Stars, Stars, and More Stars

Berean Baptist on August 6, 2018

He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names. (Psalms 147:4)

In our study of the Ten Commandments, we have noted the personal nature of the commands. The old English pronoun thy in Exodus 20:3 is an indication of this individual emphasis. Thy is a singular personal pronoun while you found in modern versions of scripture can be singular or plural. I point this out to show how God is concerned with the individual. Your personal response to His commands is vitally important. God’s people are not a faceless mob but consist of those whom God knows personally and intimately.

I want you to notice how Psalm 147 indicates this truth in a very special way. In verse 4, the psalmist wrote, “He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.” I am not sure the psalmist could understand the full significance of this statement. However, he did observe more stars with the naked eye than most of us today.

Recently, I watched a short video on light pollution and how it obscures our view of the stars in the nighttime sky. Hardly any stars are visible when viewing the sky from our large cities because of the extreme amount of ambient light in which the small pinpoints of the light from the stars are diffused. However, to look at the night sky in a place like Death Valley where light pollution is reduced to much lower levels, the universe is dramatically opened to the human eye.

The psalmist would have seen this kind of sky especially if he was out in the hills of Judea. This lends much more meaning to the scriptures when we see in places the stars are spoken of as examples of vast multitudes. Looking at the night sky in Santa Rosa would not cause us to number the stars in comparison to the sands on the seashore as the Bible does (Gen. 22:17; Heb. 11:12). And yet, with what the psalmist could see and with how he would lose track while counting, he had no idea of the real impact of the Bible’s comparisons. With modern telescopes, we have learned the stars really cannot be counted. There are about one hundred million galaxies visible with each containing billions of stars. This is the visible portion of the universe. There is no reason to believe that beyond what we can see there aren’t one hundred million more galaxies.

Take all this information and put it back into the context of Psalm 147. Verse 5 says the Lord is infinite. Only He knows how many stars were created. Whatever the number is beyond the 1024 number of stars that are observable, He knows the name and exact coordinates of each one. We are told this because God has such grasp of minute details that He could not fail to know about every one of His children. He certainly knows their names and every trial they encounter.

If you feel alone and think nobody cares, who would you rather would know about you—the infinite God or fallible, finite men? Who has the real ability to help you, God or man? Who is to be depended on and can never fail, God or man? Your most intimate relatives may forget you—father and mother may forsake you—but never God (Psalm 27:10).

Some of you grew up with abusive fathers and/or mothers. Some of you never had anyone to hold you or care about you. For your entire life, you’ve had to forge through on your own. When you became a Christian, you gained a loving church family. This is a wonderful experience, but you should still remember it is God that brought you to where you are. Learn to trust God and lean wholly on Him. Your brothers and sisters in Christ are still fallible and they may fail you. Remember, God knows your name. He has your number. You never get lost in His filing system because He has your name written in the palms of His hands (Isaiah 49:16). “He heals the broken heart, and bindeth up their wounds” (147:3). Such knowledge is more glorious than all the stars.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

 

Princes and Politics

Berean Baptist on July 30, 2018

Psalm 146:3

“Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.”

(This article appeared in our bulletin before the 2016 election.)

I cannot think of a more appropriate psalm to read in this time of political unrest than Psalm 146. For too long, evangelical Christians in America have done what this psalm clearly tells us not to do. In the early 1970s, the Christian right formed a political organization named The Moral Majority intended to advance an agenda for the restoration of the Ten Commandments to our public schools and the repeal of abortion rights. We certainly applaud their righteous stands and we are very much aware of how changes in our laws have critically affected our society. We are at the point of complete moral collapse and possibly a Romans 1:28 problem in which God has turned us over to a reprobate mind.

Although the Moral Majority no longer exists as an organized political movement, its impact on fundamental churches is still alive and well. I have no problem with Christians carefully choosing candidates to ensure we vote pro-life and pro-morality, but I do have a problem with the way many Baptists think we will change America. Our hope is in princes instead of the LORD our God. When politics were brought into the church, the focus of the church’s mission began to change. Our aim was to make America great instead of proclaiming the greatness of God’s kingdom to the American populace. In this year’s election, the party in whom many Christians trust has promised to make America great again, but unlike former days God has no part in it.

In 1984, I attended a conference in Washington, D. C. known as Baptist Fundamentalism ’84. I was privileged to hear both President Ronald Reagan and Vice-President George H.W. Bush speak. It was a rousing event with plenty of doses of American pride. The arena was awash in patriotism with enough to make the eyes well up with tears. We thought a political party was America’s savior. It was events like this that gave American Christians an unhealthy attachment to a party in which the church began to focus on men instead of God. In fairness, it was a logical move since it was the other party that was like the northern ten tribes that quickly fell into apostasy.

Pastors of churches jumped on the political bandwagon to motivate congregations to vote and to involve themselves in political processes just like a political action committee seeks to influence legislation. It is not uncommon to have patriotism days in the church or to have church services whose purpose is to applaud public servants. These are manipulative ways to draw crowds which only goes to show these churches have little confidence in the Holy Spirit to draw to Himself those He pleases to save.

I am trying to point out that politics has become the church program. We gather to ourselves those who are politically like us which the New Testament apostles avoided. With each person we draw, there are ten others who are repelled because their politics do not fit ours. We are dependent on changing things with politics rather than gathering all publicans and sinners to hear about Christ. We are reaping the results of our trust in party rather than God. The party leadership is made up of those whose program it is to stay in power, which means compromising Christ will never be a problem for them. The egregious violation of commandments, especially of loving self, has never been more apparent than in this year’s choices.

This year we get the consequences of misplaced trust. We are told to vote for the lesser of two evils. Hopefully, we will delay the worst of the inevitable for at least a little while. Perhaps there is some sense in this reasoning. However, be assured a clean thing will never come from the unclean. I believe the church is better off backing off from the political process. We should preach against the immorality of the culture whenever it intersects our teaching of the word of God. We should seek the salvation of the people of this culture through our dependence on the Almighty God, not on the princes of politics. Let us return to the preaching of Christ instead of the preaching of the Constitution.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Distorted Scriptures

Berean Baptist on January 22, 2018

The Bible is the only record we have of the way God works, and so it stands to reason that if Satan wants to confuse people about who God is he would work very hard to distort the only record we have that tells us what God is like.

The scriptures give a very clear description of what happens when people do not have the Bible to tell them what they must believe in order to know God. The knowledge of God’s existence is revealed in the creation, but this revelation is not enough to tell us His plan of redemption. It reveals His transcendence and His providence but does not tell us how we can have a personal saving relationship with Him. When people do not understand this, they have a tendency to transform God into an idol fashioned by their own hands and make Him into things that match even the lowest forms of the created order. This is a conscious effort to push God down. As Paul said, God is made into an image like corruptible man and to birds and four footed beasts and creeping things (Romans 1:23). Though most today do not have a visible idol of God as do the pagans, they still reinvent Him as the invisible likeness of man who thinks and acts like us. In this scheme, God becomes the approver not reprover of our sin.

Conversely, when we have the scriptures, we learn who God really is. As David said in Psalm 119, “I love thy law.” This was not because David had a special propensity for doing what was right, but he saw in the law of God a reflection of God’s true character. He learned to love and trust God because of it. He learned these things while possessing only a small portion of the scriptures. He had access only to the books of Moses and a few of the historical books. How much greater is our ability to know God’s goodness when we have the full complement of the sixty-six books of the canon of scripture?

Before the completion of the Bible and the globalization of it we enjoy today, Satan had to contend with only a very small population that possessed any of the Word. Today the world is filled with copies of the Bible and Satan must work overtime to confuse the minds of those who read it. For this reason, he attacks the Word at its core. He twists not only the concepts of scripture but also the very words themselves. How does he do it? By flooding the marketplace with counterfeit scriptures. He plants mistranslations—even missing translation such as is found in the NIV. Once the words of scripture are changed or eliminated, he has great success at changing the doctrines. When we concede that the Bible has errors, it is only a short step to include men’s ideas of how those errors should be corrected. Thus, we get Bibles with interpretation instead of translation.

This is just one of the many tactics Satan uses in relation to the Word to distort the truth of God’s character. How do we avoid these errors? Without question, the first measure is to stick to a tried and true translation. We have a reliable text that God has used to save the souls of millions of English speaking people. For more than four hundred years, the King James Version has led people to Christ and established believers in the faith. Why change what we know God has approved? Be safe—stay with the Bible of our English forefathers. We are determined to do this at Berean. The foundation of truth must be solid before the faith built upon it can stand. Satan has many avenues of attack. This is one we refuse to allow. We will not let him begin his deception by taking away the true Word of God.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

 

Can You Thank God for Everything?

Berean Baptist on January 8, 2018

Psalms 119:71

In Psalm 119, there is an unexpected blessing for which the psalmist gave thanks. He said in the 71st verse, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes.” Could you see yourself writing this line? Most of us would never welcome hardships as a teaching method, so we are not likely to ask God to send us pain in order to teach us a lesson. It is only after the pain is endured and has yielded the benefit of bringing us closer to the Lord that we appreciate it.

This thought is expressed in Hebrews 12 regarding chastisement. The writer said chastisement is always grievous, but it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness. Even when chastisement is not the issue, suffering has great benefits for the soul because it teaches us to pray and depend on God. The Bible never tells us to ask God that we would never suffer and neither does it promise we will not. God knows how to bless in mysterious ways and this is the realization of the psalmist after considering his problems.

While preparing this article, I found another interesting perspective on suffering. J.R. Illingsworth wrote: ”The earliest form of trouble is for most of us physical pain, and our instinctive tendency is to view pain as an unmitigated evil. But such a view of pain is not in accordance with the facts of life. Pain is beyond question the great educator of the soul. Pain makes men real. It indurates their character. It endows them with spiritual insight. But, beyond all this, pain invests a man with a mysterious attractiveness for others. There is a heroism in the very fact of suffering which lifts the sufferer above us, and makes us feel that he is moving in a realm of being to us unknown, till our sympathy is hushed into something of awe-struck admiration, and from the blending of sympathy with awe comes love.”

I thought this was a truly sublime thought. Think of those you have seen endure pain for long periods of time. Do you admire them for their courage to suffer without complaint? Isn’t there something about them that causes you to lift them up as a model you think you could never attain?

I still remember a lady that passed away more than fifty years ago from cancer. My dad would go to visit her and many times I went along somewhat reluctantly because I did not like those kinds of visits. She suffered terribly, and yet her faith was firmly in God and she never complained that God had been unfair to her. What caused me to remember her when there are so many in my dad’s ministry I have forgotten? Pain etched her memory in my mind. Her ability to endure it left an indelible impression. Did this lady know her pain was for this purpose? She probably never imagined it. But, such things God knows. Blessings do not always seem to be blessings until they have yielded the peaceable fruits of righteousness.

Learn to bless God in the bad times as well as the good. Either way, God works all things for your good. Patient endurance of suffering may very well be the work that attends your entrance into heaven and causes others to rejoice with thanksgiving to God.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

 

The Supremacy of God’s Word

Berean Baptist on January 1, 2018

Psalm 119

 

The 119th Psalm which is rightly called “The Ode to the Word.” Here are 176 verses of the psalmist’s praise for the Holy Scriptures which are the source of life for the Christian. Peter said we are born again by the Word of God, which shows the indispensable nature of God’s perfect revelation. The Holy Spirit uses the truth to speak to the heart and with the Word He regenerates to make us new creatures in Christ.

Upon conversion, the Word does not stop its powerful influences. It also sanctifies us (John 17:17) which means it perfects us in the holiness of God. Throughout our Christian lives, we can never depart from its usefulness for without it we have no means to discover how we can be pleasing to God. The Word declares Christ who is the Son of God, and is the model of God’s expectation for every son of God. It is the revelation of precepts by which we are given understanding of all false ways (119:104).

All roads to successful, victorious Christian living run through the scriptures. There we find all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). The psalmist makes this same point repeatedly. Each section begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet which is God’s way of showing us His word is A-Z of divine revelation. Everything that can be said in English must be said with 26 letters from A-Z. Our Bible is God’s complete revelation so that everything God has to say to the human race is contained in these 66 books we call the canon of scripture. There are no other revelations that will be given. There is no outside source that will discover to us anything more God wants us to know. Paul wrote that scripture is able to furnish unto all good works, so there is no area that needs further elucidation to increase our understanding of Him and make the servant of God complete (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

The Bible’s internal claim holds great significance. It at once dismisses the doctrines of cults that are claimed authoritative by their extraneous revelations. When groups like the Mormons or Jehovah Witnesses knock on your door with a claim they have another testament, another communication from God, you can dismiss them at once without further investigation. They are deemed deceivers by this criterion alone. Likewise, those who seem to be more orthodox can be turned away. Pentecostals must be rejected because they seek more revelation through tongues, dreams, and visions. Roman Catholicism must be rejected because the traditions of their church are claimed to be as authoritative as scripture. One thing is abundantly clear about this psalm—the psalmist has no patience for anything considered more valuable than scripture. He finds in it all he needs.

As I write this article, there is a knock at my door. The Jehovah Witnesses are peddling their literature. To them I say verse 29: “Remove from me the way of lying.” I say to them verse 95: “The wicked have waited for me to destroy me.” I say to them verse 115: “Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.” And finally I say verses 118 and 119: “Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes: for their deceit is falsehood. Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I love thy testimonies.”

I advise you to love the Holy Bible as the psalmist loved it. Feast on it every day. It has the power to change you and make you righteous. Let nothing come between you and the Word. To do so is to let something come between you and God.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

God’s Works Remembered

Berean Baptist on November 6, 2017

He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion.

(Psalms 111:4)

As I was thinking on the 111th psalm, verse 4 reminded me of a negative application of the same thought in 2 Peter 1:9:  But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. The psalmist said God has made His work to be remembered while Peter said the one who does not care to build on his faith by adding Christian graces will soon forget the mighty works that God has done in his life.

I think it is interesting how many times the Old Testament retells the story of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. I have commented on this before from other psalms and scripture texts, and here we find it again in more subtle references in the 111th psalm. It seems the crowning achievement of all God’s wonderful works for His people is how God humbled the defiant Egyptian Pharaoh and brought His people out with a mighty strong arm. He brought them through the perils of the wilderness and gave them the land promised to Abraham. This is reflected in verse 6: He hath shewed his people the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the heathen. The scriptures continue to remind of this fact so that Israel would never lose the assurance that God was on their side and would always fulfill His promises to them.

The same is true for the Christian today. Our deliverance in the moment of our salvation when God broke through the stronghold sin had on our hearts is a grand touchstone to return to time and time again. God brought us into the marvelous light of the gospel of Christ and became the author of our eternal salvation. Like Israel’s remembrance of deliverance from Egypt, this is our place of remembrance of God’s wonderful works.

There is, however, another similarity between the 111th psalm and the quest for holiness in 2 Peter 1. Israel was taken into captivity because they forgot what God did for them. They were not careful to maintain their obedience which caused them to fall and to experience bitter chastisement. The Christian has the same propensity if he is not careful to maintain his focus on Christ. We will also fail and find ourselves back in the captivity of sin.

This is what Peter warns against in 2 Peter 1:9. The person who forgets that he was purged from his old sins will soon fall into those old sins again. We are doomed to repeat our past mistakes which is the exact problem with Israel. Old sins always yield the same results—it never changes. The loss of assurance is its fruit; when the fruit of the Christian life should be grace, peace, and the contentment of resting in God’s promises.

As I read the psalm and compared it to 2 Peter, I was also reminded how scripture says Old Testament stories were given to warn us not to fall in the same holes as Israel. We must guard ourselves and be diligent to add all spiritual graces. This is the sure method of never failing to remember God’s wonderful works. Look at the world around you and see the immensity of His power. And then, look into your heart once blackened by sin and see it cleansed by the gospel of Christ. Keep looking and you will never forget the joy of being purged from your old sins.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Book V – The Word of God

Berean Baptist on September 18, 2017

Psalm 107

Chapter 107 begins the last division of the Psalms. At each division, we marked the theme. In Psalms 1-41, the theme is man and these opening chapters correspond to Genesis, the first book of the Pentateuch. The next section (42-72) corresponds to Exodus with the theme of deliverance. Book III (73-89) has sanctuary as its theme and is comparable to Leviticus. Book IV (90-106) is about wandering and matches Numbers. Finally, Book V relates to Deuteronomy with the theme of chapters 107-150 being the word of God.

The pinnacle of this section is Psalm 119 which may be considered The Ode to the Word. This is the longest of the psalms with 176 verses of the psalmist’s exuberance for the importance of the word in his life and that of all believers. Today’s reading of the 107th psalm sets the tone for the section as the author describes the source of all problems—“…they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High…” (v.11). Who does not see this as the cause of Adam’s fall? No truer words could be spoken for the causes of evil that have fallen upon our country. As the word of God became less prominent in homes, schools, and government institutions, the influence of righteous morality suffered. Finally, it has come to the place that any candidate for public office that claims guidance from the principles of the Bible, as our founding fathers did, is regarded as a religious buffoon. Political parties distance themselves from the morally upright to garner votes from the godless.

The psalmist catalogs the successes and failures of Israel according to their respect for and obedience to God’s word. When they rebelled against the word, “…he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help…” (v. 12). When they came back to Him, “…he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.” (vv. 13b-14).

While we cannot claim a spiritual revival for America or any promise of preservation for this nation, we can claim God’s promise to the church. Israel is representative of God’s people, and what God’s people need is a revival of the word. In the church, the Bible has gone away just as it has in society in general. Few Christians make it a regular practice to read and study scripture. They would much more readily pick up a fad book of how to with its 7 Steps to God’s Blessings, or 5 Ways to Spiritual Success. Browse the bookstores and see how many formulas there are for peace, happiness, and contentment. Rarely do you see one that says, One Step—Obey God. This is the psalmist’s basic message—“Do not rebel against the words of God.” The command presupposes knowledge of what God’s word says.

In each of our messages with their variety of subjects, each topic always comes back to one issue—what does God’s word say about it? This is always central—what do we know about the word? I must always impress the value of the word. Living for Jesus is nothing more or less than living in His word.

“Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.” (v. 43).

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

A Psalm of David or a Psalm of Peter?

Berean Baptist on May 8, 2017

Psalm 86

As the title of Psalm 86 reveals, this is a psalm of David. As I read the psalm this week, I noticed how David’s thoughts parallel what must have been in Peter’s mind after he denied Jesus for the third time. This was a dark period in Peter’s life. This is the lowest point, the farthest he ever sunk in the trials of Christian living. Although he made the great confession of faith in Matthew 16, and although he steadfastly protested when Jesus told him what he would do, he still had a moment of weakness that was as bad as the traitor Judas.

The purpose of the story of his failure at the end of Matthew 26 is to show how easily we can fall into denial. In persecution, we may stand strong; in times of heightened sensitivity, we may gather ourselves and with strong resolve, we will not give up our faith. However, Satan rarely attacks at those times. He prefers to wait until we are unprepared; until we are smug and self-assured before he slings his fiery darts. When you lay aside the armor or are too casual to pay attention, Satan has the advantage. Peter was not felled by a burly Roman soldier, but by a little harmless maiden who made no threats.

Peter’s failure was not as sudden as we might think. It was a step by step process. The same is true of our failures. We rarely go from a stellar workhorse for Christ to a scared little weasel who pretends not to know Him.

How does this fit with the psalm? The psalmist wrote in a moment of despair, “Bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear me: for I am poor and needy.” We catch up to the psalm after Peter’s denials. This is when Peter realized his awful mistake. It was when Jesus looked at Him with disappointment that he knew how miserably he failed. Peter’s reaction was the reaction of a true Christian, not of a Judas. It was a gut-wrenching moment and he could not live with himself for what he had done. His tears were not merely tears of regret, but much more deeply felt. They were tears of godly repentance. Can we not image when Peter went out and wept bitterly that verses 5 and 6 of this psalm were the cry of his heart? “For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. Give ear, O LORD, unto my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications.”

Peter’s denial was as serious as it gets. Jesus said those who deny Him before men He will deny before His Father in heaven. Peter denied before men, not once but three times. What kept Christ from denying Him? It was his repentance. He proved he was a child that God promised never to forsake. David and Peter prayed with the same confidence knowing that when they fell they would not be finally cast down.

When we sin, their plea must be our plea. Paul wrote, “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” No sin is too big for God to forgive. Peter’s story teaches us this lesson. Bitter tears of repentance are always followed by blessed forgiveness and renewal. It is God’s word and you can always count on it.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

 

 

 

Menial Tasks for Meek Christians

Berean Baptist on April 17, 2017

Psalms 84:10

Most Christians are familiar with Psalms 84:10:  “For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.” We recognize the reference and have heard it many times in sermons. However, we might not be too sure of the reason this verse was written.

Many of the psalms came out of the period of captivity experienced by Judah when the people were carried away to Babylon. The Jews have always been a people identified with their land, and we see the desire for their land in Israel today. There is a fight for land and has been in modern times since the formation of Israel as a state in 1948. Today Jerusalem is zigzagged with barriers to separate Jews from others with each claiming the land belongs to them. The temple mount is a good case in point as it is claimed by Jews but occupied by Muslims.

Israel has always longed for the land God promised them, and this small patch of land has been a battleground since the time Joshua crossed over the Jordan to Jericho. Scripture often speaks of the restoration of the land to its rightful owners, which of course is Israel. The era of the millennium is the time of this regeneration (Matt. 19:28) when Israel will own all of the land, and will push its borders outward in a sort of payback for centuries of occupation.

The author of this psalm remembered Jerusalem and compared it to his present living conditions in Babylon. Babylon was a great, wealthy kingdom with many desirable things, but there is nothing like being at home. In his mind, being the lowest attendant at the house of God was better than the best place he could find in Babylon where the people did not know the one true God.

I believe there are many lessons to be learned from this psalm, but two stand out particularly in my mind. The first is that as a church we should cherish what we have. God is to be praised for giving us a place to learn His Word. We should be thankful this church has not gone the way of the world to become a place of entertainment and a social venue for games and ball teams. The Bible is still taught here with a desire that we will grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. We desire this because we believe our one purpose is the glory of God.

Ask some that have left for whatever reasons about their success in finding another church like ours. Most are terribly disappointed, and some have given up looking. I am sad to say some have been away so long without a good church that their Christian lives are wasted and no longer amount to much. Consider what you have before thinking you can easily replace it.

The second lesson is about service. The most insignificant job you can have in church is better than the best employment of the world. God’s service does not actually have any insignificant works or workers—all are needed to make the body function. However, if you seem lower on the scale than others, just ask yourself what you would do if you did not have the service you have now. Is it better to sit on the sidelines or is it better to have a meaningful part helping the church do its work? I suppose the best way to look at it is that every work must be done and every work needs a worker to do it. If we are too good for our work, which Christians should we choose that are beneath us to do it?

Be thankful for the place God can use you. If you esteem others better than you (Phil. 2:3), no one is beneath you. A doorkeeper in God’s house looks really good—better than a city with no house and no doors to keep.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

 

 

Doomed to Repeat the Past

Berean Baptist on February 20, 2017

Psalm 78

In the 78th Psalm, we come to one of the many instances in which the history of Israel, the ups and downs of their relationship with God, is recounted. The purpose of these places is to teach that we must remember the failures of the past and to warn those who have not yet learned the lessons we have learned how to avoid the holes we have fallen into.

In dealing with the Corinthian church, Paul encouraged them to pay attention to Old Testament scriptures. They are not passé and of no benefit. Rather, he says in the 10th chapter that the experiences of Old Testament Israel were for our example. In Acts chapter 7, Stephen used the historical record to point out how the Jews of his time were no different from their forefathers. They claimed to be the righteous children of Abraham, but Stephen skillfully discovered to them they were certainly more like the children of Abraham than they cared to admit. At every turn, their forefathers continually rejected the grace of God and these more modern Jews were no different. They proved it when they crucified God’s own Son (Acts 7:51-52).

Psalm 78 can be rightly called a reminder of Deuteronomy 6:6-7:  “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” The power and might of God in taking Israel to the Promised Land were to be an incentive to follow faithfully. Whenever Israel failed, it was a direct result of disobedience, of stubbornness, and refusal to remember what happened each time they disobeyed.

I believe we find the same incentive in the New Testament in words that are written to Christians. Hebrews 12 speaks of chastisement which we strictly want to avoid, but who among us has not gone back to the same sins time and time again? Who learns the lesson well that the same sins always yield the same results? It seems we have great difficulty learning our lessons as if the holes we fall into are not hard enough at the bottom to make us want to keep from stepping into them again.

While there is no excuse for this, we do have to chalk it up to human nature. We surrender to the flesh rather than continually crucifying it with its affections and lusts (Gal. 5:24). If you wonder how Israel kept doing what they did after seeing the power of God to deliver them, just remember we fare no better. Many times the authors of scripture tell this story about Israel and many times we are challenged to be strong in the faith. Shouldn’t one chapter in one book of the New Testament be enough to keep us straight? Apparently not because encouragement to forsake the flesh and follow Christ is an often repeated theme.

God wants us to keep up the fight. We are not to surrender because the way is hard. Every temptation has a means of escape just as Paul described in 1 Corinthians 10. God knows we will fail—He understands us better than we do ourselves. For this reason, He offers forgiveness rather than condemnation. As the Psalmist wrote in verses 38 and 39, God knows us: “But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath. For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.”

Thank God His compassion is deeper than our holes. When we repeat the past, His forgiveness is there. When we come in confession and repentance, He never fails to forgive. In our flesh, we may be doomed to repeat the past, but the blessing of our salvation is in Christ. He took the blame for us for which we will be eternally grateful.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith