Psalms 74:2 “Remember the people (NATION) you purchased of old, the tribe of your inheritance, whom you redeemed — Mount Zion, where you dwelt.”

In every society or culture we have what we call “opinion makers.” These are people who use words to make a living. We see how God used George Whitfield who came in with a message from the Lord; he brought in the right opinion and led us into the great awakening and the American experiment.

Same thing took place in Europe over 500 years ago when Martin Luther stood up with a message from God and we have the Western civilization we have today.

However, in the Western world we are in the process of losing this connection with the Lord. Consequently, we are in need of more George Whitfield’s and Martin Luther’s.

Isaiah 60:1 “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.”

There are three words that we are hearing quite often: reformation, revival and transformation. Reformation is the ministry of John the Baptist preparing the way for the Lord; revival as Martin Lloyd Jones put it is God passing by, and transformation is the result.

This past July 4th we celebrated our 239th year of when we (USA) declared our independence. God has been reminding me that before we had our independence that the Lord sent a powerful preacher to our shores called George Whitfield. He had a powerful influence upon our country and there was a spiritual awakening. One could say that before our independence we had a reformation – a calling back to God and to the things of God.

A war of independence was fought and through the revolution we gained our independence. We were set free and through that freedom a new experiment was undertaken that never had been done before in the history of mankind; that man could govern himself.

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE says “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The references to God in the Declaration of Independence provide a foundation for a moral argument within civil society that brought the transformation.

One can ‘Google’ and read the rest of the declaration, but what the Lord was showing me was the pattern that was laid down for reformation, revival and transformation. In the case with the birth of the United States we had George Whitfield (reformation) calling us back to the truths of the Word of God and to our responsibilities. Thomas Jefferson to Richard Price, in 1789 said: “Reformation in government follows reformation in opinion.” George Whitfield in his powerful preaching was bringing in the opinion of God. This was the forerunner of what was to come. It was said about Whitfield in his biography: “More than any other preacher of his day, he made the Great Awakening a vital, far-reaching force, religiously, socially, and politically, in America.” In America he preached a series of revivals that came to be known as the Great Awakening of 1740.

Revival, but in this case revolution, where we were set free with the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE – the law of the land – is what brought in transformation or reconstruction. Yes, there are many things wrong that need fixing in our country, but there is no doubt about the transformation or reconstruction that has taken place in our country over these past 239 years to be a free society with the freedom of religion, freedom of the press, habeas corpus (this is a legal action through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. It is an important legal instrument safeguarding individual freedom against arbitrary state action), trial by jury, and a representative legislature.

Thomas Jefferson said: “Every generation needs a new revolution.”  In reading the first paragraph of the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE the thought that came is that God wants to raise up tens of thousands of pastors who from the pulpit will be calling the people to exercise their responsibility and come back to the fundamentals that our country was founded on. Gary Bauer said: “Pastors were instrumental in America’s founding. The Church has long been a pillar of strength in our society. We need their leadership in turning the tide and once again making America a shining city upon a hill.”

Through this ‘reformation’ we will see a revolution of love (God is love) in the hearts of millions that will spark them into a labor of love in every aspect of society, and this will bring in the transformation. (1 Thessalonians 1:3)

Chuck Colson said: “We need to confess our moral failures and our national sins. We need to repent of the lies that justify killing innocent babies and the elderly. The road to renewal begins on our knees. And it’s there that we hear soul-searching questions from God himself, asking: ‘How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.’” Psalms 82:2-4

Love – Part 5

Ephesians 4:1-2 “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”

Another aspect or characteristic of love is the idea of forbearance, or bearing with one another; making allowances for faults and weaknesses of others without passing judgment.

Of course throughout this series we have seen that the Lord is our example. We read in Romans 2:4, “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?”

In the English NIV Bible version this word forbearance is translated “tolerance.” However, the idea is to endure and bear with, and this is why in the KJV Bible version it is translated as forbearance.

Today in our Western society we have a different understanding of what the Scriptures mean by tolerance, different than what we are looking at here. The tolerance that our society is trying to get across is having tolerance towards things and lifestyles that are in direct conflict with the Word of God. That is another kind of tolerance that has nothing to do with ‘right’ relationships.

God is tolerant towards us, but that which is not in accord with His Word He will judge and so must we. We cannot be taken in by our society that tells us that we should be tolerant (in their definition) and not make any judgments of our own as to right or wrong.

The way this word tolerance or forbearance is used in regards to relationships is that we decide in advance to bear that person up in their time of weakness. We all have faults and so we should be ready to hold each other up and encourage one another on in what is right and good.

Just like patience and forgiveness go hand in hand so does tolerance (forbearance) and acceptance. As an act of our will we decide that we are going to accept that person as he/she is with their weakness and faults. This is what love is all about: acceptance of one another. We can accept the person without agreeing with their lifestyle.

So often we have communicated to our spouse, children and others that if they change we will accept them. Christ accepted us just like we are and because of His acceptance of us, and who He is, we want to change and not because we want to be accepted but because we have been accepted.

This does not mean that God is tolerant of our sinful behavior. NO! But He is tolerant towards us as individuals. He hates the sin, but loves the sinner. When this grace is operating in us the result is unity in our homes, schools, jobs, churches or wherever. Isn’t this what we need today in our churches and society?

The Lord said: “Blessed are the peace-makers for they shall be called the sons of God.” Sons, not children. There is a difference between sons and children and it is a difference of maturity. Sons speak of maturity whereas children speak of immaturity. Sons are the ones who can build and maintain right relationships.

The problem that we have in many of our churches is that we have too many children and not enough sons. When it comes to our relationships might we become mature, and more like God’s own Son. Amen?
 

Love – Part 4

Ephesians 4:2 “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”

How often we have heard our parents or our colleagues say: “Patience is a great virtue.” Yet, if we look at our lives we see that no matter how great a virtue patience might be it isn’t something that we have in great abundance. We know that in the love that God manufactures, patience is a powerful ingredient. We read in 1 Corinthians 13:4 that “love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.” When we think of love in terms of personal relationships then we must give time to patience.

Patience in the sense of dealing with inter-personal relationships brings out the idea of ‘longsuffering’ or to be ‘long tempered.’ How true it is that when it comes to relationships we really need to be longsuffering and long tempered. How often people have made us mad and we have wanted to strike back either by word or deed or both. When long-suffering and long tempered come in this maintains the relationship. It doesn’t mean that we do not deal with the issues at stake, but because of the practice of long-suffering and long-tempered (or simply being patient) we can deal with the issues without breaking the relationship.

Patience in relationships is seeing people from God’s point of view and recognizing the fact that God is not done with us yet. We are all in constant change and God is working in us.  Romans 8:29 “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”

Patience then is giving God time to finish what He has started in each one of us.

Psalms 138:8 “The LORD will fulfill [his purpose] for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever – do not abandon the works of your hands.”

It would seem that closely tied in with patience is another virtue called forgiveness.

Matthew 18:26 “The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.'” We all know the Lord’s parable here of where this man owed the king an astronomical amount of money and asked for patience in paying it back. It was granted, but then this man went out and found someone who owed him a pittance and patience was not what he granted him when asked for. Matthew 18:29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'” Whenever we have a tendency to lose patience with people it would do us well to stop and think about the patience that the Lord has had, and still does have with us. Another thought that comes out with patience is connected with the Lord’s blessings. Hebrews 6:15 “And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.”

The problem that we have in our Western society is the clash between traditional values and evolving values. Traditional values like loyalty, morality, accountability and sacrifice are clashing with evolving values like independence, personal happiness, tolerance, comfort, instant gratification, the right to make one’s own choices, all of which center around the individual. It is because of these evolving values that center around the individual that we find relationships (marriage, business partnerships, colleagues, etc.) in jeopardy and failing. Probably one of the great tragedies today is the desire for instant gratification even in our relationships. This is where patience comes in.

How do we get patience? Patience grows only in trials. When the trials come our way let us see what the Lord is doing and allow the Lord to work in us the patience of Christ Himself. Amen!