritual power knows sorrow and is acquainted with grief.  Joy and grief often have a symbiotic relationship.

     5.) Vulnerability is the fifth mark of spiritual power. The power that comes from above is not filled with bravado and bombast. It lacks the symbols of human authority; indeed, its symbols are a manger and a cross. It is power that is not recognized as power. It is a self-chosen position of meekness that to human eyes looks powerless... The power from above leads from weakness, and is perfected in weakness (II Cor. 12:9-10).

     6.) The sixth mark of spiritual power is submission. Jesus knew what it meant to submit to the ways of God: 'The Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing; for whatever He does, that the Son does likewise' (John 5:19). As we learn to experience on a personal level this same kind of intimate cooperation with the Father, we will enter more deeply into the meaning of true power... We submit to Scripture to learn more perfectly the ways of God with human beings. We submit to the Holy Spirit to learn the meaning of obedience. We submit to the life of faith in order to understand the difference between human power and divine power. 'Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ,' said Paul (Eph. 5:21)... When we submit to others, we have access to their wisdom, their counsel, their rebuke, their encouragement... Human power is power over someone, divine power has no such need to control..."

     God's Spirit always works in conformity with God's character. Therefore, when it claims to be exercised, yet is done to sinful ends (self-exaltation, control, manipulation, etc.) we should be cautious and question if it is truly being exercised at all -- or if it is power of a different kind.

     Let us pray that the power of God may fall upon His people.  And with it let us pray that these six marks (or fruits) of divine power, which are so contrary to fleshly, human power, might also attend it.

In the bonds of Christian Charity, Pastor Jeff

Remember Jesus Christ

Greetings All,

     This week's 'thought' comes to you from an old book I purchased recently.  I started glancing through it and found this selection interesting -- from a historical and biblical perspective. In fact, if you are one of those people who idealizes the past as the "good old days" when everything was supposedly,  "the way it should be," when compared to today, you may be disappointed to discover otherwise!

     I'll save the date the book was published for the end so you can try to guess from its contents what era he is talking about. The title is "Remember Jesus Christ" and its author is Robert E. Speer.  [I have taken the liberty of condense and update the language while holding to the author's intent].  Enjoy.

Christ's Command to Believe

     "One of the most significant characteristics of the temper of our day is its dislike of the imperative mood. It does not like commands, or to be addressed in terms of, 'You must!'  It likes to be spoken of in other terms, such as, 'Will you not, if it pleases you?'... For the last few years in this land we have had abundant evidence of the dislike of great classes of men for enforced limitation, for obligation, for law. There is across the country an antagonism to obligation...

     The human will has never liked to limit its sovereignty, but it is quite clear that there is scarcely anything that is now as distasteful, especially in the sphere of religion, as the imperative mood. We are told that as far as religion is concerned, it must keep its hands off the rest of our life; that it is a matter altogether beyond reason, having no right whatsoever to coerce reason; and that it cannot say to people, 'you must.' 

     Yet it must at once occur to us that Christ speaks constantly in the imperative. We have it in these words: not, 'It is desirable, if you wish to have blessings, that you should have faith in God' -- but 'Have it.' 'Have faith in God.'

     And He not only uses the imperative in religion, but He uses it in the most objectionable sphere of religion - faith. 'It is all right,' some will declare, 'to say, 'Thou shalt' and 'thou shalt not,' in the sphere of conduct. But to tell us we must do certain things in the sphere of belief is absurd.'  They continue, 'How can God override all the laws of our lives by compelling us or ordering us to do things which, perhaps, in the very nature of our constitution, it may not be possible for us to do? We cannot intellectually assent to a proposition on orders.' 

     And yet, it is precisely on this matter of faith that the New Testament persists in putting the imperative... When the Philippian jailor asked Paul and Silas what he must do to be saved, they advised him in terms of a command: 'Believe!' This is a stumbling block to many, or at least to everyone who does not like obligation. But it is also a stumbling block to those who say that belief comes from having the facts laid before them, and that if belief does not spring up spontaneously from it, no amount of commanding it will create it.  That may be true if faith were to be defined as 'intellectual assent' and nothing more. But this is not an adequate definition. If it were, faith could not be commanded.

     Yet faith, primarily and essentially, is vital, moral -- a personal relationship -- and intellectual assent is a fruit of this relationship. When a child believes something which its father tells it, we call the child's acceptance an act of faith.  Yet it is not.  It is a fruit of faith.  Faith is the confidence which the child posits in its father, which leads it to believe in what the father says...

     If you will read through the New Testament carefully, you will see the commands to believe are used with reference to the moral and vital relationship every soul is summoned to recognize between himself and God [ie: I John 3:23 -- 'And this is God's command: to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another.']...

     And so Christ felt He had a right to order people to have faith, because it was not a matter, primarily, of their minds. He could and does order it because it is primarily a matter of moral character, of heart, of life, of personal relationship.

With that emphasis in mind, let us consider Christ's command as a fourfold call.

     FIRST of all, it is a call to a personal surrender to God. If you read through your New Testament you will find that in pretty nearly every case the root idea of the writer or the speaker is that there should be on the part of men, a moral surrender to God or to the personal truths of God.  'Believe   on the Lord Jesus Christ' means 'believe on Jesus as Lord; as the one who possesses you; as the one to whom you must make a personal surrender... In saying 'Have faith in God,' Jesus summons us to an unconditional, hold nothing back, irreversible, life-engulfing surrender to Him.

     SECOND, the words, 'Have faith in God,' are a call to intensity in service... Faith, Christ meant to tell them, links us so closely with God as to make us co-workers with Him to give us His power in the world, so that we work no longer with a human soul's strength only, but with the strength of God... Faith in God is a rest, surely enough, but it is also a life of power and a call to a life of intensity of service in which every faculty and gift of life must find play, transfigured and made a thousand fold more effective by the Spirit of Christ...

      THIRD, the call to 'have faith in God' is a call to confidence. It was not, 'Have speculations about God,' or, 'Have doubts regarding Him.'  The early church had an unqualified unhesitating message. 'Have faith in God' was its one word -- 'in God, and in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ'... The agnostic type mind was vexed by the positive certainty of the Christian doctrine and life. But the early church knew. It had faith, and spoke... So stand fast. Believe. Be not tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine. Have faith in the eternal and trust-deserving God.

      Then LAST, Christ's command is a call to hopefulness... The writer of the epistle to the Hebrews conceives of faith as 'the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen'... He goes on to say to those struggling believers who lived by faith even though it resulted in their torture or death, 'God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city.'

     The Gentiles conceived of the night as coming after the day.  Day came first, night followed. Their golden age was behind. The good old days had passed. It was darkness ahead.  But for the Jew, the golden age was always to come. They left darkness (Egypt) behind... Day does not begin when morning comes. It ends in light.  The Genesis account says, 'there was evening and then there was morning, the first day' not, 'there was morning and then evening, the first day.'  The Christians brightest days are ahead.  Bonar expresses this truth in one of his hymns,

'Not first the bright, and after that the dark,

But first the dark, and after that the bright.

First the thick cloud, and then the rainbow's arc; 

First the dark grave, then resurrection light.'"

     Oh yes, I forgot to mention this was published in 1899.  One of those "not so good old days" when people from coast to coast (according to the author) had a loathing for imperatives, laws or commands (similar to our day)!

     Yet, in light of his last point, where he tells us the call to faith is a call to hopefulness, do we have that biblical mindset where we believe that day follows night, instead of night following day?

     Could it be that despite the present darkness, a morning is coming and light is just around the corner? Can we believe God to bring it about? Can we, "Have faith in God"? Or should I phrase it in that despised imperative tense -- people, "Have faith in God!" "Believe!"

It does make a difference. Yet as he notes, it all depends on that ever-necessary personal relationship with God.    Blessings on your day, Pastor Jeff