Fri, Jan 12th - 8:15AM
Wisdom for This Present Time
Rest in the Lord
by E. A. Gafford*
For if Jesus (Joshua) had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. Heb. 4: 8,9
No creature on earth needs rest so much as man, and not many know where to find it. Vacations, shorter hours, more pay, and a great deal of amusement are combined to give man the rest that he craves. But those things do not reach the need of his soul.
The high tension under which the whole human family is living today comes from men trying to outdo the plan and purpose of God for them. Many hope to find rest by forgetting Him. They would like to have a great union meeting where He is not invited. We are told that some will say "Peace and safety" just before unbearable pain strikes, giving birth to a form of rulership which will place men under bonds of slavery far worse than any on record so far.
Even the Laodicean church had the Lord so closed out that He was compelled to knock in order to find a few who would open their hearts to His rulership. They felt that their order of things made it more restful when He was absent.
To let God take His throne in the heart in such a way that all the anarchy inherited from "the first Adam" is destroyed gives a rest which is an earnest fo that which is heaven. When the wicked competitor---"the old man"---is dead, God's will is done in earth as it is in heaven. The government is then placed on His shoulder while the resting heart says Amen.
*Excerpted from "Devotional Readings on the Book of Hebrews" by E.A. Gafford; printed by Old Paths Tract Society, Shoals, Indiana.
Comment (3)
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Fri, Jan 5th - 9:27AM
New Beginnings in 2007
Dear friends, I’ve wanted for the past few days to put down some thoughts for the new year but haven’t really found the time, as I’ve obtained a little desperately needed work. I fully intend to do that, hopefully soon, but in the meantime, I have been reading through a very enlightening book, Devotional Readings on the Book of Hebrews, and could not pass this morning’s chapter without sharing it with you all. I’ve posted several chapters of this wonderful book here in the past weeks, realizing that their contents are not for all, but only will appeal to the few who truly desire to press on into the fullness of God’s blessings for them. I say this not to belittle or look down on the others who desire only a superficial “Christian” experience. Nevertheless, it must be noted very definitely that a distinction does exist today, as it had in earlier times, both in the early New Testament period as well as in Old Testament times between the genuine disciples of God and those who, for one reason or another are followers in name only. I can think of no better way to usher in the new year in these writings of mine than to issue a challenge to God’s professing people that stems very directly from His word, that is to press on this year to the laying hold of all that God has promised them in this present lifetime with regards to His eternal kingdom. May the following excerpt from brother Gafford’s excellent book bless all who read it to that end, and may you all have a very happy new year in Jesus!
Coming Short of Fullness
by E. A. Gafford*
While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. But with whom was he grieved forty years? [was it] not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. Heb. 3:15-19
The sin nature must be overpowered if anyone starts to go with God. Israel was pressed between severe slavery and a hope of deliverance when they left Egypt. Possibly only a very few had the desire to be God's people regardless of where He took them or what He asked of them. It was selfish desires which caused them to fail. Had there been no trying circumstances, their complaining nature would have kept itself hidden.
Whatever the land of Canaan was, that should have had no effect on their desire to enter it, since that was God's choice for them. It was His undertaking, and not theirs. Many were not willing to lose their lives, if need be, in fulfilling the plan of God. Coming short of the fullness of God's will is natural for those who never started to go through, regardless of the cost. Israel faced the question - Is God's pleasure the greatest pleasure which we desire?
Those who want to live altogether at God's expense hate Him when to do His will costs them something. The fruit of the land was wonderful, but the cost of facing enemies weakened their wish to enter. Caleb was more hungry to see what God would do for them than he was for any other pleasure. As a good soldier, he was relying on the strength of God's government, and not on his own resources. If God was calling them to enter Canaan, no power could withstand their forward movements. He makes a way for those who follow Him. The fainting crowd would rather die outside God's will than to find the fullness of His thoughts.
If sin is once over powered by God's call, and then rises to rule, it has the desperate power of self-rulership. It readily reflects on God's judgment, as if He were far inferior to it. Why did these rebellious people wish that they had died either in Egypt or in the wilderness, when the fault which they were finding with God's call was that they might die trying to obey His orders? People are constantly making a choice whether they will die in God's will or outside of it. "Let us die in our sin!" is the cry of those who refuse to take the death route into Canaan.
A set carnal cry may bring a desperate answer. God let these murmurers die in their own confusion. He had made His promise as sure as He could, but they chose to reject it. Parents caused their children to suffer through years of wandering, when they could have been in Canaan. God used the lives of Joshua and Caleb to prove to another generation that His full provision is safe. Only those who are willing to die to find the fullness of God's thought are permitted to partake of His resurrection power.
* Excerpted from "Devotional Readings from the Book of Hebrews" by E. A. Gafford, and printed by Old Paths Tract Society, Shoals, Indiana. I have added italics and bold type for emphasis in two places.
Have a happy, obedient and holy new year, my friends!
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Tue, Jan 2nd - 11:39PM
Lighten Up?
PELVIC THRUST DANCE AT SADDLEBACK CHURCH (Friday Church News Notes, December 15, 2006, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from the Extreme Theology website for December 9, 2006: This is a video of a Saddleback Worship Concert. There are teenage girls doing dance moves that include Pelvic Thrusts. Is this really worship to the one true God of the Bible or is this worship to one of those pagan sex gods? You be the judge? [Editor's note: the link to this video has been posted and removed from various web sites, so we are not going to link to it] After seeing this, Is there any wonder why Saddleback's worship is so appealing and attractive to unbelievers? Saddleback is offering jiggly-dancing and sexual stimulation at church and calling it worship. "Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire" (Matthew 7:17-19). CONCLUDING NOTE FROM BRO. CLOUD: Recently a Southern Baptist state association made a ruling that churches supporting homosexuality are not welcome. That is commendable, as far as it goes, but why is immoral dancing in the name of worshipping a holy God any less wicked than same-sex relations? Where is the Southern Baptist Convention when it comes to such things? The silence is deafening.
SADDLEBACK CHURCH MISSIONS TEAM USING ATHEIST SONG IMAGINE (Friday Church News Notes, December 22, 2006, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - A video that contains a graphical slide show from an Argentina missionary trip by Saddleback Church members features John Lennon's atheistic song Imagine. The trip, made August 1-12, 2006, was part of Rick Warren's P.E.A.C.E. program, and the video was published on YouTube. The soundtrack uses several pieces of music, including John Lennon's original recording of Imagine. The lyrics say: Imagine there's no heaven/ It's easy if you try/ No hell below us/ Above us only sky. There is no separation from the world at Saddleback Church. Practically any sorry piece of rock or rap music is fine as long as it is accompanied by a thin veneer of religiosity. Last week we reported in the Friday Church News Notes on a Saddleback Worship concert that featured teenage girls doing immoral dance moves. On April 17, 2005, when Rick Warren announced his P.E.A.C.E. program to Saddleback Church, he sang Jimi Hendrix's drug-drenched song Purple Haze to the congregation, accompanied by his praise and worship band! He said he had wanted to do that for a long time. There has never been anything innocent or pure about rock and roll. From its inception it has had two grand themes: licentiousness (sex, drugs, etc.) and rebellion (I can do whatever I want any old time), and this is nowhere more evident than in the music of Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles. There is no excuse for this action on the part of an influential pastor who should set a standard of godliness instead of carnal foolishness. I want to say again publicly, Shame on Rick Warren, and shame on his fellow Southern Baptist Convention leaders for not loudly and unequivocally rebuking him for such worldly shenanigans. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God (James 4:4).
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Name: W. Michael Clark
