Getting a True Picture of Treasure

Oh, Lord, help me to have a true picture of what truly counts in this world. So much seems so important, but in the end it all turns to dust and is no more. Lord, grant to me the wisdom and discernment to see eternity when temporality is swirling around me like a vortex. Lord, this is my prayer today.

How much did he leave?

(J. R. Miller, "Counsel and Help" 1907)

"Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle." Proverbs 23:5

People are badly cheated in this world. They imagine that the things they can see are the real things--that the gold, lands, and stocks are the true treasures. So they toil for those things and gather them into their possession, piling up what they suppose to be wealth. Thus they live in pomp, with their fine houses, and all their brilliant show. But one day their supposed riches sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle. Or they may keep their wealth, perchance, and die at last in the midst of it, and have a great funeral; but they find that they cannot carry a penny of it with them. "How much did he leave?" was asked about a rich man who had died. "All of it!" was the answer.

If only people knew that there are things which will never fly away--they would no longer live for fleeting worldly wealth. They would pass by the glittering unrealities, to lay hold of the true riches. He who is rich toward God--is the truly wealthy man.

He Has Done All Things Well

There is a statement made about Jesus in Mark 7, and this statement is astounding to me. This is one of those statements that encompasses a great deal; it is an extensive and comprehensive assessment. It can be applied to Jesus in any way possible, and one will see that is true in every respect. “He has done all things well.”

The context of this statement is described both historically and humanly. The historical context is healing. Jesus had healed a deaf man who spoke with a great impediment. The text specifically references in Mark 7:37 the fact that Jesus healed the deaf and the mute. But the text also says that the obvious power and supernatural ability that was evidenced here in this healing caused the people to be “utterly astonished.” The people saw this unbelievable miracle, they were utterly astonished at what they saw, and they responded and said of Jesus, “He has done all things well.” But I would suggest that when all is said and done, when all has come to an end, everyone would testify that Jesus has done all things well.

1. This is the testimony of those who knew Jesus and observed His life.

2. This is the testimony of those who opposed Him.

3. This is the testimony of Pilate.

4. This is the testimony of the Heavenly Father.

5. This is the testimony of the sinner saved by grace.

6. This is the testimony of God’s pilgrims in eternal glory.

· “There were times when I sinned…”

· “There were times when I hated myself…”

· “There were times when I was confused…”

· “There were times when I was disappointed with life…”

· “There were times when I was burdened and overwhelmed…”

· “There were times when I was worried…”

· “There were times when I was sorrowful…”

· “There were times when I was sick…”

· “There was a time when I came to death…”

But no matter what happened, what I felt, and what was going on around me, in the end I have come to know that JESUS DID ALL THINGS WELL.

God Speaking in Life's Whirlwinds

Job 38:1 NASB “Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind…”

Job 38:1 NCV “Then the Lord answered Job from the storm.”

Storms and the Scripture

Storms, like mountains, are copiously used in the Scriptures. Elijah experienced a storm before the Lord spoke to him in a still, small voice in the cave. Jesus calmed the storm, and thus, demonstrated who He was and the power with which He manifested His divine glory. In this case in the Book of Job, the Lord is speaking to Job out of a storm in order to address the questions and issues that have confronted Job in the storms of his life.

Life’s Troubles are Storms

Life’s troubles are like storms. They sometimes come upon us suddenly and unexpectedly. They sweep down upon us with terrible ferocity and great power. Life’s storms of trouble can sweep us away; they can take the very lifeblood of hope out of our hearts. They are both awesome and awful. God’s people are not immune from life’s problems and hardships. They are not exempt from life’s great tragedies. These storms, though not inherent within the material universe, which God created, are now normal and natural because of the sin-broken nature of the world in which we live.

Job’s Storms

Job had been living in a storm for a long time. Job’s life had been decimated by the tragic and painful events of his journey. He had, quite literally, lost everything except God. God in the days and weeks of pain’s shadow, Job could not see or find God. He would cry out, “Oh, that I might find Him.” Eventually Job’s perception of everything became warped: he had a warped perception of himself (thinking he was righteous), he had a warped perception of life (he thought life was not worth living), and most of all he had a warped perception of God (he thought God was angry with him, and thus God abandoned him). But Job was wrong on all accounts. When we are hurting we become horrible philosophers. In pain our spiritual vision is clouded, and our mind is dulled to the truth. In moments of hopelessness apparitions of horror will fill us with a terrible dread.

God Speaking from the Whirlwind

God begins speaking to Job in Job 38 and He speaks through chapter 41. What does God say? What does God not say? What is God doing for Job in this section? What does Job really need from God?

· God does not answer Job’s questions.

· God does, by asking His own questions to Job, re-orientate Job to life, reality, and God.

· By doing this, God awakens Job to a deeper understanding of God, life, and even Job’s experiences, and by doing this God gives Job the greatest gift ever – illumination to the truth with eternal application for living.

Comforted by God

Read 2 Corinthians 1:3-7

First, I want us to think about the true assertions made about life in these verses. These assertions deal with suffering and comfort in suffering:

1. It is normal and even expected for Christians to suffer in this world of sin.
2. God is the God of all comfort. All comfort comes from Him.
3. God wants Christians to be comforted by Him.
4. God also wants to pass comfort along to others through the ones whom He comforts, so that the comforted Christian becomes the conduit through whom divine comfort flows to others. However, this is processed and accomplished in such a way so that the hurting person receiving comfort from a comforted Christian turns to the Lord for more comfort. All true comfort comes from God Himself!

Second, I think it is vital that we understand that this passage is not teaching that we should turn to people for comfort when we hurt. This is the common mistake made by many people when they hurt. Many people unfortunately turn to other people when they turn. Why do we do this?

• Because it is easy to do.
• Because we falsely think that is where real comfort is found.
• Because when we turn to people for comfort it is an attempt (perhaps inadvertent and unintentional) to pass off to others the responsibility that we bear for our own decisions and comfort. Turning to others takes the pressure off of us.

If we turn to people for comfort when we hurt rather than to the Lord, then we will never grow in our understanding of life's depths. The richness of spiritual truth that could have been learned in the vortex of suffering, will never be perceived if we turn to people instead of the Lord. If we turn to people for comfort instead of the Lord, we will never truly experience comfort, and we will never be able to comfort others with the comfort God gives to us.

Does God want to comfort His hurting people? Sure. Does God want comforted Christians to pass that comfort along to others who hurt? Again, absolutely right. But let's remember that if by sharing God's comfort we turn people to ourselves rather than to God, then we do them a disservice, and they will not have learned to be comforted by God.

Some People Just Don't Get It

Sometimes I am amazed as I read God's Word, the Bible. Well, truthfully, I am always amazed when I read the Bible, but I have one particular type of passage in mind that really amazes me. The passages to which I make reference are those passages of Scripture that reveal the stubborn dullness of those who saw Jesus heal and heard Him teach, yet still did not get it.

Luke chapter 11 is one such passage. In Luke 11 delivers a demon-possessed man, but there were those who attributed Jesus' power to the devil (verses 14-15). There were still others who, after they witnessed Jesus deliver the demon-possessed man, asked Jesus for a sign (verse 16). I mean, give a break. Can you imagine what it was like when Jesus delivered this man from the powers of darkness, powers that held him in bondage. Then someone was watching all of this with their arms folded, yawning, and examining their finger nails. Everyone is rejoicing at this great miracle, and this hardhearted person nonchalantly walks over to Jesus and says, "Hey, Mr. Big Shot Rabbi, why don't you show us a real sign of Your divinity?" Huh?! That question doesn't even deserve an answer. Then a woman shouts out, "Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed (verse 27)." But Jesus (I wish I knew the tone of voice with which He spoke this next line) said, "On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the Word of God, and observe it." Some people have a hard time understanding the real issue. Evidently the crowd clamored for a sign, because Jesus starts admonishing them for wanting a sign (verse 29), and He points them to only one sign - the sign of His resurrection (verse 29). And Jesus gets really exhortative when He says the Queen of Sheba acknowledged Solomon and the Ninevites acknowledged the preaching of Jonah, but Jesus is greater than both of them. But the people refused to acknowledge Him (verses 30-32). Jesus has lunch with a Pharisee, but the Pharisee is more concerned with pre-meal ceremony than what matters most (verses 37-41) (good grief!). The Pharisees made their religion a show instead of a matter of the heart (verses 42-44), and the lawyers were offended (Oh my goodness; today Jesus would have been sued! Verses 45-46). But Jesus warns them that they belong to the "Let's Kill the Prophets Club (verses 47-52)." And the chapter ends with the text referencing the hostility of the Pharisees and scribes resulting in a plan to kill Jesus. THEY MISSED THE WHOLE POINT!

The human heart is so hard, so sinful, so depraved that unless God opens the heart by grace, it will never understand the truth. The sinful eyes are so blind that unless God by grace causes the sinner to see, he will never discern truth.

This is why we pray for the lost. This is why we beseech God's mercy on sinners. Unless God illumines them, they will never see. Unless God softens their hearts, they will remain rebellious.

Obsessed with your Weakness?

Read Exodus 6

God begins the process that will deliver the people of Israel from Egyptian bondage in Exodus chapter 6. Twice in this chapter God tells Moses to essentially get on with it. God tells Moses to go to Pharaoh again and demand that he release the people of God. But Moses is not convinced. He does not believe this is going to work. And do you know why? He is obsessed with the fact that he has a speech impediment! Twice, when God says "go", Moses responds and says essentially, "Lord, I can't go and do what you ask. I am not skilled in speaking. Why the people of Israel don't listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me. I am not gifted and talented enough for this job (The Greever Free Paraphrase)." If you remember, when God called Moses on the mountain, Moses brought this same weakness up to God at that time. Moses is obsessed with his inability!

There is one critically important component to all of this that Moses has missed - God is not dependent upon Moses to get His will done! But Moses thinks God is limited to the abilities or inabilities of man. God is not linked to our strengths or weaknesses. He uses people for His glory, but He is not limited by the abilities and capacities of the people He uses. God will always do His will in His time in His way.

If we are to serve the Lord, we must remember the following:

1. Serving God is more about God than us. God saves us, and God will use us. God will incorporate our loving and feeble service for Him in His achievements. But God is not dependent upon humanity in any sense in order to get His plan completed. It is always about Him, not us.
2. God works in us, through us, around us, in spite of us, and beyond us. God is sovereignly working His plan and will through all sorts of people and circumstances. He is not limited to working simply through His people. Read the Bible (particularly the biblical narratives) and you will discover this. God uses sinners and saints, God uses pagans and Christians, God uses good things, and God uses bad things. In fact, the doctrine of Providence teaches us that all things are used by God to bring about good for His people and kingdom.
3. God is particularly pleased to work through the weaknesses of His servants. The reason God did not take Moses' speech impediment away (We are not sure what kind of speech problem Moses had. He may have simply been a really bad speaker.) is that God wanted to use Moses the way he was. God made Moses, and Moses was created to do what God wanted him to do. God builds us in such a way that His glory will shine through us, even our weaknesses and frailties. Paul learned this in 2 Corinthians 12. He had a "thorn in the flesh", and three times he asked God to take the thorn away. God refused for two reasons: 1) It was not God's will to take the thorn away, because 2) God had plans to use Paul's thorn in order to demonstrate His glorious power in Paul's life.
4. Recognized human difficulties and problems humbles man and gives God the glory. If we are to learn anything from the heart of God in the redemptive work He achieved throughout history culminating in the incarnation of Christ, it is this - people need to be reclaimed to the recognition of the greatness of God, and they must be brought back to the true worship of God. Sin has robbed man of his perception of who God is and the genuine worship of God. Jesus said in John 4 that God wants true worshipers. Everything God does in redemption in history humbles man and glorifies Himself. This is a truism that must be remembered. The central question in the Egyptian bondage of Israel and their deliverance is this - who has the power, Pharaoh or God? God took humble people and demonstrated His sovereign greatness over the greatest nation in the world at that time. It is always about God and His glory!

So, remember, Christian friend. You are made to serve the Lord, and you are constituted by God's power and will to serve Him the way He wants. Don't look at your weaknesses as barriers to God using you. Rather, look at your weaknesses as the means by which God will be glorified in your service.

Eutychus Discovers "Old Time Religion"

In his on-going quest to find a church home, Eutychus stopped in one bright, sunny Sunday morning at a church whose sign said, "Bubba Baptist Church - Where Old Time Religion is always Up-to-Date." This looked very promising to Eutychus because he was from the first century, and one could not get more "Old Time Religion" than that!

So, Eutychus approached the door where a nice gentleman handed him a bulletin and said, "Y'aint from around here, are ya?" Eutychus rather timidly admitted that he was indeed "not from around here", so the fellow looked him over thoroughly and said, "Well, ya might as well stay since yer here; it might do ya some good." Eutychus slid into a seat mid-way down the aisle hoping that no one would notice he was new. He was beginning to think he might have made a mistake in coming to church here, but he decided to stick it out. A little old lady came swooning up to Eutychus and said, "Young man, Do I know ya?" Eutychus dropped his head quietly murmuring , "I don't think so." She continued, "Ya look sorta like Mr. Bagwag's grandson who is in prison; yer not his brother, are ya?" "No", said Eutychus, somewhat embarrassingly. The song leader got up and said, "We're glad ya'll are here. I do surprisingly see a visitor. Well, that's good 'cuz the preacher has got him a sidewinder sermon today. Now, let's all sing our church song, 'Gimme that Ole Time Religion.' If you forgit the words, then I'll remind ya. Verse one is 'It was good for pa and ma', verse two is 'It was good for great uncle Roebedoe,' and the final verse is 'It was good for the ones who started this church in the early days of this county' - (that there is my favorite verse)." At this point Eutychus was wondering how old was "old?" It seemed to him that old surely meant before the founding of this county. The song leader never said a word about the early church fathers or the Apostle's Creed; now that would have been "old."

After the singing the preacher started to wail out his sermon, which was entitled, "Don't Ever Change Nothin, Cuz We Don't Want It Changed - Got That?" The preacher, filled with vigor and vim, regaled against modernism and what he called "new fangled thinkin." Why to hear him, you'd think the whole problem of the world was found in improvements. Coming to the climax of this stirring address, he made his final and clearest point - "We want to keep thangs as they is, just like they used to be in those great days of the early church" (Eutychus got excited, because he knew the early church well). The preached continued with passion, "And we all know when them days wuz - betwixt 1932-1957. Everything started to go to pot when old man Fedaro put in that there new restaurant in this here town. New folks started comin, and doggone it if thangs have been hankerin for destruction since."

Well, Eutychus was unsure what opening a restaurant had to do with the decline of the church and the community, but he felt he was probably not welcome here. He was hoping that the end of the service would come quickly. And it did, followed immediately by a sharp rap on Eutychus' shoulder. He turned around to find himself staring into the militant eyes of a older lady with a stern look on her face. Suddenly she said, "Young man, when yer comin in here again make sure that you don't sit in Mrs. Dootletootle's seat. She has been sittin in that seat for last forty years, and doggone it you haven't upset her somethin terrible." Feeling the scolding eyes of the congregation on him, Eutychus hustled out the front door, and as he did he read the message on the church sign, "Visitors Always Welcome."