The Sabbath: Does It Really Matter Anymore?

Recently one of the readers of this blog asked me a question about the Sabbath day and how it relates to Christians. This was a pretty involved question and I won't take the time to repeat all of the details here, but I gave it my best shot to put together a brief (but hopefully comprehensive) answer. Here's the gist of what I had to say about the Sabbath:

There are really a bunch of different positions on this issue.

First of all, you have the position which basically says that the Sabbath carries over from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant without being changed at all. Groups like the Seventh-Day Adventists, Seventh-Day Baptists, and some Messianic Jewish congregations hold to this position. They are really taking the commandment to keep the Sabbath more at face value than anyone else, because they keep it on Saturday (the seventh day). I wouldn't really say that they take the commandment entirely literally, though, because they usually won't put people in their congregations who break the Sabbath to death. Still, they are following this commandment pretty closely to the letter of the law. They would argue that since the commandment to keep the Sabbath is not part of the ceremonial or ritual laws of the Old Covenant (which Christ fulfilled and in the process did away with) and since it was never explicitly nullified, Christians should keep the Sabbath day as closely as possible. They would also argue that the Sabbath day is actually Saturday, since "Sabbath" literally means "the seventh day" in Hebrew. So for this group, to say that I am going to keep the Sabbath day on Sunday is like saying that I'm going to keep the fourth of July in the heart of winter. It is just a contradiction of terms to them.

Secondly, you have the position on the opposite end of the spectrum that holds that the Sabbath day isn't relevant for Christians at all, because we aren't under law, but under grace. People who hold this position would really emphasize statements that the apostle Paul made about the Christian's relationship to the law. On this basis, they would conclude that the Sabbath is now unimportant to keep because it was either fulfilled in Christ or just done away with altogether. So people with this perspective would still go to church on Sunday (or Saturday, or whenever they felt like it), but then they would have no problem going to work, a baseball game, wherever right after church. Most evangelical Christians in the United States fall into this category-not usually because they have thought through the issue and ended up here by conviction, but just because it is easier to fit this view into an already busy lifestyle.

Thirdly, you will also find the position that the law of the Sabbath has been carried over from the Old Covenant, but with some important modifications. The most important modification that Christians will put in here is that the Sabbath day is now on Sundays rather than Saturdays. For the guys who wrote the Westminster Confession of Faith, Sunday was the Christian Sabbath, and Christians are to refrain from all work, from all recreation, etc. The obvious reason for the change from Saturday to Sunday was because of the fact that Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week. These guys also probably wouldn't execute Sabbath-breakers, but they did try to pass laws in England to restrict the kinds of activities that people could do on the Sabbath. This is sometimes called "Christian Sabbatarianism"; the basic idea is that the Sabbath has been shifted from Saturday to Sunday.

The fourth and final big perspective is basically the position that the Sabbath is no longer a binding requirement on believers living under the New Covenant, but that it is still an important principle to follow that is based on the unchanging character of God (who took one day of rest out of seven). And-you guessed it!-this is my perspective, since I saved it until last. I believe that the commandment to keep the Sabbath is no longer binding upon believers living under the New Covenant. It is confusing to me why some Christians will preach grace time and time again, but then on a couple particular issues (the Sabbath and tithing) slip back into the mindset of using the law to issue commandments to other Christians about how to live. As Christians, we were not saved through keeping the law, and we will not remain saved by keeping the law! So why in the world would we take a new Christian who has had an encounter with God through the grace of Christ and start giving them a set of rules to follow? That seems like legalism through and through to me. It is dangerous and it is un-scriptural to say that 99% of the law of Moses was fulfilled in Christ, but that 1% is still remaining and active. If God wanted to do something like this, He definitely could have; but there is no reason to think as far as I can tell that He did.

So from my perspective, what do we do with the Sabbath? Since the laws God gave through Moses were all based on the unchanging nature and character of God, I'm definitely not willing to throw them away and say that they have nothing to teach me! Instead, I think that we need to try to find the unchanging principle behind all of the laws God gave through Moses, and wisely apply them to our own lives. Being under the New Covenant is no excuse for not living wisely; we should actually be living in a way that is wiser than people living under the Old Covenant! With the Sabbath, I believe that the principle we see is that it is wise and appropriate to set aside one day out of seven for rest and worshiping God. Could this be Saturday? Sure. Could it be Sunday? Why not. It could even be Thursday. Here's the key point-God gave us the principle of Sabbath-rest for our benefit, and He intended it to help us, not to hinder us. And since this is an issue of wisdom rather than law, I would never try to make someone feel guilty for not setting aside one day out of seven. I would try to help them see that this is wise counsel from a God who loves them, but I'm definitely not going to do what I've seen other people do in threatening the people of God with a curse if they don't keep the Sabbath. That is the farthest thing from grace that I can possibly imagine.

And I think it's the same with tithing. God gives us a principle to set aside one-tenth of all that we produce and give it to Him. Are we going to be cursed if we don't? I'm not willing to say that. But it is a scriptural principle, and one that we should pay attention to.

After some time passed, this blog reader shot back a few more questions, and so I followed up with this explanation of how I see the relationship between Christians living under the New Covenant and laws we read in the Old Testament:

Maybe this will clear up some of the confusion regarding my position: I don't believe that Christians are obligated to keep the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments were part of the covenant that God made with the Israelites through Moses; we are not part of that covenant. So don't worry about keeping the Ten Commandments!

With that being said, I should probably back-track a little bit. Nine of the Ten Commandments are repeated in the New Testament, and it is obvious that Jesus and the apostles expected Christians to obey them (the Sabbath law being the only one never explicitly repeated in the New Testament). So it's not like we can live any way that we might want to live. So which is it: do we keep the Ten Commandments, or don't we?

I think this is what I would emphasize: we are not under the law of Moses any longer (Ten Commandments included), but we are not without a law. Instead of being under the law of Moses ('do this and you will live, don't do it and you will die'), we are under the "law of love" (love God with all you've got and love your neighbor like yourself). But then we've got to ask the question, "What does it look like to love God with all you've got, and what does it look like to love your neighbor like yourself?"

This is when the Old Covenant becomes helpful. Because God never changes, we can get a really good idea of what it means to love God and love others from looking at the law. We can't just say that the law is God's timeless will for all people at all places at all times; however. There are some laws that are entirely general and timeless ("Don't kill"), while there are other laws that are more specific and time-bound ("Don't allow an Amalekite to enter the assembly of the Lord", etc.). So we've got to discern the principle behind all of the laws God gave to His people, and then apply that same principle to our own lives.

So what do you think? Would you agree with what I said about Christians and the Sabbath, or disagree? Anything that you would add?

 

The River

After not listening to this song for more than a decade, it randomly came back to my mind yesterday. It's called "The River" by Garth Brooks, and it's one of the few country songs that I actually like. I would encourage you to listen to it and pay close attention to the lyrics!



You know a dream is like a river
Ever changin' as it flows
And a dreamer's just a vessel
That must follow where it goes
Trying to learn from what's behind you
And never knowing what's in store
Makes each day a constant battle
Just to stay between the shores...and

I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry
Like a bird upon the wind
These waters are my sky
I'll never reach my destination
If I never try
So I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry

Too many times we stand aside
And let the waters slip away
'Til what we put off 'til tomorrow
Has now become today
So don't you sit upon the shoreline
And say you're satisfied
Choose to chance the rapids
And dare to dance the tide...yes

I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry
Like a bird upon the wind
These waters are my sky
I'll never reach my destination
If I never try
So I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry

There's bound to be rough waters
And I know I'll take some falls
But with the good Lord as my captain
I can make it through them all...yes

I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry
Like a bird upon the wind
These waters are my sky
I'll never reach my destination
If I never try
So I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry

Yes, I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry
'Til the river runs dry

When Prayer Becomes An Excuse For Disobedience

Over the past couple of days some things came up that caused me to question some decisions I have made in life and the course I am heading in. There was nothing "earth-shattering" that happened, but it was enough to make me concerned, agitated, and anxious. And so I decided to pray about it this morning (good thing, right?). And the answer I got from the Lord absolutely shocked me.

Here's what the Lord basically told me: "You are praying about things that I have already given you a clear word of instruction about. You're prayers are just becoming an excuse for disobedience." Excuse me??!? My prayers are becoming an excuse for disobedience? To be fair, my response wasn't that extreme, but I was surprised. But as I thought and prayed about it some more, I realized that God was right, and a sense of peace came to my heart that I was actually hearing from Him. God has confirmed the direction that I am taking in life a number of times, and He has made it clear that where I'm going and what I'm doing is no mistake. So when I prayed about my situation, I wasn't praying in faith; I was really just going to God again and ignoring the answer He had already given me.

To make things even more convicting, God gave me this picture: I was acting just like the Israelites did in Joshua 7. To give you some context to this passage, in Joshua 6 the Israelites had just taken the fortified city of Jericho in a stunning victory, but they had not followed God's instructions precisely in how to handle the plunder from the city. God instructed through Joshua that the people should not keep the spoils of war for themselves, but Achan the son of Carmi kept some of these items devoted to the Lord. So when the Israelites went up against the next city of the land, Ai, God gave them up before their enemies. In response to this unexpected defeat, Joshua humbled himself before the Lord and cried out to God (a good thing, right?). Here's how the book of Joshua records the prayer and God's response:

Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until the evening, he and the elders of Israel. And they put dust on their heads. And Joshua said, "Alas, O Lord GOD, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would that we had been content to dwell beyond the Jordan! O Lord, what can I say, when Israel has turned their backs before their enemies! For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will you do for your great name?"

The LORD said to Joshua, "Get up! Why have you fallen on your face? Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings. Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you. Get up! Consecrate the people and say, 'Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the LORD, God of Israel, "There are devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you."

When God found Joshua in the place of prayer, He rebuked Joshua. Here was God's point: it won't do you any good to pray when you are living in disobedience. Joshua definitely didn't know about Achan's sin (neither did the rest of the nation of Israel, for that matter), but he represented the people, and as long as the people were living in sin and disobedience, God would continue to give them over to their enemies.

When God showed me this, I realized that I was just like the Israelites in this story. God gave me clear instructions about the path I'm supposed to be on in life right now and what I need to be involving myself in, but things happened to take my eyes off God's good plan for my life. I grew discouraged, and instead of fixing my focus on God's goodness and never-ending kindness, I went to God in prayer. It's not bad to pray, but it's bad to pray when your prayers are basically just a sign that you are doubting or disobeying something that God already made clear. And this is exactly what I was doing this morning. God's rebuke to me was strong, and it was clear. It wasn't fun receiving this word from the Lord, but when it came, it was good. I knew it came straight from the heart of God, and I knew that He intended it for my correction, my good, and my benefit.

How about you? Are there areas in your life where God has made His will clear, but you just keep praying and hoping that things will change? For me, I didn't really think about the fact that I was disobeying God and doubting His goodness when I went to Him in prayer this morning, but that's what I was doing. And you might be doing the same. When we do this, we're no different than Joshua and the sons of Israel-trying to honor God with good intentions but the entire time dishonoring Him by ignoring the clear instruction that He has already given. As long as we remain in this place of disobedience and questioning the will of God (even through prayer!) we will be powerless, and we will be helpless to stand against our enemies.  

May the Lord give us the grace to hear His voice the first time He speaks, to be eager to obey, and to always trust in His faithfulness, goodness, and kindness to us!

The Life of Prayer That Delights God

For those of you who are interested, I just posted the audio to a sermon that I preached recently at my home church, so it is available to listen to online. The sermon was given on October 18th, 2009 at Gresham Household of Faith Community Church, and the title was "The Life of Prayer That Delights God". You can listen to it here.

A Code Of Ethics For Biblical Preaching

This is a code of ethics for biblical preaching that I made a few years back. I was just looking through it again as I am getting ready to preach tomorrow, and I thought you might be interested to browse through it!

A Code of Ethics for Biblical Preaching

I. Preamble

The purpose of this code is to present a set of guidelines for myself regarding the communication of God’s truth contained in His word, the Bible. As a disciple of Jesus Christ who has been purified through His vicarious death, my purpose and calling in life is to present God’s word to believers and unbelievers alike in a way that is simple, clear, intelligible, and challenging. In this communication I have obligations to God, my audience, other ministers, and myself. The task of preaching is unlike any other, but the rewards and blessing that come from it are unmatched, and as a result I have dedicated myself to this task more than to any other.

II. Statement of Faith

A. God and Creation: I believe that God, the eternal and all-powerful ruler of everything, exists as one God in three persons: God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Although He lacks nothing, He chose out of His great love to create all that exists. He created all things out of nothing, and He brought them into existence by the power of His spoken word. In six days He created the heavens, the earth, plants, and animals. On the sixth day in particular, God created man, who was to be the crowning gem of all His creation, and who was to rule over the earth through God’s authority. (Gen. 1:1-2:25; Is. 43:10; Matt. 28:16-20; 1 John 4:8)

B. Man and Sin: I believe that as God’s unique creation, man was created in the image and likeness of God. Although man was elevated to a position far above the rest of the physical creation, he chose to break relationship with God and he thus became corrupt. The sin of the first human couple didn’t remain with them, but was rather passed down to their offspring. As a result, all people are born with a twisted and corrupt nature that prevents them from seeking, honoring, pleasing, or glorifying God. (Gen. 3:1-24; Ps. 8:1-9, 51:5; Rom. 5:12-21; 1 Cor. 15:22)

C. Christ and Salvation: I believe that although God would have been glorified and just in condemning all mankind to eternal punishment forever, He chose rather out of His great love and mercy to provide salvation that would be sufficient for all through Jesus Christ. Christ, the second member of the Trinity, was born into the world through the Virgin Mary. He led a sinless life, and He taught His disciples and those around Him about the Father. When the time came near for Him to die, He went to Jerusalem so that everything written about Him would be fulfilled. He was crucified, died, and was buried. Three days later, He rose again from the dead, substantiating His claims about the Father and Himself. After forty days He commissioned His disciples to go out into all the nations, to make disciples of them, and to teach them to walk in His own footsteps. Afterward, He ascended into Heaven. He will return one day in the same manner to reign as king and to judge the peoples of the earth. For those who accept Christ as their Savior and Lord and who begin to walk in the footsteps of Christ, the door to salvation is thrown open and heaven becomes a certainty. For those who reject Christ, there is no other salvation; all that remains for them is the gloomy expectation of judgment and eternal condemnation. (Matt. 1:18, 26:1-28:20; John 3:16-21; Acts 1:1-1:11; 1 John 2:2)

D. God’s Revelation: I believe that God has revealed Himself and His plan of salvation to all mankind through His unique written word, the Bible. The Bible contains the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, and was delivered to us through human authors who wrote as the Holy Spirit led them. While the Bible is ultimately written by God, the words of Scripture reflect the culture in which they were written and the personalities of the human authors. As a result, diligent study and exegesis of Scripture are necessary in order to understand and apply its’ truths. (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:21)

III. Statements of Obligations

A. To God:

1. I will only preach messages that have as their center the Lordship of Jesus Christ. (2 Cor. 4:5)

2. I will clearly and succinctly communicate and exalt God’s character and nature to my audience. (Ps. 21:13)

3. I will rigorously study the passage of Scripture to be preached in order to discover the principle that God communicated through the human author to his original audience. (2 Tim. 3:15)

4. I will ask God to apply the truth I will be presenting first to my own life, and I will allow Him to change me as He desires.

5. I will seek to apply God’s truth to all areas of life as His Holy Spirit directs.

6. I will only preach the word of God as it has been understood in the historic creeds (Apostles’ Creed, Nicene Creed), and I will not venture into novel or unorthodox teachings. (Gal. 1:6-10)

7. I will only deliver messages that proclaim God’s truth, edify His people, or invite unbelievers into His kingdom.

8. I will seek to magnify God and minimize myself through preaching. (John 3:30)

9. I will strive to use my talents and abilities to the utmost in the task of preaching. (Ecc. 9:10; 1 Cor. 10:31-32)

10. I will not shrink back from preaching God’s truth when it is controversial, unpopular, or dangerous. (Eze. 3:16-21; Matt. 24:9-13)

B. To my audience/congregation:

1. I will strive to present Jesus Christ and Him crucified in every message that I deliver. (1 Cor. 2:2)

2. I will seek to serve my audience through the ministry of the word. (John 13:12-17; 1 Pet. 5:1-3)

3. I will speak only those words which will be edifying to my audience. (Eph. 4:29)

4. I will try to motivate my audience to demonstrate their love for God through love and service to others. (Matt. 22:34-40)

5. I will not use sensational or artificial methods. (1 Cor. 2:4-5)

6. I will use plain, simple, and intelligible language to boldly present the Word of God. (2 Cor. 3:12)

7. I will not use rude or forceful language to preach, but I will rely upon God’s power for results. (1 Cor. 4:20)

8. I will not use falsified illustrations, examples, or stories in my sermons and present them as true. (1 Thess. 5:22)

9. I will not use confidential information or embarrassing stories about others in a sermon without their permission.

10. I will not make long or showy prayers before or after sermons. (Ecc. 5:2; Matt. 6:5-7)

C. To my peers in ministry:

1. I will honor other ministers of the Gospel through my preaching, including their ministries and accomplishments. (Phil. 2:25-30)

2. I will not speak out in bitterness, wrath, or anger against other ministers of the Gospel. (Eph. 4:31)

3. I will not seek to exalt one ministry or minister above another in my sermons. (1 Cor. 3:1-23)

4. I will highlight the unity of the body of Christ in my messages so that there will be no sense of division between local congregations. (Eph. 2:11-22)

5. I will attempt to align my messages with the various ministries and activities of my own church, the churches in the surrounding community, and the community at large.

6. I will share techniques, methods, and ideas about preaching with other ministers as necessary.

7. I will ask other ministers of the Gospel to evaluate my preaching style, technique, and effectiveness. (Acts 18:24-28)

8. I will regularly meet with others involved in ministry for prayer, accountability, and community. (Heb. 10:25)

9. I will seek to occasionally delegate my role of preaching to other ministers who may be visiting or to those who have received a message from God.

10. I will preach at other churches and functions when available for other pastors and ministers who cannot attend to the duty.

D. To myself:

1. I will study God’s word and seek the Lord in prayer daily. (Ps. 119:11)

2. I will labor diligently and study intensely to prepare biblical messages through God’s grace. (Acts 20:24)

3. I will prepare my own biblical messages rather than use the work of others.

4. I will not deliver sermons when I am uncertain about the accuracy of my understanding of a passage.

5. I will practice delivering my sermons at least twice before I deliver it to an audience.

6. I will honor God through taking care of my body by getting eight hours of sleep the night before a sermon and through eating healthy meals before delivering that sermon. (1 Cor. 6:19-20)

7. I will not preach a message to gain personal notoriety or to increase my status with others. (Matt. 6:1-34)

8. I will model all that I say in a message by what I do throughout the week. (1 Cor. 4:20; 1 Pet. 2:1-3)

9. I will attempt to preach without notes whenever it is possible, so that I can more actively and dynamically interact with the audience.

10. I will not derive self-esteem from compliments given after a sermon, nor will I accept a poor self-image from criticism.

IV. Statement of Conclusion

As a believer and follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, I have committed myself to sharing with others His Gospel through biblical preaching. In the work of biblical preaching I have obligations to God, to my audience, to my peers, and to myself, and because of the nature of the task at hand, I take these obligations very seriously. While I have certainly not mastered biblical preaching nor do I ever expect to do so, I am excited about the opportunity to exalt God through this task, and I look forward to spending the rest of my life in service to others through the ministry of the word. Amen!

An Exhortation To Young Christian Women

I was sitting in my Hebrew class the other night, and a young lady came and sat down by me. I said "hi" and introduced myself, and got to know her a little bit. She was very nice, but there was one huge problem that I noticed almost immediately: her shirt wasn't quite long enough for her. A little bit later, another girl came in with a shirt that didn't quite cover her all the way up on the chest. And so it continued for the rest of the night. I have to say, I was annoyed and frustrated by this lack of clothing. Just to clarify: I go to a Christian graduate school, and everyone who attends makes a profession of faith and must submit personal references testifying to their Christian character before they ever get accepted. So I don't mean to condemn or judge these young ladies, but it was just a couple more examples of a problem growing among young Christian women.

What is the problem? Our young women often feel (whether consciously or subconsciously, I don't know which) that they need to expose different parts of their body in order to be attractive to men. And on the one hand, this isn't too surprising. We live in a culture that holds up a stereotypical image of what an attractive woman looks like, and this image often includes showing as much skin as possible. Christian women usually don't go as far as others, but you can definitely tell that many of them are still influenced by it. On the other hand, this trend is highly alarming. Both the Old and New Testaments hold up a standard of morality for the people of God that touches upon how God's people dress (in principle, although not always down to the details). And so we read in 1 Peter:

In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior. Your adornment must not be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands; just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear.

So I've got to say that I do understand why there is a temptation for young Christian women to draw attention to themselves by how they dress, but that giving into this temptation is radically opposed to God's instruction. And to be fair, I realize that men share a huge burden of the guilt for this problem because through their comments, the attention they give, and what they describe as "attractive" they only reinforce this behavior in women. But we are called to be a different breed of people, and so we must live above this.

And I want to be very direct and upfront on this issue: if you were a young woman who wanted to get my attention, no matter how attractive you are, I would never, ever pursue a relationship with you if you didn't dress modestly. This isn't because I'm trying to be "prudish"; it's because I would be terrified that if the relationship led to marriage and we had kids, you would teach them to dress the same way. As a man who is trying to pursue God with all my heart, and knowing other men who are of the same mind, I can honestly tell you that if you ever want to find a husband who loves God more than anything else, you will not get him through showing off your body.

What is the alternative, then? For me, and for all the other guys I have discussed this issue with who are like-minded in pursuing God, the way that you can make yourself most attractive is by pursuing God with all that you have in you. I couldn't care less if you are up-to-date with the latest fashions; tell me what God has been showing you recently in your quiet time. I'm uninterested in whether your skin is dark enough and if you have been tanning recently; let me see you involved in serving and building up the body of Christ. I don't care if you perfectly match the figures on the magazines in the supermarket; let me see the gentleness and quietness of your spirit as you patiently wait on God to provide you with a husband. These are the things that will attract a man who is truly seeking God, and they will cause you to grow in Christ-likeness all along the way.

And one last point for young Christian men and women: I learned something a few years back that I have always kept close to me, and it's incredibly practical for this discussion. Don't get involved in a relationship with someone that you don't respect. I've had the opportunity to start relationships with a number of girls that were attractive in one way or another, but I chose not to because I just didn't respect them and see them as women of "noble character" when it came down to it. There are a number of things that might attract you to a person, but if you don't respect them at the deepest and most fundamental level, you are already off to a bad start. This rule of thumb has served me well until now, and I think that you will find it helpful and true to the Bible as well.

May God give you the grace to pursue Him with all that you have in you, and the humility and modesty to conduct yourselves in the world in a way that will attract people that is truly pleasing to Christ!

Why It Is Worth Your Time To Pursue Humility

God has recently been impressing a particular verse on my heart and mind more strongly than I have ever experienced before. This verse comes from Isaiah, and has to do with the importance of having a contrite and lowly spirit. Before I share the verse with you, a brief description of the context of Isaiah might be helpful. In Isaiah chapters 1-39, we read chapter after chapter of condemnation and judgment upon God's people because of their unfaithfulness to their covenant with God. But in chapters 40-66, the tone of Isaiah radically changes, and instead of constant condemnation and judgment, we read of mercy, grace, pardon, forgiveness, and restoration. This shift in tone is so dramatic that the majority of modern biblical scholars actually believe that there were at least two different authors of Isaiah-one who wrote chapters 1-39, and another who wrote chapters 40-66. I believe that the prophet Isaiah wrote the entire book, but this just goes to show that there is definitely a radical shift in tone between chapters 39 and 40. So when we get to Isaiah 57, where the verse I am going to share is from, we are in a context describing how God desires to pardon His people, forgive their sins, and restore them into a relationship of covenant faithfulness with Him.

With this in mind, we read in Isaiah 57:15:

For thus says the high and exalted One who lives forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit in order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.

So how does this fit into the broader context of Isaiah that I just mentioned? Since this verse comes in the second half of Isaiah (40-66), it is basically describing to God's people the way that they can be restored from their bondage to sin, enslavement to their enemies, and frustration in all that they do. God called upon His people to humble themselves, to become contrite and lowly of spirit, and to look to Him for restoration. Making treaties with foreign kings would not help, strengthening their armies would not save them, and fortifying their cities could never deliver; but to those who had a contrite and lowly spirit before the God of Israel, He promised to make His dwelling place in them.

But enough about Israel-what does this verse have to say to us? I believe what we can get out of this verse is a better understanding of why it is so worth our time to pursue humility. Before I can get to this, though, I have to give a couple quick theological clarifications. In Christian theology, we say that God is "omnipresent". By this, we mean that God is present in all places at all times. So there is no place that you can go where God won't be-heaven, hell, the earth, the outer reaches of the universe, you name it. There is nothing hidden from His sight, and no place where you can go that will be removed from His presence. But at the same time, there are certain places where God chooses to manifest His presence in a special way for the purposes of blessing and having an intimate relationship with His people. Because of this, God is present in heaven in a way that He is not present in hell. He was present in the tabernacle in the wilderness and Solomon's temple in a way that He was not present in all the pagan temples of the ancient world. And He is present in the lives of all genuine Christians in a way that He is not present in the lives of all unbelievers. So even though God can be and indeed is present in all places at all times, there still remains a fuller and deeper manifestation of His presence that He gives as He sovereignly chooses.

Keeping this distinction in mind, what do we learn from Isaiah 57:15 then? First of all, God is transcendent; that is to say, He is entirely exalted above this creation and all it contains, He is totally different from it, and there is no way that any of us could have access to Him if He chose to hide Himself. To put it another way, there is nothing outside of God that could ever compel Him to take notice of you, to care for you, or to reveal Himself to you in any way. If God actually chose to remove Himself from us, there would be absolutely nothing we could do, because He is bigger than us, He is beyond us, and there is nothing that He needs that He would ever have to get from us.

But even though this is true, we learn something incredible here! The high and lofty God, the one who is exalted, who inhabits eternity, and whose name is holy chooses to make one exception to where He will dwell!! This God promises that the person who is contrite and lowly of spirit, who is humble before Him and depends on His strength will receive His attention!!! There is no end to how far you could travel and not find God, there is no depth that you could not search to and not be frustrated, and there is no height that you could not ascend to and not come short if God chose to hide Himself. But when you humble yourself before Him, become contrite and lowly in spirit, and recognize that you have nothing to bring before such a majestic, holy, righteous, and exalted God, God's attention is instantly fixed on you.

And this is what makes it so worthwhile for you to pursue humility. It is only when we have genuinely humble and contrite hearts before God that God promises us His attention and He promises to make His dwelling place in us. You could never earn God's attention by performing perfectly in anything; you could never make Him desire you by living without sin from this day until the day you die; and there is no task that you could complete that is so great that would make Him notice you for even an instant. But when you humble yourself before God, His eyes are on you, and He will come and have genuine fellowship with you.

In contrast to this, the alternative to the way of humility is quite frightening. In Psalm 138:6 we read, "For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar." If we have hard hearts and proud attitudes, we have God's promise that He will stay far away from us. There's a good chance that He won't answer our prayers, He won't respond to our cries, and He won't have real fellowship with us when we cherish pride in our hearts (this is true for genuine Christians, too). And just think about this: to be distant from God, a God who inhabits the highest heaven and whose presence the whole universe cannot contain, is to be very far off indeed.

So this is why it is so worth your time to pursue humility. There is no other way to have real fellowship with God, and there is no other way to find the satisfaction that God wants us to have in Christ in this life. Let this prayer from the Valley of Vision be your prayer today as you meditate on these truths and seek to live a life that reflects the way of the cross.

Humiliation

Sovereign Lord, when clouds of darkness, atheism, and unbelief come to me, I see thy purpose of love in withdrawing the Spirit that I might prize him more, in chastening me for my confidence in past successes, that my wound of secret godlessness might be cured. Help me to humble myself before thee by seeing the vanity of honour as a conceit of men's minds, as standing between me and thee; by seeing that thy will must alone be done, as much in denying as in giving spiritual enjoyments; by seeing that my heart is nothing but evil, mind, mouth, life void of thee; by seeing that sin and Satan are allowed power in me that I might know my sin, be humbled, and gain strength thereby; by seeing that unbelief shuts thee from me, so that I sense not thy majesty, power, mercy, or love. Then possess me, for thou only art good and worthy.

Thou dost not play in convincing me of sin, Satan did not play in tempting me to it, I do not play when I sink in deep mire, for sin is no game, no toy, no bauble; let me never forget that the heinousness of sin lies not so much in the nature of the sin committed, as in the greatness of the person sinned against. When I am afraid of evils to come, comfort me, by showing me that in myself I am a dying, condemned wretch, but that in Christ I am reconciled, made alive, and satisfied; that I am feeble and unable to do any good, but that in him I can do all things; that what I now have in Christ is mine in part, but that shortly I shall have it perfectly in heaven.

The Lord Is My Shepherd

I wanted to share with you another video that my dad came out with in his series on the names of God. Like I said before, be sure to check out my dad's website here!

Have You Set Your Heart To Seek God?

In the middle of the book of 2 Chronicles, there is an interesting account of the life of King Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. Rehoboam wasn't the best king that Judah ever saw, but he certainly also wasn't the worst. He was probably somewhere in the middle of the road. But the author of Chronicles nevertheless had a scathing rebuke for this heir of David in 2 Chronicles 12:14: "He (that is, Rehoboam) did evil because he did not set his heart to seek the LORD." Tough words for a stubborn king, but still fitting if you read through what he did during his lifetime.

Before we move on too quickly, though, think about those words. "He did evil because he did not set his heart to seek the LORD." Is it really true that Rehoboam was never obedient to God? Of course it's not true! Just look through the account of Rehoboam's life in 2 Chronicles, and you will find that at times he was incredibly obedient:

2 Chronicles 11:1-4: "Now when Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men who were warriors, to fight against Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD, “You shall not go up or fight against your relatives; return every man to his house, for this thing is from Me.””’ So they listened to the words of the LORD and returned from going against Jeroboam."

2 Chronicles 12:5-6: "Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the princes of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and he said to them, “Thus says the LORD, ‘You have forsaken Me, so I also have forsaken you to Shishak.’ ” So the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The LORD is righteous."

2 Chronicles 12:12: "And when he humbled himself, the anger of the LORD turned away from him, so as not to destroy him completely; and also conditions were good in Judah."

So why would the author of Chronicles give this rebuke to Rehoboam? He condemned Rehoboam in this way not because he did not seek the Lord, but because he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.

Do you see the difference here? It is entirely possible to seek God on occasion but never actually set your heart to seek Him. You might turn to Him when times get tough (like Rehoboam). But have you made it the one consuming passion of your life to be a man or a woman who seeks His face, and is satisfied just in the ability to know Him and to seek a deeper knowledge and a fuller fellowship with Him? This is the kind of passion that God is after, and it is only this kind of heart that has been set on fire by the Spirit of God that will keep us from wandering away from the path that God has placed before us.

So in contrast to Rehoboam and his failure to set his heart to seek God, what does it look like to purposefully set our hearts on God? Thankfully, 2 Chronicles gives us an example of just this very thing. We go on to read in 2 Chronicles 15:1-19 of how Asa, a descendant of this same Rehoboam, was exhorted by the prophet Azariah to "seek the Lord". And what was the result? Unlike his ancestor, Asa responded, and he responded in a big way! Here's what we read:

2 Chronicles 15:8-15: "Now when Asa heard these words and the prophecy which Azariah the son of Oded the prophet spoke, he took courage and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He then restored the altar of the LORD which was in front of the porch of the LORD. He gathered all Judah and Benjamin and those from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who resided with them, for many defected to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him. So they assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. They sacrificed to the LORD that day 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep from the spoil they had brought. They entered into the covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and soul; and whoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. Moreover, they made an oath to the LORD with a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets and with horns. All Judah rejoiced concerning the oath, for they had sworn with their whole heart and had sought Him earnestly, and He let them find Him. So the LORD gave them rest on every side."

When Asa and all the nation of Judah with him set their hearts to seeking God, we witness a radical transformation. They gained courage, they became obedient, they worshipped God through sacrifice, they were incredibly joyful (even ecstatic!), they found God, and they experienced rest. Both Asa and Rehoboam experienced tough times, but one responded through setting his heart to seek the Lord, while the other just sought the Lord when it was convenient, and abandoned Him after that. And, like we see from their examples, they experienced radically different results.

So what will it be for you? Will you be like Rehoboam and only seek God during the tough times when you think He might get you out of a jam? Or will you set your heart to seek God like Asa and the people of Judah in his day? The choice is yours. Let me warn you, however, that unless you make a conscious and intentional decision to seek the Lord each and every day (this means so much more than Bible study and prayer, friends), it is more likely than not that you will end up making the same decision that Rehoboam did (he probably didn't sit down one day and decide that he would not set his heart to seek God). Let these examples from God's word speak to you and cast light on your life, so that you will become wise in the process and grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 10:11: "Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come."