Little hope for humanity

Protestantism

"The best thing about Protestantism is that no one starts out holier than thou. Instead, everyone has a chance to become that way." --David Javerbaum

Feel the power!

Judgment and justice

I went to court yesterday to deal with my ticket for expired tags. The judge was not in a very good mood. One guy before me had expired tags too, and tried to get some mercy by telling the judge, "I got it taken care of the very next day!" To which the judge replied, "Well, you should've taken care of it before you ended up in court!" So I decided it would be a good idea just to keep my mouth shut.

I felt some sympathy for the judge, he was clearly irritated with the people he was trying, and I suppose I would be too, after dealing with it day in and day out.

Someday we will all stand before God and be judged. Will God be angry? The Bible says:

"See, the day of the LORD is coming

—a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger—

to make the land desolate

and destroy the sinners within it." -Isaiah 13:9

God is angry at sin, and sinners, big and small, will have no place to hide on that day. Unless, that is, they are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. There is going to be a greater Passover than the one recorded in Exodus. The blood of the true Passover lamb will protect all who are covered by it from wrath and judgment on that terrible day.

Angry Birds

Angry birds, oh let them never,

From the sling misguided fly,

Let your aim be true and steady,

For those naughty pigs must die.

Love one another, well that's OK for

Humans but birds and pigs don't understand,

Once they were calm, but now they're angry,

The fowls are aiming for the ham.

Uncertainty

I was listening to an interview with an Islamic imam, he was explaining the Islamic beliefs about being judged after we die for what we did in this life. They believe your good deeds are weighed against your sins, and hopefully you were good enough to merit God's favor. When he was asked, "Do you think God will judge in your favor?" He replied,

"Nobody can be certain. In life, we all commit sin."

He said he was hopeful that God's mercy would cover his sins because he has tried to live a good life.

When I became old enough to understand things pertaining to sin and God and judgement, I was taught basically the same thing. We try to live a good life, and we hope that we do good enough to earn entry into heaven. It was considered presumptuous to assume that God would accept you.

Constant fear that you might not be good enough to make it. What a terrible way to live.

The "Christian" attitude

What is the attitude of Christians I know toward the lost?

"Well, they have to make their own choice."

"It's up to the Holy Spirit to do the work in them."

I don't know how to influence or change the mind of someone who is not a believer. I do think that to say unbelief is irrational is a mistake, because I think faith itself is a miracle. Even more so the faith of the believers throughout history who have died horrible deaths because they refused to renounce their beliefs.

It saddens me to see Christians display a calloused attitude toward the eternal fate of the lost. By and large I see a "I'm safe, too bad about you" attitude that is simply disgraceful. I am by no means innocent, because I know I'm not doing enough to reach the lost in my own circles. But we should be grieved and prayerful constantly for those around us who do not see their own peril.

“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

How good do you have to be?

I recently got stopped and ticketed for having expired tags. Not my favorite thing in the world to happen, but such is life. Question for you: When was the last time that a cop stopped you and came up to your window and said, "Hi, you didn't do anything wrong, and I just wanted to say 'thanks!'" Or, "I'm here to present you with the motorist lifetime achievement award!" It simply doesn't happen that way, and not just because most cops are jerks. It's because the only function of law is to condemn. Does that mean there's something wrong with our laws? No, they are doing their job just fine. We are the problem. As it turns out, it's quite difficult to function in society without knowingly or unknowingly breaking a rule at some point in your life. I had no idea that my tags were expired, but the law doesn't care about my ignorance. The written code is inflexible, and without mercy.

*awkward transition to religious implications*

I was fascinated to hear recently an interview with a Rabbi who was complaining about the Christian idea of grace. His analogy was of a Nazi working in a concentration camp. This person committed countless atrocities, and for arguments sake, comes to faith in Christ and receives forgiveness, i.e., is justified in God's sight. The Rabbi was infuriated that Christians believe that such a person could be forgiven. He said something along the lines of "if a person like that could be in heaven, then I would rather be in hell!"

The idea of self-righteousness is so ingrained in legalistic religion that I sympathize with the Rabbi. But I pray that God will show him and all others who are counting on their performance the true meaning of being under law:

"because by observing the law no one will be justified." -Galatians 2:16

"Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin." -Romans 3:20

"Now it is obvious that no one is justified in the sight of God by the law" -Galatians 3:11

"for the law produces wrath" -Romans 4:15

"I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death." -Romans 7:10

Who will make atonement?

The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable practices and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says to Jerusalem: Your ancestry and birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised.

“‘Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, “Live!” I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew and developed and entered puberty. Your breasts had formed and your hair had grown, yet you were stark naked.

“‘Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your naked body. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine.

“‘I bathed you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on you. I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put sandals of fine leather on you. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments. I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck, and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was honey, olive oil and the finest flour. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen. And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign LORD.

“‘But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his. You took some of your garments to make gaudy high places, where you carried on your prostitution. You went to him, and he possessed your beauty.You also took the fine jewelry I gave you, the jewelry made of my gold and silver, and you made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with them. And you took your embroidered clothes to put on them, and you offered my oil and incense before them. Also the food I provided for you—the flour, olive oil and honey I gave you to eat—you offered as fragrant incense before them. That is what happened, declares the Sovereign LORD.

“‘And you took your sons and daughters whom you bore to me and sacrificed them as food to the idols. Was your prostitution not enough? You slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols. In all your detestable practices and your prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, kicking about in your blood.

“‘Woe! Woe to you, declares the Sovereign LORD. In addition to all your other wickedness, you built a mound for yourself and made a lofty shrine in every public square. At every street corner you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty, spreading your legs with increasing promiscuity to anyone who passed by. You engaged in prostitution with the Egyptians, your neighbors with large genitals, and aroused my anger with your increasing promiscuity. So I stretched out my hand against you and reduced your territory; I gave you over to the greed of your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who were shocked by your lewd conduct. You engaged in prostitution with the Assyrians too, because you were insatiable; and even after that, you still were not satisfied. Then you increased your promiscuity to include Babylonia, a land of merchants, but even with this you were not satisfied.

“‘I am filled with fury against you, declares the Sovereign LORD, when you do all these things, acting like a brazen prostitute! When you built your mounds at every street corner and made your lofty shrines in every public square, you were unlike a prostitute, because you scorned payment.

“‘You adulterous wife! You prefer strangers to your own husband! All prostitutes receive gifts, but you give gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors. So in your prostitution you are the opposite of others; no one runs after you for your favors. You are the very opposite, for you give payment and none is given to you.

“‘Therefore, you prostitute, hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you poured out your lust and exposed your naked body in your promiscuity with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols, and because you gave them your children’s blood, therefore I am going to gather all your lovers, with whom you found pleasure, those you loved as well as those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and will strip you in front of them, and they will see you stark naked. I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and who shed blood; I will bring on you the blood vengeance of my wrath and jealous anger. Then I will deliver you into the hands of your lovers, and they will tear down your mounds and destroy your lofty shrines. They will strip you of your clothes and take your fine jewelry and leave you stark naked. They will bring a mob against you, who will stone you and hack you to pieces with their swords.They will burn down your houses and inflict punishment on you in the sight of many women. I will put a stop to your prostitution, and you will no longer pay your lovers. Then my wrath against you will subside and my jealous anger will turn away from you; I will be calm and no longer angry.

“‘Because you did not remember the days of your youth but enraged me with all these things, I will surely bring down on your head what you have done, declares the Sovereign LORD. Did you not add lewdness to all your other detestable practices?

“‘Everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb about you: “Like mother, like daughter.” You are a true daughter of your mother, who despised her husband and her children; and you are a true sister of your sisters, who despised their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. Your older sister was Samaria, who lived to the north of you with her daughters; and your younger sister, who lived to the south of you with her daughters, was Sodom. You not only followed their ways and copied their detestable practices, but in all your ways you soon became more depraved than they. As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done.

“‘Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen. Samaria did not commit half the sins you did. You have done more detestable things than they, and have made your sisters seem righteous by all these things you have done. Bear your disgrace, for you have furnished some justification for your sisters. Because your sins were more vile than theirs, they appear more righteous than you. So then, be ashamed and bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear righteous.

“‘However, I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters and of Samaria and her daughters, and your fortunes along with them, so that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you have done in giving them comfort. And your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will return to what they were before; and you and your daughters will return to what you were before. You would not even mention your sister Sodom in the day of your pride, before your wickedness was uncovered. Even so, you are now scorned by the daughters of Edom and all her neighbors and the daughters of the Philistines—all those around you who despise you. You will bear the consequences of your lewdness and your detestable practices, declares the LORD.

“‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will deal with you as you deserve, because you have despised my oath by breaking the covenant. Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your sisters, both those who are older than you and those who are younger. I will give them to you as daughters, but not on the basis of my covenant with you. So I will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD. Then, when I make atonement for you for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your humiliation, declares the Sovereign LORD.’”

Ezekiel, Chapter 16

AFFLICTED SAINT, TO CHRIST DRAW NEAR

“As thy days, so shall thy strength be.” Deuteronomy 33:25

Afflicted saint, to Christ draw near— Thy Savior’s gracious promise hear, His faithful Word declares to thee, That as thy days thy strength shall be.

Let not thy heart despond and say “How shall I stand the trying day?” He has engaged by firm decree, That as thy days thy strength shall be.

Thy faith is weak, thy foes are strong, And if the conflict should be long, The Lord will make the tempter flee, For as thy days thy strength shall be.

Should persecution rage and flame, Still trust in thy Redeemer’s Name; In fiery trials thou shalt see, That as thy days thy strength shall be.

When called to bear thy weighty cross, Or sore affliction, pain, or loss, Or deep distress or poverty, Still as thy days thy strength shall be.

--John Faw­cett

TO GOD I CRIED WITH MOURNFUL VOICE

To God I cried with mournful voice,
I sought His gracious ear,
In the sad day when troubles rose,
And filled the night with fear.

Sad were my days, and dark my nights,
My soul refused relief;
I thought on God the just and wise,
But thoughts increased my grief.

Still I complained, and still oppressed,
My heart began to break;
My God, Thy wrath forbade my rest,
And kept my eyes awake.

My overwhelming sorrows grew,
Till I could speak no more;
Then I within myself withdrew,
And called Thy judgments o’er.

I called back years and ancient times
When I beheld Thy face;
My spirit searched for secret crimes
That might withhold Thy grace.

I called Thy mercies to my mind
Which I enjoyed before;
And will the Lord no more be kind?
His face appear no more?

Will He for ever cast me off?
His promise ever fail?
Has He forgot His tender love?
Shall anger still prevail?

But I forbid this hopeless thought;
This dark, despairing frame,
Rememb’ring what Thy hand hath wrought;
Thy hand is still the same.

I’ll think again of all Thy ways,
And talk Thy wonders o’er;
Thy wonders of recovering grace,
When flesh could hope no more.

Grace dwells with justice on the throne;
And men that love Thy Word
Have in Thy sanctuary known
The counsels of the Lord.

--Isaac Watts