Joy to the Whirled

Isaiah 26:3
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.

In the various themes linked to Christmas, one is “Peace on Earth.”  It originates with the announcement made to the shepherds,

^{Luke 2:13} Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

But Jesus never said, ‘I have come to bring peace on earth;’ rather he says something quite the opposite:

^{Matthew 10:34} “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵ For I have come to turn

“‘a man against his father,
    a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—

At the blog Possessing the Treasure, Matt Ratliff writes:

The number one accusation against those who proclaim the truth from God’s Word in the face of apostasy is that they are being divisive. I believe we should seek to have peace with all men, but we must be prepared to encounter conflict with those who refuse to submit to God’s truth. We are never called to be at peace with false teachers or false prophets or apostates. We don’t have to go to war against all of them either (Proverbs 26:4,5). From Jesus’ own teachings we learn that the cost of being His disciple is very high. Grace is free, but becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ costs us everything. We are told that no one is worthy of the Kingdom of God who is in love with this world. We cannot serve God correctly if we love our own life more than Him. We cannot love our families more than Him. We cannot love possessions more than Him. We are called to be the interim or peacemaker between those whom we love and God. We are to be the one God uses to bring them into the Kingdom. However, we are also called to not waiver and turn our backs on God and His ways because pressure is put on us to compromise our walk with God for the sake of peace.

49 “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! 50 I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! 51 Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. (Luke 12:49-51 ESV)

Jesus came to cast fire on the earth. This statement by our Lord is speaking of judgment. John the Baptist made the following statement about Jesus Christ.

11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:11-12 ESV)

John the Baptist used three references to Baptism in this passage. The first was “water for repentance.” This is what John the Baptist’s role was. His baptism symbolized cleansing. It was for those who were being baptized to show their commitment to repentance. The second was “baptize you with the Holy Spirit…” This signified that all genuine believers in our Lord Jesus Christ are Spirit-baptized. They receive the Holy Spirit indwelling them. No one without Him is genuine. The third baptism is with “fire.” This is referring to the baptism of judgment upon all the unrepentant.

Notice also that John tells us that in this our Lord will use His winnowing fork in His hand. What does that mean? This was a tool used for tossing grain into the wind so that the chaff is separated from it and blown away. This is speaking of separating those who have been baptized with the Holy Spirit from those who are to be baptized by fire. The grain signifies genuine disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ while the chaff represents unbelievers. The grain is gathered into barns, but the chaff is burned with a fire that is never quenched.

If we look back at Luke 12:49-51, we see that Jesus deeply desired for this unquenchable fire to be already kindled. He then states that He has a baptism with which he is to be baptized. His baptism was one of suffering. This is referring to his suffering and death on the cross. When a new believer is baptized, the ceremony symbolizes identification with Him in death, burial, and resurrection. Jesus stated that he was in great distress until His baptism in this was completed.

Why was Jesus in distress about going to the cross? Was He afraid of the beatings or the nails in His flesh or death? No, He knew that while on the cross that all of God’s fury and judgment against sin would be poured out on Him. He would endure God’s wrath against our sin.

51 Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 52 For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother- in- law against her daughter- in- law and daughter- in- law against mother-in-law.” (Luke 12:51-53 ESV)

Again, our Lord tells us that through His work on the cross there would be two groups of people. One group is made up of His disciples. The other group is everyone else. This “division” will run through families, cities, nations, churches, you name it. No matter where we go in this world, no matter what groups we are part of; those groups will contain some from both divisions. As a result, along with the natural conflict that goes on through the works of sinful men everywhere, there will be a supernatural division between our Lord’s flock and the rest of the world. This division will not be peaceful. It takes many forms. There is outright persecution in some situations. However, some of the worst conflict here comes when non-believers insist on being part of our Lord’s flock on their own merit.

Despite the efforts of those who try to be at peace with apostates, our Lord knows better. He knows who is bound for the fire and who is bound for the barn. However, we do not. That is why we must be very careful whom we accept as a brother in sister in Christ. We do no one any favors if we blindly accept everyone’s testimony without careful observation. If we give people false hope then we have done more harm than good.

What about families divided by the cross? I know that many reading this have loved ones that believe they are Christians because of their works, or what church they belong to, et cetera. What are we to do? We must never stop being peacemakers. (Matthew 5:9) We pray for them continually. We witness to them every chance we get. When war breaks out over the division we always seek to leave a door open in which to do our peace work.

What about apostates who demand to be seen as genuine? If you look closely at these people, you will see that they have made up their own version of Christianity that is self-focused and temporal in nature. That is rampant in our time. We must never allow anyone to proclaim a false version of the Gospel to be proclaimed as genuine. We must never allow anyone to twist our Lord’s words or the Bible’s words to make them say what they do not say. How are we to confront them? We must do so only from the basis of truth from God’s Word. That is why I do not allow debate on this blog unless all arguments are based in scripture. Personal and Straw Man attacks are not allowed. Instead, we use God’s Word to simply proclaim the truth. If any change is to be made in these people it will only come through the working of the Holy Spirit in them, not by our arguing.

Punished For Sin, Punished By Sin

In addition to preparing these daily readings, and keeping up with the writings of others at Daily Encouragement, I’m trying to start my day with my copy of The Voice translation of the Bible. Today I decided to read through Romans.

Romans 1 is often invoked in the context of some current issues that are causing the influence of the broader culture to encroach on the Church. Without engaging that today, I simply want to share something that appears in the supplementary “transition passages” which are added as amplification to the text.

The focus verses are:

¹⁸ For the wrath of God is breaking through from heaven, opposing all manifestations of ungodliness and wickedness by the people who do wrong to keep God’s truth in check. ¹⁹ These people are not ignorant about what can be known of God, because He has shown it to them with great clarity. ²⁰ From the beginning, creation in its magnificence enlightens us to His nature. Creation itself makes His undying power and divine identity clear, even though they are invisible; and it voids the excuses and ignorant claims of these people ²¹ because, despite the fact that they knew the one true God, they have failed to show the love, honor, and appreciation due to the One who created them! Instead, their lives are consumed by vain thoughts that poison their foolish hearts. ²² They claim to be wise; but they have been exposed as fools, frauds, and con artists— ²³ only a fool would trade the splendor and beauty of the immortal God to worship images of the common man or woman, bird or reptile, or the next beast that tromps along.

²⁴ So God gave them just what their lustful hearts desired. As a result, they violated their bodies and invited shame into their lives. ²⁵ How? By choosing a foolish lie over God’s truth. They gave their lives and devotion to the creature rather than to the Creator Himself, who is blessed forever and ever. Amen. ^26-27 This is why God released them to their own vile pursuits, and this is what happened: they chose sexual counterfeits—women had sexual relations with other women and men committed unnatural, shameful acts because they burned with lust for other men. This sin was rife, and they suffered painful consequences.

²⁸ Since they had no mind to recognize God, He turned them loose to follow the unseemly designs of their depraved minds and to do things that should not be done. ²⁹ Their days are filled with all sorts of godless living, wicked schemes, greed, hatred, endless desire for more, murder, violence, deceit, and spitefulness. And, as if that were not enough, they are gossiping, ³⁰ slanderous, God-hating, rude, egotistical, smug people who are always coming up with even more dreadful ways to treat one another. They don’t listen to their parents; ³¹ they lack understanding and character. They are simple-minded, covenant-breaking, heartless, and unmerciful; they are not to be trusted. ³² Despite the fact that they are fully aware that God’s law says this way of life deserves death, they fail to stop. And worse—they applaud others on this destructive path.

^{Chapter 2: 1} So you can see there are no excuses for any of us. If your eyes shift their focus from yourselves to others—to judge how they are doing—you have already condemned yourselves! You don’t realize that you are pointing your fingers at others for the exact things you do as well. ² There’s no doubt that the judgment of God will justly fall upon hypocrites who practice such things. ³ Here’s what is happening: you attack and criticize others and then turn around to commit the same offenses yourselves! Do you think you will somehow dodge God’s judgment? ⁴ Do you take the kindness of God for granted? Do you see His patience and tolerance as signs that He is a pushover when it comes to sin? How could you not know that His kindness is guiding our hearts to turn away from distractions and habitual sin to walk a new path?

I’ve included a rather healthy section of this here; it is the set-up for the section that follows where Paul speaks of the wrath and judgement of God, the same wrath that one denomination wanted excised from a popular worship song.

It’s interesting that the section in chapter one appears in the past tense. Maybe that’s why the people who created the chapter breaks chose to put what follows after verse 32 of chapter one into a new section.  But it’s interesting to look at some of those phrases in the present tense, for certainly these things continue today:

• God gives them what their hearts desire…
• They give their lives to the devotion of the created…
• God releases them to their own vile pursuits…
• They choose sexual counterfeits…
• Their sin is rife…

So what are the consequences. Ultimately, Paul is going to talk about the eternal consequences; the aforementioned outpouring of God’s wrath; but it was this transitional sentence that struck me that I want to leave us with:

Paul sounds a sober warning. God’s wrath is here; it is not some far-off future event. Paul says that God’s wrath is already at work in the world in what is effectively God’s “hands-off” policy. God, he says, steps aside and gives us over to idolatry, sexual sins, and depraved minds. Human sin and depravity are both its cause and effect. You see, we are not only punished for our sins, but we are punished by our sins. If God’s salvation consists essentially of His presence with us, then His wrath consists of His absence or separation from us. The bad news is this: God’s wrath is real. Without the good news of Jesus, no hope exists.

 

It looks like this bookstore has a huge section devoted to Romans, but in fact, it’s in Montreal where in French, Romans means ‘novel.’