the first lie… embellished

Gen 3:2-5 (ESV)
And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

In the last blog we noted the received wisdom of practised liars; if you’re going to lie then lie big.  They must be right because the original liar whom Jesus calls,  ‘father of lies‘ and  John calls ‘that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world‘ clearly believed this maxim.  Not only is Eve told disobedience will not bring judgement she is promised it will bring joy; far from bringing death, the liar promises disobedience will bring life… you shall be like God, is anything more life-like than this?

Like all practised liars, the serpent spoke half-truths.  Adam and Eve did not die immediately (at least not physically, though they died in a more profound way).  And they did gain a god-like independent knowledge of good and evil as the liar promised but it far from enhanced their joy.  Like all who eat forbidden fruit, however, initially inviting in time they find its taste is bitter and ultimately deadly. What Adam and Eve discovered is that the only way they could have the knowledge of good and evil was by becoming evil.

Immediately self-consciousness replaces innocence and fear of God replaces a sense of acceptance.

Gen 3:7-10 (ESV)
Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.  And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”

The first ‘knowledge of good and evil’ they have is not of ‘good’ but ‘evil’, their own evil.  Recrimination,  blame, and blame avoidance strategies kick into play and the treadmill of human conscience, ‘accusing or excusing’ has begun.  The whole sorry tissue of evasion ends in death, death for Adam, death for Eve, death for everyone, and so Jesus reminds us ‘Satan has been a murderer from the beginning’ (Jn 8:44); lies and liars destroy, they kill.

When we begin to dissect the anatomy of a lie in Genesis it should cause us as Christians to hate lies.  Paul says to the Colossians,

‘lie not one to another seeing that you have put off the old self  with its practices and have put on the new self’ (Col 3:9)

and to the Ephesians,

Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another (Eph 4:25)

For a Christian to lie is to deny his new standing in Christ and his part in the body of Christ.  It is to deny Christ, who is truth.  Our culture here in the UK in the last 25 years or so has become one where people easily and regularly lie without shame.  Not to lie if it will get you what you want and make life easier is a sign of mental weakness (notice the assumptions implied in modern lies are just the same as those in the first lie).  It is all too easy for Christians to adopt the manners of their culture.  The C1 culture of Crete had a penchant for lying but Paul reminds the believers there they must be different.  As believers we should remember the ancient wisdom: one of the seven things God hates, is ‘a lying tongue‘ (Prov 6:17).  Indeed, according to James, we lie when we behave in ways inconsistent with truth, we ‘lie against the truth‘  (Jas 3:14).

To lie is to be ‘of your father the devil’ (Jn 8:44).  It is to side with anti-Christ ( 2 Jn 7) and be willingly complicit in his lie.  We must take care for those wishing to believe the lie often find that God gives them what they wish for (2 Thess 2:11).

Which brings us to a second observation.  Bad, and bad enough, as everyday lying is for a believer, the greatest lie we can become inveigled in is that of false teaching.  Distortions of gospel truth are the greatest lies of all.

Thus Paul reminds us that the great apostasy of humanity was ‘to exchange  the truth of God for a lie’ (Roms 1:25).  When Jesus excoriates the Pharisees as liars, who have as their father the devil, who is the ‘father of lies’ it is because they contradict him and his teaching (Jn 8).    We need to consider carefully what we  teach or embrace, for God does.  When we casually accept or advocate teaching with little thought as to whether it is true to Scripture but simply because it is new, trendy, appealing and/or comfortable then we are embracing the lie (1 Jn 2:22).  And we are opposing Christ who is the truth and speaks the truth (Jn 8).

False teaching is the most damnable of damnable lies.

The ‘liar’ in John’s epistles is the one who does not live according to the gospel (1 Jn 2:4, 1 Jn 4:20) and the false teacher (1 Jn 2:21,22).

1John 2:18-25 (ESV)
Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made to us-eternal life.

John identifies true believers as those who hold to truth.  And truth is the message they have heard ‘from the beginning’, that is, the apostolic teaching.  The ‘liar’ is the person who dismisses, distorts or despises that message.

As we evangelicals are busily writing off as merely cultural large swathes of what the Bible teaches we should be asking ourselves whether we are ‘of the truth’ or ‘embracing the lie’.

In Revelation we read of the redeemed who inherit the Kingdom.  They are the army of the Lamb.  Those who have stood beside him in the battle for truth.  They have foregone much that was pleasurable in life that they may be pure for him (like ancient soldiers in Israel who avoided marital relations on the eve of battle) and have resisted the lie wherever they found it, sometimes at great personal cost, that they may follow the Lamb wherever he goes.   John sees them in his vision.  He writes,

Rev 14:1-5 (ESV)
Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.

Later he sees another group.  It is those forever outside the Celestial City, assigned to the Eternal Burnings   Among the ghoulish crowd are ‘liars’.

Rev 21:8 (ESV)
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

the trying of your faith… (3)

Faith faces testing.  We are considering the testing of faith by troubles in life.  Ill-health, difficult relationships, unemployment, and many other difficult circumstances test faith.  We noted that we should not be dismayed by these as they are precisely what the Bible says life in this world will be like.  Many, says the Psalmist, are the afflictions of the righteous (Ps 34:19).

One important distinction to bear in mind is that in all testing both God and Satan and God are active in quite different ways.

• In any trial Satan is at work to destroy us and God is at work to discipline us and define us in the image of Christ.  Satan acts out of malevolent loathing but God acts in merciful love.

We are told by Peter (in the context of persecution but the principle holds good for all trials) that Satan intends to destroy

1Pet 5:8-9 (ESV)
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

However, God in the same trial, is deepening faith that will receive a rich reward

1Pet 1:6-7 (ESV)
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith-more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire-may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

He is disciplining (training) his children.

Heb 12:5-11 (ESV)
And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.  ​​​​​​​​For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”  It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

This distinction is important because it is all too easy when under extreme pressure to feel that God has a hostile face.  This, of course, is exactly Satan’s intention.  He is intent on destroying our faith.  He wishes to cast God in a poor light and alienate us from him. He sows in our minds doubts about His goodness and love.  He accuses God of injustice, of harshness, and of  malignity.  If he can get us to cast God as the villain in our suffering, as cruel and sadistic, he has won.

Satan’s intention with us, as with Job, is to incite us to curse God.

Job 1:8-11 (ESV)
And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”

The way of faith in the heat of suffering is to hold resolutely to God’s goodness, however much circumstances and our pain push us to the contrary and to recognise that while Satan may mean it for evil God means it only for our good.  Like Job, faith says,

Job 13:15 (ESV)
Though he slay me, I will hope in him.

should we question God?

For some Christians the very idea that any would question God is profane and impious.  For other Christians questioning God seems almost to be a mark of Christian liberty, even maturity.  Who is right?

The truth is that it is not so much the questioning of God that is the issue, rather it is the reason we question God and the attitude behind the question that really counts.  The Psalms have many occasions where someone in anguish questions God (Ps 10, 44, 74, 77).  Indeed Psalm 22 which the Lord Jesus takes upon his lips is an example of just this.

Ps 22:1-4 (ESV)
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?  ​​​​​​​​O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.  ​​​​​​​​Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.  ​​​​​​​​In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.

David (and David’s Son and Lord) questions God but the questioning is from a position of trust and holy fear.  God is personal, he is ‘my God’.  For the psalmist God is holy and majestic ‘enthroned in the praises of Israel’.  There is no arrogance.  There is no holding of God to account for himself.  There is no impiety.  There is no doubt.  There is no unbelief.  No rebellion. It is the cry of uncomprehending faith.

In his wisdom God may choose to answer our question or he may not.  Habakkuk was perplexed.  He wondered why God allowed the violence in Israel to continue.  And when God told him how he was going to deal with it he was all the more perplexed.  God graciously answers Habakkuk’s questions.  Yet Job, who suffers greatly and asks all kinds of questions, finds his questions remain unanswered.  Indeed, Job is to some extent rebuked for his questions.  The reason seems to be that Job’s questions begin to go too far.  They seem tinged with arrogance.

Job 38:1-7 (ESV)
Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:  ​​​​​​​​“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?  ​​​​​​​​Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me.  ​​​​​​​​“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.  ​​​​​​​​Who determined its measurements-surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?  ​​​​​​​​On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone,  ​​​​​​​​when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?…

When Job’s questions become impertinent he needs reminding who is God and who is merely human.  Perplexed questions wrung out from the anguish of suffering or incomprehension are one thing, I-know-better-than-you criticism is a different matter altogether.  Job, godly man that he is, recognises his folly and confesses,

Job 42:1-6 (ESV)
Then Job answered the Lord and said:  ​​​​​​​​“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.  ​​​​​​​​‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.  ​​​​​​​​‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.’  ​​​​​​​​I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you;  ​​​​​​​​therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

Of course, as Christians we must start from the premise that we are never promised life will be easy.  In fact repeatedly we are warned that the opposite is likely to be the case.  We in the West want a cushy life and are too ready to be dismayed even indignant when we don’t get it.  Many of our ‘questions’ arise out of unrealistic and worldly expectations.  This, in a very real sense, is not ‘the good life’.  The Good Life is still to come.  Faith, asserts even in the waves of trouble, its solid trust in the goodness and wisdom of God.  It sees present trials as to be expected and at its best learns to rejoice that in them God is preparing us for great blessings in glory.

1Pet 4:12-13 (ESV)
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

2Cor 4:17-18 (ESV)
For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

If the Lord does not return soon then it looks like persecution may lie ahead for the church.  This will test her mettle.  The trouble is, if we do not now build into God’s people a proper understanding that being a Christian means embracing trouble in faith then many will fail when persecution comes.  Let’s create robust Christians less given to complaining than ‘counting it all joy’.

seeing the church as god sees it

Do you ever look at the local church and feel discouraged?  If you’ve been in any local church long enough to get beyond the romantic stage (about two years or so) you will know the flaws.  You will know about the little cliques.  You will be aware of the power struggles.  The nepotism will be evident.  You will be conscious of the grumbles against the leadership.  And so and so who seemed so friendly and welcoming may not ring as true as they did.  You will know those who are too sweet to be wholesome, those holding grudges, those with a foul temper, those always looking for attention, those…  And then there is the gossip network. And the tensions between deacons and elders.  You will have discovered that the band is beyond criticism and the preaching is the butt of criticism.  These, and a thousand other ugly features you will have discovered, deform the church and discourage.  But the worst discouragement of all is realising you are part of the ugliness.  You have gradually become enmeshed in the criticising, rivalry and undercurrents.  What you see in the church you see in yourself.

I know this speaks to you for it is the story of every church and every Christian.  The church is made up of people who sin.  Yes there is another side to your church.  There is evidence of God’s Spirit in the generosity, self-giving, kindness and a thousand other graces but sometimes it seems we can only see the faults and failures, the ugliness.  Sometimes the faults in the church and ourselves are so dominant in our minds that we wonder if we really are the people of God at all.  Will we really enter heaven at journey’s end?  Can such a pitifully small and weak group of people really be those whom God has chosen?  Of course at root this focus on failure is a device of Satan.  He is expert at showing us the faults in others and the faults in ourselves.  He is the accuser of God’s people.  He wants to blacken and curse them whenever possible.

How do we resist this accusation?  We must learn to see God’s people as God sees them.

The OT incident in Israel’s history involving Balak, King of Moab, and Balaam, mercenary Prophet, son of Beor, is instructive (2 Pet 2:15,16).  Balak wants Balaam, a soothsayer for hire,  to prophesy against Israel,  to curse God’s people.   Israel is on the brink of the Promised Land and Moab is the last hurdle.  The issue is simple.  Is it possible for Satan to accuse God’s people and prevent them entering the Promised Land?  Israel has been redeemed but they have been anything but perfect.  Their spiritual history has left them open to all kinds of criticism.  Faithfulness has hardly been their hallmark.  Grumbling, rivalry, bickering and rebellion have frequently broken out among the people.  There is no shortage of reasons to suppose that accusation would stick.  Balak’s plan seems a masterstategy.  To curse them is to point out their sins and call upon a just God to punish.  Balak knew that Israel couldn’t be stopped by force – for God was with them.  Perhaps God could be encouraged to turn against his people when their sin was exposed.  If they could not be conquered perhaps they could be condemned.

The plan seemed foolproof but it did not reckon with Israel’s God.  God forbids Balaam to curse his people.

Num 22:10-12 (ESV)
And Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, saying, ‘Behold, a people has come out of Egypt, and it covers the face of the earth. Now come, curse them for me. Perhaps I shall be able to fight against them and drive them out.’” God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”

Balaam tells Balak that the Lord has forbidden him to curse Israel whereupon Balak tries to entice Balaam with a promise of more money if he will pronounce a curse.  Balaam’s greed prompts him to try to do what Balak asks (2 Pet 2:15,16).  Yet the Lord will not allow him.  Balaam’s words do not curse but praise.

Num 23:7-10 (ESV)
And Balaam took up his discourse and said, “From Aram Balak has brought me, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains: ‘Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, denounce Israel!’  ​​​​​​​​How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?  ​​​​​​​​For from the top of the crags I see him, from the hills I behold him; behold, a people dwelling alone, and not counting itself among the nations!  ​​​​​​​​Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his!”

Israel is God’s people, blessed and not cursed (Gen 12:2,3). She belongs uniquely to the Lord, distinct from the nations of the world.  She is many and not few (a sign itself of covenant blessing).  She is righteous and not faithless.  The language all echoes God’s covenant promise to Abraham (Gen 12,15,17).

Frustrated and desperate Balak and Balaam climb a high mountain where Balaam can see the whole of Israel.  It is a further mistake for Balaam is seeing Israel as God sees her (from above).

Num 23:18-21 (ESV)
And Balaam took up his discourse and said, “Rise, Balak, and hear; give ear to me, O son of Zippor:  ​​​​​​​​God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?  ​​​​​​​​Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.  ​​​​​​​​He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The Lord their God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them.

Balak hopes to turn God from his promise and purpose.  But God’s purpose will not be thwarted.  He has promised to bring Israel to the Promised land and he will do so (Roms 11:28,29).  There is no point in trying to turn God against his people.  The Lord sees no perversity (misfortune) or sin (trouble) in Israel.  He is among them as a triumphing Warrior-King.

Whatever may be Israel’s moral ugliness that is not how God sees her.  He sees no wrong in his people.  Balaam exclaims,

Num 24:5 (ESV)
How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your encampments, O Israel!

God is on his people’s side and the only hope of the nations is to side with them too.

Num 24:9 (ESV)
Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse you.”

All who oppose will be crushed, crushed by the King the Lord will raise to champion his people and destroy all her enemies.

Num 24:17-19 (ESV)
I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth.  ​​​​​​​​Edom shall be dispossessed; Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed. Israel is doing valiantly.  ​​​​​​​​And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion and destroy the survivors of cities!”

It is of course a prophecy concerning Messiah who would come in the future (I see him but not now…) and overthrow all his people’s enemies.  It is a dangerous thing to oppose God’s people for to do so is to oppose God himself, Balaam’s donkey knew this even if Balaam was blind to it; the donkey was a living rebuke to Balaam (Numbs 22:21-41).

Balaam and Balak had plotted to overthrow God’s people but instead they would be overthrown.  They tried to accuse her but who can bring any charge against God ‘s elect.

Rom 8:31-39 (ESV)
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died-more than that, who was raised-who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Balak and Balaam did not know that God was able justly to forbear with his people’s sin because one day he would redeem them in Messiah.  Messiah would bear their guilt and the people themselves would be righteous in him (Roms 3:25,26).  No-one and nothing can come between God and his people, God and his purpose – not their sin and not their situation.  And so we read in Numbers 24,

Num 24:25 (ESV)
Then Balaam rose and went back to his place. And Balak also went his way.

We need to see God’s people, ourselves, as God sees us. It is not a natural perspective, it is the perspective of faith.    To focus on our failings is to side with the accuser and the enemy.  It is the perspective of unbelief that has not grasped what God has done in Christ.  The next time you look around the church, or look inside yourself, or question her or your own future, see as God sees.  Say as the Psalmist does in Psalm 16.

Ps 16:3 (ESV)
As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.

the blood of Jesus Christ god’s son…

At funerals we often catch up with folks we have not seen for some time.  I met up with such a friend a month or so ago.  Friendships with real friends tend to quickly get past pleasantries.  Soon we were discussing our shared faith in Christ.  One topic that arose was coping with past sins.  We both have experienced past sin suddenly flood into our mind with utter clarity as if it had but happened yesterday. So vivid and shameful is the memory that a hot flushing discomfit overcomes.

I wonder if you have these experiences. I imagine many do.  I have experienced them frequently.  Sometimes they so shake me that I wonder if I am a believer at all.  What is the answer?  I have found it is no good trying to convince myself my sins aren’t really sinful.  When accusation is heavy on the spirit that simply doesn’t wash.  I think the first thing to do is acknowledge how sinful the sin is – even if by any human reckoning it is slight.   Secondly, recognise that if it comes out of the blue with ferocity and force it is most likely an accusation from Satan.  Sometimes these attacks can be so destructive that it is inconceivable they come from anyone other than Satan.  Thirdly, and most importantly there is in this situation but one answer to guilt and that is grace. Whatever the sin, however grave and desperate it may seem to us we must by faith affirm:

‘the blood of Jesus Christ God’s son cleanses us from all sin’ (1Jn2).

Once again a well-known hymn expresses it so well,

What though th’accuser roar
Of ills that I have done!
I know them well, and thousands more:
Jehovah findeth none.

The answer to all guilt is the gospel.  Paul says in Roms 8

Rom 8:31-34 (ESV)
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died-more than that, who was raised-who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Notice where our peace and righteousness is located.  It is in the death and resurrection to glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.  It is not in our earthly life (not even in his).  It is in the righteousness of God displayed in the death, resurrection and reign in glory of Christ Jesus.   There is our peace.  There by faith we rest.  Refuse by faith every accusing thought and replace it by thoughts of gospel grace*.

Indeed the hymn above goes on to express the sentiments of faith that will arm us as Christians as we face not only accusations but whatever fears and threats life throws at us.

Sin, Satan, death appear
To harass and appal;
Yet since the gracious Lord is near,
Backward they go and fall.

Before, behind, around,
They set their fierce array,
To fight and force me from the ground,
Along life’s narrow way.

I meet them face to face,
Through Jesus’ conquest blest;
March in the triumph of His grace
Right onward to my rest.

There, in His book, I bear
More than a conqueror’s name,
Of soldier, son, and fellow-heir,
Who fought and overcame.

John says,

1John 5:4 (ESV)
This is the victory that has overcome the world-our faith.

Faith confidently asserts (against all tremors of the heart),

Rom 8:35-39 (ESV)
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

* Of course, where there is unconfessed sin then we must confess it to the Lord, however, all too often the accusations above are about sins we have long since confessed or faults that lie in the past about which even the details are hazy.  Where present communion with God is broken by real and conscious sin we ought to confess the sin and accepting God’s promise of forgiveness.  Where we are simply being plagued by a battery of sins from the past we should recognise the activity of Satan seeking to trouble our peace and joy in Christ and deflect us from service.

amy williams and commitment

Amy Williams has just won a gold medal for Britain in the Winter Olympics.  It is the first solo gold medal for 30 years.  Great stuff.  I was struck by the words she used to describe the years leading up to this skeleton bob victory.  She explained her will to win, saying:

‘Every decision I made was, ‘Is this going to help me go to the Olympics or is it not? Do I go out, do I not go out?’

‘I’ve probably been a bit of a bore for the last few years and probably haven’t given my friends enough attention, but I knew I was doing it to get here and now it’s all paid off. I haven’t regretted anything.’

Her words cannot fail to bring to mind the words of Scripture:

1Cor 9:24-27 (ESV)
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

When we fail to discipline ourselves, if we are really the Lord’s he will discipline us that we may share in his holiness.

Heb 12:1-7 (ESV)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.  ​​​​​​​​For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”  It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

Do we think about life and life’s decisions: will what I do here help me to win an eternal crown?