Dancing In The Downpour!

Doesn’t it feel great to know that God loves us to the end? That he is committed to love us no matter what we do or don’t do. Yesterday, in my message at church on Hosea’s unusual love, we saw God pursuing Israel despite their drifting from him, pictured in Hosea going after his adulterous wife, despite her leaving him. We saw God committing to love Solomon from birth to death despite God knowing that Solomon would drift away from him with all his sins. God loves us to the end, no matter what!

On this post, allow me to walk you through the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15.

The father is God, the son is the guy who drifts away from God in want of material blessings. He took all of the good things that God had given him and he went out and wasted them in loose living, immorality and drunkenness. He comes to a point where he realizes he has hit bottom. He's serving pig slop and having to eat his own meals from the same. In the words of Hosea, he is in the desert, scratched by the thorns, removed from all his possessions. And he realizes that this is not the way to live. And he decides to come to God. And he is coming back sorrowful over his wasted life, sorrowful over squandering all of the wonderful gifts that came from the hand of the Lord. He has wasted his time and all of his opportunities. But he knows where he is. He understands his iniquity. He understands his wickedness. He wants to go back and make things right with his father, with God, and he heads back.

In verse 20, you see God's love demonstrated toward this guy who yearns to come home to God. While he's still a long way off, he is still down the road, he hasn't even been able to reach the presence of his father, his father saw him because he was looking and waiting for the son's return. And when he saw him a far distance of, he felt compassion for him and ran and embraced him and kissed him over and over.. .that .is the indication of the Greek language.

Here you have a picture of the character of God's love. And the amazing thing about this love is that it's given toward one who is utterly undeserving, one who has wasted and misused his God-given blessings and yet the father sees him, feels compassion for him and runs to meet him and throws his arms around him and repeatedly kisses him. Here is tender mercy. Here is forgiveness. Here is compassion. Here is a father treating the son as if there were no past, as if his sins had been buried in the depths of the deepest sea, removed as far as the east is from the west and forgotten. Here is effusive affection. There is not a reluctance that says, "Well, you know, you've really lived a wretched life and I'm going to let you into my house but I really shouldn't do that" attitude. There is no past. It is gone. It has disappeared. And all that the son experiences is embracing and repeated kissing and hugging and the joy of the father is overflowing. This is emblematic of how God loves us when we make that powerful decision to put him above all else in our lives. He loves us back lavishly, He loves us grandly, greatly, affectionately.

And the son is so shocked by this, in verse 21 the son said to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, I'm no longer worthy to be called your sin." It's almost like he pushes him away and says, "Wait a minute, do you understand what I've done? Do you understand what I'm like?" It's almost as if he can't deal with this affection.

This is perhaps the profoundest humiliation. Coming to God after we have sinned against him is a humbling experience. And the first thing that humbles you when you come to God is the awareness of your sin. He was humbled while he was in his desert, while he was eating the pig slop. He became very much aware of a wasted and squandered life. He knew what was available to him from the father. He went back, he confessed his sin against heaven and in the sight of his father. He is now truly repentant . He is turning from his sin, turning from his wasted life and he comes to God and he is humbled, first of all, by his sin.

But then secondly and perhaps more profoundly, he is humbled by God's grace. What is more humbling than the awareness of one's sin is the awareness of God's grace. That is far more humbling. And he wants to push God away, as it were, and say, "Do you really understand what I've done? You're just pouring out love and affection on me, do you know who I am?" That is even more humbling. But such is the love of God toward the one who returns home to him; who would now say, “The Lord takes pre-eminence in my life. He is above all other things. I am coming home to my Father.” It is rich, lavish, effusive, exalting love.

The father doesn't even respond to his hesitant questions in verse 21. The father just says to the slaves, "Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet and bring the fattened calf, kill it and let us eat and be merry." There's not even a regard for the queries of the young man about whether he's worthy or not, he just says start the party, people. "This son of mine," verse 24, "was dead, has come to life again, was lost, has been found, and they began to be merry." And that's the picture of the love of God toward the one who returns to his first love - to God's marvelous love. It is not minimal, it is maximal. It is lavish.

There is a joy that often hits at the soul like a thunderbolt when you come into the full realization of such a love and you just want to dance in the rain. You suddenly feel uninhibited, free … you want to hop, skip, dance. You want to dance in the downpour! That’s what happens when you experience the downpour of God’s marvelous love. Its maximal…lavish…you wanna just dance…

God's Marvellous Love For His Own...

In preparation to the church camp, Downpour, and to clearly grasp the character of God's love in some manageable ways and understand it, I have offered to you three propositions. We have talked about the first in the last post, we will talk about the second in this post. These are three key propositions that will help us to understand the love of God.

First of all, God's love is unlimited in extent. Secondly, God's love is limited in degree. And thirdly, God's love is ultimately directed at His own glory.

God’s love in limited in degree. What does this mean? In John 13:1, the apostle of love writes, "Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He should depart out of this world to the Father...that's His death...having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end."

This verse must be studied! God not only has a universal love for all mankind, He has a very special love for those who are His own. And how is that love defined? By this phrase, "He loved them to the end." He loves the world but to a completely different degree, He loves His own who are in the world. And it is described as loving them to the end.

Now that little phrase "to the end" is the key to unlocking this understanding. In the Greek it is eis telos. There are three meanings to it in the Greek:

(1) It can mean completely; unto completion.

He loves His own as much as He can love. He loves His own to the complete extent of His capacity to love. He loves us as fully and completely as a redeemed human could ever be loved by a God whose love knows no limits.

(2) It can mean to the last...to the end.

In that significance it would be saying that He loves us all the way to the end of life. It never changes. That love will never turn to hate. There never will be a time when some limit to it is imposed. He will continue to love us right on to the end.

The context of this verse was the night before the betrayal. He's gathered in the upper room with His disciples and He's very much aware of their failures and their weaknesses and their disappointing actions....very much aware that they are a cowardly disloyal frightened group who very soon will demonstrate that by scattering all over the place when He is taken prisoner. Their leader will deny Him vociferously. Even after the resurrection they will be pining away in unbelief and He'll have to appear to them to let them know He's alive. Even after they're able to see Him in His post-resurrection appearance, even after they've touched Him and heard Him and seen Him, they will still lapse into significant disobedience and He will have to confront them in Galilee and restore them and call them back into ministry and even ask the question...Do you love Me? And when He's hanging on the cross dying for their sins, they won't be there...with the exception of John and some women.

And as if all that was to come to pass was not enough, at the very supper where He is with them now they are arguing about which of them is going to be the greatest in the Kingdom...blatant pride and self-promotion and boastfulness as opposed to the humility which He had exemplified before them. And He has to exemplify again immediately after this by washing their dirty feet and showing them how to humble themselves.

To put it simply, there wasn't a lot to love. But He loved them to the end. In other words, this was a love that would never ever die, it would never ever wane. It didn't matter what they did because it wasn't conditioned on that. If it had ever been conditioned on that it never would have existed in the first place.

(3) It can mean eternally...forever.

It means not only will He love them to the end of their life, not only will He love them to the end of His earthly life, but He will love them forever. In fact, He will tell them a few moments after this, "I'm going to heaven to prepare a place for you that where I am there you may be also," which is to say I love you to the degree that I will take you to be with Me forever. This all is contained in the phrase eis telos, all of it.

That is the limit of His love for His own – for those who belong to Him. It is limited to His own only and it is a love that is complete; that is to end and that is forever.

Such is the love of God for you and me!

DOWNPOUR: The Unlimited Extent Of God's Love

God's love is unlimited in extent. The love of God extends to all people in all times. God’s love is for all mankind. We tend to love our own, our own family; our own friends; our own people but God doesn't just love His family, God loves His enemies. That is the extent of God’s love.

There are four ways in which this unlimited extent is manifested. Understanding these four ways will expand your knowledge of God's love. Remember, the primary purpose of these posts is to prepare us for the church camp. A narrow view of His marvelous love will not do but an expanded view will increase your capacity for the downpour.

There are four manifestations of God's unlimited live:

1. Common grace.

Common grace is an old term but it's a good one. It means there are certain kindnesses and goodnesses that God does commonly for all people, whether they know Him or not. In Matthew 5:45 Jesus says, "Here's the proof of God's love, He causes His Son to rise on the evil and the good, He sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." It rains on everybody.” The sun shines on everybody. Flowers grow in everybody's garden. Lots of people have lots of fun and lots of joy and lots of happiness and it has nothing to do with whether they know God or not, right? That's just how it is in life. That's how God's love manifests itself. God loves all the world that He created.

2. Compassion

God’s love manifests itself in compassion. To say it another way, it is a love of pity. It is a love of broken-heartedness. It is a love of sadness.

In Jeremiah 13 Jeremiah cries the tears of God, for it says, "Give glory unto God" in verses 15 and following, "And if you don't...he says...mine eyes will run down with tears and I will weep with sorrow." Those are the tears of God. God weeps over the failings of His created people. It pains Him that we are hurt and struggling. If you go to chapter 48 of Jeremiah, start in verse 30, go down to verse 36, read the tears of God there. It was pity. It was compassion. Love motivated by wasted value, lost value. It's the same kind of thing you might feel when you walk through the villages of war-torn East Timor and you see burnt houses and wide-eyed diseased children running around barely with any clothes on their bodies ...there's nothing about them that attracts your affection, but there's a heart-wrenching sense of pity and pain that manifest in compassion. That's the love of God in the realm of compassion. He pities us and feels with us in our pain.

3. Love of Warning.

The pages of Scripture are replete with God's warnings. I mean, if God really didn't love mankind, then He didn't have to warn him cause He didn't care. But He does love and He does care and He does warn. Every loving parent must warn his child of danger. So does God. Why? Because God loves men enough to warn them. Jesus, Luke 13:3 and 5, both verses separated by verse 4 says exactly the same thing. He says this, "I tell you, unless you repent you will perish." God’s love is not just a cuddly emotion. His love is an honest concern about a person's destiny.

4. The Gospel Offer

When Isaiah says come buy and eat, come buy wine and milk without money, without price, when Jesus teaches in Matthew 22:2 and 3 the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king which made a marriage for his son and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding and they wouldn't come, and then it says he went out into the highways and byways and called some others. Do you notice there that it says he went out and called those that were bidden to the wedding and they wouldn't come? The love of God not only warns about judgment, the love of God calls to salvation. In Luke 2:10, the angel said to them, "I bring you good news of great joy which shall be for all people. There is born this day in the city of David a Saviour." That's good news for all people...for all people.

Look, God loves the whole world. You see it in common grace. You see it in compassion. You see it in warning. And you see it in the offer of the gospel. And Jesus is the Savior of the whole world. John 6: 33 says, "For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world." And, we have to be able to say that to every sinner, right? He is the Savior of the world.

Shall we not make that the theme of our TGIF this Easter – tell everyone He is the Risen Saviour of the world and be the conduits of His love, taking them down the ROAD which is RED?

WOULD A FETUS WHO DIED IN THE WOMB GO TO HEAVEN?

The Bible states that the unborn infant at any stage of development has a human soul and is the object of Christ’s salvation. We read:

The Lord called me before my birth; from within the womb He called me by name." Isaiah 49:1 (Living Bible)

Jer 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew a you…”

You were there when I was being formed in utter seclusion. You saw me before I was born, before I began to breathe! Psalm 139:15 (Living Bible)

Oh that I had been an untimely birth, as an infant which never saw the light. Then had I been at rest with kings and counselors of the earth, with princes that had gold. The small and the great are there. Job 3:16 (KJV)

If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years so that the days of his life be many, and his soul be not filled with good...I say that an untimely birth is better than he. He (the untimely or miscarried child) hath not seen the sun, nor known anything; yet this one hath more rest than the other. Ecc. 6:3-5 (KJV)

A child is human from the moment of conception. The Scriptures above describe the unborn as a complete individual with the pronouns "I," "my," or "me." It would not be possible for us to have identity or be human without body and soul.

To ask "at what point does a human fetus receive a spirit?" is to ask the wrong question. The Bible tells us that human beings are two elements: body and soul woven into one, Is. 10:18 , 51:23, Micah 6:7, Matt. 10:28, 1 Th. 5:23, Dan. 7:15, 1 Cor. 6:20, 1 Cor. 7:34, and James 2:26. Therefore we are body and soul at conception.

In view of the above passages we can conclude that when an embryo, of even a few days, is miscarried and lost to earthly existence, God completes the "substance" of the life He began into a heavenly, glorified body.

King David lost an infant shortly after birth. In 2 Sam. 12:18, this man of faith said, "He cannot come again to me, but I will go to him." What he meant was that the child was already in heaven.

The Bible speaks about the faith of John the Baptist in the womb. In Luke 1:44, Elizabeth told Mary, "For behold, when the words of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy." This was a miraculous event limited to the prophet John the Baptist but it demonstrates that the unborn child has a soul and that God plans our salvation before we are born. At the occasion of this verse Christ is little more than an embryo and Elizabeth is in her sixth month. John recognizes his Saviour from the womb.

In Mark 10:14-16, Christ tells the parents to bring their children to Him, regardless of the child’s age and ability to reason. In Matt. 18:6, He says it would be better if a person were drowned with a millstone around his neck rather than interfere with the faith "of these little ones who believe in Me." The Greek word for "little ones" can mean as young as a fetus. What is implied here is that ‘little ones’ believe in their Maker.

Babies do not need the ability to reason in order to have faith in Christ. The power of salvation is in the Gospel. If the ability to reason was necessary for faith, then there would be a question about the salvation of the severely retarded, those who die in their sleep, or those who die while unconscious.

We would be judging God if we assumed that the untimely death of an infant meant God did not plan to save the unborn child. Christ came to save what He became. He first became a fetus in Mary’s womb. Therefore, He came to save the product of every conception in the womb. It says in the Bible, "He died for all." This means God also desires to save those who die in the womb.

Downpour: Introduction

I am preparing at this particular point the series of messages for the church camp in June on the love of God. And in preparing, I realized that there are so many things about the marvelous love of God that I hadn't yet studied and hadn't yet preached and hadn't really yet thought through, what more there is so much more of the love of God that I hadn’t yet experienced! I am so excited embarking on this new journey of re-discovering the love of the Lord. A downpour doesn’t just happen. There is first the collection of rain clouds in the atmosphere. I believe between now and June, the Lord will be seeding the ‘clouds’ for us to experience the deluge of the love of the Lord!

And I want to invite you to join me in this journey in preparing our souls for the downpour. What I intend to do is to share my studies on the love of the Lord as we move along, praying that the Lord will plant seeds and water them in your soul, making you so ready for the downpour in June. Please join me in this journey.

In 2 Corinthians 13:11 God is called the God of love. And in 1 John 4:8 the Bible says God is love. This is truly the crowning character of God. This is part of the fabric of His spiritual essence, His being. And it is a much celebrated attribute because along with it comes goodness and kindness and mercy. Song writers and hymn composers and poets through all the history of the church have exalted God as a God of love. They have written hymns and songs and psalms and poems on the love of God.

Song-writer and composer Bill Gaither has probably written the best lyrics that I know on the love of God. He writes:

`Could we with ink the ocean fill

and were the skies of parchment made,

were every stalk on earth a quill

and every man a scribe by trade,

to write the love of God above

would drain the ocean dry,

nor could the scroll contain the whole,

though stretched from sky to sky.’

An immense communication of the love of God. The chorus of that song says,

"O love of God how rich and pure,

how measureless and strong,

it shall forevermore endure the saints' and angels' song."

Lyrics like these stir us to want to know the depths of God’s love. We are His children and He so loves us. Isn’t it our spiritual right to understand and experience the fullness of that love? Because I really believe that when we know the depth and the height and the width of His love, we will be healed of many of our maladies. We will be made whole.

And what I want to show you in the days ahead through this blog is how to understand the love of God. Because it will prepare you for the downpour. It will make you ready to experience God.

Now in order for you to grasp it, I want you to think around three key propositions that I will list here but we will go through this for a good number of posts in the days and weeks ahead. And until it's all done you're not going to have it all together. So can I encourage you to just enjoy the trip. And when you enjoy the trip you will love the destination when we reach it, that is, at the church camp, in June.

Let me give you the three propositions:

Proposition #1: God's love is unlimited in extent.

Proposition #2: God's love is limited in degree.

Proposition #3 God's love is ultimately directed at His glory.

We will deal with the first proposition in the next post.

Ambushing Satan With Song [Final]

Two Practical Applications

Let me close this series of devotionals with two practical applications.

1. Use Songs in Your Personal Devotions

Use songs in your personal devotional life to help you ambush Satan. Sing to the Lord. Sing in worship knowing fully well that your singing will disarm the enemy. I promise you it will bring a new power to your fight of faith. Satan cannot bear the singing of the saints. You can drive him away with song. And don't fall for his lie that you can't sing. Everybody can sing. Not everybody can perform. Not everybody can lead. Not everybody can read music or even stay on the right keys. But everybody can sing to God.

When a four year old comes home from Children’s Church and announces that he wants to sing you a new song, and what you hear is a mixture of three tunes and four different sets of lyrics, how do you feel as a parent? I'll tell you: you feel wonderful, because there is a song in the heart of your child. And if any enemy ever came along and opposed that song, you would flatten him—like God did the Moabites and the Philippian jail. God loves to hear your song, no matter how badly you sing. And woe to your enemies when you sing to your Father in heaven!

2. Know That the Ministry of Song In Worship Is Warfare

Second, God has ordained that the gifted singers among us be appointed for spiritual leadership in worship. David appointed the Levites of the family of Kohath to the ministry of music. They were to serve in the house of God to bring a continual offering of praise and worship to the Lord. They were to lead and assist the people in singing to God. And, as we saw in 2 Chronicles 20 their work is warfare. When they began to sing, the Lord set an ambush against the enemy.

And so it is in the local church. This worship team is not there to turn worship into a nice aesthetic experience for the pleasure of unspiritual artsy types. The worship leaders and musicians and support singers have not been called as a kind of musical artists in residence. They have been called as army commanders. The enemy is Satan and the warfare is song. And their business Sunday after Sunday is to take charge of their congregation at the front ranks of the army and to lead us to God in worship, to each other in love, and into the world to plunder the death camps of Satan. Christ has given us a promise far greater than the promise of Jahaziel to Jehoshaphat: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me; go make disciples . . . I will be with you to the end of the age . . . I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die" (Matthew 28:18–20; John 11:25).

The Triumphant Song of Martyrs

January 8, 1956, Jim Elliot and four other young missionaries approached the jungle edge where the Auca Indians lived. Their last recorded act according to Elizabeth Elliot in her book Through Gates Of Splendour was to sing a hymn together:

We go in faith, our own great weakness feeling,
And needing more each day thy grace to know,
Yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing,
We rest on thee, and in thy name we go.

All five of them were killed that afternoon. But they, too, were protected by God—protected from a fate far worse than death. They were protected from cowardice and unbelief and fear. And I think it would be fair to say—protected with song. Why do I say that? Because the seed they sowed with their sacrificial death that day was incorruptible seed and that seed was planted with song – and the devil could not destroy it! Satan is immobilized by song.

We have two great weapons in worship: the Word of God and song. So let us give heed to the Word of God and let us sing with all our heart. Amen

What is the Christian perspective on war?

There are two dominant positions on war that Christians have embraced throughout Christian history. There are variations on each, but, for the sake of brevity, this answer will focus on the two main views and explain them in general terms:

Pacifism verses The Just War Theory.

The Pacifist Tradition

Definition: A pacifist is someone who believes that under no circumstances is war justified. An killing by war is sin since the Bible explicitly condemns murder.

This position dominated Christianity during the Church’s first 300 years. Early Christians perceived two roadblocks that prohibited a devout believer from joining the military, voluntarily or involuntarily.

1. In order to become a soldier in the Roman army, one had to offer a sacrifice, swearing an allegiance to Caesar—swearing ultimate allegiance to him as a god. Of course, all Christians agreed that this was not possible for a devout believer. So believers were prohibited from joining the military, based on this requirement.

2. Soldiers may be called upon to pick up the sword and use it. Many Christians believed that this too was against the teachings of Christ.

Tertullian, in the early third century A.D. makes this statement:

“For even if soldiers came to John and received advice on how to act, and even if a centurion became a believer, the Lord, in subsequently disarming Peter, disarmed every soldier” (Treatise on Idolatry 19; Ante-nicene Fathers 3:73).

Tertullian is referring to the incident where Peter attempted to defend Christ in the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus halted him, forbidding him to take up the sword against those attackers. He tells Peter that he who lives by the sword will die by the sword. Tertullian and many Church fathers saw this as a model for all Christians—that none are given the right to pick up the sword.

In the Canon of Discipline, a third century document, it was said that Christian soldiers should not be taught to kill, and if they were, they must refuse to kill, even upon command by their officers. To do otherwise would bring Church discipline.

Here are the major elements of the strict pacifist viewpoint, based upon their interpretation of Scripture:

1. According to pacifism, war is inconsistent with the law of nonresistance preached and modeled by Jesus Christ. The pacifist tradition is based on its interpretation of part of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said:

“You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also” (Matthew 5:38-39).

This is the “law of nonresistance.” Following Christ’s command to turn the other cheek, many pacifists believe that it is better to suffer violence than it is to commit violence. They believe this was taught by Jesus, and modeled by Him in the words of Peter:

“For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps” (I Peter 2:21).

Pacifists have said that our obligation as believers is to follow the example of Jesus who turned the other cheek—and did not return evil for evil. They say we are to “resist not evil” (Matthew 5:39). They interpret this to mean that we are never to resist evil under any circumstances or under any conditions. Just as Christ did not retaliate against violence, but rather he suffered on the cross taking suffering to Himself and snuffing it out. The pacifist sees the death of Christ (an innocent victim in the face of injustice) as a pattern for all Christians to follow.

2. Pacifists believe that war is inconsistent with the ethic of love. Again, quoting from Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:43-44).

Pacifists say, “Jesus called us to love our enemy, not take up arms against him. We are to pray for those who persecute us. We are to turn the other cheek. We are not to resist evil, but to allow love to overcome evil.” Mennonite Pacifist Myron Augsburger asked, “How can we kill another human being for whom Jesus died? How can we adopt the attitude that ‘Jesus loves you, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to kill you?’”

The Pacifist Interpretation of Scripture Confuses Private Roles of The Christian With His Public Roles

PRIVATE VS. PUBLIC ROLES - Pacifists fail to make a clear distinction between a Christian’s private and public views. In Romans 12-13 we find Paul’s explanation of the role of the Christian and the State. Here he lays out some fine distinctions between how were are to conduct ourselves privately and publicly—how we are to manage our person, and how we are to manage our office.

In Romans 12:17-21, Paul lays out the responsibility of the Christian INDIVIDUAL. “Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. If possible…” Notice the qualifier, “if possible.”

“If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.”

What is Paul saying? There will be times when you cannot be at peace with all men. But when it is possible, when it depends on you, as an individual, strive for peace.

“Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

These are words very similar to those of Jesus. Verse 17 and 21 are saying the same thing: Never pay back evil for evil, and overcome evil. These two verses act like bookends in the text—one at the beginning and the other at the end. Everything between these two bookends supplies the definition and context for what Paul means when he says “evil.”

What is evil? Don’t take your own revenge; that is evil.

Why is it evil? Because you are usurping the prerogative of God who alone has the wisdom to know when retribution ought to be enacted. God is to be the judge, and God’s ministering authority, the government. Individuals should not take matters into their own hands. That is God’s job. To do otherwise is to usurp God’s right and to usurp the right of the ruling government, the State.

So, the evil that Paul, and I believe Jesus, had in mind to resist here is the evil of personal vengeance. The Scriptures are forbidding us from taking personal revenge. That is a lot different than forbidding us to pursue justice.

Revenge no; justice yes.

It is no coincidence that Paul follows this passage dealing with the Christian’s private response to evil with a Christian’s public response to evil. In chapter 13:1-4, we see the role of the State.

“Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil.

Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it [government; the State] is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.”

What is Paul saying? He is building an argument. First of all, government is established by God. As a minister of God, it acts as an avenger to promote good and to punish evil (some translations say “evildoers”). Essentially, the role of government is to promote justice.

Here is the distinction. As individuals, we are not to seek personal vengeance. We need to be willing to suffer injustice as Christians, and make an appeal to our God and to our State. We are to entrust ourselves to God.

But, as members of the State, we are to work for justice against evil, for the sake of others and of society.

That creates a tension for many Christians, trying to understand when is the right time to turn the other cheek. John Stott put it this way,

“If my house is burglarized one night and I catch the thief, it may well be my duty to sit him down and give him something to eat and drink, while at the same time telephoning the police.”

We have a private responsibility and duty, and we have a public one.

Conclusion About Pacifism

Pacifism does not take the whole counsel of Scripture. It does not separate a Christian’s private duties from his public duties, and the role of the State versus the role of the individual.

The Just War Theory

Just War Theory is the other dominant position held by many Christians. This position is based on the following assumptions:

1. War is never good. But it is sometimes necessary. Why? Because sin is an ever present reality that has to be dealt with.

“What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder” (James 4:1-2).

At the forefront of much war and conflict is an idolatry that says, “I want more. I want what you have.” And so there are wars and rumours of wars. Much of it is rooted in human sin.

2. Necessary wars are to be conducted within the limits of justice.

The purpose of Just War Theory is to give us a common terminology, so that nations that wage war will operate within certain parameters that are just.

3. Only governments, and not individuals, have the right under God to carry out retribution.

This rules out terrorists. They have no authority to do what they do.

Within Just War Theory there is a seven-fold criteria.

1. There must be a just cause. Participation in war must be prompted by a just cause or a defensive cause. The wars led by biblical warriors like Joshua, David, Jehoshaphat were all for a just, defensive cause.

2. It is a last resort. Other means of resolution such as diplomacy and economic pressure must have been reasonably exhausted before war.

3. Formal declaration. The war must be initiated with formal declaration by a properly constituted authority. Only governments can declare war, not individuals or militias or terrorist organizations – only governments.

4. Limited objectives. Securing peace is the purpose and objective in going to war. War must be engaged in such a way that when peace is attained, hostilities cease.

5. Proportionate means. Combatant forces of the opposition may not be subjected to greater harm than is necessary to secure victory and peace.

6. Noncombatant immunity. Military forces must respect individuals and groups not participating in the conflict and must abstain from attacking them.

Source: ChristianAnswers organization

Ambushing Satan With Song [Part FOUR]

The Testimony of Great Saints

In his book The Hour That Changes the World, Dick Eastman's shares about Mary Slosser who worked in China for many years. She used to say, "I sing the Doxology and dismiss the devil." And Amy Carmichael said, "I believe truly that Satan cannot endure it and so slips out of the room—more or less—when there is a true song."

Martin Luther gives his testimony like this:

Music is a fair and lovely gift of God which has often wakened and moved me to the joy of preaching . . . Music drives away the Devil and makes people joyous . . . Next after theology I give to music the highest place and the greatest honour. I would not change what little I know of music for something great. Experience proves that next to the Word of God only music deserves to be extolled as the mistress and governess of the feelings of the human heart. We know that to the devils music is distasteful and insufferable. My heart bubbles up and overflows in response to music, which has so often refreshed me and delivered me from dire plagues. (Here I Stand, p. 266)

William Law in his spiritual classic, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, has a whole chapter to encourage us to chant the psalms in our private devotions. He says,

Just as singing is a natural effect of joy in the heart so it has also a natural power of rendering the heart joyful . . . There is nothing that so clears a way for your prayers, nothing that so disperses dullness of heart, nothing that so purifies the soul from poor and little passions, nothing that so opens heaven, or carries your heart so near it, as these songs of praise.

They create a sense and delight in God, they awaken holy desires, they teach you how to ask, and they prevail with God to give. They kindle a holy flame, they turn your heart into an altar, your prayers into incense, and carry them as a sweet-smelling savor to the throne of grace. (pp. 168, 164)

It is no wonder that Satan hates the musical praises of God's people. He does his best to keep a church from being a worshipping church. And he does his best to keep you from being a singing, worshipping person.

I don't think these testimonies from Mary Slosser and Amy Carmichael and Martin Luther and William Law are pious platitudes. I think that they are strictly and terribly true. Satan cannot endure the spiritual songs of the saints. You can fight him with song and you should for his confusion leads to your conquest.

Ambushing Satan With Song [Part THREE]

2 Chronicles 20:1-17

Warfare and Worship Through Singing

This story brings us to this truth: Spiritual worship and spiritual warfare should be carried out with singing. In verse 19 when all the people fell down to worship, the singers stood up to sing. And in verse 21 when the people went out to meet the enemy, the singers went before them with songs of victory.

And even more than that, I think that the writer wants us to learn from verse 22 that the enemies of God are thrown into confusion by the songs of God's people. Or to put it another way, God has appointed the use of spiritual songs as an effective weapon against his archenemy Satan.

Paul and Silas in the Philippian Prison

There is a similar story in the New Testament that confirms this lesson. In Acts 16 Paul and Silas are not protected by God from the attack of their enemies. But they are spared from death. In verses 22–24 it says that they were stripped and beaten with rods and then put in stocks in the inner chamber of the prison.

Now picture this. You are walking down an alley within Suntec City and suddenly a gang of vicious men surround you. They strip off your clothes and pull out their smooth wooden billy clubs and for 15 or 20 minutes smash you back and forth between them. Then with open wounds and concussions and broken ribs and internal injuries, they drag you over, put irons around your feet, and let you down a manhole for the night. If you thought of nice antiseptic prisons, you wouldn't have any idea of what Paul and Silas endured.

There you are in the middle of the night, having no idea whether you will be hanged or beheaded or flogged again, and what do you do? Pray! We would all pray. We would cry out for help. So did Paul. But that's not all he did. Verse 25 says, "But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them."

Now why were they singing? It was midnight. They were in pain. They were weary. They were cut off from their traveling partners. They were at the hands of unscrupulous men. Sleep from exhaustion, crying, pleading with God for help—these things we could understand. But singing hymns! If anybody were to say to us today, "When you hit bottom, sing hymns to God," we would probably say to them, "Lay off with simplistic solutions. You've obviously never been on the bottom."

But Paul and Silas were at the bottom. And they sang hymns to God. Sometimes the only solutions left in life are simple ones.

Why were they singing? They were singing because they needed a display of God's power. They had learned that singing to God is not merely a response to his grace but also a weapon of spiritual warfare. They had learned like Jehoshaphat and like many of us that the enemies of God are thrown into confusion by the songs of God's people.

And in his great mercy God did for Paul and Silas what he did for Jehoshaphat. Verse 26: "And suddenly there was a great earthquake . . . and immediately all the doors were opened and every one's fetters were unfastened." So we see again that God accepts the offering of praise and makes it an occasion for his power. And we see the truth confirmed, that God has appointed the use of spiritual songs as an effective weapon against his archenemy Satan.

The Holy Spirit is our great hope against Satan. But how does the Holy Spirit fill and empower us? Ephesians 5:18–19 says, "Be filled with the Holy Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, making melody to the Lord with all your heart." The fullness of the Holy Spirit is experienced as a heart filled with singing. So if we fight Satan by the fullness of the Spirit, we fight him with song. Would you raise a song of praise in your prison; your pressure and your pain? The enemy gets confused and God secures your conquest!

Ambushing Satan With Song [Part FOUR] will be posted on Thursday, March 8

Ambushing Satan With Song [Part TWO]

Please read Ambushing Satan With Song Part ONE from the February archives before reading the following devotional.

2 Chronicles 20:1-17

Recalling the Past and Pleading for Help

We closed the last devotional saying that when our hearts melt with fear, we must ascribe all power and glory to God, so that a strength and hope and confidence comes into your prayer. We now continue with the winning story of Jehoshaphat when he came under attack.

Jehoshaphat recalls an example of this sovereign power of God from the history of Israel. Verse 7: "Did you not, O our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it for ever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?" Often in our prayers we should exult in what God has done in the past. It strengthens our confidence in his power and love.

Then in verses 8–9 he recalls how the people had built God a sanctuary and had dedicated it to his name and vowed always to seek help from him there. Then in verses 10–11 he describes the plight they are in with Moab and Ammon and Mount Seir coming against them. And finally in verse 12 he pleads for help and admits his helplessness. "O our God, will you not execute judgment upon them? For we are powerless against this great multitude that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you."

"Fear Not, the Battle Is Mine"

In response to this prayer God sends his Spirit upon a prophet named Jahaziel and tells all the people of Judah that God will protect them. Verse 15: "Hearken, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, 'Fear not, and be not dismayed at this great multitude; for the battle is not yours but God's' . . . You will not need to fight in this battle; take your position, stand still, and see the victory of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Fear not, and be not dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you."

Jehoshaphat had cried to the Lord: "O God, we are powerless! Help us." And God responded, "Fear not, the battle is mine!"

Worship and Song

Jehoshaphat's response to this word of promise is to fall on his face to the ground and worship. Verse 18: "Then Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord."

Then something different happens. While everyone is bowed down low on their faces before the Lord, a group of people stand up. And together they begin to praise the Lord. Verse 19: "And the Levites, of the Kohathites and the Korahites, stood up to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice." Was this a spontaneous eruption of song from a few free spirits? Who were these people?

Turn with me back to 1 Chronicles 6:31. Here the writer is listing the families of the tribe of Levi. In verse 31 he says, "These are the men whom David put in charge of the service of song in the house of the Lord, after the ark rested there. They ministered with song before the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, until Solomon had built the house of the Lord in Jerusalem; and they performed their service in due order. These are the men who served and their sons. Of the sons of the Kohathites . . . " And then the descendants of Kohath the son of Levi are given.

In other words this group who stood up to praise the Lord in 2 Chronicles 20:19 are not merely a group of charismatic free spirits. They are the Choir of Israel. They are the group who ever since the time of David had been appointed to do the ministry of song in Israel. So they stood up while everybody else was bowed before God and they led the people and helped the people praise the Lord for his promised victory.

Singers in the Frontlines of Battle

After this great time of worship in response to God's word, the people make ready to meet the enemy. They rise early the next morning and head out into the wilderness. And as they go, Jehoshaphat commands them to trust God's promise. Verse 20: "Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed."

Then Jehoshaphat appoints his frontline troops. But the frontline troops are not charioteers or swordsmen. They are singers. Jehoshaphat aims to conquer with a choir. God had said that the battle was his to fight. So what better way for Israel to meet the enemy than with songs of victory in the front ranks.

Verse 21: "And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him in holy array, as they went before the army, and say, 'Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures for ever.'" How does thid apply to us? When God tells us that the battle is his and that the victory is sure, the way we should meet the enemy is with songs of thanks.

And I believe that the writer of this book wants to make it clear that, even though the victory belongs to God, the human means through which God gives victory is through the ministry of worship. For it says in verse 22, "And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed." First Moab and Ammon turn against Mt. Seir. Then they turn against each other. When it's all over the defeat is so great it takes three days for Jehoshaphat and his people to carry away the spoil.

Are you in a place of threat today? Are there pressures and pains, stresses and struggles that are beyond your strength? Will you believe that the battle belongs to the Lord? Now will you rise up with a song in your soul and praise on your lips? Remember such worship wears out the enemy in order to bring you the victory.