The Restraint of Evil

Posted on December 20, 2012 by JohnJ


Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;
2 Thessalonians 2:3-8

Paul has surely written some amazing things as Peter attested 2 Peter 3:16, and the above verse comes to mind in the wake of the Connecticut school shootings last Friday. The idea that jumps out from the verses above is the “mystery of lawlessness” and “he who now restrains” this lawlessness. Certainly we’re curious about who or what that restraining entity is, but presently I’m wondering just what the world would be like once that restraint is actually removed.

The words “unspeakable evil” are used to describe what happened to those first graders and teachers of Sandy Hook Elementary School, and this is certainly the case. This also fits plenty of other behaviors inflicted on way too many communities across our nation and around the world. It’s been said the mind can hardly grasp the horror of those shootings. But I’m wondering, if today there is such a restraint upon lawlessness and such acts of barbarism and terror are occurring anyway, on what scale is evil going to be rampant after the restraint is removed?

If you have a decent grasp of history you know there has been no lack of evil anywhere on this planet starting from the first murder in the Garden forward. Man has a seemingly insatiable appetite to wreak havoc. Rulers reign as despots gobbling up neighboring nations, and even neighbors terrorize each other while peaceful innocents suffer the aftermath. No, there have been far more cruel epochs to suffer through than the present times, and yet we look at the headlines daily and wonder at our current civilization and the barbarous acts of the deranged and wonder what can be done.

But when Paul mentions that the restraint of evil is going to be removed can you imagine how bad it is really going to get? And when the restraint is removed just how will all that unspeakable evil really be dealt with by individuals and governments? The odds will be stacked against them. (No wonder Christians think the restraining force is the Church (see 1 Thes. 4:17 and Revelation 4:1) through the Holy Spirit since they sure don’t want to be around when all this super-lawlessness is going on!) Note the verse following (v. 11, 12) “God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.” Already there is enough of that to go around. Just today a news story appeared quoting someone, a boy in a Utah middle school, stating we should fear those with autism since the Sandy Hook school shooter is reported to have Asperger’s, a form of autism. Just one example of the disinformation and confusion the public can fall for and believe as the “truth.” Once there is no certainty of what is true and false, and that line that line seems to be diminishing rapidly, there is no telling the scope of anarchy will result.

Once “he who restrains” is taken out of the way – watch out. Quite literally, as the saying goes, all Hell will break loose. But fortunately that isn’t the end of the story. Because as Paul states in verse 8, the “Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming” the evil one and all those martialled against Him. Spoiler alert! Read the last chapters of the Book of Revelation. God wins over evil, and evil and death and Satan are all thrown into the Lake of Fire for Eternity and God’s new creation is produced all who have become His children will enjoy Him forever. And life as it was meant to be will be ours to explore with Him at the helm!

[Scriptures taken from the New American Standard Bible © 1995]

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The Lord’s Longing

Posted on December 15, 2012 by JohnJ


Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him.
Isaiah 30:18

Possibly my favorite Bible verse, certainly right near the top, it speaks volumes of power of God’s love for us all.

God longs to be gracious to us. The word longing pictures His profound yearning and heartfelt emotional desire for our best welfare. You can picture a heart breaking at the desperate situation in which He sees His people as they blindly, waywardly separate themselves from their heavenly Father. As you read through the Bible from start to finish you find that He makes every overture, time after time, in so many ways, to bring His creatures back into fellowship with Him, with sadly so little success.

He continually waits on high to have compassion on us all. This is not a one time occasion. He does not try then and give up. As mentioned above, He has made innumerable attempts to get our attention, and even today continues to reach out to us all. His compassion has never wavered. In the course of human history there have been horrific disasters that the mind simply can’t comprehend. Even the mass killing of young children yesterday is monumental in its incomprehensibility and it is understandable that the question is asked of God, Why?

But God the Father also knows first hand, in a very personal way, such a horrific death, that of His innocent and only Son, Jesus. Just as all parents are inconsolable at the senseless untimely death of their child, God also knows and understands, since He sent His Son to Earth for the very purpose of voluntarily submitting to a brutal death on a cross and bearing in His body the weight of all of the sin of the world. As as we know way too painfully, there is a phenomenally, incredibly, brutal weight of sin that is like Mt. Everest piled up from the beginning of the world that man has perpetrated even until now, and he has not concluded his rampage yet. All this weight and guilt and punishment Jesus bore Himself so that we individually would not have to, if indeed we would accept His free gift of grace. It is this longing of His graciousness toward us, His phenomenal desire that we would be free of the pain and the chain of the guilt and death that sin is holding us in bondage, that keeps Him calling to us moment by moment, in the hope that we might hear His voice and respond.

Are you listening? It is the gospel of grace. Can you hear His voice in the midst of the roar of the world’s noise and nonsense? Can you get to a calm and quite place in order to perceive the difference between His words and the world’s? There is a difference. It makes all the difference.

[Scriptures taken from the New American Standard Bible © 1995]

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The Foolish Cross

Posted on November 28, 2012 by JohnJ


For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void. For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
1 Corinthians 1:17-18

In the spirit of maintaining relevance in today’s society many church leaders are trying to accommodate the world and its changing morals and practices to gain converts and fill pews. I find it interesting that Paul strolled up to Mars Hill, the center of Greek philosophical discussion to give one of the most direct evangelical speeches of his ministry. (Act 17:18-31)

With a crowd that certainly would be familiar with virtually any philosophy, Paul, with his own great learning could have gone toe to toe with them arguing in depth concerning the failure of their thought processes. But did he start there? No. He understood that all the clever words were completely irrelevant when it came to the truth of the things of the Spirit and of God and of Jesus Christ. The only word that had any consequence was the word of the cross. Either a person accepted the gospel of the cross or he didn’t. Either his heart was captured by a need recognized or it rejected that thought. Fancy words would only serve to muddle the message.

So Paul could say in 1 Cor. 1:20 “Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” And it is certain, talk to anyone who is unsaved about Christ’s death on the cross and His Resurrection and he’ll look at you like you are a complete idiot. Is the gospel foolishness? To the unsaved it certainly is. It is ridiculous, stupid and dangerous “we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness.” verse 23 But as verse 24 states, “but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” The person who does hear God’s voice and accepts the free gift of salvation, the power of God is demonstrated completely in that person’s awakening from death unto life. He has no question that a quickening has occurred in his own spirit and he has been changed.

It doesn’t take clever arguments, or speeches. You don’t have to be concerned about knowing all kinds of special philosophical terms to evangelize. It is just as Paul said two thousand years ago, and remains the same today. “And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” 1 Cor. 2:1-2 Paul says even he was “with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling” (v.2:3) – you’d think if anyone Paul wold have the most confidence evangelizing; we can take some measure of comfort there.

So next time you are wondering how clever you need to be when sharing the Word, just remember, talk about the cross of Christ. Because, as he writes in ( 1 Cor. 1:30) it is God’s job to save, not ours. We can share the gospel, God does the saving.

[Scriptures taken from the New American Standard Bible © 1995]

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Faith Alone

Posted on November 24, 2012 by JohnJ

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;
whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;
for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.
For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.
Romans 3:23-28

Some months ago my brother and I were discussing the topic of Faith Alone. He mentioned Martin Luther’s translation of Romans 3:28 “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law” where in Luther’s German translation the reformer adds the word “alone” making the reading “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith alone apart from works of the Law” Certainly there have been lots of discussion about this. Was he tampering with Scripture to add a word that wasn’t in any of the extant copies?

But in the historical context of Luther’s new found faith can anyone reasonably find fault? First of all the addition of the word has no impact one way or the other on the direction of the point Paul is making in the verse, which any reasonable individual can see as he reads the book of Romans starting at chapter 1.

And that is because by the time he gets to chapter 3 Paul has discussed the Law and its shortcomings of actually making any person righteous before God. Certainly, if a person could follow the Law in its totality from birth to death that would be one thing, but that has never happened but for one individual – the Lamb of God. So if the Law could not make anyone righteous what was its purpose? Paul indicates its purpose was to point out sin to man and his need for a Savior; and as promised in the Law and the Prophets ( Romans 3:21-22) there was one who would come would to redeem them, and the Jews were waiting for this Messiah for this reason among others.

Reason One

But it is Paul that stresses the point that it must be faith alone that saves.

Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due.
But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness
Romans 4:4-5

First, because if it isn’t faith alone but in conjunction with something man does then man can claim credit, or “due,” as Paul calls it. Or a wage as we’d say today. We work for the wage of salvation. Thus God owes it to us to give us salvation regardless of what we do, regardless of the condition of our heart. Which is why Jesus told his listeners in Matthew 11:12 “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. If with a wage you could gain heaven the condition of the heart would not matter.

Reason Two

But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.
Romans 5:15

But second reason that faith alone is important is because death is involved. Once sin entered the world man died spiritually. ( Ephesians 2:1-2, and Colossians 2:13) A wall, chasm, whatever you want to call it, was set between God and man and man’s spiritual life was extinguished. This is elementary catechism. The problem with man being able to work his way back into salvation in any extent at all is inconceivable because he is dead! To those who think there is anything at all that man can do: pray, the sacraments, good works, or in Luther’s time, and what aggravated him so violently that on All Saints day eve in 1517 he hammered a copy of his 95 Theses to on the door of the Castle Church of Wittenberg, Germany, being a thorns in his side – pay indulgences to remit the penalty of sin – consider this, man is spiritually dead. What part of “dead” is confusing? Just as the cemeteries around the world lay quiet and still so man’s spirit has no power in this lifeless condition. It is only when you read the Scriptures or hear the gospel do you start to witness the power of God having an effect on the soul of mankind. And when Jesus ministered in the first century God’s power was glorified through Him regularly and the dead were raised. And finally on that glorious Sunday after the Lamb of God assumed on His innocent shoulders the totality of sin that had been committed thus far on the earth, and that which was still yet to be committed, again the power of God raised Him bodily from the grave, alive, flesh and blood. And in the following days His disciples were witnesses to this.

But never was a man able to raise himself from the dead. Because dead means no power to do anything but decay. Being spiritually dead one can do nothing to bring oneself spiritually back to life! So there really can be no other possibility other than “faith alone” that brings a person to Christ and a saving faith. I keep coming back to the verse in the gospels, for example Matt. 16:17, flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. This is the free gift of God, something that can’t be obtained by flesh and blood (a term that encompasses every aspect of man’s mechanization). (Compare Acts 8:20) So yes, Luther was outraged by the practices of his day that indulgences were being sold and the poor were parting with their money and getting nothing in return except for false hope. How could he not be enraged that the shepherds of his day were not feeding the flock but instead were doing just the things for which Jesus condemned the rulers of His day. (See Luke 11:52

Luther knew the Scriptures like Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. It was the book of Romans that finally brought him around to a saving faith in God. He may have been an abrasive, pugnacious man but he had a calling to speak God’s word in a time when it was being stifled. Personally I think it can be forgiven him if he added the word “alone” to the verse in Romans 3:28. If you read the book you’ll know that the word is implicit in the verse anyway. It can’t be any other way.

There are things that man can do, sing God’s praises, raise a voice in prayer, cry out for salvation. But it is God who alone creates the universe. God alone breathes into man the breath of life. God alone redeems man from sin and death. Man can ascribe no credit whatsoever for that act. That’s why it is called a “free gift.” You accept it and say “thank you!” The glory is God’s and God’s alone.

[Scriptures taken from the New American Standard Bible © 1995]

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My Thanksgiving

Posted on November 21, 2012 by JohnJ


One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out,
and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger.
And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm.
He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”
Luke 8:22-25
————————

“I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.
Jon 2:3 For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me.
Jonah 2:2-3

We know the thanksgiving of the disciples in the first verses above, they were grateful they weren’t drowned and that the killer storm had disappeared, merely by a word from the Lord.

And Jonah, now he was in a tight place certainly, and his thanksgiving is obvious as well, that the fish threw up giving him his freedom. In both instances prayers were answered out of phenomenally dire circumstances. If you can put yourself in their shoes, or sandals, there seems certainly no escape from their plights but death. Yet, out of the hopelessness came great surprise! Something for which to be thankful.

My own thanksgiving involves nothing so dramatic but still psychologically stressful, at least to me. I’m two days into a seven day AOG (aircraft on ground) On-Call period where I can get awakened in the middle of the night by someone urgently needing aircraft parts. This may sound to you quite harmless to you. But unless you have been in this situation you won’t be able to empathize; but believe me this duty is universally despised in our department. To be awakened out of deep sleep in the middle of the night to answer an urgent call to place an order for an aircraft part with which you are not familiar with a supplier and details and contracts of which you are not familiar is not a comfortable position. And I am already in a fragile mental state, from being stressed out at work anyway! So I’ve been praying fervently that I don’t get any calls. And these first two nights our Lord has graciously answered my prayer!

So I can understand how the disciples felt being tossed about in a small boat on a huge lake with the wind whipping in circles, a soaking, blinding rain driving through their clothes, waves crashing over the sides of the boat filling it up. No wonder they were freaking out! And me, who knows how many weird phone calls I’m going to be getting trying to figure out how to get part from one end of the world to the other for frantic customers desperate to get their planes back in the air, all depending on me to push their parts.

Getting no calls all week is something extremely rare, especially in such a busy time like this. But I know that if the One who designed Quantum Physics, Who constructed nuclear fission from its foundational building blocks, designed and build the universe we see around us, and, oh yeah, calmed the wind and the waves, if He could do that, then rearranging jet parts requirement, logistics and deliveries and requirements should be quite elementary, right?

So I have been praying a lot since I got the On Call laptop Monday.

Now James says let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. James 1:6 And says in Hebrews 11:1 faith is the assurance of things hoped for. Well assuredly I have been hoping for not getting any phone calls. So that sure sounds like it fits the verse. The depth of my thankfulness is boundless, you can’t imagine. I kept waking up and praying and thanking God for His grace and faithfulness and kindness. And in the morning I repeatedly thanked God for His loving-kindness, feeling the sense of relief the disciples must have felt when the boat stopped rocking and the showers stopped and calm was restored. The sense of peace that would have prevailed, because I could feel it too. Ahhhhh.

Will our Lord continue to be so gracious and keep the phone from ringing tonight, tomorrow, and so on? I’m grateful to know this, that it does not depend on me, that His graciousness is His divine gift of surpassing beauty and is utterly incomprehensible. See So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. Romans 9:16 And, Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” Mark 10:27

And I know that He can, He has that kind of love and power. There are lots of verses that show His concern for His children and that they should be persistent in prayer ( Luke 11:8) (Luke 18:1-5)

So on this Thanksgiving eve I thank God for the last two night of calm and peace, and His protection. He is gracious and merciful and a loving Father. Thank You Lord! I just can’t thank You enough!

[Scriptures taken from the New American Standard Bible © 1995]

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