A BRIGHT FAITH IN LIFE'S DARKEST HOURS......

A VERY STRONG FAITH is brightest when circumstances are darkest. What did Job learn when he experienced a devastating and multiple swipe by the Evil One? What dawned upon him when he had lost his enormous wealth and ten children? Well, this was his response: He fell on his face, worshiped and said, "Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." The Scriptures report that "through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God." (Job 1:21,22).
     Do I BLESS God when tough times come? A MATURE FAITH EVEN WONDERS WHAT POSITIVE AND SANCTIFYING THING GOD IS UP TO IN SUCH EXPERIENCES OF LIFE. DO I UNDERSTAND WHEN I ASK GOD TO CHANGE MY CIRCUMSTANCES THAT HE IS USING THOSE TOUGH CIRCUMSTANCES TO CHANGE ME?
     Admittedly, this handling of difficulties is easier said than done. But consider further 2 Corinthians 12:9,10 where Paul, after God refused to heal his physical malady, responded with such a trusting faith, saying "Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong."
     Such a faith is a dynamic and implicit trust in a God Who wisely engineers our lives. And, we rest in the fact. 
     Matthew Henry knew this wisdom when he remarked, "Sometimes Christ sees that we need the sickness for the good of our souls more than the healing for the ease of our bodies." 
     And the inimitable Spurgeon put it this way, "I venture to say that the greatest earthly blessing that God can give to any of us is health, with the exception of sickness. Sickness has frequently been of more use to the saints of God than health has." 
     May God give His people this insightfulness along with its special faith (wrought in us by the knowledge of the Scriptures) that when struggling with the realities of life here below a certain brightness still shines because ours is a bright faith during life's darkest hours. Many of God's children have experienced this. 

- dick christen

WHEN I OPEN MY BIBLE.....

This following passage sets forth the intrinsic place God's Word should have in our lives.

“How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. Blessed are You, O Lord! Teach me Your statutes. With my lips I have declared all the judgments of Your mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, as much as in all riches. I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways. I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word. (Psalm 119:9-16).  

WHAT IS THE KEY AIM OF THIS PORTION OF SCRIPTURE?

It is to instill within our hearts a holy respect for God’s Word and the necessity of compliantly responding to it. WE MUST READ OUR BIBLES WITH A VIEW TO:

1. OBEDIENT CONFORMATION (9b)
“By taking heed according to Your word.”

(To take 'heed' is more than merely reading or  memorizing the holy Scriptures. It is to understand and put it into  action.)

2.WARY ANTICIPATION (10b)
“Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!” 

(The human heart easily opts for and delights in alternatives. The old hymn declares: "Prone to wander, Lord I feel it; prone to leave the God I love....")

3. DEEP-DOWN APPLICATION (11a)
“Your word I have hidden in my heart.” (11a)

(An elderly person says, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks. The problem with this thesis is, YOU are not a dog." A busy young person says, "I'm too busy." Too busy to tuck a treasure away in the heart?)

4. SOUGHT-FOR EDUCATION (12)
“Teach me Your statutes.”

(Read Proverbs 2 and notice the intense and striving verbs for finding God and the Words He has spoken.)

5. READY DECLARATION (13)
“With my lips I have declared all the judgments of Your mouth.”

(When we share the truth of God's Word we reinforce it in our own lives. "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so."

6. HAPPY CELEBRATION (14)
“I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, as much as in all riches.”

(To learn that discovering truth in the Bible is like discovering a large nugget of gold.)

7. CONTINUED MEDITATION (15a)
“I will meditate on Your precepts…”

("Meditation is the activity of calling to mind, and thinking over, and dwelling on, and applying to oneself the various things that one knows about the works and ways and purposes and promises of God" - J.I. Packer)

8. SEARCHING CONTEMPLATION (15b)
“…and contemplate Your ways.”

(Applying God's Word to my life and making the necessary adjustments thereunto?)

9. HEART-FELT GRATIFICATION (16a)
"I will delight myself in Your statutes…” 

(Reading, memorizing and meditating upon God's Word should be the greatest thrill in life. The Almighty and eternal God is talking to me and wanting to show me the way?)

10. DETERMINED RECOLLECTION (16b)
“I will not forget Your word.” 

(Is it not amazing the God instructed holy men of old to write His Word down and then He made sure to preserve it for all time?)

The shortest road to an appreciation of the Bible is the acceptance of the idea that God is speaking in every line, yea, in every word.

- Dr. Dick Christen

BE READY, HERE COMES THE DEVIL......

WHEN APPROACHED OR TEMPTED BY THE DEVIL…….FIGHT!

When Satan comes after us, God says FIGHT (“Whom resist stedfast in the faith – 1 Peter 1:9).

HOW ARE WE TO RESIST OR FIGHT THE DEVIL?

Answer: We FIGHT him like Jesus fought him, being studied in God’s Word (the sword of the Spirit) and using it to offset him and make him flee.  MATTHEW 4: 1-10:

​¹ THEN Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”

     (Satan tempts us at our most vulnerable spot and time. Jesus was hungry after so many days fasting. And, sure enough along comes the Evil One and in effect says, "If you're the great Creator, turn these stones into bread." The imagery projected was that of steaming hot loaves of fresh bread, smothered in butter, and with an aroma to die for. But, Jesus responded perfectly (of course) and said in effect there is more to living than only satisfying the physical yearnings of the flesh.)

⁵ THEN the devil *took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and *said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘HE will command His angels concerning You’;
and ‘on their hands they will bear You up, so that You will not strike Your foot against A stone.’” Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

     (FAITH looks to God trustingly but refuses to lazily use Him to do for us what we need to do for ourselves. Faith believes God knew what He was doing when He gave us brains and brawn. He expects us to use them. Not to do so tests God (strange concept) and unfairly attempts to use Him. This is always wrong. A present day example would be someone who refuses medical and medicinal care and rather puts God to the test saying, "I'm just trusting Jesus to take away my ailment." This is foolishness, as if God didn't equip scientists and medical personel to invent medicines and learn the best ways of diagnosing and caring for the physically needy.)

 
⁸  AGAIN, the devil *took Him to a very high mountain and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus *said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’”

     (Perhaps a man's most vulneable area of temptation is his ego. Egotism can be defined as a person who is his own best friend or as obesity of the head. But, a man all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package. And a foul smelling one at that. The Bible pronounces pride as "abominable" to God. Thomas Manton said, "Pride not only withdraws the heart from God, but lifts it up against God." And, this is exactly what Satan desires in order that man will follow him. As Al Martin descriptively remarks, "Every breathing of pride in its first stirrings, if it had its way, would run and tear the crown off God's head." Satan's cravings to be God are so strong he tries to get God's Son to go against His Father and instead worship him. What desperate self-worship. 

MAN IS A TRIPARTITE OR THREE-FOLD BEING consisting of body, soul and spirit. Scripture says, ^“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete…” (1 Thessalonians 5:23). FORMULA: “I am a soul (self consciousness), I have a body (world consciousness and I have a spirit (God-consciousness).

THE DEVIL’S TEMPTATON WAS THREEFOLD, AIMED AT JESUS' TRIPARTITE BEING: 1. AT HIS SPIRIT, by messing with his relationship with God. In essence, Satan says, test God foolishly. "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down..." Behave presumptuously! Don't believe God knows best. Rather impose your notion upon God. This is a faux faith which in reality is a "no faith." This is an attempt to get man to think he knows better than God. 2. It was aimed AT JESUS' SOUL attempting to get him to behave egotistically or psychotically wierd. Satan promised him the world forgetting that he himself had power only temporarily. Satan said, "All these things I will give you, if you fall down and worship me." 3. The temptation was also aimed AT HIS BODY, Satan knowing Jesus at not eaten for 40 days. He's hungry. And so Satan challenges Jesus with these words:  “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” Jesus could have! He could imagine those round stones to be piping hot loaves of bread with the savory aroma wafting upwards. But Jesus countered that there is much more to our earthly existence than things physical or material. Rather, firstly, we must ever pursue the Kingdom of God and His will. 

In each instance Jesus wins! Amen! "Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him" (Matthew 4:11). 

-       Dr. Dick Christen   

WHAT IS REPENTANCE?

REPENTANCE is not an idea, it is an action of the mind. The mind thinks again, or differently. It sees something anew or in a fresh light. And so, there is a marked change in understanding. 

Through the ages God's people have wondered why He has not yet handily dealt with evil once and for all. It can get pretty awful down here but where is He? Why hasn't He come and straightened this mess out? Peter knew exactly how Christians might think. And so he wrote as follows: "But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:8,9). In other words, Peter was saying the way you question God's timing and cast doubts on God's ways needs to be understood more accurately because you are reasoning like mere men and must see things as God sees them. 

REPENTANCE principally has to do with a CHANGE OF MIND. When it comes to the salvation of my soul, whereas I have long considered the cross of Jesus merely a religious symbol, I now ponder it and realize that on that cross Jesus the Christ bore my sin, paid for it in full and now, believing in Him, I am set free from the guilt and penalty of that sin, past, present and future. He prolongs His second triumphant return in order that more will be saved. Of course in all this it is the Holy Spirit, who enables us always to think with a godly perspective.  

In other words, when I truly understand God's salvational intent in sending His Son to buy redemption for sinners, I see it and seeing it in a new light, I repent, believe in Jesus' death for me (He was my substitute on the cross) and am saved from my sin.

We sinners either repent NOW or we will repent FOREVER in hell. In hell the true meaning of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ will be abundantly clear. But, it will be too late. C.H. Spurgeon declared, "Sin and hell are married unless repentance proclaims the divorce." 

In the book of Acts the Apostle Paul characterized his ministry as "solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ." And that is our commission too. Not just belief in Jesus, but repentance and faith. They are the two sides of the same coin. 

Repentance and faith (the twin sisters) are necessary in order to become a Christian, and, as seen in the text above, repentance often must be exercised by Christians in order to put away erroneous thoughts and think God's thoughts on any given subject. Paul said the Corinthians would acknowledge their sin if "God peradventure would give them repentance to the acknowleging of the truth." And so, we pray for erring brothers to repent and return to the Lord (James 5:19.20). 

- Dr. Dick Christen

THE GOOD FATHER, GOD, DISCIPLINES HIS CHILDREN.....

Have you ever heard a Christian admit his affliction is from His loving heavenly Father? Usually we blame circumstances, others, ourselves or whatever, and will even shake our fist in God's face if deeply disturbed. We know the familiar line: 'If God would do this to me, He isn't a God of love.' Rare is the child of God who admits he needed it! But, the fact is, we do and ought to admit God doesn't begin to give us what we really should get. In this fun-loving age we need to remember GOD IS MORE INTERESTED IN OUR HOLINESS THAN OUR HAPPINESS! (cf Hebrews 12:4-11).

"My son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord
or loathe His reproof, for whom the Lord loves He reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights" (Prov. 3:11,12). Read further in Hebrews 12:4-13.

I once read this insightful story: There was a group of women in a Bible study on the Book of Malachi. As they were studying chapter three, the came across verse three, which says: “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.” Puzzled, the women wondered what this statement meant and what it said about the character of God. One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study. That week she phoned a silver smith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest in silver beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silver smith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot. Then, she thought again about the verse, that He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver. She asked the silver smith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that “yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. It the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed." The woman was silent for a moment. Then, she asked the silver smith, “How do you know when the silver is fully refined?” He smiled at her and answered, “Oh, that’s easy. It’s when I see my image in it.” 

If I’m presently feeling the heat of the fire, I know that God has His eye on me and really does love me. He may seem far away but He's right 'here'! He's looking ever so closely at me, looking to see His Son in me. 

- dick christen 

WHEN SINNERS ARE FINALLY JUDGED....

I recently listened to the beautiful tune MAKE THE WORLD GO AWAY, by Floyd Cramer. Just those words will make some start humming it (all day long). 

     It brought to mind the following verse of Scripture. When, at the end of time, God sets up THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGEMENT SEAT where Jesus Christ will judge all unregenerate sinners, the scene is described with these words: "Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them"(Revelation 20:11). 

     Often when leaving 'home sweet home' we feel nostalgic and lonely as the old homestead fades in the rear view mirror. But just imagine all earth and heaven distancing themselves, fading into the far reaches of the eye. All unsaved people will experience this! It will be awful. They can't go back. Their destiny is decided. They stand before the Judge of all judges, Jesus Christ, devoid of His salvation. And here is what happens..."Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.    And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." When this happens it will be Jesus who makes the world go away. No pleasant tune will sound forth from the glorious angels of heaven. Only the agonies of hell will become louder and louder as the lost near hell. 

     Oh, be saved now! To avoid hearing the words of condemnation at the Great White Throne, right now hear and heed the words of the Gospel: "The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him" (John 3:36).

     Sir Winston Churchill is reported to have said: "All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a simple word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy and hope." At heaven's gate just one word gains admission: JESUS! "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." And this, not just to escape hell but to know God and enjoy Him forever.

-Dick Christen

MUSIC NEEDN'T DIVIDE A CHURCH....

     MULL WITH ME..... When we all insist upon MY kind of music, others invariably are 'turned off', even to the point of animosities and church splintering. A fair BLENDED FORMAT seems best. 
     A blended  approach includes in equal proportions the 'oldie-goldies' with their substantive expressions of truth (may the Church ever value them) along with newer styles with meaningful LYRICS , not just frothy empty and worn expressions. And there exists a growing body of such. May the Church welcome them. 
     It doesn't take a genius to put such an agenda together. It does take leadership that values ALL the gathering saints, refusing to cater to just one segment of a congregation. Such an approach allows ALL the saints to gather at any stated service. This makes for cohesiveness and oneness among God's people. And such is what Holy Scripture enjoins. Ephesians 4:1 - 4:6 states it clearly. The Apostle declared....

     "I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." 

     In keeping with the above passage, the divisive tactic of different services for different tastes can happily be laid to rest, and hopefully, a many measured long rest. (Pun intended). 

- Dick Christen

WE WILL TRUST AND NEVER DOUBT......

      FAITH, for the believer in Christ, is the sight of the inner eye. It sees what the physical eye cannot. When sight cannot confirm it and when the mind cannot fathom it, faith stays positive and says 'all is well.' And, this which is my present difficult experience, 'is as it is,' but comes from a God too loving to be unkind and too all-knowing to be wrong! The character of God can always be trusted. He cannot fail. 

     Faith follows God implicitly, albeit with trembling on occasion; while sight calculates, considers, cautions and cringes. Faith declares: God said it, I believe it, that settles it! Where God speaks, faith is dead to doubt, dumb to discouragement and blind to impossibilities.

     Spurgeon expressed it this way: "Faith is reason at rest in God."

     Proverbs says it like this: "Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own" (MSG. 3:5).

     Years ago I read this from Oswald Chambers. It was deep to grasp, but thinking about it gives insight to the root substance of faith:

     He said, "The real trial of faith is not that we find it difficult to trust God, but that God's character has to be cleared in our own minds. Faith in the Bible is faith in God against everything that (seemingly) contradicts Him. I WILL REMAIN TRUE TO GOD'S CHARACTER WHATEVER HE MAY DO!" 

     Job said, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." 

     God cannot and does not fail, even though He allows loss, disappointment, hurt, sorrow and hardship to touch me. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones put it this way: "Faith is a refusal to panic." It has the characteristic of remaining firm, no matter what.

     A lady in one of my congregations once gave me the following poem when I was traversing a difficult period in my life. It has meant so much to me. And this, because in life, try as we may, situations arise which we just cannot figure out. And in such a season, we must simply believe God, accept the situation, stay engaged and never doubt the essential character of God or any of His ordained experiences. The poem is by Hannah Hurnard:

In acceptance lieth peace, 
     O my heart be still;
Let thy restless worries ceae
     And accept His will.
Though this test be not thy choice,
     It is His....therefore, rejoice. 

Cease from sighs and murmuring,
     Sing His loving grace,
This thing means thy furthering
     To a wealthy place.
From thy fears He'll give release;

- Dick Christen        

YOU MUST BE 'DEAD' AGAIN......

Each of us must be born twice or we will die twice. Jesus once said to a very religious man, "You must be born again." He was telling Nicodemus that religion alone is not enough to enter heaven. This leader of the Jews stood before Him dressed 'to the nines' in all his religious garb. Jesus was not impressed and cut through all the laudatory comments, saying to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). Born again? Whatever does that mean?  

     And, while sinners must be 'born again' to have eternal life, the write of Hebrews tells us another opposite but equally intriguing gospel truth. He declares, "And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment" (9:27). In other words, you must be born again, but, if you are not you will die again. Yes, after physical death you will stand before your Maker and without Jesus as personal Lord and Savior you will die spiritually. Unsaved, you must die again!  Revelation 20:11-15 describes the place and the dreadful assignment of all sinners to eternal hell. We understand that all humans die physically but to what does 'after this comes judgment' refer? Does this raise the specter of a judgment that could result in another death of sorts? Yes, it does! Just as we are born once bodily, we must be born again spiritually in order to see eternal bliss. And likewise, we will die physically once and will die again if we are judged and found wanting. We will fall short without Jesus Christ as personal Savior and Lord. He took the judgment of sinners on Himself at the cross. "Christ died for our sins." He paid the price God demands for sin, and that is death. Accepting His death personally as 'my' death satisfies God's righteous demands and the believing sinner is set free. In other words, the believer's judgment place is Calvary. The person without Jesus' judgment credited to him will then be judged at the Great White Throne Judgment Seat of Christ and suffer a second death, being consigned to an eternity of without God the very source of life. Read the Apostle John's account:

   "Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.    And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and  books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.    And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.    Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.    And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:11-15).

     And so, we can emphatically say, "You must be born again" OR you will die again at the final judgment of the ages. You 'must be dead again' without Jesus Christ.

     How is a sinner "born again?" Jesus answered that very question from Nicodemus the very religious but lost man in John 3. What was Jesus' answer? Here at His exact words:

      “For God so loved the world, that He gave His  only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.    For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.    He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God" (John 3:16-19). 

     So, we sinners must be born again or we will die again in the great resurection of the unjust. We will have nothing to plead without Jesus. We will pay forever in hell for our sins, having rejected the payment Jesus made on His cross. 

     Again, this is why the Savior said to that religious leader, "You MUST be born again." Be saved, now! Put this article down, bow your head and receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. 

     God invites you to His salvation found only in His Son. He says "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:9-13). "Where you die, when you die, or by what means, is scarcely worth a thought, if you do but die in Christ."


-dick christen

DESCRIPTIVE DETAILS...

WHEN JESUS COMES FOR HIS PEOPLE, THE TRUE CHURCH, He will take their dust from graves, the seas and urns and reconstruct them into living, breathing, physical persons. 1Cor. 15:51 — 1Cor. 15:54 declares: "Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, 'Death is swallowed up in victory.'"

In vivid detail, as told to Ezekiel, He will do the same for His people the Jews. In Israel's spiritual declension they were pictured in Ezekiel 37 as very dry bones in a valley. Of them Ezekiel said, with VERY DESCRIPTIVE LANGUAGE, "Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord.’”

Perhaps the process, happening instantaneously ("in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye"), will be similar for both the Church and Israel, though happening at different times. Amazing! God can and will do it and then bring in His everlasting kingdom. And He shall reign forever and ever. Take heart, dear believers. All will be well!

d. christen

GRACE FOR IMMEDIATE SALVATION AND ON-GOING SANCTIFICATION...

Dear fellow believer: This is heavy but important. So, put your thinking caps on and bear with me. At salvation we are given a new position, namely, that of being placed IN CHRIST JESUS. (Actually this was determined before the foundation of the world but made personal to us in this life time when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, Ephesians 1:4.) Now, God no longer counts our sins against us! Hallelujah! Christ received our condemnation at the Cross and by faith alone we are thereby freed from the "law of sin and death." In fact, at salvation, He additionally credits (imputes) to us His righteousness and thereby justifies us or declares us absolutely righteous for time and eternity. This is our privileged position IN CHRIST JESUS, by grace alone, through faith, plus nothing. . How GLORIOUS!

But, further, and practically speaking, for the sake of His glory and the fashioning of each of us into Christ's image in this life time, His grace continues to work on us. The Apostle said, "For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son" (Romans 8:29). He will then, BY CHRIST and through the Holy Spirit, continually deal with us about our daily sins. Those He loves, He chastens (child trains) and "scourges every son whom He receives" (Hebrews 12:6). And so, though grace forgives and makes us perfect in Christ at salvation, it continues to discipline us towards Christ-likeness. This is a kind of on-going grace. We are to "grow in the grace and knowlege of Christ Jesus." This discipline of grace can be severe. Those whom He loves, He chastens. If such doesn't bring us around, He will scourge. This can really hurt. Do read Hebrews 12:4-13. This process in no way impinges upon the justification we have IN CHRIST. That is a constant! But this day by day sanctifying work BY CHRIST is for the purpose of making us in the here-and-now more and more like Jesus. Paul said to the Philippians, "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus (1:6). Our loving God is doing this in the life of every true believer!

Why am I saying all this? Because, generally speaking, I sense an imbalance in today's Evangelical world between, on the one hand, a glorying in God's saving and forgiving grace (which makes us immediately perfect IN CHRIST at salvation), and, on the other hand, the necessary daily growth in the "grace and knowledge" of Christ. The first is frequently mentioned. The second rarely so. We must freely preach salvation by grace alone and the immediate blotting out of all sin at the moment of salvation in the eyes of GOD THE JUDGE, but must then loudly teach the New Testament emphasis of an on-going sanctifying GRACE in the life of every believer in the eyes of GOD, the sinner's newly found FATHER. We must BEWARE of the age-long danger of Antinomianism, or, the habit of so reveling exclusively in saving grace as to excuse and consider trivial our daily sins and God's on-going work of sanctifying grace. Perceptively, the Apostle Paul anticipated this in the first century when he said, "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? (Romans 6:1). It is possible to so gloat in saving grace, to the exclusion of sanctifying grace, that we glory in the precious truth of 'grace alone' BUT use it to assuage or mollify our consciences into a care-free and reckless continuance in our present sins? 

Is it even possible for a truly saved person to entertain such an imbalance? Apparently so or the Apostle would not have warned the Roman believers of the danger thereof. So, let us heed the heads-up Paul gives us and reject a lop-sided view of grace that produces emaciated and worldly Christians. I speak out of concern and in love, burdened for the health of Christ's twenty-first century Church.

-Dick Christen, D.D.

I HAVE A FRIEND WHEN NO ONE SEEMS TO CARE......

Proverbs 14:10
     "The heart knows its own bitterness, and a stranger does not share its joy."

     Most 'others' have a rather meager capacity to empathize or feel my sorrows or joys. They try, but we all are so limited and/or busy and preoccupied. Love seeks to break through this but is often so very faint. And so, to a great extent, we live our lives pretty much alone. At the same time we should remember the words of John Milton: "Loneliness is the first thing which God's eye named 'not good.'" Thank the Lord for a spouse who is also a best friend. But, sadly, this is not always the case. 

     BUT, "what a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!...... Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.... Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care? Precious Savior, still our refuge - take it to the Lord in prayer! Do your friends despise, forsake you? Take it to the Lord in prayer! In His arms He'll take and shield you; you will find a solace there." He is the friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Praise God, every child of God can say, "I have a very dear friend and I am the undeserving object of His constant and unfailing love." And, remember, Christ understands loneliness; He's been through it. 

- dick christen