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2 Chronicles 26:1 – 5

No one should despise youth.

Young people can be involved in leadership (1). It is part of the task of leaders to identify younger people who have potential and mentor them. It seems Zechariah (5) was a key figure in Uzziah’s life I think, as I write, of a highly effective youth leader who identified his successor and had him in his home every week for a year to try to encourage and develop him. That young man effectively picked up the mantle of his ‘Elijah’ and led the large youth work (as big as some smaller churches) with distinction. He is now a respected pastor.

Not only can younger people be involved in leadership. It is also true to say that they can achieve great things (2). Let’s endeavour not to stymie anyone’s progress by our lack of confidence in them (and most of all, a deficient confidence in God and His ability to do great things through them.)

Young people can walk with God (3).Many people who become Christians do so in their childhood or teenage years. Lots of great revivals, I understand, have taken place among the younger generation. When I was a teenager, living in Wigan, I became friends with a remarkable young man, David, who was a similar age to me. He went to a local parish church; one not renowned for its evangelicalism. But he knew and loved the Lord. He was truly filled with the Holy Spirit. I think about him from time to time. We lost touch years ago and I often wonder what happened to him. Last July I spent 24 hours in Ambleside, in the Lake District, with my wife Jilly, and I recounted to her a story of a trip to that same town made with David years earlier. We decided to have a day out and took the train to Windermere, and then a boat from Bowness to Ambleside, and back. But we spent our away day predominantly talking about the Lord, and that really was because of David. He just loved to talk about Jesus. I would say he was filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit. In 1 Thessalonians 1:5 Paul writes about full conviction, and someone said it implies a cup that is so full to the brim it just overflows. That was young David!

Young people can seek God (5). Like most people, I have struggled with prayer at times. But especially in my late teens, kneeling by my bed at home in Wigan, or out walking the leafy lanes of Surrey, close to my college, I began to have foretastes of intoxicating heavenly joy and to sense something of the sweetness of walking with God. There is no doubt that true success comes from seeking the Lord, and the earlier we learn this the better it will be.

Sadly, as we have seen so often, people can start well and finish badly. Brace yourself. We’re in for another big disappointment with this man. But we can learn so much from him.

Thank you that you are the only wise God, and you know better than we do what will be for our ultimate good.

Psalm 102: 18 – 28

Let’s live with an eye towards the next generation. African pastor, Oscar Muria, made a big impact at this year’s ‘Global Leadership Summit’ in Chicago, with his insistence that ‘you never do ministry alone.’ He has a track record of training huge numbers of younger people to be pastors and leaders, three of whom were with him at the event. He talked about the importance of investing your life in people who are at least twenty years younger than you. He said the real measure of your leadership will be revealed after you’ve gone; you have to instil your vision in those who will be there after you’ve left the stage.

Well that was all inspiring and thought-provoking stuff, but this psalm looks beyond the next generation still alive to a future generation…a people not yet created…(18). In particular, the writer has two big things on his heart: praise and prayer.

·         He wants the generation to come be a praising people (18b, 21, and 22). Verses 21 and 22 read like this in The Message: Write it so the story can be told in Zion, so GOD’s praise will be sung in Jerusalem’s streets And wherever people gather together along with their rulers to worship him.

·         He wants this coming generation to be a praising people who know for sure that God  answers prayer (19, 20). They may face difficult days, as he himself did (23, 24) and as did his city, Jerusalem. But as we have already seen, at the heart of this psalm there lies the conviction that God hears and answers prayer. Even in the face of terribly bleak circumstances he can and does affirm this: He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; he will not despise their plea (17; see verses 1 & 2). He wants his words, his example to inspire a coming generation, so that they will live in God’s presence (28). He wants them to know that ‘coincidences happen when Christians pray.’

We live in a world of turbulence, turmoil and change. We, and all around us, are transient. But God is eternal (25-27). You have more years than you know what to do with! You laid earth’s foundations a long time ago, and handcrafted the very heavens; You’ll still be around when they’re long gone, threadbare and discarded like an old suit of clothes. You’ll throw them away like a worn-out coat, but year after year you’re as good as new. The Message. He stands at the centre of this Psalm. We may be surrounded by trouble and change on all sides, but He will be our solid Rock if we let Him.

Although this psalmist could not know it at the time, the words he addressed to God in prayer were the very words the Lord spoke to His Son Jesus (Hebs.1:10-12) as they together planned a future far superior than anything this writer could dream of. Through the coming of Christ into the world, His death on the cross, His rising again and ascension into heaven, a whole new life has been made possible. Through faith in Jesus all our wrongs can be forgiven; our broken relationship with God restored. Jesus doesn’t simply give a new start in life, but a whole new life to start with! The psalmist yearned to see the restoration of his city. God did far more than he asked or thought. Aren’t you glad that sometimes the Lord refuses your request but answers your prayer? He gives you an answer better than anything you could think to ask for.

 Lord, grant me the ability to love as you do; to love as Paul and the great leaders of church history did. Please enable me to love in a way that faces into hard issues and does not avoid them

1 Corinthians 16:9-24

This closing section is full of love:

Aquila and Priscilla loving each other: Although this is not explicitly stated, it is implicit. They were very much together; a couple in Christ and for Christ. They were bound together with the threefold cord that is not easily broken (Ecc.3:12), their lives intertwined with Christ’s. Thinking about them I am reminded of some words of David Pawson, that being in love isn’t a matter of sitting looking into each other’s eyes the whole time, but looking out in the same direction.

Aquila and Priscilla loving the church (19): Here is an insight into the strength and beauty of a Christ-centred marriage where a couple use their home as a place of ministry (See also Romans 16:5). As the two sides of a triangle draw nearer to each other the closer the get to the pinnacle; and as the spokes of a wheel come closer together the nearer they are to the hub, so, in our marriages (and all our relationships) the closer we get to Christ, the greater will be our proximity to one another. When Jesus is at the centre of a marriage He can turn the ‘water’ of every day married life into the ‘wine’ of something very special.

The church loving the church (20): Whatever form it takes, a genuine Christian greeting that conveys your love (and God’s love most of all) is a powerful thing. It carries great blessing. Let’s not allow our greetings to slip into mere clichéd formalities, but put our whole heart into each one. May our brothers and sisters in Christ know Jesus’ touch through ours!

Paul loving the church through his letters (21, 24): This, then, reminds us that Christian love is not slushy and soppy and sentimental. There is such a thing as ‘tough love’. You can’t read the Corinthian letters without feeling something of Paul’s great bursting heart towards this church. But because of that love he was prepared to say and do the difficult things. Real love does not shirk such hard issues. A godly senior pastor once prayed with me when I was going through a time of enormous pressure and strain. He said, ‘Lord, you know how we can fear to grasp the nettle for fear of getting stung.’ Paul got badly stung, but in uncompromising love he grabbed the nettles and sought to pull them out of the ground.

Finally, there is something sad and tragic said here about those who do not love the Lord (22). Here is a doctrinal ‘nettle’ some would rather not pick up, but it is before our eyes and has to be handled. The Bible teaches here, and in other places, that those who do not turn to Christ will be eternally separated from Him. C.S. Lewis said that in the final analysis there will only be two types of people in the world: those who say to God ‘Your will be done’, and those to whom God says, ‘Your will be done.’ If we do not want the Lord we will not have Him.

1 Corinthians 16:10-18

Here are some practical thoughts from this ‘wrapping up’ section of 1 Corinthians 16:

Make life as easy as you can for church leaders (10, 11). You don’t know the burdens they carry, the troubles that weigh on their hearts, and the sacrifices they make. Pray for them and support them as best you can. By all means tell them when you think they’re in the wrong. Good leaders will value this and listen carefully. But don’t make their ministry any harder than it needs to be. They are carrying on the work of the Lord, just as Paul did. We need to honour that fact, and seek to be those who ‘refresh’ our leaders (17, 18). If Timothy shows up, take good care of him. Make him feel completely at home among you. He works so hard for the Master, just as I do. Don’t let anyone disparage him. The Message.

We can encourage people to do what we believe is the right thing for them, but we cannot coerce them (12). We who exercise leadership in the churches are shepherds of the flock, not dictators. We exhort but we do not use force. There is a place for willing submission (16) but no authentic Christian leader wields a battering ram.

There will be a right time to do the right thing (12b). If we keep in step with the Lord He will reveal it to us.

All Christians have to be on guard (13) because there is an enemy who wants to steal the faith from us. We are soldiers in a fierce battle, and the Christian life demands courage and strength. But let us also remember that without love we are nothing (14; cf. 1 Cor.13). There are those in the church who love the truth very much and will fight like terriers on its behalf. That is all very commendable. But sometimes they don’t seem to love people all that much. Mister Valiant for truth must also be Mister Great-heart! Keep your eyes open, hold tight to your convictions, give it all you’ve got, be resolute, and love without stopping. The Message

How wonderful it is when you see people come to Christ, and then watch ‘fruit’ grow liberally and abundantly on the branches of their lives. It was like this with the household of Stephanas (15). What a blessing these exemplary converts were to Paul and the whole church (15, 16). You know, they were among the first converts in Greece, and they’ve put themselves out, serving Christians ever since then. I want you to honor and look up to people like that: companions and workers who show us how to do it, giving us something to aspire to. The Message.

Daily Bible thoughts 504: Friday 6^th December 2013: 1 Cor.16:5-

Clearly Paul wanted to spend quality time with the Corinthians (5-7) and it was his intention to do so:

I don’t want to just drop by in between other ‘’primary’’ destinations. I want a good, long, leisurely visit. (7) The Message.

I’ve been reading an edition of ‘Leadership Journal’ that has as its main theme: ‘e-ministry: Social media and spiritual impact.’ It contains a number of interesting and well-balanced articles, highlighting for pastors, both the opportunities and dangers of using social media. Tim Challies, a pastor at Grace Fellowship Church in Toronto writes: The pastor has many callings and many responsibilities, and so many of the best of them involve being there… the digital world, with all its attractions and distractions, hinders me from being fully here, fully present in life’s best times and places… I heard recently of a pastor who keeps a jar of marbles by his pulpit, each marble representing one week in the life of the pastor with an average lifespan. The marbles represent what remains of his ministry, what remains of his opportunity to be there with the people he serves. Each week, immediately before he walks to the pulpit, he removes one of those marbles. He does this to remind himself that he will only be with them so many more times, and that while he is with them he needs to take advantage of the opportunity, to preach truth, to bring comfort, to show love to the people assigned to his care. He knows the best of his ministry will come through presence… Ultimately, there’s no substitute for being there. (Leadership Journal: Summer 2013: pp22 & 24).

But however much Paul wanted to be with them, for the moment he was staying on in Ephesus (8, 9): A huge door of opportunity for good work has opened up here. (There is also mushrooming opposition.) The Message. Take good note that Paul did not allow the opposition to rob him of the opportunity. He was a courageous man; a heroic figure, by God’s grace. It was like he saw both an open door and a crowd of people in front of it trying to prevent him going through. But he would not allow them to obscure his vision of this great door for effective work that had opened before him. He kept his eyes on it and pressed through the crowd, just like the woman with the haemorrhage pushed through the crowd to touch the Lord.  Here is an important lesson: Christian fellowship is important, but it must not be at the expense of fulfilling our evangelistic duty. Paul wanted to be with brothers and sisters he loved dearly, but he would not allow that desire to override the sense of duty and responsibility to preach the gospel. Let’s ensure we don’t retreat into the often cosy, comfortable world of Christian social life, and stay there by the fire, just because ‘it’s cold outside.’ Outside there are opponents; inside there are friends. But where the opposition is, there also is the need, and the gospel will take root there if we take the time and trouble to plant it.

Daily Bible thoughts 503: Thursday 5^th December 2013: 2 Chronicles 25: 11-28

‘I want to finish well’ my friend said. I often think of his words. I do too. But Amaziah is another tragic example of someone whose start was promising, but whose finish was catastrophic.

In the earlier part of his story we rejoiced to see his positive response to God’s Word. We celebrated it. We saw how he obeyed God’s written Word (3, 4), and took note of a prophetic word (7-10). That was all good.

But then suddenly and almost inexplicably, he turned the car around and headed for the cliff edge. He put his finger on the self-destruct button and would not remove it. On his return from the destruction of the Edomites, Amaziah brought back the gods of the men of Seir and installed them as his own gods, worshiping them and burning incense to them (14). The Message. That made no sense. He had proved the power of the living God in this victory, so why turn to false, dead gods? Why disobey the living Word he had previously been so committed to obeying? God was very angry about it, and sent a prophet to say, What is this? Why on earth would you pray to inferior gods who couldn’t so much as help their own people from you – gods weaker than Amaziah? (15) The Message. He was pointing out how illogical this move was, and, most of all, how spiritually wrong. Often, when people who have once walked with God are walking away from Him, they will do the strangest things. We will scratch our heads over their conduct. This was ludicrous.

Amaziah treated him roughly (16). There was no openness to the prophetic word now: Amaziah interrupted him, ‘’Did I ask for your opinion? Shut up or get thrown out!’’ (16a) The Message. But there was an ironic twist to come: The prophet quit speaking, but not before he got in one last word: ‘’I have it on good authority: God has made up his mind to throw you out because of what you’ve done, and because you wouldn’t listen to me.’’(16b) The Message.

The rest of this chapter tells the sad story of how he was thrown out. Amaziah strutted like a thug on the football terraces spoiling for a fight; asking the king of Israel if he wanted ‘some’. In the end Israel’s king got plenty! But in the short term he tried to avoid a fight. King Jehoash tried to tell him not to be a silly boy (18, 19). He read him the Sports Headlines: ‘Israel trounces Judah. It’s a walk-over.’ ‘You’re going down!’ Jehoash declared. But Amaziah was stubborn and got into the ring anyway, with the inevitable outcome. God was behind all this and determined to judge him (20; see also 27. It appears the conspiracy was brewing for at least 25 years)).

So, we take note, and express to God once more our desire to finish well. Someone who today is listening to the Lord and obeying Him, may tomorrow walk in the opposite direction. It happens. It’s hard to understand, but we’ve probably all watched it occur to someone. Determine, that by God’s grace it will not be you.

Daily Bible thoughts 502: Wednesday 4^th December 2013: 2 Chronicles 25:11-13

How terrible it is to have to live with the consequences of forgiven sin!

What Amaziah did came back to bite him.

Verse 10 says: So Amaziah fired the soldiers he had hired from the north and sent them home. They were very angry at losing their jobs and went home seething. The Message.

That bubbling, boiling pot was to spill over onto Amaziah’s stove.

The point to consider is this: although, as we saw, Amaziah did well to listen to the prophet and respond to his word (7-10), he should not have gone to Israel in the first place. He should have had the spiritual sense to know that he was not to ally himself with them.

F.B.Meyer writes perceptively about this in Great Verses through the Bible, p.159: The soldiers of Israel committed depredations on their way back. This was the result of the folly and sin of Amaziah’s proposal. We may be forgiven, and delivered, and yet there will be after-consequences which will follow us from some ill-considered act. Sin may be forgiven, but its secondary results are sometimes very bitter. We must expect to reap as we sow.

When I was a teenager, a guest preacher spoke at my church in Wigan. He gave a most powerful and challenging message about David’s adultery with Bathsheba. Its theme was, as I recall, that although David’s sin was forgiven, the consequences lived on. They were terrible consequences. At the close of the message the speaker, Jack Osman, made an appeal for a public response. He asked people to stand. I can’t remember the content of his appeal. It may have been for a renewed commitment to personal holiness, but I’m not sure. Anyway, only one man stood. He was someone we all respected as being one of the godliest men in the church. When the service was over he came to talk to me. He said, ‘Every man in the church should have been on his feet tonight!’

Well that was his opinion, and he was probably correct.

It is a sobering truth that it is a devastating thing to have to live with the consequences of forgiven sin.

Daily Bible thoughts 501: Tuesday 3^rd December 2013: 2 Chronicles 25: 1-10

How many professing Christians are there who are like Amaziah (2)? They are lukewarm, and this a condition the Lord Jesus detests in His people (Rev. 3: 15, 16). There are those who want enough salvation to keep them out of Hell, but not so much holiness as will ruin their lives on earth!! (That is how they wrongly see it. It’s a false perception, but a very real one that the devil succeeds in selling. He says, ‘If you are totally committed to Jesus it will spoil your fun.)

Here is an example of Amaziah’s commitment to do right (3-4). He knew what was in his Bible and he put it into practice. At least he did on this specific issue. It is always a good thing to obey Scripture. Whenever God’s Word contradicts your lifestyle do you contradict God’s Word, or do you seek to adjust your life to it? When the compass shows you are steering off course, do you make a necessary course correction or keep chugging towards the rocks? In obeying God’s revealed truth Amaziah did what was right. Do whatever he tells you (John 2:5).

He was also correct to listen to the prophet (7-10). We are again reminded of the danger of unholy alliances; of being unequally yoked. Amaziah must have known from his father’s experience (24:24) that a big army won’t save you if God isn’t with you. Amaziah was concerned because he’d spent a lot of money to buy in help from Israel, but the prophet told him that God could more than make up for his losses (9). The devil is always telling us that it is dangerous to get too close to God. He persuades you that if you live a fully devoted life of Christian discipleship you will lose so much. The truth is that you don’t have to let go of anything worth keeping. And although there will be a price to pay in living for God, what the Lord gives far outweighs anything we relinquish. Jim Elliot, who was martyred as a young man, whilst serving God among the Auca Indians in Ecuador, said this: He is no fool who gives up that which he could never keep in order to gain that which he could never lose.

If we can renounce all creature aid, and trust simply in the eternal God, there is no limit to the victories He will secure; but if, turning from Him, we hold out our hand towards the world, we forfeit his aid. O child of God, let not the army of Israel go with thee! Do not adopt worldly policy, methods, or partnership. F.B. Meyer: Great Verses through the Bible, p.159.

Daily Bible thoughts 500: Monday 2^nd December 2013: 2 Chronicles 24: 21-27

What a salutary warning lies in this sad story. Joash, who at one time was so concerned to honour God’s Word in the restoration of the temple and in asking God’s people to give to the project, later on in his life was actually complicit in murder (21). Earlier, he had reminded Zechariah’s father, Jehoiada, of the truth of God’s Word (24:5) and challenged him accordingly. But now, when he felt the sharp sword of truth cut him deep, he responded with murderous anger. Here’s the clear warning. People of apparent spiritual stature can fall from a great height and end up splattered on the concrete beneath. It can and does happen. I shared a dorm at Bible College, for a short while, with a really nice guy. A year or two later I heard that this same man was in prison, doing time. So Zechariah was murdered in the very temple precincts that Joash had been so zealous over. What irony.

I always think it is a sad thing when people do not show appreciation and remember those who’ve been good to them (22). Who could have envisaged such a turn of events. Life throws up some surprises (and terrible shocks at times!) But the Lord did see this and called Joash to account. We may sin privately, but we never sin secretly. The eyes of Omniscience are ever upon us. ‘Thou God seest me.’  Many years later the Lord Jesus was to say: Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all. (Lk.11:50,51) Jesus was there. He is God and He saw. Payment had to be made.

God always settles His accounts. The bill came in (23 -26) and Joash had to put his hand in his pocket. Joash had a much bigger army than the Arameans, but that wasn’t a problem to God. A big company of soldiers wouldn’t and couldn’t save those who had resisted the Word of the Lord. Joash lived by the sword and died by the sword. He reaped what he sowed. We live in a moral universe and what we do has consequences. Joash let a most unpleasant genie out of the bottle, and once it was out it would not go back in. Not only did Joash die, but as we have seen, he didn’t even receive a royal burial (unlike Jehoiada who did). He died ignominiously and was dishonoured.

Reviewing the life of Joash causes me to think of some words spoken by a friend. He said, ‘I want to finish well.’ You can have a good start in the Christian race, and run the middle section well also, but if you pull out before hitting the tape how sad is that. Those who endure to the end will be saved and I want to be in their company.

Friday 6^th December 2013 – Lord, I continue to ask for open doors to be able to speak the good news about you. Give me eyes to see them and the courage to walk through them; and never more so than on those occasions when it feels particularly risky and unsafe. Enable me to get my priorities right. Keep me from choosing soft options.

 Thursday 5^th December 2013  – Lord I love to hear your voice. Help me to never put my fingers in my ears when you are speaking. I cannot trust myself. I know how fickle I am. But I know how trustworthy you are, and I look to you.

 Wednesday 4^th December 2013 – Lord, as the hymn says: ‘The world is ever near me, around me and within… I see the sights that dazzle, the tempting sounds I hear.’ The downward gravitational pull of sin is so strong. I ask Lord Jesus, triumphant King, that I will overcome through you, and that you will overcome in me.

Tuesday 3^rd December 2013  –  Lord it is my chief complaint that my love is weak and faint; yet I love thee, and adore. O for grace to love thee more. (From the hymn: ‘Hark my soul, it is the Lord.)

Monday 2^nd December 2013 – Lord, I’m on the track and in the race. My eyes are on the tape and the prize. Please strengthen me to keep going, and help me to never drop out.