For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. --Ephesians 2:8
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. --Acts 2:21
"No man can come to the Son except the Father draw him" (John 6:44). You can't cram religion down someone's throat: only by the grace of God (and not by our own effort) do we receive faith; it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). The mistake that some Christians make is to preach to people who are not ready, willing and able to receive the message.
We are all sinners: some have been found while others remain lost. A lost sinner must be drawn by God to want to know Christ. God says to us, "Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee (Jeremiah 31:3)." Our Creator, knowing the hearts and minds of men, has the sovereign right to choose who He will draw near to Him and when. It's all according to His will and in His time.
When God draws someone near, Christians are the vessels that He uses to reveal the truth about His Word to lost sinners. When we are saved, we desire to proclaim the good news in every place, and we should be prepared to explain the hope that we have through Christ with love, joy, peace, gentleness, kindness, meekness, godliness, patience, humility and self-control.
Apart from the amazing grace of God, we cannot find Christ. Grace (unmerited favor) and faith are gifts of God: this is why nobody should boast of faith since there is nothing they did to earn it. If they boast of their own faith, then they are misguided people who mistakenly think that, by choosing to believe when other sinners didn't, God reciprocated by making them righteous. God chooses us and calls us for good works (to do good), not because of good works (not because we did good). It is not our own faith, but the faith of Christ that saves us.
Sin is the transgression of the laws of God. No man, other than Christ, is without sin. God, being a righteous judge, requires that sin be paid for; that is, that no sin go unpunished. Yet God, being merciful and knowing that all men sin and fall short of His glory, provided a way for His People to escape the penalty of sin, which is spiritual death. The way to escape the penalty of sin, the death of the spiritual body, is through Christ, who paid the wages (penalty) of sin on the cross for God's People.
A Christian should be a striking likeness of Christ in all ways and by all means so that all may say of him, "He has been with Jesus." A penitent believer has his sins already laid on Christ: he obeys the commandments of God and follows the footsteps of Christ, teaching repentance and forgiveness and helping the Lord save those who are still lost, for it brings the Lord glory when we help Him find His lost sheep. However, we need not worry, for we were chosen by God before the foundation of the world, predestinated for eternal life: the Lord knows them that are His ("mine elect"), and He will bring to faith all for whom Christ died.
Christ says, "For many be called, but few chosen." God calls all of us to salvation—those who ignore the call could care less that they are not chosen—no one is being short-changed, for all true believers will be saved and the unbelievers don't want to be saved. Anyone who comes to Christ will not be cast out. Christ says, "Knock, and it will be opened unto you." If we knock, then we were chosen and called by God.
If we go straight to Christ and hide in His wounds, we shall know our election. If we look to Jesus and believe on Him, we make proof of our election directly, for so surely as we believe, we are elected. Jesus tells us whether we are chosen or not: we cannot find it out in any other way. If we go and put our trust in Him, His answer will be, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee." There will be no doubt about His having chosen us when we have chosen Him.
Christ says that the first and greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. Jesus tells us that the second greatest commandment is to love others as we love ourselves and as He loves us. This includes everyone, whether they believe as we do or not. And Jesus says that we should pray for our enemies and do good to them rather than hate them. But we should take care not to unequally yoke ourselves to unbelievers (in marriage or otherwise), for this will lead to lives of misery.
We cannot truly know the Father without knowing the Son; this is why Jesus tells us: "No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him" (Matthew 11:27).
Christ Jesus, the Son of God, says to us with His gentle voice: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30).
It is through Christ that we receive the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, which enables us to pardon anyone even as God forgives us. So forgive our enemies today, do not think of ourselves first, and we will come to know God, our Father, as He really is. Then we will pray for those who hate us, love those who curse us, and ask our heavenly Father to fill our enemies with grace and bring them to repentance. We will visit the one who hates us and ask his forgiveness even if he was to blame, thus we will teach him humility by taking the first step, and we will get rid of our own pride in the process and we will increase in love.
Chris Tomlin - Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)
"Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works." --John 14:10
But by the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. --1 Corinthians 15:10
Lead me in Thy truth, and teach me: for Thou art the God of my salvation; on Thee do I wait all the day. (Psalms 25:5)
"For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:10)
"While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Thy name: those that Thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled." (John 17:12)
"Of them which Thou gavest me have I lost none." (John 18:9)
By Doyle D. Dewberry, Retired Pastor and Author of Sovereign Grace Baptist Proclaimer
Then drew near unto Him all the publicans and sinners for to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, 'This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.' And He spake this parable unto them, saying, “What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, 'Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.' I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.” (Luke 15:1-7)
This is one in a trilogy of parables (the shepherd and the lost sheep, the father and the prodigal son, and the woman and the lost coin) with very much in common. In all three parables, there is the effectual and persistent searching for the lost, which represents one of God’s people, and the finding or return of the object. In heaven there is rejoicing and celebration on the return of the object—the repentance and return of one of God’s elect, or every one of God’s people.
When I look for lost sheep, I am looking for any sheep. When the Lord looks for a lost sheep, He is looking for His own sheep, one of His fold. The sheep that I may find is the one He has been seeking to save, every one of whom He knows by name (John 10:3).
One of our problems in understanding this parable has to do with the “when” of our salvation. We generally think of it as the time when we first believe, but God’s people are those given to Him before the foundation of the world. God sees us as His people before we were ever born, yea, before the world began.
When we believe, it is just our Lord finding us, as this lost sheep, and we are returned to the fold. It is a matter of our status before Adam and before the fall, and after Adam and after the fall. While all men fell with Adam, so also did God’s people, whom He chose before time began: “Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world” (Acts 15:18).
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. (2 Thessalonians 2:13)
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. (Titus 2:11)
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8)
Thou art my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. (Psalms 89:26)
What is the occasion for this parable? The religious people of the day were complaining because the Lord was receiving and eating with sinners (v. 1-3). The same is true today. We have the religious but lost (even those who appear to be divinely drawn unto the Lord and salvation), who look down upon the poor sinner because they consider themselves not to be sinners. But unless a man sees himself a sinner, and lost, he cannot be saved, for the Lord came to seek and to save the lost sinner.
Who is the shepherd? The Lord Jesus is the Good Shepherd who has come to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21) and, yea, even to give His life for the sheep (John 10).
What sheep does Christ look for? The sheep He seeks are they whose names were written in the Lamb’s book of life before the world began and, as a result of the fall by Adam, are His lost sheep. Christ’s sheep will or do believe, and are designated as His Sheep. There are many other sheep in the world, but they are not His sheep. Jesus said of them, “Ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep... My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:26-27).
Who are the 99 that He has left in the wilderness? They are the found sheep. In Luke’s account of this parable, he only tells us that the 99 were those He left behind while He sought this one lost sheep; in Matthew’s account of the parable, we learn more of the 99—the 99 are they that did not go astray. We do not assume that they are just persons that need no repentance (v. 7), but that they, like all of God’s people, need on-going repentance—it is the self-righteous that think they do not need to repent.
Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from Him cometh my salvation. (Psalms 62:1)
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. (Romans 1:16)
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation. (Hebrews 9:28)
“For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. How think ye? If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.” (Matthew 18:11-13)
Here are five important points of this parable, which reveal to us the Lord’s saving of all His sheep:
Our Lord was not seeking just any sheep, but one of His sheep, which was lost. If He had seen 99 other sheep, it would not have deterred Him in His search for the one sheep, which was His, but lost. There were many sheep in the world, but He sought His own.
The Lord seeks that lost sheep, for He goes after that which is lost (v. 4). Remember the words of our Savior who said that He “came to seek and save that which was lost.” Evangelism is no more than our finding those whom the Lord seeks, and while we know them not before, He knows them, has purposed their salvation, and thus He foreknew them and predestined them (Romans 8:28-29).
Notice also the occasion of His sending His disciples out to gather in His sheep, showing us that salvation was to the Jew first (Romans 1:16), but includes only His lost sheep:
These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, “Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Matthew 10:5-6)
The importance of this verse is in what He did not say. He did not say “Go ye to the house of Israel, the lost sheep,” but that they were to go to the lost sheep “of” the house of Israel. They did not go to every Israelite in the land. Paul taught: all of Israel is not of Israel (Romans 9), indicating there is an Israel according to the flesh and one according to the Spirit. A true Jew is not one outwardly, but one inwardly—and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God (Romans 2:28-29).
The Lord will seek His sheep until He finds it; He is an effectual Shepherd. A good example of this is when the Lord went to Zacchaeus—it was Jesus’ main purpose in going through Jericho. While Zacchaeus was up in the tree where he could see the passing Savior, the Savior came to him, telling him to come down, for he is told, “Today… I must abide at thy house.” This man was a publican (who are cited along with sinners in Luke 15). Publicans were Jews working with the Romans collecting taxes from the people, and hated in Israel, but the Lord loved him.
And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus who He was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him: for He was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, “Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.” And he made haste, and came down, and received Him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, that he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord: 'Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.' And Jesus said unto him, “This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:1-10)
The Sheep was a helpless sheep (v. 5) and therefore lost in the wilderness. He could not come to the fold as other sheep, so the Lord carried him there on His shoulders, as we are told: “When He hath found it, He layeth it on His shoulders, rejoicing” (Luke 15:5).
You will never find sinners coming to Christ before He first comes to them, and no one will enter heaven, as this sheep in the fold, except on the shoulders of the Savior Himself. Salvation is not something that man does for God, but that which God does for man.God is the God of salvation.
Consider repentance, which is not first of man, but first of God:
Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Or despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. (Romans 2:1-9)
The shepherd rejoiced over finding the sheep and sought his friends and neighbors to rejoice with him (v. 6). It is typical of that which takes place in heaven over one sinner that repenteth more than over 99 of the self-righteous that think they need no repentance.
Keep in mind all three related parables, including the woman who lost the coin (drachma) and the father who lost a son: they represent the triune-Godhead in the salvation of sinners. We have the Father, the Son, and the Spirit represented. The latter may be a little difficult to understand, but the Holy Spirit is like a mother to the Church, even though He is spoken of as in the masculine, He broods over the Church much as He did in creation (Genesis 1:2).
Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the Stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the Head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:10-12)
Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. (Proverbs 3:5-7)
Consider also the following, which can be said did not lead to the saving of this sheep!
It was not saved by any law or good works. We are told, “By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight, and that our salvation is by grace—not of works. Works are for those who are already saved, for we are the workmanship of God, created unto good works.” (Ephesians 2)
It was not saved by seeking the Lord. As it is written, “There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10-12)
It was not saved by praying. Praying is for those already saved. It is so set forth in the Scriptures. When Paul was writing to the Church in Rome, he said, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27)
It was not saved through a witness other than the Shepherd, the Lord Jesus.This is not to say that God’s people are not saved through another witnessing, but it does demonstrate that man is not necessary in the salvation of anyone. Peter brought the message of salvation to the Gentiles (all through the leading of the Lord for him to do so), but the apostle Paul was saved on the road to Damascus by the personal encounter with the Lord Jesus Himself, which was after the Lord’s ascension into heaven!
We sometimes get the opinion that no one can be saved unless man speaks to him: it is one way, but not the only way. Missionaries sometimes feel that unless they go to a certain country, no one could be saved there, but God has not put the fate of man in man’s hands, but in His own! Many have been saved from reading the Scriptures only (the testimony of this writer), others from reading messages in papers and books. Preaching the gospel is accomplished by publishing as well as proclaiming!
In conclusion, we can say this: that we can learn much of man’s salvation in our Lord’s parable of the lost sheep. The sheep was saved through the efforts of the Good Shepherd who sought the sheep, and sought it until He found it, and carried it home on His shoulders.So it is with the Lord Jesus and the salvation of His people given to Him before the foundation of the world!
The Lord is my strength and song, and is become my salvation. (Psalms 118:14)
"I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment." (Ezekiel 34:16)
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:9)
Account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation. (2 Peter 3:15)
As a shepherd, Abel sanctified his work to the glory of God and offered a sacrifice of blood upon his altar. The Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering. This early type of our Lord is exceedingly clear and distinct: it clearly manifests the great fact that the Son is coming.
Abel was hated by his brother, hated without a cause. And even so was the Savior: the natural and carnal man hated the accepted Man in whom the Spirit of grace was found and rested not until His blood had been shed.
Abel fell and sprinkled his altar and sacrifice with his own blood, and therein sets forth the Lord Jesus, the Lamb of God, slain by the enmity of man while serving as a priest before the Lord. "The good Shepherd layeth down His life for the sheep." Let us weep over Him as we view Him slain by the hatred of mankind, staining the horns of His altar with His own blood.
The blood of Jesus has a mighty tongue and the importance of its prevailing cry is not vengeance but mercy.
It is precious beyond all preciousness to stand at the altar of our good Shepherd! We see Him bleeding there as the slaughtered priest and we hear His blood speaking peace to all His flock, peace between man and his offended Maker, peace in our conscience, peace between Jew and Gentile, peace all down the ages of eternity for blood-washed men.
Abel is the first shepherd in order of time, but our hearts shall ever place Jesus first in order of excellence. Great Keeper of the sheep, we the people of your pasture bless you with our whole hearts when we see you slain for us.
"His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." --Luke 22:44
The mental pressure arising from our Lord's struggle with temptation so forced His frame to an unnatural excitement that His pores sent forth great drops of blood which fell down to the ground.
This proves how tremendous must have been the weight of sin when it was able to crush the Savior so that He distilled great drops of blood! This demonstrates the mighty power of His love. This sets forth the voluntariness of Christ's sufferings since, without a lance, the blood flowed freely. No need to put on the leech or apply the knife; it flows spontaneously. No need for the rulers to cry, "Spring up, O well;" of itself it flows in crimson torrents.
If men suffer great pain of mind, apparently the blood rushes to the heart. The cheeks are pale, a fainting fit comes on, and the blood has gone inward as if to nourish the inner man while passing through its trial. But see our Savior in His agony; He is so utterly oblivious of self that, instead of His agony driving His blood to the heart to nourish Himself, it drives it outward to bedew the earth. The agony of Christ, inasmuch as it pours Him out upon the ground, pictures the fullness of the offering which He made for men.
Do we not perceive how intense must have been the wrestling through which He passed, and will we not hear its voice to us? "You have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin." Behold the great Apostle and High Priest of our profession, who sweat even to blood rather than yield to the great tempter of our souls.
"Without the shedding of blood is no remission." --Hebrews 9:22
In none of the Jewish ceremonies were sins, even typically, removed without blood shedding. In no case, by no means, can sin be pardoned without atonement. It is clear, then, that there is no hope for us out of Christ since there is no other blood shedding that is worth a thought as an atonement for sin.
Sin will yield to nothing less potent than the blood of Him whom God has set forth as a propitiation. What a blessing that there is the one way of pardon! Why should we seek another? Persons of merely formal religion cannot understand how we can rejoice that all our sins are forgiven us for Christ's sake. Their works and prayers and ceremonies give them very poor comfort; and well may they be uneasy since they are neglecting the one great salvation, endeavoring to get remission without blood.
My soul, sit down and behold the justice of God as bound to punish sin; see that punishment all executed upon the Lord Jesus, and fall down in humble joy, and kiss the dear feet of Him whose blood has made atonement for you.
It is in vain when conscience is aroused to fly to feelings and evidences for comfort: this is a habit that we learned in the Egypt of our legal bondage. The only restorative for a guilty conscience is a sight of Jesus suffering on the cross. "The blood is the life thereof," says the Levitical law, and let us rest assured that it is the life of faith and joy and every other holy grace.
Oh! how sweet to view the flowing Of my Savior’s precious blood; With divine assurance knowing He has made my peace with God.
Jesus loved us and gave Himself for us.
He had been all night in agony; He had spent the early morning at the hall of Caiaphas; He had been hurried from Caiaphas to Pilate, from Pilate to Herod, and from Herod back again to Pilate. He had, therefore, but little strength left, and yet neither refreshment nor rest were permitted Him. They were eager for His blood and, therefore, led Him out to die, loaded with the cross.
Pilate delivered our Lord to the lictors to be scourged. The Roman scourge was a most dreadful instrument of torture. It was made of the sinews of oxen and sharp bones were inter-twisted every here and there among the sinews: every time the lash came down these pieces of bone inflicted fearful laceration and tore off the flesh from the bone. The Savior was, no doubt, bound to the column, and thus beaten. He had been beaten before, but this of the Roman lictors was probably the most severe. My soul, stand here and weep over His poor stricken body.
Now we see Jesus brought before the priests and rulers who pronounce Him guilty, and we see the great Scapegoat led away by the appointed officers of justice.
God Himself imputes our sins to Him. The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was made sin for us. He, the substitute for our guilt, bore our sin, represented by the cross, upon His shoulders.
As we look at the cross upon His shoulders, does it represent our sins? There is one way by which we can tell whether He carried our sins or not. Have we laid our hand upon His head, confessed our sins, and trusted in Him? Then our sin lies not on us; they have all been transferred by blessed imputation to Christ, and He bears them on His shoulder as a load heavier than the cross.
Believers in Jesus, can we gaze upon Him without tears as He stands before us, the mirror of agonizing love?
He is at once fair as the lily for innocence and red as the rose with the crimson of His own blood. As we feel the sure and blessed healing which His stripes have wrought in us, does not our heart melt at once with love and grief? If ever we have loved our Lord Jesus, surely we must feel that affection glowing now within our bosoms.
See how the patient Jesus stands, Insulted in His lowest case! Sinners have bound the Almighty's hands, And spit in their Creator's face.
With thorns His temples gor'd and gash'd Send streams of blood from every part; His back's with knotted scourges lash'd. But sharper scourges tear His heart.
"My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" --Psalms 22:1, Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34
We here behold the Savior in the depth of His sorrows. No other place so well shows the griefs of Christ as Calvary, and no other moment at Calvary is so full of agony, as that in which His cry rends the air, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?"
At this moment physical weakness was united with acute mental torture from the shame and ignominy through which He had to pass; and to make His grief culminate with emphasis, He suffered spiritual agony surpassing all expression, resulting from the departure of His Father's presence. This was the black midnight of His horror; then it was that He descended the abyss of suffering. No man can enter into the full meaning of these words.
Some of us think at times that we could cry, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" There are seasons when the brightness of our Father's smile is eclipsed by clouds and darkness, but let us remember that God never does really forsake us; it is only a seeming forsaking with us, but in Christ's case it was a real forsaking.
We grieve at a little withdrawal of our Father's love, but the real turning away of God's face from His Son, who shall calculate how deep the agony which it caused Him?
In our case, our cry is often dictated by unbelief; in His case, it was the utterance of a dreadful fact, for God had really turned away from Him for a season.
O poor, distressed soul who once lived in the sunshine of God's face but are now in darkness, remember that He has not really forsaken you. God in the clouds is as much our God as when He shines forth in all the luster of His grace. But since even the thought that He has forsaken us gives us agony, what must the woe of the Savior have been when He exclaimed, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?"
Mac Powell - By His Wounds
When Jesus died, the sacrifices were all finished because all was fulfilled in Him and, therefore, the place of their presentation was marked with an evident token of decay.
The old law of ordinances was put away and, like a worn-out vesture, rent and laid aside when Jesus died on the cross. That rent also revealed all the hidden things of the old dispensation: the mercy seat could now be seen and the glory of God gleamed forth above it.
By the death of our Lord Jesus we have a clear revelation of God, for He was "not as Moses, who put a veil over His face." Life and immortality are now brought to light, and things that have been hidden since the foundation of the world are manifest in Him. The annual ceremony of atonement was thus abolished. The atoning blood, which was once every year sprinkled within the veil, was now offered once for all by the great High Priest and, therefore, the place of the symbolical rite was broken up. No blood of bullocks or of lambs is needed now because Jesus has entered within the veil with His own blood. Hence access to God is now permitted and is the privilege of every believer in Christ Jesus.
"I have a Brother in heaven; I may be poor, but I have a Brother who is rich and is a King; and will He suffer me to want while He is on His throne? Oh, no! He loves me; He is my Brother."
Christ knows our wants and sympathizes with us. He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. In all our sorrows we have His sympathy. Temptation, pain, disappointment, weakness, weariness, poverty—He knows them all, for He has felt all.
Before we can have any right idea of the love of Jesus, we must understand His previous glory in its height of majesty and His incarnation upon the earth in all its depths of shame.
Who can tell us the majesty of Christ? When He was enthroned in the highest heavens He was very God of very God; by Him were the heavens made, and all the hosts thereof. His own almighty arm upheld the spheres; the praises of cherubim and seraphim perpetually surrounded Him; the full chorus of the hallelujahs of the universe unceasingly flowed to the foot of His throne. He reigned supreme above all His creatures, God over all, blessed forever.
Who can tell His height of glory then? And who, on the other hand, can tell how low He descended?
To be a man was something. To be a man of sorrows was far more. To bleed and die and suffer, these were much for Him who was the Son of God. But to suffer such unparalleled agony: to endure a death of shame and desertion by His Father, this is a depth of condescending love, which the most inspired mind must utterly fail to fathom. Herein is love! And truly it is love that "passeth knowledge."
We too frequently ascribe the honor of our salvation, or at least the depths of its benevolence, more to Jesus Christ than we do the Father. This is a very great mistake.
What if Jesus came? Did not His Father send Him? If He spoke wondrously, did not His Father pour grace into His lips that He might be an able minister of the new covenant? He who knows the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost as he should know them never sets one before another in his love.
Are you united with Him? Then believe that you are united unto the God of heaven. Since to the Man Christ Jesus you are brother and hold close fellowship, you are linked thereby with God the Eternal, and "the Ancient of days" is your Father and your friend.
The Father sent Him! Contemplate that subject; think how Jesus works what the Father wills.
“Sanctified by God the Father.” --Jude 1:1 “Sanctified in Christ Jesus.” --1 Corinthians 1:2 “Through sanctification of the Spirit.” --1 Peter 1:2
Mark the union of the three Divine Persons in all their gracious acts. How unwisely do believers talk who make preferences in the Persons of the Trinity, who think of Jesus as if He were the embodiment of everything lovely and gracious, while the Father they regard as severely just but destitute of kindness.
Equally wrong are those who magnify the decree of the Father and the atonement of the Son so as to depreciate the work of the Spirit. In deeds of grace, none of the Persons of the Trinity act apart from the rest. They are as united in their deeds as in their essence. In their love towards the chosen they are one, and in the actions which flow from that great central source they are still undivided. Specially notice this in the matter of sanctification. While we may without mistake speak of sanctification as the work of the Spirit, yet we must take heed that we do not view it as if the Father and the Son had no part therein.
It is correct to speak of sanctification as the work of the Father, of the Son, and of the Spirit. Still does Jehovah say, "Let us make man in our own image after our likeness," and thus we are "His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them." See the value that God sets upon real holiness since the three Persons in the Trinity are represented as co-working to produce a Church without "spot or wrinkle or any such thing."
And we, believers, as the followers of Christ, must also set a high value on holiness and upon purity of life and godliness of conversation. We must value the blood of Christ as the foundation of our hope, but never speak disparagingly of the work of the Spirit, which is our meetness for the inheritance of the saints in light. This day let us so live as to manifest the work of the Triune God in us.
Jesus had constant fellowship with His Father, and God spoke into His heart so often, so continually, that it was not a circumstance singular enough to be recorded.
It was the habit and life of Jesus to talk with God. Even as Jesus was, is this world, so are we; therefore, let us learn the lesson which this simple statement concerning Him teaches us. May we likewise have silent fellowship with the Father so that often we may answer Him. And though the world knows not to whom we speak, may we be responding to that secret voice unheard of by any other ear, which our own ear, opened by the Spirit of God, recognizes with joy.
God has spoken to us, let us speak to God, either to: Set our seal that God is true and faithful to His promise, or Confess the sin of which the Spirit of God has convinced us, or Acknowledge the mercy which God's providence has given, or Express assent to the great truths that God the Holy Ghost has opened to our understanding.
If we would hear the whispers of God's love, our ear must be purged and fitted to listen to His voice. This very evening may our hearts be in such a state that when God speaks to us, we, like Jesus, may be prepared at once to answer Him.
"Therefore, brethren, we are debtors." --Romans 8:12
As God's creatures, we are all debtors to Him: to obey Him with all our body and soul and strength. Having broken His commandments, as we all have, we are debtors to His justice, and we owe to Him a vast amount, which we are not able to pay.
But of the Christian it can be said that he does not owe God's justice anything since Christ paid the debt that His people owed; for this reason the believer owes the more to love.
I am a debtor to God's grace and forgiving mercy, but I am no debtor to His justice, for He will never accuse me of a debt already paid. Christ said, "It is finished!," and by that He meant that the punishment of death that His people owed for their sins was wiped away forever from the book of remembrance. Christ, to the uttermost, has satisfied divine justice; the account is settled, the handwriting is nailed to the cross, the receipt is given, and we are debtors to God's justice no longer.
But then, because we are not debtors to our Lord's justice, we become ten times more debtors to God than we should have been otherwise.
Christians, pause and ponder for a moment: what debtors we are to divine sovereignty! How much we owe to His immeasurable love, for He gave His own Son that He might die for us. Consider how much we owe to His forgiving grace: after ten thousand affronts He loves us as infinitely as ever.
Consider what we owe to His power, how: He has raised us from our deaths in sin, He has preserved our spiritual lives, He has kept us from falling, and Though a thousand enemies have beset our paths, we have been able to hold on our way.
Natalie Grant - Held
The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and He shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, "Destroy them." --Deuteronomy 33:27 But the Lord said unto him, "Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: for I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake." --Acts 9:15-16
I walk through this sinful world as a pilgrim in a foreign country; Lord, I would not be a citizen where Jesus was an alien.
We are strangers in this world. When Jesus came unto His own, His own received Him not. He was in the world; the world was made by Him; the world knew Him not. It is no marvel then if we, who live the life of Jesus, should be unknown and strangers here below.
But here is the sweetness of our lot: we are strangers with Christ. He is our fellow-sufferer, our fellow-pilgrim. Oh, what joy to wander in such blessed society! Though we are sojourners, we are far more blessed than those who sit on thrones and far more at home than those who dwell in sealed houses.
Christ was “not of the world:” His life and His testimony were a constant protest against conformity with the world.
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. --1 John 2:15-16
Never was such overflowing affection for men as you find in Jesus, but still He was separate from sinners. In like manner, Christ’s people must “go forth unto Him.” They must take their position “without the camp” as witness-bearers for the truth. They must be prepared to tread the straight and narrow path. They must have bold, unflinching, lion-like hearts, loving Christ first, His truth next, and Christ and His truth beyond all the world.
You cannot grow in grace to any high degree while you are conformed to the world.
Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. --James 4:4
The cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches are apt to choke everything good within us, and we grow fretful, despondent, perhaps proud and carnal. We sit too often like chained eagles fastened to the rock, only that, unlike the eagle, we begin to love our chain, and would, perhaps, if it came really to the test, be loath to have it snapped.
“Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” --Revelation 3:17
It is exceedingly beneficial to our souls to mount above this present evil world to something nobler and better. The Christian’s reason for leaving the camp of the world’s sin and religion is not because he loves to be singular, but because Jesus did so, and the disciple must follow his Master.
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. --Colossians 3:1-2
Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. --Titus 2:12-14
There is no satisfaction to be found in earthly things. It will not matter if we obtain earthly things that others have, because we have God for our Father.
No longer will we seek earthly treasures. Pride will give place to humility. We will give priority to others. We will be willing to sacrifice our time, energy and money to God and His needy ones. We will do it cheerfully because God has saved us from material idols. We will regularly give to God for His service and His glory.
”I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.” --Revelation 2:19
Jesus said unto him, “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou has, and give to the poor, and thou shall have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.” But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. Then said Jesus unto His disciples, “Verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” --Matthew 19:21-26
We will lose the world to gain heaven; we will let go of the world and its falseness to enter eternal life.
Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. --1 Timothy 6:17-19
God, in His mercy, has sent His anointed One, Christ, into the world to reveal the truth about God to man. Christ lived a life of poverty and humility. He was despised, though all power and truth belong to Him. He overcame all carnal pride and became a servant to all, despising all riches and honor.
For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. --1 Timothy 6:7-11
"No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (money)." --Matthew 16:13
We that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak. --Romans 15:1
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men: a man to whom God has given riches, wealth, and honor, so that he want nothing for his soul of all that he desire. Yet God gives him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eats it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease. --Ecclesiastes 6:1-2
We are naturally more apt to be concerned for our goods, carnal peace, and a temporal life than we are about securing our souls with God, especially as long as peace has lasted and we are not discontented or offended. Let them that suffer according to the will of God have a care of their souls and take heed that the fears of the loss of a little of this world do not make them forget the fear of the losing of their souls.
"For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" --Mark 8:36
How wonderful is that service which is in fellowship with Christ, for those who deny themselves, gain God. God will satisfy them and they will be contented, spending themselves in the service of others. God becomes their true treasure and their eternal possession.
Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him. --Colossians 3:12-17
And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. --1 Peter 4:8
“Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” --Matthew 5:5
What is weaker than the bruised reed or the smoking flax? A reed that grows in the fen or marsh, let but the wild duck light upon it, and it snaps; let but the foot of man brush against it, and it is bruised and broken; every wind that flits across the river moves it to and fro. We can conceive of nothing more frail or brittle, or whose existence is more in jeopardy, than a bruised reed. Then look at the smoking flax—what is it? It has a spark within it, it is true, but it is almost smothered; an infant’s breath might blow it out; nothing has a more precarious existence than its flame.
Weak things are here described, yet Jesus says of them, “The smoking flax I will not quench; the bruised reed I will not break.” Some of God’s children are made strong to do mighty works for Him; God has His Samsons here and there who can pull up Gaza’s gates and carry them to the top of the hill. He has a few mighties who are lion-like men, but the majority of His people are a timid, trembling race. They are like starlings, frightened at every passerby—a little fearful flock. If temptation comes, they are taken like birds in a snare. If trial threatens, they are ready to faint, their frail skiff is tossed up and down by every wave; they are drifted along like a sea bird on the crest of the billows—weak things, without strength, without wisdom, without foresight. Yet, weak as they are, and because they are so weak, they have this promise made especially to them.
A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench. --Matthew 12:20
Herein is grace and graciousness! Herein is love and lovingkindness! How it opens to us the compassion of Jesus—so gentle, tender, considerate! We need never shrink back from His touch. We need never fear a harsh word from Him, though He might well chide us for our weakness, He does not rebuke us for it. Bruised reeds shall have no blows from Him and the smoking flax no damping frowns.
Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him?... For He shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy. --James 2:5,13
“For he that is least among you all, the same shall be great.” --Luke 9:48
All the names of the children of God are in the same family register. One may have more grace than another, but God our heavenly Father has the same tender heart towards all. One may do more mighty works and may bring more glory to his Father, but he whose name is the least in the kingdom of heaven is as much the child of God as he who stands among the King's mighty men. Let this cheer and comfort us when we draw near to God and say, “Our Father.”
Nothing can happen without God’s direction for even hell is under His control.
When our Lord was upon the earth, He walked the footpath of weariness and service as the Servant of servants. What wonder is it if His followers should also be looked down upon as inferior and contemptible persons?
We expect to walk in sympathy with our Lord along a thorny road: through much tribulation we are forcing our way to the crown. To bear the cross is our office, and to be scorned and counted aliens by the world is our lot; and yet we have a deep well of joy of which none can drink but the children of God.
The world is upside down, and therefore, the first are last and the last first. When the wheel turns, they who are highest sink and the lowest rise. Patience then, believer, eternity will right the wrongs of time.
“For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me… And this is the will of Him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” --John 6:38,49
We live in the world of death and sorrow, but the promise is that the believer shall not be afraid. God our Father is here, and He will be here all through our lonely hours.
Non believers and hypocrites may well be afraid, for they have an angry God above them, a guilty conscience within them, and a yawning hell beneath them. But we who rest in Jesus are saved from all these through rich mercy. We children of light may walk in darkness, but we are not, therefore, cast away; no, we are now enabled to prove our adoption by trusting in our heavenly Father as hypocrites cannot do.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. --Psalms 23:4
The journey of death may be dark, but we may go forth on it fearlessly, knowing that God is with us as we walk through the gloomy valley and, therefore, we need fear no evil.
It is impossible for any human speech to express the full meaning of this delightful phrase: “God is for me.”
God has been “for us” in many struggles; we have been summoned to encounter hosts of dangers; we have been assailed by temptations from without and within: how could we have remained unharmed to this hour if He had not been “for us?” He is “for us” with all the infinity of His being, with all the omnipotence of His love, with all the infallibility of His wisdom; arrayed in all His divine attributes, He is “for us”—eternally and immutably “for us.”
When I cry unto Thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me. --Psalms 56:9
“When I cry unto Thee, then shall mine enemies turn back.” This is no uncertain hope, but a well-grounded assurance: this we know. “I will direct my prayer unto God and will look up for the answer, assured that it will come and that my enemies shall be defeated, ‘for God is for me.’”
“Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” --Jeremiah 31:3
O believers, how happy we are to have the King of kings on our side! How safe we are with such a Protector, and how sure we are with such an Advocate to plead our cause! If God be for us, who can be against us?
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.--Proverbs 3:5-7
We know that our enemies are attempting impossibilities; they seek to destroy the eternal life, which cannot die while Jesus lives.
“I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” --Revelation 1:18
We know our enemies' weaknesses. What are they but men? When the Lord shall appear, they shall fly as chaff before the wind and be consumed as crackling thorns. Their utter powerlessness to do damage to the cause of God and His truth may make the weakest soldiers in Zion’s ranks laugh them to scorn.
We know that the Most High is with us, and when He dresses Himself in arms, where are His enemies? His rod of iron shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel and their very remembrance shall perish from the earth.
“I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” --Matthew 28:20
Away, then, all fears, the kingdom is safe in the King’s hands. Let us shout for joy, for the Lord reigneth, and His foes shall be as straw for the dunghill.
DecembeRadio - Drifter
Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world. --1 John 4:4
Jesus (He that is in you) overcame Satan (Death) when He was resurrected and exalted to His heavenly throne where He sits on the right hand of God. Through Christ's victory on the cross, Satan was bound and restrained from preventing the spreading of the gospel, the testimony of Jesus, throughout the nations. Christ paid the penalty for our sins through His death, thereby freeing the children of God from Satan’s captivity and the second death in the lake of fire, which is the death of the spiritual body.
For the wages (penalty) of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. --Romans 6:23
But now is Christ risen from the dead, And become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by Man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; Afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming. Then cometh the end, When He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; When He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For He hath put all things under His feet. But when He saith all things are put under Him, It is manifest that He is excepted, which did put all things under Him. And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, Then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, That God may be all in all. --1 Corinthians 15:20-28.
I was strengthened as the hand of the Lord my God was upon me. --Ezra 7:28
To some selected spirits it is given (for the good of others and to strengthen them for future, special, and tremendous conflict) to enter the inner circle and hear the pleadings of the suffering High Priest. They have fellowship with Christ in His sufferings and are made conformable unto His death. Yet even they cannot know the secret places of the Savior’s woe.
“Thine unknown sufferings” is the remarkable expression of the Greek liturgy—there was an inner chamber in our Master’s grief shut out from human knowledge and fellowship—there Jesus is left alone. “All the unknown joys He gives were bought with agonies unknown.”
The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. --1 Corinthians 15:56-57
Christ exempts us from the consequence of sin but not from suffering; remember that and expect to suffer.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. --Romans 8:1
Jesus did not suffer to exclude our suffering. He bears the cross not that we may escape it, but that we may endure it. It is not our cross, but Christ’s cross that we carry, and how delightful it is to carry the cross of our Lord. We carry the cross in partnership with Him, yet we carry the light end, for Christ bore the heavier end.
Good men must never expect to escape troubles.
We told you before that we should suffer tribulation. --1 Thessalonians 3:4
It was never in God’s design that His people be an untried people. As God’s people, we were chosen in the furnace of affliction. We were never chosen to worldly peace or earthly joy. Freedom from sickness and the pains of mortality was never promised us. And when our Lord drew up the charter of privileges, He included chastisements among the things to which we should inevitably be heirs.
“So that your trust may be in the Lord, I teach you today, even you.” --Proverbs 22:19
We require much refinement in the furnace of affliction.
"And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God." --Zechariah 13:9
We learn obedience by the things that we suffer. Suffering is necessary, and the true-born child of God must not, would not, escape it if he might.
But He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. --Job 23:10
That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. --1 Peter 1:7
O, think not, believers, that our sorrows are out of God’s plan; they are necessary parts of it.
Trials are part of our lot. God has ordained their season and their place, their intensity and the effect they shall have upon us. And our troubles have been the means of delivering us from far greater evil; many have been thus saved from ruin by their sorrows and their crosses—these have frightened the birds from the net.
God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart. --2 Chronicles 32:31
Tribulation is the path of God’s children.
All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. --2 Timothy 3:12
Trials were predestinated for us in Christ's last legacy. And although tribulation is thus the path of God’s children, we have the comfort of knowing that our Master has traversed it before us.
We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. --Acts 14:22
When we reach the kingdom, it will more than make amends for the “much tribulation” through which we passed to enter it.
Trials are for the testing and strengthening of our faith; they are the winds that waft our ships more swiftly toward the desired haven.
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever… And this is the promise that He hath promised us, even eternal life. --1 John 2:17, 25
Learn to count it all as joy when we fall into many straits and difficulties. Meditate much on heaven to help us press on and to forget the toil of the way. This vale of tears is but the pathway to the better country: this world of woe is but the stepping stone to a world of bliss.
“To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” --Revelation 2:7
A vein of good is to be found in every mine of evil.
All things work together for good to them that love God, who are the called according to His purpose. --Romans 8:28
Sad hearts have peculiar skill in discovering the most disadvantageous point of view from which to gaze upon a trial, and we are apt, at times, to cry, “All these things are against me.” Remember, though, that God never allows the tests we face to be greater than the grace He gives us to handle them.
God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. --1 Corinthians 10:13
“Tribulation worketh patience:” we must be willing to bear the cross and to suffer with Christ patiently; patience is the spiritual virtue and power to endure suffering and tribulation for Christ's sake.
My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. --James 1:2-3
Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. --James 5:10-11
He whose life is one even and smooth path will see but little of the glory of the Lord, for he has few occasions of self-emptying and, hence, but little fitness for being filled with the revelation of God.
They who navigate little streams and shallow creeks know but little of the God of tempests, but they who “do business in great waters,” these see His “wonders in the deep.” Among the huge Atlantic waves of bereavement, poverty, temptation and reproach, we learn the power of Jehovah because we feel the littleness of man.
Thank God, then, if we have been led by a rough road: it is this which has given us our experience of God’s greatness and lovingkindness. Our troubles have enriched us with a wealth of knowledge to be gained by no other means: our trials have been the cleft of the rock in which Jehovah has set us, as He did His servant Moses, that we might behold His glory as it passed by.
No prayer is half as hearty as that which comes from the depths of the soul, through deep trials and afflictions.
And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. --2 Chronicles 33:12
God breaks down our comforts to make room for grace. When we are most cast down, the light of Christ is the more brightly revealed to us. The humbler a man lies, the more comfort he will always have. Trials and afflictions bring us to God and we are happier, for nearness to God is happiness.
Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. --2 Corinthians 1:4
Chris Sligh- Empty Me
Praise God that we have not been left to the darkness and ignorance that continued prosperity might have involved but that, in the great fight of affliction, we have been capacitated for the outshinings of His glory in His wonderful dealings with us.
God’s great design in all His works is the manifestation of His own glory: any aim less than this was unworthy of Himself. But how shall the glory of God be manifested to such fallen creatures as we are? Man’s eye is not single; he has ever a side glance towards his own honor; he has too high an estimate of his own powers, and so he is not qualified to behold the glory of the Lord.
It is clear, then, that self must stand out of the way so that there may be room for God to be exalted. This is the reason why God brings His people often times into straits and difficulties: being made conscious of their own folly and weakness, they may be fitted to behold the majesty of God when He comes forth to work their deliverance.
The Lord our God hath shewed us His glory. --Deuteronomy 5:24
Humiliation of soul always brings a positive blessing with it.
If we empty our hearts of self, God will fill them with His love. “He descended that He might ascend,” and so must we. We must grow downwards so that we may grow upwards, for the sweetest fellowship with heaven is to be had by humble souls and by them alone.
He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way. -- Psalms 25:9
Great hearts can only be made by great troubles.
Trials make room for consolation. When we are most troubled, we have the closest dealings with God. When the purse is bursting with gold, we try to do without so much prayer, but once our gold is taken away, we want our God.
The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom; and before honor is humility. --Proverbs 15:33
If we approach God pleading the name of Jesus, we shall see the finger of God working marvels.
God will deny no blessing to a thoroughly humbled spirit. “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” with all its riches and treasures. The whole exchequer of God shall be made over by deed of gift to the soul, which is humble enough to be able to receive it without growing proud because of it.
Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud. --Proverbs 16:18-19
To suffer is an honorable thing; to suffer for Christ is glory.
One of the early martyrs said, “I can bear it all, for Jesus suffered, and He suffers in me now; He sympathizes with me, and this makes me strong.” Believers, lay hold of this thought in all times of agony, and let the thought of Jesus strengthen us as we follow in His steps. Just so far as the Lord shall give us grace to suffer for Christ, to suffer with Christ, just so far does He honor us.
Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. --1 Peter 4:12-13
Accept the temporary drawback of suffering with Christ as an honor.
“He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.” --Revelation 21:7
We are the sons of God: Jesus was heard in His deepest woe and we shall be heard also. We are now able to prove our adoption as sons of God by trusting in our heavenly Father. The cross we carry is for a little while at most, and then we receive the crown, the glory, eternal life. Remember that we are far more blessed than those who sit on earthly thrones having purses bursting with gold.
“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” --John 16:33
Must Christ pass through seas of His own blood to win the crown and are we to walk to heaven dryshod in silver slippers? No, our Master’s experience teaches us that suffering is necessary.
The jewels of a Christian are his afflictions. The regalia of the kings whom God has anointed are their troubles, their sorrows, and their griefs. Let us not, therefore, shun being honored; let us not turn aside from being exalted. Griefs exalt us and troubles lift us up.
Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted. But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. --James 1:9-10
Christ was made perfect through suffering.
For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. --Hebrews 2:10
We can bear it all, for Jesus suffered and He suffers in us now. In all our sorrows we have His sympathy, for He knows them all and He has felt them all.
Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered. --Hebrews 5:8
If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him. --2 Timothy 2:12
The eclipse of faith, the darkness of mind, the fainting of hope, the many fears, the loss of joy, the much distress—all these things are parts of God’s method of making us ripe for the great inheritance upon which we shall soon enter.
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him. --James 1:12
There are none who are without sin except Christ.
Wherefore, as by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. --Romans 5:12-13
There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. --Romans 3:10-11
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. --1 John 1:8-10
We are told that the Captain of our salvation was made perfect through suffering; therefore, we who are sinful, and who are far from being perfect, must not wonder if we are called to pass through suffering too.
Persecution so hotly follows God’s people as to leave them nothing to care for but the soul.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. --1 Peter 5:8
We may have no houses, no land, no money, no goods, no life, and no liberty left to care for. All may be gone but the soul. The devil may rob us of worldly things but not the soul, for the soul is not in his power to touch without the leave of God, of Him whose soul it is.
The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding. --Job 28:28
Hath God said? --Genesis 3:1
The seed of rationalization, which is the spirit of disobedience, has been man’s downfall from the very beginning. It starts with the same question that the serpent asked Eve in the garden: “Hath God said?”
Whenever man wants to do something forbidden, he begins to question whether God really “meant” what He said:
The faithful Christian reviews God’s Word faithfully and answers the question “Hath God said?” honestly. The unfaithful Christian either ignores it, denies it, or looks for avenues where he can rationalize it away, while making it appear as though he is not really in disobedience.
That’s the difference between guarding God’s Word from loss (keeping it) and the unfaithfulness of the (so-called) carnal Christian who will not “receive” that which God says. This is the self deception manifest in the lack of reverential “fear of God.” But the Lord is not mocked.
He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him. --1 John 2:4-5
If God doesn’t say it, then you have no reason to have confidence that it is true. However, if it is written in the Word of God, then it is true, and we are bound faithfully to keep the testimony of the Word. The Holy Spirit is the teacher, and He teaches through God’s Words, not man’s. The Holy Spirit of truth will guide God’s servants into what is true and steer them away from what is not.
Casting Crowns - East to West
Satan is desirous to have us because we were once his servants, and no king will willingly lose his subjects.
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man: but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. --James 1:13-15
Satan will never leave us alone; he will always be there, seeking to devour. So expect trouble, for foes are everywhere. But do not enter the thicket with the lion, for he that meets with him, even though he wins the day, will find it a stern struggle. Walk guardedly in the path of obedience so that we may never tempt the devil to tempt us. Pray first that we not be tempted and, next, that if temptation be permitted, that we may be delivered from the evil one.
God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. --James 4:6-7
Yet, even with no devil to tempt us, we will still find in ourselves evil enough to trouble us, “for the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.” Expect trouble then but despond not, because God will never leave us or forsake us; He is always there to help us and strengthen us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? --Romans 8:35
“I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.” -- Psalms 32:8
This is God’s promise to His people. Let us, then, take all our perplexities to Him and say, “Lord, what will you have me to do?” And let our prayers not be all concerning our own sins, our own wants, our own imperfections, or our own trials, but let them climb the starry ladder and get up to Christ Himself. And then as we draw near to the blood-sprinkled mercy seat, offer this prayer continually, "Lord, extend the kingdom of your dear Son."
“Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” --Matthew 6:9-10
Let our prayers cease and our eye of faith will grow dim.
Pray alone in private with God. Hold up the token of the promise before the Lord. Pray in Jesus’ name for special strength and assurance. Pray, “Lord, I have sinned, I deserve not your smile; I scarcely dare to ask it; but O Lord, say to my soul, ‘I am your salvation.’”
And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. --James 5:15-16
God knows your case as thoroughly as if you were the only creature He ever made.
We must be careful not to take delays in prayers for denials. God keeps a file for our prayers: they are not blown away by the wind; they are treasured in His archives. Be content to wait a little, for the Lord’s time is better than our own.
"Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent." --Revelation 3:3
We must not fret over our lot in life.
I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. --Philippians 4:11
We are not to expect that God will give us everything we choose to ask for, because sometimes when we pray, we ask amiss. If we ask amiss, we must not expect that we shall receive.
And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us. --1 John 5:14
We ask amiss when: We ask for that which is not promised. We run counter to the spirit that the Lord would have us cultivate. We ask contrary to His will or to the decrees of His providence. We ask merely for the gratification of our own ease and without an eye to His glory.
Yet, when we ask in faith, nothing doubting, although we may not receive the precise thing asked for, we shall receive an equivalent and more than an equivalent for it. If the Lord does not give us precisely what we ask for, He will give us that which is tantamount to it and that which we will greatly rejoice to receive in lieu thereof. Remember that God does not always answer prayer in kind, though He always does in effect.
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. --James 1:5-7
God blesses us all up to the full measure and extremity of what is safe for Him to do.
“What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” --Mark 11:24
These wonderful words from our Savior assure us that faith is the secret of prevailing prayer, which moves the heart of God.
Be anxious for nothing, but in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. --Philippians 4:6-7
If we do not get a blessing, it is because it is not safe for us to have one. If our heavenly Father were to let our unhumbled spirits win a victory in His holy war, we would pilfer the crown for ourselves and, meeting a fresh enemy, would fall victim; so we are kept low for our own safety.
"But that which ye have already hold fast till I come." --Revelation 2:25
How blessed is it to wait upon the Lord by faith! Christ Jesus is the way of life, and He is a plain way, a pleasant way, a way suitable for the tottering feet and feeble knees of trembling sinners.
I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God, and said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to Thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens. --Ezra 9:5-6
Have we been delivered from proud reason like Ezra and been brought as little children to rest in Jesus’ love and blood? If so, by God’s grace we shall outrun the strongest runner who chooses any other path. This truth we may remember to our profit in our daily cares and needs.
Do not run so hastily to friends and family for assistance, but remember that the Lord is magnified by our implicit reliance upon His solitary arm. My soul, wait only upon God. “But,” says one, “are not means to be used?” Assuredly they are, but our fault seldom lies in their neglect: far more frequently it springs out of foolishly believing in them instead of believing in God.
The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and He shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, 'Destroy them.' --Deuteronomy 33:27
“Straightforward makes the best runner:” it will be our wisest course to go at once to our God and not to wander in a roundabout manner to this friend and that. God knows our wants and can relieve them; to whom should we repair but to the Lord by the direct appeal of prayer and the plain argument of the promise. It is God’s nature to keep His promises; therefore, go at once to the throne and plead “Lord, here is the promise, do as you have said.” Think not that God will be troubled by our reminding Him of His promises; He loves to hear the loud outcries of needy souls; it is His delight to bestow favors; He is more ready to hear than we are to ask.
Lead me in Thy truth, and teach me. --Psalms 25:5
Experimental teaching is the burden of this prayer. David knew much, but he felt his ignorance and desired to be still in the Lord’s school: four times over in two verses he applies for a scholarship in the college of grace.
It would be wise for professors to inquire for the good old ways of God's own truth and beseech the Holy Ghost to give them sanctified understandings and teachable spirits instead of following their own devices and cutting out new paths of thought for themselves.
When the believer has begun with trembling feet to walk in the way of the Lord, he asks to be still led onward like a little child upheld by its parent’s helping hand, and he craves to be further instructed in the alphabet of truth.
For Thou art the God of my salvation. --Psalms 25:5
The Three One Jehovah is the Author and Perfecter of salvation to His people. He is the God of our salvation. Do we find in the Father’s election, in the Son’s atonement, and in the Spirit’s quickening all the grounds of our eternal hopes? If so, we may use this as an argument for obtaining further blessings. If the Lord has ordained to save us, surely He will not refuse to instruct us in His ways.
On Thee do I wait all the day. --Psalms 25:5
It is a happy thing when we can address the Lord with the confidence like David manifests; it gives us great power in prayer and comfort in trial.
Patience is the fair handmaid and daughter of faith; we cheerfully wait when we are certain that we shall not wait in vain. It is our duty and our privilege to wait upon the Lord in service, in worship, in expectancy, and in trust all the days of our lives.
Our faith will be tried faith, and if it be of the true kind, it will bear continued trial without yielding. We shall not grow weary of waiting upon God if we remember how long and how graciously He once waited for us.
The Christian is made strong and firmly rooted by all the trials and storms of life.
After that ye have suffered awhile, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. --1 Peter 5:10
Notice how this blessing of being “stablished in the faith” is gained: the apostle’s words point us to suffering as the means employed: “After that ye have suffered awhile.” It is of no use to hope that we shall be well rooted if no rough winds pass over us. Those old gnarlings on the root of the oak tree, and those strange twistings of the branches, all tell of the many storms that have swept over it, and they are also indicators of the depth into which the roots have forced their way. Shrink not then from the tempestuous winds of trial, but take comfort, believing that by their rough discipline God is fulfilling this benediction to us: “After that ye have suffered awhile, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”
The graces of the Christian character must not resemble a rainbow in its transitory beauty but, on the contrary, must be stable, settled and abiding.
Seek, O believer, that every good thing you have may be an abiding thing:
May your character not be a writing upon the sand, but an inscription upon the rock. May your faith be no “baseless fabric of a vision,” but may it be built of material able to endure that awful fire, which shall consume the wood, hay and stubble of the hypocrite. May you be rooted and grounded in love. May your convictions be deep, your love real, and your desires earnest. May your whole life be so settled and stable that all the blasts of hell and all the storms of earth shall never be able to remove you.
How happy are tried Christians, afterward.
Afterward. --Hebrews 12:11
It is peace, sweet, deep peace, which follows the horrible turmoil that once reigned in our tormented, guilty souls. See, then, the happy estate of a Christian! He has his best things last, and he, therefore, in this world receives his worst things first. But even his worst things are afterwards good things, harsh plowings yielding joyful harvests.
Even now he grows rich by his losses, he rises by his falls, he lives by dying, and becomes full by being emptied. If, then, his grievous afflictions yield him so much peaceable fruit in this life, what shall be the full vintage of joy “afterward” in heaven?
If his dark nights are as bright as the world’s days, what shall his days be? If even his starlight is more splendid than the sun, what must his sunlight be? If he can sing in a dungeon, how sweetly will he sing in heaven! If he can praise the Lord in the fires, how will he extol Him before the eternal throne! If evil be good to him now, what will the overflowing goodness of God be to him then?
Wait, O soul, and let patience have her perfect work.
O, blessed “afterward!” Who would not be a Christian? Who would not bear the present cross for the crown that comes afterward? But herein is work for patience, for the rest is not for today, nor the triumph for the present, but “afterward.”
Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth. --Judges 16:6
Where lies the secret strength of faith? It lies in the food it feeds on, for faith studies what the promise is: an emanation of divine grace, an overflowing of the great heart of God. And faith says, “My God could not have given this promise except from love and grace; therefore, it is quite certain His word will be fulfilled.”
Then faith thinks, “Who gave this promise?” It considers not so much its greatness as, “Who is the author of it?” She remembers that it is God, who cannot lie: God omnipotent, God immutable. Therefore, she concludes that the promise must be fulfilled and forward she advances in this firm conviction. She remembers why the promise was given: namely for God’s glory, and she feels perfectly sure that God’s glory is safe, that He will never stain the surface of His own coat of arms nor mar the luster of His own crown. Therefore, the promise must and will stand.
Then faith also considers the amazing work of Christ as being a clear proof of the Father’s intention to fulfill His word. “He that spared not His own Son but freely delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”
Moreover faith looks back upon the past, for her battles have strengthened her and her victories have given her courage. She remembers that God never has failed her; nay, that He never did once fail any of His children. She recollects times of great peril when deliverance came; hours of awful need, when, as her day, her strength was found, and she cries, “No, I never will be led to think that He can change and leave His servant now. Hitherto the Lord has helped me, and He will help me still.”
And God divided the light from the darkness. --Genesis 1:4
Darkness by itself is quiet and undisturbed, but when the Lord sends in light, there is a conflict, for the one is in opposition to the other: a conflict that will never cease till the believer is altogether light in the Lord. If there be a division within the individual Christian, there is certain to be a division without.
When the Lord gives to any man light, he proceeds to separate himself from the darkness around; he secedes from a merely worldly religion of outward ceremonial, for nothing short of the gospel of Christ will now satisfy him. And he withdraws himself from worldly society and frivolous amusements and seeks the company of the saints, for “we know we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.”
The light gathers to itself and the darkness to itself. What God has divided let us never try to unite, but as Christ went without the camp, bearing His reproach, so let us come out from the ungodly and be a peculiar people. Jesus was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners; and, as He was, so we are to be nonconformists to the world, dissenting from all sin, and distinguished from the rest of mankind by our likeness to our Master.
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light: which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. --1 Peter 2:9-10
When we become saved, God makes His abode within us and becomes ruler of our lives, continually restraining us from evil.
For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, “I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” --2 Corinthians 6:16
God is the one responsible for all the working of good or integrity in us. He softens our hearts so that we finally live for Christ and do His will. He takes full responsibility for this, lest any man should boast.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. -- Ephesians 2:8-9
Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for His own sins, and then for the people’s: for this He did once, when He offered up Himself. --Hebrews 7:25-27
Christians live by faith, not by sight: not by blind faith, but by the faith that only God can give, which is the faith of Christ, who was perfect, without sin, obedient always to our Father.
We were chosen by God from the foundation of the world, born of God, justified in Christ. We need not worry, for God knows who are His, and He will bring to faith all for whom Christ died.
The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His. --2 Timothy 2:19
For whom he did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified. --Romans 8:29-30
Faith is the gift of God. It is by God’s persuasion in us of the truth of things which we cannot physically see that we may have hope.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. --Ephesians 2:8
We are persuaded, or have faith, because of the substantive “working” of Christ in us. And because of Christ’s spirit within us, we have assurance (faith) that we are indeed true children of God. We would never have faith by our own efforts. It is Christ’s Spirit within us that brings us to believe: He gives us faith. This is why we say it is the faith of Christ, and not our own faith (or faith in Christ), which saves us.
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: the life, which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me. --Galatians 2:20
Every day is a battle, yet each day, although it brings its troubles, shall bring its help.
With faith we view each promise in its connection with the promise giver, our heavenly Father, and we can say with assurance, "God’s grace and mercy will last through all our necessities and we shall never know a real lack. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives!" So cast all cares upon the Lord and anticipate good results from the worst calamities.
“And the Lord shall guide thee continually.” --Isaiah 58:11
“For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else. I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are right. Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, Ye that are escaped of the nations: They have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, And pray unto a god that cannot save. Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: Who hath declared this from ancient time? Who hath told it from that time? Have not I the Lord? And there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; There is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: For I am God, and there is none else.” --Isaiah 45:18-22
The crown of glory will follow the cross of separation.
The life of separation may be a path of sorrow, but it is the highway of safety; and though the separated life may cost us many pangs and make every day a battle, yet it is a happy life after all. No joy can excel that of the soldier of Christ: Jesus reveals Himself so graciously, and gives such sweet refreshment, that the warrior feels more calm and peace in his daily strife than others in their hours of rest.
We love Him, because He first loved us. --1 John 4:19
We hope to win the crown if we are enabled by divine grace faithfully to follow Christ “without the camp.” A moment’s shame will be well recompensed by eternal honor. A little while of witness-bearing will seem like nothing when we are forever with the Lord.
After death, what cometh?
Upon death, what wonder-world will open upon our astonished sight? What scene of glory will be unfolded to our view?
For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither has the eye seen, O God, beside Thee, what He has prepared for him that waits for Him. --Isaiah 64:4
What God has in store for us is truly beyond our ability to imagine. Even in this life, the love of God is beyond our ability to understand.
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. --Ephesians 3:17-19
Although no traveler has ever returned to tell, we know enough of the heavenly land to make us welcome our summons thither with joy and gladness. We have many ungratified desires at present, but soon every wish shall be satisfied and all our powers shall find the sweetest employment in that eternal world of joy.
O Christian, within a very little time we shall be rid of all our trials and our troubles. Our eyes now suffused with tears shall weep no longer. We shall gaze in ineffable rapture upon the splendor of Him who sits upon the throne. Nay, more, upon His throne shall we sit. The triumph of His glory shall be shared by us. His crown, His joy, His paradise, these shall be ours, and we shall be co-heirs with Him, who is the Heir of all things.
There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. --Hebrews 4:9
How different will be the state of the believer in heaven from what it is here! Here we are born to toil and suffer weariness, but in the land of the immortal, fatigue is never known. Anxious to serve our Master, we find our strength unequal to our zeal: our constant cry is, "Help us to serve you, O Lord, our God."
And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple: and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. --Revelation 7:13-17
Here, our best joys bear "mortal" on our brows; our sweetest birds fall before Death’s arrows; our most pleasant days are shadowed into nights; and the flood-tides of our bliss subside into ebbs of sorrow.
Here, Christians are always unsettled; we feel that we have not yet attained. There, all are at rest; they have attained the summit of the mountain; they have ascended to the bosom of their God—higher they cannot go.
Ah! Christians, the hot day of weariness lasts not forever; the sun is nearing the horizon; it shall rise again with a brighter day than we have ever seen upon a land where all serve God day and night and yet rest from their labors. Ah, toil-worn laborers, only think when we shall rest forever! It is a rest eternal; a rest that “remaineth.”
Here, rest is, but there, it is perfect.
In heaven, everything is immortal; the harp abides unrusted, the crown unwithered, the eye undimmed, the voice unfaltering, the heart unwavering, and the immortal being is wholly absorbed in infinite delight. O happy day it will be when mortality shall be swallowed up of life and the Eternal Sabbath shall begin.
And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him; and they shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God gives them light: and they shall reign forever and ever. --Revelation 22:1-5
We shall be departing from all we have known and loved here, but we shall be going to our Father’s house—to our Father’s home, where Jesus is—to that royal city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
This shall be our last removal, to dwell forever with Him we love, in the midst of His people, in the presence of God.
“My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” -- Ezekiel 37:27
We shall be made perfect in Christ when we go home to heaven.
In this present dispensation, we are by no means perfect. Our minds are still darkened by the influence of sin; our consciousness is still beclouded by the effects of sin. The lust of the flesh often still dominates and controls us to a certain extent, and we do not live the fullness of our spiritual life.
For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. --1 Corinthians 13:12
Jeremey Camp - There Will Be a Day
As the apostle Paul has it, "We behold a dim image, as in a dark glass; but we do not as yet see face to face;" we do not fully understand the truth of God. Sometimes the darkness seems to break and there are moments when we behold more clearly the beauty of God's plan and the work of salvation. However, even at those best moments of our present life upon earth, the darkness of sin has not been fully dispersed and we do not see face to face. And as it is with our knowledge, so also it is with our will, with our feelings, and with our desires: our will is still under the influence of sinful perversion. But when the Lord Jesus Christ shall appear, we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is.
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. --1 John 3:1-2
There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness. --2 Timothy 4:8
“To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in His throne.” --Revelation 3:21
Doubting ones! We have often said, “I fear I shall never enter heaven.” Fear not! All the people of God shall enter there.
“There is one throne in heaven that Paul the apostle could not fill; it was made for me, and I shall have it. 'But can I forfeit it?' No, it is entailed. If I be a child of God I shall not lose it; it is mine as securely as if I were there.”
Poor doubting ones, see the fair inheritance; it is ours. If we believe in the Lord Jesus, if we have repented of our sins, if we have been renewed in heart, we are God’s people and there is a place reserved, a crown laid up, a harp specially provided for each one of us.
No one else shall have your portion; it is reserved in heaven for you, and you shall have it before too long, for there shall be no vacant thrones in glory when all the chosen are gathered in.
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” -- John 10:27-30
“Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no one take thy crown.” --Revelation 3:11
Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, Abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: That, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, They may by your good works, which they shall behold, Glorify God in the day of visitation. Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: Whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, As unto them that are sent by Him for the punishment of evildoers, And for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, That with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, But as the servants of God. --1 Peter 2:11-16
“He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before His angels.” --Revelation 3:5
We must patiently endure with hope as an anchor of the soul, and we will obtain the promise at the end, the power of an endless life.
According as His divine power hath given unto us All things that pertain unto life and godliness, Through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: That by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, Having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, Add to your faith virtue; And to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; And to temperance patience; And to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; And to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you and abound, They make you that ye shall neither be barren Nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind and cannot see afar off, And hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: For if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly Into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. --2 Peter 1:3-11
"Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name." --Revelation 3:12
“Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” --Revelation 22:14
The Jews rejected Jesus as the Messiah because they were looking for a physical king and a physical kingdom.
Historically, Israel had been ruled in a combined political-religious system administered by prophets, priests, Levites and, later, kings. During the time of Christ's ministry, they were subjugated to Rome, which was a galling situation.
The Jews expected a Messiah who would deliver them from Rome. When they heard John the Baptist proclaim, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand,” they interpreted it as, “The restoration of David’s earthly throne is at hand” and that they would be freed from Rome.
Jesus gave no encouragement to that. He selected no army to defend or empower Himself. All along, Jesus stressed the spiritual nature of His reign. In veiled figures, His parables were emphasizing the spiritual character of the kingdom of heaven, yet Israel's earthly expectations were so strong as to survive His death and resurrection.
How sad it is that even today many believers expect Him to return and reign over an earthly kingdom.
Members of the Jewish faith believe that there is one God, who is omnipotent and indivisible, and with whom the Jews have a covenant, a special relationship of ethical and moral obligations and of protection.
The Jewish God, unlike the Christian trinity, has no distinct parts. The "spirit of God" mentioned in the Bible is understood metaphorically.
Jews allow no pictures or images of God. The orthodox Jew undertakes, in addition to 613 commandments, dietary proscriptions, daily prayers, refraining from travel and work on the Sabbath, and numerous other obligations.
Jews can view Jesus as a wise Jewish teacher, but Jews do not believe in the divinity or resurrection of Jesus.
The afterlife, resurrection at the end of days, heaven and hell, have become a part of Jewish theology and different Jewish traditions, though they did not apparently constitute part of the beliefs of Mosaic Judaism.
Conversion and Converts in Judaism
In addition to a long period of study, conversion to Judaism requires a ceremony of immersion in a ritual bath, and for males, circumcision. Converted Jews often change their family name to "ben Avraham," the son of Abraham. Those who become Jewish are adopted into the family of Abraham as though they were his actual descendants, and are initiated into the covenant of Abraham, as commanded to all Jews. Therefore, males who wish to convert to Judaism must undergo circumcision in Conservative and Orthodox rites. If they are already circumcised, there is a symbolic ceremony that takes the place of circumcision. At least some Reform and Reconstructionist rabbis will apparently perform conversion without circumcision. However, Reform Judaism also have a Berit Milah (circumcision) program.
Jews who convert to Christianity or to "Messianic Judaism" are no longer considered part of the Jewish community by Jewish religious authorities and by most other Jews.
Jewish religious thought holds seemingly contradictory views of conversion and converts. For example, consider these different quotes:
The only reason God exiled the Jews among the nations was so that converts could be added. (Pesachim 87b)
Continuous evil comes to those who accept converts. (Yevamot 109b)
Converts are as difficult for Israel like a nasty sore. (Yevamot 109b)
'The Souls they made in Charan.' These are the converts which Avraham and Sarah converted. This teaches us that whoever brings a gentile close and converts him it is as if he created that person. (Bereshit Rabah 39)
The names of Gerim are as dear to me as idolatrous wine poured on the altar. (Vayikra Rabah 1)
Even a gentile who converted and busies himself with Torah is considered as if he were the chief priest (Cohen Gadol). (Bamidbar Rabah 8)
Come and see how beloved converts are to God... (Ruth Rabah 2)
The major fear engendered by converts is that they would be insincere or ignorant and would introduce non-Jewish and unacceptable customs into the Jewish community, such as polytheism and idolatry. In the first centuries of the exile, however, Judaism was apparently an active and very successful proselytizing religion.
As much as ten percent of the population of the ancient Roman world were probably Jewish at one time and, in addition, there are many whose grave inscription reads "Yereh Elohim" (God fearing); meaning that while they had not converted to Judaism, they had accepted monotheism and many tenets of Judaism.
Conversion activity stopped because it was outlawed by Christianity and Islam. At least some streams of Judaism, however, are actively reaching out for converts today.
Judaism and Zionism
We believe that Israel and Zionism hold a central place in Judaism. Zion and the holy land certainly hold a central place in the Jewish faith and prayers. However, it is not necessary to be a Jew to support Israel or the right of the Jews for a state, and support for Israel or Zionism is not a requirement for conversion to Judaism.
Is It Hard to Become a Jew?
It is much more difficult to become a Jew than it is to become Christian or a Muslim. Becoming a Jew means joining a people as well as a faith, assuming a new ethnic identity, and joining a worldwide community centered on Israel, on the Jewish history and the Jewish faith. Therefore, conversion to Judaism entails a long period of study, learning and preparation.
Different Types of Jews
The foundations of the Jewish faith are given in the the Old Testament Bible and in the later law books, particularly the Mishna, the Talmud and the Shulhan Aruch. These are variously interpreted by different streams and factions and rabbis.
There are four main streams of Judaism: Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist.
Orthodox Jews are the strictest and, unfortunately, may not recognize the conversions performed by other rabbis. While there is no recognized central authority for the Jewish religion, if the Israeli chief rabbinate and rabbinical accepts a conversion or decides that a person is Jewish according to Halachic (Jewish religious) law, that decision is honored by all other streams. However, the reverse is not true.
A person may be accepted as a Jew according to the law of return by the Israeli government, but that does not mean that they are recognized as a Jew for purposes of marriage by the chief rabbinate.
The recent canonization of Edith Stein as Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross by the Roman Catholic Church poses a number of very serious challenges to living Jews, we who are still members of the people to whom Edith Stein believed she also belonged, even at her death in Auschwitz.
Theologically speaking, Edith Stein was arguably the most significant Jewish convert to Christianity of this century. In general, Jewish tradition regards such persons as apostates who have removed themselves from the normative Jewish community in a radical way, even if they still consider themselves part of the body of the Jewish people, as Stein did.
Judaism in fact also regards such persons as part of the body of the Jewish people. "A Jew who has sinned is still a Jew" is an important talmudic principle. Nevertheless, an apostate is an apostate, even when a person of extraordinary intellectual and moral virtues. Our reactions in such cases, however great or small the person before us is, range from anger to sorrow. We cannot very well be indifferent.
In the case of Edith Stein, though, it seems we Jews must be more precise in giving reasons why we cannot celebrate with Catholics the life and death of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. We need to give theologically cogent reasons for why we would have had to distance ourselves from her in life (as her pious Jewish mother did), and why we would have joined that segment of her family who chose not to attend her beatification by Pope John Paul II in Cologne in 1987.
Stein's case is not an easy one for us. Jews have been able to dismiss most modern Jewish converts to Christianity as people motivated by social or professional ambition, self-hatred, ignorance, or mental imbalance. But anyone who knew Edith Stein, or who knows anything about her life, would have to admit that none of these categories applies to her. Indeed, Edith Stein comes across as sui generis.
She might be the most uniquely problematic Jew for us since Saul of Tarsus.
The easiest way to deal with the problem is to accept the liberal assumption that one's religious convictions are a matter of individual choice, and that everyone must respect the choice of everyone else to believe whatever they want and practice any religion or no religion, as they choose.
On this view, Edith Stein had a right to become a Catholic and change her name to Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, just as the Catholic priest Father Kenneth Cox had a right to become a Jew and change his name to Abraham Carmel.
At the political level, most Jews and most Catholics have accepted the liberal idea of religious freedom. Some see it as a necessary part of the social contract that enables us to participate in civil society. Others see it as being in the best interest of faith itself, which cannot legitimately be coerced. Pragmatically, we realize that our religious communities are probably better off without people who have found a spiritual home elsewhere and do not want to be with us anymore. All this is how we talk and have to talk in the public square. But while that talk is not disingenuous, it is secondary to the primary commitments of both Jews and Christians.
The most fruitful dialogue between Jews and Catholics (and other Christians as well) has been about our relations in the public realm, where we have discovered significant common ground on such issues as public morality and religious liberty.
Nevertheless, the discovery of such commonality, beneficial as it is, does not change the fact that, at the deepest level of our existence, Jews and Christians are making not only different communal claims, but rival communal claims. The best way to God, the one that ought not be exchanged for something less, is either by the Torah and the Jewish tradition or by Christ and the Church. The choice is unavoidable. One cannot accept Christ and still be part of the normative Jewish community; one cannot live by Torah and still be part of the Church.
Early in our common history, indeed almost simultaneously, Jewish authorities ruled against the practice of Christianity by Jews, and the Church ruled against the practice of Judaism by Christians ("judaization"), even by Christians born as Jews. Our acceptance of the liberal order of civil society has, for the most part, enabled us to make these rival communal claims civilly, and without fear of political repercussions. But that accommodation should not make us slide into the superficiality of civil religion or the disorientation of religious syncretism. Sometimes Jews and Christians have to speak to each other without the mediation of the secular public realm, as we must when speaking about Edith Stein.
Because Judaism and Christianity are both covenantal religions, the relationship of the individual Jew or Christian to God is always within covenanted community. Stein, even when physically alone in her nun's cell, was still existentially part of the community. The community in which one hears the voice of God structures how one hears that voice and interprets what it says.
There is no universal revelation until the end of history, which is why election is the doctrine of identity for both Christians and Jews. God chooses us; we do not choose God, at least originally. That election is either by natural birth or by the rebirth of conversion, which is very much like adoption. We only can accept or reject the community into which, as one former Christian philosopher put it, we have "been thrown."
Based on these covenantal assumptions, it follows that both Judaism and Christianity assert what liberals can only regard as an unfair asymmetry: One can check into the covenant, but one cannot check out of it. A convert is "born again," which also means that from God's perspective he or she has retroactively always been in the community. An apostate, conversely, does not quit the community existentially; he or she is only absent without leave. Excommunication bars a sinful Catholic from receiving the sacraments, not from the Church herself, just as herem, the ban of ostracism, does not mean that a Jew is no longer a Jew.
So Jews regard Edith Stein as a Jewish apostate, but always a Jew nonetheless. And she agreed with us about her Jewish identity; it is about her apostasy that she obviously had a different opinion. We cannot avoid the question of apostasy because it brings us face to face with the rival truth claims our two communities make, to ourselves, to each other, and to the world.
Judaism and Christianity alike present themselves as the fullest truth of God's relationship with the world, but both can recognize more limited forms of truth elsewhere. Confirmation in one's covenant does not imply having a monopoly on God. As the prophet Amos (9:7) put it to the overly proud people of Israel, "Are you not for me like the Ethiopians?" This view enables us to live with other people in good faith and to have genuine respect for them and their traditions.
This approach, common in form but different in substance for us, might be summarized in the talmudic principle that "one is to rise, not descend, in holiness." To illustrate, let me set up four possible situations and suggest the Jewish answer to each of them. (A Christian answer would be substantively different in two of the scenarios, but I think the Christian logic would have to be the same as Jewish logic in all of them.) The four situations are:
a pagan wanting to convert to Christianity instead of Judaism;
a pagan wanting to convert to Judaism instead of Christianity;
a Christian wanting to convert to Judaism;
a Jew wanting to convert to Christianity.
By "pagan," I mean someone who neither by birth nor by the rebirth of conversion has ever been a Jew or a Christian.
The Jew would regard the pagan's conversion to Christianity as a good choice inasmuch as Christianity is a valid gentile relationship with the Lord God, maker of heaven and earth, elector of Israel, giver of the Torah, and redeemer of the world. Of course, he would regard the pagan's conversion to Judaism as the best choice possible. A Christian wanting to convert to Judaism has not only made the best choice but is well prepared for it by having been a Christian and, therefore, knowing, however partially, the Lord God of Israel. The final option, the Jew wanting to convert to Christianity, is of course the option of Edith Stein.
Edith Stein accepted what Christians have always had to say to Jews; namely, that Christianity solves the problems of Judaism better than Judaism does because Christianity provides the savior to whom Jews have always looked. She therefore did not consider herself a runaway from Judaism (however rudimentary her own Judaism was) but rather a Jew whose Judaism brought her into the Church. Her logic was clearly supersessionist. How could it have been otherwise? Indeed, had it been otherwise, Edith Stein would have had to have said what Franz Rosenzweig said when he rejected Christian supersessionist claims: "I therefore remain a Jew!" (Rosenzweig, a Jewish philosopher and contemporary of Stein, whom many consider the greatest Jewish theologian of this century, himself almost converted to Christianity.)
Supersessionism is the subject of deep theological debate today. Many Jews have seen it as the core of Christian anti-Judaism. Many Christians are embarrassed by it, seeing it as part of the anti-Judaism that was so easily appropriated by modern anti-Semitism.
Yet, Christian supersessionism need not denigrate Judaism. It can look to the Jewish origins of Christianity happily and still learn of those origins from living Jews, whom Pope John Paul II likes to call "elder brothers."
Christian supersessionism can still affirm that God has not annulled his everlasting covenant with the Jewish people, neither past nor present nor future. Jews can expect no more than that from Christians, and Christians probably cannot concede any more to Judaism. For if Christianity does not regard itself as going beyond Judaism, why should Christians not become Jews? And, conversely, any Jew who believes Christianity supersedes Judaism can only in good faith become a Christian, as Edith Stein did.
Fruitful conversations of late between Jews and Christians have largely bracketed this critical issue for good reasons. It is, nevertheless, the crucial question that leaves the two communities at an impasse. All attempts to get beyond it--be they political, exegetical, or philosophical--have been failures. After all, it is the question of truth, and truth is what we are both all about. To bracket this question is quite different from either suppressing it altogether or reducing all discussion to it.
Edith Stein represents our impasse. She cannot be a bridge between Jews and Catholics because, in this world, one cannot be simultaneously both a faithful Jew and a faithful Catholic. Since the Jewish and Catholic communities are mutually exclusive, and both Jews and Catholics derive their identities from God's covenant with their communities, no member of one community can also be a member in good standing of the other. Moreover, one cannot expect the approval of the covenanted community one has left. As with Abraham our father, the answer to God's call always involves leaving some earlier household in one way or another, and that household does not and cannot provide one with a warm farewell.
In this world, Jews and Christians do have much to say to each other and much to do together. But our more important task of waiting for God we must do separately. The agenda of dialogue must be kept distant from the agenda of conversion. Dialogue is more about this world; conversion is more about the world-to-come.
Until the end time, it is not for us to judge matters of identity, except in the most mundane cases involving communal rights and penalties. Because of that, while we Jews can empathize with Catholics who have found yet another saint, another exemplary holy life, it is not something we can feel (the original meaning of "sympathy") with Catholics any more than we could celebrate the Eucharist with them. At this deepest level we are still strangers to each other. So it seems that we shall remain until the end, when we hope to be the lasting friends of God, and thus of each other.
(The article that follows is meant to be a general introduction to the Muslim world—not a comprehensive statement. Not everything here is true of every Islamic country or every Muslim individual. The article is presented to give insight into some of the hundreds of millions of Muslims in the world—and the tens of thousands right on our North American campuses.)
A Look at Islam
Thirteen hundred years ago Islam charged across the continental bridge of the Near East to Asia, Africa and Europe. Today it is the second largest religion in the world. Over the centuries it has withstood Christian missionary efforts and is actually spreading rapidly throughout the world with an evangelistic vision of its own.
So what stands between Muslims and Christianity? We urgently need to consider the barriers, both doctrinal and personal, that Muslims encounter when they consider Christianity if we hope to bring the good news to the followers of Allah.
This article is a general introduction to those barriers. It is not, however, a comprehensive statement. Not everything here is true of every Islamic country or every Muslim, but most Muslims have problems with Christianity in three areas: the person of Jesus Christ, His death on the cross, and the reliability of the Bible (as compared with the Quran, the Islamic scriptures, also spelled Koran).
Accepting the Prophet While Rejecting the Son
The person of Jesus Christ represents the first and possibly the biggest barrier to belief. Muslims acknowledge Christ as a prophet, but find it unthinkable that God has a son who is equal to Him in power and glory. Allah (the Islamic god) stands alone and unequalled.
Early in his childhood, a Muslim is taught that Christians worship three gods. Whoever tries to explain to a Muslim that these three persons of the Trinity equal One will strike against a misunderstanding, which can work into outright hatred. Our occidental dialectical thinking can hardly be tolerated by an Islamic mind: either God is one or He is three, but He is never simultaneously three in one; three persons cannot be one, and to suggest that He is three is blasphemy.
Yet at the same time the Quran includes clear references to the uniqueness of Christ. For instance, Muslims believe Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, worked miracles, healed the sick, and raised the dead. But while Christianity testifies that Jesus is the eternal Word of God through whom all things were created, one with the Father in essence (not created), Muhammad declares that Jesus was created in Mary at a point in time out of nothing, through the creative Word of God.
Christians testify that Christ existed in eternity before all time; for Muslims, Christ is unique, but He is only a man—a prophet, without divine Sonship and without the cross.
Such references, which are remains of the pre-Islamic quarrels in the early churches of the Near East, also appear in other places in the Quran. In it Christ is called “the Word of God” and “a spirit of Him” (though Muslims generally would understand “Word of God” to be a phrase referring to the written Quran). Many a fight took place in the history of Islamic theology on the question of whether God’s Word is eternal or finite, so that it would not have to admit that Christ, “the incarnate Word of God,” even from His birth stood higher than Muhammad.
Thus Islam is a spirit that refuses the divinity of Christ, a stance rejected by the New Testament (1 John 4:3-5).
Denying the Cross
The second basic offense to a Muslim is the testimony that Christ was crucified. Here we have to note that Islamic criticism is not directed toward the meaning and fruits of the crucifixion, but that Islam completely denies this historical fact itself.
Muslims believe that they are in fact honoring Jesus since Allah would never allow His prophet to suffer such humiliation and suffering. Muslims reject the cross because they do not understand the concept of a loving God sacrificing Himself for His people. In their eyes, the crucifixion demeans Jesus.
Many Muslims believe that Christ did not die on the cross, but was taken up alive to heaven. Such a belief undermines such basic concepts as justification, the resurrection of Jesus, and the regeneration of believers by the Holy Spirit.
Muslims view the cross as unnecessary, because separation from God is not entirely a matter of personal responsibility or the result of sin. Sin is regarded as a slip or a mistake, which takes place because Allah created man weak and temptable. One could view Allah as one who arbitrarily promotes someone to paradise or throws someone into hell, like a big dictator whom everyone fears and from whom there is no escape. Thus the cross is unnecessary and represents an attack on Allah’s sovereignty. Allah needs no sacrifice and no mediator to reconcile the world to himself, for he forgives whomever he chooses whenever he chooses. The true character of Islam is revealed in its consistent rejection of the cross. While we see the incarnation of Christ as the prerequisite for His substitution on the cross, Muslims deny both.
Rethinking Revelation
If you tell a Muslim that the account of Jesus’ death on the cross is the best documented part of the gospel, you will quickly strike upon the third basic offense that separates Islam from Christianity: Islam’s understanding of revelation.
Muhammad explained that all differences between the Bible and the Quran are proofs of the corruption that Jews and Christians have introduced into the original Old and New Testament revelation. Islamic textural criticism is not concerned with which verses are genuine words of Jesus or which literary sources make up the gospel. Instead, the Quran is vigorously promoted as the only valid measure for divine truth. Thus whatever is not in accord with the book of the Muslims is regarded as corrupt and untrue. It is on this basis that Christ’s bodily ascension to heaven is proven.
For Muslims, Christ is the only man who is in proximity to God, but only as a prophet—without the cross and without divine Sonship.
Who is Allah?
The three basic offenses between Islam and Christianity represent only the tip of the iceberg. The main cause of the incompatibility lies deeper: it is in the Islamic understanding of the sublimity and uniqueness of Allah. Allah is the entirely different one, the incomprehensible and unapproachable one. He is incredibly great and stands beyond the scope of our intellect. He was not begotten and does not beget. No one is equal to him. Jesus’ birth as the son of Mary and of God is abhorred by the Muslims as an unthinkable, sensual degradation of Allah.
The Islamic understanding of the sublimity and uniqueness of God is the primary cause of the separation between Muslims and Christians.
Allah is so big that he alone determines the destiny of all people. Luck, accident, death, mishap and failure are often credited to Allah. As a result, fatalism is deeply entrenched in Islam and hinders both human activity and responsibility. Intellect and incentives can be restrained by this conception of God. All thoughts and decisions of a Muslim are utterly predestined. According to Islam, human beings were not created in the image of God but more as His slaves.
Consequently, the Islamic idea of worship means surrender, submission and devotion to Allah. When most Muslims think of prayer, they do not imagine a free conversation with God, but an incorporation into a liturgy which throws them into prostrate submission before Allah several times a day.
It is that spirit which binds all Muslims and hinders them from becoming Christians. The understanding of Christian prayer is completely different. Here we find one of the widest gaps between the two religions.
This rigid conception of God has influenced all areas of Islamic culture. For many centuries a man reigned over his wives and children like a patriarch. A teacher ruled over his pupils. An employer often resembled a slave owner, just as many caliphs and sultans frequently exercised an unlimited and bloody power. Whoever was sick, weak or poor was reckoned as being punished by God. The strong, rich and victorious, however, were confirmed by Allah.
The Christian’s path of lowliness, Jesus’ cross, and the “boasting” of Paul over his weakness are diametrically opposed to the spirit of Islam, and make Christianity appear as an inferior religion of degenerates.
The thought that God is a Father, and that out of love for the corrupted world he offered His only Son, is not only strange for a Muslim, but ridiculous, if not blasphemous! Every assertion of the nearness of God and His fatherly care is regarded as self-deception. Instead, the distant, mighty and great dictator-god is worshiped and feared. In the future Islamic paradise, Allah will not personally be present, for he always remains far from his creatures, great and invisible.
He who says that God revealed Himself in the man Jesus is regarded as a liar and seducer.
Reading the Scriptures
Our Christian concept of inspiration involves hearing, being anointed with the Holy Spirit, and enlightenment. These are, in spite of human weakness, united with responsibility toward the revealed Word. The Quranic understanding of Allah also influences the Muslim understanding of inspiration and hence their attitude toward their Holy Scriptures.
The Islamic concept of inspiration is radical. Allah dictated his revelations to Muhammad word by word, so that the nearly unconscious prophet sputtered forth his Suras as a passive tool. His prophecy is regarded as the conclusion of all revelation in which the highest wisdom and the deepest knowledge are presented to humanity.
A Muslim does not think he belongs to a deficient religion but, on the contrary, thinks that he must bless all men with his veneration of God.
For a long time it was nearly forbidden, out of reverence for the revealed word, to interpret the Quran or to discuss the content of the Suras critically, for all revelations were held to be clear, understandable and final. No man is able to fathom or judge the words of Allah. They can only be received passively, accepted obediently, and kept faithfully—never criticized or further developed. As a result, the Quran is learned completely or partially by heart without necessarily being understood.
This static way of thinking still influences the learning process in some universities and schools, so that some Arabs carry a volume of knowledge with them which works in their emotions and subconscious but is not unfolded in dynamic planning.
Poetic Quran
In addition, the Quran was written in a kind of rhyme that is memorable and catchy in the Arabic language. Sometimes for the sake of rhyme, Muhammad inserted words where they do not fit according to the content of changed syllables to secure the rhythm of the intonation. The exact content always remained secondary to the sound. Based on this poetic principle, a feeling originated in the Arabs that was built on catchy sound and style but not on systematic logic.
Our gospel is different. It was not written in the form of a poem but in prose, and demands thinking, delving and understanding.
It is stated that the Quran was written in the most beautiful language of God, while the Bible is available only in a rugged translated Arabic. The gospel sounds strange and profane in the ear of the Muslim while the Quran stands as a shining poem unsurpassed by anything that has been written.
For these reasons a Muslim cannot understand the Bible easily and does not accept it as a foundation for his worldview. He does not hear the rhythm in it, and the reading process itself seldom creates in him a willful decision or reflection.
Therefore, in evangelism we must learn to rethink and offer selected texts of the Bible to be memorized so that the true words of God can fill the subconscious of a Muslim and slowly develop Christian thinking and consciousness. Happy are the preachers who do not present cold, dogmatically clear sermons, but who bring the good news with verve and emotion, for the understanding of the Arabs does not come first through the head, but through the heart.
The Power of the Clan
Another hindrance that prevents a Muslim from becoming a Christian is his ties to his extended family. Most Arabs are still not conscious of an independent “I” but live rooted in the “we” of their clan. This is one of the biggest differences between the East and the West.
Westerners have slid down the ladder of decay from the spirit of fellowship in the extended family (we) into the isolation of the individual (I), who is at the moment sinking into the nameless masses where one does something only because everyone else is doing it.
Arab countries too are now in transition from the clan to the individual. The “I”-consciousness is slowly being born in individuals through the infiltration of East-Western materialism. In this painful process, the family is led into a crisis. So far only a few have stepped out of their clan, for the majority still think in terms of a fellowship with father, uncle and brothers. In some areas, it may happen that a young Arab man does not marry the girl whom he loves because his family advises him and decides who fits him best.
Thus also faith is a matter of the clan and not the decision of the individual alone.
Loneliness
So when a Muslim leaves his old faith, not only does it bring great disgrace to his family but, above all, it means his severance from the “we” in which he was rooted and anchored. This process is deeper and broader than we can imagine. It causes many converts to become lonely and often leads to despair and thoughts of suicide.
Half of all Arabs are less than 20 years old. It is especially the modern schools and universities, but also movies, technology and wars, which are creating the irresistible upheaval in Islamic culture. In the larger cities, skyscrapers are shooting up from the sand. Whole clans can no longer find enough space to live together since the apartments are only planned for families with two to four children. Social security is becoming necessary everywhere because the supporting capacity of the clan system is disintegrating. Many people become lonely and search for a new spiritual home and an inner security; therefore, the call of the gospel of Christ may be understood more easily than before.
The Bad Conscience of a Convert
Whenever a Muslim, in spite of all the hindrances, begins to come close to Christ (most converts are between 18 and 25 years old), he is confronted with the basic sin in Islam, which for him corresponds to the Christian’s sin against the Holy Spirit.
Whoever places a partner or another god beside Allah will never receive forgiveness, and whoever leaves Islam is condemned and is regarded as eternally lost.
Thus in addition to all the pressures of dogma, logic and family comes the voice of conscience restraining a Muslim from stepping over to Christianity.
Islam cannot be compared with religions in countries where the gospel was completely unknown before Christians arrived. Islam is a post-Christian religion, which has consciously dealt with Christ and has developed into an anti-Christian power. Muslims have become immune to the Spirit of Christ; they have been vaccinated at an early age against the teachings of the gospel.
When a Muslim approaches Christ, he must decide between revelation and Revelation, between the Quran and the Bible. No more dialog is possible here, because the Quran asserts that Allah dictated the whole truth to Muhammad. He who consciously turns toward the gospel and begins to believe in Jesus Christ, uniting himself with Him, must also decide to put away the old revelation as a lie.
There is no bridge between the Quran and the gospel in any essential dogmatic question unless the representatives of both sides twist the facts of their writings or tolerate opposing teachings.
This step of refusing the Quran is a difficult and bitter one in each convert and cannot be forced. The power of the Holy Spirit is crucial, leading the follower of Christ with growing faith into an ever-clearer discernment of spirits. Often Muslims who believe in Christ try to uphold both sources of revelation as truth. The result of this position is either a theological schizophrenia or a superficial faith that soon disintegrates.
Stepping Over to Jesus Christ
When a Muslim seriously occupies himself with investigating the gospel, it will not remain hidden for long. At first most of his friends will discuss the matter with him; then they will warn him, then leave and despise him. His wife has the right to be divorced from him. His children then no longer belong to him. Above all, his clan will begin to observe him critically. Then they may kindly ask him not to bring on their name the shame of apostasy (which could have economic consequences). If the investigator ignores the warnings and decides to become a Christian, they may threaten to end his schooling. They may take his pocket money and beat him. If this has no effect, the convert’s own family may cast suspicion on him and accuse him of stealing or committing an indecent assault. He may be imprisoned. The respectable family separates itself from this corrupted member who has denied Allah and has become godless.
The Quran literally demands the killing of converts out of Islam. Even today, every one who is converted must reckon with this danger. In the Central Arabic countries, this threat exists undiminished. This is why no open conversions are known there. In Arab countries with Western contact, however, a kind of tolerance has developed in accordance with the extent of Western education, which, though not affirming the conversion, does not carry out the killing demanded by the Quran. The parents of the convert regard their child as dead, or see that he emigrates and thus disappears from view.
Deep and Bitter Separation
In all cases, the inward and outward separation from parents, brothers, sisters, relatives and friends is bitter and deep. The new Christian rarely severs himself from his family on peaceful terms, but rather is ridiculed, cursed and despised. This severing not only takes place dogmatically and logically in the mind, but irreplaceably breaks the “we” of his deepest roots. Now he stands shocked, bare and alone in a world that knows no compassion.
In Muslim-ruled countries, religious freedom means that the Christian minority is allowed to remain Christian or become Muslim, but not the reverse.
The possibility of the conversion of a Muslim to Christianity is not even provided for in the law. So far there is no way for an Arab Muslim to legally change his religious affiliation unless he emigrates and accepts a new nationality. This rigid situation becomes tragic when a convert wants to marry a Christian. In most Arab countries, only religious sheiks or priests can issue marriage licenses. The result is that for a Christian man or woman to marry a convert, they are forced to appear together as Muslims before the sheik, and the children from this marriage automatically become Muslims.
In several countries, the authorities have already intervened to break up and forbid gatherings of converts, to imprison the leaders, and in some instances to torment them. Death sentences have not been known in recent years, but uneducated parents again and again have tried to kill their children in anger and hatred if they came to believe in Christ.
One must realize that as of 1972, about 70 percent of all Arabs could not read or write. Since then, great gains have been made in literacy and education. Still, it is understandable that uneducated parents fanatically hold to their memorized Quranic texts and traditions and, in obedience to the spirit of Muhammad, hate their own flesh and blood. They do this in order not to drop out of Allah’s blessings and their cultural community.
With this, the clan as an implementer and guardian of the Quran is the biggest hindrance for a Muslim to become a Christian.
The Convert in the Arab Church
Not all Arabs are Muslims. In several Arab countries, churches have existed since the time of the Byzantine Empire.
Christians number between five and eight million out of about 100 million Arabs. These minorities have developed their own Christian terminology. In such isolated Christian groups, Arabic is spoken, but many words have been filled with meaning that differs from that which Muslims, familiar with the Quran, usually understand. Thus, speech, custom, spirit and experience separate them from the Islamic ocean that surrounds them.
Within the last 150 years, Protestant missions have entered into these Orthodox, Coptic, Maronite, Syrian, Nestorian and Catholic churches. They produced fairly large Arab-Protestant churches with about 100,000 members. However, in terms of hymns, clothing and behavior, they represent only a poor copy of their mother churches in America, England and Germany. They have not become Islam-oriented evangelistic churches.
A deep chasm separates the Arab Christians from the Muslims. The persecution and oppression of past centuries, the different ways of thinking and praying, the distrust and hidden fear, have produced hardened hearts.
When a young Muslim leaves Islam, he suffers much inner conflict, tears himself away from his clan, possibly loses his job or is forced to flee, and then turns to a Christian group for fellowship. Here he often suffers another abuse: most Christians will stand off from him, eye him critically and distrust him. They think he is a spy or that he is looking for a cheap education in a mission school. Maybe he even wants to carry off a nice girl or take one of the few jobs available.
Thus he must suffer the double pain of being expelled from the Islamic world and not accepted by the Christian one.
The new Christian is rejected by the very people he imagined to be saints and the children of God, according to the Bible. This sobering fact shocks him deeply. We know Muslims who have said to each other, “It is better to outwardly remain a Muslim and in secret believe in Christ. For if your relatives expel you, then the Christians will also not receive you!”
Adaptation to the Christian Life
A young Christian still has a lot of growing to do in a life that is completely different. It may take years before Muslim thoughts leave his head. He has a thousand changes to make in his lifestyle: He must take on a new attitude toward work. His married life must adopt new moral standards and a readiness to serve the other. Money is no longer allowed to remain as the aspiration of all his thoughts and hopes. He also needs practice in observing Sundays, in disentangling politics and religion, and in the truthfulness of his speech. He needs, like all of us, growth in sanctification so that the fruits of the Spirit of Christ ripen in him.
If in these, and other areas of life, a genuine growth and ripening in fellowship with others does not take place, then the danger is great that his faith will remain a superficial and intellectual matter and never take on flesh. The other danger is that the Islamic world will suck the apostate back in because he had never left it with his whole heart.
During this spiritual growth, there is a dangerous stage in which some believers in Christ drop back to Islam. Formerly, the new Christians had idealized their faith and imagined Christian pastors and priests to be perfect. Now they discover the humanity and the flaws of the followers of Christ. They see selfishness, ambition, hard-heartedness, impatience, and many other things over which they shake their heads and say, “They are not any better than we are.” They see denominational splits and strange kinds of “mission work” and experience another shock, and say, “They are not united. They steal members from each other, and everyone thinks that his church is holier and better than that of the other.”
The effect is especially adverse when some super-missionary-minded group takes a new, enthusiastic convert and lets him give his testimony before large audiences, or takes pictures of him to display in their mission periodicals, even though he did not originate in their own evangelistic work. However, when it comes to helping him find work or a spouse, the group has other priorities, and the new believer again finds himself alone and deserted. In this way, the testimony and joyfulness die in those who left their Islamic community under persecution and suffering.
Renewed Creatures
For a Muslim to grow in faith, he needs much time, counseling and teaching, and some living examples. It is not just wise words, but deeds of love and the friendly atmosphere of a Christian home that reveal Christ to a Muslim. The convert needs fellowship with like-minded friends, his spiritual brothers and sisters. He needs again the warm nest of the “we” that he lost. He needs to find among Christians, roots, nourishment and love.
For this reason the question of why so few Muslims become Christians is turned back to us. We are the reason: we cannot help new converts grow with our little faith, our weak prayer power, our deficient love, and our unwillingness for sacrifice. The Reverand Iskandar Jadeed, an Arab and a former Muslim, once said: “If all Christians were Christians, there would be no more Islam today.”
Copyright Information: Reprinted in Inter Varsity's Student Leadership journal, winter 1993, from His Magazine Feb. 1981 issue, with renewed permission of the author in 1993.
By Daniel J. Hill, aka Abdullah Al Amin Reform Judaism, Fall 2009
“I have been an American Muslim for almost fifty years, and built two mosques. At the same time, the old rabbi remains one of the finest mentors of my life. And so, I have given great thought to the question: Why do many Muslims and Arabs so hate Israel and the Jews?”
The basis of most prejudices is ignorance.
The ignorance of most young children stems from a lack of education, or miseducation.
Born into a Roman Catholic family in 1938, I was baptized shortly after birth, took first communion at about age seven, attended Catholic parochial school in first and second grades. I was an altar boy back when the Sunday Mass service was in Latin. We ate no meat on Friday, went to confession Saturday night, fasted until Sunday Mass and communion.
When I was eight, my older cousin Marcus, ten, moved in with my family. (The courts would determine his next steps. My uncle had deserted the family and my aunt had become an alcoholic.)
Less than a block from our Chicago apartment stood a large synagogue headed by an old Chasidic rabbi dressed in a black hat and black clothing. Long white curls draped down the sides of his face, and his white beard hung to his midsection. Bent by age, he used a cane to walk to and from his basement apartment to the synagogue across the street.
By this time, Marcus and I had been brainwashed by the Catholic school nuns to hate Jews. The Jews, they told us, “persecuted and crucified Jesus…defiled Catholic churches at night…spread excrement on the altar…urinated in the sacramental wine…defiled the body of Christ by spitting at it and crushing it underfoot.…” They also “formed cliques in banking and business to cheat Catholics and impede their efforts to earn a living.”
Sometime in late January or early February of ’46, we decided to punish the Jews for those horrendous acts. As the old rabbi struggled through the snow on his way home from the synagogue, we threw snowballs at him. “Dirty Jew!” we yelled. “Christ killer! Defiler of churches!”
The attack, we reasoned, was totally justified—so the next night we repeated it.
On the third night we were outsmarted. The old rabbi had called on the assistance of a young rabbi, who grabbed us by the backs of our collars. When we tried to break loose and run he just picked us up off the ground, our feet flailing in the air.
He took us to our home. Because the old rabbi couldn’t negotiate the stairs to our second-floor apartment, he waited on the street while the young rabbi took us up the stairs and knocked on the door.
“Are these your boys?” the young rabbi asked my father.
“Yes, they are. What have they done?” my father asked.
“You had better come downstairs and speak with the rabbi.”
My cousin and I stood silently as the old rabbi told my father how we’d persecuted him. My father’s neck and face grew red and then almost purple. He apologized to the rabbi profusely, thanked the young rabbi for bringing us to him, shook their hands, and expressed his sorrow.
“You don’t need to worry about these two idiots ever bothering you again, rabbi. I’ll take care of this,” my father said.
“Please don’t hurt the boys,” the old rabbi replied as he left. “They are just boys. Boys do get into mischief.”
* * * * * * *
"Office!" my father barked, ushering me into what was otherwise known as the bathroom. He lowered the toilet lid and sat upon it.
“Drop your pants and get over my knee!” he snapped. Now, my father was about 5 foot 10 inches tall and weighed 160 pounds, all of it bone and muscle. He had fought as a semi-professional boxer, and I doubt if anyone in history ever matched his bare-hand whipping talents. My rear end felt on fire, and I feared the beating would never end.
Then it was Marcus’ turn.
Afterwards, as Marcus and I stood weeping, my father poured himself a glass of beer and lit up his once-a-night five-cent cigar.
“Now that I’ve got your attention,” he said, “I am going to teach you two idiots something by telling you a true story. In the war I just got out of a few months ago, I fought Germans from the beaches of Normandy across France, Belgium, and Holland. When my squad got into Germany, looking for more enemy soldiers, we came upon what is called a concentration camp. That’s where the Nazis sent Jews like those two rabbis, and women and children just like your grandmother, your mothers, and your sisters, along with little boys just like you.
“In those concentration camps the Nazis starved, tortured, and killed those poor people. They herded them into gas chambers made to look like a big shower room where they got poison gas to kill them instead of water to wash with. I saw piles of dead bodies and monster furnaces just like the one in the basement here but ten times as large, where they burned the bodies. I saw piles of those ashes so high you couldn’t make them go any higher.
“That old rabbi probably came here from Germany. He was one of the few lucky ones that could get out before he ended up in one of those furnaces. He’s got a German accent. He’s a man of God, you idiots. He’s probably only here alive because he’s a good man and God himself saved him mercifully so he could go on teaching others about God.
“Now you two know about guardian angels from your catechism classes. You are going to become that rabbi’s guardian angels starting tomorrow morning. You will escort that rabbi from his home to his synagogue every morning and back every night. You will prevent any other young idiots like yourselves from harassing or harming him. If anybody bothers that rabbi who is too big for you to handle, one of you will stay with and defend him as best you can and the other will come and get me and I’ll handle it.
“Besides that, you will shovel the snow off the synagogue property. You will dust, scrub, and mop the floors, polish the furniture, wash the windows, and do anything else that rabbi wants done. Do you both understand?” he asked.
“Yes sir,” we answered.
“Now go to your bedroom and ask God’s forgiveness for your criminal conduct. Also, ask God to forgive me for usurping his authority. I just made you two Michael and Gabriel on earth, the guardian angels of that rabbi. Oh yeah, boys, I’ll be checking on your performance. If you fail in any manner, that whipping you just got will seem like nothing compared to the one you’ll get.”
I’ll never forget those instructions from my father, or that whipping. Since then, as a professional soldier I’ve been shot, stabbed, and blown up. None hurt as much as that session in my father’s “office.”
* * * * * * *
On the first day of our guardian angel duties, my father woke us up before dawn.
“It snowed last night. Grab the two snow shovels and follow me.”
The synagogue stood on the corner, its sidewalks along two streets.
“Get the snow off the sidewalk, ten feet past the property line on both sides. Then, get the snow off the stairs and entrance porch. I’ll be back to check on your progress. I’m going to eat breakfast. If you do a good job, I may even let you idiots eat some too.”
The snow was ten to twelve inches deep, and in no time we were both sweating like plow horses on a hot summer day. About an hour and a half later, before sunrise, my father returned to inspect the sidewalks, stairs, and entrance area. Using an old kerosene lantern, he pointed to areas that needed more shoveling.
“OK,” he said when we’d finished. “There’s some oatmeal on the stove. After breakfast, we’ll continue with your duties.”
By the time we got to the rabbi’s basement apartment, daylight was just breaking.
“Sorry to trouble you so early, rabbi,” my father said when the door opened. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“No, Mr. Hill,” the rabbi answered. “Old men don’t sleep well and they rise early.”
“I understand, rabbi, that as it’s the Jewish Sabbath, you are forbidden to work, even to turn on your lights. So the boys would like to prepare your coffee or tea, fix breakfast, anything you need.”
“Thank you, Mr. Hill, but the congregation has arranged for a gentile woman to take care of all that for me,” the rabbi replied.
“Good congregation you have. May I ask what time you leave for the synagogue? The boys would like to escort you there, rabbi. You see, they have been promoted from delinquents to guardian angels of yours to prevent any other bad boys like they used to be from bothering you.”
“Is that so? Very nice. I will be leaving for the synagogue in about an hour, Mr. Hill.”
“Good. In the meantime the boys would like to clear the snow away from your door, stairs, and sidewalk, if you don’t mind. Later, after they see you to the synagogue, they’d also like to clean up inside, sweep, mop, dust, anything needed.”
“That is also done by the congregation.”
“Well, maybe next week the boys can check with the ladies and do anything they couldn’t get taken care of before sunset,” my father replied. “The boys will be here when you are ready, rabbi. Goodbye, shalom.”
* * * * * * *
From that day on, being the rabbi’s guardian angels was our life. Every minute we weren’t in school we were guarding him, cleaning, shoveling snow. After the snow stopped in April we swept the sidewalks, cut grass, etc.—all subject to my father’s inspection.
In time, the duties evolved from toil to pleasure. The old rabbi became sort of a grandfather figure to Marcus and me. He helped us with our homework and fed us matzo ball soup and gefilte fish with horseradish. The congregational women also kept the rabbi well stocked with confections. That’s how I became addicted to icebox cake and coconut macaroons.
The rabbi also taught us all about the Torah. A great actor and entertainer, he would tell and act out stories of Samson and Joshua, blowing on a ram’s horn and swinging his cane about like a sword. An old coffee pot became the jawbone of an ass in Samson’s hand, his belt David’s sling when he defeated Goliath.
Eventually, being with the rabbi became the high point of my day: I looked forward anxiously to the final bell at school so I could rush to the synagogue to see him. It was he who told me of my namesake, Daniel of the lions’ den, which destined me to be a man of courage and a devoted servant of God.
I remember the great disappointment I felt in mid April 1946 when the courts took my cousin from our home and put him in an orphanage. The old rabbi was heartbroken over losing one of his boys, as he had come to call us. On the day Marcus left, as the rabbi was consoling my father, he said, “Mr. Hill, about Daniel. I should have said this long ago. I didn’t say anything because I came to enjoy the pleasure of having Daniel and Marcus around so much that I fear I have taken advantage by not saying this. It is enough, Mr. Hill. Daniel learned his lesson within a few days after the incident. He is a good boy, a fine young man, as is Marcus. Both boys will do well in life and grow to be fine men. Please, release him from the obligations you have put upon his young shoulders to care for me.”
It didn’t end there. The rabbi and I spent time together until that summer, when my father moved our family to Wisconsin. He was assigned as a non-commissioned officer to supervise about sixty prisoners at a military disciplinary barracks/farm outside Milwaukee.
I never saw the rabbi again; yet, he has never left me to this day.
* * * * * * *
I became a soldier like my father. When I returned from my first combat tour to Vietnam in January 1967, I was stationed at Ft. Benning, Georgia. That June the entire infantry school all but shut down to watch news reports on Israel decisively defeating the Arab armies in the Six-Day War. Americans love a winner, and the brilliance of Moshe Dayan and the Israeli army gained Israel a cheering section in the hearts and minds of the entire U.S., especially within the military.
Six years later, during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, I was stationed in Germany commanding a tank company. We were ordered to overload our tanks with extra ammunition, fuel, oil, hydraulic fluid, rations and water, and drive them to the rail head. There, we loaded the tanks on flatbed railcars and sent them with two men each to Bremerhaven for loading onto a ship for transport to Israel.
I never saw such enthusiasm from my men as when they loaded and shipped those tanks. There were messages to the Israeli soldiers on every tank with all sorts of advice about that tank’s little quirks and attributes—things like, “Make sure the tank commander checks his coincidence frequently, especially after firing two or three main gun rounds; she heats up and the heat expansion throws off your accuracy if you don’t check and adjust for the expansion,” or “Tends to pull to the right in soft sand,” or “I put extra electrical fuses under the gunner’s seat in case you blow any.”
Bottles of wine and cognac, cookies and candy cluttered the tank interiors along with Playboy magazines. The troops felt a camaraderie with the Israeli soldiers who were to receive those tanks as strong as if they were shipping them to a sister American unit engaged in combat.
Israel did not stand alone.
* * * * * * *
Today I am known as Abdullah Al Amin.
How, you might ask, did a kid raised as a Catholic and mentored by a rabbi end up as a Muslim?
In the spring of 1958, as a 19-year-old paratrooper, I was shipped to Beirut. Syria had engineered the overthrow of the democratically elected Lebanese government, and my unit was assigned to link up with a Marine force; secure the airport, government utilities, and the press; and reinstall the legal government.
After a few months, once the Syrians were back in Syria and the legal Lebanese government running the country, I was given some time off. My first stop was a mosque in Beirut, to find out what the Azan, the Islamic call to prayer, was all about.
Regardless of what one’s personal attitude is toward Muslims and the Islamic faith, most will admit that the Azan, which is sung out five times a day from a mosque’s minaret, is a beautiful, haunting refrain. Even Hollywood is enchanted by it; you’ll hear the Azan in practically any scene about the Middle East, Arabs, or Islam.
Such was the case with myself as a kid watching the Ali Baba movies. For years I’d wondered what that call meant.
Inside the mosque I met an English-speaking young imam who translated the Azan for me and answered my questions about Islamic history and traditions. When we parted, he gave me a present: a two-volume set of books, The Meaning of the Holy Quran, written by Yussef Ali, which contained the Quran in the original Arabic, an English translation, and an extensive commentary.
Soldiers spend a lot of time reading, or did in those days. The Army is all hurry up and then wait for fairly long periods. I spent many an hour in my bunk reading the Quran—and, from that time on, books on the history of the Middle East, Arab culture and tradition.
The Quran’s teachings made more sense to me than the Catholic dogma I’d been taught since childhood. I never could reconcile there being three entities in God: the Father (creator), Jesus the Son of God, and the Holy Ghost. Whenever I asked a priest or nun to explain the Trinity, the answer always came down to: “It is a mystery; it is an act of faith to just accept it.”
I found Islam much more logical and accessible. Muslims believe that God is the one, the only, the Creator, Master of the Universe and all the worlds, and one’s relationship with God is part of one’s every day manner of living. One speaks to God directly and, I believe, receives guidance in his or her mind almost immediately.
Whenever I was tempted to do something wrong, dishonest, dishonorable, or in violation of the Ten Commandments given to Moses, an inner voice spoke in my mind, chastising and counseling me toward greater self-control. You could call it conscience.
In combat, too, as a leader or commander, I often called upon Allah for aid, strength, control, wisdom, and the voice always came through—not only in suppressing my fear, but telling me how to control the situation, where an enemy’s weakness existed, how to deploy my unit, what orders to give. The same was true in life’s other challenges, as a husband and father, in daily work, in relations with others.
Islam is a soldier’s religion—direct, uncomplicated, rewarding for faithful obedience, meting out sure punishment for disobedience in this life and the next. And so I accepted Islam as my faith.
* * * * * * *
I have been an American Muslim almost fifty years now. I have lived, worked, eaten, slept, prayed, and fought alongside Muslims for about thirty years. I have visited mosques and Muslim communities throughout the world and have built two mosques/Islamic centers in the U.S.
At the same time, the old rabbi has remained for me one of the finest mentors of my life.
And so, I have given great thought to the question: Why do so many Muslims and Arabs hate Israel and the Jews?
Many Muslims have told me that the big contention is the establishment in 1948 of the State of Israel.
The Muslims I know do not refute the fact that, as the Torah states, God gave the land that became Israel to the Jewish tribes. In fact, the Quran contains many of the stories in the Torah and holds it to be a holy book of God.
In Islam, however, events are considered to come to pass by the will of God. Many Muslims have shared with me their belief that the Roman exile of the Jews in 70 A.D. would not have occurred had it not been part of God’s plan. They see Israel as a case of God giving the Jewish tribes the land to be Israel, but then taking it away, using the Romans as His instrument to do so. Then, after the coming of Mohammad and Islam, that land came into permanent possession of Muslims.
Using that same logic, one would have to take the position, as I have, that in 1948 Israel came to be by Allah’s will. But most Muslims I know do not admit to this contradiction.
* * * * * * *
I’ve also learned from the Quran why Muslims in many nations wish to wage war against Israel. In the Holy Book, there are two times when a Muslim is instructed to go to war. First, all Muslims must engage in war against anyone who attempts to prohibit another individual or group from worshiping God, whether the worshiper is a Muslim, Jew, or Christian.
The second is if somebody seizes or occupies a Muslim’s home or land.
Thus the entire Nation of Islam, every Muslim in the world, is obligated to go to war against Jews in possession of land in Palestine.
From my perspective, this creates an unsolvable situation.
On the one hand, Jews say, “This land is mine; God gave this land to me.” On the other hand, a sixth of the world population, about 1.3 billion Muslims, feel obligated by the Quran’s teaching to fight until death to end what they view as occupation of Muslim lands which, in essence, means destroying the Jewish state.
Not much room for negotiation in those two opposing positions.
If only both sides followed Allah’s/ God’s teachings of salam, shalom (peace), compassion, and mercy….
* * * * * * *
Many of the comments I hear Muslims make about Jews have more to do with resentment than religion. Israel’s military successes in 1948, 1956, 1967, and 1973 humiliated Muslims. With a population of about 4 million, the Jewish state defeated Arab armies drawn from nations with populations totaling in the hundreds of millions.
Then there’s jealousy of Jewish unity. Although Muslims are required by Islam to be one unified people, great conflicts exist among Muslim factions to the point of embarrassment.
Muslims also tell me how much they resent Jewish talent. Fundamentalist Muslims in particular, who know little or nothing of the countless persecutions, expulsions, and mass murders of Jews over the centuries, are amazed when I say that in Europe Jews were forbidden to own land and barred from trade guilds. I explain that Jews had to become financiers (the practice of money lending was forbidden by the church but open to Jews) and doctors because these were among the few ways they could earn a living.
Still…many Muslims remain resentful, fearing that they will never be able to catch up to the Jews.
* * * * * * *
As a soldier, I have seen a fair amount of combat. But I’ve never experienced anything like the hate I see among Muslims in response to the Arab/Israel conflict.
When a Muslim comes to hate so much that he is willing to violate the Quran’s teachings in his quest for revenge, the point of no return has been passed.
The Quran says, “Suicide is usurping the will of Allah. One should die the death Allah has willed and not take one’s own life. To commit suicide is damnation in hell for eternity….In war you do not harm women, children, the old or any non-combatant; you do not destroy churches, mosques, synagogues or any house of God; you do not destroy crops, cattle or tear the earth asunder.”
Terrorism violates these laws. When hate so consumes a person that he willingly violates the word of God, he is no longer a Muslim. Islam means “submission” (to the will of God). Muslim means “one who submits” (to the will of God). Terrorists have submitted not to God, but to hatred. Terrorists are not Muslims.
Jews and Muslims are both God’s people. Maybe such is Allah’s test of both. Maybe God wants to see if we, as humans, have progressed enough to accept each other in peace.
Daniel J. Hill, aka Abdullah Al Amin, is a retired Airborne Ranger and Special Forces Captain of Infantry in the study and practice of special operations, guerilla, and insurgent warfare. A convert to Islam, he has worked with Homeland Security elements to uncover fundamentalist agents and demolition caches in the U.S. Hill planned and organized an assassination operation aimed at Osama Bin Laden, but it was called off only weeks before 9/11/01. In 1992 his daughter, Georgene Berger, converted to Judaism; she and her husband Eric Berger now belong to Temple Kol Ami Emanu-El in Plantation, Florida.
