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“Oh, the unspeakable greatness of that exchange,—the Sinless One is condemned, and he who is guilty goes free; the Blessing bears the curse, and the cursed is brought into blessing; the Life dies, and the dead live; the Glory is whelmed in darkness, and he who knew nothing but confusion of face is clothed with glory.”

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Location: Kingsland, Georgia, United States

A person God turned around many times.

Friday, July 28, 2017

The Lamb's exaltation of His wife

The beautiful and touching salvation of Christ’s spouse, the church, is wonderfully illustrated in the simple, short film from 1969, Johnny Lingo. In Johnny we can hear the tender call of Jesus for us personally, individually to come to Him, and to trust in Him as someone who is completely opposite to our old master, that ugly despot, called the Devil and Satan. Patiently and kindly, our Lord awaits our response.


Holding out his hand, Johnny quietly appeals to her to trust him. “Mahana.” “Mahana.” As if to say, “I know all the torture you’ve been through.”


Mahana’s faith in Johnny slowly builds. She comes out of her father’s hut and takes Johnny’s hand. His look is one of assurance and promise for her perpetual happiness and his.



He has loved her since they were children; she was always beautiful to him. And now his life-long hope is being realized. Even in her present destitute frame of mind, his prophetic glance sees Mahana completely restored to emotional health and visible beauty. Still plagued with doubts, she gives in to her new husband’s appeals and goes with him.

“In her father’s hut Mahana believed she was worth nothing.” “Yes, and now she knows that she is worth more than any other woman on the island.”

In Satan’s hut, under that enemy’s horrible occupation, the children of Adam have been made to believe that they are worth nothing. The destroyer has maimed and slain them. He has harassed and distressed them. He has sought every opportunity to manipulate their hearts to bring them down to self-indulgence and ruin.

But, at our lowest point the Son of God paid everything for us—risking even His own eternal existence to regain our faith in His trustworthiness. Only One who has loved us since Eden could work so hard to have us again for eternity. Only His everlasting love could turn us back to Him.

His continuous love has made us an eight-cow bride. Now we know that we are worth more to Him than any other creation and world. Our unimpeachable worth in God’s eyes will bring forth our eternal praise and diligent, perfect obedience forever and ever.

See the 23 minute film at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTpqyelYcnk

One more thought on the movie, Johnny Lingo

One more thought on ugly Mahana.

At the very wedding reception the village boys, like haranguing imps from hell, sing their destroying insults. They seem compelled to perpetuate Mahana’s sorrow and misery.

“Johnny Lingo had a cow, traded for an ugly wife.
Johnny Lingo married now, he’ll be sorry all his life.”

They sing their jingle and run away while Johnny, like Jesus in the temple, angrily puts the fear of God in them. But, the damage is done. Their condition illustrates the human condition.

“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.
Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
Their feet are swift to shed blood:
Destruction and misery are in their ways:
And the way of peace have they not known:
There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Rom. 3:11-18).

Done in fun and mirth, and in the dew of their youth, changes nothing of the destructive power of their childhood antics.

“Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.” (Job 14:1).

“The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born.” (Ps. 58:3).

“But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in Me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Matt. 18:6).

Mahana is fully confirmed in the reality of her lack of acceptance from her people, a reality with which she has lived all her life.

Johnny―“Don’t cry Mahana.”
Mahana―“It’s true! (I am an ugly wife!)”

It’s true that Mahana was ugly. She finally spoke the truth. She was unconverted; she was estranged from eternal love, without the Spirit of God and without hope. That lack of conversion to the Spirit of Jesus left her ugly in her heart, as well as on her countenance, her body, and in her life. We are all ugly if we haven’t submitted to the love and righteousness of God. But, God is working to win our souls back to Him and to learn our true, rebellious relation to His righteousness. Before we are able to finally see ourselves as we really are, it can take years of malicious treatment from the world that we have chosen to serve instead of our Creator. If we choose not to go to the Law of God for that enlightenment, or if we have never heard of the Bible and the Law of God contained in the Bible, then we need something that God can use to humble our natural-born pride. And the miserable, cruel gods of this world will be sufficient substitutes for our being humbled by the Law of God. This principle we see in the rebellion of Israel and in the consequences from the Lord.

“Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.
Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten My word to perform it….
For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the LORD; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah. And I will utter My judgments against them [the Jews] touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken Me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.” (Jer. 1:11,12,15,16).

“Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard My words,
Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.
Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.
And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon....” (Jer. 25:8-11).

This was Mahana’s experience. She had many flaws. She needed to be humbled, as the whole human race needs to be humbled and convicted. “That every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” (Rom. 3:19).

The call of a loving God to rebels. But, will we accept His chastisement of our peace? Will we accept His punishment for our iniquities?

“And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them.
If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against Me, and that also they have walked contrary unto Me;
And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:
Then will I remember My covenant with Jacob, and also My covenant with Isaac, and also My covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.” (Lev. 26:39-42).

“In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God.
They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.
My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace.
All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers.” (Jer. 50:4-7).

Mahana had great failings. And all that the islanders could do was to react with unmerciful justice and truth. Instead of Gods Law reflecting her flawed character (see James 1:23-25), they were her mirror to reflect back to her the misery she had presented to them. And they all, especially Tulo and her father, felt perfectly justified in venting upon her. As Mahana pined away in her miserable life, her selfish misery was a burden to their selfish happiness. She must be ostracized until she was driven away from the island, into the jungle, or married off.

I am thankful that Mahana’s uncircumcised heart was humbled and she accepted her punishment for her part in the oppression. Accepting the humbling and the truth from the oppressors prepared her for her ultimate surrender to Johnny and to the Spirit of God, and to eventual blessing.

I realize that this movie is a fiction and not even based on a true story. But, I also see in the pattern illustrated by the movie the one constantly repeated scenario in life and throughout biblical history. So, the movie’s scenario is an extremely relevant one. In reality, as seen in the movie’s old and young, male and female islanders, most sinners do not accept the humbling call of God. Rather, they continue on in life pleasing and appeasing the perverted will of the group around them. But there are some who look to outside aid, even to a temporary human intercessor, such as Mahana did with Johnny Lingo. Those few turn from their natural self-centeredness to the real, saving Lord. In their extremity, by faith they look to Jesus as they depend upon their human advocate. Under the Lord’s oversight and supervision (see Job 1:12; 2:6), when the world has ground them down into conviction of sin, into repentance, and surrender to meekness, then Jesus can deliver them from their oppressors.

“Rejoice, O ye nations, with His people: for He will avenge the blood of His servants, and will render vengeance to His adversaries, and will be merciful unto His land, and to His people.” (Deut. 32:43).

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound....” (Isa. 61:1,2).

“To comfort all that mourn;
To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He might be glorified.
And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.
And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.
But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.
For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.” (Isa. 61:2-7).

He hath sent me...to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God.” (Isa. 61:1,2).

“He shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.” (Jas. 2:13).

“For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.
For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.
But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace….
The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation.
Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken….
For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the LORD upholdeth the righteous.
The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever.” (Ps. 37:9-11,14,15,17,18).

The day finally arrives when the oppressors are oppressed.

“For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain. And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the LORD. Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of Mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls.” (Jer. 50:9-11).

“He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.” (Rev. 13:10).

The archaic language from the land of ancient Israel may seem not applicable to Mahana, but really it is. Her captivity may have been an individual’s, instead of a nation’s, but the deliverance from the Spirit of the Lord in her behalf was no less remarkable than His salvation of the ancient Jews. Mahana’s joy and happiness were also equal to theirs.

The combination of human oppressors and her own conscience led to Mahana’s ultimate brokenness and submission to God’s will as expressed in His Law. “Before faith came, we were kept under the [‘curse of the Law’ (vs. 13)], shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the [curse of the] law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under [the curse of theschoolmaster . For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:23-26). Being ignorant of the Law and the Bible, Mahana’s consequences to her sins must teach her. “Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that My fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.” (Jer. 2:19).

Only those who finally bow to the truth of their ugliness are brought to Christ to surrender to the knowledge of His beautiful self-sacrificing love. In Mahana’s case it was her surrender to the knowledge of Johnny’s self-sacrificing love that finally gave her the strength to trust his love for her. It took months away from the heckling crowd from home-town, but Johnny’s consistent self-sacrificing love transformed Mahana. His love for Mahana reveals the love of Christ for us.

“The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” (Jer. 31:3).

“Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is [Hagar].
For this [Hagar] is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.” (Gal. 4:24-31).

“That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.” (Rom. 9:8).

The God of love reconciled with resistant hearts among mankind! The above precious promise is for everyone who believes that the Son of love wants to win their heart, even all the Mahanas in the world, male and female. They will accept Him as their loving, personal Saviour from sin. And He will transform them with His comfort and love, as Johnny Lingo’s loving assurance transformed virgin Mahana. Their lives and appearance will be fixed up and made wonderfully beautiful. They will find in their Saviour a quiet restingplace. They will be happy, very happy.

“At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people. Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest…. Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.” (Jer. 31:1,2,4).

All who have been transformed by love will seek to cooperate with the Spirit of Christ to transform others with love. The Spirit will use us like Johnny Lingo to win hearts back to Himself. Jesus is our example, who was constantly mingling with others in order to let them know they were loved from the eternity past.

“The world needs today what it needed nineteen hundred years ago―a revelation of Christ. A great work of reform is demanded, and it is only through the grace of Christ that the work of restoration, physical, mental, and spiritual, can be accomplished.
     Christ’s method alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Saviour mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, ‘Follow Me.’
     There is need of coming close to the people by personal effort. If less time were given to sermonizing, and more time were spent in personal ministry, greater results would be seen. The poor are to be relieved, the sick cared for, the sorrowing and the bereaved comforted, the ignorant instructed, the inexperienced counseled. We are to weep with those that weep, and rejoice with those that rejoice. Accompanied by the power of persuasion, the power of prayer, the power of the love of God, this work will not, cannot, be without fruit.” Ministry of Healing, p. 143.

Through the redeeming power of love and conviction many will be glorified and happy, as we saw with Mahana when she came out to see Mr. Harris.


“And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.” (Rev. 19:6-8).

“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.” (Rev. 22:3,4).


Thursday, July 20, 2017

Ongoing analysis of the beautiful film, “Johnny Lingo”


Moki―“He (Johnny Lingo) will get a bargain! He wants a woman to mend his roof, to fix his supper, and doesn’t want to pay more than a three-legged cow for her!”
Moki judges Johnny to have the exact character traits of himself. Moki grumbles and drives Mahana to mend Moki’s roof and milk his cow, and he projects that onto Johnny.
And Mahana believes her father as she overhears his assessment of Johnny. When she thinks of Johnny’s price of a three-legged cow and its reflection on her, she sinks lower in self-worth. Depression settles in while she can’t avoid her father’s constant berating. “You don’t know what it means to have a homely daughter, Mahi.”

Johnny― “It will be remembered that Johnny Lingo paid eight cows for Mahana.”
Johnny’s mindset and way of thinking is far from Mr. Harris’. Mr. Harris thinks Johnny is being vain, only thinking of himself and how he will look to his friends. He even gives Johnny a slight rebuke for it. But, Mr. Harris has completely misjudged Johnny and his motives, believing that Johnny only wants to be seen as a great and powerful man. However, Johnny is thinking of Mahana and how she will appear in the eyes of every other woman on the island. Johnny is building Mahana into a queen; but Mr. Harris thinks Johnny is building himself into a king.
Has Jesus made great claims of Himself? I am the bread of life…I am the light of the world… I am the good shepherd…. “Say ye of Him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?” (John 10:36). Are we put off by what sounds like self-exaltation? In reality His high claims were not for glorifying Himself, but for strengthening our ability to put our trust in Him.

Mahana―“Did you hear them? They laughed. They mocked me.” “He mocked me. You will see. He will not come.” Mahana is not without flaws. She is self-centered and self-pitying, even combative. Those evil traits need to be, and will be, driven from her under the warmth of Johnny’s constant, strong love for her. She has been harassed by her father and everyone else on the island because she partly deserved it. But, she is also open to be loved; and that is her salvation. More than any of the other girls on the island, none more than Mahana had been especially sensitive to love, and also to the lack of receiving it. In all the confusion from inter-personal conflicts arising from Mahana’s and the island people’s character failings, Johnny sees a clear direction for the solution. He has the correct big picture because his heart is filled with love of life, love for others, and especially love for Mahana. He can overlook her flaws because he is confident in his ardor for her and confident that the little, loving girl from the past is still alive in the woman of the present.

This is the exact condition of the church and Jesus’ gentle treatment for our sinful, debilitating self-centeredness.

Johnny Lingo can be fun and joyful, but he can also be serious. In all that he did, it was for the glory of God and the salvation of Mahana. He wouldn’t have been able to convince Mahana to join him in marriage if he had been laughing when he consummated his invitation by extending his hand to her. He was as serious then as the day he bargained eight cows for her. If Johnny had not been serious after delivering the cows, Mahana would have thought he was mocking her ugliness and foolishness, just like everyone else. She would have run from him.

Even at the wedding reception she truly can’t believe that Johnny thinks she is beautiful. She turns away when he puts a flower in her hair. Not an iota of humor escapes Johnny’s communications with her. She is fragile and he treats her with great care.

Cruel boys come up from behind Johnny and Mahana.
“Johnny Lingo had a cow, traded for an ugly wife.
Johnny Lingo married now, he’ll be sorry all his life.”
They sing their jingle and run away while Johnny angrily puts the fear of God in them. But, the damage is done. Mahana is double confirmed in the reality of her unacceptable ugliness in the eyes of the people, which she has lived with all her life.

Johnny―“Don’t cry Mahana.
Mahana―“It’s true! (I am an ugly wife!)”














But Mahana trusts in her husband. No one else treats her tenderly. So must Christs church trust her Lord that she is the dearly beloved of His soul, when the world hates her and says all manner of evil against her falsely.

When Mr. Harris arrives to congratulate the newlyweds, he first sees Moki, who reminds Mr. Harris that he is a rich man. Now that he can have a taste of the good life, he is glad to have Mahana for a daughter. When he directs Mr. Harris to the wedding party, behind him in the dark, he refers to his daughter—for the first and last time—as “my Mahana”. But that title, “my Mahana”, Johnny uses many times until she is confirmed in his love for her. 

Satan has hated and berated the church, but Jesus keeps sending us His message of His loving-kindness and tender mercies. He calls us “the desire of [Mine] eyes” (Eze. 24:16), and “the dearly beloved of My soul” (Jer. 12:7).


Mr. Harris—“How do you like that, Tulo?” [He refers to Johnny’s expensive mirror.]
Tulo—“It’s beautiful. Mahana’s face will crack the glass!”
Tulo’s constant degrading and heckling Mahana and his instigating others in the same creates a character that sits counter to the noble actions and words and love of Johnny. There needs to be a character who works and speaks oppositely from Johnny’s ways and words. This accents the goodness and love of the main character (Johnny Lingo). The same has happened in the great controversy between Christ and Satan. God has allowed the continued harassment of Satan, the accuser of the brethren, so that we can see more vividly the love of Jesus our Comforter, our Shield and our everlasting Reward.

As the new Mahana carries out Johnny’s request for water, she is happy as long as she keeps her eyes and mind on Johnny. She is happy because she is owned by someone who only loves her and she has come to know that he will always treat her with dignity. The souls who make up the church will find the same staying power in the love that Jesus has for them. They can forget the depressing, harsh looks and words of the world when they see and hear the words of Jesus their Lord. “Nothing of the world can make them sad when Jesus makes them glad by His presence.” Desire of Ages, p. 331.

Their sights are on Jesus, who has proven Himself to be faithful. No more dependence on the world and its desolating assessments of them. Jesus will speak the truth and correct the dearly beloved members of His church, but He will never correct them carelessly, as the world does. He is the truth; but He is also the grace. This is because He is full of grace and truth. It is because He comes with the holiness of the God of love.

Monday, July 17, 2017

A Red Letter Sermon - Nader Mansour



"Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name." Malachi 3:16.

Sunday, July 16, 2017

The voice of God

“And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” (Ex. 20:19).

This was a famous turning point in the history of Israel. It was a time of great honesty, but also of great rejection of the Spirit of truth. Here is the context. (Please forgive me for the long quotations. It is prose and story, so they are quick reads.)

“In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai.
For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount.
And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto Him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;
Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto Myself.
Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is Mine:
And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him.
And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.” (Ex. 19:1-8).

Did they really know what they were agreeing to? Did they read the fine print before signing their name on the dotted line? Did they really know their weaknesses? Did each know his true personal resources, and lack thereof? In forty days they would find out (i.e. Exodus 32).

“And the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the LORD.
And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes,
And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai.
And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death:
There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount.
And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes.
And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives.” (Ex. 19:9-15).

In three days the children of Israel would meet the God with whom they had made a perpetual agreement. He and His terms would not be what they had ever conceptualized. His voice would send a message they never thought God should ever use with His privileged people. They saw a God who meant what He said and said what He meant. He was serious to the nth degree about their fidelity to Him and their total renunciation of everything pagan.

“And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And … the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder....” (Ex. 19:16-19).

“And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.
And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.
And the LORD said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish.
And let the priests also, which come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them.
And Moses said unto the LORD, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for Thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it.
And the LORD said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the LORD, lest He break forth upon them.
So Moses went down unto the people, and spake unto them.
And God spake all these words, saying,
I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” (Ex. 19:19-20:3).

And the rest is history. The Ten Commandments issued from the mouth of Jesus, the Commander of heaven, “who is over all, God blessed for ever” (Rom. 9:5):

“THOU SHALT HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME.

THOU SHALT NOT MAKE UNTO THEE ANY GRAVEN IMAGE, OR ANY LIKENESS OF ANY THING THAT IS IN HEAVEN ABOVE, OR THAT IS IN THE EARTH BENEATH, OR THAT IS IN THE WATER UNDER THE EARTH:
THOU SHALT NOT BOW DOWN THYSELF TO THEM, NOR SERVE THEM: FOR I THE LORD THY GOD AM A JEALOUS GOD, VISITING THE INIQUITY OF THE FATHERS UPON THE CHILDREN UNTO THE THIRD AND FOURTH GENERATION OF THEM THAT HATE ME….

THOU SHALT NOT TAKE THE NAME OF THE LORD THY GOD IN VAIN; FOR THE LORD WILL NOT HOLD HIM GUILTLESS THAT TAKETH HIS NAME IN VAIN.

REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY, TO KEEP IT HOLY.
SIX DAYS SHALT THOU LABOUR, AND DO ALL THY WORK:
BUT THE SEVENTH DAY IS THE SABBATH OF THE LORD THY GOD: IN IT THOU SHALT NOT DO ANY WORK…

HONOUR THY FATHER AND THY MOTHER.…

THOU SHALT NOT KILL.

THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY.

THOU SHALT NOT STEAL.

THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS AGAINST THY NEIGHBOUR.

THOU SHALT NOT COVET … ANY THING THAT IS THY NEIGHBOUR’S.” (EX. 20:3-17).

In between each commandment was a long pause so that His words could roll through the earth and roll around in their heads. And when the Lord finished the ten aspects of the base line of His covenant with them, their heads were spinning with the words that were still rolling around in them. Who is this that we’ve covenanted with? This isn’t the person we thought we were marrying! Uh oh!!! What have we done???!!! It was like Jacob waking up with a very pleased Leah, cuddled up next to him. This wasn’t the beautiful idolater Jacob had loved. This was her sister who had he loathed and constantly ignored. But, it was too late for the Israelites to undo the consummation. With the children of Jacob at the base of Sinai, they had just committed themselves to One with “no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.” (Isa. 53:2), who had been “despised and rejected and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.” (Isa. 53:3). Yet their loathing of God—and our loathing of Him—left Him “a [God] of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isa. 53:3).

“And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that His fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.” (Ex. 20:18-21).
The people didn’t want to die. Wasn’t this reasonable? Not at all.


“Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.” (Prov. 23:13,14). “He shall not die” but he will think he’ll die. The loving parent would never kill his child, but in love he will need to bring his child to believe that life is over. The child will need to see the utter hatred of the disobedience that his child involved himself with, but, all the while the parent must look for signs of sorrow and fear of rejection from his parent. And the death of self in the parent’s child will also create death in the loving parent.

The Israelites thought they were going to die, and that is exactly the response the Lord wanted them to have. “God is come to prove you, and that His fear may be before your faces” (vs. 20). The death of self was for their own good, “that ye sin not” (Ibid.). Without the loud voice forever rolling around in their heads they would eventually apostatize into Satan worship; and the God of love would have to destroy them.

“Behold, all souls are Mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is Mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die…. For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.” (Eze. 18:4,32). “Eze 33:11  Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
” (). The Lord meant business. He was dead serious.

Moses had had to learn the truth about God. He had launched his own revival for his nation that was captive in Egypt. For 40 years he had to live with the memory that God was not with him, as he thought He was. During his whole stay in the wilderness the prince of Egypt was constantly reminded of his huge failure and of His God’s disappearance when he thought God would support his plan to deliver his people with their help. Moses lived in humiliation and shame and guilt, in self-reproach by his misrepresentation of the great God who he wanted to please, and in the reality that he was not a great leader, after all. After forty years Moses saw himself as nothing, a nobody, a worm. He had to bear the thought of multitudes who remembered his foolishness. Constantly plagued by embarrassment, he could not hope in God. Moses, “standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.” (Luke 18:13). During forty years of regret he remembered what his mother had taught him about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, about Joseph and Judah and his father Levi, and of the Lord’s cooperation with their efforts.

“Our fathers trusted in Thee: they trusted, and Thou didst deliver them.
They cried unto Thee, and were delivered: they trusted in Thee, and were not confounded.
But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head….” (Ps. 22:4-7). “Poor vain fool! What was he thinking?! Ha! Some people’s children!! What an idiot!” “He trusted on the LORD that He would deliver him: let Him deliver him, seeing He delighted in him.” (Ps. 22:8).

Hounded by his egregious error, over and over again Moses remembered the scene and the words, “Behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow? And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian?” (Ex. 2:13,14). Forty years of repenting finally boiled away all his pride. Now God could use Moses to lead a nation of proud, self-exalted, self-willed, self-indulgent people to pass through the same, harsh training, this time for all their pride to be boiled away, and to receive the heart and spirit that was blessing Moses. The Lord is a Man of war, for His children’s sake.

“Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars.…
Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.
Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the Holy is understanding.
For by Me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased” (Prov. 9:1,8-11).

What makes a wise man? Humility. He can be rebuked. He can be corrected without immediately throwing up a wall of self-preservation, a wall of scorn upon the truth and upon bearer of the correction. He will not be able to deny the truth about his weaknesses. He will bear up under the death of self. It might take years and even decades, but he will bend his will to fixing his personal lack of character. He will learn and be wiser. He is “a just man” (vs. 9); he has repented of his huge incongruity toward the way that life demands him to be. And the God of mercy always rewards the penitent soul with forgiveness and justification and the Spirit.

“God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” (Gal. 4:6). And “But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom…. That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” (1Cor. 1:30,31). This was the experience of Moses, “Moses the servant of God” (Rev. 15:3). It was a battle of wills between his heavenly Parent’s will and Moses’. Moses conceded to Almighty God; and in the end, Moses was a very wise man.  But, what made him wise? The fruit of the Spirit of Christ in Moses’ character, the hope of glory.  “Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” (Gal. 5:22-24). “Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.” (Num. 12:3). “Moreover the man Moses was very great … in the sight of the people.” (Ex. 11:3).

But, would the whole nation successfully endure the death to self that Moses had suffered during forty long years of repenting?

“These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and He added no more. And He wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.
And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders;
And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.
Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, then we shall die.
For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?
Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it.” (Deut. 5:22-27).

Did they listen to Moses? No. They would not. They said they would listen if someone spoke to them in less than the death booms of God’s voice. But, they detracted from that agreement constantly for the next 40 years.

“And the LORD heard the voice of your words, when ye spake unto me; and the LORD said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have spoken.
O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear Me, and keep all My commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!
Go say to them, Get you into your tents again.
But as for thee, stand thou here by Me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it.
Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.” (Deut. 5:28-33).


Yet, though the nation rejected the fearful thunders in their consciences, the Lord would provide another voice to their untrained hearts and proud souls. He would give them a sanctuary system by which through visible objects and actions, they might gain the faculty of spiritual sight and hearing, and receive the susceptibility to holy things that the Lord needed them to have if they would remain His privileged people.

Thursday, July 13, 2017

Piece work or “a piece of work”

The Wikipedia definition of piece work

“Piece work (or piecework) is any type of employment in which a worker is paid a fixed piece rate for each unit produced or action performed regardless of time….

When paying a worker, employers can use various methods and combinations of tactics. Some of the most prevalent methods are:
1) paid a wage by the hour (known as ‘time work’);
2) paid an annual salary;
3) salary plus commission (common in sales jobs);
4) base salary or hourly wages plus gratuities (common in service industries);
5) salary plus a possible bonus (used for some managerial or executive positions);
6) salary plus stock options (used for some executives and in start-ups and some high tech firms);
7) salary pool systems; gainsharing (also known as ‘profit sharing’);
8) paid by the piece – the number of things they make, or tasks they complete (known as ‘output work’).


Some internet definitions of the phrase, “a piece of work”:

“(Idiomatic, often derogatory) A person who has a strong and unusual personality, especially one with seriously unpleasant character flaws (e.g. a nasty piece of work). 

A complicated, difficult, or eccentric person.

Someone who -- although often interesting -- is difficult to get along with on an every day basis. They often make simple things overly complex, or argue points ad infinitum. 

Someone who is unusually unpleasant or behaves unusually badly. Someone who is cruel and unkind.

We all are the work of Christ’s hands.

“Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast Thou ordained strength because of Thine enemies, that Thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained;
What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him?
For Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.” (Ps. 8:2-5).

“But now, O LORD, Thou art our Father; we are the clay, and Thou our Potter; and we all are the work of Thy hand.” (Isa. 64:8).

“Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay…?” (Rom. 9:20,21).

Most hands-on, production-type workers prefer piecework. Usually the other option is work by the hour, or hourly wages. Hourly wages usually amount to the worker barely being able to pay his bills. But, piecework is the best way to make money for the quick-thinking, self-starter, smart worker. The fast-paced, engaged worker can build, assemble, accomplish good quality products quickly, and thus make more money than an hourly wage because his/her pay is based on how much he/she produces. But, for the slow and lazy, half-hearted worker hourly pay is preferred because it is dependable, consistent, and has much less pressure with regard to the work.

Can God sanctify us quickly? Can He easily mold us like clay? Can He efficiently build Himself a church? Yes, He can. He has done it in the past.

“In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will…. And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power.” (Eph. 1:11,19).

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them….
Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone;
In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” (Eph. 2:10-22).

“For He will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.” (Rom. 9:28).

Can He do miracles in our work of sanctification today? If not, why not? Must He take a lifetime to give us victory of one sin? Is the real question, How willing or unwilling are we? Are we piecework, or “a piece of work”?

Working with wood or stone or electronics or some aspect of building construction is similar but not exactly the same as the Lord’s work with hearts for their salvation. The earthly items make a good object lesson for spiritual things, yet they come far short of comparing perfectly with the greater, higher work of Christ for saving our soul. His work involves objects that have a mind of their own--us. We have a will of our own, and we must give permission for His work to continue in us. Even building robots doesn’t run into the kinds of problems that come with working with the human being because of our God-given freedom to choose. And, God has always limited His work to our choice of whether to cooperate or oppose His work in us and for us. God made us especially in His image, and He will never abrogate our freedom of choice. All of his work in us and for us has always been predicated on our willingness to cooperate with Him. Satan strives to work outside of our choice through his temptations and delusion; but God forces him to stay within the bounds of the law of our choice. We are all left free to choose for or against God’s work in our eternal interest.

“In the work of redemption there is no compulsion. No external force is employed. Under the influence of the Spirit of God, man is left free to choose whom he will serve.” Desire of Ages, p. 466.

But, how quickly do we let God work in us? Are we piecework? Do we cherish His chipping away our undesirable characteristics? He will never rip our idols from our hearts. Do we relish His work of perfecting us? Do we love to suffer for His sake because we anticipate that we will reap the mighty rewards of surrender to His will, of a union with God, and the indomitable peace that comes from that union.

“Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin.” (1Pet. 4:1).

Are we arming ourselves with the precious promises that make us accessible to Christ’s powerful character? Or, do we arm ourselves with the things of this world that keep us under the control of our fallen human nature?

“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.” (2Pet. 1:3,4).

Are we willing piecework in the hands of the Spirit of Christ or are we a resistant piece of work? Are we easily fashioned in hands of Jesus, or are we hard to get along with? Do we love His carving away our flesh and worldliness; and are we grateful to be rid of that awful, dead part of our character? Do we thank Him for His sanctifying work or do we complain? Is our profession of godliness only for pleasing people, or the Father? How firmly are we rooted in the self-sacrificing life of Christ?

Does our Christian experience waver back and forth, obedient and then disobedient, victorious and then backsliding? Are we lackadaisical, ho-hum, half-hearted in response to Him who gave up all for our salvation?

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Phil. 2:5-8).

What is the reward for total surrender to the self-sacrificing Spirit of the Son?

“In the change that takes place when the soul surrenders to Christ, there is the highest sense of freedom. The expulsion of sin is the act of the soul itself. True, we have no power to free ourselves from Satan’s control; but when we desire to be set free from sin, and in our great need cry out for a power out of and above ourselves, the powers of the soul are imbued with the divine energy of the Holy Spirit, and they obey the dictates of the will in fulfilling the will of God.” Desire of Ages, p. 466.

Does freedom sound good? Freedom to do God’s will? Freely expressed righteousness does sound good because so often we feel pressured and stressed to do God’s will. But, when it is Christ’s righteousness, constrained by love for His wonderful love toward us all, then our hearts melt and righteousness flows from us freely. Yet, that freedom didn’t come free. There was a cost; but, every effort of ours was duly rewarded. Only they will receive the freedom that God promises who actually take up the offer of God and trust His word that their rewards will greatly out-weigh their personal investment.

“And He said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God and he shall be My son.” (Rev. 21:6,7).

Freedom of spirit means no more captivity to self. 

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18,19).

Are we enslaved to a vice? Do we fear our lost power of choice when it comes to that vice?

“Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” (John 8:34-36).

Isn’t it so much better to serve a good Master than a dogmatic tyrant? Christ promises, “My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” (Matt. 11:30). Jesus’ new lifestyle is easy because love makes everything easy and every burden light. He promises rest from the forced demands brought upon us by sin and self-indulgence. But, to have His rest we need to yoke up with Him. He will give us eyesalve to find Him revealed all around us everywhere. We will see the precious Son of God in every precious heifer and bullock, in every precious lamb and kid goat, in every precious baby squirrel and sparrow and fawn, every precious young one of the animal kingdom and every precious toddler of our human race. All the little babes and sucklings in the world testify of the precious meek and lowly One sent from God. We need to learn that He is meek and lowly, and then trust His invitation to our hearts, which He has promised in all meekness and lowliness.

“Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” (Matt. 11:28,29).

“Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise” (Matt. 21:16).

We will see the young One sent from heaven to carry an infinitely weighty mission to win our hearts back to God by His youthful love and need for attachment. We will see the beauty of the precious Babe torn from the bosom of God. We will see Him who displayed the eternal joy and purity during His life here, joyfully living under the constant love of His Father. We will see that the precious Son truly “is altogether lovely” (Song 5:16). Can our hearts say of Jesus that “this is my beloved, and this is my friend” (Song 5:16)? Can our hearts believe that He would say the same about us? There is infinite, unending life in the Son’s abundant, irrepressible love.

“This is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” (1Jn. 5:11-13).

Will we keep looking unto this Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our redemption? Will we leave off the half-hearted, indolent seeking for the Saviour from sin, and search for Him with all our heart?

Will we be like Paul and the apostles who were easily worked by the mighty Cleaver of truth, letting the great Physician do His wonderful work of anesthetizing their diseased characters by His beauty and grace, and then quietly cutting away their spiritual cancers and tumors?

Or, will we be seriously unpleasant with the Spirit of the Lord? Will we be complicated and difficult? Will we be difficult to get along with God on an every day basis. Will we allow the devil to make simple, divine things overly complex, or will we argue our self-preserving opinions before God ad infinitum. Will we be rebellious and test God’s patience to the limit? Will we “frustrate the grace of God” (Gal. 2:21), or will we do “despite unto the Spirit of grace?” (Heb. 10:29). Will we grumble and complain like the children of Israel did in the wilderness?

Will we be piecework, pleasant and quick to respond to our lessons, for the happiness of our Creator? Or, will we be a rebellious piece of work remaining under the control of the destroyer?