The Pastor’s Pen

Lincoln writes to encourage and build up God’s people with God’s Word.

The God Who Smiles

By / The Pastor's Pen / 3 minutes of reading

Although we may not think of it often, if at all, God experiences pleasure just as He does all other emotions. Although God is spirit, He never-the-less smiles through His Son Jesus Christ. Jehovah experiences pleasure, and we, along with all creation, have our existence in the purpose of His glorious pleasure.

The world likes to present God in the extremes of either consuming wrath, or jelly-like emotion. Yet, Scripture consistently presents God as glorious in His holiness, His grace, His purpose, His justice, and His salvation offered to rebellious humanity. Therefore, it is right that the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love (Psalm 147:11). When humanity bows in awe of Yahweh as being the God He reveals Himself to be, God is glorified and glad.

The writer of Hebrews reminds us of Enoch, whose faith in God had observable effects. Hebrews 11:5-6, by faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. Apart from Enoch’s unique rapture-like transfer to heaven, he is remembered as a man of God pleasing faith. So it is for us, authentic, real life faith that seeks after God brings God great pleasure.

In the flurry of life, we can easily forget the passionate heart of God who predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will (Ephesians 1:5 NIV). At the time of spiritual rebirth, you became an expression of the Almighty’s wilful pleasure. The unbreakable relationship which Christ established on your behalf, was sealed, and guaranteed by the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13). The actioning of your obedient faith in Christ is how God works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). Not only do you experience pleasure from your faithful obedience, but God experiences pleasure from it also. Paul repeats the theme in Ephesians chapter 1 three times, that the working out of God’s gracious will in our lives for His pleasure, results in us being the praise of his glory (Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14). In Christ, redeemed sinners achieve that which was previously impossible, to glorify God.

I don’t think there is any human privilege greater than God considering us His friend. James 2:23 tells us that  Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness – and he was called a friend of God. It was not Abrahams religious works, but his belief in God, although faltering, that initiated God’s transfer of righteousness to him.

Once Abraham had graciously received that which he could not manufacture himself, which was righteousness, God considered him to be a friend. Romans 14:18 assures us that whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God. God testifies of Himself, that I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty (2 Corinthians 6:18). Believers are loved, valued, and secured in Christ for God’s glorifying pleasure.

When embattled in life’s struggles, it is assuring to remind ourselves from God’s Word, that in Christ we bring a smile to God. Through the dark times, God’s presence secures us and affirms the pleasure He experiences from our steadfast belief in Him.

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Incomparable God of gods – Part 3

By / The Pastor's Pen / 3 minutes of reading

Humans exist in one place and time. No matter how fast we move, once stopped, we remain fixed in that specific location. But not so with God. His powerfully intelligent presence simultaneously exists everywhere within and outside of time. John 4:24 tells us, God is spirit, therefore He does not suffer the limiting spatial restraints like us. Understanding this enabled David to say; where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me (Psalm 139:7-10). There is no escaping the presence and attention of Almighty God.

God is present in life, in death, in time, in history, in eternity, and in every place in every sphere, Yahweh is the guardian of forever. He is equally and fully present in the constant NOW of His perpetual existence (Jn 5:26). Therefore, at the completion of creation, God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good (Genesis 1:31). Being both omnipresent and omniscient, God saw every facet of all created things simultaneously, and was able to make the assessment, it is all very good. 

God, through His Son Jesus Christ, says I am the Alpha and the Omega, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty (Revelation 1:8). God governs all history simultaneously, looking at and reaching into time at any point as if it were the present, by our way of thinking. Solomon exclaimed, the highest heaven cannot contain you (1 Kings 8:27), to which Isaiah 66:1 adds, thus says the LORD: Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.

With no hiding place, it is impossible to escape God. There is no place of absolute silence where He does not hear your words or perceive your thoughts. David acknowledged that even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me (Psalm 23:4). No circumstances exist where He is not present and fully aware of you. There is no time when God is not actively engaged with His children. Our inability to perceive His presence does not change the fact of Him being present. Acknowledging God’s presence gives assurance and comfort. He is our hope, He is our help, and He is our certainty.

Yahweh is all present, all seeing, all hearing, all knowing, all powerful, and intimately aware of you and me. Yet His best is that He is HOLY, He is LOVING, and He is a SAVIOUR by natural. Within His dominant authority, He is patient toward you (and I), not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance (2 Peter 3:9). God’s determined love sent His Son Jesus to be our substitute on the cross of Calvary. Taking our death penalty so that all who receive him, who believe in his name, he gives the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:12-13).

Jesus calls us to belief in Him, to repentance of our sin, to submission under His Lordship, and to a life of sanctification. This is the God of the Bible, the INCOMPARABLE God of gods!

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Incomparable God of gods – Part 2

By / The Pastor's Pen / 3 minutes of reading

A peculiar contradiction often exists within the human mind. On one hand, one may acknowledge the reality of God, along with some of His spectacular attributes. Yet, on the other hand, that same person will only permit a limited number of God’s truths to influence their beliefs and behaviours. This can happen when an individual retains the self-appointed right to determine which parts of God are worthy of application and which are not, with personal preference winning the seat of authority. This is the inner war James speaks of; what causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? (James 4:1). Sin will always tell you that self should win. While God will always tell you that He must win (Rom 12:1-2). While this battle plays out, remember, God knows everything about you. 

Put simply, there is nothing that God does not know. All subjects that failed to enter the world’s most genius minds, God already knows fully. Every visible and invisible reality, every thought and intension of all mankind, and every attitude of all angelic beings, God knows them all thoroughly. God does not simply know about things; He instinctively and comprehensively understands the entire spectrum of details concerning all things without a learning process. All things in all realms, both tangible and spiritual, Yahweh has always had a comprehensive knowledge of them before they even existed. Nothing escapes His attention, and nothing catches Him by surprize.

Therefore, Job could ask, will any teach God knowledge? (Job 21:22). Obviously, NO. Elihu affirmed, God is mighty in strength of understanding and perfect in knowledge (Job 36:5, 16). When thinking of a person’s heart, or their thoughts, the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). No-one fools God. God is not constrained by mortal limitations, but accurately perceives the conscious and unconscious inner-most thoughts and motives of every person. Psalm 139:1-4 describes God’s knowledge of us. O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.

Isaiah 40:14 rhetorically asks concerning God; whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? Again, the answer is NO-ONE! No creature is able to add to God’s knowledge. God cannot be corrected, He is never lacking, or in error. John sums it up perfectly, God, he knows everything (1 John 3:20).

God knows us best, yet He loves us most. This is inexplicable GRACE. While our self-deceiving sin is repulsive to Yahweh, and He demands justice for it (Rom 6:23), it is His mercy that provides reconciliation through His Son Jesus Christ. You, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith… (Colossians 1:21-23). Christ desires to bring to obedience – by word and deed (Romans 15:18) every person who puts faith in Him. May our realisation that God knows us thoroughly, inspire obedient faith, and not selective faith.

To be continued…

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Incomparable God of gods – Part 1

By / The Pastor's Pen / 3 minutes of reading

Any exploration of creation and Scripture soon reveals that Yahweh is stunningly unique. Samuel proclaimed, you are great, O LORD Yahweh. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you… (2 Samuel 7:22). Jehovah stands apart from all others. Every aspect of His existence and character are unequalled in perfection and majestic holiness. There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours declared David (Psalm 86:8). 
Incredibly, Scripture reveals God as 3 in 1. That is, the one God equally exists and manifests Himself as three separate yet like-charactered persons. Deuteronomy 6:4 tells us that the LORD is one. This one God spoke everything into existence and there is no other besides Him (Deuteronomy 4:35). Yet in Genesis 1:26, speaking about the creation of mankind, God said, “let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” When God speaks of Himself in the plural, He is telling us that He is not only one, but He is also more than one. God exists in three persons who are coequal, coeternal, and altogether self-existent. All three are inseparable and unified in all things. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit exist is perfect unison (Matthew 3:16-17).

Following Peter and John’s release from prison in Acts 4, they returned to their friends. Together they lifted their voices to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them…” (Acts 4:24). Later, they said that what appeared to have worked against Jesus, was really God at work. Jesus’ enemies: Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, were doing …whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place (Acts 4:27-28). God is the absolute ruler who created and reigns independently and supreme over all. Deuteronomy 10:14 informs us that, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. Therefore, nothing happens on planet earth outside of God’s control and timing. God alone governs all, beyond challenge in His absolute authority and power. John declared that Jesus is the ruler of kings on earth (Revelation 1:5) even though earth’s kings think they act independent of God.

God is indomitable! His sovereignty towers above human intellect, above human reasoning, and above human strength and will. Technology seems impressive from our standpoint, yet the most advanced technology pales in comparison to God’s sovereignty. God defines Himself in Isaiah 46:9-10; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose. God is dominant, self-governing, and without external influence. He never weakens, never strengthens, never tires, never sleeps, and never feels challenged or threatened.

Being Yahweh means He is unchangeable …who can turn him back? What he desires, that he does (Job 23:13). In the believer’s life, it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). The Lord invisibly works within His children, accomplishing His purposes, while His children may not even perceive His workings but consider it to be their own volitional actions. God’s children can rest secure in the knowledge that Yahweh is incomparable yet makes Himself known to us through His Son Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:2).

To be continued…

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God is Awesomely Holy

By / The Pastor's Pen / 3 minutes of reading

From Genesis to Revelation, Scripture boldly proclaims that  GOD IS HOLY. The Old Testament word “holy” means separation, or apart from. God’s nature separates Him from all His creation. No being is the same as God, or even similar to God. Not even mankind, who God created… in his own image… male and female… are like God (Genesis 1:27). Only humans are imprinted with the image of God, yet God remains set apart and different from mankind.

God does NOT have the capacity to sin. God is set apart from all levels of evil, sinless in purity and beauty. Holiness distinguishes God from everything and everyone. Holiness defines and permeates every facet of Yahweh’s character and actions. No-one gave God holiness, and no-one contributes to or enriches His holiness. God lacks the capacity for even the most microscopic degree of unholiness. He is simply NOT capable of anything less than ultimate perfection and purity. God is the standard of holiness, and everyone is measured according to God’s standard.

The all-consuming theme of God’s holiness echoes through heaven. Around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures… day and night they never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come! (Revelation 4:6-8). These mighty creatures are not calling out about God’s love, or any other wonderful quality, but ONLY His holiness. Habakkuk 1:13 testifies that God, you are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong. All degrees of sin are repugnant to God, causing Him to look away. Sin is humanity’s violation of God’s holy image and offensive to the Lord. Holiness shapes and directs every divine attribute and action of the Almighty. Holiness is the foundation and the summation of all that IS God. Holiness encapsulates every facet of His nature and indelibly imprints itself into everything that IS God. It is impossible to be exposed to any facet of God without being exposed to His holiness.

In Exodus 15:11, the song of Moses reveals that God’s holiness is majestic. Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?  While manmade idols are oppressive, demanding, and unforgiving, God towers above them all with His holiness being self-evident in majesty. His holiness is awe inspiring as it radiates through His spectacular works. When we consider the wonders of what God does, we are magnetically drawn to worship Him. In Exodus 15:11, the word “awesome” means to fear, to revere, to be afraid. As Moses thought about all that he knew and had experienced of God, he realised God’s enormity and difference. Moses  was compelled to acknowledge that he was puny, weak, and impure compared to God.

Understanding a little of God’s holiness helps us understand the ugly violation that our sin is against God. The believer’s desire for holiness is a practical desire. Jesus prayed; I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one (John 17:15). We are to remain living amongst the world but separated from the sinful beliefs and behaviour of the world. Holiness is NOT a call for isolation but a call to purity in a hostile environment.

Let us invite God’s holiness to impact us, and to change us as an act of worship (Rom 12:1-2). Beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God  (2 Corinthians 7:1).

To be continued…

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