****TRUSTING JESUS

There’s an old story about a tightrope walker who walked a line across Niagara Falls.  When he reached the other side, he turned around and pushed a wheelbarrow back across.  The crowd cheered and marveled at his ability.  Then he turned to the crowd and asked, “Who believes I can push this across with someone sitting in the wheelbarrow?” 

They all raised their hands.  Then he asked, “Who believes enough to get in the wheelbarrow and go with me?"

All the hands went down and no one would volunteer.

In 1989, for our 20th anniversary, our daughter, Dawn, gave us a gift that we have never forgotten.  She arranged for us to experience the exhilarating thrill of bungee jumping.

When our friends heard about it, some of them thought we were careless, irresponsible, and foolish.  We've all heard stories of fatal accidents.  Shortly after our jumps, a veteran bungee jumper fell several hundred feet to his death when he jumped from a hot air balloon.   He had fastened his own ankle straps and checked his own equipment and when he was confident in all his preparations, he jumped.  He no doubt had great faith but his faith was in his own works; no one had checked to ensure that the other end of his cord was secured to the gondola.

For Kathy and me, jumping from that cage was an act of faith that required a complete commitment but we weren’t afraid.  We had seen others go before us and we had heard their own accounts of their experiences.  Before we entered the cage, the attendants worked, systematically, through a written checklist of procedures to ensure that everything was right.  They selected the properly sized cords that were calculated for our weights.  Then they fastened them to our ankles with primary attachments and secondary attachments as a failsafe.  They passed every inch of the cords through their hands as they visually examined them for flaws, cuts, or breeches.  When they reached the end of the cords, they attached them to the cage with a primary attachment and a secondary backup.  They explained each step of what they were doing as they worked through their checklist.  And every detail of the preparation was carefully executed and double-checked by the attendant’s supervisor.

So, the faith we placed in the equipment was not a foolish, ignorant kind of “hope so” faith.   Based on the experiences and testimonies of others, the integrity of the equipment, and the qualifications of the operators, we had substantial assurance for our faith.   

For Christians, saving faith is not a matter of how much or how great our faith is.  People with great faith make deadly commitments all the time.  My own grandmother was one.  She was a practitioner, with great faith in a false religion that is not anchored in Truth.   When she became very ill, she exercised her faith by rejecting needed and available medical attention.  Not only did she die physically, but she also died in her sins and is condemned to eternal judgment.  

Our salvation is not based on the quantity or greatness of our faith nor is it earned by anything we have done. A Christian's faith is a complete trust in Jesus Christ only.  Saving faith is a “know so” faith because He is reliable, trustworthy, and all-powerful.  

TRUSTING JESUS was written by Edgar Stites put to music by Ira D. Sankey. In the first stanza is this phrase that particularly caught my attention:  "Even when my faith is small, Trusting Jesus, that is all."

He can be trusted in all things.

Jesus said, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of Him who sent me. And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that He has given Me, but raise it up on the last day.  For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” Jn. 6:37-40

Our Savior is able and reliable and His resurrection is proof of His power over sin and death.  If you want to get to the other side, you must “get in the wheelbarrow,” and Trust only Jesus for your salvation.

****PRAISE TO THE LORD, THE ALMIGHTY

Joachim Neander was born in Bremen, Germany in 1650.  In his early years, he lived a riotous and immoral life.  At about age 20, he and a group of his friends decided to attend a Christian service conducted by a visiting preacher.  Their intentions were to heckle and ridicule the pastor for the fun of it.  That didn’t work out the way he intended because he heard the gospel and God saved him that night. 

After his conversion, he was influenced by Philipp Spener who began the Pietist Revival Movement in the Lutheran Churches in Germany. 

Joachim began teaching, writing poetry, and occasionally preaching in the church but, because of his pietistic convictions, there was tension between him and the head minister.  He could not, in good conscience, participate in the dead rituals of the church.  After about two years, he was suspended and spent a lot of time in the surrounding hills and valleys.

The suspension was not long, though; maybe about two weeks. but the gossip that spread, resulted in a local legend that he had become a hermit living in a cave near the river in the valley. 

Joachim wrote about 60 hymns before he died at the early age of 30 years.

After his death, the river was named for him.  The German word for valley or dale, is Thal, so the river’s valley became known as Neander Thal.

About two hundred years later, some dead man’s bones were found in a quarry in the Neander Valley.  Those bones became the famous remains of a mythical early evolutionary man who was named, NeanderThal Man, for the place where his bones were found.

One Commentator, Tim Chaffey, of Answers in Genesis, wrote, “The words, ‘Bitter Irony’ come to my mind when I think of this hymn which is a wonderful reminder to praise God for the tremendous blessings He gives us.  So, where’s the irony?

“Ironically, instead of being remembered as the author of a beloved hymn about the ‘the King of creation,’ Neander’s name will continue to be linked with humanistic beliefs about the origin of man that deny the work of the Creator.

“Perhaps now when you hear about Neanderthal Man, you will remember to PRAISE “THE LORD, THE ALMIGHTY, THE KING OF CREATION” for His marvelous provision and thank Him for faithful servants like Joachim Neander who penned these inspiring words.”

This hymn is loosely based on Psalms 103 and 150.

“Praise God in His sanctuary;

Praise Him in His mighty firmament!

“Praise Him for His mighty acts;

 Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!

“Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet;

Praise Him with the timbrel and dance;

“Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes! 

Praise Him with loud cymbals;

Praise Him with clashing cymbals!

“Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord!”  Ps. 150

****THANKS TO GOD WHOSE WORD WAS SPOKEN (2)

In a sermon he preached, about a year ago, my pastor summarized all biblical theology in two statements:

1.     GOD IS.  That fact is declared in the first four words of the Bible (Genesis 1:1) “In the beginning GOD…”

2.     HE HAS REVEALED HIMSELF.  And that is the rest of the Bible in its entirety.  It’s all about Him.  It’s His revelation of and about Himself to His creation.  Everything we need to know for faith and practice, He has revealed in His written Word.

Can you imagine what it would be like if it were left up to each one of us to discover God through subjective means?  We could never be certain.  But we have His Word.  It is true and it is certain.  The Word of God is our final authority in all matters of faith and practice. 

THANKS TO GOD WHOSE WORD WAS SPOKEN, is a song of thanksgiving to God for His Word.  He has given us everything we need to know about Him.  And He has done it with WORDS.

I was fascinated by the way the author, R. T. Brooks, outlined God’s progressive revelation in the four stanzas of this hymn.  But then,  I was bothered by how he ended each verse with the same phrase; “Praise Him for His OPEN word.”  

In the context of 21^st century American Christianity, that word raises a lot of confusion. We have open theism, open marriages, open doctrines, and churches with open memberships.  God’s Word should be open but it is NOT open to interpretation; it means exactly what He intended it to mean.  We are not to approach His Word with the question, “What does this verse mean to me?” but rather, “What did God mean when He spoke it and what does it mean if I had never been born?"

So, I have taken the liberty to change the last phrase in each verse, in order to more clearly identify the mode through which God has Spoken (see lyrics below). 

The first stanza describes the beginning of God’s revelation in His creation (“the deed that made the earth”).  Gen. 1;1 says, “In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth.”  Then, in subsequent verses, we read that in every act of His creation, prior to man, He created with His Spoken Word (“…and God said, ‘Let there be…’ ”)    All creation is an unmistakable testimony of God’s glory. 

The concept that God has spoken in His creation is further expounded in Psalm 19, “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.  Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world.”

The stanza continues with God calling His people.  Hebrews 1:1 says, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets…” 

That verse is clear, God spoke IN TIME PAST.   And He was precise and deliberate to ensure that His Word was not changed or corrupted.  If any man claimed to be a prophet, and his prophecies did not come to pass, he was executed so that there would be no confusion among God’s people.  

We Praise Him for His SPOKEN Word.

The second stanza is a reference to verse 2 of Hebrews 1, “…(God) has, in these last days spoken to us by His Son.”

John introduced the Son of God with these words, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.  And we beheld His Glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Then, in verse 17, John makes this distinction between the Word of prophecy and the Incarnate Word;  “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

We Praise Him for the LIVING Word.

The third stanza takes us to the Scriptures which were given to us by God through the Apostles.  (2 Tim. 3:16-17) “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Now we have His complete Word recorded for us. 

We Praise Him for His WRITTEN Word.

Does God still speak to us today?  Yes!

The last stanza tells us that the Spirit speaks to us. 

One of the functions of the indwelling Spirit of God is to teach us and guide us into all Truth.  And He does that with His Word because “His Word is Truth.”  

When we hear or read and meditate on God's Word, the Spirit convicts us of sin and leads us in the way we should live.  And any time we feel that the Holy Spirit is telling us something, it must be tested against or verified with the Written Word of God.  God’s Word never changes and it never contradicts itself because God never changes.

Praise Him for His CHANGELESS Word.

THANKS TO GOD WHOSE WORD WAS SPOKEN

Thanks to God whose Word was spoken,

In the deed that made the earth.

His, the voice that called a nation,

His the fires that tried her worth,

God has spoken, God has spoken;

Praise Him for His open SPOKEN Word.

Thanks to God whose Word incarnate,

Glorified the flesh of man.

Deeds and words and death and rising,

Tell the grace in heaven’s plan.

God has spoken, God has spoken;

Praise Him for His open LIVING Word.

Thanks to God whose Word was written,

In the Bible’s sacred page.

Record of the revelation

Showing God to every age.

God has spoken, God has spoken;

Praise Him for His open WRITTEN Word.

Thanks to God whose Word is answered,

By the Spirit’s voice within.

Here we drink of joy unmeasured,

Life redeemed from death and sin.

God is speaking, God is speaking.

Praise Him for His open CHANGELESS Word.