THIS OLD HOUSE

 

THIS OLD HOUSE

Link to video of sermon:

https://youtu.be/ZokzDbqkWk4?si=jDvuLIyVxTvjOU03

Sermon notes:

This Old House

 

1 Peter 2:4-10

As you come to him, the living Stone – rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him – ⁵ you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For in Scripture it says:

‘See, I lay a stone in Zion,
    a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
    will never be put to shame.’

⁷ Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,

‘The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone,’

⁸ and,

‘A stone that causes people to stumble
    and a rock that makes them fall.’

They stumble because they disobey the message – which is also what they were destined for.

⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Introduction

In Glasgow, Scotland, there once were rows and rows of old tenement buildings. These old brick buildings used to house the workers in the day of Clydeside shipbuilding. As the shipbuilding industry died a death in Scotland so did these buildings. They became slums – good only for the wrecking ball! And so whole communities were disrupted as the demolition crews moved in.

Whole communities such as the Gorbals were demolished! The displaced people became known as the “Glasgow overspill.” There was social upheaval – social unrest. Then someone had a brainwave. Instead of destroying the community why don’t we renovate? And so rows and rows of old tenement buildings were spared. After renovation people flocked to these buildings wanting to live in these communities. It’s amazing what can be done with an old house.

If you were an old house, what do you think could be done with you? Do you think you should be condemned as unsafe? Or do you think you could be renovated to become a home fit for royalty? Well, in terms of the Bible, all mankind is standing like rows of condemned houses.

We are like derelict and dilapidated buildings with broken windows and leaky roofs. We stand covered in grime and soot awaiting the wrecker’s ball. But God has decided to spare some of us. He has decided to renovate us! He has purchased us and He is forming a new community. So let’s consider some of the work the Lord is doing as He renovates us.

1. Walls Removed

There has been a solid brick wall built up between you and God. Of course, this wall was demolished when you were converted. For when God began His renovation in you, He removed that wall. How did that wall get there? Well, sin built a wall between you and God. You inherited your house from your great, great… grandfather Adam. Adam was the master plan for every house that was to come after him. And he was the one that built the wall that separates each of us from God. His design was passed down from generation to generation. Therefore, you live in a house with a wall separating you from God.

However, when God moved into your (ie, the Christian’s) house, the wall of the carnal mind which is enmity against God was torn down. Romans 8:7 says, “The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God…” Or as the NKJV puts it, “The carnal mind is enmity against God...” “Enmity” or “hostility” is something that separates. Enmity is a barrier, a wall. And as the walls of Jericho came a tumbling down, God levels that wall in you first off. Then He begins to patiently clear away the dust and rubble of that wall.

There’s another wall that needs to be torn down. The wall between you and your brother and sister in Christ. Scripture says, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” Galatians 3:28.

There may be racism, social distinction, sexism in the world outside, but there is to be none of it in Christ’s church. Each of us has our different roles to play in the church and in society, but we are not to despise others because of their station in life.

In New Testament times, the Jews despised the Gentiles and called them dogs! But when a Jew and a Gentile were converted, they became as one. “For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.” Ephesians 2:14.

However, the wall between you and your non-Christian neighbour stays in place. If you’ve ever renovated a house, you’ll know about “supporting” walls. A supporting wall cannot be removed unless you want the house to fall down. It’s kind of like our spine – we need it to keep us upright.

It was Adam who erected the wall between you and God. This wall is taken away by Jesus Christ. But it was God who put the wall in place between the Christian and the non-Christian. The Lord said to the serpent in the Garden after Adam fell, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head, and you will strike His heel.’” Genesis 3:15.

The “Offspring” or “Seed” of the woman is of course Christ, Galatians 3:16. And since the offspring of the serpent are all the non-elect, it means that there is a barrier between those who are of Christ and those who are of the world. Jesus says, “‘If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” John 15:18-19.

Therefore, the wall between the Christian and the world has to remain or Christianity crumbles. Christians need to be aware that it’s not a flimsy plasterboard partition. It is a load-bearing wall. The Apostle Paul emphasizes this where he says, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.” 2 Corinthians 6:14-16.

This doesn’t mean that we are to turn our backs on the world. No of course not! Jesus sends us into the world with good news for the world. The point is that we are not to become like the world. There is to be a difference between His Church and the world.

So we’ve then seen a couple of walls removed in the “old house” which is the Christian’s body.

2. Wires Replaced

What we’re talking about here is the rewiring of the mind. You wouldn’t renovate an old house without rewiring it. If you’re going to think the thoughts God wants you to, you’ll need a new electrical system. Scripture says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will” Romans 12:2.

You used to be wired according to the system of this world. But now you’ve been rewired to accommodate a power way stronger than the power in the world. You can now do things that you couldn’t before. You now have the power to glorify God.

Before your regeneration and subsequent conversion, you didn’t have the power to do any spiritual good. Sin had tripped the breaker, blown the fuse. Sin had broken the connection with God. But now God has come into your house and is busy rewiring.

Now you have the ability, not only to understand the will of God, but to obey and do it. Where before, you were at best like a Pharisee able only to keep God’s Commandments outwardly. Now you can say with Paul, “I can do all this through Him who gives me strength” Philippians 4:13. This means that sin has no power over you. It doesn’t mean that you’ll never sin again. It does mean that sin has lost its dominion over you. Your sin used to rule in your old house like a tyrant. But now that the Lord has begun His renovations, you are back in control.

Your mind that was once controlled by sinful impulses, is now capable of resistance. Those sinful cravings can now be resisted by the power of God in you. If you were a glutton, for instance, the Lord has given you back control of your appetite. If you were a drunkard, the Lord has empowered you to control your drinking. Paul says to the Corinthians, “Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were.” 1 Corinthians 6:10-11.

The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. The Lord is able to save even the vilest of sinners from their sins. He does so through regeneration and conversion whereby the power of Christ and His cross is, by the Holy Spirit, transferred to the Christian’s old house.

But this old house needs to be rewired to accommodate that power. You need to be converted from Alternating Current to Direct Current. The difference between AC and DC is this: Alternating Current means just that, that the current alternates back and forth, whereas Direct Current flows constantly in one direction only.

So then, before your conversion from AC to DC you would flip flop back and forward over things. You were like the children mentioned by Paul, who were “tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming…” Ephesians 4:14. But the Holy Spirit has rewired the old house in which you live.

Conversion from AC to DC was complete when you were hooked up to the new power generator. The living, active and powerful Word of God is hidden in your heart like a battery in a watch. The Holy Spirit has flicked the switch and enabled you to welcome Christ into your home.

While running on this new power source you heard a knock at your door. You recognized the voice of the Lord and He came into your home to dine with you (Revelation 3:20). Things are still a bit of a mess in your house – what, with a couple of walls removed.

And when there are wires being replaced it can look like spaghetti-junction for a while. In fact, you’re embarrassed the Lord has come to visit and the place is in such a mess.

But don’t ever forget the reason why the Lord has come to your house. He has come to renovate, and He will clean up the mess. And the Lord will keep on renovating and cleaning up the mess until the job is completed. “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6.

But what about all those grime-covered and broken windows?

3. Windows Repaired

An old building wouldn’t be an old building without its grime-covered windows smashed. The world has been throwing mud and stones at you all your life. But the Lord is repairing your windows.

What are windows for? Windows are for letting in air and light and seeing out of. However, they also let out light, don’t they? When the Lord turns on the power in the Christian’s house the lights come on.

If Christ the Light of the world comes, by His Spirit, to live in your home it stands to reason that the lights will come on. A Christian house with all the lights on is warm and inviting on a cold dark night.

Now, Australia is a strange place at Christmas time. The sun is splitting the concrete in the streets. Even though it’s the middle of summer the Christmas cards are covered in snow! Therefore, no matter where you live you’ve all seen the little house with the warm glow emanating from it. The one with the snow-covered roof that looks all warm and cozy inside.

It would be a lie to tell you that the Christian’s heart is always like the house in that picture. However, there is a peace that transcends all understanding in the Christian’s heart. And that peace comes across to those who are on the outside looking in.

Where there were once panes of glass that couldn’t be seen through, there is now a welcoming warmth emanating out into the surrounding world. It’s a place of rest and refreshment for weary travelers. Why? It’s because Jesus, the Light of the world, lives in that house by His Spirit.

He is the One who is breaking down the walls. He is the One who is rewiring your home. He is the One who doesn’t want you hiding your light under a basket. He is the One who says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” Matthew 11:28.

If someone came to you with a heavy problem, would you try to hide Jesus in the closet? Would you say, “Quick Jesus, in here! There’s someone at my door!”? No! It might very well be that the person has seen the light on in your home on a cold and dark night, when everyone else in the street has gone to bed so to speak.

And when the Lord repairs our windows, we begin to see the world through different eyes. We begin to see the enmity, the hostility, between the world and the kingdom of God. We begin to see the forces of darkness at work. We begin to see the battle between light and darkness.

We see it in the political arena. We see it in the state schools. We see it in the streets. We see it on the TV – on the radio – and in the newspapers. We see clearer and clearer the enmity between the seed of the serpent and the Seed of the woman.

But never forget that the Lord is more than able to save even the vilest of sinners. However, when the Lord repairs your windows, you are able to see the vileness of sin in the world outside – the sin that at one time had overcome your heart. But thank the Lord that you are able also to see the kingdom of God. Jesus says, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again” John 3:3. To have the Lord renovating your old house is to be born again which is to be converted. And when, by the grace of God, you are converted you see the world in a different light.

I began by talking about the old derelict tenement buildings in Glasgow being renovated. And we used that as a picture of the individual Christian being renovated by God. But let’s not miss an important point – as we begin to tie things together.

Christians tend to be a bit too individualistically minded. In other words, we tend to act as single people. But in Glasgow whole communities were renovated, not just individual houses. And so it is with us – we are part of a renovated community – a Christian community. We are a community within a hostile community. The world with all its false religions and philosophies setting themselves up against God.

Now, Jesus says that we are to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every nation. It seems to me that the local churches have been doing this in their communities. However, I believe a strange thing has been happening.

Because the churches have been so busy out there campaigning, they’ve been neglecting the upkeep of their houses, even their own Christian community.

It’s good and Scriptural that we reach out to the lost and dying in the world. But what about the Christian home? Scripture says, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers” Galatians 6:10.

So it’s right that we seek to do good to our non-Christian neighbour, but it is clearly wrong to neglect our own household. In fact, it makes you worse than an unbeliever if you neglect your local church.

Scripture says, “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever”1 Timothy 5:8.

A neglected house becomes dilapidated. A row of neglected houses becomes a slum. And a slum becomes ready for the wrecking ball.

At present, many other churches are obsessed with outreach in the community. On the surface this looks good. It’s good to care about winning the lost – but what’s really happening? Well, like any army on a campaign overseas, the home front becomes weak and prone to attack. A bunch of old codgers like “Dad’s Ary” are guarding things at home while the forces are overseas as it were. The enemy has been busy on the Home Front – busy swinging the wrecking ball. Whole Christian communities are being demolished rather than renovated.

And how does the enemy swing the wrecking ball? He does it by talking Christians into removing supporting walls. Do you remember that the Lord has put a wall between us and the world? Well, the enemy wants that load-bearing wall to come down. Remove that one and the building is liable to collapse and destroy everyone in it!

The enemy swings the ball by filling churches with people desiring to have their ears tickled. The Devil is filling the Lord’s Church with people who have no interest in sound Biblical preaching – as more and more churches become like the world to attract the world. Then the Christian community becomes a slum.

Think of the church at Corinth. The Corinthians received the Apostle Paul’s severe rebuke for turning the Lord’s Supper into a common meal that you could find in any everyday restaurant. When we evangelise and invite people to church, make sure they are coming to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ proclaimed, that they are coming to a place that is special, a place that is as different from the world as the Lord’s Supper is to a Happy Meal from Maccas!  

However, the Lord is in the business of renovating. He can even rebuild run down Christian communities. He can remove walls. He can renew wires. He can replace windows.

Conclusion

I don’t want to live in a slum – do you? So let’s encourage our brothers and sisters in the faith. God has renovated you the individual along with others. He has renovated our whole church community. Your number one priority is to build up your brother and sister in the faith to the glory of God. Therefore, live as God wants you to live at peace with your Christian neighbor in a God-glorifying community. The Lord will draw others into your community as He spares other houses from the wrecker’s ball.

If all the old houses the Lord has renovated were gathered into one place, what a picture that would be. Think of it, all those little lights making up one greater light – the church. Now picture this on the top of a hill on a cold and dark night. What a sight this would be to a traveler wearied by this world.

Look around, people are sick to the back teeth with crime in the community. They’re sick of people spray-painting slogans on their walls. They’re sick of break and enters. They’re sick and tired of criminals getting away with murder. They don’t want their neighbourhood to become a slum. The whole nation is becoming weary of it all.

We have the answers! Can’t you see? The harvest is white so shine the light. But make sure there are walls where there should be walls. But also make sure there are no walls where they shouldn’t be. Make sure the wires are able to handle the power of the Lord. And finally, make sure the windows are clean. Make sure you can see the world outside. But make sure that the world can see the lights on in your home.

Isn’t it amazing what the Lord can do with an old house?

OUT OF THIS WORLD

                                                                    Out of This World

        Stop the World - I Want to Get Off is a 1961 musical. The title conjures up a picture of life’s journey being akin to travelling on a bus. Christians can be like this when faced with hardship. Another way of saying, ‘Stop the world!’ is ‘Come Lord Jesus!’ Instead of walking through ‘the valley of the shadow of death’ (Psa. 23:4) with the Lord, they want the Lord to ‘rapture’ them. However, Jesus prayed to His Father, ‘I have given them Your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that You take them out of the world but that You protect them from the evil one’ (John 17:14-15).

Though neither Jesus nor His followers are of this world, we ought not to seek to stop the world so that we can get off just because the world hates us. Rather, with the Lord’s protection, we are to be about the business of redeeming it. This is also known as spreading the gospel of the kingdom.

The gospel, properly understood, is truly ‘out of this word!’ It doesn’t follow this world’s pattern ‘Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Rom. 12:2). Mind renewal comes with a proper understanding of the gospel as the Holy Spirit works with the Word in our hearts. Jesus says of us, ‘They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth’ (John 17:16-17). Therefore, neither we nor our message is of this world. Therefore, we don’t need to stop the world so that we can get off. We’ve already been taken out of the world! We now walk around with the power of God. ‘For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God’ (1 Cor. 1:18).

Why is it so impossible for non-Christians to understand the Christian message? It’s because it is not of this world. This world is fallen. Sin has blinded us. Whether we admit it or not, we are in cahoots with Christ’s greatest enemy who uses us as slaves. ‘The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God’ (2 Cor. 4:4). When we talk apples to those of this world they are thinking oranges. Nicodemus was conforming to the pattern of this world when Jesus said to Him, ‘I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?’ (John 3:12).

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We ask, ‘“Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible”’ (Matt. 19:25b-26). It’s as Jesus said to Nicodemus, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at My saying, ‘You must be born again.’ (John 3:5-7).

To be born again is to have the Spirit work with the Word in your heart savingly. The first indication that you’re born again is when you realise that Jesus is the eternal Word who became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). Then, like Thomas, you declare that the resurrected Jesus is truly God, and like him say to Jesus, ‘My Lord and my God!’ (John 20:28).

The gospel is ‘out of this world.’ You can be taken out of this world too, ‘If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved’ (Rom. 10:9).

INPUT/OUTPUT

Input/Output

David said, “My cup runs over” (Psa. 23:5b). As writers, we need input to overflow in output. Our writing genre will, of course, help dictate input for subsequent output. Even writing from imagination requires prior imbibement for the cup to overflow.

From prison the Apostle Paul made a request to Timothy, “Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas when you come—and the books, especially the parchments” (2 Tim. 4:13). We would be speculating as to whether the cloak was Paul’s “preaching gown”, as in something like the cloak or mantle that Elijah passed on to Elisha (2 Kings 2:13), or simply a garment to keep him warm, and whether the books and parchments contained Old Testament writings and/or Paul’s other epistles. However, we do know that, not only did Paul quote from other Bible writers, but he also quoted from pagan writers.

Paul, for example, quotes the Cretan poet Epimenides and the Cilician poet Aratus (as well as Cleanthes) where he writes, “For in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring’ (Acts 17:28). He cites Epimenides again, “One of them, a prophet of their own, said, ‘Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.’” (Titus 1:12). And lifts a line from the Greek poet Meander, “Do not be deceived: ‘Evil company corrupts good habits.’” (1 Cor. 15:33).

Not missing the fact that pieces of pagan poetry have now become Holy Writ, we see that Paul was well read.

As an empty inkwell is to writing, so an empty bookcase is to inspiration. Output needs input. Being well versed can help one to verse well. Therefore, try to read widely.  

BOOKS & REVIEWS

Growth Enhancer: Enlarging Westminster Shorter Catechism by Neil Cullan McKinlay states on its back cover:

What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy Him forever. So goes Westminster Shorter Catechism Q&A 1.

If there ever was a time to catechise our children, it is now. It has often been said that when the Westminster Shorter Catechism was produced it was for the instruction of children, but due to a real lack of Christian understanding nowadays, a Christian who knows the Catechism will sound like a graduate from theological college!

This book is an exposition of the first twenty-eight Q&As (1-28) of the WSC (1648) – which catechism has been used by Presbyterians and others of the Reformed Faith to instruct their children in the basic teachings of the Bible for close on four centuries!

The Code of Darkness by Russell Brandon would make a great movie, a PG movie. This well written novel deals with those who involve themselves in child pornography and child exploitation and the dark unseen forces behind it all. Though it deals with Christians rescuing sexually abused children, this work of fiction could be appreciated by Christians and non-Christians alike.

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12).

The blurb on the back cover summarises the book’s content and intent: “This is a book about three people who come together in circumstances that could easily end in their becoming enemies for life. Instead they learn about Jesus and become friends. The demons that would have held them captive are dispatched through prayer that empowers angels to turn our heroes’ lives in a whole new direction.”

Brandon writes, “God’s strength is so much stronger than Satan’s. It was only the failure of men that allowed Satan to wreak havoc in the world through his demons when men and women stopped praying.” Page 217. As a Christian, I was encouraged in my prayer life after seeing imaginative depictions of what goes on behind the scenes whenever Christians set themselves to earnest prayer.

There is plenty of angels battling demons going on behind the scenes in The Code of Darkness. I loved the way the author demonstrated how Christians strengthen angels and weaken demons by their prayers. We work in tandem with angels. We need only to ask God for their help. “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” (Heb. 1:14).

One was reminded of the time Gabriel came to Daniel saying, “Daniel, don’t be afraid! God has listened to your prayers since the first day you humbly asked for understanding, and he has sent me here. But the guardian angel of Persia opposed me for 21 days. Then Michael, who is one of the strongest guardian angels, came to rescue me from the kings of Persia” (Dan. 10:12-13 CEV).

The Code of Darkness is a book about prayer coupled with action, lots of action! It is an excellent, gripping, imaginative and entertaining tale of how Christians, with the help of angels, can be forces for good in this fallen world.

Neil Cullan McKinlay, author and retired Presbyterian Minister and Australian Army Chaplain.

God is in the Ordinary: You Just Need to Look by Deborah Anne Wills, perhaps, may be summed up in her own words, where she writes, “Taking the time in my ordinary life to look around focusing on the beauty and good that I can see, despair and sorrow are replaced with a peace beyond understanding.”

Accompanied by a series of beautiful photos of Australian wildlife and nature (taken by the author herself!), Deborah Anne Wills takes the reader on delightful and educational walks along nature trails. The reader will learn much about God’s creation she talks to you along the way, also deftly weaving into her glorious and colourful tapestry, sound instruction and good advice from God’s Word.

The book consists of an Introduction followed by eight chapters. From platypus hunting to birdwatching, from car problems to trips to the theatre, from weeds in the river to words of encouragement, she makes good use of everyday events to illustrate her thesis that God is in the ordinary. Analogy and application.

This is one of those books that, somewhat paradoxically, makes you want to put it down, get up off the couch, and go for a walk along a river. Or better still, take the book with you and find a nice bench along the riverbank and sit down on it for a quiet, relaxing and peaceful read!

I really enjoyed this book. It brought me closer to God and made me even more appreciative of the wonderful things He has made.

Neil Cullan McKinlay, author and retired Presbyterian Minister and Australian Army Chaplain.

SOCIALISM MY PART IN ITS DOWNFALL

For a copy see, eg, SOCIALISM: My Part in its Downfall : McKinlay, Neil Cullan: Amazon.com.au: Books

The river ran with red: Neil Cullan McKinlay was 16 when he began an apprenticeship as a marine plumber on Glasgow’s Red Clydeside. His father’s early Communism helped get the 16-year-old state schoolboy into a shipyard in a hotbed of political radicalism. 

The firebrand orator Jimmy Reid later sipped Glenfiddich malt whisky in comradeship with his father as they mourned the loss of these yards. The Red Clydeside built the greatest ocean liners in the world, the Queen Mary, the QE2, but it had a fatal flaw that led to its ultimate collapse: the false religion of Socialism.

SOCIALISM: My Part in its Downfall borrows the idea for its title from Spike Milligan. He counters Socialism with a plethora of quotes, antidotes, and anecdotes. His shipyard wit tips its welder’s helmet to the tin hat humour of Gunner Milligan for the sake of comedy relief from such a serious subject.

July, 2000, The Herald.
The article mentions my dad visiting Jimmy Reid

Neil has worked since in diverse vocations: Domestic Plumber, Railway Pipefitter, Presbyterian Minister, and Army Chaplain. He uses his vast experience from working in three countries, Scotland, Canada, and Australia, to fuel his blast furnace against Socialist creep in the West.

Socialism has sucked the guts out of the West by breaking God’s law: Thou shalt not steal. This book tells how free enterprise sets us free of its coils.

HISTORY

                                                                            History

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History is pronounced as His story among Christians. Whether the Battle of Bannockburn, Waterloo or seeming mundane events, everything is in relation to God’s sovereignty. Something seemingly as insignificant as a sparrow falling from a tree or a hair from our head is part of God’s will. It is all part is His story. “For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen” (Rom. 11:36). So, if history were a train, God is the one pushing it from behind, pulling it from the front, as well as being in the train. “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?” (Psa. 139:7). God is everywhere. He is Almighty. He guides the stars on their courses. He guides history.

The Father created creation. The Son redeemed it. And the Spirit sustains, maintains and guides it towards its glorious future. Therefore, history has a purpose, which is “For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’” (2 Cor. 6:16; Lev. 26:11-12; Rev. 21:3). So, His story is about God dwelling in His redeemed creation with His redeemed people in bliss forever. Therefore, Christianity is not a mere speculative philosophy. It is a historical religion, grounded God’s material creation. And, like any good novel or movie, it has a beginning, middle, and ending.

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In eternity past, the Triune God had a plan in which God the Father promised God the Son a beautiful place where He could dwell among a people without number, yes, should He agree to and fulfil the terms and conditions of this everlasting covenant. God the Spirit was the Witness to this promise. The Father promised the Son the Spirit to assist Him. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” (John 1:14a). With God’s plan from eternity in mind, notice the presence of each Person of the Trinity in the following, “When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matt. 3:16-17). “The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8) had a mission. “Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51; Isa. 50:7). The whole Bible records His story. “You search the Scriptures … and these are they which testify of Me” (John 5:39). Thus, God reveals His story to the Christian by two Witnesses, the Spirit working with the Word in the believer’s heart.

Like all good novels, and movies, yes, and even Handel’s Messiah, there are high points and low points throughout His story. The protagonist is Jesus Christ, and the antagonist is the Devil. High point: Jesus’ riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. Low point: Jesus’ being nailed to a cross. High point: His resurrection, subsequent ascension and baptising His Church on earth with the Father pouring out Their Spirit. Why? To guide the train of history to its destination: “Now I saw a new heaven and new earth…” (Rev. 21:1a).

Yes, Jesus is aboard the train of history. The train stops every Sunday to pick up new passengers and let those aboard stretch their legs and their lungs by singing His praise wherever His Gospel is faithfully proclaimed. At what stage of His story are we? “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2b). All aboard?

ABRAHAM FRIEND OF GOD

                                                    ABRAHAM: FRIEND OF GOD

Introduction

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You’ll remember that Abraham had three visitors show up on his doorstep. He is dwelling by the terebinth trees of Mamre when three men happened by. We’ve already discovered that two of these men are angels. But more importantly, we already know that one of the men is the LORD Himself.

The two angels with the LORD were on their way, on foot, to Sodom. However, Abraham acted all friendly toward them and even gave them a hearty lunch. During the course of lunch or just after it, the LORD told the ninety-year-old Sarah that she was going to have a baby to her ninety-nine-year-old husband Abraham. Sarah laughed into herself at this incredible news. Then she lied to the LORD saying that she didn’t laugh.

Anyway, we pick up the story just as the three visitors are leaving. We’re told in Genesis 18:16 that the three men rose from Abraham’s table and “looked toward Sodom.” Literally it says that they “looked on the face of Sodom.”

Now, you’ll remember that Abraham’s nephew Lot lives in Sodom. So, the two angels are leaving Abraham’s place a little after lunchtime, and they will arrive in Sodom in the evening. (One may have expected angels simply to fly to their destination, but they are in appearance as men.) How far did they have to travel? Well, the trouble is that we’re not entirely sure where Sodom is. It was wiped off the map, off the face of the earth! But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

The scene at the moment is that the Abraham is seeing the men on their way. He’s sort of walking them to the end of his driveway kind-of-a-thing. It’s as he’s doing this that the LORD starts to confide in Abraham. We get the impression that the two men, i.e., the two angels walked on ahead.

So, what we’re looking at is the content of the words the LORD spoke to Abraham at this point. I would like us to focus our attention of the words of verse 19 in particular. For this verse tells us that the LORD has made Abraham His friend. But not only that, it tells us the reason why He has made Abraham His friend.

 

For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him. Genesis 18:19.

The general gist of what we’re looking at is: Friends of God obey the Lord and teach others to obey Him too.

Reconciliation

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The LORD has made Abraham His friend. To be God’s “friend” is to have been reconciled to Him. To be reconciled is to be brought back into friendship after estrangement. All mankind became estranged from God when Adam ate the forbidden fruit. But look at the words at the beginning of verse 19, “For I have known him.” Some Bibles have, “For I have chosen him.” But the idea is that of knowing, such as in the LORD saying to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…” (Jer. 1:5a). It’s the type of knowing David expresses in Psalm 139, “O LORD, You have searched me and known me, You know my sitting down and my rising up…” It’s not just the general knowing of an acquaintance. No, this is the intimate knowing of a friend. It’s the type of friendship that has been through hardship together. It’s the type of friendship that can be depended on, relied upon.

What is friendship? My desk dictionary says a friend is One who is personally well known by oneself and for whom one has warm regard or affection; intimate. And friendship is The state or fact of being friends; mutual liking and esteem. So, Abraham is the friend of God. 2 Chron. 20:7 says, “Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?" Isaiah 41:8, “But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham My friend.” James 2:23, “And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ And he was called the friend of God.”

So, why am I labouring the fact that Abraham is the friend of God? Well, it’s so that you will now be able to see the way the LORD treated His friend Abraham. There was a mutual liking and esteem between the LORD and Abraham His friend. In verse 17 it says, “And the LORD said, ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing…?” Friends don’t keep big secrets from each other; they share what they’re doing.

David says in Psalm 25:14, “The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant.” Abraham and all the males in his whole household, hundreds of them, have just had the sign and seal of God’s covenant etched into the most intimate part of their bodies. As you or I might carve our name into the bark of a tree with a knife, so the LORD has carved His name into Abraham’s generative organ. Not only does this mark, this sign and seal of the covenant, this circumcision, speak of generation, but it speaks of re-generation. That’s why the LORD is saying in verses 17 and 18, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?”

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        I ask you, what kind of blessing would Abraham be to all the nations of the earth if all the nations of the earth are going to Hell in a hand basket? How then are all the nations of the earth going to be blessed in Abraham the friend of God? This blessing of Abraham must mean that the nations are going to be reconciled to God. What else can blessing mean but reconciliation with God? To be sure, it also of necessity must mean regeneration, for reconciliation and regeneration go hand in hand. Like love and marriage, you can’t have one without the other!

So, when the LORD says to Abraham, “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:3b), He is saying that all the nations will be reconciled to God. It’s hard to miss the idea of the reconciliation between God and all the nations if you look at Jesus Christ. The LORD is sharing this secret with His friend Abraham. Abraham is being told the secret of the everlasting gospel, that through Abraham’s greater Son, i.e., Jesus Christ, all the nations (in time) will be blessed through the gospel “ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18). The promised Christ, who will have all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt, 28:18), will ensure this. Pauls speaks of the fulfilment of this gospel promise in Romans 16 where he says,

 

Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith—to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. Romans 16:25-27).

Therefore, the secret that God shared with Abraham was the gospel, that God was going to reconcile the nations to Himself through Abraham’s descendant, that they would believe in Him, (i.e., Jesus Christ), and become obedient. The shorthand way of saying all this is that in Abraham “all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:3b).

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The Abrahamic blessing begins to blossom and bear fruit in Jesus Christ. If you own fruit trees, you’ll know that all the fruit on your trees began as blossoms. The dead and leafless winter tree begins to bud and leaf in spring. Then comes the blossoms, then comes the fruit of blessing. That’s the way it is for with the blessing of Abraham. Before the coming of the Messiah promised to Abraham the earth was dead and leafless. Like a tree in winter. Then came Christ, and the earth began to blossom and produce fruit. First, at Jerusalem, then among the Samaritans, and now continuing among the nations.

All Christians know that we are blessed in Abraham’s Promised Seed who is the Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:16). We know that it is through His life, death, and death-conquering resurrection that all nations are to be blessed. The Gospel is the message of reconciliation. It’s the message that God and sinners have been reconciled in Jesus Christ.

But how does the blessing of Abraham that we hear about in the Gospel come upon the nations or the Gentiles? Well, the nations are to be blessed by the out-pouring out of His Spirit upon all nations. Paul the Apostle, says in Galatians 3:14 that Christ died “that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” That word “Gentiles” speaks of all nations. Therefore, the blessings of God’s covenant with father Abraham are to be poured upon all the Gentiles, i.e., all the nations. O Palmer Robertson clears up some of the misunderstandings regarding the use of the English word Gentiles as used in most Bibles:

          "Substituting “nations” or “all nations” or “peoples from all nations” for “Gentiles” provides a much more illuminating reading appropriate to the expansive perspective of the Christian gospel. Indeed, some passages would present a translation challenge. But the consistent substitution of “nations” for “Gentiles” throughout the New Testament could have a significant impact on the communication of the universalistic character of the new covenant gospel and could provide a powerful impetus for evangelism and missionary endeavours. The book of Revelation climaxes in the biblical concept of “nations” and “peoples.” Seven times over, Revelation joins together references to every tribe, tongue, people, and nation as those who share the blessings of the redeemed by Christ (Rev. 5:9; 7:9; 10:11; 11:9; 13:7; 14:6; 17:15). How out of place it would sound to substitute “Gentile” for “nation” in these climactic contexts. “Every tribe, tongue, people, and Gentile” shall praise Him?"^[1]

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These covenanted blessings, as every reader of the New Testament knows, were poured out like rain from heaven by the ascended Jesus Christ. In Acts 1:4-5 Jesus commanded His disciples “Not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father…” What is the “Promise of the Father”? Acts 1:5, “for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So, the blessing of Abraham comes through the outpouring of the ‘Promise of the Father’ a.k.a. the Holy Spirit. As the LORD’s Prophet Isaiah says, “So He shall sprinkle many nations…” Isa. 53:15. Sprinkle many nations with what? With the Promise of the Father, i.e., with the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:16&17, “But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘It shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour My Spirit on all flesh…’”

Who are the “all flesh” to be baptized by the outpouring of the Promised Blessing? “All flesh” is both Jew and Gentile, i.e., all nations! Therefore, don’t miss the magnitude of what the LORD is saying to Abraham in Genesis 18:18. Do you see it? “Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him.” The LORD is saying, “How can I hide what I’m doing on the earth from Abraham. “How can I keep it from him since I’ve already told him that he would be a blessing to all the nations of the earth?” In other words, “Abraham, I’m doing what I’m doing on the earth for the sake of My promise to you, for the sake of My covenant with you.”

So, with this in mind, the words of verse 19 begin to make even more sense. Why has the LORD made Abraham His friend? Well, it’s so that Abraham may command his children and his household after him. Command his household and children after to do what? So that he will command them to keep the way of the LORD. And what is the way of the LORD? The way of the LORD is to do righteousness and justice. The way of the LORD is to do what is right in the LORD’s eyes and to deal justly with others. And why should Abraham’s children and his household do righteousness and justice? Well, it’s so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him. And what has the LORD spoken to Abraham? He has promised that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation and that all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him!

In a word: The LORD is saying to Abraham that righteousness and justice will prevail upon the earth. So, we ask the question: How can righteousness and justice prevail on the earth if there is no regeneration?

 

Regeneration

Righteousness and justice will prevail upon the earth because Abraham and his children and his household after him will keep the way of the LORD. The household of Abraham, i.e., the true Church on earth, has been reconciled to God. The true Church is the bride of Christ, is she not? For the Church to be reconciliated she must also be regenerated. That’s what faith is all about, isn’t it?

Faith without works is dead, i.e., unregenerated. A people without works of righteousness and justice is a dead people. But the household of Abraham is not dead because God by His grace has regenerated her. Psalm 1:6 sums it all up, “For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly will perish.” The LORD intimately knows the way of the righteous. He is the friend of the way of the righteous. “Abraham believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness” (Gen. 15:6).

Abraham is walking in the way of the LORD because God brought Him back to life. And so will his children and household, even the Church after him, walk in the way of the LORD. They’ll walk in the way of the LORD because the LORD has made the promise to Abraham that He will regenerate them. For that’s what the LORD is saying when He says “Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation.” For how can Abraham be a great a mighty nation if his people remain dead in their trespasses and sins? So wherever and whenever the Church on earth keeps the way of the LORD, whenever she deals in righteousness and justice, the nation she is in is blessed! “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Prov 14:34). So, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matt. 5:6).

But what shall become of those who do not hunger and thirst for righteousness? But what about those who dwell in the reproach and disgrace of sin? “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?” (Gen. 18:17). “The way of the ungodly will perish” (Psa. 1:6b).

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“And the LORD said, ‘Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know” (Gen. 18:20-21). Where it says their sin is very grievous it says literally their sin is very “heavy.” So, the LORD is informing Abraham that He is going to weigh Sodom in the balances. Sodom and Gomorrah are tipping the scales, their sin is weighing them down. They are sinking further into the pit. Hades, the grave, the ground is about to swallow them up!

So, we see a contrast going on in this passage of Scripture. We see that there are blessings promised for obedience to God. And we see that there are curses threatened for disobedience. The household of Abraham is obedient and therefore are exalted by the LORD. Whereas the cities of the Plain, even Sodom and Gomorrah, are disobedient. And since sin is a reproach for any people, they are therefore ready to be torn down like any den of iniquity, like an old and dilapidated tenement building. But don’t miss the point of the LORD’s telling Abraham what He is setting out to do.

We’ll look into it in more depth up ahead, but Abraham intercedes on behalf of any of the righteous persons who might be in Sodom and Gomorrah. This alerts us to the fact that the LORD will stay the hand of destruction for the sake of the righteous. So, what we’re seeing here today then is the fact that righteousness is a preservative. Righteousness is a preservative in the sense it prevents the death and decay of any society.

Abraham’s household, by the grace of God keeps the way of the LORD. His household does righteousness and justice. What does Sodom and Gomorrah do? Well, the LORD is going to see whether they have done according to the outcry against it (18:21).

So, let’s put all the pieces together. We have seen that Abraham is the friend of God. We have seen that God has made Abraham His friend so that Abraham will teach his children and his household after him to observe the things the LORD has commanded. We considered the fact that we need the Holy Spirit before we are able to truly observe all the things the LORD has commanded us. But what happens when Abraham’s household observes everything they have been taught to observe? Well, it means that the LORD will bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.

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        So, with these things in mind let’s try to see how we fit into the grand scheme. Here are a couple of verses from the New Testament so that we won’t misunderstand who and what we are. “Therefore know that only those who are faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the nations by faith, preached the gospel beforehand, saying, ‘In you all the nations shall be blessed.’ So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham” (Gal. 3:7-9).

We are blessed with believing Abraham through faith. Abraham believed in God and what He had promised. This faith was accounted to him for righteousness (Gen. 15:3; Gal. 3:6). Therefore, the righteousness that preserves from destruction and judgment is received by faith. The Gospel reveals this righteousness. “For in the Gospel the righteousness of God is revealed…” (Rom. 1:17a).

So we see then that Abraham was to teach his children, his whole household after him, to keep the faith (Gen. 18:19). This is guaranteed now that the Lord has come. For Jesus Christ says: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you…”

So, the nations are to be discipled. The nations are to be baptized in the name of the triune God. And the nations are to be taught to observe the way of the LORD. Who is to do this discipling, baptizing, and teaching of the nations? Well, it’s Abraham’s children and his household after Him. And who is going to stop Abraham’s household when not even the gates of Hades will prevail against it? (Matt. 16:18).

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        The Promise is that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations should be blessed in him. The Apostle Peter calls Abraham’s household, the Church “a holy nation” (1 Pet. 2:9). Therefore, Abraham’s household becomes greater and mightier the more the church expands throughout all the earth. The more the Church expands through the proclamation of the blessings of Abraham, even the Good News, the more people do righteousness and justice. The more the nations do righteousness and justice the more exalted the nations become. The more exalted the nations become the more they are blessed along with father Abraham. To observe the way of the LORD is to hunger and thirst after righteousness. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matt. 5:6). To be filled is to receive the Holy Spirit in abundance. To reject the way of the LORD is to quench the Spirit and set yourself up for destruction like Sodom and Gomorrah.

We have seen that Abraham is the friend of God. To be a friend of God is to have been reconciled to God. To be reconciled to God is to be regenerated by the Spirit of God. The Gospel is the Good News of the reconciliation between God and men. Those who do righteousness and justice, which is to say that those who keep the way of the LORD, show that they have been reconciled and regenerated.

The fruit of the Gospel can be seen in men striving to keep God’s Law out of gratitude. A person filled with gratitude to the LORD is a happy person, a blessed person. A nation filled with gratitude to the LORD is a happy nation, a blessed nation. Therefore, may all the nations become filled to overflowing with gratitude to the LORD! For it is through this national gratitude to the LORD that Abraham receives what God has promised him.

 

Conclusion

God confided in Abraham; He treated Abraham as His friend. Jesus says to His disciples, i.e., those who are being taught by Him, “You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you” (John 15:14-15).

So, make no mistake, God made known to Abraham what He was doing on the earth. He promised Abraham that all the nations will be blessed in him. When or how the LORD will be pleased to bring this fully to pass is His business. But we should remember that Friends of God obey the Lord and teach others to obey Him too. Also that faithful obedience to God is what brings the blessing, yes, even the blessing Abraham!

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[1] O Palmer Robertson, Israel and the Nations in God’s Covenants, (Waters, Reid, and Muether, Covenant Theology: Biblical, Theological, and Historical Perspectives, Crossway, Wheaton, Illinois, 2020), 516.