All posts by Philip

Morning Thoughts (James 5:17)

Morning Thoughts

James 5:17, "Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months."

This morning, the walk of faith contains the same difficulties as ever.  Too oftentimes in a changing world, we hear people use world changes as a justification for not performing Biblical assignments.  While technology, generations, nations, etc. all change, nothing that we face – as far as the nature of the temptation is concerned – is different than it ever has been. (I Corinthians 10:13) To walk by faith, we encounter the same types of obstacles and enjoy the same types of blessings as previous generations did.  As we mentioned yesterday, extremes seem to abound in every subject or situation, and most people look at those around them and think one of two things (both of which are extreme): 1. that person has a charmed life without my types of problems, 2. that person has more faith than I do.  We hope to investigate in this writing the truth about commonality in the walk of faith that shines forth to dispel both of these commonly held thoughts.

From our study verse above, the phrase we desire the most to pursue is "subject to like passions as we are."  When looking at Elijah's life, we certainly see recorded some of his "down moments."  These moments bring to focus the vivid reality that he was not superhuman and invulnerable to life's assaults.  Other characters in the Bible have similar events recorded for us – the apostle Peter had several.  Yet, we see some characters that simply do not.  For example, the Bible records nothing about the doubts, fears, and misgivings in the lives of Enoch, Abel, Caleb, and others.  Are we to surmise that they simply did not have them?  Since even the characters of faith in Hebrews 11 such as Abraham, Moses, and others had particularly down moments, we conclude that Caleb and others did too.

This phrase "subject to like passions" is found in a similar vein in Acts 14.  Paul and Silas utter the phrase to keep people from worshipping them as gods when they see Paul's miracles of healing.  Their point then – and good food for us today – is that even the best acting of us has down moments and struggles with the passions and weaknesses of the flesh.  So no matter what character of faith we choose to examine, we must understand that the individual had the same struggles then as we do today. 

Furthermore, these characters of faith did not have any more faith than any other child of God.  God deals that measure to His children in the new birth (Romans 12:3), and it behooves us to consider that our faith is of the same substance and source as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, and any other that we could consider.  As we have made the analogy so often, the appearance of someone's faith depends on the use and exercise of it.  Like muscles in the body, all of us have the same number of muscles, and we come into this world possessing like assets in that regard.  Yet, no one would question that some of us have put our muscles to better physical use than others.  Such use changes the appearance of the person, and the exercise of faith in our walk and fight will change our appearance in this life.  Instead of seeing these people as superhuman, the right perspective is to see them as diligent and faithful labourers into those areas that are good and pleasing in God's sight.

Now, having addressed that men then had like passions as we do today and that they possessed the same gift of faith that we do today, what is the lesson for us today?  Let us again consider the improper but commonly held viewpoints: 1. that person has a charmed life without my types of problems, 2. that person has more faith than I do.  When we see people around us, what is our general perception of them?  Depending on how well we know that person, our perspective of them changes.  It is generally true that the longer we know someone two things will happen: 1. if we had a high opinion of them, things will happen to lower that opinion (i.e. they let us down) and 2. if we had a low opinion of them, things will happen to raise that opinion (i.e. they will surprise us).  This is a general rule, but certainly not without exception.

To someone that we have a high opinion of, we generally tend to think that they are immune or alien to our daily struggles.  It is these people that we tend to reactively think live charmed lives or have more faith.  Yet, every great man of God – just as Elijah – had problems.  On the other hand, just as they had the same "bad" passions, they also had like "good" passions.  The word there for "like passions" means desires and affections.  So, Elijah, Paul, and others struggled with the same types of things that we do today, but their joys that emanated from following after those good desires (passions) are like ours today.

How did Paul feel after a Spirit-filled meeting?  Much like we to today, since he had like passions.  How did Paul feel after suffering weak moments of doubt in the flesh?  Much like we do today since he had like passions.  Typically, the walk of faith can be stymied when we become bogged down in our minds with the thinking that our troubles are unique and even that our joys are unshared.  Yet, the faithful record of Scripture is that all of us in God's family struggle with the same things and possess the same substance to follow after Him.

Knowing then that we can be victims to the same bad passions, let us learn from examples of what not to do. (I Corinthians 10:1-12) Knowing then that we can enjoy blessings due to the good passions, let us follow after righteousness, faith, and charity with all the examples of Scripture – Jesus Christ Himself being the Chief.  It is a human and fallen reaction to think others doing better are superhuman or just living in an ivory tower.  It is Christ-like to set our eyes on the prize of faithful service and march forward in an undeterred march following those heavenly desires.  By doing so, we can encourage others that see us (they see the change of appearance due to the exercise of faith).  Our encouragement is, "I struggle just like you do.  But we can do and go where man would never dream, for Christ's strength is above all."

In Hope,

Bro Philip

Morning Thoughts (Sin)

Morning Thoughts

This subject is by request.

This morning, the concept of sin brings about heated debate from both extremes.  In the ever-crumbling morals of the world, less and less of what the Bible declares as sinful is viewed as such.  For example, sins of the Bible are simply termed "lifestyles" nowadays.  Two generations – or at the most three – would have probably never dreamed that such evils as homosexuality would be as accepted as they are today.  Who knows whether another generation or two will see other Biblical evils promoted to the point of forced acceptance.  Truly, this extreme mindset shows the marked decline of morality in the world in general.  Yet, there is another extreme viewpoint on the subject of sin that perhaps goes unnoticed or is even accepted in Christian circles.  It this extreme viewpoint that we hope investigate in this writing.

Many times, we hear statements made from the pulpit that sound correct, but a further examination of the thought reveals that it really does not measure up to Biblical teaching.  Regrettably, I have been guilty of making such statements in my own preaching that I have later had to correct.  While my phraseology was not ill-intentioned, the heart of the thought was still ultimately incorrect.  Have you ever heard the statement, "There are no degrees of sin, for sin is sin?"  Sometimes, the statement is followed by the thought, "All sins are bad, and none is worse than the other."  While it is undoubtedly true that any sin no matter the variety is enough to condemn someone justly to eternal misery, the Bible will not support the thought that all sin is the same.  Should that thought be true that all sin is the same.

When investigating the thought of degrees of sin, we need to examine several factors.  The first factor is the avenue of the sin.  Is the sin outwardly or inwardly?  Truly, the Lord plainly declares that thoughts of the mind are sinful.  Adultery and murder can be engaged in by simple heart and thought processes. (Matthew 5) Yet, consider the nature of inward versus outward sins.  Which is worse?  Are they the same?  One might say that in God's eyes they are, but while God see inward heart and thought processes as sinful, one cannot conclude that God looks at inward sins the same as outward sins.  To see this, let us open the next factor of consideration: consequences.

When someone commits an outward sin – of whatever type – that sin is known and perceived by others.  When someone has wicked thoughts processes, that sin is known and seen by only that person and the Lord.  What is consequence of outward sin?  If someone murders someone, they incur the punishment of courts of law (ordained by God), the loss of church membership (if they are a member), and even perhaps the loss of their own life.  Coupled with that, there are consequences to others.  The murderer's family is humiliated and embarrassed, while the victim's family is never the same.  Should the man, on the other hand, simply be guilty of hating his brother without a cause, the inward heart processes affect that man, but do not go down the path of civil or church punishment, and certainly not the consequences inflicted on others.

Continuing the thought of consequences, we can see that certain sins – when committed outwardly – bring down different levels of consequence.  For example the law had different punishments for murder or theft.  A murderer answered with his own life, while a thief restored multi-fold to those he stole from. (Numbers 35:31, Exodus 22:1) What do these different types of punishment manifest?  They manifest the same thought that Gilbert and Sullivan put to song in the last century – "Let the Punishment Fit the Crime."  It is fitting that a man who unlawfully took another's life should give up his own existence.  Likewise, it is fitting that a thief make whole and above those he robbed.

Sometimes the consequences differ in length of time not just in variety.  For example, certain men could not escape long-term punishment for their sins.  Moses, the leader of God's people and deliverer out of Egypt, failed on one occasion never to recover from it. (Numbers 20) Was this punishment fitting the crime?  Certainly it was since God did it, but consider how a man thinketh.  Well, Moses had been faithful for so long, we might be inclined to give him a slap on the wrist with the stern warning not to ever do it again.  God plainly told Moses that he failed to sanctify God in the eyes of the people.  What God is effectively telling Moses is that "you put yourself on my level in their sight."  Moses was guilty of personal exaltation to the point of idolatry (of himself), which sin is great in the sight of the Lord.  Therefore, God pronounced a consequence upon him that lasted the rest of his days.

To show another example of lifelong punishment, we see God's distaste for love of money in the lesson of Gehazi. (II Kings 5:26-27) Not only did Gehazi's sin affect him for the rest of his life, he incurred punishment on his posterity as well.  Since the Scriptures record for us that the love of money is the root of all evil (I Timothy 6:10), we can only surmise what else may have been brewing and simmering down in the thinking of Gehazi.  As the root of his problem sprung out in an ugly way, God condemned the root forever by lifelong leprosy.

One final avenue of consideration into the degrees of sin is how God terms them.  Should God term every sin the same, then a case could be made that even though consequences differ, they are still equal in God's sight.  Yet, God reserves some words for certain transgressions.  For example, the word "abomination" is only used a handful of times in this regard to God's thinking on sin.  God considers such things as idolatry (Deuteronomy 7:25), homosexuality (Leviticus 18:22), and improper worship (Isaiah 1:13) to be abominations in His sight.  The word itself refers to the highest order of repugnance and disgust.  Solomon even records for us six things that the Lord hates, with all seven being an abomination unto Him. (Proverbs 6:16) Considering that one particular sin appears twice in Solomon's list (lying or falsehood), it should be clear how disgusted God is at false witnesses.  It is so high that two were struck down dead immediately by it. (Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5)

While God does not delight in any sin, we see from the Scriptural examination that certain things go higher in both disgust and condemning consequences than others.  Having examined these factors, what is the course for us today?  The course today should be – on the one hand – to never fall victim and prey to the world's thinking that attempts to whitewash sin in its various forms.  Sin has not changed in the sense that God never changes His mind about it.  If Christ condemns it, rest assured it is still condemned in His sight.  On the other hand, we should never get the idea that all sins are a "one size fits all" in how they are viewed or what their consequences are.

We should attempt to keep ourselves unspotted, but we should never be convinced that all sins are the same and will be treated as such.  Suffering for sins of the mind will be much less burdensome than suffering for outward sins against one another.  Suffering the loss of possessions or privileges is much less troubling than being on death row for taking another man's life.  Sin is black; God hates it.  So should we.  God deals with different forms of it differently.  So should we expect it to be.

In Hope,

Bro Philip