Purpose and Conviction in the New Year

Daniel 1:8 - "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself."

Concerning this text, there are two great truths present. I would like to expound briefly on these principles.

Daniel Purposed
It is written in the above verse that Daniel purposed. This means that what he intended to do, he did it on purpose. There is little that gets accomplished accidentally, either in the affairs of the material world, or in the kingdom of God. If I could encourage Christians who read this post, I would encourage them to live for God in 2011, and to live purposely. If you worship God in your home, you will do it on purpose. If you spend time in prayer, it will be done purposely. If you spend time fasting, it will happen purposely. If you wait until you stumble onto a period of fasting, you will never fast. It must be purposed in the heart, and carried out. When you go to church, purpose to let the Lord speak to your heart. Here is something so few are doing these days - purpose to win souls. Set out to talk to people about the Lord, and try to persuade them to trust Jesus Christ to save them. It is amazing how so many will spend time in prayer, read the Word of God, and go to church, all on purpose. But they mosey through life to see if perhaps they stumble into witnessing opportunities. If we are going to win anyone for Jesus Christ, we must purpose to do it. We must make a conscious effort to do so. We plan nearly everything else, but there is little purposing to win souls. Daniel purposed in his heart.

What Daniel Purposed
Now, let us look at the thing which Daniel purposed. He purposed that he would not defile himself with the king's meat. I asked the Lord a few years ago a question that so many are asking today. I asked, "Where has conviction gone?" "Why do people feel no shame concerning their wicked, ungodly, filthy, rotten, stinking sins?" I believe I received a clear answer from the Word of God. The Lord reminded me in His Word, how that Daniel was cast into a den of lions. After the king threw Daniel into the den of lions, he arose the following morning to check on Daniel. Let's get this straight. The king threw Daniel into a den of lions. They were hungry lions. We know this because they devoured the men that cast Daniel into the den! The king waits until the following morning and looks into the den of lions. Why does he look inside the den? Why would anyone look inside the den? He looked in, expecting to find Daniel still alive! Why? The Bible says that the king "passed the night fasting." "Passed the night" meant he couldn't sleep; "fasting" meant he couldn't eat. Something had gotten a hold of him to the extent that the king could not eat or sleep. This is good, old-fashioned conviction. The Spirit of God had made the king feel so badly about what he had done unjustly to Daniel. This is conviction. It is what we need today. We need the Lord to show people how filthy they are outside of Christ, even with their best works! The question is this: Why did the king experience such conviction? The answer is in Daniel 1:8 - "Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat." Where has conviction gone? Here's the answer: The wicked king was convicted because Daniel lived by convictions! Daniel said, "I will not defile myself!" He proclaimed, "I will live a clean, undefiled life!" The answer for you and me is this: When we (the Christians) live by convictions, the world will be convicted. If you and me are not stirred about people going to hell, do not expect the world to be stirred about going to hell. If the Day of Judgment doesn't bother us; don't expect it to bother the world. The world will change their attitude about sin when the church of Jesus Christ changes her attitude about sin.

So, in the coming year, let us purpose to have convictions. Then and only then will the unsaved be convicted.

Out of the Ivory Palaces

Psalm 45:8 - "All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad."

Out of the ivory palaces,
Into a world of woe,
Only His great eternal love
Made my Saviour go.*

The Greatest Journey
The Bible is a book that records the journeys of men. Within its pages, we are told of Abraham, to whom God spoke, commanding him to leave his country for one he had never seen. Later, God speaks to Abraham, giving him orders to take his son Isaac to a mountain called Moriah, and slay his son there for an offering to the Lord. It was a three-days' journey. It was a journey up a rugged mountain. With the Father Abraham walking alongside his son, this Father had plenty of time to change his mind about offering his son. But no such persuasion came to him. The only argument that persuaded him was this sublime truth - that the God who commanded him to slay his only begotten son was able to raise him up, even if he offered as a burnt offering. When Abraham and Isaac arrive to the place on Mount Moriah, Isaac is bound to the altar. It is not ropes, however, that hold him there; it is submission to his Father. Abraham's hand is drawn, and he prepares to slay his son. Suddenly, a hand stops him. Abraham learns that this was only a test. A ram is caught in the thicket, and the ram dies in Isaac's place. There are a few attributes of this story that are similar to that of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, walking up Calvary's mountain, and being crucified for the sins of the world. There are also striking differences. Christ walked up a mountain, as Abraham walked up a mountain. Christ, the Son of God, however, did not walk alongside His Father. Isaac walked beside his father; Christ cried out, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" Isaac was bound to the altar with ropes; Christ was bound to the cross with nails. In spite of those ropes, it was submission to his father that kept Isaac on the altar; and in spite of the nails, it was submission to the will of the Father that kept Christ on the cross. When Abraham is prepared to take his son's life, a hand stops him; but at the hour of death on Calvary, such a hand is absent. The Father does not stop death from taking His own Son. When Abraham's hand is held back, Isaac lives because a ram in the thicket dies in his place; at the cross where Jesus died, it should have been me on that cross, but Jesus took my place!

Abraham's journey up the rugged mountain of Moriah is an incredible journey, but not the greatest. The queen of Sheba's journey to Jerusalem is memorable, but not the greatest. The journey of the shepherds in the fields to the manger is remarkable, but there is a greater journey than this. The journey of the wise men from the east to worship the Christ child is history-making, but there is yet a greater journey than this.

The 45th Psalm starts this way - "My heart is inditing a good matter." It is a prophecy concerning the King of kings. He would be anointed with the oil of gladness. He would love righteousness and hate iniquity. And, in verse 8, He would leave the ivory palaces of heaven, and take the greatest journey ever taken, from the ivory palaces of heaven to this dark, dreary, wicked sinful world. He took that journey that He might take another - the journey up Calvary's rugged mountain. It is often preached that the road to heaven leads by the cross; but it is just as true that the road to hell leads by the cross. To go to hell, you must pass the scene of the cross, and trample of the blood of Jesus Christ under your feet.

When I speak concerning the journey our Lord took when He departed from heaven and arrived in Bethlehem that night, it is true that our finite minds cannot grasp it. But one thing is certain. When we get to heaven, and see what all the Saviour left to rescue our wicked souls from sin and hell, how our hearts will melt. How our love for Christ will swell and His praise will undoubtedly be in our mouth eternally. Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift - the babe in the manger who left heaven's splendor to die for me!

Out of the ivory palaces,
Into a world of woe,
Only His great eternal love
Made my Saviour go.*

*Henry Barraclough

No Room in the Inn

Luke 2:7 – “And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.”

In my previous post, I discussed the child in the manger. But why the manger? Why did Mary place her baby boy in a manger? Of all places to place her child, she placed Him in a feeding trough for cattle. The above verse gives us the explicit reason why the Christ child was laid in a manger – “because there was no room for them in the inn.”

During the time of the above text, the entire world is traveling. The emperor, Caesar Augustus, made a decree that all the world should be taxed. In the fulfillment of this new law, every man traveled to the city of his birth to pay his tribute. Anyone who is sensitive to the work of God can clearly see that God Almighty is at work behind this scene. Bro. Dollas Messer brought out the point that God put it in the heart of Caesar Augustus to tax the whole world, just so one man named Joseph could travel with his espoused wife named Mary, so that she could bring forth her firstborn son in Bethlehem, fulfilling Micah 5:2. All the world is in a “hustle and bustle” mode. Why all the rush? God’s sovereign hand is in it, bringing about His divine will. He gets the whole world moving just so Jesus could be born in Bethlehem!

Arriving in Bethlehem, the weary couple, Mary and Joseph, find an inn in which to rest. An inn in New Testament times is much different from our perception of an inn today. In the time of Mary and Joseph, an inn was not a public building with rooms for an overnight stay. An inn was rather a private house. The owner of the house would open a few rooms for weary travelers. It is such a private house where Mary and Joseph attempted to find rest for the night. It appears that the owner of the house, or the innkeeper, was very nice, in spite of many Christmas pageants that portray him as evil. It seems that he told Mary and Joseph with regret that there was no other room available. I believe it was the innkeeper who owned the cattle that fed from the manger where Christ was laid. I believe the story went something like this: Mary and Joseph knocked on the door of the inn, which was in Bethlehem. After the innkeeper answered, Joseph asked for a room. The innkeeper, upon seeing that Mary was expecting a child, regretfully told them, “I’m sorry; I have no more room!” Perhaps Mary and Joseph began to walk away. Beholding their departure, the innkeeper stopped them. “Wait!” he says. “I’m out of rooms in the house, but I do have some room with the cattle. It’s not much, but you’re welcome to it.” One thing is for sure – the babe was laid in a manger because there was no room in the inn.

No Room for Christ
At His birth, the Christ child had only a bed of hay to lay His head. During His earthly life, the foxes had holes; the birds of the air had nests; but Jesus Christ was still in search of a place to lay His head. Now, the Spirit of Christ goes through the earth, looking for a place to dwell. I think often of Peter, James, and John when they were with Jesus on the mount of transfiguration. They saw Jesus with Moses and Elijah, and they heard the Father speak from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son.” Upon hearing this, Peter spoke up to the Lord, and said, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. Let us build three tabernacles; one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” I used to wonder what gave Peter the idea to build three tabernacles. Now I understand that He was on the right track. Jesus wanted three tabernacles that day. Jesus was not interested in building one tabernacle for Himself, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. However, He was interested in tabernacles. A tabernacle is simply a dwelling place. And the Lord wanted three dwelling places that day. He wanted to dwell in Peter; He wanted to dwell in James; and He wanted to dwell in John. In our day, the Spirit of Christ is looking for a place to abide. When He knocks at your heart’s door, will you tell Him, “There’s no room here?” That is the response of the world. In America, we give Santa Claus a place; we give Allah and Muhammad a place; we give homosexuals a place. But we’ll file suit after suit to make sure there’s no room for Jesus Christ. The crooked and sick ACLU will go to court to make sure that a child can’t carry his Bible to public school, and then go to court to defend the rights of Muslims to read the Koran in American prisons. When Christians take a stand for God’s definition of marriage, we are told by the liberals of our day to shut up and be tolerant. Then those same liberals will file suit to have one cross taken down from the public square. They’re hypocrites to the fullest degree, as every liberal is hypocritical by definition. They preach tolerance when it comes to every sick thing under the sun, but they absolutely hate every bit of truth for which Christians stand. They defend animals and kill babies. They claim to fight AIDS, but they will neither admit nor combat the major cause of the disease. They defend the building of a mosque at ground zero, but they flop on the floor and foam at the mouth if one pastor even threatens to burn a single Koran. Their media outlets will give weeks and months to the story of the murder of George Tiller, the late-term abortion doctor; but they give one or two sentences at the most to the story of the murder Jim Pouillon, a peaceful pro-life advocate.

The root of it all is simple – our nation is giving Jesus Christ no room at all, let alone His rightful place. The desire of Jesus Christ today is that He might have a place in the hearts of men and women. But the desire of so many is that Christ would depart from them as they express the fact that there is no room for Jesus Christ.

Thou didst leave Thy throne and thy kingly crown
When Thou camest to earth for me;
But in Bethlehem’s home there was found no room
For Thy holy nativity.*

He Made Room for You
When Jesus Christ died upon the cross, there are many accomplishments that were made. There are several analogies that can be used to explain why Jesus died upon the cross, and they are all correct. You could say that Jesus died upon the cross to undergo the penalty of sin, which is death, for all mankind. You could say that Jesus died upon the cross to pay a debt that we owed and could not pay. You could say that when Jesus died upon the cross, He was giving a dowry to the Father to purchase a bride. You could say that Jesus laid down His life to purchase lousy building material with which to build a church. You could say that, because of the cross, Jesus paid a ransom that would set slaves free. All of these are exactly right. But however you word it, understand this: Christ died to make room for all who will come. The gospel is not limited in its availability. It is for “whosoever will.” Any and all who will come will be free. If you reject Jesus Christ, it will not be because the atonement was limited and did not include you. It will be because you chose to give no room to the One who made room for you. No wonder we can sing the old hymn, “…though millions have come, there’s still room for one. Yes, there’s room at the cross for you!” Make room for Christ today, because He made room for you.

Thou camest, O Lord, with the living word
That should set Thy people free;
But with mocking scorn and with crown of thorn,
They bore Thee to Calvary.

O Come to my heart, Lord Jesus;
There is room in my heart for Thee.*

*Emily Elizabeth Steele Elliot

Child in the Manger

In my previous post, I discussed the mission of the child in the manger. In this post, I will look at the child Himself. What child is this? Who is He?

Who He is to the World
It is an unfortunate truth that to the world, this child is a stranger. The world, that is, the unregenerate, know little or nothing about Him. There are even atheists who claim that Jesus Christ never existed. How ridiculous! As for the atheist, he would rather believe the ridiculous than to believe the truth. There are even theologians who have never been born again, who know little or nothing of this child in the manger. There are ministers across our land today who have never met Jesus Christ. There are church-goers in the land today who make it evident that, to them, Jesus is a stranger.

The Jesus of the Bible is the Christ, or the anointed One, who loves righteousness and hates iniquity. Hebrews 1:9 – “Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.” When you read your Bible, and the Bible describes something as being a sin, or an iniquity, or an abomination; Jesus Christ HATES it! But we live in a church world today where the liberal idea of tolerance prevails. People believe that Jesus is a limp-wristed sissy who accepts and tolerates everything. The truth, however, is that when this child in the manger returns to earth again, He will not be tolerant! He hates sin, and the Bible tells us He is coming to execute judgment! It is evident that many who claim to be a Christian do not know this child in the manger.

To the world, He is a stranger; but for the world, He became sin. The world may not realize or understand it. But upon this child in the manger our sins were laid! He bore our sins in His own body! He did not become a propitiation for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world. When I say that Christ became sin, I am not saying that He became a sinner. This child in the manger was as sinless as you wish to stretch the idea of sinlessness. He never sinned in thought, in word, or in deed. He pleased the Father in every aspect of His earthly life. He was qualified to die for the sins of the world because He did not have to die for His own sins! He had no sins for which to die! The world hates the child in the manger because of His sinlessness. His sinlessness condemns them. Christ was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, and yet lived without sin. The world hates to look at the Ten Commandments, a collection of law that Jesus never broke. It reminds them that they are accountable to God Almighty. Though Christ never sinned, He took our sins upon Himself. He bore those sins up Calvary’s rugged tree. He paid the great debt that the world even collectively could never pay. All who believe, or trust, His payment will be free from sin’s penalty, power, and eventually its very presence.

Child in the manger, infant of Mary,
Outcast and stranger, Lord of all;
Child who inherits all our transgressions,
All our demerits on Him fall.*

Who He is to us who are Saved
While to the world, He is a hated stranger; to us who are saved, He is our beloved King! He is first and foremost our salvation. The Law of Moses condemned us to death, but that was all the law could do! Romans 8:3 tells us that what the law could not do, Jesus did! The law condemned us, but Jesus condemned the law! God’s law revealed to me my guilt; trusting the sacrifice of the child in the manger set me free from all guilt and shame. When keeping laws could save us, Jesus did! When “turning over a new leaf” couldn’t save us, Jesus did! When Islam, Buddhism, the New Age Movement, and other idolatrous religions left us lost, Jesus saved us! When any attempt by man to save himself miserably failed, as it always does, Jesus saved us!

To the saved, Jesus is our standard. I hear talk of “holiness standards.” When many speak of “holiness standards,” they often speak of modest dress and the outward appearance. While the Bible absolutely promotes modesty, distinction of the sexes, and other aspects of the outward appearance; one can dress modestly and yet be as lost and unholy as anything. Modesty and separation from the world are not our standard. Jesus is our standard! His blood alone makes us holy. Without His blood applied to the doorposts of your heart, you are as unholy and as sickening the heavens as you can be, in spite of the presence of any good works or the absence of any evil works! Jesus is our holiness. He is our righteousness. His blood makes us holy; His word continues to wash us; His Spirit gives us power to live in a holy manner. Jesus is our standard for holiness. Yes, Christians need to live holy. But remember – we must BE holy before we can LIVE holy! You have to be MADE HOLY before you can LIVE HOLY! We are made holy, not by works; not by law-keeping; not by “doing better;” not by any other sorry attempt by man. We are made holy by the blood of Jesus Christ, and by nothing else. At the point when the blood cleanses us from sin, the Spirit of God moves into our hearts and gives us power to then live holy. Attempting to live holy without the blood of Jesus applied to the heart is abominable to God. Our righteousnesses are as filthy rags! Our best works are completely incapable of pleasing the Father! Only the work of His Son, the child in the manger, pleases the Father. As for our works, only what is done by the Holy Ghost within us pleases the Father.

Once the most holy child of salvation
Gently and lowly lived below;
Now as our glorious mighty Redeemer,
See Him victorious o’er each foe.*

Who He is to the Heavens
In the heavens, Jesus is known. To the prophets who have gone on, He is the One of whom they foretold. He is the subject of their writings. He can be found in the earliest of scriptures. He is Job’s redeemer that liveth. He is Ruth’s near kinsman. He is the brazen serpent, upon which we look and live. He is the voice in the burning bush. He is the fourth man in the fire. He is the Passover lamb. He is shewbread, of which we eat and never die. He is burning candlesticks in the holy place. He is sacrifice upon the brazen altar. The prophets know Him. They have spoken so clearly of him that it is a wonder that there is in existence even one unbelieving Jew. The law and the prophets have revealed Him to those who would hear them.

Angels know Him. They worship Him. They worshipped at His birth, and they continue to do so. The scriptures declare, “Let all the angels of God worship Him.” The question of His deity is settled. The angels declare it every time they bow! This child in the manger is “God manifest in the flesh.” His name is Emmanuel, meaning, “God with us.” When Jesus walked in flesh among us, God walked among us. When you heard the words of Jesus, you heard the words of God. When you met Jesus, you met God.

Prophets foretold Him, infant of wonder;
Angels behold Him on His throne;
Worthy our Saviour of all our praises;
Happy forever are His own.*

Mary MacDonald; Fred Bock