Miscellaneous

13
Apr
2019
The Sons of Joseph

The Sons of Joseph

I recently read through the chequered life of Joseph in the Old Testament, and was struck by the fact that, when he lived in Egypt, he had two sons, namely Manasseh and Ephraim. In the Bible, names are often highly significant. They are more akin to our nicknames  rather than our birth names. The name Manasseh means ‘making to forget’, and the name Ephraim means ‘to be fruitful.’ A meditation on these two names yields spiritual dividends.

Manasseh

 

‘Joseph called the name of his first-born Manasseh, ‘For’, he said, ‘God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.’’

Memory can be both a blessing and a bane. If you are like me, you will have memories of both happy and painful episodes from the past. It would be nice to be able to blot out our painful memories – but occasionally they seem to bubble up from nowhere and haunt us without asking.

Joseph had lived through some painful times. He was rejected by his brothers and sold into slavery. He was exiled to a foreign land, and there was unjustly thrown into prison. Now though, under the providence of God, he found himself in an exalted position. He had been made the second most powerful person in Egypt after Pharaoh himself. He was married, and God gave him children. ‘He called the name of his first-born Manasseh, ‘For’, he said ‘God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.’

We can apply this to the Christian’s promised future blessedness. The bliss of heaven will surely drown out all the sorrow we have experienced on earth. The joy of being in the nearer presence of God will surely put all of our earthly losses and crosses into perspective. They will be a non-issue. We will have no difficulty in forgetting them, occupied and preoccupied with the service of God as we will be. ‘I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.’

Yet has not the name ‘Manasseh – making to forget’ also got an earthly application? Sore trials are not necessarily permanent, as God is able to intervene. He is able to hear and answer the prayers of His children. ‘The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial’ (2 Peter 2:9). Which Christian cannot look back and see the gracious, sustaining hand of God on their life? He withheld something from us to give us something better. He gave us His enabling, sustaining grace in a difficult time. He brought healing into our lives. He gave us a little token of His favour which reassured us of His control, good and guiding hand … God Himself has affirmed ‘Behold, I am the LORD the God of all flesh; is anything too hard for me?’ (Jeremiah 32:27). No difficulty is too great for omnipotence. No problem is beyond Almighty God’s solution. Joseph had his painful trials, but God brought him through them. Beyond a frowning providence, He hid a smiling face. So Joseph could eventually testify ‘God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.’ Such is our God. He can say ‘I will restore to you the years … the locust has eaten’ (Joel 2:25).

Ephraim

 

‘The name of the second he called Ephraim. ‘For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction’’ (Genesis 41:52).

By this time, God had indeed caused Joseph to be fruitful. Gone were the days of slavery. Gone was the prison food. ‘Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in garments of fine linen, and put a gold chain on his neck; and he made him ride in his second chariot; and they cried before him ‘Bow the knee!’’.

God caused Joseph to prosper – so Joseph named his second son ‘Ephraim – fruitful.’ We recall some words of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said to His disciples ‘I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing’ (John 15:5).

According to the Bible, true prosperity is spiritual, not material. True prosperity is not the accumulation of wealth and status, but knowing the presence of God in our lives – the God who is the fount of all blessing, and ‘hath all life, glory, goodness, blessedness in and of Himself’ (Westminster Confession). The abundant life results from a faith-union with the Christ who said ‘I came that they might have life and have it abundant’ (John 10:10).

The Shorter Catechism famously begins ‘What is the chief end of man?’ ‘Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him for ever.’ True and eternal prosperity is fellowship with God our Maker – nothing more, nothing less and nothing else – and fellowship with God is gained through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His atoning death on the cross for our sins. Jesus said ‘This is eternal life that they know Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent’ (John 17:3). True  prosperity and fruitfulness cannot be divorced from knowing God through the Lord Jesus Christ –  rejoicing in His salvation; trusting His Fatherly care; being assured of His providential control of the universe in general and our lives in particular and anticipating a glorious future – being with Christ for evermore, saved and safe, abounding in His goodness and grace.

So Joseph had two sons: Manasseh and Ephraim. Joseph was a godly man. He saw the hand of God in His life. He knew from tested experience that God is well able to make us forget our sorrows. He knew also that God is able to make us truly abound. If Joseph knew that, how much more do we, living this side of Calvary and the empty tomb as we do.

How good is the God we adore

Our faithful, unchangeable Friend!

His love is as great as His power

And knows neither measure nor end!

‘Tis Jesus, the First and the Last

Whose Spirit shall guide us safe home

We’ll praise Him for all that is past

And trust Him for all that’s to come.

Timothy Cross

Posted by Site Developer in Bible, Bible Characters, Miscellaneous, 0 comments
13
Apr
2019
An Apple a Day. . .

An Apple a Day. . .

We British are rather fond of apples – Cox’s, Golden Delicious, Granny Smiths, Braeburns, Pink Ladies etc. My mother actually has an apple tree in her back garden. Every other year it produces a bumper crop, enabling us to enjoy apple crumble, apple pies, apple flans, baked apples and even stewed apple on our breakfast cereal. The neighbours and the church do quite well out of the crop too. But are there any spiritual lessons to be gleaned from the humble apple? I believe that there are:-

 

  1. Our Sin

 

Every apple has a hard core which is inedible and has to be removed. This mirrors our sad human condition. The Bible teaches that the heart of our problem is the problem of our heart – our essential nature and inner being. ‘The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately corrupt’ (Jeremiah 17:9). Salvation thus entails being changed – changed by the Spirit of God from the inside out. The Spirit of God alone can convince us of our lost condition, and incline us towards Christ for full salvation and transformation. God promises ‘A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh’ (Ezekiel 36:26) – that is, He bestows a new heart which is able to respond to His saving grace.

 

  1. Our Saviour

 

In the Song of Solomon 2:3 we read ‘As an apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among young men. With great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.’

The Song of Solomon has often been interpretted by Christians as an allegory on Christ’s love for His people – His special bride, the church of the redeemed. Christ is indeed ‘sweet’ to His people. He is our Saviour; He gave His life to redeem us; He companies with us throughout our earthly life, and we will yet enjoy His blessed company for all eternity. So we can say ‘With great delight I sat in His shadow, and His fruit was sweet to my taste.’ The sweetest experience of all is the experience of salvation – the salvation which is found in Christ alone: the forgiveness of sins, peace with God and the sure hope of eternal life:-

 

Jesus the very thought of Thee

With sweetness fills my breast

But sweeter far Thy face to see

And in Thy presence rest

 

Nor voice can sing nor heart can frame

Nor can the memory find

A sweeter sound than Thy blest Name

O Saviour of mankind.

 

  1. Our Separation

 

Apples have to be carefully kept and stored or they will go rotten. One bad apple can infect another. So, at the end of the season, my mother packs the apples away carefully in a box. She uses layers of newspaper to separate them and ensures that the apples do not touch each other.

Here we have a less popular application for Christians: the Bible enjoins separation on God’s all people. We are to live in the world, but not to be ‘of the world.’ There is much in our modern society that is contrary to the revealed will of God in the Bible, and we have to take care not to be infected by it. If we are, our fellowship with God will be marred, our joy in the Lord diminished and our Christian usefulness blunted. Hence Romans 12:2 ‘Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.’ We should be aware and beware of spiritual contamination from the places we frequent, the company we keep, the media we use and even the churches we attend. ‘Therefore come out from them and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch nothing unclean’ (2 Corinthians 6:17). ‘Keep your heart with all vigilance; for from it flow the springs of life’ (Proverbs 4:23).

 

  1. Our Service

 

Finally, we note that apples have seeds in them. These seeds, in turn, produce new apple trees, and the new apple trees produce new apples, and the cycle continues. One biological law is that all living creatures reproduce or have the capacity to reproduce. And it is the same in the spiritual realm. God gives us new life in Christ – ‘the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Romans 6:23). Once we know that new life, we will want to share that life. Our longing is that others too will know the joy of salvation –new life in Christ. Our longing is that others too will know what it is to be born again of God’s Spirit and that God would even use us as a means to that end. We are saved to serve. Christians are to bear the fruit of their salvation in their day to day lives. The quantity of fruit may vary – ‘in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty’ (Matthew 13:23), but if the Spirit of God really is dwelling in us, the fruit of salvation will most surely be evident.

Apples. Their hard core reminds us of our need of salvation. Their sweetness and wholesomeness reminds the Christian of the sweetness of Christ and His salvation. Their liability towards going bad reminds us that we have to be separate from all that harms or hinders our walk with God. Their capacity to reproduce reminds us that the Christian faith is an evangelistic faith. True Christians long that others too will come to know Christ, for Jesus said ‘This is eternal life, that they know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou has sent’(John 17:3).

 

Timothy Cross

 

 

 

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21
Aug
2018

Biblical Superlatives

One of the catchphrases of the late Muhammad Ali was ‘I am the greatest.’ In his prime, of course, Ali was an outstanding boxer, and as a man he transcended the sport, becoming one of the most well known men on the planet. Yet the best of men are men at best. Ali was only human, with all our human weaknesses and foibles – as his three ex-wives would no doubt testify.

In the English language, an ‘est’ on the end of an adjective is referred to as a ‘superlative.’ So we have ‘great, greater and greatest.’ Superlatives in the Bible, though, are a little different. These use the word ‘of’ in the middle instead. The greatest man would thus be described as ‘a man of men.’ The tastiest food would be described as ‘a food of foods’, and the greatest time would be ‘a time of times.’ The following four ‘Bible superlatives’ are most instructive.

The Holy of Holies

In both the ancient tabernacle and the temple in Jerusalem there stood the ‘holy of holies’, referring to the holiest place of all. In the holy of holiest stood the Ark of the Covenant – a box containing the Ten Commandments – overshadowed by two carved cherubim. The lid of the ark was known as the mercy seat.

The holy of holies was the holiest place of all, because the omnipresent God dwelt there in a particular, localised way. Entrance to the holy of holies was thus strictly forbidden. Only the high priest could go in there, and he only once a year, and only with the blood of an atoning sacrifice.

When Jesus died on Calvary’s cross, the Bible records that the curtain separating the holy of holies from the holy place was mysteriously and miraculously ripped up. It was God’s own way of showing that Jesus’ death achieved something. It put away our sin and gave us immediate access to God Himself. ‘Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God’ (1 Peter 3:18).

The Song of Songs

One of the poetical books within the Bible is entitled ‘The Song of Songs’, meaning, the greatest of all songs. The Song of Songs is all about human love. Marriage, that is, monogamous, heterosexual marriage, is a divine ordinance, and the Song of Songs celebrates this. Christians however have always read the book in the light of Christ’s love for the church. In the Bible, the church – that is, the redeemed community – is described as ‘the bride of Christ.’ And so Song of Solomon 2:4: ‘He brought me into the banqueting house, and His banner over me is love’:-

From heaven He came and sought her, to be His holy bride
With His own blood He bought her, and for her life He died.

Vanity of Vanities

The biblical book of Ecclesiastes opens with the words ‘Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity’ (Ecclesiastes 1:2), meaning that everything seems absolutely meaningless and pointless. Hard experience taught the preacher that life does not always seem to make sense. It can seem utterly meaningless with no rhyme or reason to it. Generations come and go. Streams run into the sea. We eat, drink, work and die. What is the point and purpose of it all? The answer of the whole Bible is to bring God into the equation. He created all things. He has the answers. Our chief end is to know and love Him – ‘to glorify God and to enjoy Him for ever’ (Shorter Catechism). Ecclesiastes is a somewhat pessimistic read, but it ends with a gleam of light. ‘Fear God and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man’ (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

So, we have the holy of holies, the Song of Songs and vanity of vanities. They are all Bible superlatives. Fourthly though, consider:-

The King of Kings

In Revelation 19:16 the Lord Jesus Christ is describes as the ‘King of kings and Lord of lords.’ This designates the absolute supremacy of Jesus. He is supreme. He is beyond superlative. Currently His is enthroned in heaven at God’s right hand. Scripture foretells a day when He will come back to earth in power and great glory, and reign for ever. He will put down all His enemies, and all that is incompatible with God’s kingdom, and raise His own people up to glorious immortality. Why? Because He is supreme. He is the ‘King of kings.’ ‘That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father’ (Philippians 2:9,10).

Christ executeth the office of a king in subduing us to Himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all His and our enemies (Shorter Catechism).

Biblical superlatives. They are expressed differently from the way we express superlatives:

The holy of holies – refers to the holies place of all, the very presence of God.

The Song of songs – refers to the greatest song of all.

Vanity of vanities – life ‘under the sun’ apart from God is meaningless

King of kings – there is none life the Lord Jesus Christ.

And finally we note that Psalm 136:1-3 uses bible superlatives to praise God. ‘Give to our God immortal praise.’ He is incomparable in His person. ‘O give thanks to the LORD for He is good, for His steadfast love endures for ever. O give thanks to the God of gods, for His steadfast love endures for over. O give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His steadfast love endures for ever.’

 

Timothy Cross

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21
Aug
2018

A Dose of Biblical Realism

A DOSE OF BIBLICAL REALISM

On May 19th 2018, I – along with millions of others – watched the wedding of Prince Harry and Miss Meghan Markle, in St George’s chapel, Windsor. The couple are now known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. The wedding was a wonderful occasion. Smiling faces and good wishes were everywhere, and the weather – unusual for our island – was hot and sunny, without a cloud in the sky.

The happy day, though, was not without its sadness. Due to ill health, the bride’s father was unable to be there and give his daughter away, as is traditional. The reports said – understandably – that the bride was more than a little sad at this. It made me recall the following ditty:

There is never a day so sunny, but a little cloud appears
And there is never a life so happy, but has its time of tears.

            According to the Bible, the Christian cannot expect unalloyed joy in this life. Why? Because we live in a fallen world. Sin has brought disruption. Sin has brought and still brings sadness and misery in its wake. Sin has spoiled the one time perfect creation of God. The Shorter Catechism states

The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery …

All mankind by their fall lost communion with God, are under His wrath and curse and so made liable to all miseries in this life, to death itself and to the pains of hell for ever.

The Christian has been redeemed from sin through the atoning death of Christ. The Christian is thus – by the grace of God in Christ –  heading for unalloyed joy in the nearer presence of God. ‘In Thy presence there is fullness of joy, in Thy right hand are pleasures for evermore’ (Psalm 16:11). Yet whilst unalloyed joy is guaranteed in the life to come in the blessed presence of God Himself, unalloyed joy is not and cannot be guaranteed in this fallen world. Sin has marred everything. The ground produces thorns and thistles. We are all subject to illness, pain and ultimately death. We cannot avoid stress and tension day by day, in the family, at work and even in the church. The church is the community of redeemed sinners, but still sinners nevertheless. No Christian can claim to have arrived at a state of perfect sanctification. Rare – if not extinct – is a church without its squabbles.

So the Bible does not encourage us to bury our heads in the sand and think that all in the world is wonderful. Of course, this world has many joys. Thank God for His common grace – food to eat, fresh air and sunshine, family, friends, laughter etc. But be a biblical realist. This world is a fallen world. Its joys are fragile, uncertain and temporary. Sin will leave its mark on even the happiest of days here on earth. The Christian therefore looks longingly for the better, more glorious days to come, promised by God in His Word. Revelation 21:4 tells us that in the age to come ‘God Himself will be with them; He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.’

Adelaide Anne Proctor (1825-64) captured the biblical realism of which we have been thinking very well in the following hymn:

 

My God, I thank Thee who has made

The earth so bright

So full of splendour and of joy

Beauty and light

So many glorious things are here

Noble and right

I thank Thee too that Thou hast made

Joy to abound

So many gentle thoughts and deeds

Circling us round

That in the darkest spot of earth

Some love is found

I thank Thee more that all my joy

Is touched by pain

That shadows fall on brightest hours

That thorns remain

So that earth’s bliss may be my guide

And not my chain

For Thou who knowest Lord how soon

Our weak heart clings

Hast given us joys, tender and true

Yet all with wings

So that we see gleaming on high

Diviner things

I thank Thee Lord that Thou hast kept

The best in store

I have enough, yet not too much

To long for more

A yearning for a deeper peace

Not known before

I thank Thee Lord that here our souls

Though amply blest

Can never find, although they seek

A perfect rest

Nor ever shall, until they lean

On Jesus’ breast.

 

Timothy Cross

 

 

 

 

 

Posted by Site Developer in Miscellaneous, Providence, 0 comments
16
Jun
2015

Jim Holmes Interviews Dr. Timothy Cross

 

Jim Holmes asks Timothy Cross a few questions. . .

(Jim Holmes is a publishing consultant. He blogs regularly on www.blogspot52.com. This article is copyright © and is reproduced from Blogspot52 with permission.)

Some months ago, I completed work on an editorial project involving Dr. Timothy Cross. Timothy, author of over thirty books, resides in Cardiff, Wales. When he first showed me his proposed manuscript, I liked it immediately, and recommended it for publication by the company I was working for at the time. Then, through a series of events, it ended up being brought into print by Christian Focus. The title chosen makes me think of Twitter. And that could be a blog post in and of itself!

I so much like the way that Timothy wrote the book, that I thought I should share some background to the story with you. It comes in the form of an interview. Enjoy!

To purchase a copy of the book, check out this link here or here.

Jim: The English language uses many sayings from the Bible, and people often quote them without even realizing they are quoting from the Word of God. You have been working on this fascinating book, “A Little Bird Told Me–Everyday Expressions from Scripture”, for some months. How did you first come up with the idea?

Timothy: Like an oak tree, the book grew from a small acorn! I kept on hearing politicians, colleagues and even footballers using expressions from the Bible without realizing it, and I thought that pointing out that these were biblical expressions, and explaining their meaning would make for interesting messages for my gospel slot on the monthly South Wales Talking Magazine. The response to the messages was very encouraging, and I typed up some of them and these were published as a mini series in the Evangelical Times. This wider audience response was also very favourable and I thought ‘I’m on to something here’. Surprisingly, the subject does not seem to be very well covered in Christian literature, and this motivated me to get a compilation of everyday expressions from the Bible and their meaning into print.   My experience reveals that both Christians and non Christians seem to have a fascination for the origins of and background to  expressions from the Bible which are in everyday use.

Jim: Tell us about some of the blessings to you personally in working on this project.

Timothy: If one is convinced that the Bible is no ordinary book but the very Word of God itself, then digging into Scriptures–whether it is preparing a sermon or researching a book or for personal devotions–is one of the greatest privileges and blessings possible this side of eternity. The more I study the Bible (and I have been at it a long time!) the more I am convinced of its divine inspiration. According to 2 Timothy 3:15, the purpose of ‘all Scripture’ is to lead us to Christ. Thus when a believer studies Scripture in the right spirit, the Lord Jesus always draws closer. The inspired Word and the incarnate Word, while distinguishable in principle, in practice are inextricable in our personal experience.

Jim: We’ve heard it said that all writers get “Writer’s Block”. Is this true of you? How do you deal with it?

Timothy: At the risk of being a heretic I have never suffered from ‘writer’s block’ and I have written over thirty books. A godly elder once told me that when it comes to sermon preparation,  ‘Let the message make an impression on your soul, then there will be no trouble with expression.’ The same applies, I believe to Christian writing. Christian writing is unlike secular creative writing in that it is not original but rather a matter expounding the Scriptures which have been given. Saying that though all Christian writers and preachers aspire to expounding the Scriptures with both clarity and passion and not put any human barriers between them and the hearers/readers.

Jim: What was the most surprising or inspiring saying that you think you used in this book?

Timothy: When people say ‘I’m almost at my wits’ end’ they never fail to be surprised when you say to them, ‘Did you know that you have just quoted from Psalm 107:27?’ Choosing the most inspiring saying from the fifty-two is difficult. You are asking me to choose a Quality Street chocolate! I personally though find it incredibly heartwarming when Almighty God refers to His redeemed children as ‘The apple of my eye’–see Chapter 1.. This can only be explained by divine grace–God’s love for the undeserving and ill-deserving.

Jim: There are 52 readings in this book. That could seem an unusual number. Tell us about this.

Timothy: There was no predetermined plan to this, but rather just the way the work panned out. It began with six chapters, and I never thought that these would go beyond the South Wales Talking Magazine and Evangelical Times. The Lord’s people kept encouraging me, though, so I continued my research, and the chapters came to 31, which I thought would be suitable for daily devotionals–31 days being in most months. A publisher–you!–then asked me to increase the chapters to 52. I was reticent, as I was by then working on other writing projects. Before I knew it, though, extra ‘Everyday Sayings from the Bible’ came to my mind and attention, and these were written up. In fact I now have several extra chapters which are not included in the work. Books have an ideal length in my opinion. I like them to be neither too long nor too short. Fifty-two–the number of weeks in a year–seemed to be the ideal length. Each chapter is self contained while being in line with the overall theme. It can be read either one chapter at a time or a few chapters at a time in a pick up, put down manner. It might even make a daily travelling companion for someone commuting to work, or a spiritual ‘pick me up’ during the lunch hour.

Jim: You are very good at drawing lines of application from the truth you are writing about to us in our modern world. How would you advise ordinary people to cultivate this practice when dealing with family, friends and neighbours?

Timothy: If this compliment is true, it stems from my years in the pulpit. Pulpit preaching is a matter of the explanation and the application of a biblical text–not so much a matter of making the Bible relevant, but rather bringing people under its eternal relevance. While the Bible was written in a certain context which should always be borne in mind when accurately expounding it, as the Word of God it is also timeless. God is our eternal contemporary and thus His Word is always relevant. Similarly, human nature does not change even if human technology does. Those in Bible times shared the same hopes, fears, aspirations, stresses and perplexities as we do. But their needs–just as our needs–were met by the saving and sustaining grace of God in Christ.

Jim: Are you available to give talks to people at churches, conferences, etc., on the topics in this book? What is the best way for people to contact you if so?

Timothy: Yes!–though I have quite a full diary of preaching engagements, involved as I am in the local church. I am contactable via the contact section of my website.

Jim: Dr. Cross, it has been a pleasure interviewing you on this subject. Thank you for taking the time for this interview!

Timothy: You are more than welcome. If the readers find half the blessing in reading the work as the blessing I had in preparing the work, I will be more than amply repaid.

To purchase a copy of the book, check out this link here or here.

To read a sample excerpt from the book, click or tap here.

This interview is © copyright, blogspot52.com 2015 and may be reproduced in its entirety provided due acknowledgement is made of the copyright holder, with or without graphic or illustrative content.
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06
Jun
2015

Lessons from Bees

Bees

While sitting in my parents’ back garden recently, I was struck by the very pleasant sound of the singing of birds and humming of bees. I would like to have recorded it. Playing it back, you would have been hard pressed to know that it was an urban, not a rural, setting.

 

This got me thinking about the bees. Being rather partial to honey, I did a bit of research. Did you know the following facts?

A honey bee flaps its wings some twelve thousand times a minute. They are the only insects who produce food for human consumption; maintain a temperature of 33 degrees centigrade in their hives, even if it is minus 33 degrees outside; and communicate with each other by dancing.

There are references to honey in the Bible. The promised land of Canaan is described as ‘a land flowing with milk and honey’ (Exodus 3:4). Then, in the time of Samson, we read about a swarm of bees that had made their nest in the carcass of a lion. From this, Samson invented a riddle which went: ‘Out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet’ (Judges 14:14).

 

Designed

 

But are there any spiritual lessons to be gleaned from bees and honey? Yes there are. If we have the spiritual insight, when we consider how bees are designed and how a hive operates with queen bee and worker bees each knowing their specific role — along with the place of bees in the cycle of nature, in the pollination of plants — surely we have to stand in awe of God the great creator.

Does not an observation of the universe, both on the macro scale and micro scale, give evidence of intelligent design? How do we explain the stars? How do we explain the honey bee without bringing the almighty, all-wise God into the equation?

Divine creation is one of the main themes of the Bible. The message of the Bible can be summarised under headings of creation, man’s fall and redemption. Its opening pages tell us, ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’ ‘and God said, let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kind’ (Genesis 1:1,24).

The created order is the vehicle and theatre of God’s praise. As Mrs C. F. Alexander’s famous hymn puts it:

 

All things bright and beautiful,

All creatures great and small,

All things wise and wonderful,

The Lord God made them all.

 

Delectable

 

In the longest chapter of the Bible, Psalm 119, we read in verse 103, ‘How sweet are thy words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth’.

The psalmist is surely describing every Christian’s testimony here. Christians have been given a spiritual taste — a love for God’s Word. Just as honey is energising and agreeable to the taste, so is the Bible, the written Word of the living God, to the believer.

It is the written revelation of the one, true God, and his plan of salvation to save a people for himself and his glory. It reveals the way in which condemned sinners can be eternally saved. Its message, in a nutshell, is that ‘God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life’ (John 3:16).

There is, and there can be, no sweeter message than the saving grace and mercy of God to sinners, through Christ. ‘How sweet are thy words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth’!

 

Disarmed

 

Finally, we note that bees possess a painful sting. No one wants a bee sting. One skin remedy for it, we are told, is to remove the barb left by the bee, and then, as the sting is acidic, neutralise it with a mild alkali, such as bicarbonate of soda.

In 1 Corinthians 15:56, Paul writes ‘the sting of death is sin’. Death and the afterlife would not be a problem for us if we did not have to stand before God as condemned sinners. The problem is though that we are sinners and we will have to stand before God one day. ‘It is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment’ (Hebrews 9:27).

But in 1 Corinthians 15:55 Paul is able to proclaim, ‘O death, where is thy sting?’ Every Christian is able to echo Paul’s triumphant exclamation here, for Jesus has taken the sting of death away for all who believe in him. Jesus has neutralised death’s horrific effects by dying in our place and taking the punishment for our sins which we deserved.

The gospel affirms, ‘Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures’ (1 Corinthians 15:3) and assures us, ‘There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’ (Romans 8:1).

The wonders of the honey bee then lead us to consider the wonder of God himself. He is a creator of infinite wisdom. He has given us his precious and sweet Word. And in his Son he has provided a way — the only way — in which our sins can be forgiven and fellowship with God restored and assured, for time and eternity.

© Timothy Cross

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Posted by Site Developer in Miscellaneous, Providence, Salvation, 0 comments
09
Oct
2014

The Longest Day

June 21st is the longest day of the year — the day when the sun rises the earliest and sets the latest. Before 21 June, the days get longer. Afterwards they grow shorter, until the dark days of winter are on us once again.

If we believe the Bible, we look beyond these regular events and see the hand of God himself. He states in Genesis 8:22: ‘While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease’.

 

The longest day

 

According to biblical history, the longest day that ever occurred was in the time of Joshua, when God actually lengthened a day to ensure that Israel was victorious in battle.

Joshua 10:12-14 records: ‘Then spoke Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD gave the Amorites over to the men of Israel; and he said in the sight of Israel, “Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and Moon in the valley of Aijalon”.

‘And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. … There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD hearkened to the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel’.

Here, then, we are dealing with a unique day. The Lord of the universe suspended natural laws for the benefit of his people.

If we believe in God, miracles present no difficulty. Almighty God was more than able to control his creation in Joshua’s day, just as he had previously parted the waters of the Red Sea in the time of Moses.

Just as also, in the fullness of time, he was able to raise his own Son from the dead. Our Father is omnipotent!

 

The longest night

 

In the Bible, all roads lead to Calvary — the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross in the sinner’s place. Calvary was a unique day in every sense of the word.

Here we are dealing with the longest ever night — for when God punished his Son for sins not his own, he sent darkness at midday.

We read: ‘Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice: ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:45-46).

Painful days always seem to go slowly. Calvary, therefore, was certainly a long day and a long night for the Lord Jesus. His physical and spiritual sufferings are beyond our comprehension.

Yet the Scripture testifies that this long, dark day, paradoxically, is the brightest day of all. For as the sun was darkened and Christ himself bore the wrath of God, the eternal salvation of all who believe in Jesus was procured.

The death of Christ on the cross in time was an event of eternal significance. The Bible’s explains Christ’s death as follows:

‘Christ … offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins’ and ‘by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified’ (Hebrews 10:12,14).

Christ’s death, then, was an eternal sacrifice. It is sufficient to save us for all eternity. Here we are dealing with God himself and his way of salvation. ‘I know that whatever God does endures for ever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it’ (Ecclesiastes 3:14).

 

The eternal day

 

Finally, we note that Revelation 21:25 says of the eternal city of God — that glorious eternal home of the redeemed — that ‘there shall be no night there’.

Why not? Because ‘the glory of God is its light and its lamp is the Lamb’.

If we are believers we are heading for eternal day! Few of us will miss the night. At night time, worries always seem more complicated, burdens heavier and bodily pain more acute.

But there will be no such experiences in glory! Christians may take heart, therefore, that in heaven they will endure night no more.

In the Bible, ‘night’ is often used to symbolise sin, danger and evil. By God’s grace we will be for ever free from sin, and eternally beyond the reach of danger and evil — all because Jesus bore the dark night of Calvary for us.

He delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us into his glorious kingdom of light (Colossians 1:13). Christians enjoy Christ — both as the Sun of righteousness and the Light of the world — now and eternally.

 

I heard the voice of Jesus say

‘I am this dark world’s light.

Look unto me, thy morn shall rise

And all thy days be bright!’

I looked to Jesus and I found

In him my Star, my Sun

And in that light of life I’ll walk

Till travelling days are done.

 

Copyright, Timothy Cross

 

Posted by Site Developer in Bible, Miracles, Miscellaneous, 0 comments
10
Sep
2014

Dealing with Hurt and Offence

DEALING WITH HURT AND OFFENCE – WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS

 

A hazard of the boxing ring is the distinct possibility of getting physically hurt. Every boxer, professional or amateur, knows the risk of, for instance, a broken nose, a cut eyebrow, being winded by a body punch or even being knocked out cold, risking long-term brain damage.

A hazard of life generally though is also the distinct possibility of getting hurt it some way. Here, I am not referring to something as unsubtle as a black eye, but to the more insidious pain  of inner hurt, and that crushing feeling of  inward offence. To be human is to be sensitive. Being on the receiving end of a deliberate or accidental offence and consequently feeling hurt inside can be a great problem for us all at sometime. What do we do at such times? Does the Bible – God’s Word – address this issue? Yes it does. Consider the following:-

 

  1. First of all, it is not wrong for us to feel hurt. Mark 3:5 describes an occasion when the Lord Jesus Himself looked around at them with anger, grieved by their hardness of heart. Then in 2 Timothy 4:14 Paul relates how Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm … If both the sinless Son of God and the great Apostle Paul winced with inward hurt then, we will too. We are only human and we are part of a fallen world. So whilst we do not welcome getting hurt, it is unrealistic not to expect it at some time. How though are we meant to react?

 

  1. The Bible teaches non-retaliation. By this it warns us not to add fuel to the fire and make a bad situation worse. Jesus said in Matthew 6:39 But I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And Paul wrote in Romans 12:17 and 19: Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all … Beloved, never avenge yourselves but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ Vengeance then is God’s prerogative, not ours. It is natural, of course, to want to retaliate and ‘get even.’ But the Christian Faith is not natural – it is a supernatural Faith. God’s Holy Spirit, living within us, enables us to live and empowers us to live, think, act and not act, in a way and manner altogether differently from the normal.

 

  1. The Bible often reminds us that we have a Father in heaven to Whom we can turn when we get hurt – or in fact at any time. Call upon Me in the day of trouble (Psalm 50:15). Cast your burden on the LORD and He will sustain you (Psalm 55:22).

In this, we have the positive example of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. How did He deal with personal offence? 1 Peter 2:23 tells us: When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered He did not threaten; but He trusted to Him Who judges justly. In leaving the personal abuse He received in God’s hand, Jesus has given us, His followers, an example to emulate.

 

  1. In praying to God about those who have wounded us, is it wrong to pray that He will take vengeance upon them? Putting my head on the block, I would suggest that it is not necessarily wrong, not that I can ever recall doing this. Many of the Psalms are what are known as ‘imprecatory’ Psalms. In these, the Psalmist prays that God would avenge his enemies. It is certainly infinitely better to ask God for vengeance on our enemies than to take revenge ourselves, for we can be sure that God will never punish unjustly, or too much or too little, or be handicapped by wounded pride and personal prejudice as we are. Remember too that in God’s dealings with us – including the harsher people and providences He sends our way – Psalm 145:17 holds true: The LORD is just in all His ways, and kind in all His doings. Even our pain then will turn out ultimately for our blessing, for Romans 8:28 says that without exception We know that in everything God works for good with those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.

 

  1. Finally, no matter what internal scars we carry, if we are Christians, we must always remind ourselves and rejoice that our Gospel is a Gospel of the forgiveness of sins. Christ died for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:3). Your sins are forgiven for His sake (1 John 2:12).

Our sin offends almighty God, but in Christ He had mercy upon us. Every Christian is a recipient of the mercy of God – a full and free forgiveness, gained by Christ’s undergoing the punishment for our sins, in our place, on Calvary’s cross. Surely, if we know that God, in Christ, has forgiven us all our sins, our attitude towards others will be that much more merciful. Hence Paul exhorted in Ephesians 4:32: Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

So, in this wonderful, but at times painful world, it pays to fix our eyes on Jesus and His redeeming love. The cross of Christ  keeps everything that happens to us in its right perspective:-

 

Give me a sight O Saviour

Of Thy wondrous love to me

Of the love that brought Thee down to earth

To die on Calvary

 

O wonder of all wonders

That through Thy death for me

My open sins, my secret sins

Can all forgiven be

 

O make me understand it

Help me to take it in

What it meant for Thee, the Holy One

To bear away my sin.

 

TC.

Posted by Site Developer in Bible, Miscellaneous, Prayer
30
Jul
2014

Keeping Body and Soul Together

KEEPING BODY AND SOUL TOGETHER: PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL NECESSITITES

 

When the Apostle Paul found himself both in a Roman prison cell and approaching the end of his earthly life, he wrote the following request to my namesake Timothy: ‘When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments’ (2 Timothy 4:13). The request divides neatly into two. i. Paul requested his ‘cloak’ for his physical well-being and ii. Paul requested ‘the books and … the parchments’ for study – for his mental and spiritual well-being.

 

  1. The Cloak

 

‘When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas …’ The cloak referred to here was a heavy, outer garment, made of Cicilian goats’ hair. Simple in design, it would have been sleeveless and circular in shape when laid flat, the only notable feature being a hole for the head. 2 Timothy 4:21 suggests that winter was approaching. Paul’s prison cell would have lacked our central heating! His thick cloak would have helped maintain a degree of bodily warmth and comfort.

According to the Bible, we are ‘bi-partite’ beings. That is, we are constituted of body and soul. Almighty God made us this way. ‘The LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being’ (Genesis 2:7). We should take care of our bodies, as they are the vehicle in which we glorify God our maker. This will always be so, for the ultimate Christian hope – that is, our confident expectation based on the sure promises of God – is not the salvation of the soul, but the resurrection of the body. Even now though, we should be good stewards of the bodies God has given us. They are actually – if we belong to Jesus – the temple of God Himself. ‘Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? … (1 Corinthians 6:19).

Food and clothing are basic requirements for our body well-being. The Lord Jesus – God’s own Son – assures us that God our Father will ensure that His adopted children will never lack  either whilst their earthly life lasts. Jesus said ‘Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? … Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O men of little faith?’ (Matthew 6:26,28-30).

 

  1. The Books and the Parchments

 

‘When you come, bring … the books and above all the parchments …’ The consensus is that Paul was here requesting the Holy Scriptures that were extant in his day – our Old Testament which foretold the coming of Christ, and perhaps the sayings of the Saviour which had been written down, similar to the kind utilised by Luke when he researched and compiled his Gospel (Luke 1:1-4). ‘The books’ refer to papyrus scrolls. ‘The parchments’ refer to the more expensive animal skins on which the scribes carefully and reverently copied the sacred Scriptures.

It is evident from our verse and its context that the Apostle Paul prized the Scriptures very highly. He knew that they were no ordinary writings but the very Word of God written. He had stated to Timothy a little earlier ‘All Scripture is inspired by God (that is ‘God-breathed’) and profitable …’ (2 Timothy 3:16). Paul was aware that his remaining time on earth was short. Nevertheless, he wished to use the time had had left profitably – and nothing was more profitable to Paul than the Scriptures. He was a life-long disciple of Christ – and the name ‘disciple’ means ‘learner.’ Thus Paul, vastly experienced in the ways of God though he was, never lost the desire to learn in the school of Christ.  Paul loved the Saviour. Paul longed to know the Saviour better and make Him better known. The means by which he did this were the Scriptures – ‘the sacred writings which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus’ (2 Timothy 3:15). The inspired Word and the incarnate Word are, of course, distinct. Yet in our Christian experience they co-alesce and are less distinguishable. Jesus Himself said that ‘the Scriptures (are) they that bear witness to Me’ (John 5:39).

So one of Paul’s final requests on earth was for i. A cloak for his bodily warmth and ii. The Scriptures for the warmth of his soul. His desire for the Word of God surely finds an echo in every believer. A desire for and love for the Bible is one evidence that we have been truly born again. A new life has to be fed and sustained. Hence Peter – Paul’s colleague in the Faith – could write to believers ‘As new born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby’ (1 Peter 2:2, KJV). If we love the Saviour, we will love the Book which draws us closer to Him. As clothing is essential for our physical well-being, so the Bible is indispensable for our spiritual well-being. It will be so until we see the Saviour fact to face, and the Word in Person renders the Word in print obsolete. It is only when we see Jesus that we will need our Bibles no more.

 

Timothy Cross

 

Posted by Site Developer in Bible, Miscellaneous
14
Jul
2014

The Shortest Verse in the Bible

THE SHORTEST VERSE IN THE BIBLE

 

Did you know that John 11:35 is the shortest verse of all the 31,173 verses which comprise the Bible? John 11:35 is easy to memorise, as it consists of just two words. The verse states succinctly Jesus wept. Whilst John 11:35 is the shortest verse in the entire Bible though, it contains depths which even the greatest of theologians cannot plumb. The verse tells us that Jesus – the eternal Son of God – actually wept – He experienced grief and sorrow, and could not but give physical expression to it.

Meditating on John 11:35, the shortest verse of the Bible, note:-

 

1. The Humanity of our Saviour

 

Jesus wept. John 11:35 reveals the real, tender humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was and is as truly human as He was and is divine – the eternal Son of God. Jesus wept. Grief is a human emotion. It is experienced solely by those made in the image of God, made up of both a body and a soul. In the Lord Jesus Christ then, God actually became man:-

 

Christ the Son of God became man, by taking to Himself a true body and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin (Shorter Catechism).

 

John 1:14 tells us that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth. Hebrews 2:14 explains Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same nature … The humanity of the Lord Jesus is important. Eternal deity cannot die. God is immortal. Christ took upon Himself our humanity as an integral part of God’s eternal plan of salvation. He became man so that He could die and so pay the wages of the sin of His people. The wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23). Christ died for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:3).

 

2. The Sympathy of our Saviour

 

Jesus wept. Every text has its context. The context of John 11:35 is the death of Lazarus at Bethany, and the consequent grief of Martha and Mary his sisters. Jesus’ tears were tears of deep sympathy. John 11:33 records When Jesus saw her (Mary) weeping and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.

                John 11:35 then reveals the sympathy of the Lord Jesus Christ. We will all go down into the depths of suffering and sorrow at some time in our lives. God in Christ has experienced those depths too. The God of the Bible is no remote, passive, removed, unfeeling deity. Isaiah foretold that the Lord Jesus would be a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:3). Hebrews 4:15 reminds us that in the Lord Jesus we have not a high priest Who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but One Who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Isaac Watts wrote:-

 

With joy we mediate the grace

Of our High Priest above

His heart is made of tenderness

And overflows with love

 

Touched with a sympathy within

He knows our feeble frame

He knows what sore temptations mean

For He has felt the same.

 

3. The Glory of our Saviour

 

Jesus wept. Paradoxically, the same Bible which reveals that Jesus wept  also reveals the Lord Jesus as the great dryer of tears. John 11 records Him drying Martha and Mary’s tears. Their tears were caused by the death of their brother Lazarus – but Jesus raised Lazarus back to life again, confirming His claim in John 11:25,26 that ‘I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. ‘

                If there was no sin, there would be no tears. Sin has brought misery in its wake. Sin brings God’s judgement, and ultimately death and eternal separation from God’s love – unless it is dealt with. On the cross though Christ died for sinners. He dealt with our sins, so that when we believe in Him, our sins are forgiven, we are reconciled to God and promised an eternal, tear-free existence with God, in His nearer presence.

Tears for the Christian are real. We live in a fallen world. Christians are not immune from suffering. Yet tears for the Christian are only temporary. The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18). Better, glorious days are surely coming, because of the grace of God in Christ. The Apostle John was actually given a prophetic glimpse of this glorious time promised to all God’s children – and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he wrote it down. In Revelation 21:3 ff. we read: Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them; HE WILL WIPE AWAY EVERY TEAR FROM THEIR EYES, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.

                Jesus wept. The shortest verse in the Bible reveals Jesus’ real, tender humanity and sympathy. It also reminds us to keep trusting Jesus, for if we belong to Him, one day, all our tears will be banished forever!

 

Timothy Cross

 

Posted by Site Developer in Bible, Miscellaneous