#, wt., /

I thought about going with the obvious, “the writing’s on the wall,” or “your days are numbers, “ or “the finger of God,” or even “the magic hand picture show” Instead I went symbolic, but not creatively symbolic. Nothing like “this horse represents my fear of heights” kind of symbolism. More like, “$ is the symbol of money.” All that said, I figured “numbered, weighed, and divided” translated well enough to “#, wt., /.” If it didn’t, then this explanation leaves you without excuse. But I digress…

 

Daniel 5:22-23a

 

²² “But you his successor, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this.²³ Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven…”

 

What did Belshazzar know? His dad (or grandfather or great grandfather depending on the use of the word) was humbled before God and made bold proclamation of His sovereign rule over all things. Belshazzar knew better. He knew what had happened to Nebuchadnezzar achieved, how he was humiliated, and how in that he found faith and confidence in God alone. Belshazzar knew this and yet willfully ignorant, acted in complete defiance of these facts. Nebuchadnezzar exalted himself before God and God was gracious enough to pursue him through humiliation and restoration. Belshazzar is not afforded the same opportunity. He knew the (albeit ancient and not yet fully formed) Good News that by faith in God we find our only hope. He rejected this Good News in conformity to the first and oldest deception – the worship of one’s self. Satan led the way by example and Adam and Eve followed in step and ever since it has been the tendency of mankind to assume the world revolves around them. After all, “if a tree falls in the forest and I’m not around to hear it, how can I be sure it makes a sound?” As though the world requires your attendance to continue its regularly scheduled programming.

 

Daniel 5:24-28

 

²⁴ Therefore, He sent the hand, and this writing was inscribed.
²⁵ “This is the writing that was inscribed:

MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN.

²⁶ This is the interpretation of the message: MENE means that God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end.
²⁷ TEKEL means that you have been weighed in the balance and found deficient.
²⁸ PERES means that your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

 

God is so billy bad apple. I love it. I also love how Daniel at this point has been through this song and dance enough times that the pomp and circumstances of standing before a despot has entirely worn off. He simply tells it like it is and perhaps even gets a little lippy about it: 

 

“Keep your money. I don’t want it. You can’t buy me off. Give it to one of your goons. You know how the former king was blessed by God with many things that he turned around and used for selfish gain. You know how God responded to this by turning him into a damp-backed freak with an eagle-feather hair-do/don’t. You know that he turned to God when he understood it was God’s gift and not his own work, pedigree, power, or prestige that procured all these things. Instead of heeding this advice, you make the exact same mistake he made. You know better. So God has written this message to you: 'Your days are numbered and are coming to an end sooner rather than later. You have been measured and even though you think you’re a big deal, you’re not. You fall short. You missed the mark.' Your prestige means nothing before God who is no respecter of persons. I can’t believe you were so lucky to hear the Good News and witnessed it in the person of the former king and yet you just reject it and live like a fool. Your kingdom is not your kingdom. It is God’s and He is giving it to someone else. Also, He is going to divide all of this you worked so hard for and split it up. D-bag.”

 

***By the way, that was another tasty treat from the VVCSV ~ the Van Voorst Christian Standard Version. It is less of a translation and more of a commentary. Not great for in depth word study, but fun food for thought. I also like that in my version Daniel gets to use modern slander like d-bag. 

 

Don’t be a d-bag. 

 

Your days too are numbered. You too will be measured. All you have also will be divided among those you leave behind after your demise. Humble yourself now. Do not delay.

 

Hebrews 3:15-19

¹⁵ As it is said:

Today, if you hear His voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.

¹⁶ For who heard and rebelled? Wasn’t it really all who came out of Egypt under Moses?¹⁷ And who was He provoked with for 40 years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?¹⁸ And who did He swear to that they would not enter His rest, if not those who disobeyed?¹⁹ So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

 

Those mentioned above saw cooler stuff than most of us: the plagues of Egypt, the Red Sea, Mt. Sinai, pillar of cloud, pillar of fire, etc… They saw all of that and yet did not believe. They did not conform their lives by faith to God. 

Belshazzar knew the deal. 
Israel knew the deal. 

It is not merely a knowing, but a believing and conforming faith that makes us right with God.

there is nothing worse than feeling foolish except perhaps being foolish and not knowing it‏

Daniel 4:37

 

³⁷ Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and glorify the King of heaven, because all His works are true and His ways are just. He is able to humble those who walk in pride.

 

I do not like looking dumb in front of other people. If I accidentally toot at work I continue working or do some sort of shuffling with the papers or chair to imply that it was them that tooted and not me. If I make a bold declaration of fact in conversation and later discover that I was wrong, I do not desire to bring it to the attention of the one I so ferociously fought before. If I forget to release the emergency brake and drive 20 miles on the interstate and park in my driveway before I realize it, I do not like to advertise it on my blog. If I declare, “Who wants to get beat at cards?” and go on to have my rear handed to me in said cards game, I feel silly and I do not like it. I do not like to be told I’m wrong. Even more, I hate being proven wrong! I like to fight and defend my position against those who throw accusations my way, but I hate it when they have evidence to prove it.

 

However

 

I love that God was gracious enough to tell me I was wrong. In pride I walked in the way of my sight and thought I was doing Him a favor all along. I was my own king and assumed most people would be better off if they let me rule over them too. I had a kingdom I had accumulated and I loved it. I was proud of what I had done.

 

Then God just made me look silly. I had never taken the Law seriously. I assumed I was keeping it or at least keeping it better than most. By God’s grace He alerted me to the Law. I saw it and desired to keep it as it was written (not as I assumed it) for the first time in my life. I was excited and enlightened and felt refreshed and awakened from a slumber. Then I fell again. I fell short, again. My biggest disappointment was that I had expected so much more from myself. I had always wanted to be white in my own eyes. Before I knew the Law I assumed I was white by my own standard. Once I took the Law seriously, I began chasing God’s standard of whiteness. Both of these were to my own demise. I fell flat and failed at both, the latter more miserably than the first mind you.

 

I was first awesome in my own eyes and then flawed and foolish in my own yes. My primary concern was still the fear of man. In my case, the man I feared most was my own opinion. I wanted to be impressive in my own eyes.

 

In all this, God still pursued me. He used the Law to break me. He used the Law to make me feel foolish like when the kid on the playground punked me and my words failed to resurrect my humbled corpse of a body. I hated that kid. He made me look dumb and everyone else agreed with him. I was powerless to defend myself. My typical response to this was bitter hatred. But with God it was different. His shame produced hope. His guilt trip produced steadfast faith.

 

Like Nebuchadnezzar, I found myself the most surprised to be responding to humiliation with celebration. God made me look dumb and I wanted the world to know. Not only that, but I wanted the world to give glory to God for doing it. Not only that ,but I wanted the world to feel foolish that they too might rejoice and give glory to God in response to His power to bring low the lofty. 

 

Our God can make the proudest puny. He can. Do not lose hope for those who appear the most rebellious and arrogantly opposed to God. He has the ability to humble them. May we pray that He would do so. May His Law be handled by us no less Holy than it is. May we never soften its blow. May we not rob from someone the opportunity to proclaim,

 

“I praise, exalt, and glorify the King of heaven, because all His works are true and His ways are just. He is able to humble those who walk in pride”

 

I am grateful God reduced me to nothing in my own eyes and the eyes of others. Because that is who and what I am. Nothing. Until God revealed this to me I was destined and committed to believing I was or could be something. Until God in grace hammered my assumptions away I was determined to continue building on a false foundation. I liked my ignorance. I liked my arrogance. 

That was then. 

This is now. 

 

John 3:30

³⁰ He must increase, but I must decrease.”

the right, your rights, and His righteousness‏

Today I read the book of Philemon. If you are not a regular Bible reader, don't be too impressed that I read an entire book of the Bible today. It is a letter from Paul to Philemon and it consists of only 25 verses.

Paul is making a request of Philemon. He is asking him to be demonstrate fruit in keeping with the Gospel of God that Philemon professes. Paul does not hesitate to qualify what the correct and proper response is to his request. Paul does not "leave up" to Philemon the interpretation of right or wrong, but he does submit his request to Philemon's right to disobey.

"14 But I didn’t want to do anything without your consent, so that your good deed might not be out of obligation, but of your own free will."

Paul has leverage as an Apostle hand-picked by God to preach the Gospel to the gentiles. Paul has pull as Philemon's friend. Paul has authority in that he likely led Philemon to Christ and is his spiritual father of sorts. Paul does not let this fact go undocumented.

"18 And if he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19 I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self."

Paul eagerly desires to see his friend, son, and brother Philemon respond in step with the Gospel by extending grace where it has been already extended to him in and by Jesus. Notice that Paul intentionally uses Gospel imagery in making his petition to Philemon.

Onesimus has wronged Philemon and owes him money, honor, respect, and service which he forsook in fleeing. Onesimus in indebted to Philemon for things he left undone and things he did which were wrong. Onesimus needs Philemon's forgiveness.

Paul's plea is that Philemon would see in this depiction a vision of himself before God.

Philemon was a sinner saved by grace. He owed God service he had passively left undone. He also actively broke God's rules. Philemon was indebted to God for everything and had not acknowledged His authority over him. BUT, God rescued him in Christ. God sent Paul to preach the Good News of reconciliation and redemption in Christ. By grace God granted faith to Philemon to repent, receive and believe in Jesus. How can he who had been forgiven so much and been reconciled so great a debt now turn around and hold a grudge against another? Particularly when the debt is not as great as that which he himself had been forgiven. Specifically now that this one, Onesimus, had also repented, received and believed on Jesus for his forgiveness. Jesus had forgiven Onesimus for his sin against Philemon. Paul is urging and encouraging Philemon now to forgive Onesimus' debts as he also was forgiven his own.

"21 Since I am confident of your obedience, I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say."

Paul here is very clear about what he desires (the right thing) and the expectation he has of Philemon (righteousness). He also confirms that he cannot by force make Philemon ultimately to do that which he desires most. Paul wants Philemon to want to do the right thing for the right reasons. He wants Philemon to believe and trust in God enough to extend grace to others.  Not by bullying, but by regeneration.  In order to do so, Philemon must be instructed as to what is (right), but also given the opportunity to respond (his right) according to his own heart's conviction (righteousness if in concert with the right).

May we study and delight in that which God has called us to do and despise that which He has called us to abandon. May we respond to His authority with deference and His kindness with devotion. May we, like Paul, urge and spur our brothers and sisters to do the right thing, the neighborly thing, the loving thing, the tough and godly thing. May we like Philemon, be expected and anticipated to do right.

As a church we should affirm both of these:   

1. We will speak truth and encourage faithfulness in our brothers and sisters according to God's Word.
2. We will listen to the truth and welcome rebuke and/or encouragement from our brothers and sisters if they see in us thoughts, attitudes, or actions in conflict or contradiction to God's Word. 

Can we as a church make this covenant?

Can we determine to be accountable BOTH to calling each other out AND to receiving rebuke if we are in error?

May it be so to the glory of God and Christ being formed more and more daily within us.

by faith live - live by faith‏

At Cornerstone Church of Ames, we have been going through Romans and recently covered Romans 1:17. I am also listening to a sermon series from the Village Church going through the book of Galatians where they covered Galatians 3:11.

“The one who by faith is made righteous will live.“

This a Biblical theme captured and contended in several different places. It is both a plea to seek righteousness by faith and an encouragement to live by faith. In God’s righteousness granted, we anchor our hope by faith that it can be ours by asking. This verse’s clear connotation is to convey that we access righteousness by faith alone. 

Additionally, by faith we repent and believe our sins are forgiven. By grace we walk in a manner that demonstrates the fruit of a real, living and active faith brewing within us. Living by faith does not mean you are now sinless, it means you trust that God sees you as He sees the sinless Savior. In response, we actively, daily, and simultaneously pray for forgiveness and thank God for the forgiveness we ask. We live in joyful, obedient response. We bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

The one who by faith is made righteous will live (an eternal life by their faith).

The one who by faith is made righteous will live (an earthly life by their faith).

We live by faith because God is our life.

We live by faith because for now we live here.

We live by faith because by what else can we live?

i like big BUTS (because God cannot lie)

Titus 3:3-8

³ For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved by various passions and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, detesting one another.

⁴ But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love
for mankind appeared,
⁵ He saved us—
not by works of righteousness that we had done,
but according to His mercy,
through the washing of regeneration
and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
⁶ He poured out this Spirit on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ our Savior,
⁷ so that having been justified by His grace,
we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life.

⁸ This saying is trustworthy. I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed God might be careful to devote themselves to good works. These are good and profitable for everyone.

How big is the “but” in the above passage? It is the difference between darkness and light, helpless and helped, drowned and resuscitated. Paul’s major theme and charge to Titus is that the Christians over whom he has been placed shepherd need to devote themselves to good works. Paul is in no way making a theological statement regarding soteriology. He is not insisting that one must work to be saved. He is exhorting, however, that those who are saved must devote themselves to the hard work of a living faith.

I love that verses 4-7 appear to have been an early church creed or saying that was often repeated or used for purposes of catechizing new converts to Christianity. It is a simple, concise saying that Paul states is trustworthy. Here is a doctrine on which to lean. From this doctrine, Paul exhorts and encourages others to do good works. You start with the trustworthy saying and end in good deeds.

“He saved us.”

Does not that simple phrase say so much? He is the object. He is the Actor. Saved is the verb. Saving is what He did. He did it already. He did it for us. Us is the object of the sentence. We are the receivers. We are those being saved. He is talking to those who have placed faith in Christ. In forsaking their own efforts and by faith trusting Christ’s provision on their behalf, they/we have been saved. God has done it.

"He saved us."

I also love how this early creed bears witness to the triune LORD. The kindness of God our Savior appeared and renewed us by His Holy Spirit through the life, death, and resurrection work of Jesus Christ our Savior. Notice how all three are mentioned as conspirators in the effort to save us. All three of them equally god in essence and unique in Person and function.

Lastly, note this beautiful phrase, “justified by His grace.” We are not justified in the courtroom of God’s justice by making a solid argument. We are not justified by the failure of the Accuser to bring legitimate evidence against us. We are not justified because the Judge was corrupted, perverted, or indifferent. We are justified by His grace.

By grace He paid our debt.
By grace He credits us with righteousness.
By grace He seeks us.
By grace He rebirths us.
By grace He renews our hearts.
By grace He empowers us to walk in His ways.
By grace He found us.
By grace He keeps us.

We are justified by His grace.
Alleluia!

If you also like big BUTS and you cannot lie, you might enjoy these. But don’t have take my word for it.

Romans 6:23

Ephesians 2:3-5

Romans 3:20-22

Romans 5:7-9

Can you think of any other big ol’ BUTS in the Bible that should be included? 

Did I forget your favorite BUT?

telestai = Strong's Greek 5055, "It is finished!"

The other morning when reading My Utmost for His Highest I was delighted to encounter this:

Yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. —Romans 6:13-22

I cannot save and sanctify myself; I cannot atone for sin; I cannot redeem the world; I cannot make right what is wrong, pure what is impure, holy what is unholy. That is all the sovereign work of God. Have I faith in what Jesus Christ has done? He has made a perfect Atonement, am I in the habit of constantly realizing it? The great need is not to do things, but to believe things. The Redemption of Christ is not an experience, it is the great act of God which He has performed through Christ, and I have to build my faith upon it. If I construct my faith on my experience, I produce that most unscriptural type, an isolated life, my eyes fixed on my own whiteness. Beware of the piety that has no pre-supposition in the Atonement of the Lord. It is of no use for anything but a sequestered life; it is useless to God and a nuisance to man. Measure every type of experience by our Lord Himself. We cannot do anything pleasing to God unless we deliberately build on the pre-supposition of the Atonement.

The Atonement of Jesus has to work out in practical, unobtrusive ways in my life. Every time I obey, absolute Deity is on my side, so that the grace of God and natural obedience coincide. Obedience means that I have banked everything on the Atonement, and my obedience is met immediately by the delight of the supernatural grace of God.

Beware of the piety that denies the natural life, it is a fraud. Continually bring yourself to the bar of the Atonement – where is the discernment of the Atonement in this thing, and in that?

The Gospel is believed upon for eternal life and lived upon in earthly life.

The Gospel is not something you believed in once upon a time. You cannot make your ways or words holy now anymore than you could before you believed in Jesus. The Holy Spirit does not enable you now to make yourself holy. This is a work accomplished again by the grace of God.

2 things:

1)       Dear Christian, please enjoy the grace of God today in overcoming your weakness that in Him you might be strong to serve. The Gospel is not merely for your failures accrued before you believed. The Gospel was not a hope you embraced to release you only from your past. You are not now on your own to maintain and upkeep the whiteness that was given to you. The Gospel is your strength today and your hope for tomorrow. It is your perpetual whiteness because it is Christ’s whiteness which can never be stained. It is the main attraction, not simply your ticket to the big show of self preservation.

2)       Dear Christian, please make it your every effort to yield your members to righteousness today. Surrender your will and your rights in order to embrace the grace of relying on Another’s efforts on your behalf. We demonstrate daily our dependence on God alone and His righteousness for us by doing the good works prepared beforehand by Him. We are pleasing to Him because Christ is pleasing to Him and by faith we are found in Christ.

Working hard to please God is exhausting and useless in that it cannot accomplish its goals.

Working hard because God is pleased with you in Christ is energizing and useful in that it fully accomplishes God’s goals.

jack bauer billy bad apple‏

Seriously, how is it November already?

Daniel 3:16-18

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, “Nebuchadnezzar,we don’t need to give you an answer to this question. ¹⁷ If the God we serve exists, then He can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and He can rescue us from the power of you, the king.¹⁸ But even if He does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.”

What a senseless waste of three good Jewish boys, right? I mean, all they had to do was bow to the stupid idol Nebuchadnezzar erected. They did not have to mean it. God looks at the heart, not the behavior. God would have known that they did not really worship the idol. He would have understood the good works left to be done and the people depending on these three young men. He would certainly perhaps even advise them to acquiesce to the authorities in their lives, right?

WRONG!

While it is certainly true that in Christ God can forgive any and every sin – even that of betrayal as we observe in the life of Peter, it is wrong to make common sense and practical wisdom your barometer for following God. That is not to say that God is calling you to illogic or imprudence, but to say that the most logical thing one can do is agree with God on everything!

I adore these three young men (it is of note that I keep referring to them as “the three young men” because I do not want to have to type their three difficult names over and over). 

I love how Jack Bauer Billy Bad Apple they get with the king of the known universe at that time. A king who was arrogant and conceited and idolatrous. Most people worship themselves in a prideful way that is common, but coy. Nebuchadnezzar was brash and literally thought he was god on earth. So these three young Jewish boys approach a man with this opinion of himself with the power to enforce this opinion in the minds and mouths of others and say (essentially),

“I don’t have to answer to you. We don’t want to bow before your idol. We serve a God who created everything, even you, o King. And if our God is real, then He can do whatever He wants. He can even make it so that fire cannot hurt us. But even if He lets us burn in the furnace of your wrath I want you know something: I will NEVER worship you or the work of your hands, never! Not now, not later, not next November (?any Letter Factory fans en la casa?).”

(this introduces the very first installment of the VVCSV or Van Voorst Christian Standard Version which is essentially my paraphrase of Biblical texts.  look out "the Message," there's a new interprative dance in town.  this is the first installment, but it won't be the last.  stay sharp!)

I love their boldness in acknowledging unequivocally both the omnipotence and sovereignty of God. He can do whatever He wants and has the power to do it. So it is true that He can rescue you from the fire. It is also true that He may not decide to do that. Either way, He is still God. He is not proven to be God if He does what we tell Him to do. He is not Sovereign if He must do whatever we ask of Him.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (why not this once) demonstrate a faith in God that goes beyond circumstances. God is who He has revealed Himself to be because He is, not because I wish. He is. And if He is to us, how could we ever turn to another?

The fire was hot. Very hot. Hotter than it had ever been as a result of Nebuchadnezzar’s anger. He was angry before three Jews cracked wise, imagine his contempt after the fact. In the furnace a Man appears in the fire with these three young men and saves them from the fire and fury of Nebuchadnezzar’s wrath. A man who looked like a god. He walks with them in the fire. They exit the furnace on their own feet without even a burn, without even the smell of smoke on them.

Back to the Future:  On a particular day over 2,000 years ago God became a man and lived a perfect life and died a sinless death. He was resurrected from the dead to verify that He held the power of life and death and sin and salvation in His hands. The fire of God’s wrath is extinguished. He walked in the fire we deserved and ushered us out unscathed, baring not even the smell of the smoke. We deserve to be burnt and we look and smell like fresh linen - white as snow. He is the perfect Sacrifice, Priest, Savior and Lord.

If He is, how could we ever turn to any other?