Sparks from the Gospel Anvil
Mark 14:37, 38
If I was an artist I would like to paint a picture; one of four men that had entered the garden of Gethsemane and it was night. They had went past the gate and the Lord had asked those three men, Peter, James and John, to tarry or wait at one spot and watch; as He went further on to pray. Leonard Ravenhill stated instead of watching, the disciples wilted. They were tired; exhausted; in other words, just worn out. They traveled with Jesus, They fellowshipped with Jesus, they saw Him do mighty miracles and heard the Divine discourses that He delivered. They deliberately asked Jesus one day to teach them to pray; (not preach), but pray and so He gave them an example as to how they should communicate with the Father. But on the night that He needed them to offer up supplications, they were sleeping. Instead of interceding they had become inactive; instead of praying, they had become paralyzed. Today we seem to be experiencing the same thing, could we not watch with the Lord for one hour? We need to remember that in the New Testament these were “men of kneeling” praying men. At this moment the world lies bleeding at our feet, raped by war, ravaged by famine, ripped by inflation, repressed by recession and riddled by unemployment and we forget that the Christian life is a battle. Prayer is not a preparation for the battle; it is the battle! The effectual fervent prayer of the righteous disarms the devil before the preacher gets into the pulpit. Preaching does not scare the devil, but prayer does. The hymn writer, William Cowper, stated that, “Restraining prayer, we cease to fight; prayer makes the Christian’s armour bright; And Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees”. Jesus said in another place, “while men slept the enemy sowed the tares;” and while we sleep in the church the devil sows his tares, sets his snares and weighs folks down with cares. Yet Jesus, the Captain of our Salvation, suffered for us, that we might triumph with Him.
That is why the Apostle Paul told Timothy, “For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.” (Ref. 1 Timothy 2:5) It is this mediatorial office that consists of two parts, sacrifice and intercession. They are equally important and mutually dependent. Without sacrifice , there is no ground of intercession; without intercession , there is no benefit in sacrifice. We as believers need to be reminded that the Lord Jesus Christ reminds to pray and not faint and that we should pray without ceasing. Now, I know there are many that think there is no possible way that we can pray without ceasing; that we must sleep and rest. I think the Welsh Evangelist, Christmas Evans said it best, “Christ sailed on the open channel like a man of war, delivering the hapless captives of the great pirate Death, to the astonishment and joy of the people, from Samaria to the borders of Tyre and Sidon. But on a certain day, ever to be remembered, as he drew near the ramparts of Sinai, all its batteries were opened upon him. He stood in the fire all night, and fought till he sweat great drops of blood. He threw Himself between His friends and the fort, and sustained the shock of its heaviest artillery, which played upon Him without intermission, until 3 o’clock in the afternoon of the next day, when he received a shot in the heart, and crying, “it is finished!” gave up the ghost. The whole creation trembled when He fell, and was swallowed up in the horrible abyss. But on the morning of the third day, the earth was seized with new spasms, and He that was dead came forth to be the life of His people; and the cable of faith, the anchor of hope, and the sails of love, ascended with Him from the deep, never to go down again. He is alive forevermore, and has the keys of hell and of death.” ( Sermons and Memoirs of Christmas Evans © 1986 Kregel Publications; pg. 69). If Christ did that for us, what are we doing for Him? Are we living to pray or praying to live? May God help us to see the importance and the urgency to be a people of Him advancing the Kingdom upon our knees.
Lt. Charles Smith is commanding officer of the Salvation Army of El Dorado.
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Ancient Words: Angels—Q & A
A few questions to answer came out on the recent series about “Angels”. While the series was admittedly not exhaustive, further reading about angels should take in the books of Ezekiel and Isaiah. In summary, angels are created beings by God, sent to minister to the saved (Heb 1). Jesus and mankind were both created a little lower than angels, yet with Jesus’ resurrection, our Lord and Savior is now placed above the angels. We, in turn, will also be placed above the angels with our resurrection for we will be like him —-1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. Angels are known, by God’s own description to Solomon, to have wings and Ezekiel certainly bears this out as the description of “wings” is used 21 times, more than any book in the Bible. Our resurrected body will not have wings. Paul describes our future bodies—1Co 15:35-49 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?….. But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another…… So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening Spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. (Angels will maintain their celestial bodies and saved mankind will be in immortal bodies like Christ Jesus.)
Another question came up concerning King David and the destroying angel at Araunah’s threshing floor—why was the penalty of death given for David taking a census? The answer is pondered over David’s pride but the specific answer comes from a text in the O.T.— Exo 30:11-16 Then the LORD said to Moses, “When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the LORD a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come on them when you number them. Each one who crosses over to those already counted is to give a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the LORD. All who cross over, those twenty years old or more, are to give an offering to the LORD. The rich are not to give more than a half shekel and the poor are not to give less when you make the offering to the LORD to atone for your lives. Receive the atonement money from the Israelites and use it for the service of the tent of meeting. It will be a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD, making atonement for your lives.” (David did not collect the half shekel, so the plague came upon the people.)
The last question—does the event in Genesis 19 have anything to do with today? See 2 Peter 2 and Luke 17:28-30 “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.”
Scott Johnson is pastor at East Faulkner Church of Christ and author of the BRG Bible. Bible questions can be sent to [email protected].