God With Us

January 1, 2012

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."

Psalm 23:4 portrays the assurance of walking with the Lord. Jesus states the same promise in John 10 as He describes the relation between the Good Shepherd and His sheep: "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand..." 27-30. In the letter of 1 John 1:7, "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." We need not fear evil or the evil things that may touch us because our God is our Shepherd and His rod and staff are powerful protectors. Our Shepherd protects us who hear His voice and do what He commands, follow where He leads in His Bible, and thus know Him. We walk in the light of His teachings even as He Himself demonstrated when He walked among men. Because we walk with Him, we have fellowship with Him and we are the ones that His blood can cleanse from all sin.

This great relationship is prophesied in Isaiah 43 in the Servant narratives. We are His "creation" v1 (Eph 2:10;4:24). We are redeemed, we are His. "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you." v2 "Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, and gather you from the west...everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him." v5-7 Who are these beloved people that God claims as His own? Who are these protected people that God pledges never to forsake? They are the "blind people who have eyes and the deaf who have ears." v8 They are the people from all nations who gather together into His heavenly kingdom because they know Him and demonstrate that knowledge by obeying Him, doing His will and thus glorifying Him.

It is not an easy task to forsake the worldly and their well ingrained habits. The battle is always fierce and God's children endure many painful wounds, but their God has made them His and He will fight for them and they will win because they trust in Him and in the help that He offers. tp

Justice to the Gentiles

December 25, 2011

God in heaven has looked down on us with a firm resolve to bring good things to us even as it seems that evil must have its way and make our lives miserable, hopeless and helpless. Jesus knows. He has always known. As the Christ, the Messiah of Isaiah 42, the Elect Servant who refused to raise His voice, break a bruised reed or quench a smoking wick, Jesus is called of God as a covenant to all the nations of the world. His promise to us is that He will open blind eyes and free the prisoners who waste away in darkness. The chains and darkness refer to the results of sin and ignorance in the personal lives of all people.

Jesus has composed a new song. God wants us to see that the righteous life is joyous! When someone obeys God, the angels in heaven rejoice along with all who are part of that club of devotees to moral and conscientious living.

God is patient and suffers the indignities of watching His highest creations on this earth malfunction and self-destruct. He suffers long, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance, 2 Peter 3:9. God is not passive in His patience. He held His peace a long time and restrained Himself, but now He will cry out like a man of war but also like a woman in labor, panting and gasping at once. He will demolish all earthly obstacles, laying wate the mountains and hills, and drying up all their vegetation, rivers and pools. He says He will lead us, even we who are blind, by a way that we did not know and make our darkness light before us. He says that He can make our crooked paths straight. He says that He will never forsake us.

Not a word of His promises has failed over the past 20 centuries. He has not failed those people who have listened to Him. He has taught those who blindly degrade their bodies by immorality to live another way which honors marriage and treasures the children. He has taught those who blindly lie and deceive their neighbors for ecomonic reasons another way which builds trust, respect and courtesy. Sing, rejoice! for we don't have to take that road to pain and heartache and a life sentence of misery! Jesus shows us a way out. He has taught us that we don't have to blindly strike back or defend our "honor" when someone hurts us. He has shown us the joy and glory of forgiving those who mistreat us, praying for them and blessing them.

The new song is a song of giving and kindness that leads us out of the darkness of fear, insecurity and taking. tp

Desperate Escape

December 18, 2011

The angel said to Lot, "Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain... lest you be destroyed." I don't believe this was a moral test or a test of the heart's affections. It was very simple: escape while you still can. The angel mercifully took them by the hand and physically drew them each one out of harm's way. As they escaped, Lot's wife looked behind him and was turned into stone. The details are limited. Was she struck down by poisonous sulfuric vapors and left to become encrusted by mineral deposits (a pillar of stone) as still happens in that region to this day? Or was it an instant punishment for disobeying the voice of the angel? Lot had been a wealthy man while living in tents beside his uncle Abraham, and now he had moved into the city and had his own house and the comforts and the interesting diversions of the city. He was losing it all. Could he be blamed for looking behind him at such great economic and personal loss?

When Jesus prophesied the total destruction of Jerusalem, He said that it would be as in the days of Lot when God rained fire and sulfur on Sodom. "Remember Lot's wife," He said. If you are in the field, don't turn back and if you are on the roof top, don't come down to get your goods, but flee! In both cases, God is saying that it is better to lose everything that you have and escape, than to be caught in the wrath of God.

Jesus spoke in a similar way when He called men out of the world to become His followers. They had to be ready to leave behind economic ambitions and even family ties sometimes. Then He said, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." In this case, it was not a burning city that they were escaping but rather the earthly ties and ambitions that can bind us to a world that is perishing because of sin and its worldly ways of thinking. Jesus calls us to plow in His fields but demands that we not look behind us as we press onward. Where we have been is not as important as where we are going. We may very well suffer great losses as did Lot. He that would love his life shall lose it. He that would lose his life for Jesus' sake shall indeed find it. What would you give in exchange for your soul? "For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works." (Matthew 16:24-27) Just like driving a car, isn't it? You cannot get to where you are going if you are focused on where you have been. tp

What is my life worth?

December 11, 2011

That depends on your point of view. If a man's life is measured by the amount of things that he possesses, then the life of a poor man is worth less that the life of a rich man. Jesus denied that one's life consists in the abundance of the things he possesses, Luke 12:15. If the value of a man is measured according to what he does with that life, we are closer to the truth from God's point of view, although we must hasten to point out that all human life is sacred and therefore priceless. We are made in the image of God, so He demanded that Noah and his descendants shed the blood of murderers, Genesis 9:6. We commonly protect more vigorously the lives of those who are doing things vital to our communities such as kings and generals. We guard and treasure the lives of our wives and daughters not just because they bear our children and carry the future life of the family, but also because they are the weaker and more vulnerable members and our men are given greater strength and size along with the responsibility to protect and provide for the weak.

But God is the ultimate Judge of all men and their worth, so we must consider what criteria He would use to assess the value of a human life. In the poetry of the Psalms and prophets, the servants of God often cry out to Him when they see their lives are in danger. Their pleas often resemble the prayer of Hezekiah in Isaiah 38:10-20. The king was sick with an infection which had brought him to the portals of death. He turned his face to the wall, prayed and wept bitterly. God sent Isaiah to tell him that his prayer and heard and he was given fifteen more years of life. What exactly did Hezekiah say that persuaded God? God said it was the tears. Of course, it was also the life that Hezekiah had offered to the glory of God. He reminded God in his prayer that living he praised and gave thanks to God, v. 19: "The living, the living man, he shall praise You, as I do this day; the father shall make known your truth to the children." A man who praises God both by words and deeds has a life worth living and extending an extra 15 years!

You and I have an allotted period of days or years. How we spend those days determines the worth of our lives before God who watches and listens and is either pleased or displeased. We sing and prayer together to give thanks and glorify His name. That is time well spent in the eyes of our Creator. We make known the Truth of our God to our children, family, and friends. That also is life that is of great value before Him. tp

Abortion Discounts

December 4, 2011

The Orlando Women's Center recently offered a promotional discount of $50 to women who had their abortions performed on Sunday. Also in the ad was the inducement of "free WiFi" during the office visit and surgical procedure. It is the premeditated murder of a weak and vulnerable human being who is located in one of the safest places on the earth: his mother's womb. God has placed one of the strongest and fiercest instincts in the heart of mothers, an instinct stronger than the survival instinct. But of course modern culture has so thoroughly indoctrinated our young that motherly instincts are effectively suppressed and inconvenient pregnancies go away by an act that could only be called cold blooded murder if the baby had already been born, as in the recent case of Casey Anthony who was tried in Florida court for murdering her child so that she could return to the partying that she longed for.

Florida law will not allow an abortion if the baby still has a heart beat after 24 weeks. The promotional literature offered by the Women's Center, suggests a way around that law. If you can fly to Washington DC, there is a clinic that will stop the baby's heart beat with an injection into his heart. It is called "intra-cardiac injection of medication into the fetal heart." Then you can return to Florida's Women Center to induce labor since the baby has no heartbeat. The ad called this procedure both "compassionate" and "a much needed service." Does anyone feel compassion toward the baby? Does the baby deserve any consideration for the inconvenience that sudden violent medical procedures cause him? The innocent, undefiled and completely helpless child has needs too. Is his death really what he needs? No, of course not. It is his callous and unfeeling mother or perhaps her boy friend who needs the service so that they will not have to delay their fleshly ambitions. After all, he is just a baby. What can he do for me? What is he worth? What is his life worth? He is just a little package of wants and needs. What is a man profited if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what would a man give in exchange for his life? A man would give all that he owned to save his life. That baby would give you everything that he had, but then again what does he have to give? Gimme, gimme, gimme, is all you will hear from that one.

A man fell among thieves, beaten and robbed. A priest and a Levite passed him by. Just a stranger with nothing to give. A Samaritan stopped and took care of him and Jesus praised him. tp

Covering Up

November 27, 2011

It seemed the right thing to do at the time. Their position of power and influence was intact after the crisis brought on by Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus had been crucified in shame by the hated Romans, but now His surviving disciples were filling Jerusalem with His teaching saying that He is risen and that they, the chief priests, scribes and Pharisees, were guilty of unjustly murdering Him.

In Acts 4:1-3, they were greatly disturbed that the apostles were teaching the people such things. What did it matter that they healed a well known beggar in the name of Jesus! Their names were being tarnished and they were filled with indignation, 5:17. They arrested the apostles. When the prisoners showed no disposition to cooperate with the authorities, they were furious and plotted to kill them. Why not? They were a threat simply because of what they were saying both publicly and privately about the death of Jesus and His place at the right hand of the Father. Such words painted these leaders in a very evil light. Only the calm words of Gamaliel prevented them from slaughtering the apostles just as they did Jesus. Nevertheless they beat them with the traditional 40 stripes save one (we don't want to break the law here) and then prohibited them from teaching any more in the name of Jesus.

Their efforts to cover up failed because the power of the truth on the conscience is irresistible in the hearts of honest men. The resolute stance of the apostles reached a great number of the priests even though they were under the authority of the High Priest and the Chief Priests. In the next chapter, 6:7, we read that "the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith."

They had heard all of the testimony from both sides. They knew who was covering up their guilt and who was telling the truth. The lame man had been healed at the Beautiful Gate. That was their own domain. None of the priests had such authority over physical deformity. Only God can grow bone and flesh giving strength to the useless muscles of the lame. The apostles claimed no special powers: only the authority of the risen Jesus whom they proclaimed Lord and Judge of all the living. That of course would include the High Priest, his heirs, and all the rest of the Jews who had conspired to condemn the Innocent Jesus, who could only be the Christ who was promised in the prophecies that they knew so well. tp

Angry Without Cause

November 20, 2011

There is always a reason why someone gets mad but it is not always a good reason, a just cause. Matthew 5:22, at the head of the list of issues which Jesus must address, the issues that define the ways in which our righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, we find the issue of anger. Anger itself is only a form of passion which is not evil in and of itself. Ephesians 4:26 teaches us that when we learn Christ, the first thing that we do after putting off lying and telling the truth, is to "be angry and sin not, let not the sun go down on your wrath." Jesus says that just like the murderer who is in danger of the judgment, likewise the one who is angry with his brother without cause is in danger of the judgment.

I am afraid that we are tempted to trivialize Jesus' next words that specify two words that we must never use against our brother: "Raca" and "Thou Fool" as if we could never be guilty of such a sin because we don't speak Greek or Hebrew and would never call anyone "racha" or "moros." Or rather it maybe because we so often, under provocation, call someone, "idiot" "imbecile" or "fool" that Jesus surely must not be talking about our "innocent" venting while driving in heavy traffic. May I suggest that Jesus had a narrow application in mind?

"Raca" was Hebrew for empty and was used of empty or vain people both intellectually as well as morally. This sense was often "good for nothing" as James 2:20 calls the "vain man" who could not see that faith without works is useless. Judges 11:3 uses the term of unscrupulous men who could be used for evil purposes. Like the Greek word for "fool," moros from which we get "moron" or "moronic" accuses one of dullness or silliness or stupidity. Jesus used the term freely in Matt 7:26; 23:17, 19; 25:2,3,8.

Jesus is not advocating a sort of blind political correctness of language by telling us not to use the correct word to describe a true condition. He has begun the context by saying, "angry without cause" which we might apply to calling someone "raca" who is not empty-headed in any sense or to calling someone "fool" who is not doing or saying anything foolish. Jesus is condemning in advance the very practice of the scribes and Pharisees of calling Him and His disciples fools and demon possessed when they were being exposed as sinners or in error as they followed some human tradition or whatever form of carnality. The standard practice of the rebellious when confronted by his sins or errors and unable to answer or refute is to insult. Of course ultimately they did murder Him. tp

The Treasure in Relationships

November 6, 2011

"The poor man uses entreaties, but the rich answers roughly. A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." Proverbs 18:23-24. The Bible does not regard the inequities between the poor and the rich as evil or a problem that must be remedied. The sly Marxist begins by condemning the unjust distribution of wealth and then stirs up discontent until the have-nots are willing to overthrown the culture and government in order to place a politically correct leadership in place that will steal from the rich and give to the poor. In the end, the new leaders are just tyrants who enrich themselves and impoverish everyone else.

In a socialist society driven by envy, you will find sloth, disrespect, and a collapse of character, manners, home and family. The poor no longer need the rich for their mercy or for their business opportunities. Who needs to maintain good working relationships with wealthy business owners? A poor man cannot afford to lose any of the business relationships that he has cultivated. That would mean possible starvation for his family. Meanwhile the rich do not learn to be civil or develop relationships because he is too busy. We tend to think like the wealthy who are too busy to make friends with our neighbors. Our bonds with family and with the church tend to be fairly weak since we don't feel the need for the help of others. The desire to become rich or wealthier is the cause of many of our deficiencies. "But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." 1 Timothy 6:9. Many of us are drowning in foolish and harmful lusts that destroy our relationships to neighbors, both rich and poor.

You cannot buy friendships on a quid pro quo basis. Those who seek friendships no matter how hard they try often lose them! You must be friendly. You are friendly the way that Jesus teaches us by anticipating the wants and needs of your neighbors according to the Golden Rule. This rule is the mother of all the rules of courtesy, nobility and respect. Gifts and hospitality are not given with the expectation of something in return, even friendship. Good friendships are rare today. We move around too much, church to church, to develop life-long friends. tp

The Key of David

October 30, 2011

"He who opens and no one shuts and shuts and no one opens." Rev 3:7. Only the king has authority to open and shut. He gives an open door to the church in Philadelphia even though the synagogs may have excluded them from their clubs.

The Jews questioned Jesus' authority to cleanse the Temple as well as to teach there. Matt 21:23. By the right of the Messiah King, He had that undeniable authority. Actually any righteous Jew had that right to challenge the ungodly merchandizing of the Temple. Many, as matter of fact believed in Jesus but would not confess Him because they feared that the Jews would cast them out of their synagog, John 9:22, 34; 12:42. They accepted the arrogant usurping of the authority of the true King who reigns in righteousness. Jesus said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them." John 10:7.

Jesus promised the keys of the kingdom of God to Peter, Matt 16:18-19. Only on the terms of the Gospel that was preached by Peter and the other apostles can men enter God's kingdom and ultimately into heaven itself. Jesus as the Messiah-Christ has the authority to dictate the terms of entrance. That is to say, The Lord Jesus has in fact dictated the conditions upon which one may be forgiven of sins, washed from contamination, and be saved and sanctified by the blood that He shed on the cross. Those who deny that there are conditions, are denying the lordship of Jesus, He who bears the Key of David.

Jesus Himself entered heaven by death, that is, the veil of His flesh, Hebrews 10:19-22. When we bind ourselves to Him by baptism into death, God opens to us the doors to heaven. We spend our days on the earth as servants of righteousness so that one day we may hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servants -- Enter into the joy of your Lord."

Jesus also has the power to shut the door. He casts out the unprofitable servant into out darkness, Matt 25:30.

When Noah entered the ark, God shut the door, Gen 7:16. Inside it was safe and dry but outside it was stormy, a killer storm that destroyed the remaining living beings outside of the ark. When God shut the door, it was too late for all other living creatures to enter. All men had the opportunity while Noah was preaching righteousness and truth to repent and be granted asylum within the confines of safety inside the ark. Instead they mocked so God shut them out.

Open doors are good, aren't they. tp

Hidden From Evil

"Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth, who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger." Zephaniah 2:3.

If we just participate a little in their worldly humor and accept just a little of their worldly fashions (blouse fashionably open, skirt or pants fashionably tight in the "right" places), we can hide from the hostility of the profane unbelievers. As long as we are willing to occasionally compromise the truth, look the other way when they defraud, or flirt with another's spouse, we can hide from their wrath.

The Psalmist cried out to the Lord, "Save me from all those who persecute me; and deliver me, lest they tear me like a lion, rending me in pieces, while there is none to deliver." Psalm 7:1-2. It is a frightening thing to live in a world apparently dominated by elements hostile to righteousness, honesty, and moral purity. It seems that we live in the midst of a people as described by Agur in Proverbs 30 "a generation that curses its father, and does not bless its mother; a generation that is pure in its own eyes, yet is not washed from its filthiness... a generation -- oh, how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up...a generation whose teeth are swords and whose fangs knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men. The leech has two daughters -- Give and Give! (v. 11-15) In their false virtue they arrogantly injure and impoverish the meek who live by sacred principles.

Persecution is not only the result of openly sharing the Gospel. More often it is the result of the wicked being provoked by seeing a truly virtuous life and realizing the true nobility of someone obviously superior as judged by the conscience of that same wicked person. It has always been thus. The repeated theme of the Psalms is the cry of an innocent righteous person before our Holy God against the injustice of wicked persecutors.

Jesus gives us courage to stand in our virtue and convictions trusting our God and fearing His greater power. "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Matthew 10:28.

Psalm 7 continues, "God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day. If he does not turn back, He will sharpen His sword; He bends His bow and makes it ready. He also prepares for Himself instruments of death; He makes his arrows into fiery shafts." v. 11-13

The Pain of the Conscience

We recently heard of Congressional testimony from a former leader of China about the loss of 400 million children there to abortion and infanticide. Many are the essays and testimonials concerning the tragedies of attacking the defenseless unborn some of whom survive the ordeal howbeit with disabilities and scars. The little ones are not the only ones who suffer. Because of the conscience that God has placed deep inside the soul of all human beings, there is an undeniable torment attached to knowing that one, who is a mother, has killed her own child. God has given all mothers a protective instinct, that is one of the most powerful and ferocious forces known to mankind. Under normal circumstances, the sadness that a mother feels on losing a child is a painful burden that remains with her the rest of her life. But, intentional abortion is even worse.

Three separate journals have published studies of women who have aborted a child and their conclusions confirm just how much harm is done to the mothers themselves as a result of their "medical procedure." Southern Medical Journal, 2002: 62% higher risk of death from all causes, 2.5 times higher risk of suicide compared to women who give birth. This risk persists for at least eight years. That amounts to 2,000 to 5,000 more deaths each year. European Journal of Public Health, 2005: 3.5 times higher death rates from suicide, accidents, homicides. In Finland these are figures of the first year after an abortion. Suicides rates were six times higher than their other peers and twice as high as women who had miscarried. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 2008: Abortion linked to wide range of mental health disorders. A survey of 5,877 women found that women who had abortions were at higher risk for 12 of 15 mental health disorders studied.

The conscience is a powerful gift of God to be respected and treated as sacred. As an evangelist, Paul's approach was very simple: "But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God" (2 Cor 4:2) Jesus spoke to the conscience of the hypocrite accusers, John 8:9. "He that is without sin, let him first cast a stone at her." Then He just wrote in the sand as one by one from the oldest to the youngest, pricked by the conscience they walked away. Jesus still has the answer for an evil conscience, 1 Peter 3:21. tp

Enriched in Everything

In the opening verses of 1 Corinthians, the apostle Paul tells that church how grateful he is that they are enriched in everything by the grace of Christ Jesus, both in their manner of speaking and in the knowledge that they express, 1:5. The testimony of Christ was confirmed in them. That is, the power and blessing of the Gospel was obviously working as evidenced by the dramatic improvement in their lives. They were not lacking in any of the gifts that God wanted them to have.

The same God who will faithfully keep His promises until the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, is the God who called Christians into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. What a beautiful relationship we have with our Lord! How rich He has made us! The church did not make them rich, Christ Jesus our Lord had filled them with holiness and righteousness and peace. In the church, they had the opportunity to put those virtues to work, edifying one another and drawing their neighbors out of the world into the salvation and grace that meets our needs.

Right away, the apostle launches an appeal to these saints that they speak the same thing, be joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. Their lack of compatibility with each other highlighted a fleshly mindedness, 3:1, a carnality that was disabling them. Although they loved God and Jesus Christ, they did not much like each other and were dividing into groups of "soul-mates" or "kindred-spirits" whose judgments they favored. Their pretext was a preference for differing teachers as if their inspired prophets would have endorsed such carnality. Clearly not! While they were in fellowship with God, they preferred not to have fellowship with other groups. That is, they obviously could work better together with some brethren than with others, so some would call themselves after one teacher or the other. The Lord cries out against such trivial divisions or segregations that form over a preference for the "wisdom" or special skills of a teacher. If we are saved by the "wisdom" of the teacher, the cross is made of no effect, v. 17. They implied, "It does not matter so much WHAT you say, but HOW you say it!" Sounds like they believed that they were enriched by the church or one or other of her teachers, when Christ wanted them to realize they were blessed by Him to serve together with the church which might contain certain members that they might not like or prefer but should learn how to love. Are you "shopping" for a church that will meet your needs? tp

Casting Fire upon the Earth

Jesus said, "I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled!" (Luke 12:49) Already the fires seem to have been kindled. Earlier in the chapter, many thousands of the multitude had gathered together to hear Jesus and were stepping on one another, and yet Jesus quickly warned the disciples of the "leaven" or hypocrisy of the Pharisees. He said in the same breath that they should not fear those who would murder them! The simple teachings of Jesus which could give life to men who were destroyed by their own sins, would polarize friends and family to the point of fiery conflict. Money would be a issue because lacking trust in God as the ultimate source of all prosperity, most men would stay in the slavery of the world and worldly thinking in order to "prosper" and please those within the circles of prosperity. Jesus' answer is to live each day as slaves of God knowing that our Lord will call us to account for what we have done at any given moment. There will be a judgment day. What a tragedy it will be when one is called to God's throne on the very day he has lied, defrauded, or simply abused his neighbor! What a tragedy if one is called to account on the day that he has betrayed his wife and children to seek pleasures in the arms of a strange woman!

But who wants to hear such things? Jesus was casting fire on the earth by his morally demanding teachings and by stirring men to deny themselves, take up their crosses and follow Him ... into the fields of evangelism casting fire on the earth. Many would be slaughtered and how could Jesus who loved all men so much bear to cause such a thing? Stephen who loved much, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and then taking his stand at Jesus' side was stoned for his goodness. James was beheaded. Paul and Silas were beaten mercilessly and then bound in stocks in the dungeon. Everywhere the evangelists went preaching the Gospel, there was anger, hatred, riots, and cities turned upside down. As painful as it was to Jesus and to all of His disciples, it bore the peaceable fruit of righteousness in the lives of many. Men were reconciled to God rejoicing on their way. Men lay aside their regionalism, racism, and all belligerence toward strangers and formed a family loving their neighbors as themselves. Homes and marriages were healed and built again on divine principles. They were fruitful, multiplied and filled the earth! tp