Simple Salvation

Man often complicates the simplest matters. He manages to muddle the mundane into a myriad of galactic proportions. In human affairs man is hopelessly complicated. A simple political assassination will precipitate a World War. A border dispute becomes the occasion for super power confrontation. One high flying plane torpedoes hopes for detente'. Religious fratricide erupts into a conflict that confounds all efforts for peace. A handful of sheiks hold the whole world for economic ransom. A sad little burglary shames and shatters the confidence of a mighty nation.

Around the world the man in the street often feels that if he could for a moment face his counterpart across a table they could cut through all the red tape and penetrate the smoke screen of officialdom and work it all out. It seems just that simple.

But man as an individual seems to possess the same penchant to perpetually muddle his own affairs. The ever increasing incidence of murder, mayhem, suicide, divorce, delinquency, political deceit and perversity, and other variants in the catalogue of sin, amply confirm man's ineptness to manage his own affairs.,

It's the same old problem. Man is a do it yourself creature. Philosophically this is best illustrated by his failure to come to grips with is most pressing problem. That problem is sin. He will not accept outside help. God has provided the solution, but man insists on doing his own thing. He will submit to any form or ritual, modern or pianistic, in order to save himself. He will burn himself on a street corner, throw a baby to the crocodiles, be christened, learn a catechism, join a church, burn some candles, be baptised, go into a trance, or invent one thousand and one different ways to bring himself to God. Just as long as he can do it himself. This is so sad because this is the only way he cannot be saved. He cannot because as he tries to save himself, he will not allow God to save him. He complicates the simple way of salvation found in God's Word.

The whole story of man's problem and God's solution is so simply told in the Bible that even a child can understand. (Matthew 18:3) We prove we are sinners each day of our life, over and over again. It is only logical that a sinner cannot eradicate his own sin. After all, can a leopard change his spots? God's solution to our problem is simply that His sinless Son died for our sins. (John 3:16) Based upon this simple fact, all we have to do is repent of our sins and in simple faith believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ. We just ask God to save us and take our sins away. When we do this, God provides the gift of' everlasting life. (Romans 6:23, 10:13)

JESUS SAYS SALVATION IS AS SIMPLE as opening a door. (Rev. 3:20) When someone is at the door we don't spend hours speculating about the caller's identity. We just open the door quietly and confidently and without fanfare. With a minimum of fuss. That's faith. Salvation is that simple.

JESUS SAYS SALVATION IS AS SIMPLE as a. thirsty man drinking water. (Rev. 22:17) When a man is dying of thirst he doesn't pause to investigate the molecular composition of H20. He's not interested in the details. He doesn't ask questions. He just drinks freely and without reservation. That's faith. Salvation is that simple.

JESUS SAYS SALVATION IS AS SIMPLE as receiving a gift. (Romans 6:23) A gift is offered and we reach out and take it. With no questions asked or strings attached. That is faith. Salvation is just that simple and easy. Why not open the door of your own heart by faith and receive the one gift above all others, eternal life. Those who do find their spiritual thirst eternally quenched.. IT'S JUST THAT SIMPLE.

We Can Trust The Timing Of God's Providence

There are many examples of the providence of God’s time in the Bible. Just imagine for a moment you are an impartial observer watching a ram wandering aimlessly in a wilderness. As you look on, the careless ram catches his horns in a thick bush. Naturally the frustrated ram struggles desperately to free himself, but to no avail. What possible eternal significance could such an ordinary and mundane happening have?

But then you hear a noise and turn to see a terrifying scene. A young lad lying trussed up atop a pile of wood upon a crude stone altar. He lies quietly and calmly awaiting his fate. Standing over him is the towering figure of his father with his sacrificial knife poised to make the fatal thrust! Just as you are about to cry out in horror, you hear an angelic voice calling out to the man; bringing his attention to the struggling ram. You know the rest of the story. The exquisite providential timing of God provides the sacrifice at just the moment it was needed. Not a moment too soon nor a second too late.

Just imagine for a moment a lowly and insignificant donkey wandering around in a wild and arid land. All at once a lion lurking behind a bush leaps; giving out a mighty roar he pounces upon his helpless and hapless victim. Later, the vultures come and pick the bones clean. Days and months pass. The bones are washed clean by rains and bleached and hardened by the hot sun. Then one day a mighty man of God finds himself surrounded and hopelessly outnumbered by an army of a fierce warrior race. In that moment of looming death and disaster, he desperately glances around for some weapon to fend off his enemies. The tough and weathered bones of the donkey immediately catch his eye. He runs toward his enemy; sweeping up the jawbone of the donkey. The Spirit of the Lord is upon him as he slays one thousand of God’s enemies. Again, the delicate providential timing of God provides the right weapon, in the right place at the right time!

Then there’s cache of small stones laid down by the creative hand of God and worn smooth by the flowing waters of a beautiful brook. In the heat of a mighty contest, a young shepherd lad thrusts his hand into the cool water and his strong fingers close around five smooth stones. Just the crude ammunition he needs to slay a ferocious giant who has been defying God and his people. Someone has said he had four stones left over for the giant’s brothers as well!

We could speak further of another small donkey standing ready to bear real royalty into a city one joyous and triumphant day. We could also recall the momentous day a Roman soldier went out and felled a tree that would become a rugged, cruel cross.

Are any of these accidents? Or are they reassuring examples of the tremendous providence of God given to us in the Word of God to reassure us that we can trust the timing of God?

In my childhood, baking day was always a day we looked forward to; especially the Christmas baking days. In a large rural family, it would not be unusual to have at least a dozen different cakes and pies prepared and ready for the holiday season. My mouth still waters at the thought. Hanging out in the kitchen as much as I could, I soon became aware of the various ingredients going into the different sorts of cakes and pies. A few of these were sweet and pleasing to the taste, but a number of the ingredients, when tasted alone, were too salty, sour, dry, tart, bitter or tasteless to please the palate.

But a minor miracle inevitably occurred. My Mom would mix all these single unsavoury ingredients, stir them together for just the right amount of time, place them in a greased pan, heat them at the right temperature for the right amount of time. And presto! A beautiful and tasty cake would emerge.

Many of the ingredients of the Christian life, when experienced alone, sometimes seem too salty, sour, bitter or tasteless. But let the Master baker mix these together in the right combination over a period or time and bake them in the oven of His everlasting love. He promises that a beautiful conclusion will inevitably come to pass. “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.” (Ro. 8:28)

A Brighter Day

(See the 21st Chapter  of Revelation)

As we are now well into the twenty-first century, we can but look back and marvel at the technological changes that marked the twentieth century. The century saw the invention and development of many of the processes and products that have revolutionised man’s existence. I have been blessed to personally witness many of these changes.

We have gone from the horse and buggy to jet liners and space travel. Man has travelled to the moon more quickly than he previously travelled across a continent. The computer has replaced the slide rule. The internet and information highway have turned the whole world into a global village. Television has transformed civilisation, and not necessarily for the better.

With all these "improvements," it would seem that we should be able to say that man stands on the doorstep of a bigger, better and brighter future. Surely we have reason to be optimistic. Could we be entering a new millennium of hope and peace?

But if we look around us and make a reality check, we must ask ourselves, what does man have to look forward to in the future? Environmentalists, demographers, sociologists, economists, geo-politicians and military analysts, all speak of the possibility of a future filled with environmental disasters, population pressures, social and economic breakdown and regional wars and strife and terrorism on an unimaginable and unprecedented scale.

Who can deny that every indicator one might use to measure man’s real prospects of achieving true peace, happiness and success in the future seems to give a negative reading?   All this might make one think of the statement of an English realist who said, "In the long run, we will all be dead." Or the statement of the French scientist, Pierre Berchelt, who said in 1860, "Within a hundred years man will know what the atom is. It is my belief that when science reaches this stage God will come down to earth with His big ring of keys and will say to humanity, "Gentlemen, it’s closing time:" Or the response of the lad who was asked what he hoped to be in twenty years. He simply replied, "Alive.!"

It’s Our

Happy Hope

That Makes All

The Difference

I am sure that in the midst of all this it is fair to say that hope springs eternal in the human heart. So let us speak of hope. A real and happy hope. A hope that makes the difference. Of course, man’s only hope lies in a future created and shaped by God. This hope will find its ultimate fulfilment in that city whose builder and maker is God. A prepared place for a prepared people. A place populated by those who have escaped the surly and sinful bonds of this earth and soared to a city where sin no longer abounds nor harms or hurts have their sway.

Where death and disaster no longer damage and destroy the dreams and delights of even the most hopeful. Where the tears of terrible trials and traumas will be turned to tears of tremendous joy and triumph. Where the darkness of wickedness and evil will be forever vanquished; because such can no longer exist in the city that is Lighted by the eternal Son. This hope of a brighter tomorrow brings light in the shadows and darkness of today’s world.