"Smell-less" Sin

This week we have been reading about Job, a mysterious man from ancient times. We are not sure when this book was written or who wrote it or even when. So it is good that it gives timeless truths that circumvent culture and give us insight into the character of God.

One thing we do know is that God is not an American. Can you see that? The story of Job is about a man who is a man of faith and good works, fearing the Lord and fleeing from evil. And yet, despite his morality, God sees fit to provoke the devil and allow him to torture Job horribly. Not very ‘American’ wouldn’t you agree? The American mindset seems to be “If I am good, then my life will be good.” Stated otherwise, God owes us a good life is we are nice people.

Nothing could be further from biblical truth. The God of the Bible displays men as wretched sinners who hate God, love their filth, and DESERVE His wrath and torture. Sin is an outrage. Hell is not an overreaction.

Let me be clear on one thing. If you have suffered, this is for you. But I am not saying I feel your pain or anything like that. I have never suffered. I am not saying this from some great pillar of suffering and knowing judgement, but rather in obedience to the truth and for your edification. I am Job, before his suffering, and without the blameless stuff. Blessed overwhelmingly. As many of you are.

I write this to confront low views of God and indifference to sin, in my life and yours. In a previous email from about a year ago, I inserted the following quote to help illustrate why we aren’t so disgusted by our sin.

[Robin Boisvert speaking] During the 1980s I lived in the beautiful farm country of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Life there was pleasant in all respects but one: I never got used to the smell of manure. Pigs were by far the worst. But interestingly, though I found their odor disgusting, the pigs didn’t seem to mind in the least. As J.C. Ryle has put it, “The very animals whose smell is most offensive to us have no idea they are offensive and are not offensive to one another. [in like manner] ”Fallen man, it seems, can have no adequate idea what a vile thing sin is in the sight of a holy and perfect God."

[me speaking, no more quoting] We wallow in sin and watch others wallow and we don't even mind all that much. When was the last time you were convicted that you didn't esteem God in His all-holiness enough? How about when you didn't love your brother or sister in Christ by praying for them? Or when...____? You get the point. We breath God-ignoring air in our culture. And we can't even smell the stench. Not the way the Bible talks about it and the way God does!

Let us therefore take a Biblical whiff of ourselves and then rejoice at the great salvation that we have in Jesus! But let us not forget the gap between us and Him. Though we can expect God to be merciful because of His promises, let us not grow callous to His holiness or demand His mercy. He owes us nothing, except punishment for our sin. We owe Him everything! Blessed be God and His infinite condescension and care.

Placed Here to Make Him Known

“And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:15

Perhaps your notes mentioned this, or perhaps you are very observant and noticed that in the book of Esther God’s name is not mentioned—not even once. Present in the history is the understanding of His protection of His covenant people, in both the Jews and non-Jews alike. And He is the cause of this destiny of the Jews that Mordecai is trusting in this verse.

God has men and women here for their purposes, each according to His design. For Esther the design was for her to be a vehicle of God’s deliverance of His chosen people, Israel. Notice the powerful providence and timing of God in this story. He times it so that Haman, the enemy of the Jews, goes to proper lengths to provide for his own execution. He plants a woman on the throne immediately next to the king’s heart, to provide a power above that of Haman—namely King Ahasuerus himself. God even uses the chauvinism of the Medes and Persians to place Esther into position.

How now has God positioned you? What are you here for? I know for me that there are many things I am supposed to do here. I am to read, pray, learn through experience, and care for believers. But there seems to be one unique thing in the list that I left out. It is evangelism. Right now I have an opportunity to call men and women to repent and believe in Gospel.

When I was younger, I used to watch Sesame Street. They had this one little part that taught you to discern differences and I only really remember the song—“One of these things is not like the others.” This is how I understand evangelism in this grouping of things to do here. I can learn about God (comparable to reading and learning), talk to God (“” praying), and care for believers (“” caring for believers). But there is one thing that I cannot do there, and neither can you. I cannot tell unbelievers there about Jesus. Unbelievers aren’t allowed into Jesus’ eternal home. I cannot care for them any more—I will be relationally separated from them—forever.. But now I have a moment in time to tell them, to warn them. I was left on the earth for this, to make You known as widely as I can and lead men and women to You. O God help me to make good use of this little time.

Even Now There Is Hope

“And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, addressed Ezra: "We have broken faith with our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land, but even now there is hope for Israel in spite of this.” Ezra 10:2

We have now finished the times of the kings of Israel and Judah (though we will return to those times when we read the prophets) and have come to the time of the captivity and return of the exiles. Judah was finally taken captive in 608 B.C. and Jerusalem captured and burnt to the ground in 586 B.C., then a small remnant returned by way of a decree of Cyrus in 538 B.C.—this was the seventy years of captivity that Jeremiah promised, the time for the land to “observe its Sabbaths” (Lev. 25:1-7, II Chron. 36:21).

Now the point of God taking Judah captive into Babylon was not an issue of land use primarily, but rather one of obedience. Jeremiah 2:12,13 says “Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the Fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” This was the point in God removing the people of Judah to Babylon—they had preferred the wickedness and filth of this world to the cleanness of God and His fellowship and service. They had prostituted themselves out to other nations; i.e. they had sold themselves into vile service (though Ezekiel will tell us that they didn’t even make any money on the deal, unlike a prostitute) and despised the promises of good from God.

But then we see the kindness of God—He does not forget them or abandon them. This is why we read of their return in Ezra and Nehemiah. Now this would be hard enough to forgive for a righteous God, but to add insult to injury the people of Judah intermarry with the Babylonians (which implies they forsook Him even then). Isn’t the saying, “fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me”? How much shame does Israel plan to heap up upon the God of life? More perplexing yet, how much shame will this Creator allow to be taken upon Himself? Now we come to our verse: “even now there is hope for Israel in spite of this.” Ezra is testifying to the overwhelming patience and long-suffering of God. Even after all of this shame is heaped on God through Israel’s unfaithfulness He will still remember them and act for their good. Is that a model of humility and love? Enough for you?

One moment though. Israel was unfaithful. Israel was punished, though Ezra acknowledges in 9:13 that it is less than they deserved. And God accepted a nation’s-worth of shame. But He has done more than this. The Son of God stooped down to bear our shame—His name was defiled by association. And on that cross He took the redeemed of Israel’s guilt (for surely it was not paid for in 70 years only) along with mine and yours. That is love and righteousness worth bragging about.

Have we made for ourselves any cisterns, some devices of this world from which we get what we think will satisfy us? Let us forsake it, and look to the Fountain! As John Piper says, “the opposite of going to the fountain is evil; the essence of going to the fountain is drinking and drinking and drinking until it satisfies your soul and you say ‘ahhh.’” Do you have little desire for God? Go to Him for desire; He is a fountain that satisfies and causes thirst too. Why do we spend so much time making the same mistakes Israel did? Let us go to God each day, having humbly learned from the Israelites, for the water which becomes a “spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14). Say ahhh.

Inward Looking

I am late in sending this out again. By the way, are you noticing a pattern in me? Can you guess why I send emails out late? It is not because I am lazy (well, not exactly). I send these out late because I don't feel up to it. I feel (notice this word "feel") completely inadequate to encourage you all somedays. I am, as C.J. Mahaney mentions is common about us Americans, far better at looking inward than I am at looking outward. I like to live in that subjective reality constantly checking in on my emotions to see how things are going. I live on what he calls a spiritual, emotional, relational rollercoaster. I have been described as "moody." That, I think, is very generous. I think I would describe it as unbelieving and self-centered. "Hi, I'm Charlie, and I have a problem." I feel like I belong in self-centered anonymous.

But I want to learn to be "far better at looking outward than inward." A great preacher of the last century said that the great reason for our depression is that we spend most of our days listening to ourselves instead of talking to ourselves. He means speaking truth to ourselves, not merely being mumblers. I confess I am very poor at this. Which is probably the main reason I choose to write about the Gospel in these devotions as much as I can--I need to be reminded to look outward! And I assume the same is true of you. The Gospel is the greatest Truth that we are allowed to look into, but it requires taking our eyes off of ourselves. To "abide hard by the cross" is how Spurgeon said it. So this time, though I was preparing to write about Joash and his fickleness, I am coming out from hiding behind Joash, uncovering my reason for that idea, and cutting to my heart. I hope you all can appreciate that. Perhaps there is some application in here; I hope it serves you. My goal is not so much to be excellent in your eyes or to sound pretty, as it is to be real. Why should you all honor me anyway? I DIDN'T DIE FOR YOUR SINS!