Three ‘strange’ analogies by Jesus

        By ‘strange’, I mean comparing himself to what I would call bad, or evil things. The first is the snake. John 3:14 says, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of man must be lifted up.”

        The Lord is referring to the plague of venomous snakes in Numbers 21:6-9. It was snakes that bit the people so Moses made a bronze snake image that they could look to for healing. The “uplifting” is on the cross, not glorification. For mankind, it is sin that destroys us. A snake is not a pretty thing—a snake is a frightening thing. And so, Jesus was made a frightening thing— “He was made sin for us”! See 2 Corinthians 5:21. The power of sin is destroyed once Jesus has been “lifted up”. Notice, too, the imperative “must be lifted up”. In both pictures, the key ingredient for healing is faith.

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        The second is the man who went to a far country to be made king, then returned and killed all those who opposed him. See Luke 19:12-27. This type of plotting included King Herod the Great, Archelaus, Herod Antipas, Herod Philip, and Herod Agrippa I. They all spent time in Rome hustling and plotting to establish their kingship back in Palestine. At the specific time Jesus told this parable, it would have been Herod the Great’s son, Archelaus, who had most recently made these moves, albeit over thirty years before. Remember that when Joseph was returning from Egypt, he was afraid to go into Judea because Archelaus was the new ruler.

        The parallel here is that Jesus left us for heaven. Sadly, there are those who don’t want him as king and have no reason except that they hate him. Because he is God, he knows they will never change and therefore he can only destroy them. His kingdom was not of this world, but one day he will return, as the true King. And we should be longing for that day.

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        The last analogy I want to look at right now is the thief. “If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming he would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready…” See Mathew 24:42-44, and Luke 12:39-40.

        There seems to be no other life situation where a person keeps their arrival time secret to keep their friends “on their toes”. The thief, of course, wants his target to be lulled to sleep. For Jesus’ return, God alone has this right to secrecy for our best interests, and our spiritual growth.

Reserved for YOU!

   

      Not long ago, we went to a formal outing. As suppertime approached, we made our way down to the dining room. The tables were all laid out and beautifully prepared on terraces. We stood at the top of the stairs, slightly stunned, and looking around, until we saw a table with a sign on it that said, "Reserved. Wilson. Party of 4". Our mood changed from feeling confused to one of welcome and warmth.        

      In Revelation 19:9, the angel said, “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” 1 Peter 1:4 talks about a place “reserved in Heaven for you.” How wonderful to have a spot reserved for us in Heaven!

Joy Wilson  

Book Review: Seasons of Clear Shining

  

         Seasons of Clear Shining

by Meg Sharpe and Arthur C. Dixon

Fountaria Canada,

Brampton, Ontario 2016

Hardcover, 151 + 9 pages

     When I first set eyes on this book and its cover, I didn’t know just where it was going. But because I know Arthur Dixon, I was glad to take the chance and buy it. My wife and I had just suffered what looked to be a grievous financial loss. We were reeling from what seemed like a let-down by God himself. How wonderful to read on page 4, an appropriate quotation from Brother Lawrence (1605-1691): “Let all our employment be to know God…and if our love for God were great, we should love him equally in pains and pleasures.”

        I was well into the book when the thought struck me, “I’m full! I’m overflowing! How much more of this wonderful stuff can there be?” And I looked and there were eighty more pages! Don’t do as I did, though. It’s a devotional— read only one or two pages at a time.

      The title is based on a poem by William Cowper, quoted in the preface:

“When comforts are declining,  

      he grants the soul again,

A season of clear shining,    

      to cheer it after rain.”

To Dixon and Sharpe, “clear shining” comes after “rain”. And just as the subtitle says (rediscovering Jesus in great songs of the faith), they have seen this clear shining in their selection of hymns. The clear shining is far more than just the knowledge that the believer is safe for eternity. The clear shining is learning more about Jesus and seeing him more clearly “after rain” (or even after hurricanes). A beam of God’s light illuminates something for our spirit, in each poem, that we might never have noticed without the commentary.

       Encouragement and blessing pour from every page. A few examples:—(p.47) "the primary mandate of our triune God” is “to love him with our heart and soul and mind and strength”, not to “check our brains at the church door [A.C.Dixon]”; (p.53) “Jesus’ hands were kind hands [Margaret Cropper]”; (p.73) “nations… civilizations—these are mortal…it is immortals whom we joke with, work with… [C.S.Lewis]”; (p.74) “take thou my cup, and it with joy or sorrow fill [Horatius Bonar]”; (p.79) “deepest thanks that I have another life to look forward to—a life joyous with light and flowers and heavenly song [Helen Keller].” I could go on, because there are scores of examples. Instead let’s turn to some of the technical aspects of the book.

       For starters, one of the most noticeable changes, and one that might upset some traditionalists, is the discontinuance of capitals on pronouns referring to Deity.  However, this is in keeping with KJV and NIV (Cf. John 3:32-35). I learned at least two new words: “misotheist” and “fluffernutter”! And what can I say of the pictures? —a perfect complement of detail and illustration to satisfy the reader’s need for visual commentary as well. 

        Finally, something that may be just a matter of taste, but a practice that, for me, occasionally removes the book from “timelessness” and sets it down in our very limited and changeable “now”. This is the mention of certain people and organizations. I would rather not hear of Dawkins or Sarfati, of Nye or the Vineyard Movement, of abortion atrocities, or ICR, or Randy Guliuzza. I would rather, as the vast majority of the book does, keep my eyes on Jesus.

        Let me finish with two quotations that every Christian needs to apply to their own life—that I need to apply to my life. “We read the apostle Peter’s exclamation in Acts 10:14, ‘By no means, Lord!’ No, Lord?” (p.74) The other quote is on p.60: “Young kids love to shout, ‘Daddy, look at me!’…In the same spirit we ought to say, ‘Lord Jesus, look!’ in every action, every thought. If we can’t, we need to ask, ‘Should I be involved in this at all?’”

Book Review: The Heavenly Man

The Heavenly Man

by Brother Yun with Paul Hattaway. Monarch Books,

London.

2002

Paperback, 351 pp

        The lady who first brought this book to my attention called it “life changing”. At first the title sounds presumptuous—but far from it. Brother Yun is a Chinese Christian, born into very impoverished circumstances in southern Henan Province in 1958. His mother was illiterate but had heard and responded to the gospel in the late 1940’s. With the Communist revolution in 1949, Christianity seemed to be almost wiped out. But when her husband fell sick with lung and stomach cancer, in her desperation she heard a voice say, “Jesus loves you.” She “repented of her sins and re-dedicated herself to the Lord Jesus Christ.” She then called her whole family together and they all committed to Christ, and even saw their father healed of his cancer.

        The next piece of the story is his search for a single Bible. He had never seen one, but eventually a frightened pastor from pre-revolution days showed him his.

        At only 16 years of age, Yun was on fire for the Lord. After a few years of preaching the gospel at house churches he seems to have come to the attention of the authorities and from then on, he suffered at least four lengthy imprisonments up to 2001. The mid chapters of   the book, detail the horrors of these imprisonments—the beatings, the humiliation, the pain, the loneliness, and yet he reports an unspeakable nearness to the Lord. Some of these horrors we haven’t even imaged, including transportation of human waste, electric batons discharged in his mouth, and beatings till his lower legs were almost pulp. At one point, he decided to fast—and that fast lasted 74 days, till he was so shrivelled up he was hardly recognizable as a man.

        After unimaginable hardship, disease and torture, he was finally given refugee status by Germany, and several years later his wife, son and daughter also escaped.

        There are details throughout the book that we Western Christians may have difficulty with—visions from the Lord, long fastings, dreams, and healings feature very frequently. Someone has even put up a website in Germany, just to debunk everything about Yun. In response Brother Xu (“Shoe”), who has known Yun for decades, has written a Preface that claims, “I testify that every story in this book is true.” And Paul Hattaway, the New Zealander who helped write the book, and is “an expert on the Chinese church”, has put out an 11-page “Open Letter Regarding ‘The Heavenly Man’”, in which he brings out a great deal of testimony to the sincerity and integrity of Brother Yun. I myself watched a video of Brother Yun preaching in a Kansas church, through his Finnish interpreter, and was moved with compassion.

        There is a very great deal more that could be said but in the final analysis, we can only say what the Lord said to the disciples of John the Baptist: “Go back and report…what you hear and see…Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” Matthew 11:4-6.      

       And why was he called “The Heavenly Man”? Because, as he left a secret house church in China, he fell into the clutches of the Public Security Bureau who demanded his address. In order to warn and save the others still in the church, he shouted at the top of his lungs, “I am a heavenly man! I live in Gospel village.” (p.83)

Citizenship

     I was talking with a friend who has US citizenship and in recent years has gained Canadian citizenship as well. I envy her a little bit because it gives her the right to free access to most of North America. I do have Canadian citizenship, and I even found that, through my grandfather, I could also gain Irish citizenship, or at least an Irish passport.

       Citizenship is a big thing in the Bible too. The Roman commander in Jerusalem when Paul was first arrested, Claudius Lysias, admitted that he had to pay “a lot of money” to get his citizenship. Paul countered that he was born with his. And it was his Roman citizenship that saved him from “interrogation” (that is, a beating, see Acts 22:24-28), and got him out of prison in other places (for example, Philippi in Acts 16:37-38). In fact, it was his Roman citizenship that got him his hearing before the emperor himself. Without Roman citizenship, he might never have even gotten out of Jerusalem alive.

        But, in fact, my friend really has treble citizenship, and even I have dual citizenship. We have common citizenship with the Apostle Paul in another country. In fact, 2000 years before Paul, even Abraham had citizenship in that country. Heb.11:10 tells us that “he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” Paul told the believers in Philippi (3:20) that “our citizenship is in heaven”

        One of the biggest responsibilities of a citizen is to support the government by paying taxes. I pay my taxes in Canada, and I’m grateful for the freedom and protection I get in return. What about our heavenly citizenship? In the first instance, the Lord Himself said about the children of the kingdom, that they don’t really owe taxes (Mat.17:26). But there may be other things our citizenship requires of us…patriotism—we love our country and its Ruler; defense—or at least explanation of why we’re in this new country; justice to fellow-citizens (and non-citizens), love for fellow-citizens…love for oppressed citizens of “the other country”—we really want them to immigrate!

        The basic principle of how we Christians should treat one another, heavenly citizen or not, is the same as the Jews treating foreigners in their midst. God says, in Leviticus 19:33-34, “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”

        There is another great advantage to our citizenship. We don’t ever want to meet the ruler of this present world (Eph.2:2). But Paul tells us that “we eagerly await a Saviour” from heaven, who will “transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” Our citizenship in the old country we came out of has nothing like this to offer us. One day we will meet our new Ruler—and be like Him.

Some thoughts about the Lord’s Supper

       Several years ago, my wife pointed out that if there is someone we appreciate, one of the first things we want to do is sit down and eat with them (or at least have coffee and a donut with them).

        Back in Genesis 18, three men showed up at Abraham’s tent door and his big concern was to get a meal for them. Joseph, in Egypt, brought his unknowing brothers to his house and said, “They are to eat with me at noon.” Gen. 43:16.

        Turning to the New Testament, one of the nastiest insults is that inflicted by those people who were invited to the king’s dinner and made excuses or just never showed up. Matt.22:5.

        Then Luke tells of a Pharisee who wanted to honour Jesus. What did he do? He “invited him to eat with him.” Luke 11:37.

        Jesus had often eaten with his followers but what was his heart’s desire in the upper room? “Eat with me!” It was kind of a graduation banquet cum farewell dinner. It was so important to him that he projected it down the ages, even to us— “Do this in remembrance of me.”

1 Cor.11:24.

        This was the “last supper”, but it was also the first “Lord’s Supper” or “Breaking of Bread”. These men were his friends, but he was also setting a precedent for believers to follow until he returns.

        After the resurrection, Jesus walked to Emmaus with two disciples and what did they ask— “Eat with us!” Also about this time, Jesus ate in front of his disciples to prove he wasn’t a ghost. Later, by the Sea of Galilee, he prepared the meal for them and again, his invitation was “Come and have breakfast.” John 21:12.

        Another classic example would be Revelation 3:20, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” Remember Holman Hunt’s painting of Christ standing at the door and knocking. Also remember that, when someone complained that there was no handle on the door, Hunt said, “The only handle is on the inside.”

       So, the burden is on us. He won’t save us against our will and, equally, he won’t force us to “remember him” and attend the Lord’s Supper. It is our choice. But always remember this too— “We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19.

“Adoption”

        My sister adopted two children, and I have two sisters-in-law who adopted as well. And they love those children fiercely! Adoption is as strong as—and perhaps even stronger than—natural birth. From God’s point of view, the bond of His adoption of a person is far stronger than the bond of His original creation of that person.

         There are several examples of adoption in the Bible:—

·         Abraham was going to adopt Eliezer as his heir. Gen.15:2, 3.

·         Jacob adopted Joseph’s two eldest sons as sons of his own, i.e., Ephraim and Manasseh were Jacob’s grandsons, but they were honoured as equal heirs with Judah, Reuben and the rest. Gen.48:5.

·         Moses was adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter. Ex.2:10

·         Esther was adopted by her cousin, Mordecai. Est.2:7.

·         Jeconiah (aka Jehoiachin or Coniah) [Jeremiah 22:30] was cursed that no direct descendants of his would ever sit on the throne. See also Matthew 1:12. This is a difficult story to follow but it seems to mean that Joseph (husband of Mary) could never be king but his adopted son, Jesus, could, by way of David’s son Nathan, and Mary.

        In the Roman world one of the most dramatic adoptions was Julius Caesar adopting Octavian (post-humously, no less, i.e., in his will) so the latter could become the next Emperor (called “Augustus”). Augustus later adopted Tiberius as his son and heir.

        When we move into the New Testament, the subject of adoption takes on a whole new meaning and brings us into the spiritual realm and into the family of God. The strongest verse on the subject doesn’t even use the word: John 1:12-13. “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.”

        There are five main verses referring to ‘adoption’ in Paul’s letters (and only Paul uses the word):

1.      Romans 8:15. The Spirit has brought about our adoption to the Father. Before that we were not children but slaves. Now being children of God we are on such a footing with Christ that we are co-heirs with him and must expect to share his sufferings as well as his glory.

2.      Romans 8:23. Full and complete adoption includes the redemption of our bodies.

3.      Romans 9:4. “Adoption to sonship” was intended for Israel but Israel failed.

4.      Galatians 4:5. The sequence is redemption, adoption, sonship, heir.

5.      Ephesians 1:5. Paul goes even further back and tells us that believers were predestined for adoption to sonship.

        Other Scriptures come at the same subject from a different angle. The believer in Christ becomes an “heir” with Him, a “co-heir”, a “joint-heir”, simply because the Father has adopted them. Every time we say “Father” or “Our Father” we are taking the place of children adopted into God’s family.

        And this brings us to still another subject, the new birth. How does the new birth tie in with adoption? “The adopted one became, in the eyes of the law, a new creature. He was born again into a new family.” [Unger’s Bible Dictionary] He lost all rights held in his former family and, by extension, all obligations (and all transgressions) as well.

        Many of the old hymn-writers thrilled to the fact of their adoption by God. For instance, in the Believers Hymn Book alone there are at least fourteen hymns that mention this fact: We will end with two of the better known:

#249 by John Kent:

Heirs of God, joint-heirs with Jesus

Long ere time its race began;

To His Name eternal praises,

O what wonders love hath done!

One with Jesus;

By eternal union one.

 and #366 by J.N.Darby:

That love that gives not as the world, but shares

All it possesses with its loved co-heirs.

ISN’T IT GREAT BEING IN GOD’S FAMILY?