A Spectacle that Honours God

“I think God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men,” wrote Apostle Paul to the Church in Corinth (1Cor. 4:9). Many, many centuries earlier there was another man who was on display to both angels and men. His name was Job. Then there was the Messiah. He too God displayed publicly as a propitiation for our sins (Rom. 3:25). Falsely accused, mocked, insulted, flogged, spat upon, crucified among criminals, our Lord was on public display. Through it all, He was silent like a sheep before its shearers. He did not open His mouth (Isa. 53:7). His response was, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” (Lk. 23:34)

When God set apart for Himself the nation of Israel they were to be a display to all the nations. A testimony that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was the only true, living God and that He alone was holy and worthy of honour and worship. But then Israel was irreverent. They had profaned the holy name of God among the nations where they went (Eze. 36:21). 

Now the epistle to the Hebrews tells us that we have a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us (Heb. 12:1). As redeemed children of the Most High God, we too are on display as a spectacle to the seen and unseen world—the angels, demonic spirits and peoples of the world. As a new creation in Christ Jesus, can we be recognized as those who no longer live for ourselves, but for Him who died and rose again on our behalf (2Cor. 5:15)? Did not our Lord Himself say, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Mt. 5:16)?

Can God say of us, as He did of Job, “Have you considered my servant?” Can God say to all the witnesses that surround us: “There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil” (Job. 1:8)? Can He announce before all, “This is my son in whom I am well-pleased” (Mt. 3:17)?

When God spoke this word to my heart, I was at that time battling with thoughts of anger and hurt. Someone had just spoken words that were rude and unpleasant. My natural response was to react. I wanted to have the ‘last word’. I wanted to placate my hurt ego with counter remarks. It was then that God reminded me that I am on display. As a new creation in Jesus, I am as an exhibit to those in heaven and on earth—an exhibit to the glory of God’s name. I have on numerous occasions been tempted to grumble, complain and murmur. Each time I was reminded that a grumbler does not glorify God. Despite so-called inconveniences, can I use such circumstances to “rejoice in the Lord always” (Php. 4:4)? Can this not be an opportunity to proclaim with praise and thanksgiving that my God is in control and that His banner over me is love? Will He allow me to go through something that is beyond my ability to bear (1Cor. 10:13)? Will He not give me the grace to overcome? There have been untold number of times when I have been tempted to be afraid or anxious. Have we not all? Yet each time I was reminded that my God is on the throne. There is nothing and no one that can harm me. I am safe in the arms of my Father. This display of trust honours God. He is exalted before a huge cloud of witnesses.

It is not surprising therefore that the writer of the letter to the Hebrews immediately encourages us to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith (Heb. 12:2). In addition, it is Jesus who understands our weaknesses for He Himself was tempted just as we are, yet was without sin (Heb. 4:15). He is our faithful High Priest who is ever able to save those who draw near to Him (Heb. 7:25). Let us therefore use each opportunity that presents itself every day to recognize that we have been called with a great and glorious calling (1Pet. 2:9)—a calling where as a sanctified new creature in Christ Jesus we can honour God—displaying faith and trust and sincerity and obedience to our God before a great cloud of witnesses. 

Prepare ye the way of the Lord

Lately I found myself listing three areas that we as Christians need to focus on while it is still day. Night is coming when no man will be able to work (John 9:4); and just as in the days before the revealing of Jesus, a voice called out in the wilderness, “prepare ye the way of the Lord,” (Mt. 3:3) may the voice of the Holy Spirit call within us to do likewise while it is still called, “today” (Heb. 3:7).

We are all familiar with the diverse interpretations when it comes to end-time prophecies. There is no dearth of opinions and counter-opinions when it comes to interpreting what the Bible calls, “the day of the Lord” or in contemporary parlance—the rapture. Though none of us can say with absolute certainty if the rapture will take place before, during or after the tribulation; in this writing I lean to one side of the three views with the sole purpose of encouraging ourselves to readiness.

If for the purpose of being prepared we regard that our Lord Jesus will tarry until the end of the tribulation, it would mean that the Church would be in the midst of very, very trying times. There is little doubt that in the tribulation there will be unprecedented challenges, enormous difficulties, threat to life and huge pressure to choose the path of least resistance. When Jesus said, “Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short” (Mt. 24:22) it means that times will be so bad that living each day will be a victory in itself. Now if the Church remains during the tribulation should we not ready ourselves while we still have opportunity? Or should we like the ostrich hide our head in the sand with mistaken hope? There are three areas that we need to work on and strengthen. These are amazingly simple but they bring profound commitment.

True repentance is the first area. Much too often we take forgiveness lightly. Because God is gracious and compassionate, He cleanses us, makes us as white as snow, and promises, “I will remember your sins no more.” Yet, more often than not, we return to our old vomit, with a tinge of guilt, yet nonetheless indulgent. The fact that we grieve God each time hardly bothers us. It doesn’t break our hearts like it does His.

True repentance makes a complete 360 degree turn. It cries to God, our Helper, “Save me O God! Deliver me from all evil. Keep my feet from slipping. Strengthen me to live holy. I do not want to make Thee sad.” We bear fruit in keeping with repentance (Mt. 3:8). We take radical steps to no longer do the things we did when we say, “I’m sorry!” Such an attitude does not compromise. It is conscious to make right, God-fearing choices each day. 

Faith with perseverance is the second area. Quoting the definition of faith from Hebrews 11:1 is one thing. Trusting with absolute confidence Him who never fails; clinging to Him whose love endures forever and relying heavily on Him who cares for us more than we can ever think or imagine—is another. It requires God to open our eyes to ‘see’ Him on the throne, ruling with wisdom and power and love in never-changing faithfulness. “I know whom I have believed in,” becomes the anthem of the one full of faith.

In the last days when the sixth seal is broken there is a great earthquake (Rev. 6:12). The earth will reel to and fro like a drunkard. (Isa. 24:20). At the sound of the trumpets, 1/3 of the earth will be burnt up (Rev. 8:7); 1/3 of the sea becomes blood (Rev. 8:8); 1/3 of the rivers are unusable (Rev. 8:10, 11). The woes then amplify. And though God explicitly tells us that the bond-servants of God will be sealed on their foreheads before these great and terrible things take place (Rev. 7:3); our Lord Jesus asks, “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Lk. 18:8) Twice in this context, the book of Revelation calls for the perseverance of the saints who keep God’s commandments and faith in Jesus. (Rev. 14:12; Rev. 13:10) 

True faith, even if as small as a mustard seed, brings deliverance from fear and anxiety. Faith with perseverance knows that the One we have believed in is perfect in all He does. It is confident that there is no one and nothing that will snatch us out of the Father’s hand. It rests with absolute certainty in the One who never fails. It knows that even though we may walk through the valley of the shadow of death we need fear no evil.

The third area that the Church needs to focus on is obedience. Obedience requires submission to every word that God has given. Obedience is unquestioning surrender to the wisdom of God’s word even if the conventional wisdom of the world deems it foolish. The simple desire to honour God’s commands without leaning on our own understanding is vital for God to direct our path and bless our way.

I believe that if in these days of plenty; if in these days of peace and comfort, we live daily as sons of light and sons of day (1Thes. 5:5 but read from vs. 1 through 11) we shall stand firm. Though the love of many will grow cold it is the one who endures to the end that will be saved (Mt. 24:12, 13). God is able to keep us safe until the very end. By His help we will stand. Though the fires may rage, we will not be burned. In the flood of delusion, we will not drown. God will hide us in the safety of His wings.

Consuming Fire – Burning the Sacrifice

There’s a fire a-burnin’, falling from the sky
Awesome tongues of fire
Consuming you and I
Can you feel it burnin’
Burn the sacrifice
Well let it burn over me
Oh, sweet fire, come and burn over me

As these words from a contemporary Christian song lit up the screen, my heart sought God to make this true for me. It was at this time that God reminded me of what He taught me several months ago.

As in the days of the old covenant, when men of God lifted up their offering on the altar and sought God’s honour and glory, God’s holy fire would consume the offering thereby affirming that the offering was pleasing and acceptable in His sight. The consuming fire also made the presence of God more evident. In much the same way, in the new covenant, God has made His expectation plain when He tells us that we need to present our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is our true and proper worship (Rom. 12:1).

When we look closely at the words in the verse, it doesn’t take long to recognise that if our body is to be a living sacrifice to God, then this offering that we place on the altar of worship must of necessity be holy and pleasing to God. These were similar requirements expected from sacrifices in the temple.

It is in a build-up to Romans 12:1 that the Apostle Paul exhorts us not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies and not present our members as instruments of unrighteousness but to present ourselves to God as those alive from the dead and our members as instruments of righteousness to God (Rom. 6:13). It is these very members—our tongue, our mind, our eyes and ears, yes, every member of our body—that we must offer to God as a living sacrifice, made holy by the blood of Jesus.

When such an offering is placed on the altar before God, will not God’s consuming fire lick up the offering as He did at the time when Solomon inaugurated the temple (2Chr. 7:1) or when Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel (1Kin. 18:38)? And when His fire consumes the offering, will not His presence be evident in our body, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit, as it did in both the events above (2Chr. 7:3; 1Kin. 18:39)? God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He never changes. His word never changes. In Christ Jesus, we have an amazing privilege to live in the fullness of the gospel. Must we settle for less?

I have repeatedly been publishing over the past several years now, this all-important need to live righteous and holy in all that we say and do. In one article I wrote that since Christ Jesus died to make us righteous and has set us apart as a new creation for God, is it not a life of righteousness that is expected from us on a sustained basis? Is this not the reason why God chose us in Christ Jesus, before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4)? 

Will not God who is faithful keep us from stumbling (Jude 24) and confirm us to the end blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ (1Cor. 1:8, 9)? When the author of the letter to the Hebrews wrote that we ought to draw near to the throne of God’s gracious favour with confidence and without fear that we may find mercy and grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4:16) he had just finished exhorting us that we must be careful not to repeat the error of the children of Israel in the wilderness who lost out on God’s rest because of two factors—unbelief (Heb. 3:19) and disobedience (Heb. 4:6). When we call on His name and seek His face our God is our ever-present help who strengthens us with what Paul refers to as the same power that raised Jesus from the dead (Rom. 8:11; Eph. 1:19, 20 and Php. 3:10).

So when I sang the words that flashed on the screen this morning, I asked God, my Helper—please help me be that sacrifice, holy and pleasing in your sight; for I eagerly desire that not just once, but daily, Thou will consume with Thy holy fire what I place on the altar. 

God is faithful. It is His good pleasure to give to us the very thing that Christ Jesus has made possible for us to enjoy—His fullness, His presence, His fellowship and the knowledge of Him who fills all in all.