The Home of Forgotten Kings
                                                                                                                                                  by
                                                                                                                                             Josprel

                                                                                                                         2nd Samuel Chapters 14 - 19
                                                                                                                         Particularly Chapter 19:11-12

                                                                                               All Scripture references taken from the "Good News Bible”

King David may have been a man who passionately loved God, but his family life often was in shambles. A study of his life reveals that, among his children, there was immorality, fratricide, treason and even the rape of a brother against a sister.

The rebellious treason of David’s son, Absolom, against his father resulted in the temporary overthrow of David from his throne and his son declaring himself king of Israel. Fearing for his life at the hand of Absolom, the king fled Jerusalem, while the generals of his armies, the brothers, Joab and Abishai, led the troops still loyal to the king against Absolom and his rebels.

Absolom was a very handsome young man with extremely long hair. The battle went bad for the rebels and, as Absolom was fleeing astride a mule, his flowing hair caught in the branches of a tree. The mule sped on, leaving the young rebel helplessly hanging by his hair. One of David’s men saw what happened.

“Sir," he reported to Joab, “I saw Absolom hanging in an oak tree.”

“Why didn’t you kill him on the spot? I would have given you ten pieces of silver and a belt.”

“Even if you gave me a thousand pieces of silver, I wouldn’t I wouldn’t lift a finger against the king’s son. We all heard the king command you   . . ., ‘For my sake, don’t harm the young man, Absolom.’ But if I had disobeyed the king and killed Absolom, the king would have heard about it . . . and you would not have defended me.”

Then ten of Joab’s men went and killed Absolom. Hearing of his son’s death, despite Joab’s protests, David mourned and wept for his son. He afterward sent a message to the chief priests in Jerusalem, asking, “Why should you be the last to help bring back the king to his palace?” You are my relatives [brethren   KJV], my own flesh and blood; why should you be the last to bring me back?” (2nd Samuel 19:11 12).

According to the above Bible passages, David had fled Jerusalem to avoid being assassinated by his son Absolom, who coveted the throne. Crossing the Jordan River, David waited there until a report came of Absolom’s defeat. He then dispatches a message to some of his subjects who had remained unharmed in Jerusalem. The message was directed to the leaders of the tribe of Judah, David’s own tribe   his own relatives, which in effect asked, “Why haven’t you expressed a desire for my return. Why haven’t you brought me back to be your king?  I’m waiting for you to bring me back.”

There are some lukewarm believers who have peritted Absoloms to ascend to the thrones of their hearts. These Absoloms cause their hearts to rebel against Jesus Christ, He who is the rightful King. To such a believer, through the voice of the Holy Spirit, Christ asks, “When are you going to bring me back? I’m waiting to once again return as King of your heart and life. Are you going to be the last to bring me back?”

“Yes, you are a Christian. Yes Jesus Christ is your Savior. Yes, you love Him. But you nonetheless are holding something back from Him. You have not made Him your King. So, is it any wonder that the voice of the Holy Spirit reminds you that Jesus Christ desires to be welcomed back as your King? He’s waiting for you to dedicate yourself completely to Him.

Some time back, this writer read an article concerning how rulers who had been deposed fled to a certain place for refuge to await the possibility that they might one day be invited to return to power. To this end, their paramount concern was the political progress of their former kngdoms.

Jesus Christ also waits in the hope that those spiritually have sent Him to the home of forgotten kings, will soon call Him to return. What will determine such a return is the spiritual condition of one’s heart.

The Old Testament records that, initially, God’s perfect plan for the nation of Israel was that He was to be their king, but Israel wanted a human king. “We want to be like other nations. Give us a king.” So God acquiesced, but not before warning them of tremendous problems that would result from their choice. True to God’s warning, Israel experienced the grim consequences. After winning a war against a determined enemy, Saul, Israel’s first king, disobeyed God’s command that all of the captured enemy booty was to be destroyed. Israel was to claim nothing of it for itself. Saul also disobeyed the order to not offer sacrifices himself, but to wait until the Prophet Samuel came to do so. He was a headstrong king who always attempted to excuse his sinful actions. Though there were several good kings in the history of Israel, many were depraved, and some even took to worshiping pagan gods. The nation had sent God to the home of forgotten kings, and ultimately was conquered by the nations who worshiped these false gods.

Webster’s definition of a king is: “A person who is a hereditary sovereign.”  That person rules by right of birth. Jesus Christ, the heavenly King, also rules by right of birth; He is a king by birthright. There is an account of a seminary professor who shocked his students by declaring, “I’m in God’s second best will!”

He went on to explain that when he was only a young preacher, God called him as a foreign missionary to a certain country, but he had just received a good job and he rebelled against the call, until that particular mission field closed its doors to more missionaries. “I refused to go, and so now I’m in God’s second best will,” he sadly repeated. What had happened to him? He had sent God to the home of forgotten kings. He had forgotten that Christ was his king by birthright. The results may not always be so drastic, but to dethrone Christ from our hearts for even a short while is a dangerous thing to do.

                                                                                                                            Continued in Part Two
 

                                                                                             Formulated Controls on God
                                                                                                                by
                                                                                                            Josprel

The theology of the Apostle Paul emphasizes that mankind possesses the vestiges of an instinctive awareness of God - an innate realization that humanity owes an obligation to Him; an awareness that has been integrated within man at creation. Moreover, the Apostle writes in chapter one of his letter to the Romans, since earliest times, men were able to discern God's existence and eternal power by the things He
created. Though aware of these things, they refused to retain the true knowledge of God in their minds or admit their obligation to Him, preferring instead, to invent ridicules ideas of what God was like and how they should serve Him.

Mankind deliberately refused to acknowledge God as He really is, Paul wrote. They knew the reality about Him, but refused to worship Him in truth. Because they chose to believe lies, God released them to their own corrupt devices. He permitted humanity to reap the results of its own reprobate thinking. Men created and worshiped their own gods; gods made to resemble birds, animals, snakes and humans; the things God
has created. As a result, Paul stated, at the Judgment Day, when men stand before God, they will have no valid excuse for not having followed the truth, since they once knew it and deliberately chose not to follow it.

I. Men find it impossible to divest themselves of the need to worship something. The awareness of the spiritual realm is universally innate in humanity; it has always been a part of the human psyche. While some do not recognize its lesser manifestations, the need to worship is a part of us all. In his book, "Primitive Religions," published in 1891, Professor G.
T. Bettany recorded that, though some tribes may be without a higher sense of religion, few, if any, do not believe in spiritual beings of some kind.

Charles Darwin in his "Descent of Man," (vol i; p. 143) also noted this tendency in the human race. He wrote, "If . . . we include in the term 'religion' the belief in unseen or spiritual agencies . . . this belief seems to be universal with the less civilized races."

The animist's fear that spiritual beings inhabit natural objects and must be appeased, the dread that the spirits of the dead must be worshiped to prevent them from harming the living, the worship of the spirits in the powers of nature, the belief of totemism that certain animals and plants must be respected to refrain them from injuring humans, the rituals of sorcery, shamanism, witchcraft and numerous other formulas, are religious practices utilized by primitives seeking to control the gods before whom they feel a sense of guilt. These practices bear witness that even remote tribes possess vestiges of an awareness of the existence of God, and sense that mankind has offended Him; and therefore an obligation is due Him. True, this perception of a deity whom men have offended is corrupted, but it is nevertheless real.

The physician Luke dramatically illustrated the deep-rooted, intrinsic fear in the human psyche that the gods are displeased with men and must be appeased, during his travels with the Apostle Paul. While in Athens, he and the Apostle noticed idols everywhere. An altar bearing the plaintive inscription, “To the unknown god,” especially caught their attention. The Athenians feared that, in their ignorance, they might have neglected to appease a god unknown to them. In an effort to diminish the risks of incurring his wrath - should such a god exist – they fashioned an altar. No doubt suitable ritual practices were concocted. It was a pathetic attempt to control the unknown god and bend him to their will, though the Athenians never could be sure they had succeeded. The account is a typical example of the insecurity felt by those who have not learned the revealed nature of the true God. It is precisely this lack of understanding that generates profound terror in them. Men do not know God, but have a deep-rooted sense of guilt toward Him, so they fear Him.
In their fear they attempt to manipulate Him.
*****
"A formula is something that worked once, and keeps trying to do it again." (Henry S. Haskins; "Family Word Finder," Readers Digest, page 322.)

Since the beginning of the apostasy, men have invented practices by which they endeavor to place human restrictions on God. Our society has fallen heir to this propensity in our race. As a result, the field of religion in our generation has become a hotbed of religious formulas that endeavor to shrink God to human proportions. Whole cults have proliferated around such formulas. In Christianity, denominations have split over them. In the past few generations, such tactics have devastated the American church.

Originally, with humanity's rejection of truth in the infancy of our race, the practice of mankind’s need to worship took simple forms – the adoration of idols, animals, potentates, sun, moon, and planets, et cetera, endeavoring to control or manipulate these “gods,” by inventing religious formulas for that purpose. Although this rudimentary idolatry is still practiced in some communities, among "civilized" peoples, the modern endeavor to control the true God manifests a more sophisticated expression. Until descending into disgrace, several televangelist pervaded the screen with their name-it-and-claim-it ballyhoos, which is nothing more than the proclamation that men can control God and bend Him to their will by simply naming their desires and claiming it already accomplished. By their doing this, God supposedly was compelled to grant these desires.

However, God is not an infinite vending machine; we cannot insert a claimed desire, say we believe it to be accomplished, and out pops that which we claimed. Neither will God consent to being controlled by men, formulas not withstanding.

"Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2).

This is the only "formula" necessary for a right relationship with the true God.
                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                              -30-
                                                                                                        © Josprel
                                                                                                josprel@yahoo.com
















 

                                                                                                         Five Smooth Stones
                                                                                                                           by
                                                                                                                     Josprel

                                                                                                                    Part Two


Jesse sent his youngest son, David, to the battlefront with food for his three soldier sons.

“Take this half-bushel of roasted corn and these ten loaves of bread to your brothers in the camp. And take these ten cheeses to the commanding officer. Find out how your brothers are getting along and bring back something to show that you saw then and that they are well. King Saul, your brothers, and all the other Israelites are in Elah Valley fighting the Philistines.”

When David arrived at the battlefront, he deposited the food with the commissary officer.  Then ran to his brothers at the battle line and inquired how they were getting along. As they talked, Goliath came forward, challenging Saul’s warriors as he previously had done, and they ran in terror.

“Look at him; listen to him.  King Saul has promised a big reward to the man who kills him.”

“What will the man get who kills this Philistine and frees Israel from this disgrace? After all, who is this Philistine to defy the army of the living God?”

The others told David of the reward the one who killed Goliath would receive. But his brothers overheard him taking to the men and became angry with him.

“You little smart aleck, you!” said his oldest brother, Eliab, what are you doing here; who’s taking care of your sheep? You just came to watch the fighting!”

“Now what have I done?” David asked, “Can’t I even ask questions?” He turned to another, asking the same question; each time he asked, he received the same answer: “The man who kills Goliath will receive a big reward. He also will be given the king’s daughter in marriage, and his father’s family will not be required to pay any more taxes.”

Some of the men who heard David, reported it to the king. Saul sent for the shepherd.

“No one should be afraid of this Philistine, your Majesty! I’ll go and fight him,” David told Saul.

“No; how can you fight him?” the king asked, “You’re just a boy, and he has been a soldier all his life.”

“Your Majesty, I take care of my father’s sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear steals a lamb, I go after it and attack it, and rescue the lamb. I grab it by the throat and beat it to death. I’ve killed lions and bears, and I’ll do the same to this heathen Philistine. The Lord has saved me from lions and bears, and he will save me form this Philistine.”

“All right,” Saul answered, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”

The king gave David his own armor to wear. “ I can’t fight with this,” David said, “I’m not used to it.”

He removed it and took his shepherd’s stick. Then he picked five smooth stones from a stream and put them in his bag. With his sling ready, he went out to meet Goliath, who started walking toward David with his shield bearer walking in from of him. Goliath kept approaching closer, but when he got a good look at David, he was filled with disdain because his enemy was just a handsome boy.”

“What is that stick for; do you think I’m a dog?” he asked, calling down curses from his god on David, “Come ahead. I’ll give your body to the birds and animals to eat!”

“You’re coming against me with your sword, spear, and javelin, but I’m coming against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, God of the Israelite armies, which you have defied. This very day, the Lord will put you in my power; I will defeat you and cut off your head. And I will give the bodies of the Philistine soldiers to the birds and animals to eat. Then the whole world will know that Israel has a God, and everyone here will see that the Lord does not need swords or spears to save his people. He is victorious in battle, and he will put all of you in our power.”

Goliath started walking toward David again, and David ran quickly toward the Philistine battle line to fight him. He reached into his bag and took out a stone, which he slung at Goliath. It hit him on the forehead and broke his skull, and Goliath fell face downward on the ground.

And so, without a sword, David killed Goliath with a sling and stone! He ran to him, stood over him, took Goliath’s sword from its sheath, and cut off his head and killed him.

When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they ran away. As the Israelites shouted and pursued them, the Philistines fell wounded all along the road leading to Shaaraim.

When the Israelites returned, they looted the Philistine camp. David got Goliath’s head and took it to Jerusalem, but he kept Goliath’s weapons.   
       
What a tremendous lesson for all of us! God frequently uses little things to demonstrate His power. He often uses things that appear insignificant to defeat obstacles that the world considers insurmountable.

Gathering the smooth stones of confidence in God from His stream of faith, each believer ought to step forward into the Lord's will, in the knowledge that He ever is with us.

                                                                          As an anonymous hymnist of yesteryear wrote:

                                                                                           "I've seen the lightning flashing,
                                                                                            And heard the thunder roll;
                                                                                            I've felt sin's breakers dashing,
                                                                                            Trying to conquer my soul;
                                                                                             I've heard the voice of my Savior,
                                                                                             Telling me still to fight on;
                                                                                             He promised never to leave me,
                                                                                             Never to leave me alone."

                                                                                                                Chorus:
                                                                                             "No, never alone!
                                                                                              No, never alone!
                                                                                              He promised never to leave me,
                                                                                              Never to leave me alone!
                                                                                              No, never alone!
                                                                                              No, never alone!
                                                                                              He promised never to leave me,
                                                                                              Never to leave me alone."

                                                                                      (Hymn, "Never Alone"; Composer anonymous).
                                                                                                                           -30-

                                                                                                                © Josprel
                                                                                                            josprel@verizon.net

                                                                                                           Five Smooth Stones
                                                                                                                          by
                                                                                                                      Josprel

                                                                                                                    Part One

The Apostle John recorded the indispensable difference between a true shepherd and a hireling (John 10:11-14) - "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd . . ."

A good shepherd loves his sheep, but so does a wolf - only in another fashion. A wolf loves a meal of mutton; it considers such a meal delicious. So do lions, coyotes, bears, wild dogs, hyenas, and other predators. These all endanger the sheep and also the shepherd, without whose protection the flock has no chance of fending off the predators. No one better human hero exemplifies a true shepherd then King David, who has been called, "The Shepherd King of Israel."

God sent the Prophet Samuel to David’s hometown of Bethlehem to anoint a new king from among the sons of Jesse, David’s father. Upon Samuel's arrival at Bethlehem, Jesse's eldest son, Eliab, was the first to come before him. Apparently, Eliab appeared like kingly material, for so impressed was the prophet with his appearance that he exclaimed, "Surely the Lord's anointed is before Him!" (1st Samuel 16:6).

Nonetheless, Eliab's manly proportions did not impress God, who said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

One by one, David's seven brothers appeared before Samuel, but in turn each was rejected, no doubt puzzling the prophet, for he asked Jesse, "The Lord has not chosen these . . . Are all of the young men here?" (Verses 10 11).

“The youngest remains. He is keeping the sheep," Jesse informed him.

“Send for him; bring him here,” Samuel instructed.

When the young shepherd arrived, God said to the prophet, "Anoint him; this is the one."

This account of David teaches three important lessons:

1. God calls busy people into His service: David was obediently tending his father's flocks when God sent Samuel to anoint him as king of Israel. Those who desire that God grant them responsible tasks must first be responsible to the tasks already before them, no matter how mundane they may seem. Sadly, many refuse the hidden, unglamorous tasks in a local church because they receive no public acclaim for doing them. David, however, was faithfully performing his task in a field. And it was there from which he was called to receive the anointing as the king of Israel. God will grant no higher responsibility to one who is unfaithful to a lesser one.

2. God does not gauge a person by ordinary standards: God applies His own measure to assess if He may use a person for His glory: Apparently, all of David's brothers appeared more kinglike than he. Yes, he was "ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking," but so are many teenagers. These characteristics do not qualify one to be a king. However, because of his outward appearance, Eliab impressed Samuel as being kingly material, yet Eliab was one who cowered with the rest of Saul's army when Goliath, the Philistine warrior - some nine feet, eight inches in height - defied the Israelite warriors by challenging them to send someone to fight one-to-one with him.

"He wore bronze armor that weighed about 125 pounds and a bronze helmet. His legs were also protected by bronze armor, and he carried a bronze javelin slung over his shoulder. His spear was a thick as the bar on a weaver's loom and its iron head weighed about fifteen pounds. A soldier walked in front of him carrying his shield" (1 Samuel 17: 4-7; Good News Bible; American Bible Society; New York).

3. God often uses those whom others consider unworthy for a task and, through them, achieves astounding victories for His name: Samuel recorded that Goliath "stood and cried out unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, 'Why have you come armed for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the warriors of Saul? Choose someone from among you to come down here and battle me. If he is able to fight and kill me, then we will be your slaves; but if I overcome and kill him, then you shall be our slaves . . . I defy the armies of Israel today. Send a man to battle me'" (1st Samuel 17:8-10).

Eliab, who seemed so kinglike to Samuel, cowered before the giant with the rest of Saul's army, not daring to accept the challenge. It required the simple faith of the teenage shepherd, David, who had tested his faith in God by killing lions and bears who dared to endanger his flock. He believed the God who had given him victory over the lions and bears would grant him victory over the blaspheming Goliath.

                                                                                                      Continued in Part Two

                  The Pastor of the No-Fault Church                                                                               by                                                                                                 Josprel

Situated in Asia Minor (modern Turkey), Smyrna was among the most prosperous cities in the Roman province of Asia. Presumably, the city was evangelized through the Apostle Paul's missionary efforts at Ephesus (Acts 19:10). Some forty years later, when Christ critiqued the seven churches in Asia (Rev. 1:11), the Smyrna church was one of the two not faulted by Him.

 The church was situated in an environment of wealth. Smyrna's bay on the Aegean shore, forty miles northeast of Ephesus, provided a natural port of commerce for the trade caravans that passed through the Hermas Valley. An important business center and one of the most beautiful cities in Asia Minor, Smyrna was called "The Lovely Ornament of Asia."

The word Smyrna means myrrh, a bitter tasting, and sweet-smelling gum resin exuded by a genus of thorny shrubs. It has medicinal usages and is distilled into perfumed oils and incense. The Hebrew word denotes “distilling.” In Scriptures myrrh is associated with suffering, death, anointing, and hope. The Song of Solomon uses the word symbolically in describing the hopeful preparations of the Bride Church for the arrival of her Bridegroom. Myrrh also was a major ingredient in the recipe for Israel’s Levitical anointing oil (Ex. 30:23).

In the ancient Greek language, the word, myrrh, connotes perfumed oil. The Magi (commonly referred to as the Wise Men and also the Three Kings) presented myrrh to the child, Jesus. While hanging on the cross, the suffering Savior was offered wine laced with myrrh (Mark 15:23). Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes to embalm the body of Jesus (John 19:39).

Myrrh is a word aptly associated with a suffering church determined to not promise. Distilled through bitter persecutions and tribulations, the Smyrna church manifested the sweet fragrance of a steadfast loyalty to Christ. It continued "faithful unto death" (Rev. 2:10).

 Beautiful wealthy Smyrna was the center of a fanatical cult of emperor worshipers. During the reigns of Nero and Domitian (A.D. 37-96), the cult severely persecuted the church. Trade guilds, opened only to those who acknowledged the pagan gods, controlled the city’s employment and commerce. Ostracized, Smyrna Christians were among the city's poor; nonetheless, Christ Jesus considered them rich with everlasting treasures (Rev. 2:9).

Polycarp, a pupil of the Apostle John, was the pastor of the Smyrna church at the writing of the Book of Revelation, and personified the uncompromising steadfastness of the church. He encouraged this stance in his congregation. Polycarp once heard that some Christian young men, discouraged at being boycotted by the trade guilds, were considering compromise.

He questioned them. “Why are you doing this?” he asked.
 
"We must work,” they responded.

“Why must you work?” he further asked.

“We must work in order to eat,” the young men replied.

Polycarp continued his interrogation, “Why must you eat?”

“We must eat to live," they responded.

"Why must you live?" Polycarp asked.

“We must work, so that we may eat and feed our families.”

"There is only one thing we all must do. We all must remain true to Christ Jesus," Polycarp declared.

Polycarp suffered martyrdom at Smyrna. The pagans called Christians “atheists” for refusing to acknowledge the pagan idols as gods. In the amphitheater, the Roman proconsul pressed Polycarp to save himself by chanting with the mob, "Away with the atheists."

Pointing at the pagan mob, Polycarp shouted, "Away with the atheists!"

"Polycarp, have pity on your great age," the proconsul urged him, "Revile your Christ and I will release you."

Polycarp answered, "Eighty and six years have I served Him and He has never done me wrong. How can I blaspheme Him, my King, who has saved me? I am a Christian!"

The mob howled for his burning. And, as Polycarp, the pastor of the no-fault church at Smyrna, loudly praised God, the flames released his spirit to be with Christ Jesus.

"Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life" (Rev. 2:10).

                                                                                                                                              -30-
                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                             © Josprel (Joseph Perrello)
                                                                                                                                  josprel@verizon.net

                                                                                                                        Do Business Till I Return
                                                                                                                                            by
                                                                                                                                         Josprel


According to at least one of the parables of the Lord Jesus Christ, God, the Father apparently functions as a capitalist, who expects a generous return on that which He invests. In the Gospel composed by the physician Luke - traveling companion to the Apostle Paul - chapter nineteen records a parable, known to theologians by various titles: “The Parable of the Talents,” “The Unwise Servant,”  “The Unprofitable Servant,” “The Hidden Talent,” among others. Verse thirteen ends with a direct command issued by a nobleman to his servants. Soon departing on a long journey, during which he was to receive a kingdom, he entrusted to the discretion of his servants, the investment of various amounts of his wealth. When we understand that the Lord Jesus was portraying himself as the departing nobleman, and depicting his followers as the servants, the parable requires only minimal commentary.

Entrusting his servants with one "mina" each - nearly twenty dollars in our era, but in biblical times an amount somewhat equal to the wages for one hundred days of labor - the nobleman charged them, "Do business till I return" (literal translation). True to their commissions, nine servants invested the money wisely, gaining a good return. The tenth, though he understood his master's command, sought no profit, choosing instead, to hide the amount entrusted to him.

Upon his return, the master discovered that this servant not only neglected to invest the mina for fear of loosing it, he failed to place it at interest in even the safest, most conservative type of institution; he made not the slightest endeavor to fulfill his commission. He did absolutely nothing, and then he refused to take
responsibility for his neglect.

When called to account by the nobleman, who now was a king, the servant actually implied that the blame lay with his master. "Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief," he whimpered, "for I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect where you did not deposit, and reap where you did not sow."

The master replied, "I will judge you and condemn you out of your own mouth you wicked slave! You knew that I was a stern man, picking up what
I did not put down, and gathering where I did not plant! Then why did you not put my money in a bank, so that on my return I might have collected it with interest?” (Verses 22 - 23: literal translation) The master then charged those who stood by to take the mina from the neglectful servant and give it to the one who had ten minas.

The kernel truth in this account is that maintenance only, no-gain spirituality, ultimately will encounter the Lord's disapproval. It is a spirituality that attempts to please Him with less than even the minimum of effort. If the servant really believed that which he claimed to believe regarding his master, he would have endeavored all the more to please him. What he actually did was rationalize his own laziness and lack of industry. While his fellow servants were keeping faith with their master, this servant was using the master's absence as an opportunity for idleness.

Though he did not confide it to them, the king actually placed his servants in a test situation. While still a nobleman, it appears he understood his kingdom required faithful administrators; therefore, during his absence, he tested their various capabilities, industry, dispositions, and trustworthiness. After receiving his kingdom, he appointed those who were faithful during his absence to exalted administrative positions, as he had intended to do all along. The king tested them in lesser responsibilities, before promoting them to more important ones. The unprofitable servant received nothing.

The Lord never promotes the disobedient, the slothful, or those without initiative.

                                                                                                                                            -30-

                                                                                                                                        © Josprel
                                                                                                                                 josprel@verizon.net

                                                                                             Josprel welcomes comments from the readers of this article.

To: Pastor Rogers
From: Josprel

How do I become a full member of CUF?  Unless. of couirse, I don't qualify to become one?

Thanks,

Josprel

josprel@verizon.net

Yesteryear's Great Soul Winners Write on the Baptism with the Holy Spirit                                           
                                 Researched, Analyzed and Compiled
                                                    by                                                                                                                          Josprel       
                                               
                                               Part Two

                                                                                                                                                                       DR. CHARLES G. FINNEY:

The revivals under the ministry of that quintessential evangelist, Charles G. Finney, did not merely stir the churches of the 1800's, it shook them into an awakening, most often, in no gentle manner. Under his ministry, entire cities and communities were shut down by the convicting power of the Holy Spirit., a number of them a short distance from Josprel's hometown.

A brilliant scholar and educator, Finney was a Bible expositor of unequaled intellect. He recorded that, subsequent to his salvation, he was endued with a mighty Baptism with the Holy Spirit., the source of his power. Recording his salvation experience, he stated that one day he went to "a woods" to seek God for forgiveness from sin. He wrote that ". . . Sin appeared awful, infinite. It broke me down before the Lord. Just at that point this passage of Scripture seemed to drop into my mind with a flood of light: 'Then shall ye go and pray unto me, and I will harken [sp. Finny's] unto you. Then shall ye seek me and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.' I instantly seized hold of this with my heart . . . . That seemed to settle the question."

Persisting in prayer, Finney continued "to receive and appropriate promises for a long time" before returning to town. His mind was quiet, his conviction was gone, as was "the load of sin under which I had been laboring."

Entering his law office he started to sing hymns. "But as soon as I began to sing those sacred words, I began to weep. It seemed as if my heart was all liquid. . . . After trying to suppress my tears, I put up my instrument and stopped singing." After dinner, he and his law partner "were engaged in removing our books and furniture to another office. We were very busy at this, but had little conversation all the afternoon. My mind remained in that profoundly tranquil state. There was a great sweetness and tenderness in my thoughts and feelings."

Toward evening, Finney's law partner went home and Finney went into prayer, and experienced a vision of Christ. "It seemed to me that I bathed his feet with my tears."

After the vision, he entered his front office. "But as I turned and was about to take a seat by the fire, I received a mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost. Without any expectation of it, without ever having the thought in my mind that there was any such thing for me, without any recollection that I had ever heard the thing mentioned by any person in the world, the Holy Spirit descended upon me in a manner that seemed to go through me, body and soul. I could feel the impression, like a wave of electricity, going through and through me . . . It seemed like the very breath of God. I can recollect distinctly that it seemed to fan me, like immense wings . . . I wept aloud with joy and love; and I do not know but I should say, I literally bellowed out the unutterably gushings of my heart" ("Charles G. Finney, An Autobiography"; Oberlin College; Fleming H. Revell Company; Old Tappan, New Jersey; 1876, 1908; 15, 21).

"A number of suggestive phrases    'Baptized with the Holy Spirit,' 'Filled with the Holy Ghost,' 'The Holy Ghost fell on them,' 'The gift of the Holy Ghost was poured out,' 'Receive the Holy Ghost,' 'The Holy Ghost came upon them,' 'Gifts of the Holy Ghost,' 'I send the promise of my Father upon you,' 'Endued with power from on high,' are used in the New Testament to describe one and the same experience" ("What the Bible Teaches"; R. A. Torry; 270).
                                                                                                                                                                                        Josprel's comment:

As Torry noted above, a word study of the Biblical terms used in connection to the believer's relationship to the Holy Spirit reveals that the phrases, "baptized with the Holy Spirit" and "filled with the Holy Ghost" are synonymous. It therefore follows that the command: "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is access; but be filled with the Spirit;" (Ephesians 5:18) refers to the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. Moreover, the command calls to mind the accusation made against the upper room believers in Acts 2: 13: "Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine," also a possible proof text that the command to be filled with the Spirit in Ephesians 5:18, refers to the Baptism with the Holy Spirit.
                                                                                                                                                                                             - 30-
                               
                    Josprel welcomes reader comments on this posting.

   Yesteryear's Great Soul Winners Write on the Baptism with the Holy Spirit
                                                                                                   
                         Researched, Analyzed and Compiled                                                                                             by                                                                                                              Josprel
                                                                                                                                         (Josprel's comment)                                                                                                                                                                                              Part One

Pentecostals/Charismatics are not alone in their belief that the Baptism with the Holy Spirit is subsequent to salvation; nor are they the first to hold this view. Many of the great non Pentecostal evangelists and
teachers of yesteryear    spiritual giants whose names are synonymous with soul winning    held to this view of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit long before there was a Pentecostal or a Charismatic movement. It is not recorded that they spoke with other tongues, but they did teach that the Baptism with the Holy Spirit is subsequent to salvation.

                                                                                                        DR. R. A. TORRY:

Most evangelicals know of R. A. Torry, a superb teacher and a close friend of D. L. Moody. Torry was the first president of the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. He also served as co pastor of the Moody church in that same city. In his book "The Baptism With The Holy Spirit," Torry stated: "Religious biography abounds in instances of men who have worked along as best they could until one day they were led to see there was such an experience as the baptism with the Holy Spirit and to seek and obtain it; from that hour there came into their service a new power that utterly transformed its character. Finny, Brainerd, and Moody were cases in point. But cases of this character are not confined to a few exceptional men. The author has personally met and corresponded with those who could testify to the new power that God granted them through the baptism with the Holy Spirit. These hundreds of men and women were from all branches of Christian service. Many of them were ministers, Sunday school teachers, personal workers, fathers and mothers. What we have in promise in the words of Christ many have, and all may have, in glad experience. 'Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.'" ("The Baptism with the Holy Spirit"; Torry, R. A; Bethany Fellowship, Inc.; Minneapolis; 1972, 25).
                                                                                                                                  (Josprel comment)

Torry's position of ". . . what many have. . . all may have" always has been the position of the Pentecostal/Charismatic movements. The Baptism with the Holy Spirit is ". . . not something for a select few," as some maintain the Pentecostals/Charismatics teach. The Promise has been made to every believer, but not every believer believes the Promise

Torry also wrote: "We may have a very clear call to service; it may be as clear as the apostles had    but the charge is laid upon us, as upon them, that before we begin that service we must 'tarry until ye be clothed with power from on high.' This enduement (sp. Torry's) with power is through the baptism with the Holy Spirit . . ." (Torry; ibid; 30 31).

Torry precisely summarized the view of modern Pentecostals/Charismatics when he wrote: "It is quite possible to have something, yes much of the Spirit's presence and work in the heart and yet come short of that special fullness and work known in the Bible as the baptism or filling with the Holy Spirit" (ibid; flyleaf page).

In his classic work on the great doctrines of the Bible, Dr. Torry also wrote: "A man may be regenerated by the Holy Spirit and still not be baptized with the Holy Spirit. In regeneration there is an impartation of life, and the one who receives it is saved; in the Baptism with the Holy Spirit there is an impartation of power and the one who receives itis fitted for service. Every true believer has the Holy Spirit. But not every believer has the Baptism with the Holy Spirit, though every believer may have." ("What the Bible Teaches"; Torry, R. A.; Fleming H. Revell Company; Chicago; 1898; 271).

"To be regenerated by the Holy Spirit is one thing; to be baptized with the Holy Spirit is something different, something further. This is evident from Acts 1:5. There Jesus said, 'Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.' They were not then baptized with the Holy Spirit. But they were already regenerated. Jesus himself had pronounced them so. In John 15:3, He said to the same men, 'Now ye are clean through the word' (cf. James 1:18; 1 Pet. 1:23). And in John 13:10; 'Ye are clean, but not all,' excepting by 'but not all' the one unregenerate man in the apostolic company, Judas Iscariot (See John 13:11). The apostles, excepting Judas Iscariot, were then already regenerate men, but they were not yet baptized with the Holy Spirit.

"From this it is evident that regeneration is one thing and the baptism with the Holy Spirit is something different, something further. One can be regenerated and still not be baptized with the Holy Spirit" ("The Baptism with the Holy Spirit"; R. A. Torry; 16 17 All Bible references Torry's).
                                                                                                                            (Josprel's comment)

More than one hundred years ago -   before 1898 -   Dr. R. A. Torry taught exactly what Pentecostal/Charismatic Christians teach today concerning the difference between the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit and the subsequent impartation of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit for service, an impartation available to every believer.

                                                                                                        DR. D. L. MOODY:

Dwight Lyman Moody was one of the greatest evangelists the Church has ever known. It is reported that, in an era of slow travel and a limited media, his ministry took him over one million miles, and that he preached to some 100 million people.

In "Bush Aglow," a biography of Dr. Moody, Richard Day included a chapter titled: "And Copies Pentecostal Strategy." He quoted Moody as saying, with choking voice and tear filled eyes, "'If you think anything of me,
if you love me, pray for me that God may anoint me for the work in Chicago. I want to be filled with the Spirit, that I may preach the Gospel as never before. We want to see the salvation of God as never before.' Thus he began the copying of the Pentecostal strategy with emphases on prayer; prayer for the Holy Spirit." ("Bush Aglow"; Day, Richard E; The Judson Press; Philadelphia: 1936; 311).

R. A. Torry certainly understood what Moody, his close friend and co-worker, meant by the "Pentecostal strategy." He quoted Moody as saying in a discussion on the Baptism with the Holy Spirit: "Oh, why will they split hairs? Why don't they see that this is just the one thing that they themselves need? They are good teachers, they are wonderful teachers, and I am so glad to have them here, but why will they not see that the baptism with the Holy Ghost is just the one touch that they themselves need?" (D. L. Moody, as quoted by R. A. Torry in: "The Baptism with the Holy Spirit"; flyleaf page).

                                                                                                                                (Josprel's comment)
An excellent question, Dr.. Moody! Why, indeed?

                                                                                                                            Continued in Part Two

                                                                                                                         

My thanks for your knowledgeable response.  And I wish you, the entire staff and each member of CUF a Christ-filled Christmas and a blessed year 2007. MARANATHA!

Josprel

                                                                                                    Things That Cannot be Shaken - Part Two
                                                                                                                                  by
                                                                                                                             Josprel

There is no permanency for a nation that forgets or out-rightly rejects God.  In our era, the Soviet Union is a quintessential example of this truth.  It leaders often vaunted their atheism; it disintegrated at the instigation of an American president who knew and loved God. Even so, America also is being weighed in the balances by God.  And though we grieve to mention it, America also is found wanting.  In the last several decades, our nation has had one president assassinated, one attorney general also assassinated, a civil rights leader assassinated, an entire administration quake and then fall, and an attempted presidential assassination.

In our lifetime, America has experienced race riots, youth rebellions, the undermining of family values, the abortion of millions upon millions of pre-born infants, the acceptance of the homosexual agenda, legal wedges driven between parents and their children, God shut out of the classroom and replaced by humanism, which is undermining our schools and all levels of our governments.

It may be a beneficial, though not very pleasant thing, to experience social earthquakes.  I know a literal earthquake can be terrifying and I can think of nothing as attention-getting as one. I served a lengthy tour of duty with the U.S. Air Force, and was assigned to Japan, an island nation prone to devastating earthquakes. More than once I felt tremors under my feet.  Imagine if you will, taking off and landing a plane, when the runway suddenly begins heaving and rolling.  Thankfully, no one at our airfield ever was hurt as a result of an earthquake, but we certainly were apprehensive. Yes, an earthquake certainly catches one’s attention, and this is what occurred at the crucifixion of Christ.  “The earth shook, the rocks split apart, the graves broke open, and many of God’s people who had died were raised to life. They left the graves and after Jesus rose from death, they went into the Holy City, where many people saw them. When the army officer and the soldiers with him who were watching Jesus saw the earthquake and everything else that happened, they were terrified and said ‘He really was the Son of God!’” (Matthew 27:51-54; “The New Testament in Today’s Modern English”: The American Bible Society”).

There may be times when personal “earthquakes” shake our own lives.  As we pass through them, it will stabilize and bless us to meditate on things that cannot be shaken.

The Word of God Cannot be Shaken! 

In Psalm 138:2 David wrote: “I will worship toward your holy temple, And praise Your name For your lovingkindness and Your truth: For you have magnified Your word above Your name” (Psalm 138:2). “The New King James Version.”

We should permit these words of David to saturate our souls.  He is exalting because God rests His reputation upon the truthfulness of His word.  Governments may lie, persons may be untruthful, legislators and others may not keep their promises, but God’s word never fails; He rests His reputation upon His truthfulness.  His word cannot be shaken.  It never returns void.

The Word of Jesus Christ Cannot be Shaken!

Referring to His second coming, Jesus states: “But in those days, [Matthew 24: 29, includes the word ‘immediately’ before the following phrase] after the tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.  And they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory   .  .  .   Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my word shall not pass away” (Mark 13:24-25 & 31). Our Lord assures us that His word is eternally more durable than heaven itself.  It shall never pass away!  As finite creatures, we find it impossible to fathom such mysteries. 

How can the powers of the heavens be shaken, thereby creating what amounts to heaven-quakes?  The Pulpit Commentary states: “The powers may here mean those great unseen forces of nature by which the universe is now held in equipoise.  When the Creator wills it, these powers shall be shaken.” 

How can words [promises] endure forever?  As this author meditated upon this question, he concluded that this is possible only when an eternal redeemer such as our Lord Jesus Christ makes the promises.   As to His other eternal promises to us, when he transforms us like unto His own image, we shall be continuing recipients of all of them, among them the promise that where He is we also shall be.

The Person of God Cannot be Shaken!

Some time ago, the author listened to a radio discussion by two liberal women ministers. They were discussing their plans to change the Bible by removing all masculine gender references to God and replace them with the neuter.   Of course, we all realize that God is neither male nor female; He is God.  Nonetheless, condescending to our finite comprehension, He inspired the Holy writers to refer to Him in the male gender.  Not only so, but He chose to send us His Son, in the form of a man.  In doing so God did not discriminate against women; rather, he created in Jesus Christ the second Adam, to regain for those who trust Him that which the first Adam lost because of his disobedience.

God is eternally God, eternally the same.  His person cannot be shaken or changed, nor can that of His Son.  However, in condescending to take the form of a man, the Lord Jesus Christ made an eternal sacrifice by stooping to become eternally identified with us as the Eternal Man.

                                                                                                                            -30-

                                                                                                                    ©  Josprel
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                                                                                                Things That Cannot be Shaken - Part One
                                                                                                                                  by
                                                                                                                             Josprel

Matthew 27:50-54: “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks split   .   .   .”

The crucifixion of Jesus literally was an earthshaking event.  Meditating on the event, it appeared to me that creation trembled and quaked over what puny men had done to their creator, as though that when a nation rejects God, that nation invariably experiences upheavals and finally oblivion.  As the Psalmist noted, “The wicked shall be turned into hell and all nations that forget God” (Psalm 9:17).

God takes a nation’s mocking of Him and what belongs to Him seriously.  Belshazzar, the king of Babylon during the captivity of Daniel, learned this first hand.  Daniel recorded that, some time after Babylon sacked the Jewish temple and carried off the consecrated worship accessories, “Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine in the presence of the thousand. While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave commandment to bring the gold and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzer had taken from the temple which had been in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.

“In the same hour the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace   .  .  .  Now all the king’s wise men came but they could not read the writing .  .  . Then Daniel was brought in before the king         .  .  .  [and said,] ‘You have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven.  They have brought the vessels of His house before you, and  .  .  . have drunk from them. And you have praised the gods   .  .  .  which do not see or hear or know; and the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified. Then the fingers of the hand were sent from Him and this writing was written.  And this is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.

“‘This is the interpretation of each word. MENE: God has numbered your kingdom and finished it:  Tekel: You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting: Pares: Your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.’

“In that very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans was slain. And Dirius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old” (Daniel 5:1-30).  God’s warning to Belshazzar occurred almost immediately after the handwriting appeared on his palace wall. In a single night, the powerful, majestic, tremendously feared, presumably unshakable, Babylonian Empire toppled and passed into the shadows of history.  “That very night” Belshazzar’s kingdom fell to the Medes and Persians.   

Media was the ancient name for north-western Iran.  The inhabitants were called Medes or Medians and were descendants of Noah’s son, Japheth.  After the Medes participated in the capture of Babylon (Isaiah 13:17 and Jeremiah 51: 1-24) many centuries after their ancestor’s death, Darius the Mede - so-called because his father, Ahasuerus, was of Median ancestry - became the new ruler of Babylon. 

Persian history began with the Indo-European nomads of South Russia, who most likely entered the Iranian plateau during the second millennium BC.  The nomads, known as “Fars,” began their Iranian community as a small province on the Persian Gulf. Its people were of the Aryan race, descended from Japheth, the son of Noah. Their community    was bordered on the north by Media, on the south by the Persian Gulf, on the east by Carmania, and on the west by Elam.  Though at first, the Fars’ province was subjected to the Medes, after revolting under Cyrus the Great, it became the principle power in the conquering of Nebuchadnezzer’s empire. Known as the Persian Empire it became the most far-flung of the Oriental empires, conquering and ruling over all the regions from India to Ethiopia.  Its capital was Susa, called in the Bible “Sushan the Palace” (Esther 1:2).  Though seemingly all powerful, the Persian Empire  eventually was conquered and subjected by Alexander the Great in his quest for world dominion.  He, in turn, died at an early age and his empire was partitioned by his generals, who ruled the divided empire in his stead.  Each of these kingdoms eventually was conquered by Rome.

                                                                                                                               ©  Josprel
                                                                                                                           josprel@yahoo.com
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                      CONTINUED IN PART TWO


 

So you’re a fundamentalist, Pastor Rodgers.  Then, on that point we must agree to disagree, for I do not consider myself to be one, although I was brought up by fundamentist parents.  I do believe that the Bible is the verbally inspired Word of God, and without error in the original manuscripts.  I also believe that, at one point, the earth was protected by an envelope of water vapor that caused the deluge when it dissipated.  But for one to claim, as did the fundamentalist preacher I mentioned, that the earth still is encased in an envelope of water - not water vapor - which incidentally is contrary to obvious fact - strains incredulity.  What say you?

Josprel   
 

In my opinion a Christian fundamentalist is a person who interprets every passage of Scripture literally, even to the point of ridiculousness.  For example, I once had a conversation with a fundamentalist preacher who claimed that the earth is surrounded by water since Genesis, chapter one states that God divided the waters that were under the firmament from the waters that were above the firmament.  I asked him if we would get wet when the rapture takes place.

No answer.

Josprel

I also disagree with you, Christserf.  The Great Tribulation is the wrath of God descending upon the earth. According to 1 Thess. 5:9, "God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ . . . Wherefore comfort [literally: encourage] yourselves together, and edify [literally: help] one another. even as also ye do."  Believers certainly are not comforted by believing they must pass through the Great Tribulation.

Since the Great Tribulation is the wrath of God descended upon unbelieving humanity [read Rev. 6:15-17 to verify this] and believers have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ that they may escape the wrath of God, it is a misinterpretation of Scriptures to say that believers shall endure the Great Tribulation.

One more point: there appears to be a biblical principle that, before God's judgments commences, God first makes provision for the deliverance of his people. Now this is not to say that natural disasters do not also afflict believers; they do. According to the Bible, His rain falls upon the just and the unjust.  But God does make provisions for his people to escape the times when His judgments descend on mankind for their sins.  The angel of judgment informed  Lot that he and his family had to be safely out of Sodom before judgment fell on the city: Genesis 19:22, "Haste thee, escape there [to the city of Zoar]; for I cannot do anything until  thou be come there."

Noah and his family had to be safely in the Ark, with the door closed by God, Himself before the flood began. [Read the account in the Genesis, chapter seven.

Josprel