The 10 plagues continued...

We got as far as the lice last time, here are the rest:

Exodus 8: 20 - 32 - The Lord of the flies

Exodus 9: 1 - 12 - The hand of the Lord

Exodus 9: 13 - 35 - Educating Pharoah

Exodus 10: 21 - 29 - Blackness of darkness

Exodus 11: 1 - 11, 12: 29 - 30 - One more plague

Exodus 12: 1 - 12 - A lamb without blemish

Again, I would recommend the whole series, but I found these particularly interesting, encouraging and applicable.

The 10 plagues

My last blog was partly inspired by the series of sermons James R Hamilton has been delivering at Fole Chapel, Staffordshire. I would highly recommend the whole series, which can be found on Sermonaudio.

For me though, the sermons he delivered on the 10 plagues were particularly excellent. Not only was it good, expository preaching, but many relevant comparisons were made throughout to the present state of the UK and the 'Egypt' in which we live.

I have linked each of the sermons and titles below to save you the bother of locating them. The given verses are linked to the Authorised version on Biblegateway.

Exodus 7:1 - 7 - Sovereign God or sovereign Pharoah

Exodus 7: 8 - 13 - The prologue to the plagues

Exodus 7: 14 -25 - The first stroke

Exodus 8: 1 - 15 - The day of the frogs

Exodus 8: 16 - 19 - What price all these lice?

There is an introduction and the first 3 plagues for you, I shall post the others soon.

Idols?

Idolatry. It is an offensive word isn’t it, as a Christian? That said even to an unbeliever the word would doubtless make them frown and tut ‘no, not me’. Idolatry is rife, rampant and in your life somewhere almost certainly. All your friends all your family, they have all had their idols.

Now it’s easy to think of idols as all being like the golden calf in Exodus, the one the Israelites went back to worshiping time and again when Moses wasn’t looking. We make noises of astonishment that the foolish Israelites just forgot all about God and went back to their pagan ways that they had inherited as their own during the 430 years they were in Egypt. Its easy to see how that happened to some degree, man being as easily tempted and persuaded as he is.

Immersed in a pagan culture, idols and idol worship at every turn, an entire civilisation (if that is a suitable word) geared towards worshiping that other than God, consequently the Israelites started to pick up and use (perhaps just out of cultural politeness at first) the Egyptians’ gods. Perhaps the idolatry crept into their lives and culture without them even realising. Practices and rituals they weren’t even conscious were coming between them and their true God. Others I am sure, jumped into such practices wholeheartedly in pursuit of carnal pleasures and lusts.

The Israelites ‘turned back’ to their gods in the wilderness, but I’d rather like to think they were ‘drawn’ or ‘tempted’ to those gods as they drifted away from God, as their faith weakened. When God is pre-eminent nothing should stand between the believer and the Lord, but the sideshow of carnality and idols that litter the path to Glory are sometimes tempting enough to draw us from the narrow path. We don’t always even recognise it for what it is. Satan dresses it up as ‘acceptable’ or a ‘one off’ maybe – that is when the carnal, idolatrous mind elbows its way back into the room and demands all the attention. Idolatry is self gratification of some sort. It is all about the ‘I’... me me me!

Look at the position the Israelites were in and translate it to your life. Can you see your idols? They’re hard to spot. Sometimes they’re, as my brother called them, ‘pet’ sins. Little idols which we think can’t hurt. Ones that are tucked away from the sight of others and indulged in secretly. Some on the other hand are huge. Enormous, all consuming idols which get treated like the elephant in the corner. It’s massive, it’s apparent; it takes up a lot of room. But no one has actually pointed it out and said “what’s that elephant doing there?!” We may pretend that it doesn’t exist and that it isn’t (figuratively) crushing our spiritual furnishings and eating our daily bread.

Go back to the Israelites again, tut if you like. Frown, judge, criticise and wonder at their God-less-ness. But before you do, think on this. Idolatry is inflating something, anything in its importance to the point where it comes before or instead of God. It needn't be consciously more important, just something which is an obsatcle to your relationship with Him to which you knowingly or willingly return.

I was an idolater. My idols over the last 20 years have been various sports, mostly rugby, my fitness, Saturday nights out, my diet, beer and more recently MMA (mixed martial arts) amongst many others. At the time they were ‘hole fillers’. Something to fill the void that needed to be plugged by God’s grace and love. But now I see them as my previous gods, my idols. Certainly the MMA and the commitments I made to that sport overlapped and crept into my Christian life and for a short while impeding my spiritual growth. Any interest or hobby or activity can be inflated into an idol. Satan will happily use ANY distraction to keep you from enjoying God.

Think. Football – the World Cup. How many Christians will miss church to watch a game? What other idols are there? Any sport can be. TV, the internet, the gym and one’s own body. Food, sex, pornography, booze, drugs, fashion, music and so on ad nauseum. Within those areas you can break the idols into ‘smaller’ ones. Would you miss training or Eastenders to go to the prayer meeting? Can you last a month without booze? Can you not visit a website or watch a film that maybe you shouldn’t?

We need to be watchful and mindful of anything we can create idols from. We also need to be aware of our former idols and how strongly they can call to us, drawing us back to our own spiritual Egypt. Satan would like nothing more than for us to brush away the conscience’s knee jerk regarding a mini-idol as insignificant.

If we allow Satan to win these minor skirmishes he gains ground in the spiritual war. Yes the battle is already won, but don’t allow yourself to become an unwitting casualty in the day to day trench warfare.

"Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image..."

Hymn of the day

I enjoy reading hymns and often flick through my copy of 'Christian Hymns' for some encouragement.

Try this while you read on: 'I Hear Thy Welcome Voice' sung by the Morriston tabernacle Choir, Swansea.

A good hymn lies not in the tune, chorus or the gusto with which it can be belted out in the shower... but rather in its theology and wording. I'd argue that the hymns which touch our soul are the ones that correctly convey Christian doctrines and the true message of the gospel.

Sure some hymns and choruses can be catchy, emotive and exciting, but worship is not about the 'I'. Any worship which is 'I' centred is defamatory and self absorbed, rather like the prayer of the Pharisee in Luke 18: 9 - 14.

There is a huge and ongoing argument about praise in Churches all over the world - what is seemly? What is respectful and 'good ordered'? The instruments used or unused, the contrivances of 'performance', the starchy stiffness of older hymns, the loose casualness of new choruses, what is contemporary... what is acceptable?

It isn't an argument I am fully persuaded about by any camp to be honest. I know this - I scrutinise carefully the words of any Christian music I listen to and consider its motivation. If it is theologically sound and worshipful of God, not man... then it goes on the ipod.

After that its a matter of weeding out the ones which make me sound like I'm in pain when I sing them!
I am currently reading 'Grace, grit and Gumption' by Geriant Fielder which is an account of John Pugh's hand in the South Wales revival of the late 1800's. Helped in no small way by two of my home town's favourite sons Seth and Frank Joshua. It is an excellent and challenging read - though be warned you may feel the urge to start preaching outside pubs!

Seth Joshua wrote an article on congregational singing and it is quoted in part in the book. It makes some comments on worship which I hadn't considered before. He compared the congregation's singing with that of a choir or soloist. Here are a few quotes.

" 'And they ministered... with singing' (1 Chronicles 6:32). Thus the families of the Levites served. They minsitered with singing. We must go back to the Old Testament times to find a true conception of congregational singing. The preacher ministers to the congregation in his preaching, and is often dismissed for careless preparation, but the congregation ministers in singing to the Lord and often deserves dismissal for the same reason. Here is the root weakness of much of our congregational singing. It is so thin and heartless just in proportion as it lacks the Old testament conception."

"Singing will be transformed from a mere item in the programme of a service into a sacrifice of praise..."

"This did not happen if a choir took precedence. Choirs and their conductors could rule the roost then as music groups and their worship leaders can do today. ' There is a possibility of a trained choir being more of a curse than a blessing. Preparation, choice, selection is made out of regard to the capabilities and tastes of the choir, rather than the ability of the congregation."

"As a rule there is better theology in the hymn than in the sermon. At any rate our Welsh hymnology is the theological backbone of the nation. It is to the Church what colour is to the cheek. It indicates health or weakness. Our Lord is worthy of our best. Let us all minister to the Lord in singing."

Some good thoughts there. My tuppence worth is that any song or hymn of worship should at first be theologically sound. Any instrumentation must be used in support of the worship in a church service, not used as a performance. Once the performance and selection of praise leans primarily toward the abilities and preferences of the instrumentalists the true motivation of worship is lost.

As I commented to a family member some while ago "You can praise God any way you want during the week, but come Sunday it should be done in the Lord's way." I said it rather flippantly at the time, but maybe there's some truth in it?.. that doesn't however answer the question 'what is the Lord's way?'

Monday... :(

I had that feeling this morning... and it proved right. A horrendously testing day at work, but now I'm home in my cwtch, tea on the go, belly rumbling and I have a stack of books to read.

I just can't decide which. Will it be Tozer, Buyan or Pink? Or will I plump for a biography? 'The Cross and the Switchblade'? Maybe 'Grace, Grit and Gumption'? Or perhaps even a trawl through the extensive notes in my ESV study bible. Alternitively if I'm feeling brave I might try 'Basic Greek and exegesis' or 'elements of New Testament Greek'. I've barely scratched the surface of my Systematic Theology.

We are blessed are we not? To have such an array of literature available? There are many things to worry us in the UK today... but we still have a favourable position over many of our brothers and sisters around the world.

The Chinese who would give their right arm for just a page of scripture. Those in Communist or Islamic countries who worship in constant, mortal peril. Those slaughtered for their Christian beliefs in Nigeria. What life must be life for a bible believing Christian in a country like North Korea I cannot imagine.

I think before I choose my reading material from my growing library I'll say a prayer for my brothers and sisters in Christ who are not so spoiled for choice and then also thank the Lord that I am so very, very blessed.

Holiness

I have been reading again. This inevitably means there are quotes coming, but rest assured they are worthwhile. I am currently beavering through 'A Faith to Live By' written by Donald McLoed. He has what I find quite an unusual style of writing... and to quote someone with whom I was discussing - "he has a brain like 2 of Einstein's".

Anyway, I haven't necessarily agreed with everything I have read thus far but that hasn't stopped me finding the book enormously encouraging. I was particularly taken with his chapter on Holiness (or more specifically definitive and progressive sanctification).

In writing about 'union with Christ' he says this:

"Today we here much about self-image. In sport and industry and public life, so much depends on personal confidence. Even preaching the gospel is, to some extent, a question of confidence: confidence that we have something worth saying and that by God's grace we can say it, even though at the same time we tremble. If I begin to doubt what I am saying is worth saying, or to doubt that God will help me to say it, then I get tied up in knots and can't do it. That is equally true in the whole area of the Christian life. Many of us are defeated before we start because we have an unbiblically low self-esteem. It is not a matter of natural egotism. It is a matter of taking God at His word. He says we are the light of the world and the salt of the earth (Matthew 5: 13,14). And of course we say 'Who? Me, Lord? You mean US?" Yes! He means us! We are new in Christ Jesus and if He tells us to climb that mountain or carry this load or bear this temptation, then we can do it. 'We are more than conquerors through him who loved us' (Romans 8: 37). There is nothing that God demands of us which the Christ in us cannot do."

There is nothing that God demands of us which the Christ in us cannot do.

I think that is worth reading again.

There is nothing that God demands of us which the Christ in us cannot do.

Later in the same chapter Mr McLoed again made me look inward and consider my Christian service and once again he words it beautifully:

"So much of my Christianity is only a pale reflection of the real thing. The real thing was the Man who was willing to be crucified between two thieves on the garbage heap outside the city walls. The pilgrimage I am called to is not along a road lined with acclaim or power or influence or ease or comfort. It is routed along the Via Dolorosa, where nothing is easy and nothing is comfortable, because we have no right to use our divine sonship to claim favours."

Our deaths as Christians can bring no salvation to others and could in no way mirror Jesus' sacrifice on that tree. But in human terms, could you willingly place yourself in such a position? Humanly speaking was Jesus any more able to tolerate the physical sufferings and the anxiety of what was to come when he gave himself up?

God owes us nothing, we owe Him everything. every bit of ourselves, every fibre of our being. Should we not 'love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'. My question to myself and to you is this:

When, Christian, was the last time you managed this?

Was it for a few minutes? A day? A week (on and off).

It should, of course, be a lifetime... that's quite some benchmark.

Lost in the Labyrinth

Last Lord's Day morning at Fole Chapel the preacher delivered a sermon on Exodus 15: 23-27, you can listen to it here. The verses in question tell of the arrival of the Israelites at Marah, where they found water (after 3 days without), but it was bitter. God directed Moses to cast a tree into the waters and they were 'made sweet'.


Only 3 days had passed since the Israelites had been delivered miraculously from the hands of Pharaoh. The waters had been parted and the Israelites saved. Despite this murmurings were heard after the 3 days without water. This was to set something of a pattern for the wilderness journey and persistent griping, moaning and backsliding were heard and seen. It appears the Israelites were rather an ungrateful lot... or so it seems to us.

They had God with them (in the pillar of cloud and smoke), they had been delivered, they were witness to many signs and wonders... yet they persisted in turning back to Egypt in mind and spirit so often. They moaned at Moses, worshiped idols and generally behaved like... well... like sinners.

It is so easy for us to tut and shake our heads at their ignorance, but we so often do the same don't we? Blind to our folly at the time, ignorant of our offences to God - but then later, looking back through the wilderness we cringe and wince at our own sinfulness and ungodliness.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing and I'm sure there were many Israelites who frequently chastised themselves and each other for their unbelief and lack of faith, just as we do from day to day.

During that sermon an image came to mind. It was of a scene in the film Labyrinth. For those of you fortunate enough to have not seen it the basic premise is a young girl who has to find her way through a mystical (and large) Labyrinth to rescue her baby brother from some evil king type played depressingly by David Bowie. She suffers many trials and difficulties on her quest and befriends all types of strange creatures and characters (I'm sure we can all relate to that!) I digress, the image that was in my mind was a scene where as she nears the end of her journey the entire labyrinth is sprawled out behind her.

As I said hindsight is a wonderful thing. Certainly looking back on my life over the last year I can see some of the dead ends I have come to, the pitfalls and the traps. But I can also see how God has guided me safely through to where I am now. I can look back over the labyrinth of my life and see where I took wrong turns and even headed in the wrong direction. But I can also see many of the learning experiences this afforded me. God guided me clearly so many times, but I was often blind to it. In recent times I have enjoyed the feeling of my hand in His and the assurance of being guided clearly and safely through perilous times.

As we look back over that maze of life and see our errors and sins surely we should be thankful. We should praise God for being there watching over us, offering us reassurance, providing the help and support we need when we need it, letting us 'go it alone' when we have to but never leaving us abandoned.
We aren't very good are we when it comes to a new trial or tribulation? We are excellent at reviewing such times with great hindsight and understanding but really we should have foresight enough to know that God will guide us in all things. James 1:2 in the ESV puts it well:

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,"

And we should, should we not, also remember that Romans 8:28 tells us:

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

I hope that you and I both recall our past experiences and God's provision next time we meet a dead end or obstacle. We should learn from looking back at the labyrinth, granted, but we'd be better served in recalling the journey while looking onward and upward at the route through the maze of life to the hill top where the cross stands and Glory awaits.