The Plot Thickens

What do you plot against the Lord?  He will make a complete end; trouble will not rise up a second time. – Nahum 1:9

The only thing that bothers me about that verse is “trouble will not rise up a second time”.  It seems to me that trouble, like the bogeyman in a horror movie, will rise on every turn.  I have to admit, though, certain kinds of trouble, certain sources of trouble – and I think that’s what we have in the context of Nahum’s prophecy regarding Nineveh – once vanquished, are done.  Some adversary challenges us; some weakness besets us.  We struggle and struggle, fail and fail again, yet, when at last we have beaten it, weakness becomes strength.  Failure becomes a foundation, becomes the solid rock on which we stand. 

A complete victory in some area of contention comes only through the Lord.  Proverbs 16:7 says, “When a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.”  Only God can turn adversaries into allies.  It occurs to me that, from a sheep’s perspective, a sheep dog must look a lot like a wolf. 

Even the devil does not presume to plot against the Lord.  But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” (Jude 9)  The devil as the adversary and the accuser of the brethren was only doing his job.  Being the natural patron of prosecutors, I’m sure he made a decent case against Moses, as there was indeed one to be made, and so much the more against me.  It is often, however, the devil’s arguments in the mouths of those who do plot against God and His children.  Rabshakeh (or the Rabshakeh, depending on the translation) of the Assyrians made the case against Jerusalem in Isaiah 36.  The Assyrian invaders dismissed the God of Israel from their plans.  This did not end well for them. 

It will not end well for those today who forget that the Lord is on His throne, who think earthly powers and principalities of darkness may overcome and enslave the righteous.  Though we may suffer for a season, the plots will fail, the yokes will be broken, and God will make a complete end of those foolish enough to conspire against Him. 

He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. – Psalm 2:4

No Room for the Reaper

But I have heard that he who is skilful in managing the life entrusted to him for a time travels on the land without having to shun rhinoceros or tiger, and enters a host without having to avoid buff coat or sharp weapon. The rhinoceros finds no place in him into which to thrust its horn, nor the tiger a place in which to fix its claws, nor the weapon a place to admit its point. And for what reason?  Because there is in him no place of death. – Lao Tzu

Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. --James 1:15

I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me -- John 14:30  [KJV -- the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me]

… to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace … Roman 8:6

Lao Tzu wasn’t talking about physical death.  Neither is James.  The body will wear out.  People can eat right, exercise, wear sunscreen, get injections, tucks, and lifts, replace knees and hips; they will die.  Years, miles, wear and tear, rust – it doesn’t matter.  We get about a billion heart beats and we are done. 

No, the life we can't lose is the God kind of life, eternal, abundant, overflowing, everlasting.  When, from the cross in that last moment of agony, Jesus cried out, "Tetelestai!", our debt was paid in full, finished.  Any hold the enemy could have gotten on us, any claim he could have made against us was voided, nullified.  

Have faith.  Set your mind on the Spirit.  Live skillfully.  Live without fear.

Life Verses Versus

Our friend, the lovely Sal from our old stompin' grounds down in Texas, is Catholic.  She said that Catholics aren't supposed to have "life verses", but if she did, this would be hers:  So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty (Luke 17:10).

That is a good verse — like there are bad ones, though some are ugly — and it seems very much in keeping with Sal's humility and her love of the Good.  What we should gain from this statement by Jesus is that our best efforts, especially our best human efforts, are really not giving anything to God.  Our Father does not keep us around, bless us or reward us because we are "profitable" (the KJV uses the phrase "unprofitable servants").  I could say there are a lot of preachers and ministers who need to recognize the truth of that passage in Luke 17, and that would be true, but perhaps I should just say, "Oh, me."  The first rule of humility is not to believe your own press releases.  None of us are "all that". 

Back when I was teaching a lot, my wife suggested Isaiah 50:4 as my "ministry" verse:  The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary.  Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.

To sustain the weary with a word is indeed a noble pursuit.  I'm not sure it is strictly legal for somebody else, even the better half, to give you your life verse, but it did seem to resonant at the time.  There are so many of  us that get embattled and hemmed in and worn down.  We need somebody to say the right thing and encourage us to keep going and keep fighting.  It reminds me of the old song "Radar Love" — "I feel the comfort comin' in from above."  That's what the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, does.   As the Firefly theme says, "They can't take the sky from me."  No matter what kind of walls and fortresses and bars the devil has thrown up to imprison and isolate us, he can't seal us off from heaven. The Comforter takes that timely word that somebody delivers, and He brings it to us from above making it a message that will comfort and sustain us, a little bit of light shining down on our darkness. 

While I do not reject Isaiah 50:4, I have always had a little trouble embracing it as something specific to me.  A life verse, except it be another clever religious game of the evangelicals, must be what we fall back upon as indicative of our destiny as an individual.  This is not to say that others cannot recognize the truth we see in it, but it will not have the same sharpness for them as it does for us — unless it has been so given to them as well.

Now here is a passage that I have fallen back upon and stood upon and taught many times:

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.  We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.  For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.  — 2 Corinthians 4:7-11

And specifically, the middle two verses, 8 and 9:  We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.  This is strong medicine.  Who can read this and not see that life is so much more than the sometimes pitiable existence of mortal clay?  Who can help being inspired by the thought that getting knocked down is not the end?  How often we find ourselves struggling to explain the inexplicable.  We are perplexed, yet somehow God steps in to lift us from despair.  We may not understand the trial, but we will not surrender to hopelessness. 

I could do worse, and perhaps I have.  Many years ago I memorized the New American Standard Version of Romans chapter 12.  It is probably my favorite single chapter in the entire Bible.  There is simply nothing in it that does not hit me.  The very last verse, the 21st,  is one that I quote with great frequency:  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Though it is only a few words, the meaning for me is both broad and deep.  Yet, like the keen leading edge of a wedge, it opens me up rather than me opening it. 

The battle I have with evil begins in my our heart.  Here is the first place that good must conquer evil.  Self must be driven from the throne as the usurper that it is.  Once my soul is ruled by good, I must still battle evil.  I cannot, though, use the weapons of evil to confront or defeat it.  I can never resort to evil in order to win.  Nevertheless, I cannot surrender or submit to wickedness or unrighteousness.  To overcome evil with evil is — what do you think?  — evil.  To passively submit to evil, to stand aside for it and allow it to rule is evil.  No, the only path that is permitted to me is to go face-to-face against evil with good and to conquer it, first by being good then by doing good. 

Even when my best efforts at overcoming evil appear to fail, I cannot give up my resistance.  I may be afflicted in every way, but I will not be conquered.  I will certainly be confused but I will not be without hope.  I can know that even in death, I am not destroyed.   In spite of shackles and pits, light will shine down from above to comfort and sustain me when I am most weary.  Finally, when I have done all to stand, when evil has been resisted to the utmost, and I have overcome, and I am delivered in life, or by death, may I have sense enough to bow and say, "It is all grace.  I have only done my duty."     

Not Many Fathers

I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of His name.
I am writing to you, fathers, because you have come to know the One who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men, because you have had victory over the evil one.

I have written to you, children, because you have come to know the Father.
I have written to you, fathers, because you have come to know the One who is from the beginning.
I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, God’s word remains in you, and you have victory over the evil one. – 1 John 2:12-14

Some days I am, at best, a child. With all that goes on, I can do no more than cling to the fact that Jesus had paid it all, and that I have access to the Father, and acceptance in Him. The Christian life begins with the Cross, a once-for-all transformation that turns us right side up in an upside down world. Through the Cross, we are delivered from sin’s bondage, the will is liberated, and we are free to walk in obedience to God. That part is easy for us because Jesus did the hard work, and we have only to believe it.

Christianity doesn’t end there, though. Every moment of every day we face the choice of whether to continue living under the deceptive rule of the soul. Some have compared the soul to a shell that surrounds the spirit man. It must be cracked in order for the spirit to take its proper place of rule in our lives. Our own personal cross must be borne day by day, or hour by hour for that to happen. There is no victory except to put to death the soul’s natural inclinations. Only in dying to self can we overcome. Attempting to defeat the enemy through self-denial either fails or leads to self-righteous pride.

It would seem that John has things out of order. We would think he should have had children then young men, and finally fathers. That is the natural order of things, isn’t it? We are born, we grow, and we become stronger. But we are dealing with the supernatural rather than the natural. In the realm of the spirit, one moves from knowing their sins are forgiven and knowing God as Father -- the position of child, to submitting to the Spirit and becoming a sort of spiritual father to the new nature. We must be fathers in spirit before we can be warriors, overcoming and conquering the soulish self.

It is an impossible move for the natural man. It is hard for me to even contemplate. It makes much more sense that we should clean up as we grow up, working from the bottom up. God appears to be making an unreasonable demand -- that we move from a newborn to a father in one swoop, and only then work out our salvation from the position of walking in the spirit -- top down.

The One who is from the beginning is certainly the Father. Father, though, is relational. God is my Father from the point I was born into the Kingdom, just as my natural father was my father when I was born in this world. But my father had an existence prior to my birth. He had other relationships, other roles – so, too, with our heavenly Father. To know Him only as Father is reassuring. It brings us peace. But to know Him as the One is to know Him beyond all knowing. Thus did the Old Testament saints – the patriarchs, that is, the fathers, know God. Those of old said, “Hear, O, Israel, the LORD your God is One.”

The father knows YHWH – I AM THAT I AM. The child knows the Father through Jesus and His finished work. The youth knows, the Logos, the indwelling Christ. Child, father, young man is not so much a progression as a dance within us. We are child in relation to the Father. We are fathers in relation to the Spirit who must impart to us wisdom, insight and discernment so that we can conquer as brothers with Christ.

When the Righteous Ride into the Sunset

The righteous one perishes, and no one takes it to heart; faithful men are swept away, with no one realizing that the righteous one is swept away from the presence of evil. He will enter into peace – they will rest on their beds – everyone who lives uprightly. – Isaiah 57:1,2

Good and evil are not in balance. The system is not dualistic. The outcome is not in doubt.

The nature of good is absolute, and good exists on its own. It does not need evil to create or define it. Evil, on the other hand, is derived. It is a deviation, a perversion of good. Sin is sometimes defined as achieving a legitimate end by illegitimate means. Evil seeks to achieve some good, but does so in a way that is damaging or negative. Even in an action as repugnant as child molestation, the twisted mind of the perpetrator does not seek the destruction of an innocent life for its own sake but for the sick pleasure the molester derives from it.

Men may come to call what is evil good and call good evil, as is often the case today. Still, evil cannot triumph in an ultimate sense, for it carries within itself the seeds of its own destruction. It must always war with good or it ceases to exist. The more it conquers good, the more certain and swift its defeat. Sometimes, as Isaiah tells us, the righteous fail and are swept away, but they are swept away to peace and rest, leaving the wicked to reap the harvest of their own unintended consequences.

God indeed uses the wickedness of man, at times. As Romans 8:28 assures us that He is able to make all things work together for good, while acknowledging that not all things are good. God absorbs and assimilates evil into His overall plan. The devil builds a wall, and God uses it as a steppingstone. The devil sends a storm, and God uses the tempest to climb higher like an eagle soaring on the winds. The devil makes waves, and God walks on the water. Though disaster and tragedy may assail my life, such things will not defeat me unless I surrender to them. I am so touched and inspired by Ben’s remarkable stories of overcoming by faith at One Cosmos at Sea. I cannot imagine how anyone could read Ben’s testimonies and not see the hand of God at work.

I was in a bookstore in Iowa the other day and in the course of paying for some gifts, the cashier discovered that we were from near the city where her son is attending college. My wife asked what year the young man was in at school. The woman replied, “He’s a junior. He would have been a senior.” She then went on to explain that their daughter, a few years younger than their son, had fallen ill at seventeen and died within a few months. The boy had dropped out of college and returned home to support his sister and his parents. There was a picture of the girl on the counter. As the mother told how she looked forward to seeing her daughter again, this big old hillbilly began to cry. There was no bitterness, no resentment, no hatred of God or protest of unfairness. “The righteous one is swept away from the presence of evil.” The mother understood and respected the reality. She missed her child, longed to see her again, but she knew where she was.

It’s also important to realize that some things which are tragic are not evil. Suppose I choose to visit some remote wilderness area. In the course of my exploration, I encounter a hungry grizzly bear that kills and devours me. You cannot say that anything evil has occurred. Though it is the consequence of living in a fallen world where life is sustained by bloodshed, the bear did no wrong, any more than I do wrong by having a steak for supper. My personal feelings about the matter aside, I can’t accuse the bear of evil intent.

When our purpose here is fulfilled, we will depart. Sometimes our departure is part of our purpose. We can trust God that He knows how to separate the wheat from the tares. Wickedness will run on until it comes to the abyss from which it cannot return. There is no need to fear the triumph of evil, but there is reason to strive against it. I say again, “Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good” (Romans 12:21).