“Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me.” (Job 29:2)
Why is it that we are so prone to living in the past? Why is it so easy for us to remain shackled to our failure and enamoured by our success at the cost of foregoing victory in the present?
It is a common theme even amongst the great examples of faith in the Bible. Job despaired of his life when calamity hit; Abraham followed his wife’s advice and turned to Hagar (Gen 16) and Elijah despaired of his life after the overpowering evidence of God’s power at Mount Carmel. (1Kings 19)
There is no easy answer to that, but God wants us to live in victorious faith in the present, knowing that “the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” (Ps 100:5) We do well to remember the faithfulness of God in days gone by, knowing that God STILL preserves us today!
-A. N. Scharf
Monday, November 26, 2012
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
God's Vote
“He looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle…. He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again.” (Job 12:18, 23)
In the aftermath of the recent election in the United States I have heard some very harsh statements made against the elected officials. Many Christians are concerned, and often rightfully so, about the direction western civilization is headed as we see the erosion of many ethics and freedoms. However, as Job declared so long ago, it is God that places those individuals in places of authority. That, then, means that when individuals despise those in authority they are in fact despising God’s authority.
God told Nebuchadnezzar, who was declared by God himself to be the pinnacle of Gentile civilization as a “head of gold” (Daniel 2:38), that “the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.” (Daniel 4:32) Nebuchadnezzar subsequently came to the realization that God “doeth according to his will…among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” (Daniel 4:35)
As believers we know that God does not change, so it matters not whether the rulers of men come to power by appointment, conquest or election—God is still in control! This, then, brings new meaning to Paul’s words in the book of Colossians. God “hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated [us] into the kingdom of his dear Son…For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him.” (Col 1:16)
And yet there is a greater truth that follows—one that should change our whole perspective on the affairs of the kingdoms of men. “He [Christ] is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all [things] he might have the preeminence.” (Col 1:18) The Son of God—the Lord Jesus Christ—will have the pre-eminence and as believers we are his body the Church that will “reign with him.” (2 Tim 2:12) That is much better than putting our trust in a human leader or the outcome of an election!
-A.N. Scharf
In the aftermath of the recent election in the United States I have heard some very harsh statements made against the elected officials. Many Christians are concerned, and often rightfully so, about the direction western civilization is headed as we see the erosion of many ethics and freedoms. However, as Job declared so long ago, it is God that places those individuals in places of authority. That, then, means that when individuals despise those in authority they are in fact despising God’s authority.
God told Nebuchadnezzar, who was declared by God himself to be the pinnacle of Gentile civilization as a “head of gold” (Daniel 2:38), that “the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.” (Daniel 4:32) Nebuchadnezzar subsequently came to the realization that God “doeth according to his will…among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” (Daniel 4:35)
As believers we know that God does not change, so it matters not whether the rulers of men come to power by appointment, conquest or election—God is still in control! This, then, brings new meaning to Paul’s words in the book of Colossians. God “hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated [us] into the kingdom of his dear Son…For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him.” (Col 1:16)
And yet there is a greater truth that follows—one that should change our whole perspective on the affairs of the kingdoms of men. “He [Christ] is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all [things] he might have the preeminence.” (Col 1:18) The Son of God—the Lord Jesus Christ—will have the pre-eminence and as believers we are his body the Church that will “reign with him.” (2 Tim 2:12) That is much better than putting our trust in a human leader or the outcome of an election!
-A.N. Scharf
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Marvelous Things
“I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause: which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number.” (Job 5:8-9)
We have all had the unfortunate experience of discovering that someone is not who we thought they were. Sometimes such discoveries are disappointing, while other times they bring incredible pain and difficulty into our lives, especially when it involves people we love and trust.
It is in such times that the sin of man is juxtaposed in sharp contrast against the holiness of God. While some mistakenly think that God will relax his standard in extenuating circumstances, and others wish he would, it is in fact his unchanging nature that is the anchor for the believer’s soul. We can have complete confidence in God because of the fact that he CANNOT change! Furthermore, God has been revealed to us in the person of his Son “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.” (Heb 13:8)
The longer we walk through this world the more we learn the truth written by the Psalmist in Psalm 118:8. “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.”
-A.N. Scharf
Friday, November 16, 2012
One Commandment, One Sin
What began as a way to segue back into the subject of law on Good Friday has become what could much more accurately be called a hiatus. However, despite the fact that almost nothing is the same in this world as it was seven months ago, the Word of God stands as sure as ever, its words eternal and its principles timely and applicable to any day or hour.
This morning I was reading once again the account of the foundation of all things—the first few chapters of Genesis. Without that revelation from God surely we would be lost in a labyrinth of imagination and a quandary of speculation, as evidenced by the philosophy of evolution all around us. Furthermore we would have no means to understand the source of the obvious problems in the world around us, that being sin.
If, in fact, the way to God is through keeping a set of rules and regulations, then surely Adam and Eve should have been able to retain God’s favour. After all, they were created with a perfect physical form in an innocent moral state and placed into a garden of incredible beauty and splendour with all their needs freely supplied. They had but one rule to follow, that being abstaining from the fruit of one tree amongst a myriad of choice selections. They, however, did not abide by that one simple commandment, and thus “sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men.” (Romans 5:12)
What hope then do we have of winning God’s favour through law if Adam and Eve, in an environment free from sin, disobeyed God’s ONE commandment, when we live in a world saturated by sin and must keep MANY commandments? None whatsoever!
Our tendency then, is to reduce the number of commandments, and try to convince ourselves that God will overlook some of our deficiencies if we have good intentions or make good moral choices most of the time. Unfortunately God is perfect and holy—that means he requires the same of us to accept us into his presence.
There is, then, only one option: to be like God. There are many in the world today that continue with the lie of Satan put to Eve so long ago “ye shall be as gods” (Gen 3:5) apart from God. That can never be, for God is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14) and will never share his glory with another.
God has, however, “made us accepted in the beloved” through Christ his Son! (Eph 1:3-6) Why would we even want to win God’s favour through law when he has given us his Son?
-Andrew N. Scharf
This morning I was reading once again the account of the foundation of all things—the first few chapters of Genesis. Without that revelation from God surely we would be lost in a labyrinth of imagination and a quandary of speculation, as evidenced by the philosophy of evolution all around us. Furthermore we would have no means to understand the source of the obvious problems in the world around us, that being sin.
If, in fact, the way to God is through keeping a set of rules and regulations, then surely Adam and Eve should have been able to retain God’s favour. After all, they were created with a perfect physical form in an innocent moral state and placed into a garden of incredible beauty and splendour with all their needs freely supplied. They had but one rule to follow, that being abstaining from the fruit of one tree amongst a myriad of choice selections. They, however, did not abide by that one simple commandment, and thus “sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men.” (Romans 5:12)
What hope then do we have of winning God’s favour through law if Adam and Eve, in an environment free from sin, disobeyed God’s ONE commandment, when we live in a world saturated by sin and must keep MANY commandments? None whatsoever!
Our tendency then, is to reduce the number of commandments, and try to convince ourselves that God will overlook some of our deficiencies if we have good intentions or make good moral choices most of the time. Unfortunately God is perfect and holy—that means he requires the same of us to accept us into his presence.
There is, then, only one option: to be like God. There are many in the world today that continue with the lie of Satan put to Eve so long ago “ye shall be as gods” (Gen 3:5) apart from God. That can never be, for God is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14) and will never share his glory with another.
God has, however, “made us accepted in the beloved” through Christ his Son! (Eph 1:3-6) Why would we even want to win God’s favour through law when he has given us his Son?
-Andrew N. Scharf
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