sovereignty

Not Fair-Weather Followers

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

“Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.”

Habakkuk 3:17-18

I had a friend in my seminary days named Dave, who was a die-hard Cleveland Browns fan. In case you have never heard of the Browns, they are an NFL football team, and according to the Bench Report, they are in the top 10 worst football teams in NFL history. But Dave was willing to endure friendly ribbing and a bit of ridicule because, for whatever reason, he loved his team.

This sort of faithfulness through good and bad times can be recounted over and over in more important ways–in marriage, in business relationships, and in friendships. But it is especially critical when we are talking about our faith in the Lord Jesus.

The Apostle Paul warned Timothy, “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.” (2 Timothy 3:1, ESV). This can be expected because the unrighteous people of this world will rebel against those that they perceive to be lovers of God and His Word.

Jesus himself said, ““If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.” (John 15:18–21, ESV)

Today is Election Day here in the USA. I don’t know the results, but I do know that somebody has to lose. I am hopeful that those who love liberty and justice will rise up and vote to protect our freedoms as they vote. But there is no guarantee that this will happen. On the evening of the last presidential election, I went to bed while the votes were still being tallied and the pundits were making their predictions. I awoke to hear the news in the morning.

No matter the results, I am not a fair-weather follower of Jesus. Even if this country flips over into anarchy and chaos, so that the economy tanks, the banks are emptied, and the streets are filled with hatred and violence. I will mourn, and pray, and resist–but I will not stop looking to Jesus Christ as my hope because I am not a fair-weather follower. …”I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.“

The God Who Seeks Sinners

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

“I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me;
I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, “Here I am, here I am,”
to a nation that was not called by my name. (Isaiah 65:1 (ESV))

In considering the saving power of God, many have struggled with the conundrum of the sovereign acts of God in salvation versus the need for men to call out to God in order to be saved. This issue has shown up most clearly in the American Evangelical church as the Seeker-sensitive Movement.

The Seeker Sensitive Church may be a twentieth century phenomenon in regard to the trappings of style and function, but its roots run all the way back to the revivalistic theology and camp-style meetings of men like Charles Finney and his ”new measures.” Not only were Finney’s practices firmly planted in Arminian practice, his theology went beyond classical Arminian theology and fully embraced the heresy of Pelagianism.

The theological underpinnings of these movements (Seeker-sensitive churches, Finney-like practices, Arminianism/Semi-Pelagianism, and Pelagianism) all place major emphasis upon the idea that the makeup of human reasoning and ability in making moral choices is either totally free from any effect of the Fall (Pelagianism) or only minimally effected (Semi-Pelagianism, et. al.). This important starting point understands and teaches that man is completely and totally capable of making a decision for or against the free offer of the gospel without the direct intervention of the Spirit of God. It is a free moral choice that he is fully capable of making.

Although the idea of man being a free moral agent is a great theological discussion to have, I’ll need to do that at another time. Instead, I want to address the subject of Isaiah 65:1 above. This verse looks at the salvation from God’s point of view. The Apostle Paul referred to this text in Romans 10:20 in reference to the salvation of the Gentiles, “the nation” not called by the name of the Lord.

It is helpful to note that in the larger context of Isaiah, the Lord is described as being willing to receive those who are broken-hearted and contrite. Israel had remained hard-hearted and stiff-necked. She had refused His many appeals and would find herself in exile for her sins. And yet, God had been patient and waited for her to return. As a matter of fact, throughout the book of Isaiah, the Lord repeatedly reaffirms His need to bring His hand of judgment upon Israel while also comforting His people with the fact that although He was angry, He would not be angry forever, and that He would never forsake His Beloved.

So, as the Lord speaks in Isaiah 65:1, He addressed these foreigners who are not Israel. They may not be asking for Him and they may not be seeking Him, but the Lord is portrayed as stating “Here I am, Here I am.” Our God does not hide, He does not obscure Himself or His free offer of salvation.

The problem is that men do not seek Him. They are blinded by their sin, warped in their thinking, devoted to their iniquity, and love the darkness rather than the light. But as John reminds us, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5 (ESV)). We may not seek God, but it is good to know that God seeks sinners that He might bring them to salvation.

It is good to know that God can take the hard heart of stone and turn it soft. He can open blind eyes so that we can see the loveliness of Christ and the filth of our own sin. And it is an anchor to the soul to know that my salvation is not secured by my righteousness, but by the righteousness of Christ and His death upon the cross for me. I may fall a thousand times, but Christ will hold me fast. “Here I am. Here I am,” he says. May we take comfort in our great God and Savior’s words.

Doomsday Preppers

/ Richard Bargas / 2 Comments

“For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know.”

(1 Thessalonians 3:4, ESV)

Over the last several decades, many within the American Church have moved from an attitude of expectancy for the imminent return of Christ, to one where the world isn’t so bad and, since we kinda like it here, we should make our stay more comfortable. After all, the world was much more accepting and tolerant of Christian ideals and the gospel message (so long as we modified it a bit and kept all those judgy parts out).

What too many evangelicals forgot was that embedded in the Christian message of Christ is a subversive element that demands that rebellious sinners must bow the knee to Christ and come to him as King and Savior. Somehow evangelicals thought that they could woo and attract the world to like us, then maybe our softer, gentler message, and before they caught on, they’d be loving Jesus. There are still many churches that continue on believing this fantasy.

But as Paul wrote to the Christians in Thessalonica, the church should have maintained its course to proclaim an uncompromising message that would eventually result in a head-on confrontation between Christ’s servants and the servant of the ruler of this world.

Instead of settling in for a long, delightful stay here in this world system that rejects our God, the Church and her ministers should never have capitulated to the spirit of the age, and should have stayed the course. And instead of a watered-down gospel message to the world, the Church should have been proclaiming the message of faith in our God who will carry us through the fire and the water, and will lead us home, even amidst a world that is burning with rage against the King.

“Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”” (Psalm 2:1–3, ESV)

Now, in 2020, the climate has changed, and in many churches where the softer, kinder message of cultural sensitivity has ruled and where being buddies with Jesus was the goal, the people of God are largely left unarmed to defend against an openly hostile public. They have failed to become battle hardened and ready. Many are filled with fear instead of faith. Some are placing their trust elsewhere, like when Israel called upon the pagan nations to save her.

And it’s not as if these things should have surprised Christians. The world has never really been favorable to our faith. They have been more tolerant at times. They have let us speak, and meet and even testify of the Lord. But we have been tolerated, not embraced. Why should we be surprised? Did not our Lord warn us? ““Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.” (Luke 6:26, ESV)

It is still not too late to be prepared. If those who have bought into the softer-gentler form of Chrisitanity will faithfully return to the Word of God, we will find that it contains all we need to refocus upon the truth and find our greatest comfort and hope. When we once again place our hope in Christ, our eyes on heaven as our true home, our needs satisfied in Him alone, we will no longer love nor need this world. When we see sin and wickedness more clearly, we will long to be free from this world that drags us down. We will long for our resurrection, for our glorification, for our eyes to see Him face to face, as He is.

We must suffer in this world. We must face persecution. We must be reviled because of Christ. We must be ready. It is coming.

But we must not be afraid. We must not shrink back or compromise. We must not fear man who can only kill the body. We must cling to the One who has saved our souls. We must cling to the promises. We must cling to the cross.

Are your prepared? Are you ready? Jesus is coming soon. Until he comes, may we be engaged in the good warfare, taking as many with us to heaven as we can.

Have You Tasted?

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”

(Psalm 34:8, ESV)

In reading through Isaiah chapters 43-44 this morning, I was struck by the fatherly tone of the Lord as he spoke to his people. There are words of comfort, words of encouragement, words of rebuke and correction, words of hope and words of instruction–all in the span of two chapters.

Pointing back to the centuries of his faithfulness to Israel, the Lord is lovingly calling his people back to himself. As I read these tender words, I was reminded of Psalm 34:8. Israel had tasted and seen that the Lord is good. In these two chapters, she was now being called upon by the Lord to live in a way that was consistent with her experience.

How was she to behave? Quickly I scratched out at least five ways the Lord was calling Israel to respond:

  • By not being fearful (43:1-2, 5).
    • Because of her disobedience, Israel had suffered greatly and Isaiah prophesied that Judah would be next. Severe starvation, exhile in a foreign land, the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem would leave the people filled with fear and foreboding.
    • But notice the tenderness of the Lord’s loving words to his disobedient people: “But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.” (Isaiah 43:1–2, ESV)
    • The Lord had not abandoned his people in their time of need. As a matter of fact, he was in control of everything. He had brought this trouble upon them in order to chasten them, because he loved them.
  • By being a witness to the nations (43:10, 12; 44:8).
    • The pagan nations around them could point to gods of wood and stone, but none could save. When Israel had replaced Yahweh with one of these gods, they suffered even more because they offended the Lord with their idolatry.
    • Because they had tasted and seen that the Lord is good, they were called upon to testify of the goodness of God before the world. He had saved them. Just as he claimed in v. 2, he had made them pass through the waters (Ex. 14), through the rivers (Josh 3), and would cause Daniel’s friends to pass through fire and not be burned (Dan. 3).
    • The pagan gods could not do any of this. The Lord called ISrael to produce any evidence of these idols foretelling accurately what would happen. They couldn’t do it. Which idol had brought victory in war? Which idol had provided for them in the wilderness? Which idol could compare to the Lord?
    • If ISrael would only stop and consider what they had tasted and seen, then they would not fail to be a witness to the faithfulness of the Lord.
  • By turning from sin and returning to worship (43:22-28)
    • If they had truly seen all that the Lord had done for them, then Israel was called to turn from their ongoing rebellion and return to worshipping the Lord exclusively as they should.
    • In favor of the gods of their neighbors, they had stopped calling out to Yahweh. They had become weary of worshipping the Lord (42:22). This attitude of the heart manifested itself in their worship.
    • Israel stopped bringing sacrifices, and offerings. Instead, they burdened the Lord with their sins.
    • If only they would remember that he is the God who can take their sin and blot it out. That he alone can bring total forgiveness. The false gods could not do this, and yet Israel had forsaken the One True God and turned to worthless pursuit of these empty idols.
  • By forsaking all idols (44:6-20).
    • If Israel had seen that the Lord was good in his gracious dealings with them in the past, would they also see how foolish idolatry was? How is it that the creation of human hands, so frail and weak, could somehow save the very men who had made it? They were blind to the obvious!
    • And as if that weren’t bad enough, the delusion had a devastating effect upon the nation. How could a stump of wood be expected to be a savior? Not only were these false idols lifeless, but they were also powerless to save and many had died under the deception that they could do anything for them.
    • And yet, here was their God pursuing them! He was calling his wayward people to turn from these false hopes and non-gods and to come back to him. “Remember these things, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are my servant; I formed you; you are my servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.” (Isaiah 44:21, ESV)
  • By remembering the majesty of the Lord (44:21-28).
    • Finally, Israel would be able to testify to the goodness of God by remembering his majesty in his grace and willingness to forgive, in his creation of all things, in his fulfillment of prophecy which he declares through his servants, and through his building up and bringing low of Jerusalem and his people.
    • If Israel would remember, she would once again taste and see that the Lord is good–and majestic in his sovereignty.

As I thought about each of these, I considered how I too, have tasted and seen that the Lord is good. Have I forgotten in times of fearful fretting? Have I forgotten in my failure to be a faithful witness? Have I been slow to turn from my sin because I have forgotten his lovingkindness and mercy? Has this made me slow and cold in worship? Have I continued to cling to my heart-idols because, like Israel, I have forgotten the sweetness of the Lord to me? Have I remembered that no matter where I am, no matter what my present circumstance, and no matter what this life has brought to me, the Lord in his perfect plan has decreed everything as it should be. He is majestic, and every hill and valley and curve in life is part of his plan.

Our Father in heaven loves us, even when we stray. He sent his Son to save us in the midst of our stubborn rebellion. We not very different from the people of Israel at times. The solution for them is the same as it is for us–turn to the Savior. He will never turn you away.

On Christ the Solid Rock We Stand

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

“And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.’ ””

(Isaiah 7:9, ESV)

As the prophet Isaiah stood before the king of Judah, the circumstances were extremely dire. War was imminent and the kings of Syria and Israel were ready to snuff out Ahaz and his people. At the news, the king and his people “shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind” (Isaiah 7:2).

The man of God had come to bring a word from the Lord to King Ahaz: “Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands…” (Isaiah 7:4). Just as the terror Ahaz and the people felt was real, so too was the reality of the threats from these kings. The message wasn’t that Ahaz was overreacting, because he wasn’t. The message was one of faith.

The prophet Isaiah brought a word to this king that these two kings, mighty by human standards, were nothing more to God than smoldering logs in a campfire; in other words, harmless to do any damage. Both of these kings would be dead in two years. But Ahaz didn’t know this. All the evidence that he could see pointed to defeat and death. As far as the king could see with his limited understanding, destruction was the inevitable outcome. But God…

In response, the prophet spoke words of hope to the King of Judah. The threats would not stand and would never come to pass. The heads of these nations would be cut off and the people would be shattered. God himself would eliminate the danger and would rescue his people.

The question was, would the king capitalize on these words? Would King Ahaz find a firm footing on the Word of God so that he could have the peace he and his people wanted and needed? “If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.”

The Israelites would face many years in captivity, and they would wonder if there would ever be that peace that God promised. Many could not see it. They could not understand the coming of Immanuel and the eternal peace that he would offer through his sacrificial death and triumphant resurrection. The could not see that the final King David, of the tribe of Judah, will come and restore everything once again and establish eternal peace. But some did see it through eyes of faith, and looked forward to the coming of the Promised One. And in these promises they found hope and peace.

Today, I hear and see many Christians clamoring for hope when hope is right in front of them. They are scared–scared of a virus, scared of riots, scared of political winds changing to more radicalism, scared of losing everything. “If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.“

Do you want peace? “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.” (Isaiah 26:3–4, ESV) Put your trust in Jesus Christ–the wind and wave stiller, the sickness healer, the serpant crusher, the death destroyer, the sin forgiver, the gift giver, the life restorer, the only-wise King eternal.

Only Jesus Christ will stand. All other ground is sinking sand.