When twilight fades and my life here is spent, there will be no need for you to pray me into heaven.  No need for you to ask God to receive me into Paradise.  No need for you to plead with the Almighty on my behalf.

 

The question of my acceptance into the presence of God has long been settled.  And the answer has nothing to do with me.  Nothing to do with you.  Everything to do with Jesus.

 

Jesus' perfect life made my righteousness possible.  Jesus' atoning death made my sins forgiveable.  Jesus' resurrection makes my eternity unquestionable.

 

So don't pray me into heaven.  My acceptance is settled in Jesus.

 

"This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day." (John 6:39)

 

Acts 12:20-24 ESV

 

Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they came to him with one accord, and having persuaded Blastus, the king's chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their country depended on the king's country for food.  On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them.  And the people were shouting, "The voice of a god and not of a man!"  Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

 

But the word of God increased and multiplied.

 

 

History is littered with self professed and/or people anointed gods with a messiah complex who, in the end, have died as mere mortals.  Not all in such a spectacular fashion as Herod.  But dead is dead however one dies.

 

Meanwhile, Jesus lives and the word of God increases.  The Messiah came and is coming again.  And life – eternal life, abundant life – is found only in Him.

Quotes and information used are from an August 17, 2009 article by Michael Foust with Baptist Press News and can be found at http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=31087

 

The United States Department of Justice is defending the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).  Sort of.  Kind of.  Not really.  Take for example the following:

 

"[T]he government does not contend," the department's brief states, "that there are legitimate government interests in 'creating a legal structure that promotes the raising of children by both of their biological parents' or that the government's interest in 'responsible procreation' justifies Congress's decision to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman."

 

The current administration has made no secret about its LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) agenda.  According to Baptist Press News:

 

The White House released a statement Monday from Obama which said, in part, "While we work with Congress to repeal DOMA, my Administration will continue to examine and implement measures that will help extend rights and benefits to LGBT couples under existing law."

 

DOMA may be doomed given its lack of defense from the Justice Department.  But the truth about marriage and procreation has not changed.

 

Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." (Genesis 1:26-28)

 

Marriage is about men and women being united in loving commitment and having babies.  Anything outside of that is sin against the God who made male and female and brought them together to make babies.  Anything outside of that is overt rebellion against God whose will it is for men and women to be united in loving commitment and make babies.

 

Any nation that does not understand that it has a vested interest in promoting marriage and families will eventually dry up and die.  And our government does not understand.

 

"… For these reasons, the United States does not believe that DOMA is rationally related to any legitimate government interests in procreation and child-rearing and is therefore not relying upon any such interests to defend DOMA's constitutionality."

David deserved to die.  He had coveted his neighbor's wife, stolen his neighbor's wife, committed adultery with his neighbor's wife and then had his neighbor killed to conceal the crime.  He was guilty under the law and the penalty was death.  Yet upon his confession, the prophet of God said to him:

 

"The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die." (2 Samuel 12:13)

 

How could this be?  Some suggest that David got off on a technicality.  Under the law the death penalty required that the crime be established in the mouths of two or three witnesses. (Deuteronomy 19:15-21)  But are witnesses needed when the guilty confess?

 

Consider that when Jericho was conquered, a man by the name of Achan disobeyed the direct command of the Lord by stealing and concealing under his tent forbidden spoils from the city.  His sin had far reaching effects.  Because of his transgression, the army of Israel was sorely defeated in their next battle against the men of Ai.  No one among the Israelites seemed to see Achan take and conceal the mantle, silver and gold.  But God saw.  And God revealed to Joshua the guilty party.  And after Achan's confession, he and his family were stoned to death by the people. (Joshua 7:1-26)

 

So did David get off on a technicality?  I don't think so.  But even if he escaped death for lack of witnesses, he still deserved to die and as a sinner he deserved to go to hell.

 

You and I deserve to die and go to hell; especially when you consider where Jesus positioned the bar of the law: lust – adultery, hatred – murder. (Matthew 5:21-32)  There may be no witnesses to our secret sins, but the lack of witnesses does not diminish our guilt.  We've all transgressed the law of God and His righteousness.  And once you transgress, even in the least, you are a transgressor.  And the penalty of the law weighs down upon us even as it did David.

 

So how could God put away, or pass over, David's sin?  Doesn't a just God have to justly follow His own law?  How can God forgive us our sins?  Don't sins demand punishment?  Shouldn't we all die and go to hell for breaking the law of God?

 

Yes, sins demand punishment.  Yes, we should all go to hell.  Yes, a just God does have to justly follow His own law.  The penalty for sin must be paid.  Then how can God be just and the justifier of sinners?

 

The Gospel is the answer.  Romans 3:21-26 is the explanation.  Jesus took our place.  Jesus was punished for our transgressions.  The penalty of the law was satisfied in the appeasing death of Jesus.  The blood of Jesus satisfied the wrath of God.

 

David's sins did not go unpunished.  Our sins have not gone unpunished.  Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 53:6:

 

All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

 

Oh how glorious the Gospel!  How tender God's mercies!  How amazing God's grace!  How beautiful our Savior!

 

Christ our treasure.  His promise our hope.  His Gospel our message.

We are saints because of grace.  And by grace we are to be saintly.

 

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. (Titus 2:11-14)

 

The work of grace saves us from what we have been, secures us for what we shall be and transforms us in what we now are.  If the cross is powerful enough to alter our eternal destiny (and it is!), then it is also powerful enough to change our present lives.

 

As children of God, we are not dragged through our days toward Godly living by sets of rules and laws.  Rather we rise every morning fully cognizant of the mercies and love of God and are compelled from within to live in a manner worthy of Him who has saved us.  We cast ourselves upon His grace and trust His enabling power in our lives.  The Godliness of our lives is reflective of the God in our life.

 

Salvation is the beginning of God's work of grace in our lives, not the end.  His grace is ever transforming us and readying us for the day of Christ's appearance.  Until that day may every day be a day of grace.

It's confusing, isn't it?  The "Health Care Reform" bill and its variants fill reams of paper.  You wonder who, if anyone, has actually read it.  You don't know who, then, to believe about what's really in it.  You end up living in fear of what might happen.

 

There are, for example, conflicting reports of what "Reform" will mean to the sanctity of life, from conception to the grave.  Will "Reform" force tax dollars to be spent to provide abortions and will "Reform" force the elderly to choose death over life saving treatment?  I don't know for sure.  I've not read the proposal.  I've read snippets and listened to pundits, but in the end I'm left wondering, like many of you, as to what exactly is going on.

 

What I do know is that there is an element in our society who, by their own proud admission, views a fetus as mere biological tissue to be discarded without second thought.  There are also those who see the elderly as economically disadvantageous and whose quality of life isn't worth the cost of the care required.

 

I also know, again by their own admission, that the proponents of such philosophies are actively engaged in furthering their causes.  And I know that their philosophies and subsequent causes are dangerous to our culture.  To treat life with such disdain, whether in utero or in nursing home,  is to disrespect the One Who breathed life into the dust of the earth and made man a living soul.

 

What are we to do?  Our Senators and Representatives are home for recess.  You may see them and have the opportunity to talk with them.  You can certainly call their office and/or email them.  And when you do, may I suggest the following:

 

First, pray.  Pray for your elected representative.  Pray for those who are self avowed enemies of life.  Pray for all men everywhere that all might come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  Pray for wisdom.

 

Second, ask questions.  Inform yourself of the facts as best you can.

 

Third, politely and passionately plead for life.

 

This weekend I am praying about my personal response and this week I will be writing both state's U.S. Senators and our eastern district U.S. Representative to urge them to protect life.  You may consider doing the same.  You can find the necessary contact information at the following websites:

 

Senator Mark Pryor: http://pryor.senate.gov/contact/

Senator Blanche Lincoln: http://lincoln.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm

Representative Marion Berry: http://www.house.gov/berry/

 

Lastly, whatever happens with "Health Care Reform," we are all going to die.  These bodies of ours are faltering and failing, corrupted by sin.  What a wonderful opportunity this "Health Care Reform" debate gives us to speak with people about God's Health Care Plan – the granting of eternal life through faith in the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God's Son, on the cross.

We get over the Gospel way too easily.

 

We need the Gospel to be right with God.  Without the Gospel we are sinners hopelessly and eternally separated from God.  Without the Gospel we are helplessly under the dominion of sin.  Without the Gospel we are doomed, damned and hell bound.

 

Our need for the Gospel is not predicated on a better marriage or happier home.  Our need for the Gospel is predicated on having a right relationship with the Father through the Son.  We need the Gospel because we need God.

 

But, the misery we as professing Christians inflict upon ourselves and others is all too often related to how easily we get over the Gospel.

 

We get saved.  We get baptized.  We join a church.  Then we proceed with life – marriage, family, job, etc. – as if the Gospel is somehow unrelated to who we are and what we do between "getting saved" and "going to heaven."  It's as if salvation is a "Whew!" moment.  I got saved.  I have escaped hell.  Now it's on with life.

 

But what would happen if we lived every day in the shadow of the cross?  What would happen if every day was lived in the recognition of our desperate need for God's grace?  What if we lived every day understanding our need for God's mercy?  What if from our salvation forward our lives were lived rooted in the Gospel?

 

Would it affect our marriages?  Would it impact our homes?  Would it change the way we handle the stresses of job and health and daily life in this world?

 

The joy of the Christian life that supercedes the frustrations and hurts and pains of living in this world flows out of the Gospel as we daily embrace the cross and are embraced by the grace of God.  Constantly consumed with the overwhelming love of God found in the Gospel we are overcome with that peace that passes understanding.

 

Oh, may we never get over the Gospel.