Worldly status and sincere worship

Worldly status can inhibit sincere worship. 2 Samuel 6:20.

Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel to day, who uncovered himself to day in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself!

On the occasion of bringing the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem, David worshipped in dance before the Lord. He laid aside his royal garments and put on a simple linen ephod, such as was worn by those who ministered in the tabernacle (1 Samuel 2:18). When David’s wife Michal looked “and saw king David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.” Matthew Henry writes, “David had pleased all the multitude of Israel (v. 19), but Michal was not pleased (v. 20) … when he was at a distance, she scorned him, and when he came home she scolded him.” This was an happy day – for David and for the nation – “and yet even this joyful day concluded with some uneasiness, occasioned by the pride and peevishness of his wife.”

Michal’s accusation drips with disdain for her husband (but cannot be accepted a literal claim of David being naked). She misrepresented and exaggerated David’s conduct, which is vindicated by the Bible text. He was not naked, but was girded with a linen ephod (v. 14). Michal sees his actions as shameful – beneath the dignity of a king, immodestly exposing himself before the handmaids of David’s servants as only shamelessly vain fellows would do. In reality, standing in her own pride and royal dignity, Michal was offended at his stepping below the dignity of a king. In this she exhibited toward David more the character of Saul her father of than Jonathan her brother. Michal held the worldly position in higher esteem than the pure worship. Her status in the kingdom inhibited her worship of the King (the Lord God the King, not David).

Blessed are those who wait

Isaiah 30:18 …blessed are all they that wait for him.

“Wait on God exclusively and wait on God expectantly. … This beatitude is not a future-oriented promise; it is a real-time assurance. … ‘Blessed are’ … Waiting on God brings a blessing; but waiting on God is itself a blessing. … Waiting on God is a matter of trust, not a matter of time.” (H. B. Charles, Jr., from a clip posted on his Facebook page)

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

Weeping Peter

The following poetry by Charles Wesley is Hymn XIV in Hymns and Sacred Poems, In Two Volumes, Volume I (Charley Wesley, Bristol: Felix Farley, 1749, pp. 121-123). The primary allusion in the hymn is Peter’s denial of Christ, with subsequent repentance and restoration. In twelve stanzas Wesley draws in many other biblical references. The mourning penitent, in stanza after stanza, seeks the experience of Peter, that the Lord Jesus Christ might turn, look upon him, and break his heart of stone. The final stanza concluded with the heart of stone broken.

1. JESUS, let thy pitying eye
Call back a wandering sheep;
False to thee, like Peter, I
Would fain like Peter, weep;
Let me be by Grace restored;
On me be all longsuffering shown;
Turn, and look upon me, Lord,
And break my heart of stone.

2. Saviour, Prince, enthroned above,
Repentance to impart,
Give me, thro’ thy dying love,
The humble, contrite heart.
Give what I have long implored,
A portion of thy grief unknown:
Turn, and look upon me, Lord,
And break my heart of stone.

3. In restoring Love again,
O Jesus, visit me,
Give me back that pleasing pain,
That blessed misery:
Now thy tendering Grace afford,
And make me thine afflicted one:
Turn, and look upon me, Lord,
And break my heart of stone.

4. Harder than the flinty rock
My stubborn heart remains,
’Till I feel thy mercy’s stroke,
I only bite my chains,
Sinning on, though self-abhorr’d
As devils in their chains I groan:
Turn, and look upon me, Lord,
And break my heart of stone.

5. For thine own Compassion’s sake
The gracious wonder show;
Cast my sins behind thy back,
And wash me white as snow,
If thy bowels now are stirred,
If now I would myself bemoan,
Turn, and look upon me, Lord,
And break my heart of stone.

6. See me, Saviour, from above,
Nor suffer me to die;
Life and happiness and love,
Drop from thy gracious eye.
Break the reconciling word,
And let thy mercy melt me down,
Turn and look upon me, Lord,
And break my heart of stone.

7. Look, as when thine eye pursued
The First Apostate Man,
Saw him welt’ring in his blood,
And bade him rise again;
Speak my paradise restored
Redeem me by thy Grace alone;
Turn, and look upon me, Lord,
And break my heart of stone.

8. Look, as when thy pity saw
Thine own in a strange land,
Forc’d to obey the tyrant’s law,
And feel his heavy hand:
Speak the soul-redeeming word,
And out of Egypt call thy son;
Turn, and look upon me, Lord,
And break my heart of stone.

9. Look, as when thy weeping eye
The bloody city viewed,
Those, who stoned and doomed to die
The prophets, and their God;
I deserved their sad reward,
But this thy gracious day I own:
Turn, and look upon me, Lord,
And break my heart of stone.

10. Look, as when thy Grace beheld
The harlot in distress,
Dried her tears, her pardon sealed,
And bade her go in Peace;
Foul like her, and self-abhorred,
I at thy feet for mercy groan:
Turn, and look upon me, Lord,
And break my heart of stone.

11. Look, as when condemned for them
Thou didst thy followers see,
“Daughters of Jerusalem,
Weep for yourselves, not Me!”
And I by my God deplored,
And shall I not myself bemoan?
Turn, and look upon me, Lord,
And break my heart of stone.

12. Look as when thy languid eye
Was closed, that we might live;
“Father,” (at the point to die,
My Saviour gasped), “forgive!”
Surely, with that dying word,
He turns, and looks, and cries, “’Tis done.”
O my bleeding, loving Lord,
Thou break’st my heart of stone.

The tune Weeping Peter appeared in The Sacred Harp in 1860, with no attribution to the composer. It was originally in three parts. An alto part by J. W. McCoy was added in 1902. Examples of the tune may be seen HERE and HERE. The Hymnology Archive contains a biography of Charles Wesley.

It is easier to, and other quotes

The posting of quotes of human authors does not necessarily constitute agreement with either the quotes or their sources. (I try to confirm the sources that I give, but may miss on occasion; please verify if possible.)

“It is easier to ridicule than commend.” -- Thomas Fuller

“Don’t wait until you have a crisis to decide what you believe.” -- Bill Mounce

“A man doesn’t protect his wife because she is weak. He protects her because she is important.” -- Unknown

“Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you’re a thousand miles from the corn field.” -- Dwight D. Eisenhower

“People ask me what I think about the gender debate. I tell them I don’t have an opinion. God already settled it in Genesis 1:27.” -- Pastor John

“We have to love you, but we don’t have to love your ways.” -- Johnnie Johnson

“Oh how amazing it is that people can talk so much about men’s power and goodness when, if God did not hold us back every moment, we should be devils incarnate!” -- David Brainerd

“Instead of theorizing and speculating about what God might be like, fix your eyes on Jesus.” -- Chad Bird

“Sometimes we go through the motions without knowing where we are going.” -- Dale Faulks

 “Anything and everything the Bible has to teach is illustrated somehow in the Tabernacle.” -- Grant Luton

“Somewhere along the way, too many have become more concerned with being the most celebrated preacher in the room than being the most faithful servant of the text.” -- Andre Jermaine Lewis

“If your worthiness of life is measured by perfection, then none of us qualify.” -- Mikaela Teixeira

“You never know Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have.” -- Peter Barnes

“The life of ministry is helping people with their hurt while you’re hurting.” -- Charles E. Hamilton, Jr.

Revival and Response

Below is something I discovered in a Word Document and decided it is worth posting. The following was a general response on the subject of revival, and specifically to a comment about Jack Hyles: “If immediate outward manifestations measured revival, Hyles did better than anyone I’ve ever seen and on a more consistent basis.”

It is interesting and apparently reflective of our culture, that happenings like the “Jesus Revolution” and the “Asbury University Revival” grasps attention in the wider culture, but “revivals” like those of Jack Hyles did not. Yes, Hyles and those in his orbit had much better “results” over a longer period of time and, as was stated, “on a more consistent basis.” Now, to be clear, I do not think Hyles’s revivals were really any more revival than what is what is happening at Asbury now. Back probably thirty years ago or so, for a while I made a concerted effort to go through and “add up” the revivals reported by evangelists to the Sword of the Lord periodical. It was quite consistent, in having multiple reports over and over with results such as “100 saved, 2 baptisms.” There is something wrong with that when this kind of ratio is consistently true of a large group of evangelists. It does not follow the biblical pattern.

All that said, it is intriguing that people outside of the “revivals” such as the “Jesus Revolution” and the “Asbury University Revival” get caught up in meditating on them as possible heirs to the “Great Awakenings” – while never giving revivalists such as Hyles the time of day. Not sure why that is/was. Regardless, time has proven the fruits of the “Hyles Revolution” were not as tasty as many independent Baptists thought.

No Kings

 

May 22, 1782

Lewis Nicola: “…it will, I believe, be uncontroverted that the same abilities which have lead us, through difficulties apparently unsurmountable by human power, to victory & glory, those qualities that have merited & obtained the universal esteem & veneration of an army, would be most likely to conduct & direct us in the smoother paths of peace…it may therefore be requisite to give the head of such a constitution as I propose, some title apparently more moderate, but if all other things were once adjusted I believe strong arguments might be produced for admitting the title of king, which I conceive would be attended with some material advantages.”

George Washington: “Let me conjure you then, if you have any regard for your Country, concern for your self or posterity—or respect for me, to banish these thoughts from your Mind, & never communicate, as from yourself, or any one else, a sentiment of the like nature.”

Get on board

Resting Wednesday suspended for today.

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. Psalm 20:7

Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man. Psalm 108:12

This post is for Christians, for the day after a nationwide election. I don’t expect that the rest of you readers will be trusting in God. Awhile back I scheduled ahead of time on my Facebook page for Revelation 19:6 to post on the morning of the election, and on the morning after the election – to affirm one thing that has not changed in a day.

…Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Revelation 19:6

Many of those whose candidate or candidates won yesterday are congratulating themselves like the euphoric Edomites perched in the clefts of the rock of Mount Seir (Obadiah 1:3). Many of those whose candidate or candidates lost yesterday are cutting themselves like the manic ministers of Baal failing before Elijah (1 Kings 18:28-29). If so, you are both exaggerating the importance of your win or your loss; and you have invested too much in a temporal process that will fail you.

In writing this, I do not suggest none of this matters, or that it is unimportant. I do not suggest that Christians should not pray, should not care, or should not vote. I do not suggest that God does not use means, for he most certainly does. However, Christians, your triumph or your torment should be tempered with the true knowledge of God revealed in the Bible. He is the omnipotent God who reigns over all; the omnipotent God who lifts up and casts down, who rules over the kingdoms of men and gives them to whomsoever he will; the omnipotent God in heaven who does as he pleases; the omnipotent God whose thoughts are not as our thoughts; the omnipotent God who gives his born-again ones the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ – not through the ballot box.

It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. Psalm 118:8–9

His people can and should trust in him. The rest of you better get on board.

Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. Jeremiah 17:5

Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. Jeremiah 17:7

Government of a New Testament Church

Government of a New Testament Church.

Every local New Testament church is an independent, self-governing body, having Christ as its head and the Holy Spirit as its leader.

In accordance with the law of Christ, the members of each local church have the sole right to determine and safe-guard the vital and fundamental principles as outlined for its procedure her in the world for His work.

Places in the Bible where taught:

• The church receives members into its communion. Romans 14:1. Rom. 15:7.
• The church excludes unworthy members. 1st Cor. 5:1-5; II Thess. 3:6.
• The church restores excluded penitent members. 2nd Cor. 1:6-8.
• The church chose another apostle to take the place of Judas. Acts 1:23-26.
• The church chose deacons. Acts 6:1-6.
• The church chose pastors (Elders) in every local organization. Acts 14:23.
• The pastors are not to be rulers over the church. 1st Pet. 5:1-3.
• The deacons are not rulers over the church. Acts 6:1-3.

The Fundamental Faith and Doctrine of those called Missionary Baptists, Compiled and Arranged by Henry Filmore Sanders, Nacogdoches, Texas (Printed by Baker Printing Company, Nacogdoches. No date, no pagination) – with slight punctuation and formatting changes.