"For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich." -- II Corinthians 8:9

Hard times, these: daresay I needn't tell you. They say the banks had a good year - but then, so did the food banks. On every hand restructuring, cutbacks, and downsizing are making the payrolls shorter, and the Employment Insurance office line-ups longer. Youngsters leaving school have their own notion of paradise - a job; a notion of seventh heaven too - a secure job. No longer do they dream of building 'a nest', as did their grandparents. No, they're getting into the swing of moving from tree to tree, grabbing what bananas they may, and hoping against hope they don't drop into the quicksand beneath.

Yet, even these days, a few still make the big times. Week after week all too many squander cash they can hardly afford to play the lottery -- and "imagine the freedom!" Keep dreaming! Nothing fills, and nothing sells those magazines at the grocery check-out counter like the profiles of "the rich and famous." Long past are the days when our heroes were statesmen, or surgeons, or saints - if we have any, they're in the money: the Donald Trumps of enterprise, the Bill Gates of technology.

Hard times, big times, few times like these highlight the truth the Bible so forcefully brings home to us: our wealth is not what we have, but what we are. Few times like these prove so true the words of the Lord Jesus Christ -

Take heed, and beware of covetousness: For a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. ... So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God -- Luke 12: 15,21.

These times measure men's hearts. These times call for personal generosity, general charity of a sort we have not seen in many a year. In one interview, Mr. Gates admitted he was not yet "up-loaded into charity mode," too busy weaving the Internet to worry about spreading his staggering wealth around. Since that interview, his "charity" work generally seems to be handing out technological "freebies" that hold out the prospect of enlarging the potential market as the needy move upwards. But these days will again prove the words of Christ Jesus, left us by the Apostle Paul -

Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, ' It is more blessed to give than to receive.' -- Acts 20:35.

Paul knew the worth of those words, for Christ Jesus had proven them to him; Paul spent his life proving them to others. Here's how he put it:

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me. - Galatians 2:20.

The love of Christ constraineth us: because we thus judge, ... that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him who for their sakes died, and rose again.- II Corinthians 5: 14-15. Now that's living! That's what life is all about. To be rich toward God, to give rather than receive, as Christ lives in me, as I live in Christ, as the love of Christ constrains me to live to others , for Him!

The good news the Bible brings us, is news of a great exchange that takes place between sinful man and a holy God at the cross of Jesus Christ.

There I surrender my sin, and He gives me His righteousness; there I confess my guilt and He covers it with His Blood; there I admit my shame, and there He bestows His glory; there He takes my hell, and gives me His heaven. That great exchange is the point of this text - His rags are our riches.

Just think of it: have you made this great exchange? Do you know the grace Paul here presents?

I. There Are His Rags: "Though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor"

Now, there is simply nothing romantic or quaint about poverty - no distance of time or place can lend enchantment to the view. Walk with a close friend or a relative through a major job loss, a bankruptcy, a foreclosure, an accident and disability: you will know!

Poverty is pain. And the pain sharpens the more we realize what was lost, what is lived, and what is left. Paul is really shaking us, rousing us with these words to grasp just how poor, painfully poor the Saviour became for sinners.

See what He lost: "though He was rich." Christ was rich! As the eternal, only-begotten Son of God, He is rich above all we could ever imagine or dream.

He is rich in all things:

For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created by Him and for Him, and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. ... God hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son ... whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds . - Colossians 1:16-17 ,Heb.1:1-2

He is rich in honour:

Every creature which is in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them heard I saying, Blessing, and honour and glory and power be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. -- Rev. 5: 13.

He is rich in love:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God: the same was in the beginning with God ... the only-begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father.... The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand. ... The Father loveth the Son, and sheweth Him all things that He Himself doeth - John 1:1-2,18; 3:35, 5:20.

To riches immeasurable, in every good thing, in honour and glory, in the boundless love of His Father, Christ Jesus had exclusive title and perfect right. Yet all this He laid aside, "though He was rich", when to earth He came to seek and to save the lost. See what He lived through: "yet for your sakes, He became poor". To what poverty did the Lord Jesus stoop on this earth!

Where are His riches now?

Born of the Virgin Mary to the home of Joseph, a mere village carpenter; cradled in a wayside manger outside the inn; raised as a refugee in Egypt; trained as a tradesman in complete obscurity for thirty years in Nazareth: He had no place to lay His head as He preached, and taught, and healed. He borrowed the donkey that carried Him into Jerusalem. He borrowed the Upper Room to host His final Passover meal. He was shrouded and anointed for burial by His friends, and buried in another man's new tomb.

Where is His honour now?

"He humbled Himself, and made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man." Such weakness: an Embryo, a Babe lying in the manger, the Child Jesus, the Man of Sorrows. "With strong crying and tears" He prays "in an agony". He endures the stripes, the thorns, the nails till in death He cries, "I thirst."

He endured the "contradiction of sinners against Himself". Of Him they said, "Behold a Friend of publicans and sinners, a glutton and a winebibber!" To Him they said, "Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?" The highest court of His people anointed Him - with spittle. A Roman guard crowned Him -- in thorns. By wicked hands He was enthroned - upon the cross. And there He died, made a curse for us, made sin for us, hanging on the Tree.

Who cares for Him now?

"He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not." "His own received Him not." In the hour His soul was "exceeding sorrowful, even unto death" Peter denies Him, the disciples forsake Him. His last farewell kiss from earth comes from the lips of Iscariot, Judas "who also betrayed Him." In the noontide darkness of Golgotha, He cries, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" Deserted by man, forsaken of God for us as He bore our sins in His body on the Tree, surely He could well say, "No man cared for My soul."

See what He has left to show for it all: "for your sakes." All that Christ has to show for all this anguish, all this sorrow, all this pain and death, and hell is - what? Can you imagine it? All He has is the likes of us!

"He saved others; Himself, He cannot save." What others? Disciples like Peter - fickle, foolhardy Simon. Disciples like those who fled, even as for them He said, "If ye seek Me, then let these go." Believers like the green converts of Corinth, Gentiles, pagans once enslaved with idols, still plagued with grossest vice, puffed up with pride, ignorant and wayward. Poor, pathetic, saved sinners - just like me.

Is not this staggering miracle grace? "Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ." Amazing, immeasurable, sovereign, glorious grace! All this was for me! All this is for every wretched, needy sinful man, woman, boy or girl whom the Holy Spirit draws to Him; who confess their sin and forsake it, confess this Christ by faith alone and follow Him.

II. Here Are Our Riches: "That ye through His poverty might be rich"

His rags brought our riches. His loss is our gain. That's the great exchange!

So much that promises to enrich us, doesn't. "All that glisters is not gold" sang Shakespeare, and you'll find fool's gold in places other than Frobisher Bay!

When Ed McMahon offers cheques and roses to housewives , it's too good to be true - and it isn't true. When the daily mail brings the breathless announcement you have just won the jackpot, you can smell it's the bait on a hook!

But here are riches indeed: wealth you can never exhaust, never earn, never lack, never lose. Paul the Apostle spent his whole life everywhere "preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ". He prayed that every believer in Jesus might see "the riches of his calling". His confidence was this: "My God shall supply all your need from His riches in glory by Christ Jesus".

And truly, "the blessing of the Lord maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow to it." "In Christ we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace." "God who is rich in mercy, according to His great love wherewith He loved us, hath quickened us together with Christ". "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him freely give us all things?" "Godliness with contentment is great gain."

"My grace is sufficient for thee; My strength is made perfect in weakness." "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him." "All things are yours; and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's."

Well may we take up the song:

The cross He bore is life and health,,
Though death and hell to Him:
His people's hope, His people's wealth,
Their everlasting theme.

"Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ" - do you know it? You may receive now, as you repent of your sin, and receive this Prince and Saviour. You may sing, as do we:

"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand: By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures..." 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

A striking phrase, "first of all" - it suggests our proverbial "First Things First". By it the Apostle Paul endeavours to help the enthused but confused members of the young Church at Corinth regain their bearings on the most vital, essential truths of their faith.

Of all the congregations the Apostle Paul planted, none had such a dramatic, promising start as had Corinth. No church had such numbers, such gifted leadership, such high social profile as this church. But no church had the heartaches and headaches that this church had (Acts 18).

Paul gives this Entire Epistle over to solving problems, answering questions, facing difficulties - firs the real issues of which he had but reports (chs.1-6); then the good issues on which they had made enquiries (chs.7-14). In all of them, over and over Paulbids them view matters from the vantage-point of the Cross.

Their unity is found in Christ crucified (chs. 1-4); their holiness in Christ our Passover (ch.5), their chastity in remembering they are not their own but bought with a price (ch.6); their charity in viewing the "weaker brother" as a man "for whom Christ died" (ch.8).

With special emphasis, now Paul comes to deal with the most basic problem the Corinthian Christians faced. Their Greek background had long rejected the idea of the future resurrection of the dead (Acts 17); assorted heretics had tried to subvert the idea into more palatable notions (1 Tim.1:21). A few already within the Church have voiced doubts and objections (15:12,33-34).

So Paul makes the basic argument that the bodily, glorious resurrection of Christ from the dead proves that general resurrection of mankind from which we gain the final victory over death. Thus when he highlights the heart of the Gospel in these verses, he is saying, "Put first things first - get back to basics!"

All this historical fact is more than history. The varied problems of the young Church at Corinth show in miniature the range of issues and problems besetting the professing Christina Church today. Are we not also sorely divided? Have not so many who take the name "Christian" lost their bearings as to what Christian faith and Christian conduct are?

Not to Corinth only, but to us also today does this unchanging Word of God come from Christ through the Apostle - the call to put "first things first".

A few years ago, our own church, Hope Assembly, was looking at prospective meeting places. We meet in a home not far from a historic country church in Mississauga, which now but rarely gathers for worship, and largely rents its building to others. I met with the sexton, himself a farmer, and looked over the place. h As we were talking, he said to me, "Sir, are your people Protestants?"

"Oh yes, very much so," I replied.

"Well, sir,"he asked, "how is that the Protestant religion has gone so way, way down in these past years?"

None of us can miss or deny that fact. I still can recall days as a small boy when Sunday was quiet; when the Bible was read in the schools; when our neighbours habitually filled their houses of prayer.

Now, I am a city man; but I asked him a question any farmer can answer.

I said, "Tell me, sir, have you or the wife ever cultivated flowers?"

"Why sure!" he said.

"Now, when you cut flowers and put them in water in a vase, just when do they die?"

And the reply was immediate. "Well, the moment they're cut."

"That's right", I said. "They still look splendid, the colours are radiant, the fragrance fresh, and they last perhaps days - but they are already dead. And it is just a matter of time before the decay sets in.

"Now, sir," I said, "there's the answer to your question!"

Let me spell that parable out to, here and now.

When our nation was formed by Confederation in 1867, Canada as a people was pervaded with the faith and life of Bible-based, Evangelical Protestantism. Historians have called the 19th century in Canada, "The Evangelical Century." But by 1927, the roots were cut. And by 1967, the rot had set in. Severed by materialism, by modernism from vital faith in the Bible, the Gospel it declares, and the Saviour it reveals, inevitably, inexorably the great historic denominations of the mainstream in our land have died, and decayed.

With the life gone, the fragrance, the colour, the beauty have all faded. The hideous corruption of morals, collapse of membership and crisis of ministry all show the rot has set in. The disturbing ascendance of secularism, skepticism on the one side, and Roman Catholicism on the other side, prove the ground is lost.

So --- what are we to do? What are ordinary people like you and I to do about this?

Well, we can waste our time bemoaning what is gone; we can nurse all our bitterness and try to embalm the past in our spleen; we can carefully press the wilted flowers, put them under glass and pity ourselves.

Or, we can face the facts; take up again the precious, living seed of the Word of God, get out into life's fields where we are, and start sowing, planting, weeping, watering and working!

The call of this Scripture to you and to me is to get back to basics; to put first things first; to recover our lost love for the Scriptures, the Saviour and the salvation that is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Him alone - as individuals, as families and as Churches.

It is high time, past time to stop crying over spilt milk; to pick up the bucket and head back to the barn for more where it came from! Paul draws our attention to five vital, essential "First Things" here:

The Primacy of the Bible

Paul's constant reference-point in all he teachers is Holy Scripture: "first of all... according to the Scriptures." Only on the basis, and in the light of the Scriptures did the person, life, death and resurrection of Christ gain their true meaning (v.3-4). Only on the authority of Scripture did the Gospel message Paul proclaimed have its saving power (v.2-3).

The Old Testament Scriptures, of course, are first meant here (cf. 1:19,31; 2:9; 3:19;4:6;9:9; 10:11; 14:21; 15:45,54). But Paul clearly suggests that his own epistles are the inspired words of God (2:13-14;14:37). And so he passes on to his beloved "son in the faith" Timothy the rule of New and Old Testament Scriptures (1 Tim.5:18; cf Deu. 25:4; Lk.10:7; 2 Tim.3:13-17). So speaks the Apostle Peter (1 Pe. 1:10-12; 2 Pe.1:12-21; 3:1-2,15-16). So speaks the Apostle John (1 Jn.1:1-4; 2:7-8). All reflect the mind of the Lord Jesus Himself (Jn. 5:46-47;15:25-27; Lk.24:44-49).

If ever Christians are to recover their bearings in life; if ever the Churches of God are to regain their spiritual strength and stature - we must get back to the Book; we must again become "the people of the Book." We must again place our whole confidence in the Bible as the Spirit-inspired, inerrant written oracles of God, as the sole standard of faith and life in Christ, the statute-book of King Jesus among His people. We must return to the reading and preaching of the Bible as God's truth in our Churches; we must return to reading, searching, meditating, memorizing Scripture in our families. We must resume the habit of consulting this Book in all the decisions of life.

If the Church you attend does not magnify the Bible as God's Word written - leave it! If the clergy you hear on Sunday do not believe this Book cover to cover - pull out! Every day and every dime you spend propping up unfaithful denominations wastes time and money on the work of the devil. Loyalty to Christ must come before loyalty to family or community. If you can't find a good Church - found one! Seek out like-minded Christians and invite the ministry of a Church whose fidelity to the Bible commands your trust.

Unless we truly live "by the Book" we are Protestants in mere name. To carry open Bibles in parade on "The Glorious Twelfth"; to display ornate family Bibles in our parlous - all this is little better than carrying about a Madonna on Corpus Christi or hanging a crucifix on the wall, if we are not daily reading, learning and obeying God's written Word.

The Priority of the Gospel

To the Bible-based Gospel message Paul gives top priority (1:17): "I declare unto you the Gospel ... first of all" (v.1,3). It needs neither eloquence to adorn, nor spectacle to confirm it (1:22-24; 2:1-5). Its power to save the soul, satisfy the heart, and sanctify the life rests in the effective work of the Holy Ghost, not in the personality of a preacher (3:6-7).

If Christians and the Churches truly wish to promote Christian conduct, let us again give priority to the Gospel. Political lobbying, legislative agenda, social programmes, educational efforts have a place - some place. But to rely upon these to effect a profound, lasting change in the people's hearts is vain. This is to get apples by hanging an apple-basket on a coat-tree. To get apples, plant an apple tree - sow the seed, cultivate the sapling, nurture and water the fruit-bearing, living thing. That means - preach, live, tell out the Gospel; sow the living seed of God's Word and look to Him to give the increase. Unless the people become genuine Christians, you cannot 'christianise' society.

People need only remember Toronto, Ontario, as it was, and as it is, to prove this. "Toronto the Good" - "Belfast on the Humber" - was a town where Sunday was closed, churches were full, back doors unlocked, and crime rare. "World-class Toronto" is a town where Sunday is open, Churches are empty, doors and windows are barred and bolted, crime rampant. "The tree is know by its fruits."

Is this unpopular? Yes - it always has been. Will it bring reproach and contempt? Yes - it always does. Will God bless it? Yes - He always will, where, when and as He pleases. Don't wait for ideal conditions - they never come. Sow beside all waters now! (Eccl. 11:4-6; Isa.32:20; Mk.4:14,26-29; 1 Cor. 3:6-7).

The Prominence of Redemption

Why is the Gospel "good news" ?

The 'marketing' of faith so prominent today has obscured that. To listen to many who 'peddle' the Word of God in our time ( 2 Cor. 2:17), the "gospel is an emotional amphetamine to keep you 'up' and out of the 'blues' - a medical panacea to keep you 'in the pink' of health - a financial formula to keep you 'in the black.' In short, the Gospel message has become little more than 'white magic' to get you what you want out of life.

The Gospel "according to the Scriptures" is very different. It reckons on the sorrows of trial (1 Pe. 1:6-7; 4:12-19), the reality of sickness and death (2 Cor. 12:7-10; 1 Th.4:13-18), the pain of oppression and poverty (James 1:9-11; 2:1,5-9; 5:7-9). The biblical Gospel proclaims first and foremost redemption - deliverance from the penalty and power of sin: "first of all... our sins" (v.3).

"The strength of sin is the Law" (15:56). God's standard and demand for our humane conduct - for righteousness of heart and life, loving Him with all, and our neighbour as ourselves - has not changed. "By the law is the knowledge of sin" (Rom.3:20). "Sin is the transgression of the law" (1 Jn.3:4). The greatest problem we face is not what we have but what we are; not what we know but what we do; not what we are to ourselves or others, but what we are in the sight of the all-holy Triune God who made us for Himself. Our moral, not material poverty, is the need of the hour. Our misery is not the disease, but the symptom - the plague of heart that destroys us is sin.

Sin, and salvation - these are the "first things" we must again "put first"!

The Pre-eminence of the Saviour

The Bible reveals Jesus Christ as God's only answer to man's deepest need: "First of all ... Christ died for our sins" (v.3).

The Lord Jesus self-consciously came to save His people from their sins. He knew it as a Boy: "Wist ye not that I must be about My Father's business?" (Lk.2:49). He consecrated Himself to it in His baptism: "Thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness" (Mt.3:15). It sustained Him in weariness: "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish His work" (Jn.4:34). Over and over He declared it His purpose: "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which is lost" "I am the Good Shepherd: the Good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep... This commandment have I received of my Father." "The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many". "They shall mock Him, and shall scourge Him, and shall spit upon Him, and shall kill Him: and the third day He shall rise again." (Mk.2:17; Lk.19:10; Jn.10:11-18; Mk. 10:45,34). He concluded His life's work with this prayer: "I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do." He bled and died with this triumphant cry: "It is finished!" (Jn.17:4; 19:30).

In all the Bible, Christ has the sole pre-eminence: "To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His Name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins." "Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." "This is the record: that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." "These are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, ye might have life through His name" (Acts 10:43; Acts 4:12; 1 Jn.5:11-13; Jn.20:31). This is His own claim: "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father but by Me" (Jn.14:6).

To all who truly believe, Christ is precious. In all things He has the pre-eminence (1 Pe. 2:7; Col.1:18). Happy the preacher, whose motto and ministry is: "We preach not ourselves but Christ Jesus the Lord" (2 Cor. 4:5). Blessed the Church who holds fast to Christ the Head; who confesses "God manifest in the flesh" and declares "There is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave His life a ransom for all, to be testified in due time" (Col. 2:18-19; 1 Tim.3:16; 1 Tim.2:5-6).

Look to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith: He is Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last. This is His Word: "Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God and there is no other" (Heb. 12:23; Rev. 22:13; Isa.45:22-25).

The Precedence of Conversion

The Apostle Paul could appeal to his readers at Corinth to live by the Gospel because they had first received the Gospel: " I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received" (v.3). "I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand: by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain" (v.1-2).

It is tragically possible for men to delude themselves with an empty profession of even the true Gospel, without vital possession of Christ by faith. We can, Paul says, "believe in vain."

Far too many 'Protestants' so-called know neither what they say nor whereof they affirm in their trumpeted loyalty to 'the Protestant religion.' Men who maim, murder, and make mayhem may be defending an inherited culture, or their own ethnic community, but not the cause of Christ. His kingdom is not of this world, else His servants would fight; the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but spiritual and mighty through God to bring men's thoughts captive to Christ. No Christian is to suffer as a thief or murderer or busybody in other men's matters (Jn.8:36; 2 Cor.10:3-5; 1 Pe.4:15-16).

Paul issues this solemn caution earlier in his Epistle: "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, no thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." (1 Cor.6:9-11).

Without the New Birth; without living faith in Christ Jesus alone which works by love and brings forth the fruits of repentance; without conversion, you can be as lost with a Bible in your hand as with the host in your mouth (Jn.3:3,5,7; Gal.5:4-6; 6:14-15; Mt. 18:3; Acts 26:22-23).

Have you received Christ Jesus as He is freely offered in this Gospel? Do you stand in Him, robed in His imputed righteousness, covered and cleansed by His atoning Blood, living, walking, filled by His Holy Spirit? Do you daily keep in memory this Gospel and hold fast the confession of this faith in a good conscience? Only so can you be sure you are indeed 'saved.' (Jn. 1:12-13; rom.5:1-11; Gal.5:22-25; Eph. 5:18-21; Heb.10:18-25; 1 Tim.1:18-19). Let us live the faith we preach; let us get back to basics, and put "First Things First!"

And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. 1 Kings 18:21

IF ONLY ONE WORD might sum up our present times, we might well take the word "Crisis."

International relations have come to a decisive turn as we see the United States exerting its influence in its avowed 'war on terror.' The world markets fluctuate in the wake of these developments. Our own country is painfully re-assessing its public policies and societal values along a whole range of issues, from limits to manipulate human genetics to the role of the military, to legalizing marijuana to preventing child abuse. In every political party and movement, leadership is up for re-assessment, and transition. We are losing doctors, nurses, teachers out of the country. Crisis; crisis marks the day. Drought, and storm, disquiet and disturb us. In crisis there is danger and opportunity. And in every crisis, with its dangers and opportunities, comes the occasion, and responsibility, for choice. "Choice" has become one of the noisiest buzz-words of our time. You cannot walk the aisles of a suburban mall without facing a dazzling, dizzying array of electronic gadgets, clothing items, accessories, and food products. Take apples: when I was about 8, the grocery stores trumpeted the arrival of Red and Golden Delicious alongside MacIntosh. Today, it is altogether routine to find a pick of these with Braeburn, Snow Rose, Northern Spy, Empire, Courtland, Granny Smith, on and on.

You cannot listen long to the parents of too many young children without noticing what a premium we teach our toddlers to place upon choice. My dear wife works, as you may know, as a trained professional nursery nurse or nanny in homes with little time and lots of money for childrearing. When Dorothy would get her last 3-year-old girl to dress, she would place two outfits on the bed and tell her to choose one. When Mother let the little miss get dressed, she might come down with two favourite slacks and three favourite pull-overs on all at once! Give' em choice!

"Choice" is a privileged liberty in many minor matters; but in others it has become a recipe for moral and social ruin.

"Choice" has become a screen behind which young women, who most often chose the risks of promiscuity, claim as a right the licence to destroy their unwanted, unborn babies.

"Choice" has become a sluice by which every kind of vulgarity, profanity, and obscenity now slushes through television cables and computer links into our homes. Just why is it that we permit the toxins of vice to poison the minds of our children, when we would do anything to avoid risking e-coli bacteria in our water supply?

"Choice" has become the measure by which we may discover how drunk we can get and drive; how deep we can wallow in debt without drowning; how much we can grab for how little we need give. Within a few hours, hundreds of working families will be heading off to Sunday wage-slavery. They have no day of rest in this province, simply because the greed of retailers has pandered to the lazy selfishness of consumers in the guise of "choice."

Today, in presence of Almighty God Triune, you face a choice. A choice that will shape you and every choice you ever make daily, and eternally.

Like it or not, you must make that choice. You cannot, you will not sit on the fence

Here it is in our text: "How long halt ye between two opinions? If the LORD be God, then follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him!"

That question touches you and me at three levels: as citizens and residents of this country, for we are all neigbhours here; as members or adherents to the Church of Christ, for many here are brethren; and as individual men, women, boys, girls, we all stand before God and must in the Day of His Son's appearing give account for ourselves to God.

In the short time available to us today, let me view this text, and from those three angles:

I. The Choice in a National Crisis of Direction: "GOD or BAAL?"
II. The Choice in a Religious Crisis of Authority: "GOD or BAAL?"
III. The Choice in a Personal Crisis of Faith: " GOD or BAAL?"

I. The Choice in aNational Crisis ofDirection: "GOD or BAAL?"

What was at issue, nationally, in the choice God sets before His ancient people Israel?

Well, in the ninth century B.C., the Old Testament people of God had been divided enarly a century into 2 kingdoms: Judah to the south, with two tribes; Ephraim, or Israel, to the north, with ten.

While Judah remained under the rule of the house of David, Israel convulsed through a series of short dynasties, till at length King Omri wrested power from his rivals and stabilized the state, setting its capital in Samaria.

Omri persisted in the idolatry begun by Ephraim's first monarch, Jeroboam; more than this, he made unrighteous peace with the Canaanite people surviving in the north; worse yet, he married his son and heir to the daughter of the King of Tyre and Sidon, Ethbaal, cementing an unholy alliance between the Chosen People and the heathen.

That son was King Ahab; his bride, the fascinating, fanatical princess Jezebel.

When Ahab assumed the throne, Jezebel became the power behind that throne. Economically the northern kingdom entered nearly two decades of prosperity. Ahab wheeled and dealed in the military supply of horses and mules. He brokered strategic collations with his neighbours to resist the super-powers of Egypt and Assyria. He beautified his capital with stunning 'house of ivory', fragments of which have surfaced in our time under the archaeologist's spade.

But morally, spiritually, it was far otherwise!

Ahab set his sights on assimilating his own people to the Phoenician, Gentile culture of his neighbours. That meant establishing the worship of Baal held by Jezebel and her nation. He had a sumptuous temple built in Samaria; Jezebel retained 450 prophets and 400 priests of Baal and his sister-consort, the goddess Asherah.

Baal was a muscular, warrior god; he was the sun deity, who rode upon the clouds, sent forth lightning, wind and rain; his erotic escapades with Asherah magically ensured the fertility of field, livestock and family.

Like all pagan gods made in the image, the focus of the cult of Baal was health, wealth and prosperity. Sin and righteousness were not in the picture.

That is why, during this time, Hiel the Bethelite wasted the lives of two of his sons to incur God's curse in rebuilding the city of Jericho. That is why, later in the book of 1 Kings, when Ahab coveted the fields of the pious Naboth, and could neither buy nor beg it. Jezebel had no scruples in arranging for Naboth's judicial murder to make her husband happy.

Most of the people followed on with it all like sheep, happy to 'let the good times roll' on. Many, however, would not. God had a remnant of believing people who feared His Name, held fast His covenant, honoured His Law.

God would not let His Name be desecrated and His Word discarded easily. So He sent His servant the prophet Elijah. And then the conflict began, as we read in 1 Kg.17:1 -

And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, 'As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these eyars, but according to my word.'

God then shut up the heavens for 3 1/2 years, showing how completely impotent this false god Baal really was. He hid His prophet at the brook Cherith right under Ahab's nose. Then He boarded him with a widow in the little village of Zarephath, in the very heart of Jezebel's homeland. All the while God fed him as both nations languished and shriveled with drought and famine.

Ahab thought he knew what the problem was: Elijah! Everywhere he sought him out, to arrest, imprison and execute him - all in vain. Jezebel thought she had a solution. In futile rage she began persecuting and murdering God's prophets and servants, till only about 7,000 were left in the north faithful to Jehovah; till only 100 prophets were left hiding in caves under the watchcare of Ahab's chief steward, Obadiah.

Now, as chapter 18 opens, the LORD purposes to turn His people back; so He sends Elijah once more. The conflict comes to a crisis.

Obadiah does not welcome this crisis. Godly, courageous and faithful though he is, he sees no higher than the survival of the Lord's remnant people. He imagines Jehovah will whisk Elijah away by the Spirit off the scene. He has lost heart and hope that God's Word may yet prevail and reclaim the nation. Frankly, he's afraid - fearful for his own life.

Ahab does not welcome this crisis. His grandiose plans lie in tatters; his bewitching bride has turned into a raging queen; his "industrial-military complex" nears collapse. He pathetically forages for pasture - not to feed his subjects - no, but to keep his horses and mules alive.

To him, Elijah is a curse, a jinx; a traitor to his nation, a rabble-rousing fanatic. "Art thou he that troubleth Israel?"

But Elijah boldly faces Ahab, and stares him down. He throws his cheap abuse back into his teeth:

I have not troubled Israel: but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim -- 1 Kg.18:18.

Elijah demands a national convocation in full view of Jezebel's summer house in Jezreel. He summons Ahab, all the clergy of Baal, and the people at large to Mount Carmel. Mount Carmel juts out a little south of the Bay of Haifa, giving a spectacular view of the Mediterranean Sea to the west, and of the vistas of north Israel to the east. They gathered in a large plateau just below its highest peak, where perennial springs feed a lush, thick forest of oak and olive. There was plenty of wood for sacrifice, water , and shade in the summer heat for the crowds. It was a major centre and shrine for Baal worship.

There, before a vast concourse, Elijah stands in the rough garb of a Tishbite from Gilead, camel-hair tunic, leather girdle, dark mantle. There he puts the question to all the people:

How long halt ye between two opinions? If the LORD be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. -- 1 Kg.18:21.

"Not a word" ! You see, the people at large did not welcome the crisis. Like their descendants, the Samaritans, too many were all too happy to "fear the LORD, and serve their own gods" (1 Kg.17:33,41).

God poses this questions, sets this choice through the lips of Elijah before His ancient people Israel. Yet it is His question to us, to you, here and now.

Israel stood as the firstborn of nations, bearing the promise of a Messiah, a Deliverer from sin and death, who would bless every nation on earth - Jesus Christ. Israel was a unique theocratic people.

Canada is not. Yet while we cannot and would not claim for this country a religion "by law established" we know well the Bible says, "Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people."

Every nation, every people on earth is profoundly shaped by its actual religious beliefs and moral values.Our nation, our people are no exception. The history of this nation displays the truth of the Bible: "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD."

Conditions in our land today bear an eerie resemblance to Israel under judgment. We face a crisis of leadership in government; we have again and again seen legislators whose ethics are under a cloud, to say the least. We watch the military resources of our nation, our ability to maintain our sovereignty, put in jeopardy. We have seen drought and desolate lay our Western prairies waste.

Now, friends, listen: the living and true God, the Triune Jehovah still reigns. Jesus Christ, God the Son incarnate, crucified and risen has now all power in heaven and earth, now sits on the right hand of the Power, and rules the nations with His rod of iron. Nothing comes to pass apart from the sovereign counsel of His own will and good pleasure. The disasters and troubles besetting our nation today are nothing other than that rod; and His hand is upon than rod.

A mighty preacher now in glory, a dear friend to me, would put it plainly: "God's talking! GOD's TALKING! GOD's TALKING! Who's listening??"

Today we are witnessing a tremendous shift in our national life from the Scriptural values of our past, to the secularism of the present, and to the superstitions of the future. Our culture used to assume the tenets of Christian faith and morals; our culture now abhors and avoids them. And yet, our nation wants to have its cake and eat it too. Our people hesitate to cast every last vestige of God's fear aside, though the momentum seems to take us that way. We are halting between two opinions, limping to one side, lurching to the other --- we're too ashamed to go back, we're too afraid to go forward.

Here's what I mean. Our country has countenanced the delusion of "choice" in what law refers to as "sexual orientation." The conduct God has branded the "abomination" of "sodomy", our Parliament is at this moment considering worth protecting with the sanctions of "hate legislation."

Yet, at the very same time, our law-makers are striving to enhance legal sanctions against child abuse, and child exploitation. So much so, that police are stepping up surveillance on child pornographers. So much so, that a nationwide criminal registry of offenders is in planning. So much so ... that the courts are reviewing the legality of conduct God Himself approves, when He enjoins upon parents the wise, restrained, loving use of corporal punishment in training small children.

This is mere halting between two opinions.

If you follow God, if you really acknowledge, as our Constitution still does, "the supremacy of God" in ordering society by just laws which fit His revealed will - you cannot sanction one sort of perversion, and outlaw the rest.

If you follow Baal, if you embrace a non-moral, non-judgmental, non-entity of nonsense which tells us we are simply part of the vast universal eco-system.. . which gives us no solid ground for the unique dignity, responsibility and sanctity of human life: I ask, why outlaw anything? If the state has no business in the nation's bedrooms, what business has it in its childrens' rooms? Or anywhere?

The secularist has no basis of any kind to speak of "right" or "wrong" except by scavenging the scraps of Biblical morality left in the country's conscience. The secularist's only true reference points can be what is currently "expedient", "acceptable", "popular" or "electible."

Follow the Bible, follow God, and society, will, must have definitive, revealed, abiding values. Follow secularism, follow the religions of other nations, follow self-serving mingle-mangle of ideas, and you follow Baal. Follow Baal - and you step into practical atheism, and at last into pure animalism.

Let me say once again what I have said elsewhere: this very city of Toronto testifies to the truth of my words. The old Toronto, "Toronto the Good", "Belfast on the Humber" was a town where Sunday was closed, churches full, backdoors unlocked at night, murder rare. Today's Toronto, "world-class Toronto" is a town where Sunday is open, churches empty, backdoors, front doors, windows all bolted and barred against break-ins, and murder getting commonplace.

"The tree is known by its fruits" !

Our legislators, and our laws express the will of the people all too well. The crying need of the hour is that God should use His faithful Churches, preaching His written Word; use the lives and witness of His believing people to declare the unsearchable riches of His grace in Jesus Christ, to leaven the lump of this land with the Gospel of salvation. That's why Elijah summonsed, challenged, addressed "all the people." Before the people Ahab, Jezebel, the whole cultic caste of Baal were helpless.

This is the crisis. Either we win our people, in all their cultural, racial, economic backgrounds to Christ, to the evangelical Protestant faith of Scripture; or they will drift eventually, inevitably, into secularism, superstition, moral squalor and social suicide.

We just passed Remembrance Day. Read the social and religious history of Germany in the 20th century, and you will see a nation that in both wars, ultimately forsook God for Baal, and paid the price.

Look at the Netherlands today. How we weep with our Dutch brethren and sisters for that great land. They are a decade or so ahead of us in that drift. See it there: legal prostitution, legal suicide, legal drug abuse, legal hell! Who would not weep?

We face a national crisis of direction. The choice is this: GOD or BAAL?

II. The Choice in a Religious Crisis of Authority: "GOD or BAAL?"

King Ahab was desperate. With Jezebel absent, he was cowed by the prophet Elijah. He meekly did as he was told. Once he arranged for the decisive meeting, he stepped aside into the background.

The reason is clear: the centre of Israel's national crisis was not in the councils of the state - it was in the hearts of the people. It is so today. The ethical dilemmas we face today, as in any day, are rooted in issues religion alone answers. "Who am I?" "Where did I come from?" "Where am I going?" "What is my place and purpose in the universe?" These questions are not clich‚s - they are essentials to living, and dying.

All around us voices vie for our ear, claiming to have answers to these questions. Who speaks the truth? What is truth?

Once again, the choice is simple, clear, but not easy: GOD, or BAAL.

Worship is the ear-mark, the hallmark of religion. The dramatic trial of strength which fills 1 Kings 18 contrasts two opposing religions, and two opposing forms of worship. That contrast highlights crucial principles you and I must never, never forget:

Our worship rests on a basis of authority - true or false, divine or demonic.

An old adage in church Latin sums it up this way: 'lex orendi, lex credendi' -- how we pray shows what we really believe.

You can see it all plainly here.

The 'prophets of Baal' have full licence to present their offering as they see fit. They follow the authority of the legends and fables, the expected customs, of Canaanite culture.

Their rites reflect the character of the god they worship. Baal is a sun deity - a god of fertility and fury. So, on the one side, the celebration of his worship involved 'dynamic music', 'sacred dance' , repetitive 'choruses' , close physical contact among the worshippers - and ultimately, orgiastic indulgence; it was based on 'sympathetic magic', to excite the gods to fertilize the environment. On the other side, to appease Baal, his devotees gashed themselves with lancets in self-inflicted flagellation; they even burnt their firstborn children alive on his altars. Listen to the record:

They took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying 'O Baal, hear us!' But there was no voice nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made. ... And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets till the blood gushed out upon them. And it came to pass when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded. - 1 Kg.18:26,28-29.

Six solid hours of dancing and prancing, singing and shouting, braying and babbling, on and on. Ever seen anything like that?

It's quintessentially pagan - it's completely congruent to the character of Baal - and it leaves its devotees senseless, mindless, heartless, and godless.

You see it centuries before when the people goaded Aaron to provide worship for Jehovah in the style familiar to them from the gods of Egypt. The Old Testament records:

After he had made it a molten calf ... they said, 'These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.' And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, 'Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD'. And they rose up early on the morrow and offered... offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. Moses said, '... the noise of them that sing do I hear.' Moses .. saw the calf, and the dancing... Moses saw that the people were naked... Ex.32:4-6,18-19,25. You see it centuries later when the heathen enemies of Paul's gospel preaching unleash mass hysteria among the citizens of Ephesus, and they stream into the city amphitheatre. Listen to the New Testament record:

All with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, 'Great is Diana of the Ephesians!' Acts 19:34.

You can see it in the rituals of African tribes and aboriginal clans; in Muslim dervishes and Hindu festivals. And yes, we are beginning to see it in so-called Evangelical Christian churches!

Now, think about those cardinal principles: Worship rests on authority - divine or demonic; worship reflects the object of worship; worship shapes the character of the worshippers. Has the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ sought this at our hands, when He seeks worshippers in Spirit and in truth? Does this even remotely resemble the likeness of the Saviour who is "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners and exalted to the heavens"? Where in all the Book of God has the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of truth, of grace and of supplications, bidden us give such will-worship? How by any stretch of imagination can such things consist with the fruit of the Spirit in the souls of His saints?

It staggers us to think that man's sinful mind can so muddle light and darkness, Christ and Belial, truth and error: but it does! That's why Elijah rebuked them, "Why halt ye between two opinions? If the LORD be God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him!"

The Bible makes plain to us, that we are not to 'accommodate' God's Word or worship or will to the 'culture' of our times:

Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable and perfect will of God. Rom 12:1-2.

The capstone of the Old Testament Law is Deuteronomy; here is its sum on God's directives on worship:

Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with they children after thee forever ... take heed to thyself.. that thou enquire not after their gods, saying 'How did these nations serve their gods? Even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which He hateth, have they done ... What thing soever I command you, observe to do it; thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it. Deut. 12:28-32. The crown of the New Testament in the Gospels is the Great Commission of Jesus Christ our Lord; listen to our risen King's commands to all His people:

Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you... Mt.28:19-20.

The mandate is the same in Old Testament and New. Our worship must rest upon the authority of God's written Word - Holy Scripture. It reflects the character of the Triune God who as Spirit is worshipped in spirit and truth. It is designed to apply our redemption from sin, and empower us to holiness.

That's what lay behind all Elijah's solemn steps in rebuilding the patriarchal altar on mount Carmel; offering a bullock of atonement with the shedding of blood; waiting the appointed time; praying fervently, pointedly, briefly, in faith:

LORD God of Abraham, Isaac and of Israel, let it be known this day that Thou art God in Israel, and that I am Thy servant, and that I have done all these things at Thy Word. Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that Thou art the LORD God, and that Thou hast turned their heart back again. 1 Kg. 18:36-37.

Make no mistake, beloved: the Evangelical churches of our generation face a crisis of authority, and the choice is still the same: GOD or BAAL. Either we accept the authority of the Bible as the only, and actual rule of Christian faith and life, worship and ethics -- or we abandon it.

The apostle Paul foretold:

"The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned into fables" 2 Tim. 4:3-4.

Such a time is upon us! Many Evangelical churches have now entered a crisis over the ordination of women to the office of pastor and elder. The debate on the surface concerns the hermeneutics, the mode of interpreting and applying Scripture; but the debate in fact concerns the nature and authority of Scripture in the Church of God.

Can there be any serious question what the mind of the Apostles, what the mind of Christ is, upon that question in the Bible? Texts such as 1 Tim.2:11-12, or 1 Tim 3:2, or 1 Cor.14:34-37 are all as clear about it as John 3:16 is about salvation! Christian women are certainly gifted by the Holy Spirit to teach, exhort, and edify others - but only in the spheres of Christian service divinely appointed - not in church office! How we pray our Churches will continue in the truth which alone sets us free!

You can read other such "signs of the times." Today's so-called "worship wars" are no mere conflicts between generations, or contentions over sensibilities of taste: they present to us a cross-roads between the changeable wishes of man, and the unchanging will of God; between the way of Babel, or the way of the Bible. Which way will you go - whom will you follow - GOD or BAAL?

Believers in Christ, hear me: the choice in this hour of religious crisis is plain - GOD or BAAL. God's Word, the Bible - or the traditions and delusions of Baal. God's worship in Spirit and truth - or the will-worship of Baal. God's will in Law and Gospel, sin and grace, redemption and holiness - or vain hopes of health, wealth and prosperity from Baal. "How long halt ye between two opinions? If the LORD be God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him!"

III. The Choice in a Personal Crisis of Faith: " GOD or BAAL?"

Nations, and churches, are in the end differing sums of the same numbers: people. No nation is any better than its individual citizen; no church than its individual members. The measure of a country are not its statesmen, heroes, scholars or artistis - it is the ordinary people. The stature of a church is not its preachers, teachers, missionaries or martyrs - it is the ordinary believing members.

Every individual Israelite - man, woman, boy or girl - had a personal interest in the outcome of that great trial. None could ignore the utter impotence of Baal to answer by fire. All had to face the reality that the one, true, living God, Jehovah, held them accountable for their sin.

If God answered by fire, would that fire consume them in judgment, as well it might?

God provided a way back to Himself, a way of pardon, a path of faith and repentance. And that was the choice they faced individually that day: GOD, or BAAL?

Elijah rebuilt an ancient altar from the days of the patriarchs, just in the way and manner the Law prescribed. Elijah arranged the wood and laid on that altar a bullock, without spot or blemish, as God's Word required. Elijah slew that bullock, and shed the blood that speaks of atonement for the soul. And presenting that victim as a substitute for the people in their sin, he prayed that the covenant God would pardon and restore His people.

When God's fire fell from heaven, burning first the victim, then the wood, then the altar, then turning to steam the water which sogged the ground all around, and filled the trench, God declared that offering was accepted, the people pardoned, and their hearts turned back.

Elijah understood these were types, pictures, foreshadowings of the one and only atonement for sin God would provide in His beloved, only-begotten Son Jesus Christ. Christ would come in the fullness of time, born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem them that were under the Law, that sinners might receive adoption as God's children. Christ Jesus would come into the world to save sinners, as the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. His spotless, righteous life as God the Son incarnate would satisfy the demands of the Law for all the sinners who would trust in Him alone. His precious Blood, the 'blood of God', would be shed to propitiate the divine wrath against our every sin. That's what Elijah foresaw as on the mount of Transfiguration he met with Moses and spoke to the Saviour of His coming sufferings.

"Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and was buried, and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures" -- that's the offering God has made to reconcile us to Himself. "This Jesus hath God raised up .. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear" - that's the fire from heaven. Because that death, that Blood sufficies, God the Father has raised up the Saviour and sent God the Holy Ghost in power to turn our hearts back to Himself and seal pardon to us.

And this, here and now, is the personal crisis of faith each of us faces. This is the choice: GOD or BAAL. Listen how the Bible puts it to us:

This is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 1 Jn 5:11-12.

Repent, and believe the Gospel. Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Mk.1:15; Lk.13:5

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Jn.3:36

"Why halt ye between two opinions?" may be God's question to you personally right now. "Ye cannot serve God and mammon" - some of you are trying to. "A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways" - and some of you may be finding that out. You want to be a Christian; you want to serve the Lord, but ... you think there's greener grass somewhere outside the Good Shepherd's pastures!

Remember, remember these words:

What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? ... come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and I will be their God, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1.

Is the LORD God? Is He your God? Then never fear to follow Him, follow on to know Him. Follow Him wholly! Follow Him unreservedly! The Lord Jesus knows His sheep, they follow Him - He gives them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of His hand! He is a Sun and a Shield; He will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly. Blessed is the man that trusteth in Him!

You will put these lines down shortly. As you go into life, into the future, into eternity, you will be following God, or Baal. There is no third way. Which way will you go? Will you not turn from your sin, trust in Christ Jesus alone, confess Him before men in baptism, and join His churches to continue in His living truth that makes us free?

"Why halt ye between two opinions?"

GOD - or BAAL?

And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it. Luke 11:27-28

NEVER had she met any man like this Man - the Man Christ Jesus.

She shared the wonder of all who saw Him cause the dumb to speak (v.14). She marveled at the gracious words which then proceeded out of His mouth Lk 4:22. The force of truth as He rebuked His adversaries, the beauty of holiness which shone in His manner, all simply swept her away - so moved her soul, that she forgot herself, broke all her habits of reserve and propriety, to blurt out these words. Words of a woman's affection; words of a mother's heart.

She meant well - she wanted to honour Him by honouring her, in that roundabout way of ancient Palestine we ourselves still vaguely keep -- as mother, so son. We see it in King Saul's crazed abuse for Jonathan 1 Sam.20:30. We see it here in her effusive praise for the Master.

Yet for all that, she was wrong: wrong in shifting the focus to the mother from the Son; wrong in placing her blessedness in simple, physical motherhood.

How kindly does the Lord Jesus correct her! Is He not truly "meek and lowly of heart"? He accepts what truth she has spoken in part, yet He adjusts her view to take in the whole - "Yea, rather." Conceding the truth, He corrects the error, and so teaches us that half-truth is untruth; that a single truth divorced from all truth, disproportioned and distorted can be as deceptive as outright deceit.

No mother in all history has been more misunderstood than the blessed Virgin Mary. So like this well-meaning, mistaken woman, untold millions since have fallen into "the error of the wicked" as "the unlearned and the unstable" have "wrested the Scriptures" about her "to their own destruction" following "cunningly devised fables" patterned "through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men ... and not after Christ." 2Pe.1: 16,3:16-18;Col.2:8.

Christ tells us that His mother was blessed, but that we may be more blessed. Let us now , as so often she did then, keep all these things and ponder them in our hearts. Lk.2:19.

How Blessed the Virgin Mary Was: "Yea"

We cannot be more scriptural than Scripture; we dare not seek to be more 'Protestant' than the Bible itself. There simply is no question the Virgin Mary was blessed; the Saviour concurs with the woman's words. Her words begin to fulfill the Spirit-inspired canticle which flowed from Mary's own lips Lk.1:48. Now how was she blessed?

Mary was blessed as she hoped for A Saviour. Mary carried the bloodline of King David and with it the promise of a Saviour for mankind Lk.3:23-28, just as Joseph bore the title to David's throne Mt.1:1-17, Lk.2:4. She lived in the times foretold when David's house had declined Am.9:11-12; Ac.15:14-17. So she was content to become a carpenter's wife Lk1:27, Mt.13:55. Yet her song of praise, the Magnificat Lk.1:46-55 reveals a godly, contrite heart steeped in Old Testament Scripture; well would she know the promise of the coming 'Seed of the Woman' Gen.3:15; Isa.7:14;Ps.69:8; Mic.5;1-8. She needed a Saviour, and hoped for Him.

The Bible's portrait of our Lord's Mother gives no place for the Roman Catholic dogma of "The Immaculate Conception." Begun from the speculations of Augustine, Duns Scotus and Thomas Aquinas to explain Christ's sinless humanity despite the teaching of Lk.1:35, the Council of Trent 1546 exempted Mary from all original and actual sin; and at length Pope Pius IX proclaimed that Mary had been sinlessly conceived in his bull Ineffabilis Deus 1845. This dogma is now asserted on the sole ground of papal infallibility as a saving essential of 'Catholic' faith. Sincere Roman Catholic people are thus turned aside to fables 2 Tim.4:3-4.

Mary was blessed as she bore the incarnate Christ. As the angel Gabriel brought to her the Word of the Lord, that she should bear the promised Messiah, Mary revered that Word. Her question sought to understand it, not to challenge it Lk. 1: 28-34. The angel's answer disclosed the Gospel mystery of the Virgin Birth: God the Holy Ghost overshadowing her, would take of her sinful humanity, make it sinless and form a body, 'that holy thing' by which from conception the eternal, only-begotten Son would enter the world Lk.1:35; Hb.10:5-10;Jn.1:1,14, 1 Tim.3:16. Thus God would answer the age-old riddle beyond man's power or wit : 'Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?' Job 14:4. Elizabeth's encouragement; Joseph's protection and acceptance; the witness of the shepherds; the welcome of Simeon and Anna; the visit of the wise men, all vindicated her submissive faith Lk. 1:38-2:40; Mt.1:18-2:23.

The same misguided shift of focus to mother from Son which caused the ancient matron in the crowd to err, lies behind the most common term used of Mary in Roman Catholic devotion - - "Mary the Mother of God." The term was originally coined with the worthy purpose of safeguarding the reality of Christ's two natures as God and Man in the integrity of His single Person. The 5th century Council of Ephesus proclaimed the term to preserve the truth that Christ was both God and Man in His incarnate state from conception - His full Deity was not 'bestowed' upon Him at some later point. Tragically, the term only served to heighten the pagan trend to regard her as a virtual mother-goddess and to invoke her in a manner fit only for Christ Jesus Himself Acts 4:12; Jn.14:6.

Mary was blessed as she raised the Lord Jesus in her family. The Bible makes very plain that after the Saviour's Virgin Birth, Mary and Joseph truly married and entered into all the joys and sorrows, duties and pleasures of married life. Mt.1:25,Heb.13:4 A large, close-knit family filled the carpenter's house in Nazareth. The Lord Jesus acted as Elder Brother of seven at least - four boys, and two or more girls. Mt. 13:55-56,Mk.6:3. The New Testament, in Greek as in English, calls them 'brothers', not 'cousins.' Mk.1:16; Lk.1:26, Col.4:10. Beginning with Him, Mary nursed, trained, and prepared them all for life. Along with Joseph she taught them the Holy Scriptures, and took them to worship on the Sabbath, nurturing them in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Dt.6:4-7;Lk.1:41-42, 4:16; 2 Tim.1:5,3:15; Eph.6:4.

The Bible's historical accounts leave no room for the belief, popular since the 4th century, that Mary was a 'perpetual virgin'. This concept which requires our Lord to have 'seeped out' of His mother in anything but a natural birth, contradicts Micah. 5:1-8 and practically violates 1 Jn.4:2-3, 5:6. The great church father Jerome first advanced it in the trend of his times to exalt celibate monastic life and deem the married state less 'spiritual' cf 1 Tim.4:1-5.

Mary was blessed as she surrendered her earthly claims upon her Son. As our Saviour entered His manhood at twelve, and His public ministry at thirty, He made it clearer and clearer with time that He had entered a path of obedience to the Eternal Father's will, in which His mother had neither part nor lot. In the Temple at twelve, He answered her fretful complaints with guileless astonishment : "Wist ye not that I must be about My Father's business?" Lk.2:48-50. At the wedding in Cana of Galilee, He gently but firmly rebuffs her motherly meddling: "Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come." Jn.2:4. All she may do is leave matters in His hands: " Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it." Jn.2:5. Astonished at the crowds, and terrified of the scribes, she with all the family feared for His safety and sanity . They sought to take Him home, even if it ended His public work; all this met He plainly repudiated. Mk.3:20-21,31-35. "Who is my mother, and my brethren?" Over and over she would learn and re-learn that only the bonds of faith unite us to the Saviour.

The Bible bears credible witness to the actual, human struggles of our Lord's mother to understand and submit to His purpose, just as the disciples wrestled with their long-held prejudices to comprehend the nature of His Messianic calling. Nowhere does her physical kinship give her Christ's access, favour or preference. Far, far removed from this, the mediaeval traditions and popular piety of Roman Catholicism has exalted Mary more and more into a Co-Mediatrix whose merits and pleas mollify a severe, distant Christ from damning the 'faithful' for their post-baptismal sins.Indeed, in his 1891 encyclical Octobrimense, Pope Leo XIII declared, "Nobody can approach Christ except through the Mother." With the need to seek Mary's supposed "intercession" has come the practice of offering her "veneration" which takes the very words fit only for divine worship and applies them in the extravagance of adultation. To her are offered the vows, praise, and prayer which Scripture reserves for the true and living Triune God alone. The Second Vatican Council has only strengthened this trend by calling on " all sons of the Church generously to foster the liturgical cult of the Blessed Virgin." Every ordinary Roman Catholic who tells the beads of the rosary will recite the Ave Maria (Hail Mary) 50 times, and the Pater Noster (Lord's Prayer) 5 times.

Mary was blessed as she stood by the Cross. All the reproach and sufferings of Christ as the Servant of the Lord grieved His mother deeply Mk.6:30, Jn.7:5, 8:41; Lk.34-35. Only finally, fully at the Cross did Mary comprehend and surrender to that will by which He offered up Himself alone as the Lamb of God to save His people from their sins. In His last act of obedience, as a firstborn Son, the Lord Jesus committed His widowed mother into the care of His beloved disciple and cousin John . Jn. 19:25-27. With her removed, with none to care for His soul, He trod the winepress of divine wrath alone, and died, the Just for the unjust to bring us to God Ps.69:8-9, 142:4; Isa.63:1-5; 1Pe.3:18.

Just as Mary was passive in the Incarnation; just as she was excluded from the public ministry of Christ, just so she was discharged from any involvement in the Passion and Atonement our Lord Jesus wrought for sinners at Calvary's cross. The most recent developments in the Marian cult move in complete opposition to Scripture. The entire trend through the centuries to bestow piecemeal upon 'the Mother' the sinlessness, intercession, worship and divine glory of 'the Son' is now coalescing to invest her with a coherent role as Co-Redemptrix , 'sharing' with the only Mediator between God and man the entire work of salvation. This term has come into vogue since the reign of Pope Benedict XV in 1922. Pope Pius XI (1939) declared, "With Jesus, Mary has redeemed the human race." In his 1943 encyclical Mystici Corporis, Pope Pius XII asserted that Mary offered Christ to the Father upon Golgotha in direct contradiction to Hebrews 9:14. The current Pontiff is not a whit less extreme. In his 1987 encyclical Redemptoris Mater John Paul II claims that the sinless Virgin was bodily assumed to heaven without death in order to co-operate with her Son in the work of redemption, intercede and protect the Church and world, and to reign as Queen of the universe. To her he freely ascribes the biblical titles of Christ - "Advocate", "Mediator" and "Morning Star."

Mary was blessed as she shared in the Church's life as a believer. Never again did our Lord's blessed mother stand out among the circle of Christ's people. She has no mention among the women named who early that first day of the week came with sweet spices to discover the empty tomb, and hear the angels' message, "He is risen." Lk.24:10 Under John's roof and care, she undoubtedly shared the wondrous joy that greeted the Saviour's resurrection.Jn.20:2. Hers was the special gladness of seeing her other sons, chief among them James, come to faith as the risen Lord appeared to them. 1Cor.15;7. Last of all the 120 members of the infant Church, Mary and her sons joined all the disciples eagerly awaiting the Day of Pentecost Acts 1:13-15. Among the many witnesses of the Gospel, she just may have told out the events she had treasured in her heart directly to Luke while as Paul's companion he visited with James in Jerusalem, and while he attended the Apostle to the Gentiles in Caesarea Acts 21:18-19,24:27; Lk.1:1-4. Of her death, as of the deaths of the Apostles, we have no record in Scripture - and need none. Like all saved sinners who trust in the only Saviour, our Lord's mother served her generation by the will of God; her body fell asleep in Jesus, and her soul departed to be "with Christ" - "which is far better." Only when Christ returns shall the last enemy, death itself, be subdued under His feet.

The era which spawned the notion of "The Immaculate Conception" at the beginning of Mary's life also produced the idea of "The Assumption" of Mary to heaven at its end. For why should a sinless, stainless Mother of God need to die? First attested in 4th century apocryphal gospels (e.g. "The Passing of Mary"), later mediaeval theologians contested the truth of these ideas (Gelasius declared it false, John of Damascus true).By 1740 Pope Benedict XIV pronounced it ' a pious opinion not to be elevated as an article of faith.' By 1950 in his bull MunificentissimusDeus Pope Pius XII did elevate it to another saving essential of 'Catholic' belief "on pain of damnation." Earnest, sincere Roman Catholics, willing to do God service with a zeal not according to knowledge, are thus constantly led away from the Son of God, the only Saviour, the Lord Jesus, to "the Mother" - a virtual female deity and complete counterpoint to Christ in person, office and work.

IN THESE SEVERAL WAYS, as a believer under both Old and New Testament; as the Virgin Mother of the incarnate Son of God; as a central eyewitness to the person and work of the Lord Jesus in the Gospel, Mary the Lord's Mother was uniquely, undoubtedly blessed.

It is tragic that so few of those who so often reflect on her know who she really was, nor have heard nor heeded her most vital message: "Whatsoever CHRIST saith unto you, do it!"

How Much More Blessed Are We: "Yea, Rather"

Can we really be more blessed than the blessed Virgin Mary?

Christians generally tend to succumb to a certain nostalgia and sentiment that it would seem distances (and excuses?) them from expecting to enjoy the fullness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ.

"If only we had lived in the days of the New Testament! If only we had the power to do miracles! If only we had seen the Saviour for ourselves! If only we could have witnessed His mighty works, and heard His mighty words!"

This is altogether wrong: just as wrong-headed as the wishful thoughts of the woman who acclaimed the Saviour's mother. For everything the Scriptures reveal assure us that in fact we now enjoy the highest of all privileges of grace under the New Testament, walking by faith in the Spirit and under the Word of Christ.

Do we envy the greatness of John the Baptist? Hear the Saviour: "Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." Matthew 11:11.

With the open Bible before us, and the Holy Ghost within us, fact is we are as good as there - no need for a costly "Holy Land" tour to "walk where Jesus walked"; no need to ask and guess "What would Jesus do?"

Listen to the disciple He loved, the apostle John:

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; 2(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 3That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full." 1 John 1:1-4 "If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John 1:7 " Whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. 6He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked." 1 John 2:5-6

We are more blessed than Mary, for our blessing is the same as hers in kind. This is what Martin Luther meant when he said, "At Christmas I remember three miracles, each greater than the last - a virgin conceived, God became man, and Mary believed!" The essence of the Virgin's blessedness was that she trusted herself to the Word of God - "Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me even according to thy Word" Lk.1:38. The meaning of her experience lay in pondering that Word - " His mother kept all these sayings in her heart" Lk.2:51. The value of her life lay in obeying and pointing others to that Word -- "whatsoever He saith unto you, do it!" Jn.2:5. And what have we ourselves less?

We are more blessed than Mary, for our blessing is far greater than hers in measure. This is the key to that fascinating, enigmatic promise the Lord Jesus vouchsafed us when He said, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father." John 14:12

We stand in the fullest light of the Gospel --- the bright wonders of the Saviour's person, office, work and purposes blaze before us from the open Bible, as the Comforter, the Holy Spirit sent from the Father and the Son continually leads His people through the ages into all the truth of the faith once delivered to the saints. Well may He say of us, " Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them." Luke 10:23-24

We receive the greatest blessings of the Gospel - for we are childish to clamour for the temporary more than the permanent, the physical more than the spiritual, the extraordinary more than the ordinary.

Glorious it is that God was made manifest in the flesh, that the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth should dwell among us. But to what end did He come? That by the power of the Spirit in the inner man He might indwell the hearts of all His people, and that together they might in Him be made an habitation of God through the Spirit.

Marvellous it is that our Saviour raised the dead, cleansed the lepers, healed the sick, and cast out demons. But to what did all of it point? He tells us: "the poor have the Gospel preached unto them". The apostles "went everywhere preaching the Word, and confirming it with signs following." Why? That the devil's works in our souls be destroyed, that by His stripes we are healed, that our hearts be purified by faith. So now ascended on high, He gives gifts to men as evangelists, pastors and teachers and fulfills the promise: "The Lord gave the Word: great was the company of the preachers" That is why Paul said he had rather speak five words to edify, that gabble in a thousand unknown tongues.

We may witness the greatest glory of the Gospel - for God is pleased to call His people to live, walk and serve in the simplicity of faith. Do we long for the certainty of Thomas in touching the Saviour's wounds? Listen to Christ: "Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." John 20:29 . Listen to Peter, who walked with Him, sat at His feet, confessed Him, denied Him, an eyewitness of the sufferings of Christ and the glory to follow: Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls." 1 Peter 1:5-9

Blessed indeed was the blessed Virgin Mary; well may we thank God for her faith, her hope, her love - like us a saved sinner, like us redeemed by the precious Blood of a faithful glorious Saviour! "Yea, rather" more blessed are we "that hear the Word of God and keep it." Are we hearing it - attentively, intently, diligently, prayerfully? Are we keeping it - with humble faith, and obedient love?

And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.

And Jesus said unto him, "Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise."

Luke 23:33-43.

Brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus, friends and neighbours:

Right now, at this moment, you and I are standing on holy ground. God's people have set this place apart for the worship of His Name and preaching of His Word; but that doesn't make it holy ground. Several eminent servants of Christ and preachers of Bible truth have stood where I now stand; but that doesn't make it holy ground. No superstitious ritual has 'consecrated' this place to make it holy ground.

This is holy ground at this moment because the living and true God, the Triune God and only King of heaven and earth is present, indwelling the hearts and souls of Christ's Blood-bought people by the Holy Ghost. We who are joined as one in Christ are 'an habitation of God by the Spirit'. We all 'have access to God through the Spirit in Jesus Christ.' God is here!

God is about to speak - not by fire nor hurricane nor earthquake, but in a still small voice. Not in thunders from the sky but from the pages of this Book. The Spirit of God is moving to open the Word of God to reveal the Son of God to you now. God is talking!

You need to pay attention; you need to listen closely.

Because from this portion of Holy Scripture you can learn how to die --and how to live.

I have some news to share with you: I myself am going to die; my days are numbered. The doctor is quite sure about it; my will is made, my house is in order. How long have I to last in this world, you ask? Hard to say. Could be today; could be another 35-40 years, no more than 50 on the outside. But it's certain; only the Return of Christ Himself could prevent it.

I'm going to die; so will you. Are you ready? If you aren't ready to die, you aren't fit to live. Time's sands are slipping through your hands wasted otherwise.

To learn how to live and die, I am going to take you to the apex of all time and eternity, to the very crossroads of life and death; to the moral fulcrum of the universe at the junction of heaven and hell.

It doesn't look like much of a place. Just outside the old city of Jerusalem; a barren, sullen hillside strangely shaped with the faint, yet unmistakable traces of a human skull.

Two thousand years ago this was the most God-forsaken spot in all the Holy Land; city or country folk in Judaea couldn't avoid passing by it, for it was the public gallows the despised Romans used to hang the vilest criminals on the cursed tree. People could hardly help venting their spleen on the hateful felons who slowly died there.

In that day, the place was called "Golgotha". But to all the nations and ages since, it has become the centrepoint of human history; the summit of all God's redeeming mercies sweeping far above the watered gardens of Eden, the thundering steppes of Sinai, and raising our eyes to the vistas of Heaven itself. It is the place called "Calvary."

At Calvary Jesus Christ died for our sins according to theScriptures; there the Blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purges the conscience from dead works to serve the living God; there Christ died the just for the unjust to bring us back to God; there He left us an example that we should follow in His steps; there He redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made a curse for us that the blessing of Abraham should come upon all peoples through the Spirit-wrought gift of faith.

Christ has made Calvary; it is remembered because He can never be forgotten; it is hallowed because He is precious; if ever you will find or know Christ, you must seek Him there.

Only the Lord Jesus made Calvary what is was by His atoning death. Only He can reveal what it is to the hungry heart who seeks His mercy there by faith.

Have you been to Calvary? You don't need a passport or an airline ticket to get there. You don't have to walk it by foot - you have to reach it by faith. You need only open the Bible, open your mind to the Bible, and open your heart to the Saviour revealed in the Bible, to stand there and find life there.

On the day Christ died, nobody realized what Calvary meant. To Jerusalem it was the darkest part of the hurried day of preparation for Passover. To the soldiers it was another sordid tour of duty, relieved by the bloodsport of an execution or two. To Pilate, it was an embarrassing legal and political debacle; to the Scribes and Pharisees a coup. To faithful women it was a nameless anguish; to the disciples, a day of terror; to Peter, a day of tears. Only the Saviour Himself fathomed the depths of Calvary, and in His seven last sayings from the cross, He revealed its meaning. We are going to ponder the second of those sayings, here in Luke 23:43 "Today, thou shalt be with Me in Paradise."

It's a macabre scene that day: the world seems topsy-turvy, literally all hell seems to have broken loose for a carnival. The whole spectacle is rich in irony. Here is Christ Jesus, the Lord of glory, crucified in weakness - the Prince of life tasting death-the Innocent Blood shed under the curse of the Law. Here are the crowds who scarce a week before had hailed Him, waving palms, strewing their clothes, crying "Hosanna to the Son of David" - that is, "Save now -- save us now!" They pass by, wagging their heads, jeering, railing, "Save thyself!" Here are the Scribes and Pharisees who the very morning deigned not to enter Pilate's house for fear of defilement, now edging as close as they dare to the unclean grounds of execution. They crow among themselves, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save!" There over His head stands an indictment for all the world to read - in Latin, Greek and Hebrew, "THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS": Pilate's final answer to Pilate's own first question. With a malefactor to the right and left, "the thieves also, which were crucified with Him, cast the same in His teeth." (Mt. 27:44).

But in every aspect of the scene, the truth is spoken in the coarse jest. There on that Cross He is saving others, though not Himself. Pilate's title is a preface to the worldwide spread of the Gospel THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. Set amid felons, the Saviour is

indeed numbered with transgressors to bear the sin of many.

And with this second word from the cross, the Lord Jesus won the firstfruits of His suffering for sinners; even in dying He could begin to see the travail of His soul and be satisfied.

Both thieves had raged in despair; both in painful agony had joined the taunts of the mob; both were dying with the blood of murder and robbery of violence on their hands. Yet as one ran to foul abuse, the other relented. One cursed; the other prayed. One died in unbelief, to raise his eyes in the torments of hell; one died, to open his eyes in gardens of heaven. To him the Saviour said,

What a farewell to time; what a welcome to eternity! That word is not spoken, not written for him alone. It stand written in the Bible for all who like him repent, believe, confess and obey the eternal Son of God. That's how we have sung of it this morning:

This is Christ's own welcome to you!

I. A Welcome Full of Mercy
II. A Welcome Full of Glory
III. A Welcome Full of Hope
IV. A Welcome Full of Love.

I. A Welcome Full of Mercy: "I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise"

Who receives this welcome? A thief; a brigand; a murderer; a sinner! Yes, he is welcomed, but not in his raging abuse; not in his brazen swagger! See what manner of man this is:

Here is a heart touched by sovereign, saving mercy. It is mercy, sovereign mercy makes him to differ from his fellow. Both reviled from the first, but God melted the heart of one, even as He hardened the other. Both could witness the calm majesty in which the Lamb of

God bore His strokes. Both heard Him pray, "Father, forgive!" They could hear in the jeers of the crowd His claim to be Saviour; they could read on the title His claim to be God.

Yet one spends himself in brutal sarcasm tempting the Saviour to abandon His work and manipulate his own release; the other, against all appearances, embraces His claims and surrenders to His control.Within an hour the Spirit of God has brought grace to bloom in this dying man's heart. This is saving, sovereign mercy.

Here is a heart broken, contrite with true repentance.

How the fear of the living God, the Judge of all, comes home upon his heart. "Dost not thou fear God?" he demands of his companion, knowing how shortly he must stand at the bar of eternity and answer for his life. "Thou art in the same condemnation, and we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds". No excuses, not extenuation - only a free, honest confession and self-condemnation.

Here is a heart quickened with saving, living faith.

How few his words, yet how much he says! "This Man hath done nothing amiss." He acknowledges in full humanity the sinless Man of Sorrows. He endorses all His life's words and deeds without fault or blemish; he adds his own witness to Pilate's verdict.

"This Man hath done nothing amiss" - in healing, teaching, doing good, receiving sinners ; "nothing amiss" - in cleansing the Temple and calling God His Father; in declaring Himself the Son of God, equal with God - "nothing amiss."The thief beholds and believes the title upon the Cross; he reads it rightly - for Jesus is JEHOVAH the King of the Jews, and he prays to Jesus, "Lord, remember me!" He thus declares Him the Man who is God's Fellow, the firstborn Son who is Jehovah pierced.

In the fear of God, repentance of sin, and faith in the Saviour, the thief humbly asks for Christ's mercy and pity. "Remember me" but once he cries, "when" - not "if" ! All else reject Him, scorn Him - but this thief breaks with the whole mob to plead for a place with the King in His kingdom.

Mercy, sovereign, saving mercy alone turned that thief from darkness to light, from ignorance and unbelief to knowledge and trust. The Lord Jesus turned in His joy to look upon that man even though the turning costs Him pain; He welcomes him even as He bleeds. What mercy!

If there is mercy to such a man who has nothing to offer, nothing to pay, no works of penance before or after his prayer; to such a man without sacrament or priestly absolution - O what mercy abounds to all, to any, to you in turning from your sins and trusting in Jesus Christ alone. For now He is exalted to God's right hand as a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance and remission of sins; now He is able to save to the uttermost all who come to God by Him, ever living to intercede for them.

II. A Welcome Full of Glory: "Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise."

Just where do think this sorry scrap of a sinner is going? Why, to Paradise!

"Paradise" is Heaven - the "third heaven" of 2 Corinthians 12, the "bosom of Abraham" in Luke 16, the "Paradise of God" in Revelation 2. The Saviour opens up to this dying believer free access to the 'Holiest of all' by His own Blood through the rent veil of His own flesh.

John, the beloved disciple is standing by that cross just now; he hears that word "Paradise" as a mere youth. At the end of his days in old age, as the last of all the Apostles, John sees it for himself and records what he sees in the visions of the Revelation:

Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple: and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. (7:15-17)

He shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it: and His servants shall serve Him: and they shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there. (22:1-5)

There amid the trees of life along the banks of the river of life, there as an honoured guest this thief would walk in the cool of the day before the King of kings, as none had walked with God since Adam and Eve in Eden.

What a day had that man! Early in the morning, a hardened, hopeless criminal, condemned at Pilate's seat; sent out of the gates of Jerusalem on earth to die in shame. By sunset that evening, a pardoned, cleansed, glorified saint, acquitted before the throne of God, entering the Ne w Jerusalem above, to live forevermore. What a day! What a glory in that welcome -- "with Me in Paradise!"

III. A Welcome Full of Hope: "Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise" - today!

The poor wretch, you know, didn't cherish much hope as he prayed: he looked for a faint, distant prospect of resurrection to come: "Remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom." The faithful Saviour Jesus promises him so much more - so much more! Then and there, in dying, He promises certain glory: "Verily, verily" says He. His solemn royal seal, His personal signature in autograph is in that "Verily." And He promises immediate glory: then and there at death; thereafter at His coming. All in that one word "today".

So the Lord Jesus graciously opens heaven to every true believer. Stephen in dying cries, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" (Acts 7:59-60). Christ tells us when

Lazarus the beggar died, "angels carried him into Abraham's bosom" in Paradise. (Luke 16). Paul the Apostle declares of the Christian , "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord" (2 Cor. 5). The glory of being with Christ in Paradise is direct, immediate and conscious at death. It comes "today"! No senseless sleep of the soul! No endless stretch of purifying pains in purgatory! No pitiful rows of burning candles, no tedious telling of rosaries, no wretched blackmail of indulgences! No, no, no! "Today!" "Today!" "TODAY!"

Do you admire the Gothic grandeur of St. Michael's Cathedral downtown? It holds no charm for me; every brick has been laid, every stone trimmed upon the payment of monies for requiem Masses to work off time in purgatory! This house was built from love - love for Christ, love for the Gospel, love for souls built this place - that house was built from fear!

My father's mother died in the faith of the Churches of the East. The same sort of faith that lights candles for the dead and expects no more than the lighter pains of purgatory. My grandmother died in fear!

My father's wife embraced the faith of the Bible, the faith of Jesus Christ, in full assurance of pardon and peace, in her later years. I myself baptized her as a

believer. When she lay in a cardiac unit bed, she took hold of my nieces' hands and said, "Now girls, don't be afraid; Gramma's not afraid to die. Gramma believes in Jesus, and she'll be in Heaven soon!" My mother died in faith!

In the early morning hours many weeks later, my Prince and Saviour Jesus kept His promise to her: "Today - today - shalt thou be with Me in Paradise!" And as sure as I am looking into your faces now, this Book assures me she is looking into the eyes of God our Saviour Jesus Christ, face to face!

Today, my friend, today!

IV. A Welcome Full of Love: "Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise"

In that hour, the Lord Jesus rejoiced to receive this poor sinner, to see even as He was lifted up from the earth, that men would be drawn to Him. Here first was answered to High Priestly Prayer to the only Holy Father: "Father, I will that these which Thou hast given me be with Me where I am". His heaven is that we are with Him; our heaven is that He is with us.

"With Christ, which is far better" - that's heaven for us, says Paul. "Where I am, there ye may be also" - that's Heaven for Him, says Christ.

"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise."

What about you? Come, welcome to JESUS CHRIST!

He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend. Proverbs 22:11

We've all seen them, I'm sure --- whether at Coles, Chapters, or Indigo bookstores. The yellow and black markings give them away. They have an appeal all their own. You know - "Computers for Dummies" "History for Dummies", "Mortgage Financing for Dummies", "Divorce for Dummies."

Ever seen the title "Life for Dummies"? Ever wished you could have gotten a training session, or a briefing, on the painful experiences of life all of us seem to pass through? Ever feel doomed to 'mess up' along the way?

Well, we cannot escape some measure of those growing pains - God can and does over-rule them to our final good. This He promises in His Word. But we need to be teachable, flexible, malleable as clay in the hands of the Potter as we go spinning through the whirr of time. Even when we feel we are going in circles, like that clay upon the Potter's wheel, we need to realize it's not the distance or speed we attain, but the shape of our own character which He is concerned with. The seeming marrings of experience can impart to us the very graces that He will best use to mend us.

And, yes, there is a book to which we may turn instead of "Life for Dummies." It is this very book : the book of Proverbs. It starts, like many best-sellers, with an inspired 'blurb' ! Listen -

The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; 2To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; 3To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity; 4To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion. 5A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: 6To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings. 7The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 1:1-7

The Proverbs was in some ways a handbook for young courtiers - a life-skills primer for the nobility of Israel. The Spirit of God designed it further for all the holy nation and royal priesthood that Jehovah brought out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. For this is the point of God's Word, even as He told Moses -

Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. 6Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. Deut. 4:5-6

And, ultimately, the Holy Ghost has written all Scripture for our learning, not least ours who are to be commissioned and ordained to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ -

And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. 2 Tim. 3:15-17

The short text before us is one of over 500 epigrams, riddles, discourses and sayings, largely spoken or collected by King Solomon, and finally edited, the book itself tells us by inspired scribes in the time of King Hezekiah (25:1). We must believe they are the cream of his prolific mind - the choicest of the 3,000 the Bible tells us he spoke, just as the Canticles are the 'top single' of his output of 305 songs - yes, "the song of songs, which is Solomon's" (1Kg 4:32; Ct 1:1)

And this text brings us to the very gist of the whole discipline and training to which the readers of Proverbs, be they prince, preacher or people are invited.

He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend. Proverbs 22:11

Consider briefly with me, if you would, the King's friend:

I. The Pre-requisite he needs: "He that loveth pureness of heart."
II. The Proof he gives: "for the grace of his lips"
III. The Privilege he enjoys: "the King shall be his friend"

I. The Pre-requisites of the King's Friend: "He that loveth pureness of heart"

Competence and character are inseparable - they are heads and tails of the same coin in our personalities. We short-change ourselves in business, in education, and in politics as much as in Church office when we discount grace for gift. We cannot be faithful in much if we are faithful in little. God's praise for David, as His servant, as a man 'after His own heart' was this -

He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds: 71From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. 72So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands. Psalm 78:70-72

God, who alone knows and tries the heart, constantly points us in His Word to our hearts - our innermost thought, affection and desire. He calls on us to find through the atoning Blood of His dear Son and the indwelling power of His Holy Spirit "a broken and contrite heart", "a clean heart", "a true heart". The most terrible indictment he lays upon our shams is this: "Thy heart is not right in the sight of God." This very book of Proverbs brings us this counsel at the outset -

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. 24Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. 25Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. 26Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. 27Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil. Proverbs 4:23-27 The heart governs all else. If the heart is not right, nothing else can be right. So what our texts calls from us is to love "pureness of heart" -- or " a pure heart." This means we are entirely committed to God's call and covenant. As children of Abraham by faith in Christ Jesus we too hear this summons: "I am the Almighty God: walk before me, and be thou perfect." (Gn.17:1) This means we are single-minded in our desire to please Him: "Teach me Thy way, O LORD: I will walk in Thy truth: unite my heart to fear Thy name" (Ps.86:11). This means we have but one supreme allegiance. Here's how Paul applies it to daily work -

Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God: 23And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; 24Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. Col. 3:22-24

The gift of the Holy Spirit is ours to "purify our hearts" by faith in the Lord Jesus (Acts 15:8-9,11) And it is to this pre-requisite each of us must attend -

Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? 4He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. 5He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah. Psalm 24:3-6

II. The Proof of the King's Friend: "for the grace of his lips"

The Bible makes altogether clear that our off-hand, casual talk reveals most plainly the disposition of our hearts. The Saviour spelled this out -

Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. 34O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 35A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. 36But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. 37For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. Matthew 12:33-37

Now we all love to talk; we preachers talk a lot. Altogether, the fact is we probably all talk too much for our own or anyone else's good. How happier might we be, and how holier, if we only spoke when needed, and spoke what was worth hearing, and recording! Solomon's bittersweet reflections near life's end, the book of Ecclesiastes, attest this --

Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. Eccles. 5:2

And here is the Apostle James, half-brother to our Saviour -

My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. James 3:1-2

A wholesome tongue manifests a Spirit-filled, Christ-indwelt heart. You would do well to make a study of this theme in the Proverbs, if not in all the Bible. Consider carefully the topics, the substance, the effect of "sound speech, that cannot be condemned" - and, by contrast, of "foolish and vain talking."

I suppose I have already told you at some time or another, how I have regularly tried to read through this book of Proverbs every month - a chapter a day. One way to lend variety and concentrate the mind upon it is to trace a theme or two with each daily reading. It will do you good to try that method with this theme in mind - "the tongue."

Of our Saviour Jesus it is written:

All bare Him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. Never spake man like this Man Luke 4:22; John 7:46

A Christ-like soul speaks like Christ. Have you ever reflected how much of the book of James echoes and enlarges upon the very words of the Saviour, especially in the Sermon on the Mount? James, our Lord's half-brother, heard Him speak, and his own inspired counsels show the effect of fellowship with Christ in a good man's mouth.

III. The Privileges of the King's Friend: "the King shall be his friend"

This present world thrives upon networking, connection, 'pull'. My niece as she advances in her business studies is not only learning the mathematical mysteries of accounting , and the enigmas of economics - she is regularly sent off in her co-operative programme to actual business firms. And there she has to observe and experiment with the art and science of "schmooze." She must learn how to get along with, and stand up to, her manager. She must learn how to carry and when to drop, the gold-bricks among her fellow-students. She watches how in a company the staff all vie for the high positions and big desks, and the eye and ear of top brass.

There are times you may find the ethic and ethos of corporate culture seeping into Church fellowship. A great Dutch preacher and theologian, named Hermann Bavinck, watched his beloved friend and colleague in the ministry, Abraham Kuyper, enter and exit public life in the Netherlands. For a year or two Dr. Kuyper actually served as the Prime Minister of the Netherlands. Reflecting on his friend's ups and downs, Bavinck remarked: "Politics in the state sometimes has a sordid side; politics in the church always has a sordid side."

Our Prince and Saviour Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world." To His disciples and apostles He said this, the very night He was betrayed and gave Himself up to die for us -

The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. 26But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. 27For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth. 28Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations. 29And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; 30That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Luke 22:25-30

Self-forgetting, self-denying, self-sacrificing love is the livery of Christ's service - our badge and buttons as His good soldiers, our cap and gown as scholars in His school . And we need not jostle, compete and vie for His notice or favour - to us all He freely, fully gives Himself. Listen -

This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. 15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends ; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. 16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whosoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. 17 These things I command you, that ye love one another. John 15:12-17

What is it to be the King's Friend? What has His royal bounty bestowed upon us? what shall we enjoy as we love a pure heart, and show gracious lips?

We shall share in His triumph. We suffer with him, that we may reign with Him; we bear His reproach to share His reward. We bear His cross to wear His crown; we overcome as He overcame; we serve and follow Him, that where He is there shall we His servants be also.

We shall share in His honour: just as Xerxes robed Mordecai in his vestments and mounted him on his steed, and cause his enemy Haman to parade him in the streets of Shushan - so we shall appear with Him in His glory, so we shall sit with Him in His throne, and share His kingdom fully come.

Above all, we share His loving company:"Where I am, there shall ye be also." Our Lord Jesus says to us, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." 'When He shall appear, we shall be like Him: for we shall see Him as He is."