THE FIRM FOUNDATION OF FAITH

The old hymn begins, 

    How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord 

    Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word.

That firm foundation of faith is featured in Acts 4. There are several facets of faith that we see. 

FIRST, WE SEE A CONFESSIONAL FAITH (v.1-22). We have the confession of Peter and John. There are core convictions that Christianity has which are compelled to be communicated. Such terms as, “speaking,” (v.1), “teaching…proclaiming,” (v.2), and “the word,”  (v.4). As a result of the preaching, faith was formed in “about five thousand.”  The core message is Christ—“the name of Jesus…crucified, whom God raised from the dead,” (v.10). He is “the cornerstone” of faith (v.11) and the Gospel message declares, “there is no other name…by which we must be saved” (v.12). That confession is a must for true faith (Rom.10:9-10, 13). The Spirit bears witness to Christ through His church (v.8) compelling us to confess Christ, “for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard,” (v.20). 

FURTHER, WE SEE A COURAGEOUS FAITH (v.23-31). This courage is required because of the conflict. Proclaiming the Gospel is an assault on the kingdom of darkness. The devil and his minions will fight back, and so we note, “they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus,” (v.18). Such threats and rage had been predicted by David, writing Ps.2 quoted here (v.25-26). But, the kings of the earth are no match for the King of  Eternity!  The “Sovereign Lord” ( v.24), even uses the wicked to work His will (v.27), “to do whatever [God’s] hand and [God’s] plan has predestined to take place.”  The church’s prayer was not for the removal of conflict, but for the reinforcement of courage, “to continue to speak your word with all boldness,” (v.29). Such prayers will shake the world and send us out to speak boldly (v.31). 

FINALLY, WE SEE A COMMON FAITH (v.32-37). Now, by that, I do not mean the faith is cheap and ordinary, but that it is faith all believers have in common. This calls us to do life together in community (v.32). Such common faith produces uncommon fruit—“great power,” and “great grace,” (v.33), inspiring testimony and generosity (v.34-35).

INTEGRITY

Integrity is defined in the online dictionary as, “adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.”  It is a word rooted in the term, “integer,”—a whole number—thus, a person who is whole, where words and works match.  They are not hypocrites.  We will examine a few verses in Proverbs nineteen concerning integrity.

1.  INTEGRITY IS TO BE SOUGHT.  “Better is the poor who walks in his integrity Than one who is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.  What is desired in a man is kindness, And a poor man is better than a liar.” (v.1, 22).  Poverty is not an easy state in which to live.  Our fleshly passion and worldly philosophy will lead us to covet and seek after money.  Yet, we must not do so at the cost of “selling out,” and casting away integrity.  Integrity is to be valued more than money and pursued diligently.  The one who “walks in his integrity,” is one who has unwavering direction set by conviction.  He or she may not be perfect, but they will make progress in pursuing integrity.  Their life is oriented toward honesty and directed by integrity.

2.  DISHONESTY IS TO BE SHUNNED.  “A false witness will not go unpunished, And he who speaks lies will not escape. A false witness will not go unpunished, And he who speaks lies shall perish.  A disreputable witness scorns justice, And the mouth of the wicked devours iniquity.” (v.5, 9, 28). Within the span of a few verses, this truth about lies is virtually repeated. Whether it be perjury in the courtroom or deception in daily life, we are on the trail to judgment. One lie feeds a pattern of dishonesty, as more lies are required to cover up for the last lie. While a Christian, sadly, in this mortal state might sometime lie, it cannot be the pattern of his or her life, for, “all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone,” (Rev.21:8b).  If justice is evaded on earth, it will not be in eternity. 

What does your integrity or lack thereof reveal about your heart?  Are you a whole person—one of honesty, or a divided person—one of hypocrisy?

HATRED OF THE TRUTH

 

Now it happened, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak to all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “You will surely die!  (Jeremiah 26:8)

Several years ago, I helped my father remove some old brush piles.  When I jabbed one of the mounds of limbs with a pitchfork I felt something sting—suddenly, I was being attacked by a swarm of angry hornets I had disturbed!  Their assault was relentless and painful.  The black devils chased me all the way to the house, as I slapped them off me.  Similarly, when the man of God speaks the truth of God, he inevitably will gouge some who will react with anger.  There are those who hate the truth and all associated with it.  Jeremiah experienced this repeatedly in his ministry and we see an example of it in the twenty sixth chapter of his prophecy.

The passage opens with the Word of God coming down as a burden laid on the shoulders of the prophet that he is charged to unload on the wicked nation (v.1).  He is not to soften the blow by even a word (v.2), but be faithful to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, by the help of God.  The message will be a pitchfork jabbed into a hornets’ nest.  The intent, however, is not to do harm, but to hopefully lead the people to repentance (v.3), by clearing the brush pile of sin from the land.  Should they fail to heed the warning, calamity would befall them (v.4-6).  Jeremiah knew that their track record for repentance had not been a good one (v.5b).  Their response, however, was not his business.  What he must do is deliver the mail, whether they liked the contents or not.  This he did (v.7).

Their reaction was predictable.  It is why God warned his preacher to be faithful to speak every word.  The temptation when facing an audience who hates the truth is to hedge the truth.  Indeed the enemies of the Word of God come swarming out of their nest and engulf the messenger (v.8-11).  They hate the truth so much that they want to silence the preacher permanently by killing him!  Satan is both a hater of the truth and murderer of the innocent, therefore, we should not be startled that his spawn follow the same pattern.  We must be courageous to stand up and speak up in a world that seethes with rage against God.

Jeremiah does not back down in the face of the threat (v.12-15).  He knows God had sent him to proclaim the truth and so he does.  The civil authorities reject the demand for the death penalty that comes from the religious leaders (v.16).  Some of the older and wiser men remind the mob of the warnings of the prophet Micah in days gone by (v.17-19).  King Hezekiah and the people of that generation did not rage against God’s spokesman, but repented of their sin.  The current ruler, Jehoiakim, would do the opposite, hunting down another prophet named Urijah and killing him (v.20-23).  Jeremiah, however, was spared for the time being (v.24).  We are immortal until our work on earth is done.

There was a time when America responded to truth as Israel did to Micah—repenting of their sin and turning to God.  We are now in the days of Jeremiah when taking a stand is increasingly dangerous.  Let us speak truth anyway.

 

 

THE CHOICE BETWEEN COMPROMISE AND CONVICTION

“Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the children of Israel, because he was zealous with My zeal among them, so that I did not consume the children of Israel in My zeal.”  (Numbers 25:11)

I have had a few flat tires in my lifetime.  Progress comes to a halt, and if you are traveling at a high speed can be dangerous—even deadly.  It may be the result of hitting a big pothole or sharp object, but not typically.  What usually occurred is that the tire had been losing air almost imperceptibly, and I had failed to be vigilant.  The result was a horrible noise, difficult steering, and finding myself beside the highway with a flat tire. 

I still remember the warning given by the man who once pastored my home church, Dr. Thad Dowdle.  He said, “Most spiritual failures are not the result of a blowout, but a slow leak!”  How true!  We see someone who has wrecked their marriage, totaled their testimony, and are sitting on the side of the road of life, and wonder what happened.  We may conclude it was a sudden event—and it can be—but not usually.  It was the little compromises—the neglect of the spiritual life—failing to be vigilant and diligent in maintaining Biblical convictions that brought the catastrophe.

This is the way the Devil operates.  We observe it in the twenty-fifth chapter of Numbers.  Balak, the King of Moab, had tried to hire Balaam to curse Israel, but each time the false prophet opened his mouth, God cause a blessing rather than a curse to be spoken.  Balaam’s plan then became to send beautiful Moabite women into the camp to seduce the gullible Israeli men, leading them to worship Baal.  Since Balaam couldn’t get God to turn from Israel, he decided to get Israel to turn from God.  Then he knew that God would bring His wrath upon the idolatry.  He knew there was more than one way to skin a cat!

The plan worked perfectly.  Their compromise in their relationship with heathen people—being “unequally yoked,”—led to contamination of their morals, and what we would call “backsliding.”  The wages of sin is death—and we see the high price of low-living.  24,000 died in a plague sent as a punishment from God.

What saved the day?  The zeal of Phineas stopped the plague.  This godly man was stirred to action.  A man named Zimri had given his heart to a pagan woman, who in turn had led him to give his heart to idolatry.  What magnified his sin was that he was a leader in Israel, and so Zimri not only hurt himself, he led others astray.  Phineas took radical action and stuck a javelin through the two compromisers—surgically removing the moral malignancy threatening to kill the nation.  Phineas is commended by God for his zeal—a zeal for holiness like his Lord—and blessing is promised to him and his descendants.

Today you will likely face a temptation—will you respond with compromise or conviction?  Satan whispers, “It is such a little thing.”  It might be—the little compromise added to the little one from yesterday, and the day before—and you may be closer to ruin than you imagine.  May we seek the zeal of Phineas and kill the compromise!  The great old Puritan, John Owen, said, “be killing sin or it will be killing you.”  Click on the link for more from Owen on this vital matter.

https://youtu.be/qU5b3uzqZMc

WALKING TALL

And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in. (Nehemiah 6:11 KJV)

A number of years ago several movies were made--and later remade--based on the life of a sheriff in Tennessee named Buford Pusser.  The series was called, "Walking Tall," and chronicled Pusser's courageous fight against crime and corruption.  It was based on a true story.  The crooks tried to bribe the sheriff, to intimidate him, and even to kill him.  Pusser, however, would not back down.  He paid a price to stand his ground.  He walked tall!

That movie could have been made based on the life of Nehemiah.  His story in Scripture, though set in a different place and time, has remarkable similarities.  In the evil days in which we live, this story demands to be studied so that we can be inspired to take a stand.

Sadly, ours is a day of noodle-backed Christians.  We have heard that silence is golden--and sometimes it is just plain yellow.  The church needs to speak out--to cry out against evil.  Too many of the Lord's soldiers are fleeing the fight.  Modern evangelicalism is increasingly compromising truth and becoming chameleons adapting to the corrupt culture.  We are thermometers reflecting the moral temperature of the age, rather than thermostats setting it.  Our spines have the consistency of Jello.

Not Nehemiah!  He was a man of resolve.  When the enemies of God's people sought to confer with him, he would not negotiate.  His mission was to rebuild the walls, and he would not be distracted.  We must hold to the truth.  Ours is a proclamation, not a negotiation.  Yes, we must speak in love, but the message is not for debate.  Our task is to be heralds for our King.  He makes demands, and not suggestions.  Our heart is to be as wide as the world, but our message is narrow.  The world says, "Be reasonable.  Don't be so rigid."  It is a seductive appeal.  We must steadfastly resist it.

The enemy didn't back down in the face of Nehemiah's response--they just ramped up the pressure.  Threats were made, lies were told, and these fierce foes sought to terrorize God's man.  But he would not run.  He stood firm in faith.  I think of old Martin Luther--a little German monk, standing against the powers of his day.  He said:

Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. Here I stand.  I can do no other.  May God help me. Amen

May God help us to walk tall when so many are cowering.  Christ stands by our side!