The Light That Has Lighted The World.1

"I have come to be a light to the world, that whoever believes in me should not remain in darkness. 

I am the light that has lighted the world; they that follow me will never again walk in darkness, but live their lives in the light." 

--Jesus

On his first day of kindergarten, nephew Sam declared: 

"I'm Sam Eberhart. 

I'm a John Deere man 

and that's all you need to know!"

Imagine the Lord of all Creation introducing Himself to this dark world with little Sam's certainty: 

"I'm Jesus Christ. 

I am the Light, 

and that's all you need to know!"

Such perplexing times: living our lives by the light of televisions and computer screens we watch the world get darker! How easy to get caught up in the collective anxiety of the world's worries: Brexit, Market fluctuations, ISIS attacks, Presidential elections, Protests, Gun Control, Gas Prices, Milk Prices, Inflation, Deflation, Wild Weather, Wild Horses, Persecution, Human Trafficking, Drug Trafficking, Refugees, Regulations, 1%er's, Political Plunder, Political Correctness, Corruption, Racism, Phobias in all their Forms, Global Climate Change, and (if that weren't enough) Indian Nickname Change.

So however tempting it may be to try to explain the complexities of this world by this or that eschatology, doctrine or theology, the call is simple: 

believe in the Light! 

Hold on to the Man who Is the Light!

Light gives hope; 
Light gives meaning; 
Light shows the way; 
Light conquers darkness!

MacDonald:
"God means us to be jubilant in the fact that he is Light--that he is what his children, made in his image, mean when

image from creation7.com

they say light; that what in him is dark to them, is dark by excellent glory, by too much cause of jubilation; that, however dark it may be to their eyes, it is light even as they mean it, light for their eyes and souls and hearts to take in the moment they are enough of eyes, enough of souls, enough of hearts, to receive it in its very being.

Living Light, thou wilt not have me believe anything dark of thee!"

 MacDonald, George. Unspoken Sermons Series I., II., and III. 
(Kindle locations 5458-5461). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition. 

The Problem of Religion.10

"TAKE HEED: 

Many will come from the east and west, and enter joyfully the kingdom of heaven. 

But those who should have come in will be banished to the darkness outside. 

BE FOREWARNED: 

For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." 

--Jesus

Although the Bible offers a downright bleak assessment of humanity (and surely our own experience affirms it) there is comfort in remembering that Jesus, in and through Whom the Universe was created, spoke simply that His words might serve as portals into Eternal Truth: the Mind and Heart of Almighty God. Obedience is the doorway to ever deepening understanding of His words and transformation to His likeness.

image from theupsidedownworld.com

Let us consider that the "righteousness" of the Pharisees and scribes may very well have been the gold-standard for the Jewish people and served an important purpose: it promoted a general awareness of right and wrong throughout the culture. Indeed, this "righteousness" demonstrated a certain fierceness for moral order and compliance. By contrast consider American culture where the fierceness of politically correct compliance is on the side of the morally depraved. 

For Jesus, it served as a platform from which to compare and contrast True Righteousness, marked by mercy and justice, with a joyless, loveless righteousness, marked by hypocrisy, legalism and condemnation, practiced by those who refused repentance when exposed by the very God of Right & True!

image by trinityunitedguelph.ca

To exceed a joyless, loveless, hypocritical, legalistic, condemning righteousness (which to this day remains fiercely active wherever people form communities)...how hard can that be?  All it requires is a firm hold on your cross, where suffering is fitted to each faithful follower designed to evoke increasing hunger and thirst for Him. It also requires a firm focus on the face of the One who alone can satisfy the longing to be like Him!

As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; 

when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.

Psalm 17:15

  

The Problem of Religion.9

"Behold, in the days to come, I will send you prophets, and wise men, and teachers. Even these you will kill and crucify. Yes, even these you will persecute, and pursue to the ends of the earth.

Isaiah was right when he prophesied of you: "They approach me with their mouths, and honor me with their lips; but their hearts are far from me."

You justify yourselves before your congregations; but God knows the evil intentions of your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed by man is repulsive in the sight of God." 

--Jesus

image from: chrisbrady.typepad.com

On a recent podcast, Rabbi Daniel Lapin pointed out that there have been two primary forces at work in the history of humanity: Barbarism and Civilization.  The measure of any singular event, governmental policy or cultural shift is: which way does it move on this spectrum.  The inclination of the bent nature of man is toward barbarism, for without willed effort and moral motivation societies collapse under the weight of brutality and cruelty. 

Death By A Thousand Cuts

This collapse doesn't come in a single event, but by hordes of seemingly insignificant blows to the beliefs, values and moral foundation of a society.

Blows taking their toll on American society:

• Infant genocide - human life, devalued and snuffed out, one at a time over time leads to national degradation of biblical proportions. Repulsive.
• Laziness, profligation, promiscuity, and deviancy promoted under the name of compassion and tolerance - 18th Century economist Bastiat accurately predicted that when the law becomes the instrument of plunder society loses its moral compass. Edward Gibbon, author of The Rise And Fall Of The Roman Empire, on political corruption: "The art of respecting the name of the law while deliberately eluding the efficacy of the same. Fictions and subtleties are invented to defeat the plainest meanings intended by the founders of the laws..." Evil intentions.
• late night laughter of the sacred - the decay of the institution of marriage, the primary building block of strong society, increased rapidly as comedians began focusing their barbs on the sanctity of the marriage union between man and woman. Hearts far from God.
• removing reference to God in public discourse - Supreme Court decisions pitting the opinion of man against the Scriptures greatly contributed to the erosion of confidence in Timeless Truth. Killing and Crucifying truth.

Jesus always gets to the heart of the issue: leadership that abandons Truth for Gain. Godly leadership has always been a part of God's plan for moving the human race toward consistent commitment to righteousness, truth and love. Corrupt leadership always paves the way for corrupting influences.

The uniqueness of the American experiment in self-government is the ability to promote the kind of leadership we want to lead us.  That ability demands moral and spiritual revival vital to correcting a nation plunging toward barbarism: a nation that falls prey to empty words from empty "leaders" creates national emptiness that is quickly filled by evil men with evil intent.

Biblical history is filled with examples of God's heart expressed in the mouths of faithful messengers calling His people to repentance.  It is also filled with examples of those nations who listened, humbled themselves and returned to peace as well as those who defiantly shook their fists at the Almighty and paid the penalty for their folly.  The USA is at a unique crossroads in that if & when real revival breaks out it will be measured in the kind of people we promote to lead us...or we will continue down the bleak road of the countless nations before us which collapsed under the brutish weight of barbarism.

Pray for the USA.

The Problem of Religion.8

"You build monuments to the prophets, and place flowers at the tombs of the righteous, and say: 'If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would never have allowed their innocent blood to be shed.'

Be witness to your own inconsistency! You are the descendants of those who killed the prophets, and have surpassed even their wicked acts. Snakes! Generation of vipers! How will you escape the condemnation of eternal judgment?"

--Jesus

image from artinruins.com

"Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance." --CS Lewis

One of the most challenging aspects of parenting is "practicing what you preach!"  During our boy's formative years I often reflected, not so much on what we were trying to teach and train them in, but in what was I or my wife unwilling to change that might have destructive consequences in their lives.  

image from wbtruth.blogspot.com

Not having Omniscience can prove troubling in predicting the outcomes of every nuance of every sin of which we are capable. More troubling still, at least from the Omniscient One's point of view, is mankind's vain attempts to put lipstick on the pig's snout of reprehensible deeds.

"We would never have done that" is a good fall back position when confronted with the likelihood of moral failure and perhaps shock if someone could show us what, in the future, we will do that is as bad or worse from that which we deny.  A close friend found out that her husband had been a serial adulterer over the course of their marriage.  Was it really such a shock that the son had indeed followed in his father's philandering ways?

But shock is exactly what the Son of Man attempted to do for the moral and spiritual leaders of his day --and any day-- for that matter.  For He knew that Goodness comes from God alone; goodness cannot be separated from God-ness. Unfortunately, mankind's response to sin exposed is usually the same: kill the message or the messenger! 

Any attempt to define goodness without a reference point in God, in other words, not recognizing what in the thought or deed is God-like or God-worthy, leads to oppression and tyranny.  As an example, societies across the world are being confronted with pressure to legitimize a special class of mental disorder and sexual deviancy: transgender-ism.  The debate over granting special protections and privileges to an extremely small population segment in public schools and commercial institutions is reaching hysterical proportions and is completely devoid of any spiritual or moral foundation save that which proponents press upon the pubic through threats of retaliation and retribution. 

Any attempt to make ourselves, and not God, the measure of goodness is, rest assured, Hell-fire warmed over.

The Problem of Religion.7

"False teachers! In your hypocrisy you are no better than whitewashed tombs, which might appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of death and decaying bones. You may impress people by your superficial demonstrations of virtue, but inside you are consumed with hypocrisy and have fallen short of the truth. How can you claim to serve God, who live only for your colleague's praise, never seeking the honor that comes from God alone?"  

--Jesus

image from devotedconversations.com

"The only triumph the truth can ever have is its recognition by the heart of the liar.

Its victory is in the man who, not content with saying, 'I was blind and now I see,' cries out,

'Lord God, just and true, let me perish, but endure thou! Let me live because thou livest, because thou savest me from the death in myself, the untruth I have nourished in me, and even called righteousness!

Hallowed be thy name, for thou only art true; thou only lovest; thou only art holy, for thou only art humble! Thou only art unselfish; thou only hast never sought thine own, but the things of thy children! Yea, O father, be thou true, and every man a liar!' 

MacDonald, George. Unspoken Sermons.  

The resurrection means Life conquered 

the death inside us! 

lying

envy

coveting

murder

torment

anxiety

addiction

lust

lewdness

resentment

revenge

bitterness

immorality

arrogance

ambition

pride

impurity

insolence

indolence

impertinence

indifference

rebellion

rage

selfishness

self-will

self-righteousness

self-worship

adultery

lasciviousness

concupiscence

hypocrisy

bigotry

prejudice

unmerciful

unforgiving

unkindness

ungratefulness

unloving

rudeness

impatience

partiality

cheating

stealing
antagonism
accusation
destruction
deviancy
carelessness
slothfulness
disobedience
insubordination
discontent
grumbling
gossip
slander
malice
intolerance
capriciousness
cruelty
indecency
indiscretion
foolishness
fickleness
deceitfulness
cowardice
idolatry
impunity
pugnaciousness
pornography
greediness
swindler
conceit
faithless
hostility
dishonor
desecration
dissembling
obfuscation
sneering

Years ago a friend asked me to prayerfully walk her through Neil Anderson's Steps To Freedom, a remarkable spiritual house cleaning encounter.  During an especially intense moment recounting the number of men she'd been immoral with, she tearfully exclaimed: "There were so many...how could God ever forgive me for all of that?"

Indeed. No soul is saved who would not prefer hell to sin.  Created for good, it is a fearful and dreadful thing what capacity for evil we carry in our moth eaten, worm burrowed hearts.  There is not a sin on the list that we have not conceived in thought or action. Only till we recognize the awful condition of our heart can Truth triumph.

But the real tragedy, as Jesus exposes, is rather than acknowledging our true condition we whitewash the lie.
Thwarting the Holy Spirit's attempt to speak truth to our inmost being, of lying to the Spirit, is the unforgivable sin, for God cannot and will not forgive those we will not let go.

What relentless, amazing love that He would die to make us good. O! What a Savior!

The Problem of Religion.6

"Your vision extends not one inch in front of your face. Piously you strain a gnat from your wine, and proceed to swallow a camel. Self-righteously you clean the outside of your cup, while inside remains the grime of extortion. How blind can you be! First take care of what is concealed within. Only then, will the outside be clean."

--Jesus

God's Difficulty in Creating Man:

• How to fashion a being that would satisfy God's glorious heart and will
• How to create a being that could be independent of Him yet need Him for its completion
• How far to separate the distance between Himself and His Creature 
• How to give Will & Independence that yet recognizes the need:

• To turn and regard Him
• To Choose Him and say, 'I will arise and go to my Father'
• To Desire the Divine Character, in which the Creature is capable of choosing Good against Evil
• To Will to be One with the Life from which it comes
• To Work the Perfection of Reunion
• To Live immediately, consciously and actively from its Source

(adapted from Life, George MacDonald, Unspoken Sermons II)

To help man in his "vision" to perceive God's working and wooing the human race toward Righteousness and Oneness, God sent His Son. The Living Son, in turn, enlists, energizes, employs and examines those who would lead and influence His people toward the Father. His rebuke falls harshest on those least like him:

image from kingsenglish.info

• Self-absorbed leaders that succumb to the demonic allure of status and power
• Leadership that uses that status and power to cheat people out of their birthright: to be Like the Creator! 

Constructive Leadership vs Destructive Leadership

• Constructive Leadership sees the potential for God-likeness in individuals
• Destructive Leadership sees only the worst in others burdening them with excessive regulations
• Constructive Leadership encourages truth seeking
• Destructive Leadership stunts thought and free expression
• Constructive Leadership aspires to openness and transparency
• Destructive Leadership masks and hides insidious evil
• Constructive Leadership lives what they teach
• Destructive Leadership live comfortably with hypocrisy
• Constructive Leadership lives to give
• Destructive Leadership lives to take

...we all like sheep, need shepherds after God's heart. Let us with discernment recognize True Leaders.

The Problem of Religion.5

"You make ceremonial offerings of even the herbs that grow at your front door. 
All the while, 
   you have forgotten 
      the weighty matters 
         of the law: 
judgment, mercy, and faith." 

--Jesus

What gives anything weight?

"Gravity is the force that gives an object weight. Weight is merely a measure of the amount of force

image from thinglink.com

 gravity exerts upon an object. Weight is not the same as mass, although these two terms are frequently used interchangeably. Mass is a measure of how much matter an object contains. Weight is the gravitational force that acts upon that mass." -from answers.com

God's Perfecting Will is the force that gives our obedience weight!  The real question is: how can we enlarge our obedience (mass) to give greater weight to the work God intends in and through us?

Me and the Law: "I'm approaching forty years of marriage to the same woman.  I've never committed adultery! Hurrah."

Judgement of Jesus: "If a man looks at a woman to lust after her he has committed adultery in his heart."

Me: "(silence)"

Mercy of Jesus: "Blessed are the Pure in Heart, they will see God."

Me and Faith: "Lord Jesus, I want to see joy in Your Face, and hear Your Voice saying: 'Well done, good and faithful!' Consuming Fire, burn out the impurity in my heart!

He ain't heavy, He's my Brother!

O! What a Savior!