In The Hands of the Refiner

Practical Faith in God

My childhood autumns in Florida hold precious memories — believe it or not, taking out warmer clothing, hot cocoa, harvest moons, cool crisp air, bon fires, a well-stocked pantry, and best of all—FOOTBALL! I love it.

The autumn of life is a strange mixture of nostalgia, blessings, and potential. It yields the harvest of seeds we’ve sown throughout life and braces us for colder days to come. When life’s autumn arrives, we look back and better understand the way God led us; but we still have work to do—the best and fullest. It’s a good transition time.

“Autumn” occurs only once in the Bible. In Jude 1:12, where false teachers are compared to “trees in autumn that are doubly dead, for they bear no fruit and have been pulled up by the roots,”  implying that the true teaching of God’s Word must be fruitful, and autumn should be a fruitful season, the most abundant of the year. How can we take advantage of our autumn?

The seasons come and go, and our focus is to be on the God who remains unchanged and unchanging. “LORD, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” (Psalm 90:1-2)

There’s a lot of unwelcome change in our world. Moral and societal changes brother us most when we turn on our television, the internet, or look at the newspapers. We’re painfully aware that our kids are growing up in a world far different from the one we knew as children.

I remember living in Arizona, especially the valley of the sun – Phoenix; the surround vistas are awe-inspiring.  The plants are so green, the cactus thrives, and you can see for miles (when there is no pollution alert).  The time of year I’m remembering is autumn, if you want to call it that, the air can be crisp and cold.  The evening dew bursts forth and slaps your face with the fresh scent of the moist ground.  Then, before you know it, the green desert starts to turn yellow, and withers to brown when the first 100-degree day hits. Everything, including humans look for shade and relief from the heat of the sun.

When things get hot for us, when things start to wither around us and turn bad where do we go for relief?  What is one to do?

We are to turn to God and trust in Him. Why is that?  The reason is that even if we have family, friends, or co-workers to share our problems with, we still must rely totally on God. Everything we experience, we experience on our own. If you think about it closely, at the end of the day, we don’t have family, we don’t have friends, and all we have is God. It is you and God. Faith in God gets us through to Him Who gets through to us. God gives us what no one else can possibly give us, and that is strength and hope.

Is there a lesson here? Yes. Here is the lesson: who we have a relationship with, what we have or don’t have, has no bearing on our faith in God or in our relationship with Him.

Life can beat us down hard, and we have to deal with it the best way we can. It will either make us stronger by faith in God and trusting in Him to care for us, or it will take us down into the pits of despair because we allow it to dominate and control us. Sometimes we try to be noble, or stoic, and think we can handle everything on our own.  We all have to deal with life in our own way, behind our own eyes, from which no one else can see or experience.  Growing strong out of these lessons is the only way to go. There is no other way to go, except down into the depths of weakness and self indulgence.  Faith in God will keep us out of the grim depths of despair.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

The Bible teaches that in all things we are to give thanks.  We are to thank God for the bad situations that happen to us, and not just the blessings He bestows upon us. In prayer, however, we are to thank God for being there with us through it all.  I’ve learned something deeper about faith and being grateful to God.

It is that God gives us the strength and hope to carry on.  We are to thank God for Who He Is and all of what He has done for us, mostly for sending His Son Jesus Christ to be our Savior! I believe God allows tragedies, death, disasters, illness or calamity in our lives. He allows it and He is there when it happens and is there when it is over, and is there when we are healing from it. He is our source of strength, courage, healing and vitality.

Andre Crouch wrote a famous and moving song about trusting God, It goes like this, “Through it all, through it all…I’ve learned to trust in Jesus, I’ve learned to trust in God. Through it all, through it all…I’ve learned to depend upon His Word.”

Through it all, He gives us faith, hope, and love. Through it all, He bestows upon us His mercy, His compassion, and His grace.  Through it all, He gives us forgiveness of sins, life and salvation – His salvation. Though it all may be a mystery, He saves us, nonetheless.

May God bless your September!

Pastor Gary +

Or “What Does It Mean to Crucify Christ Again?”

Martin Luther called Hebrews 6:4-6 a “hard knot” in the Bible, because it seems to deny repentance to those who sin grievously after joining the church. In the third century, a schism formed because an elder in Rome, Novatus, denied restoration to lapsed Christians on the basis of these verses. Many Christians who read this passage are struck with fear, wondering, “Does this apply to me, since I have backslidden in my walk with the Lord?” The text reads:

For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.

Note that the reason given for being unable to repent is specified in the second half of verse 6: they crucify again the Son of God and hold him up to contempt. What could this possibly refer to? Many years ago, St. John Chrysostom (a powerful preacher in Constantinople who died in the fifth century) suggested that it referred to being baptized a second time. Other students of the Scripture have followed Chrysostom, and although his view seems less common today, I believe it carries significant weight. Here are three reasons—contextual, exegetical, and theological—that  “crucifying once again the Son of God” is a reference to attempting to be “baptized” again after committing apostasy.*

Contextual Evidence

Hebrews was written to a church that had members who were considering leaving the faith behind. They had taken the “new members’” class, been baptized, participated in the life of the church, but the pressures of persecution were making some in their number reconsider the Christian faith. Throughout the book of Hebrews, the author encourages these believers not to let go of their confession (3:1; 4:14; 10:23). The word “confession” used here indicates a public act of allegiance (cf. 1 Tim. 6:12); and it’s hard to imagine a more fitting reference than baptism. Throughout this letter, the Hebrews are encouraged to cling to their baptismal hope which centers on Christ. Furthermore, there very well may be a reference to baptism in 6:4 where the author speaks of being “once enlightened.” At least from the 2ndcentury onward, “enlightened” was used as a technical term for being baptized. If we couple that idea together with an allusion to the Lord’s Supper immediately following (tasting of the heavenly gift), it isn’t difficult to see that baptism is in the foreground of this book, and especially chapter 6.

Exegetical Evidence

In verse 6, crucifying the Son of God again is parallel to holding him up to contempt. The word used by the pastor here is rare in the New Testament, in fact, this is its only occurrence! It means to disgrace someone in a public manner. The people described in Hebrews 6:4-6 experienced in a powerful way the ministry of God’s word and Spirit (they were baptized church goers who had an intimate knowledge of the Bible). If they were to abandon it all, and then sign up again for the new members’ class and seek to be baptized a second time, that would be a public disgracing of Christ, as if his initial promise in baptism was insufficient. A person is either born again or they aren’t, but you cannot be born again – again. Continually hardening yourself to the gospel after years and years and then ultimately rejecting it (as some in the Hebrew church were dangerously close to doing) leaves one in a graceless situation (cf. Gal. 5:4). Indeed, later this pastor will say that if we reject Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice, there’s no other sacrifice left for us that can atone for sins (Heb. 10:26).

Theological Evidence

When we understand what baptism is, theologically speaking, it becomes obvious that Hebrews 6:6 alludes to attempting to be baptized twice. In Romans 6:3-6, Paul taught this about baptism:

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

In baptism, we enter into Christ’s death and resurrection by faith. We are crucified with him. We can only be once enlightened because Jesus died once for the sins of the world (Heb. 7:27; 10:10). Perhaps now this pastor’s warning is a bit clearer; he’s saying to the Hebrew church: Let’s not start over from scratch again (Heb. 6:1-3); we’ve already been once enlightened; we’ve tasted the heavenly gift, the good word of God, the powers of heaven! If you throw it all away and trust in something else besides Jesus to save you, you can’t come back and get baptized again. Christ can’t be crucified twice!

Of course, at this point you might be thinking, “Yikes, I’ve been baptized several times!” The truth is, there’s only one baptism, and the act of baptism, without faith, cannot save you. The pastor in Hebrews is calling his audience to lay hold of the grace of God given to them in baptism, and you must do the same. The good news is, he trusts that his hearers will (note the encouragement in 6:9-12). Hebrews 6:4-6 doesn’t teach that if we deny Jesus, or commit a heinous sin, we can never repent again (remember King David the murderous adulterer, or Peter the denier). As long as there’s breath in your lungs, today is the day of salvation. Don’t harden your heart to God’s grace though, and don’t think that going and getting baptized for the seventh time will grant it to you. By faith, lay hold of the promise that has already been set before you and hold fast to it each and every day. And here’s the promise: if you trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, you have eternal life. Let’s have a full assurance of hope in that promise until the end of our days (Heb. 6:11).

By Adriel Sanchez, taken from his article on http://www.corechristianity.com

*Notes from St. John Chrysostom’s Homily on Hebrews 6:

“But what is “the doctrine of baptisms”? Not as if there were many baptisms, but one only. Why then did he express it in the plural? Because he had said, “not laying again a foundation of repentance.” For if he again baptized them and catechised them afresh, and having been baptized at the beginning they were again taught what things ought to be done and what ought not, they would remain perpetually incorrigible.

It is not open to them to say, If we live slothfully we will be baptized again, we will be catechised again, we will again receive the Spirit; even if now we fall from the faith, we shall be able again by being baptized, to wash away our sins, and to attain to the same state as before. Ye are deceived (he says) in supposing these things.

“Crucifying to themselves,” he says, “the Son of God afresh, and putting Him to an open shame.” What he means is this. Baptism is a Cross, and “our old man was crucified with [Him]” (Rom. vi. 6), for we were “made conformable to the likeness of His death” (Rom. vi. 5; Phil. iii. 10), and again, “we were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death.” (Rom. vi. 4.) Wherefore, as it is not possible that Christ should be crucified a second time, for that is to “put Him to an open shame.” For “if death shall no more have dominion over Him” (Rom. vi. 9), if He rose again, by His resurrection becoming superior to death; if by death He wrestled with and overcame death, and then is crucified again, all those things become a fable and a mockery. He then that baptizeth a second time, crucifies Him again. But what is “crucifying afresh”? [It is] crucifying over again. For as Christ died on the cross, so do we in baptism, not as to the flesh, but as to sin. Behold two deaths. He died as to the flesh; in our case the old man was buried, and the new man arose, made conformable to the likeness of His death. If therefore it is necessary to be baptized [again], it is necessary that this same [Christ] should die again. For baptism is nothing else than the putting to death of the baptized, and his rising again.

And he well said, “crucifying afresh unto themselves.” For he that does this, as having forgotten the former grace, and ordering his own life carelessly, acts in all respects as if there were another baptism. It behooves us therefore to take heed and to make
ourselves safe.

What is, “having tasted of the heavenly gift”? it is, “of the remission of sins”: for this is of God alone to bestow, and the grace is a grace once for all. “What then? shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Far from it!” (Rom. vi, 1, 2.) But if we should be always
going to be saved by grace we shall never be good. For where there is but one grace, and we are yet so indolent, should we then cease sinning if we knew that it is possible again to have our sins washed away? For my part I think not. He here shows that the gifts are many: and to explain it, Ye were counted worthy (he says) of so great forgiveness; for he that was sitting in darkness, he that was at enmity, he that was at open war, that was alienated, that was hated of God, that was lost, he having been suddenly enlightened, counted worthy of the Spirit, of the heavenly gift, of adoption as a son, of the kingdom of heaven, of those other good things, the unspeakable mysteries; and who does not even thus become better, but while indeed worthy of perdition, obtained salvation and honor, as if he had successfully accomplished great things; how could he be again baptized?

What then (you say)? Is there no repentance? There is repentance, but there is no second baptism: but repentance there is, and it has great force, and is able to set free from the burden of his sins, if he will, even him that hath been baptized much in sins, and to establish in safety him who is in danger, even though he should have come unto the very depth of wickedness. And this is evident from many places. “For,” says one, “doth not he that falleth rise again? or he that turneth away, doth not he turn back to [God]?” (Jer. viii. 4.) It is possible, if we will, that Christ should be formed in us again: for hear Paul saying, “My little children of whom I travail in birth again, until Christ be formed in you.” (Gal. iv. 19.) Only let us lay hold on repentance.”

Text:

“But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.” 

(Isaiah 43:1, 3a & 7)

 Isaiah’s prophecy illustrates a sudden leap from reproach to consolation. This was very significant. It helped them to understand, that no meritorious work of their own would come in between what Israel was and what they were to be, but that it was God’s free grace which came to meet them.

The punishment of Israel has now lasted quite long enough; and, as God’s love which retreated behind His wrath, now returns with His own prerogatives again. To forgive His chosen people who will bear for Him their Messiah, and the Savior of the whole world.

God would continue to stretch out His arm it against the destructive power of the most hostile of Israel’s enemies, and rescue it from the midst of its greatest of dangers, Israel’s own rebellion and disobedience.

God says “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown.” You and I have gone through many a trial, I am sure. We have been persecuted by people, those proud waves that go over us; then there are the temptations of Satan, that enemy who comes in like a flood, and many more. Because of how rapidly they come, how forceful the waves may be, and their overshadowing and overwhelming nature, we now see that there are waves through which we, the people of God, must pass through. Our way lies through these waves to eternal glory.

Even though some of these waves appear to go on forever, they have an end, as waves have, landing upon the shore. We have Jesus Christ as our example and guide, He gives sufficient strength to enable us to swim through them safely. God says these waves will not overtake us, so as to either cause our faith to utterly fail, or to separate us from the love of God. These waves will not destroy us; for though they come straight at us, and upon us, and may greatly affect and distress us, they will not hurt us. God causes them for our advantage. He is with us. Jesus Christ sympathizes with us, comforts and revives us. He teaches and instructs us in our afflictions. He sanctifies us [makes us holy], as well as supports and holds us up under them. Ultimately, He delivers us from them. When it feels like we are being pushed deep under the force of these waves, God’s hand reaches down into the depths, and lifts us up to safety.

God tells us, “When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.” What is an affliction?  An affliction is something that causes great suffering and distress due to adversity. Isaiah compares afflictions to fire and flames. Illness, disease, or accidents can cause fear or anxiety by threatening us with great harm, or even death. Because of the fearful expectation or anticipation of God’s wrath upon Israel at times, and because of the nature of the afflictions, Israel found themselves refined just like gold and silver in the refiner’s fire. However, for the Christian, we saints are not consumed by these trials by fire, we lose nothing but our dross; those sinful behaviors along with their principles and proclivities are burned away, and God supports us through it all.

Andre Crouch wrote a song to help us understand what Isaiah is saying to us in today’s Old Testament reading, and it goes like this:

“I’ve had many tears and sorrows, I’ve had questions for tomorrow, there’s been times I didn’t know right from wrong. But in every situation, God gave me blessed consolation, that my trials come to only make me strong.

I’ve been to lots of places, I’ve seen millions of faces, there’s been times I felt so all alone. But in my lonely hours, yes, those precious lonely hours, Jesus let me know that I was His own.

Through it all, through it all, I’ve learned to trust in Jesus, I’ve learned to trust in God. Through it all, through it all, I’ve learned to depend upon His Word.

I thank God for the mountains, and I thank Him for the valleys, I thank Him for the storms He brought me through. For if I’d never had a problem, I wouldn’t know God could solve them, I’d never know what faith in His Word could do.

Through it all, through it all, I’ve learned to trust in Jesus, I’ve learned to trust in God. Through it all, through it all, I’ve learned to depend upon His Word.”

So, dear friends, the promises of God’s Word are true. It is Good News that God loves you. That He gave His only begotten Son for you. That Jesus took upon Himself our sin, sickness, and shame. That Jesus defeated death and the devil by His death. That He bore the wrath of God on our behalf. That He experienced separation from God on our behalf. He paid the price for our redemption. He made perfect and complete atonement for our sins. He is the Lamb who takes away the sin of the World.

Isaiah was painting a picture of grace, mercy, forgiveness, and holiness. Isaiah was telling Israel that even though they were disobedient and continually rebellious, God was patient and full of mercy toward them. He was compassionate toward Israel because of His divine purpose in sending the Messiah, the Anointed One, who would redeem Israel from their bondage to sin, sickness, death and the devil. The Word became flesh and lived among us. He sent His Messiah to save everyone, not just the Jew, but the Gentile too. His name is Jesus. God created human beings for His glory. However, the glory of humanity became tarnished because of our sin. Now, God’s glory will be seen and experienced by all because of what He has accomplished through Jesus Christ.

This is what Isaiah is saying to us today. He was looking beyond the closest prophetic mountain to Mount Zion, where the Messiah would Rule and Reign as King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, the Almighty God!

Amen.

I remember the stain
at times it doesn’t seem right
to recall what marred my walk in light
it cannot be removed
so much of life reviewed
in my minds eye

I remember the stain
i cannot clean it
even the rushing tide
sweeping away foot prints over and again
cannot remove it

I remember the stain
of idolatry, rebellion, amd caustic choices
trying to reign over me
why do I remember?

I remember the stain
even though i can still see it
has been washed in blood deep red
where my Father sees me white as snow
where no stain is left to judge me rightly
where no bondage there to bind me tightly
where freedom rings so very brightly
at the dawn of His appearing
He remembers no stain at me leering

I remember the stain
maybe at my minds random recollection
to remind once more the souls misdirection
at one time I knew not
the Deliverer from before
to grasp again His winsome words
Nor do I condemn you, go and sin no more…

By Gary DeSha © 2018

To be Lutheran – My Journey

My journey of faith has been an experience with the different expressions of Christianity. I have been told I am pan-denominational. My first experience was with the Baptist church, then United Methodist, then Pentecostal and Charismatic, then Evangelical Episcopal, then the Eastern Orthodox, then Reformed, and now Lutheran. God, it seems to me, has brought me around 180 degrees, and blessed me with an understanding of the reason for the Reformation, and why Martin Luther had to speak up and demand particularly critical changes within the Roman Catholic Church. Being Lutheran for me, began while studying Lutheranism after being called to a Lutheran Church as an assistant pastor for family and youth. I bought a copy of “Concordia – The Lutheran Confessions” and dove into the deep end.

To be Lutheran and the Word of God

To me, being Lutheran means, you love the Word of God. Being Lutheran means that the Word of God is central to life and faith. To be Lutheran means to appreciate how Martin Luther read Holy Scripture at face value and allowed Scripture to interpret itself. This led me to read and study the Scripture from a different hermeneutic than I had used before. The Bible was opened to me in a different light. To be Lutheran means I believe in the divine inspiration, infallibility, authority, inerrancy of the Bible as the Word of God. Reading Martin Luther’s Small and Large Catechism’s helped me understand how much he relied upon the promises of God in His Word for every aspect of his life. Being Lutheran and the Word of God being central, not only opened my eyes theologically, but opened them regarding family, marriage, society, the Church, and my neighbor; it was like a new light was shed upon my Christian experience. In being Lutheran, you stand apart from the other expressions of Christianity.

To be Lutheran and the Sacraments

To be Lutheran means that the Lord’s Supper is spiritual nourishment, the forgiveness of sins, and what we eat, and drink is the true Body and Blood of our Lord. To be Lutheran is to believe in the real presence of Christ in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. To be Lutheran means we enjoy the fellowship we have with one another around the Lord’s Table. To be Lutheran means that I understand that I have been born again by water and the Holy Spirit. I have been washed with water and the Word. Because of God’s kindness and tender mercies, He has saved me with the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit. To be Lutheran means I remember the promises of God in His Word; those promises are given in the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and they bring peace, joy, comfort, and solace to my heart.

To be Lutheran Is to Believe, Teach, and Confess

To be Lutheran means that what we believe, teach, and confess is God’s Word. To be Lutheran means what we believe comes from the Bible. Lutherans preach and teach the Bible. Lutherans have written down what they believe the Bible teaches as confessions of faith. The Book of Concord which contains the Lutheran Confessions is the result of this Lutheran biblical faith. Lutherans also believe that the Apostles Creed and Nicene Creed are descriptors of the biblical faith in which we believe. Being Lutheran is understanding the distinction between Law and Gospel. This has been a hallmark in my study of Lutheranism. The Law tells me I’m a sinner and deserve God’s wrath. The Gospel tells me I have been forgiven by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. There is nothing I can do to earn my salvation. Everything about salvation is all of God. The Law tells me I must be holy as God is holy. The Gospel tells me that I am holy based upon the righteousness that has been imputed to me, which is the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ. To the Law, I’m a slave. To the Gospel, I am freed man. This is most certainly true.

To be Lutheran doesn’t mean you should be German, Norwegian, or Swedish

To be Lutheran means so much more than one’s nationality. To be Lutheran means that I have been blessed with a spiritual legacy left by Martin Luther himself, and every other Lutheran that has come before me from whatever part of the world. To be Lutheran means that I am a part of a continual movement toward Reformation. To be Lutheran means that I believe in God’s Word, the Law and Gospel, and to proclaim and teach it so that others may inherit eternal life. No matter what class of individual you are, no matter what race or culture you come from, no matter if you are male or female, young or old, what it means to be a Lutheran is that God makes you His own, and you are justified by grace through faith alone.

To be Lutheran doesn’t mean you should be an American Lutheran

You see, to be Lutheran here in America means you are not a “Luther” Lutheran. American Lutheranism is full of relativism. So many directions, so many destinations, so many routes, so many liberals, and so much confusion. American Lutheranism is not consistent within itself. Martin Luther wouldn’t recognize most Lutherans of today. He would be shocked, mortified, and would rebuke its condition outrageously.

To be Lutheran means I do not fit into the American evangelical mold, and I do not fit into the American Lutheran mold, nor do I fit into any denominational mold for that matter.

All I have tried to do, my adult Christian life, is to find the truth in Holy Scripture and stick to it. However, most importantly, my desire is to be a disciple of Christ, a follower of Jesus — to keep in step with the Holy Spirit and obey God’s Word — to be transformed by the Word and the Holy Spirit into the image of God’s Son, Jesus, and to be found a good and faithful servant of my Lord.

Am I an American Lutheran? No. However, if I were to be labeled, I would be a “Luther” Lutheran. I accept that label because I respect the changes Martin Luther vigilantly fought for against the Roman Catholic Church, and I respect what he taught, theology and all.

What really matters is that I follow Jesus, obey His commandments, repent, and confess my sins, love, and worship God alone, love my neighbor as myself, be His witness, make disciples, and proclaim the Gospel. Isn’t that what Jesus called His disciples to do?

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