WHEN PRIDE ABATES

WHEN PRIDE ABATES

            My wife just loves to tell about her and her sibling’s names, Tom and Jerry and Sherry and Arie. It is a very long story that basically plays on the rhyme in their names. She (Arie) generally ends with a cute twist in which she says, “But you can call me Jane.” She is proud of her siblings as well as the way her parents named them. And this kind of pride is certainly not wrong.  Being proud of what parents have done or the successes of our children is normal.

            However, we have reached a level of pride in our society which I believe to be unprecedented. We take pride in the most frivolous successes. From childhood we are told to have pride in just about everything. We are encouraged to take pride in this accomplishment or in that one; to have pride in the most minor details of life. We are told that pride is good and something to be sought after. Pride used to be harder to achieve in lower levels of sports, and other competitive programs, for those not actually excelling. So, in order to lift the pride of the more mediocre we began to award ‘participation’ ribbons and trophies, etc., to boost their pride. Yet in Proverbs 16:18 we read, “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

            Now we are expected to take pride in our skin color (if we are the right color). Yet, there is virtually no one who has chosen their skin color. How is it that we take pride in something we have absolutely no ability to control? It is simply issued at birth. We are told to be proud of our sex although it too is a given at birth (unless one corrupts what God has given because of personal psychological issues). We take pride in every feat of man provided it allows us to be exalted for even a moment. Acquiring knowledge is also a source of pride even though it is most often the result of simply reading what others have written. The acquisition of knowledge is nothing more than finally being able to understand a miniscule portion of what God in His wisdom was able to create from nothing. Yet when we are finally able to grasp the smallest portion of His creative powers we become proud of our mental prowess. Proud of what? Proud that we finally understood…something?

            It is interesting to me that men will uncover (in music, science, humanities, etc.) some slight portion of truth and then puff their chest like a banty rooster. I might view this differently if men were simply excited about having finally understood something of God’s creative genius. But that is not it. Instead (for the most part) uncovering a small detail of what God has done puffs up the pride of man to such an extent that they then turn that same discovery into proof that God does not exist or that they somehow have discovered the machinations of the cosmos. The Apostle Paul said it best almost 2000 years ago:

Romans 1:19 “Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. (v.20) For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: (v.21) because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (v.22) Professing themselves to be wise (prideful), they became fools….”

            Men’s foolish pride separates them from God because they become “vain in their imaginations.” Their own pride blinds them. What will their colleagues think if they don’t place science, academia or philosophy above God? Or, what if they express openly that their own pride is misplaced and that God is the source of all wisdom and knowledge? And what if a man were to admit that God is all in all. What then? Then, their friends might laugh them to scorn.

            Salvation, a right relationship with God, requires humble faith (the absence of pride). In Psalm 10:4 David writes, “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.” So, pride is the antithesis of faith.

            In Luke 16 a rich man who was once filled with pride is in view. He has died but immediately opened his eyes in eternal judgment. In this scene an alarming truth is evident…he no longer has pride. Realizing there is no hope for himself he begs for help in reaching his family before it is too late. In eternal damnation he is finally humbled, but too late.

            Pride will separate men from God today and in eternity. There will be no pride at the Judgment Seat. No matter his accomplishment, his wealth or his great wisdom man will humble himself and agree with God in the final judgement when pride abates.

            Don’t wait for the final judgement. Surrender your pride today. Call on Jesus Christ in faith believing, with a humble heart, before it is too late.

How to be born again:   http://christxalted.blogspot.com/2016/01/how-to-be-born-again.html

MIRRORS LIE

MIRRORS LIE      No kidding, mirrors really do lie. Oh, I don't think they do it on purpose. Most mirrors would like to be honest but they just can't help it. Or maybe, it really isn't them at all. It could be our perception of the reflection we see. Let's not blame mirrors entirely. Understand that each of us has an idea of what we look like. We really don't know what we look like to the rest of the world. We have only our own personal impression of what they see, and it is terribly skewed.      You really can never stand back and look at yourself and expect to see what others see. Think of your graduation photo for the High School year book. Your friends gathered around and told you how that photo looked just like you and it was such a great shot. But you sat there on the verge of vomiting as soon as you laid eyes on it. So, what was the difference? You both viewed the same photo and came away with entirely different concepts.      Not long ago I was in a public washroom and caught a profile of myself in the mirror. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Was that really me? Is it possible that I actually looked like that to the rest of the world? Mirrors lie.      We will never see, in a mirror or photo, what friends and relatives see when they talk to us or walk along beside us in the yard or at a church function. They see, in addition to the surface features, all of the personality and years of love and friendship that has grown between us. They see character that mere glass cannot reflect and film can never capture. You can't see what they do because you also see all that you know about yourself and all that they, by the grace of God, will never know.      When you look in the mirror, or the store front as you pass by, be forgiving. Don't judge so harshly. Remember, your friends and family love someone dearly who just happens to be wrapped up in that same reflection. Try to see what they see. Try to love the person they have come to love so deeply. And remember, none of it was ever based upon weight, hair style, clothing or blemishes, it was always a matter of character, spirituality and your acceptance of them. We will never really see what others see, but I think we should try.      In Matthew 22:39 Jesus speaking of the 10 Commandments said, “And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” How can we keep this second commandment, to love others as ourselves, if we do not learn to love ourselves first? We can learn to love the person God created when our mirror is not an empty reflection in a glass but is instead the Mirror of God’s Word (James 1:25). God loves us and sees us (if you are born again) as the redeemed, filled with His Holy Spirit and adopted into His family as joint heirs with His Son Jesus Christ. It is an image no mirror could ever capture. We are the Bride of Christ and you just can’t get any more beautiful than that. Now that is an image we can love. So, let's love others as we do ourselves.

The Problem of Pain

The Problem of Pain

                Why do we suffer? Why do children die? Why are there wars? Why do people born on the same planet fight and strive with one another for dominance? Why do families born in the same home take one another’s life? First let me assure you that we cannot think like God, Isaiah 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. (v.9) For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” How many times in my life have I heard someone claim to know these answers? It is not uncommon to hear a teacher or preacher claim to know what God did and why He may have done something. How braggadocios. But an avowed ignorance does not necessitate an end to the search. We can, and should, learn as much as we can from what God has said in His Word.

                When God created, he created everything without sin. At the end of each creative event in Genesis we see that God “saw that it was good” (a deeper study would show this to be a sinless creation). And then Adam and Eve sinned. It was this event that brought all of creation under the consequence of sin, Romans 5:12 “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned…” All of the sin and death we endure every day is the result of man sinning, it is not caused by God. So, the question so many have today is why didn’t God just destroy all of creation and start over?  Why does he allow people to continue to be born into a sin cursed world and suffer?

                My answer would have to be (as above), “I don’t know.” I don’t think like God thinks either (Isa. 55:8-9 above). I am simply not that smart. With that being said, I do believe God gave us some clues. One is found in Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (see also John 3:16-17). It is God’s love for each and every one of us that prevents him from destroying us. He wants to save as many of us as is possible, 2Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not…willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” God loves all of us and is doing all that can be done to save as many as he can. If God stops everything right now, today, then how many that are yet unborn will never have the opportunity to see the glories of heaven?

[Did God know from the beginning (He is omniscient or all knowing) the number of people that would ever be born? Is it possible that He is somehow obligated (to Himself alone) to allow each one of them to be born? (just a theological contemplation)]

                May I summarize all of history in a short paragraph using only what we do know? God created all things good. Man sinned and condemned all of creation with the pain and suffering that comes with sin. However, God loves His creation and is not willing to lose any of it. God allowed His Son to do what nobody else in the universe could do. He allowed Jesus to die in our place to pay the price for our sin, Hebrews 9:24 “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: (v.25) nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; (v.26) for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Christ could only die once. So he died at the *perfect point in history.

                His sacrifice ended Judaism it was the culmination of their faith, the Messiah had come. And his coming began Christianity, God sent a Savior for all mankind who bore our sins on the cross in His own body taking away the penalty of death once and for all to all who would believe. His sacrifice made it possible to save everyone before the cross as well as everyone after the cross who would come in faith believing. He could only make this one sacrifice at this one particular point in time in order to save the creation He loved.

Why does he allow evil to continue? Because there are still so many on this side of the cross who can yet be saved if they would just come. He paid the price and opened the doors of heaven to all who will come, 2Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not…willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”  

* “But now once in the end of the world” literally: at the consummation of the age. Meaning when Judaism completed its work.