His Record for Mine

"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21).

We had our usual singing and prayer and giving. The first song was "No Other Plea" translated into Spanish. A re-translation is:
My faith rests in Jesus and in His redemption.
Believing only in Him, I have salvation.
I need not do any work, nor observe any rite.
It is enough for me that Jesus died--died in my place.

It may have been that song, but the Lord used something in that service to stir my husband's heart. Before the message, I was blessed by the testimony of our friend. He has left for his country by now--that was his last Sunday. He was baptized last night and left immediately after. This man heard last week of the death of his sister and his nephew. His mother is critically injured, and he must go to be with her. His first words of testimony were, "I want to thank the Lord for what is happening in my life."

Then the sermon. Jon approached the front with usual seriousness. Then he said, "I'm struggling in my heart. I have prepared a sermon, but the Lord has brought to my mind this verse, and I can't ignore the fact that God wants me to urge you to consider the seriousness of what we've been talking about this morning. Please turn to 2 Corinthians 5:21."

I began praying. It's an unusual thing (rightly so) for someone to do in his native language. But Jon had never before preached in Spanish without a manuscript. He was now about to preach without an outline. But I knew he knew and loved this verse well, and I had heard him eloquently urge Spanish-speakers to accept the Gospel. This verse is Gospel. Good news for any sinner. Still. I prayed, and I knew he was praying, and God answered.

Picture a record stained and dirty, full of infractions of God's law. That's all you've got to present to a righteous Judge. It will never work. Nothing that filthy will be accepted. God demands better than that. All right. How about a record that looks fine? A smudge here or there, but it is covered in good things too? What is that going to look like to God? Actually, it's not up for debate. The answer is "Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it" (James 2:10). The answer is, they look the same. You can't hold it up to God and say, "This is what I've got," and expect an entrance. It's got to be perfect.

So without Christ, we need to stop there. We really do. We need to stop there for a minute and think about the utter despair we should feel on our own.

Now the Scripture. There is Someone with a perfect record. But He was already in heaven. He didn't need an entrance. He never knew sin. But He left. And He lived. And He died. And He never knew sin. And for those moments on the cross when the Father abandoned Him, my record was right there. On Him. Being dealt the full weight of God's wrath. He never knew sin, but He was made to be sin right then. He was made to be my sin. He had my record right then. And He paid for it in full.

So what happens to me? I do know sin. I know it every day. Before Christ, it's all I knew. If you're still before Christ, it's all you know. Your record before Christ intervenes is unacceptable. But His is perfect. And I've got it.

And you can have it. God will make you "IN HIM the righteousness of God." In the sight of God, will you trade records with Christ?

My Glorious Dress

Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress;
’Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed,
With joy shall I lift up my head.

Bold shall I stand in Thy great day;
For who aught to my charge shall lay?
Fully absolved through these I am
From sin and fear, from guilt and shame.

-Nikolaus von Zinzendorf

Last night's sermon focused my attention on the righteousness of Christ. His impeccable life has been attested to by impartial observers like Pilot and enemies like the Pharisees, Judas, and the unsuccessful false witnesses drummed up to testify against Jesus. Even the great infidel Thomas Payne admits that Christ's morality is above reproach. Actually, have you ever heard anyone claim that Jesus was a bad man?

Christ's apostles testify again and again of His perfection. Though they are quite candid about detailing their own failings and sinfulness as well as that of their fellow workers in some cases, no one has one negative incident in Christ's life to relate. After three years of close scrutiny, not one time does a Gospel writer report anything Jesus did requiring Him to ask anyone's pardon.

By far, however, the most convincing testimony for those of us who plan to be arrayed in Jesus's righteousness in the midst of flaming worlds is that of the Father Himself. "This is my Beloved Son with whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17).

Do you have this irreproachable righteousness as your glorious dress?

Isaiah 24

This chapter starts what is known as the "little Apocalypse" in the Bible. The following chapters unveil some of God's plan for the entire world. It is little in comparison to the larger Apocalypse of the book of Revelation which ends the Bible. "Apocalypse," I learned last night, means "unveiling."

Chapter 24 describes destruction. "The LORD will empty the earth and make it desolate, and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants." There will be a great leveling of the distinctions among people that we find so hard to ignore now. As the rich and poor, influential and insignificant, captain and crewman alike sank beneath the waters of the Atlantic the night the Titanic went down--so the entire population of earth will experience the same fate when God deals with His earth as He has every right to do. The chapter uses words like "mourns," "withers," "languish," "suffer," "scorch," and "desolation."

Why?

they have transgressed the laws,
violated the statutes,
broken the everlasting covenant.

What? What laws? What statutes? What commandments?

Love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18). This is a law.

A man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh (Genesis 2:24). A binding statute. Any variation is a violation.

The covenant? Pastor noted that the most likely is this one:
God's side: I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth (Genesis 9:11).
Man's side: Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man (Genesis 9:6).
God has and will keep His side of the covenant. Man has utterly failed to keep his.

Guilty on all counts.

The coming devastation is just. The God Who executes the judgment is glorified in His justice. Glorified! Given honor and praise. And worship. Reverent, intense, genuine worship. It is written.

They lift up their voices, they sing for joy;
over the majesty of the LORD they shout from the west.
Therefore in the east give glory to the LORD;
in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.
From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise,
of glory to the Righteous One.

Let me plead with you. Be among those who give praise. "Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!" (Psalm 2:12).

[Unless otherwise noted, all references are from Isaiah 24, English Standard Version.]

A Christian Response to Trouble

Wednesday night at prayer meeting, Pastor Minnick encouraged us about the future. There seems to be much ahead to fear. If things do continue to spiral down economically, we could face lean times such as many in this country are totally unfamiliar with. His tone was not pessimistic. His hope does not lie in the "spirit of the great people of this great country" or the "fundamentals of the economy." He is able to do as the Bible does and look the worst in the face. So what if "the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines"? What happens if "the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food"? How will I take it if "the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls"?

That's poverty, you know. That's a depression like we've never seen in this land. But we've seen footage of it in other lands. And, if you're like me, you watched the news and saw the starving children and huddled refugees and war-torn families crowding around a truck for hours waiting for one bag of sustenence and thought, "How do people go through that?" Perhaps you took it a step further and thought, "I could never handle that." But people do. And they handle it in different ways.

But God's people can respond in a way that is completely unexpected. Really, they can. Look the worst in the face. Don't dwell on doom and gloom, but seriously for a few moments contemplate your absolute worst fears and dread about the financial situation. Then call to mind the promises of God. Was He serious when He said, "Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things"? Can we actually expect "all these things will be added to you" to hold up in this century? If you arrive at a Bible answer to that kind of question, you will, with the ancient prophet, "exult in the LORD" and "rejoice in the God of [your] salvation."

(Bible quotations taken from Habakkuk 3:17-18 and Matthew 6:32-33.)

Psalm 37

This Psalm is a study in contrasts. The righteous is instructed on the end of his ways compared with the wicked man's. I have read this Psalm many times and drawn encouragement from the many admonitions to rest in the Lord and not fret because of the prosperity of the wicked. The Lord's promise to make things right in the end is comforting as it assures the believer that God is aware and in control of every event in the entire global scheme of things.

Sunday evening, however, another nuance of the Psalm taught me. Pastor Vincent was preaching, and he pointed out that, though the text may hastily be read as a triumphant gloating over the demise of evil in the face of God's intervention, the words really convey a much more sober tone. The psalmist uses expressions like "You will look carefully for his place and he will not be there," and "I have seen a wicked, violent man spreading himself like a luxuriant tree in its native soil. Then he passed away, and lo, he was no more; I sought for him, but he could not be found."

While God's control over the present and the assurance of the revelation of His ultimate triumph in the end should bring delight and satisfaction to the hearts of true believers, there should be in every child of God a desire to see, not the destruction of sinners, but their deliverance.

Isaiah 23 Vanity Fair Overthrown

Isaiah 23 is about the fall of Tyre. After a brief description of the response of its citizens, the chapter proceeds to explain the cause for Tyre's fall by indicting the city for its excesses and materialism. Pastor Minnick noted that the descriptions of Tyre's wares closely resemble what is bought and sold in John Bunyan's Vanity Fair. It is possible that this chapter and others describing Tyre's commerce were on his mind as he wrote the Vanity Fair scene in The Pilgrim's Progress.

At any rate, God was determined to humble Tyre on account of her greed and materialism. So many parallels to our country were evident. But just as I sat there mentally "tsk, tsk-ing" the greed on Wall Street and the glitziness of a society that flaunts automobiles they'll never come close to actually owning, houses they can't really afford, and expensive THINGS they didn't actually give money for, the application was placed in my lap. The Bible addresses an admonition to people preoccupied with money in opposite ways. See, there are those who greedily store up too much, and then there are those who are anxious that they might not have enough. Both responses to money are wrong, because no one can slave for two masters. God and wealth are both full-time employers. No one has ever slaved for them both, and no one ever will.

Here's my lesson. So, I don't see myself on either end of the money-slaving scale. But I was reminded of my position of being "on top of the heap" when it comes to possessions. Who cares how much stuff I've got; very, very few Americans can rank themselves anywhere else on the global economic heap. And what I sat there thinking was, "Where's the sacrifice in moving down just a few notches to spend my life as a missionary? Who says I deserve my top spot? The Bible is telling me of the tremendous blessing there is in working in a church full of poor people." Don't tell the poor guy to fend for himself while you find a good place for the potential donor. Serve the poor who can't pay you back, because their Redeemer is strong. If I busy myself with the affairs of the rich for my whole life, there is a strong possibility that I'll never encounter anyone in need of a cup of cold water.

Remember Who made the promise, "He shall not lose his reward."

[The audio of this sermon is available for purchase here.]

Isaiah 22

He wanted us to leave disturbed. That's what he said. I believe he accomplished his purpose. But more importantly, I believe God did a powerfully disturbing work in many hearts. I know I was sobered a great deal.

Isaiah 22 is a reprimand to celebrating civilians. Sennacherib's army has been destroyed without a bow shot or a sword thrust. One day the entire city of Jerusalem and her outlying areas are under siege with ramps and battering rams all around; the next morning, instead of troops, corpses surround the city. How would you respond? Probably like the Judeans--parties, feast, and loud celebrations. This is where the phrase, "Eat and drink for tomorrow we may die" comes from.

But Isaiah says, "No. What are you thinking? Have you not learned anything from those of your own people who died so ingloriously while under siege? God has called you to weeping, not to feasting!"

What follows is a sobering oracle to two men. One is an unscrupulous steward who abuses his power and seeks to make a legacy for himself. The other is a faithful counselor to Judah. Guess which one God wants them to trust in for security. The answer, of course, is neither. What does a nation do when it is faced with impending (financial) disaster? What if the economic house of cards falls? "Trust in the Holy One of Israel alone, for He only is salvation."

But what will God be calling us to if the government does indeed contrive a bail-out that grants a reprieve and sends the stockmarket skyrocketing? Feasting? Partying? Self-congratulations on barely missing disaster? Or weeping and wearing of sackcloth for the sins that brought on the disaster in the first place? "Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?" (Romans 2:4).

Isaiah 21

Part of what encouraged me to begin blogging was this post by Nicole Whitacre on Girl Talk. She shares how the Lord has worked in her heart about meditating on Sunday's message(s) the following day. I am often guilty of forgetting quickly (or not fully processing at all) the messages God gives me through His ministers. I thought that writing about them on Mondays would help me, not only to share what God provides for me, but also to keep it for myself in a more memorable form. Of all the good gifts brought to me on a proverbial shovel, preaching is most certainly of utmost value. How ungrateful of me to treat it as worthless.

The Lord has blessed us with a wonderful church in our area. My pastor is a very careful Bible expositor. Several months ago, the Lord laid on his heart to preach a series of messages on the book of Isaiah. Now, when Pastor Minnick preaches through a book, like any good Bible expositor, he does not feel at liberty to omit passages he comes to for any reason. If there were any good reasons to skip a chapter, he basically admitted to us last evening that Isaiah 21 would have several. But the blessing of the message was the more vivid for the realization that God Himself had placed this obscure passage in this long prophetic book "for our instruction" (1 Cor. 10:11).

The passage predicts a horrifying overthrow of the kingdom of Babylon. Isaiah's vision is not even detailed, merely the prophet's reaction to it. To make things more baffling, the timing of the event prophesied is unclear. However, God had spoken these things to drive home to His people Israel the message of the whole prophesy, "Trust in the Holy One of Israel alone, for He only is salvation." Though Israel may have been tempted to trust Babylon for security, God assures His people that Babylon is only as strong as the true Sovereign of the Universe allows her to be.

In the end, a remarkable application for God's people today is found in Isaiah's response to the destruction of these wicked people. Isaiah is stunned and physically sickened by what he sees will happen to them. Pastor urged God's people present in the service to have a real compassion for the fate of lost people. God has told us what destruction will befall those who fail to turn to Christ for salvation, and we ought not glibly go about our lives unmoved by the certain terror that will befall them. May God help me be a more fervent evangelist as I dwell on the judgment that awaits my neighbors.