You Know They Will Be Stubble

“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble” (Malachi 4:1).

Have you ever been confronted by a text from the Bible that calls you a liar? How about a hypocrite? Or better yet, one that shows you that you call God a liar?

Sadly, this is just such a text for me. I walk around school day after day, witnessing to a few but mostly not. And that Day is still coming; it will not miss its appointment. Yet the devil whispers sweetly in my ear, “No hurry, you have plenty of time. God won’t seriously judge men who don’t believe. That’s just exaggerated talk to motivate you to be holy and recruit people.” And I buy it. Hook, line, and sinker. And by doing so my life calls God a liar.

Many of my friends will be stubble someday. If you don’t realize, stubble is not short scratchy hair on your granddad’s chin. It is the skinny sticks that go on the fire to really get it going. Kindling is basically the same thing. The part of the fire that makes it blaze. Here is where you don’t want to believe the Bible anymore. God says your friends will be stubble if they don’t repent. Scary? I agree.

What do you do to help them? Do you tell them? Some of you that read this email hardly ever say a word for Christ. Do you say you believe it? Or is it true that just like me, you are calling God a liar?

Some of you speak the truth in a way that sounds like you were never on that same path that they are on; you didn’t deserve hell but they do. “Come join us,” you say; “it’s better here.” Forgetting your beggarly beginnings you bring glory to yourself and shame to your own Lord.

Some of you know that you are in my category—you do both wrong.

But, lest we forget grace, many of us have some victory and are not completely graceless. Some do witness. Some do love. All do very much need to grow, but there is Hope.

And in the next verse God says “But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings” (Malachi 4:2). Jesus came to free us from our sins (which we will see in the gospel accounts). He can see to it that we are broken, and He can see to it that we are healed.

Would you go to Him for breaking? Would you stay with Him for healing? And would you trust Him and believe what He says? God help us to do the right and trust and fear Him only.

HE Comes

As we finish the last few books of the Old Testament this week, I want to draw your attention to the fact that so far we have read dim angles and snapshots of the future Savior. We have seen that He is coming as a servant (Isa. 52:13), and He will be King over all (Isa. 9:6). But as yet, if we did not know the New Testament of our Lord, we would be in comparative darkness. David did not understand the saving plan of the Lord. He knew that God was abundantly merciful, but did it really ever occur to David that God would and could only do that through the death of His Son? A fountain would soon be opened for sin and for iniquity (Zech. 13:1), but who would know what that really meant? Abraham knew after seeing the covenant that God made with him (Gen. 15). This Hebrew custom said that whoever broke the covenant would pay with his own blood, and Abraham was terrified of walking through the blood and was given exemption from doing so in a completely unprecedented manner. God alone walked through that blood; and thus regardless of who broke the covenant, God would pay with His life. But even this illustration could not contain the whole of the mystery of the God-Man.

Have you ever thought of the solemn scene we are about to see. In a dark land, true Light is about to dawn. It is very dark in Israel. 400 years separate Malachi from Matthew. No word from God. No salvation—yet. Come with me to see the throne room. It is a grave occasion. The Son, Father, and Spirit converse with great seriousness. And the Son begins to remove His royal garments. Majesty, glory, splendor—all are set aside. The rags of humanity are taken up. The angels whisper in wonder and confusion at this. And, with a last sending word from the Father, the Spirit takes the Son down to earth into the womb of a woman.

This is what the world had been waiting for. The King is coming. The candle of the prophets and priests is about to be overwhelmed by the Sun in its zenith. Here come the disciples. Here comes genuine, clear religion. Here comes power, and gifts, and truth and grace upon grace. Here comes the Son of God!

The Mover

O Supreme Moving Cause,

May I always be subordinate to thee,
be dependent upon thee,
be found in the path where thou dost walk,
and where thy Spirit moves,
take heed of estangement of thee,
of becoming insensible to thy love.

Thou dost not move men like stones,
but dost endue them with life,
not to enable them to move without thee,
but in submission to thee, the first mover.

O Lord, I am astonished at the difference
between my receivings and my deservings,
between the state I am now in and my past gracelessness,
between the heaven I am bound for and the hell I merit.

Who made me to differ, but thee?
for I was no more ready to receive Christ then were others;
I could not have begun to love hee hadst thou not first loved me,
or been willing unless thou hadst first made me so.

O that such a crown whould fit the head of such a sinner!
such high advancement be for an unfruitful person!
such joys for so vile a rebel!

Infinite wisdom cast the design of salvation
into the mould of purchase and freedom;
Let "wrath deserved" be written on the door of hell,
But "the free gift of grace" on the gate of heaven.
I know that my sufferings are the result of my sinning,
but in heaven both shall cease;

Grant me to attain this haven and be done with sailing,
and may the gales of they mercy blow me safely into harbour,
Let thy love draw me nearer to thyself,
wean me from sin, mortify me to this world,
and make me ready for my departure hence.
Secure me by thy grace as I sail across this stormy sea.

* from The Valley of Vision compiled by Arthur Bennett

Affliction: A Guide From God

“Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word” (Psalm 119:76)

A friend of mine and I have recently taken up a challenge from our pastor that we received just a few weeks ago. It was to pray for 20-30 minutes a day for the next three weeks and see what happened. We are trying, and as you all know, prayer is not easy or light work (shows the state of my heart). And we have not done really well. However, to encourage us to pray how God would have us pray, we have taken to praying through Psalm 119 to direct our prayers. Every verse has some mention of the word or law of God in it. So we use them as little jump starters for our prayers when we feel sluggish or confused.

This verse is no slouch. What a mental adjustment it is. Who among us has not found afflictions or hardships in his or her life? If you raise your hand you are a liar, unless you are comparing your afflictions to Jesus’ (in this comparative case, none of us have ever even tasted suffering).

Have you not even this week had struggles? Struggles with children, whether they be your children or your siblings; troubles at work—strife with boss, bickering with co-workers. How about relationship struggles? I have heard of those. I can be a crumby relater, so I have trouble and create trouble it seems fairly often. Some of you might even have troubles for good reasons. You overhear a conversation that is demeaning to women, or someone speaks Jesus’ name with disdain—and you act creating tension. That is affliction. What of arthritis or other constant pains? I believe that most of my troubles are self-caused (usually laziness), but God does choose to use non-sin suffering in our lives too.

What a good thing troubles are! You say “whoah, take it easy. That is not something to get excited about.” But the Bible says it is. If this verse is true of you, do you not have good reason to be excited in suffering? If you would have only ever gone astray and wandered away from God, would you be glad of no affliction? I dare say you wouldn’t. Being good and being painful are not mutually exclusive. Rather, in Christianity, they are often the same exact path.

How would you be if God did not let suffering into your life? How would I be? I know I would have continued on growing bolder in sin and ignorant self-confidence if He had not used good pain to humble me. Without pain His patience is taken for granted and only used to sin it up. But with pain we realize simple truths at times—that we are not all-powerful, independent in any real sense, or successful at just being humans. Yes, afflictions teach us truths. Get it through your system, our lives are a vapor. Be taught by affliction.

God, the Good, the greatly-Good, uses it for your good. Take your good lesson and let’s go along with the psalmist, who, being changed by troubles, learned to stay on the narrow path and keep his Master’s word.