Spiritual smell-good

“for the burning of incense of sweet spices before him” 2 Chronicles 2:4

Smells. The best are heavenly, the worst are hellish. The worship of God in ancient Israel included aromas of the most pleasant sort, as Solomon says here. In fact, he came to really know about this stuff. Sheba blessed him with mad spices not long after (2 Chron 9:9).

The temple smelled delicious all the time. Why? What did it mean? It meant that the worship rising from that place was pleasing to God. Our assemblies are now cloudless. Apart from scented smoke machines for the seeker sensitives, the incense has passed away. But our gatherings do bear the pleasing aroma of worship. Especially prayer: “golden bowls of incense, which are the prayers of the saints” (Rev 5:8).

Our prayers are sweet to God. Doesn’t that make you want to pray? Prayer works a wonderful fragrance into our whole lives. A prayerless life is a stench to both God and men, and is not easily masked. The Way is open. Go now and pour your heart out before him who cares for you.

Gimme the loot!

90s hip hop artist Notorious B.I.G. famously uttered these words (professional advice: don’t listen to the song). Another emcee spelled out the matter as follows:

Surrender your goods and your merchandise for no purchase price, it’s certainly a heist.

It’s a stick up!

We all know that our Lord likens himself to a thief in the night. By this he intends, of course, his stealthy return. But, shockingly, he also pictures salvation as a straight up armed robbery (Luke 11:21-22). Satan is a strong man, well-armed, who imprisons sinners as his valuables. But a Stronger Than He lays assault to his castle, kicks in the door, waves the 4-4, and says (if you will), “Gimme the loot! Gimme the loot!”

In his death, Jesus stripped Satan of his armor and snatched up his armaments, undoing his work, ransacking his vaults, and setting us free from the kingdom of death. Our loving Savior launched a full-scale spiritual operation for the recovery of sinners like us. No purchase price. He took us from the devil by force; we are his beloved spoils of war. The cross was a cosmic stick up at the devil’s front door in broad daylight.

Stick em up.

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“Choose what you will: either three years of famine, or three months of devastation by your foes while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the Lord, pestilence on the land, with the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.” 1 Chron 21:11–12

David was moved by Satan to number the people. How often have we taken prideful stock of our possessions, successes, or allies? (And, more likely than not, we have found that the stock was much lower than we expected! Perhaps the Lord protects us more than we imagine.) The people of Israel were many, but whatever flush of gratification David felt, it was quickly pushed aside. He had other things to think about: Gad the seer appeared with a peculiar dilemma for him.

Some of my readers will remember the old Choose Your Own Adventure books. Perhaps you recall agonizing over which course to take. Well, here was a real puzzler for David. He must choose his own exaction. He casts himself upon the Lord, asking only that he not be given into the hands of men. And the Lord chooses pestilence. It is the severest, but shortest, of the three. This tells us something about the God whose “mercy is very great” (v 13).

By the end of the matter, David is doing a very noble thing by calling for the judgment to fall upon him instead of the people (v 17). This whole situation makes us think of our beloved Savior, who took upon himself (and himself alone) all our judgment. His too was a suffering of three, but one that David couldn’t handle, even had he wished. It was too pointed, too concentrated: not three years, three months, or even three days. It was three hours of God’s wrath. “Third time pays for all.”

Release the River

“God has broken through my enemies by my hand, like a bursting flood.” 1 Chronicles 14:11

This was such a unique victory that David named the place after it. A powerful burst of divine energy had surged through David and his troops, overwhelming the Philistine forces. God promised never to flood the earth again, but he never said there wouldn’t be little floods like this. In fact, all the battles God has called us to wage are in some measure this very thing: the bursting flood of God’s power and grace to push us right through the enemy.

Sin assaults us on every side. This very hour temptations are swirling about in your head; your heart is being wooed by the sirens of ten thousand unspiritual distractions. The assassins of unbelief have loaded their rifles and marked thee for death. What shall we do? Cower before them? Surrender? No, we shall trust God to decimate them all through our David, the Lord Jesus Christ who loves us, who has gone before us with swift power and decisive victory straight through every enemy.

Say word

“…but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.” Matthew 8:8

The centurion had faith, and apparently a good bit more than God’s chosen people (v 10). His servant was in a great deal of pain and Jesus offered to come heal him. But the Roman soldier stopped the Lord and asked that he only say the word, and it would be done. And he did, and it was.

Many of us are stuck at home for a little while. How can we improve our situation? By pondering the faith of the centurion. He saw spiritual realities. He knows he has no power to heal his suffering servant. He even knows (bold belief!) that Jesus’ physical presence will add nothing. What was really needed was a command from the top of the ranks.

How does this apply to us? There are many things we cannot do right now. What a wonderful time to reflect on all the things that Jesus can do from where he sits. Let’s crowd his throne with prayers for things like salvations, comforts, and merciful healings to go out into the world. It’s nothing but a word to him, for all these things are under his pulsating authority.

A time for rebellion

“And the LORD was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him.“ 2 Kings 18:7

Hezekiah is a breath of fresh air to the reader of biblical history, a righteous king in a troubled line (v 5-6). In verse 7 we see a very OT pattern in the king: the LORD was with him and he prospered in all that he did. But the second half of this verse gives us the negative side of things: his walk with God was also a walk of rebellion.

We can learn something from ol’ Hezzie. We too must rebel, if we are to serve God. Our rebellion will look different than his, but it is rebellion all the same. It is times like these when our rebellion must be at its greatest. “Pastor, are you saying we should revolt against wicked rulers?” Well, yeah. Of course we should. But maybe you’re thinking of the wrong kind of rulers.

Idols and sin rule us by nature. A true turning to God is a turning against them; we cannot have the one without the other. And now is the time to rebel against sin in all forms, especially the doubting of God’s promises, sovereignty, and good plans. We must raise our fists high against ungodly fear and worldly worry. We have served these false gods long enough. The living God is watching over us; all is well.

Rebel with a high hand against every power in your heart and mind that does not cheerfully submit to the Lord Jesus Christ and the utter surety of his reign. For it is he, the supreme Potentate, who says to us, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). Let’s go about our business as best we can, and let’s rejoice that we have such a Lord, such a Shepherd, such a God, and such a Friend as he.

Necromancy of another sort

“as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet” 2 Kings 13:21

Communication with the dead may occur after a godly fashion, for the dead bones of the prophets have been known to quicken. The miraculous virtues of the Spirit still flowed through that earthen vessel long after his own life had withered. In fact, an encounter with Elisha in the Old Book may easily awaken the spirit man to this day.

O Church, how may we apply this? Hang out with the dead. Dust off your old volumes, for they are the true holy relics. Unlock the sealed vault of the Puritans. Peruse once again the writings of the Reformers. Dare you go further? Rub shoulders with the literary bones of the Fathers, for even there you will find surprising quickening power.

What we have here is life in death. It is the pattern. And it is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose death for us gives us life forevermore, if once we touch him by faith.

A Porcelain Throne

“And they…demolished the house of Baal, and made it a latrine to this day.” 2 Kings 10:27

Sin is gross. To help us understand what it’s really like, God has designed the destiny of the wicked to be disgusting. Hell is the gehenna, the burning sewage pile outside of the city.

I daresay you’ve heard of the notorious porcelain throne. Well, it was the only throne left for Baal when God was done with him. He turned his house from temple to toilet. Elijah had a similar thought: “he is relieving himself” (1 Kings 18:27). Could it be that Elijah did more than mock? Perhaps it was a poopy prophecy.

This is the destiny of fake gods and their worshippers. Wicked men boast of crowns in hell, but not even a porcelain seat will be found in that filthy place. Flee to Christ today to be washed and cleansed of things far worse than sewage.

Of sermon and snoozefest

“And so it happened to him…” 2 Kings 7:20

God’s word is startling. Here is a good example. Elisha had prophesied that within 24 hours the city of Samaria would go from horrifying starvation to plenteous bounty. The king’s messenger disbelieved it, and so the prophet added a second prophecy: the doubting messenger would see it, but not taste of it. And so it came about, when the people trampled him in the gate.

Prophets say outrageous things. It comes with the territory. They are the mouthpieces of the living God, and what he says is anything but expected. For instance, deep into a severe drought, Elijah told Ahab to mount his chariot and ride “lest the rain stop you” (1 Kings 18:44). Unreal! But the showers fell. This word is like it.

But it isn’t just these “little” things of his word that are outrageous, it’s the big things, the biggest things of all. God’s love for sinners expressed in the Lord Jesus Christ is an unbelievable matter. His first word in response to the fall was completely unexpected: I’m going to send a Savior to undo this. What! “This day,” he says to the thief beside him, “you shall be with me in Paradise.” And so it happened to him, and so it shall be with every wretched sinner who trusts him.

The concepts of Scripture enter our minds and take shape in our thoughts, but that is only the beginning. These are not just words and ideas; they are realities. Everything our God has spoken will appear, will turn real, in waking life. Buckle your seatbelt.

Truth, Beauty, and Gooseness

“Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31

Truth, beauty, and goodness are classically known as the transcendentals, or ideals of human endeavor and creation. For something to be what we would commonly call good, it must embody all three of these realities: logical truth, artistic beauty, and the goodness of God. We should screen everything we watch, read, listen to, and generally consume, through this template.

This week I had a cool opportunity to teach my kids about truth, beauty, and goodness using an interesting method: a video game about a goose. The description says it all: It's a lovely morning in the village, and you are a horrible goose. The object of the game is to wreak general havoc on people, places, and things. We took the principles in order.

First, does the game contain truth? Yes, this is what geese are like. We played with the speed and capabilities of the goose, which made the game more difficult. This forced us to use strategy and logic, which is also truth. Second, does it contain beauty? Most certainly. The game is charming; it’s more like playable art. Third, is the game good? This posed problems for us because, well, the goose is horrible. How could the game be good? As they puzzled over this my daughter realized that the game is played as a goose, from its perspective and according to its nature. So we worshipped God for his clever and strange creations and had lots of fun doing it. And that’s good.

Beloved, we can grow as redeemed image bearers through everything we consume. If we surround ourselves with truth, beauty, and goodness, we will find ourselves in rich communion with the living God and being conformed to his image in all things. This is how we do everything to his glory.