Jared Longshore's Blog, page 28

Not Unlike a Dead Halibut

He was a long, thin old gentleman in his middle seventies with a faraway unseeing look in his eye, not unlike that which a dead halibut on a fishmonger’s slab gives the pedestrian as he passes. It was a look which caused many of those who met him to feel like disembodied spirits, so manifest was it that they were making absolutely no impression on his retina.

P. G. Wodehouse, Cocktail Time

The post Not Unlike a Dead Halibut appeared first on REFORMATION & REVIVAL.

This Is the Way

The Logos Chamber Choir singing Hear My Prayer in the Idaho State Capitol

The post This Is the Way appeared first on REFORMATION & REVIVAL.

Come Unto Me

Introduction

A perennial problem that comes upon the people of God is that they choose to die in the desert rather than come to the source of Living Water. Israel refused to enter into the land flowing with milk and honey. So that generation spent their lives wandering east of the Jordan until their corpses filled the wilderness. Isaiah 55 is designed that we might not go the way of that old generation. It is designed that we would come to the Lord and live. 

Summary of the Text – Isaiah 55:1-13

The thirsty are summoned to come to the waters. They do not need money. But they do need to have an appetite. They must also buy and eat. But marvelously, they must make this transaction without spending (v. 1). There is no good explanation for doing the opposite, which is spending all of your money in an attempt to eat the wind. The wine and milk the Lord supplies is far better for the belly, good and fat. But the only way to be satisfied with the good is to come to the Lord diligently (v. 2). This coming to the Lord means actually hearing Him, and His message to you is a covenant word secured by the Son of David, the master and commander who has been given as a sure bond to God’s people (v. 3-4). 

God will glorify His people such that nations start running their way (v. 5). And running is wise because there is a time limit on when men can seek the Lord (v. 6). In order to buy the Lord’s milk and wine, man must give up on his own foolish thoughts. The Lord’s thoughts are not only different than ours. They are higher than them as the heavens are the earth (v. 7-9). We could never climb up to hear God’s thoughts in the heavens. But He has sent them down like snow and rain. And like the snow and rain bring forth seed and bread, so God’s Word accomplishes what He plans for it (v. 10-11).

Because of our Father’s heavenly covenant rain-word, His people will go out with joy and peace. The mountains clear their throat and sing before you and the maple trees start clapping their hands as you pass by (v. 12). Thorns and thistles are replaced with evergreens that stand as never-ending witnesses to the Lord’s faithfulness (v. 13).

Come, Ye Thirsty

Nothing could be more natural than being thirsty. We are human. We are finite. We are dependent creatures. What is manifestly not natural is that you would be thirsty and not come to drink. What is downright silly is that you would go spend all of your money on that which is not bread. Why would you do that? The way to milk and wine is straightforward. Come to the Lord. Man, in his fussiness, would like to claim that he doesn’t know the way. But God is not far from us. In Him we live, move, and have our being (Acts 17:27).

And I Will Make an Everlasting Covenant

When man comes to the Lord to drink, He finds God making a covenant with him. The terms and conditions are clear. God promises eternal life and blessing, milk and wine without price. The conditions are that we would trust Him and obey Him. And the surety of this covenant is the Son of David. This covenant is never-ending, but it is continually renewed. David was in Isaiah’s past. This was no new covenant, but a renewed covenant. So it is today. If you would have life, then you must renew covenant with the Lord for it is in that covenant that life is found. 

For My Thoughts are Not Your Thoughts

The spirit of the age insists that you figure out all of your thoughts. But God’s word says that you are supposed to do a different thing, forsake them. Many think that if they can sort out all of their emotions, then the mountains will sing for them, and trees will clap their hands. “Where did that thought come from? Why did I think that? What kind of horrible person thinks the thoughts I think?” This person thinks that he can get all of his thoughts to fit together like a 1,000-piece puzzle and all will be pretty at the end. But God says that your thoughts simply aren’t that important, and the puzzle pieces don’t actually fit. So, burn the puzzle pieces and go listen to God’s thoughts. Think His thoughts after Him. His thoughts in your head are perfectly fine thoughts for you to have, you should keep those around.

As the Rain Cometh Down

God tells us His thoughts by His Spirit whom He has given us—”For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God” (1 Corinthians 2:11-12). But notice that the Spirit helps us know the things freely given to us of God. He does not help us to know the things God hasn’t given us. The mystics who would close their Bibles and go searching for mysteries withinwill find that they discover no mysteries. They will not find prosperity either. For the Word that goes forth from the mouth of God is the mystery, the life, the bread, the seed, the wealth.

Led Forth With Peace

That is why God’s people will go forth with joy and peace. God’s covenant word always brings forth covenant fruit. And that fruit is everlasting like the Son of David himself. He is your peace and your joy. The purchase of the wine and milk has already been made. He has paid the cost at Calvary. All you need to do is come to him and drink. No money necessary.

The post Come Unto Me appeared first on REFORMATION & REVIVAL.

The Altar and the Fire

“As one of the modern authors has told us, the altar must often be built in one place in order that the fire from heaven may descend somewhere else.”

C. S. Lewis, That Hideous Strength

The post The Altar and the Fire appeared first on REFORMATION & REVIVAL.

Feelings Make Terrible Gods

Calvin was absolutely right that man’s heart is an idol factory. And the men and women of our day seem hellbent on setting up their feelings as little deities. They offer pinches of incense to them on nearly every street corner. Even so, feelings make terrible gods. You would be far better off worshipping the gods of the Roman Pantheon. If you’re really going to turn your back on the Living God, go for Zeus, Aphrodite, or Apollo. At least then, you might have an interesting story to tell, albeit a tragic one. At least then, you could pretend to be reaching outside of yourself. All of this talk about following your heart is not only worthy of the flames of hell, it is also remarkably boring.

Your feelings are meant to be commanded. They should line up and follow you along the way. If they are being unruly, that is no worry. That is what feelings often do. Just give them a spanking and tell them to sit up straight, shut their mouths, and act right. But, says an evangelical who has joined the Philistines of our age, “What then could I write in my journal if indeed I tell my feelings to hush?” Well, you don’t have to throw the journal away. But if you are going to keep it, you should start writing Bible verses down and then use your pen to describe how you are going to trust those words more fully and obey them more diligently. As Martyn Lloyd Jones once wisely said, “Most of our problems in life come from the fact that we are listening to ourselves rather than talking to ourselves.” Control your emotions. Discipline them. This work is not too hard for you. This self-control is a fruit of the Spirit, and He has been poured out in your hearts.

The post Feelings Make Terrible Gods appeared first on REFORMATION & REVIVAL.

The Table That Feeds the World

If we are to live the way God has called us to live, then we must know the relationship between this table and every other table we sit at. One man errs by living as if this table has nothing whatever to do with his dinner table, his work desk, or his conference table at work. This is the sacred-secular dichotomy error. Another man errs by equating every table in the world with this one. His whoe life is sacred in the same way this table is, so every mountain is Mount Zion, every sacrifice is the one made on Calvary, and every room of his life is the holy of holies. We can call this the “if everything is sacred then nothing is sacred” error.

The key is to see that this table feeds the world. Every table answers to and must answer to this table. Every sacrifice you make is an echo of the sacrifice remembered here. Every act of obedience is the fruit of your obedience here. You are not always eating the Lord’s Supper, but you are always having had eaten the Lord’s Supper. 

You do not continually remember Christ in exactly the same way you remember Him here before this bread and wine. But that you remember Him here and now in this sacred way orients you to remember Him always in all of your labors.

As our old hymn says, “Here He gives Himself to us as bread. Here as wine we drink the blood He shed.” And if he supplies us here on this holy mountain, will He not meet all of our needs down below? Surely He will. This is a wine that springs forth from the mountain and gives life to the world. So come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ.

The post The Table That Feeds the World appeared first on REFORMATION & REVIVAL.

All in a Tizzy

Here is your exhortation in a nutshell: Killing sin is a different thing than getting into a tizzy over it. And you must not get into a tizzy over sin. Confessing sin, yes. Forgiving sin, yes. But no tizzys allowed.

By all means, let zeal for the house of the LORD consume you as it did our Savior. If the question is, “Should we not model Jesus who turned over tables at the sight of flagrant sin?” then the answer is, “Yes, indeed, we should.” But taking it to the high and mighty who slam the door of the kingdom in people’s faces is a different thing than getting fussy because a fellow covenant member slandered you or wronged you.

Now, if Eli heard this word when he was failing to restrain his vile sons, he would be tempted to misunderstand it and  misapply it. So don’t be like Eli who failed to honor God and love his sons. And remember our options are not: Neglectful Eli on the one hand and Frazzled Freddy on the other.

If you get all worked up in disbelief over the shortcoming of a fellow Christian, you can pretty much guarantee sins will start compounding.

So here is a little test for when you are considering how another Christian has missed the mark. Whether it be a sin you simply observe or a sin that has been committed against you or your children, either way, consider the Apostle Paul’s question, “What do you have that you didn’t receive?” Answer that question honestly, and your attitude toward your brother or sister will be just right.

The post All in a Tizzy appeared first on REFORMATION & REVIVAL.

The Altar and the Fire

“As one of the modern authors has told us, the altar must often be built in one place in order that the fire from heaven may descend somewhere else.”

C. S. Lewis, That Hideous Strength

The post The Altar and the Fire appeared first on REFORMATION & REVIVAL.

A Proclamation of the Whole Person

Every week at this table you hear that as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. We are a witnessing people. And we must go about that declaration as whole persons.

God has given you both a soul and a body. He has given you both a heart and finger tips. And, in short, you must declare the Lord’s death with your whole person.

Men would lean one way or the other. They will be all about inward devotion to the point that they nearly forget they have a body. Or, they will be all about practicality and works of service all the while neglecting the heart of the matter. 

The former must hear that God really hates the noise of your sacred songs if you’re not proclaiming Him with your body in the world He created. And the latter must remember that there will be those on the final day that hear, “Yes, yes, you casted out devils well enough and did many great works in my name, now depart from me I never knew you.”

The goal is not to hedge your bets as if too much heart would get you in trouble or too many blisters for Christ would put you in the other ditch. The goal is to run hard in both directions at the same time. This is challenging. But nothing is impossible with God.

Sing with your lips from your heart. Labor with your hands by love. Do works with your body by faith. For the Christ you come to fellowship with now is both the Son of God and the Son of Man. He has a body and face, which you will one day see. And He is also eternal God whose face no man shall see (Exodus 33:20). So come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ.

The post A Proclamation of the Whole Person appeared first on REFORMATION & REVIVAL.

Do It Unto the Lord

Anything worth doing is worth doing well. That is good old fashioned advice, the kind we won’t shake a stick at. But, that advice is missing a key ingredient, namely, the only way to do anything well is to do it unto the Lord.

I grant that pride and some natural stubbornness can motivate a man to climb Mount Everest or put in more hours at the gym than the next guy. But these sources of energy will fail you, deceive you, and at the end of the day, they don’t provide the horsepower that devotion to the Lord provides. 

Paul said, “whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). “Whatsoever ye do” means nothing is excluded. Whether you change diapers, plow driveways, run suicides, shoot jump shots, complete math homework, shuttle children from one end of town to the other, cook dinner, or answer e-mail, you must do it unto the Lord.

And this is no sentimental statement. You can’t do a lousy job and then claim to fix it by singing the doxology over it. “There is my lame work,” we say. “And now I will sanctify it with a benediction.” No, you may not do that. A benediction is not a bit of hocus pocus that turns the fruits of our laziness into the fruits of the diligent. “But I sang the doxology unto the Lord,” comes the reply. OK, fine and good. But the text said that your work was to be unto the Lord.

This kind of life is not like the one Israel lived when making bricks without straw for Pharaoh. We server our Father who loves us and gave His Son for us. He accepts C+ offerings so long they are offered up in faith. He then sends us back out with training to do greater works than before. And those works must be unto the Lord.

The post Do It Unto the Lord appeared first on REFORMATION & REVIVAL.