Acrobats, Dads, swimming and new skills

It is important for people to abandon their trust in their riches and come to Christ but it is not impossible for God to save them. He can change a man, he can transform him. Think of Saul of Tarsus. Our hearts are in his hands. The things impossible with men are possible with God! By his grace he can transform even the most hopeless case. All that is required is to despair of self and to look only to him. That is what counts.

Have you ever seen acrobats at the circus? Learning to be an acrobat is partly about the need to learn to rely totally on your partner.

I heard a story of a man and his son who went out into the countryside one day to climb in the cliffs. The man tells how suddenly he heard a voice from above him yelling "Hey Dad! Catch me!" He says

I turned around to see Zac joyfully jumping off a rock straight at me. He had jumped and then yelled "Hey Dad!" I became an instant circus act, catching him. We both fell to the ground. For a moment after I caught him I could hardly talk.

When I found my voice again I gasped in exasperation: "Zac! Can you give me one good reason why you did that???"

He responded with remarkable calmness: "Sure ... because you're my Dad." His whole assurance was based in the fact that his father was trustworthy. He could live life to the hilt because I could be trusted.

If we only see that God can be trusted then we will trust in him.

Or think of swimming. You know that to swim you have to trust that the water will keep you up. Some find that easy but some find it difficult to believe. My father was a keen swimmer and most of his friends enjoyed swimming as teenagers. He had one friend, however, who never could swim until he made a trip to the Dead Sea and learned there. As you know, the Dead Sea is very salty and so it is easier to swim there because the water really does hold you up as will any body of water to some extent. God will certainly uphold you if you will simply trust him.

To gain any new skill you need to listen to what the instructor says - the piano teacher or the football coach or whatever. If you do what the Lord says you can come to faith.

God alone can change you - you can’t change yourself. So look to him alone. The question is not ‘Am I elect?’ but ‘Am I relying entirely and only on Jesus?’ One reason why poor people and children often seem more ready to come to Christ is that they have so little to lose. Of course, some who are rich are saved. part of the reason is that they learn not to rely on their wealth.

The monkey and the banana

Is there something keeping you out of the kingdom? Anything that keeps you from trust in Jesus can be a danger. Think of the way in. While a camel remains a camel there is no way in. So you, if you are not a believer - as you are, by nature, there is no way in.

You know how traditionally they used to catch monkeys. You put a banana in a cage with a hole large enough for the monkey's hand to fit in, but not large enough for the monkey's fist to come out while it is still clutching the banana. The monkey lacks the intellect to let go of the banana and run away. It would be wiser to let go of the banana and live. In a similar way we need to let go of it all. It is impossible to do that in our own strength. That is why we must say that conversion is impossible with man. Anyone who thinks otherwise is foolish. We can’t widen the gate or slim down! That is impossible. Until we see that, we see nothing. Have you realised the impossibility of your being saved? There are too many sins, too many things wrong, we just won’t fit. And yet we must. Too many think - of course I’m okay. You are not.

Camel and the eye of a needle

In Matthew 19:23-26 Jesus is not talking about camels coming through gates into cities or cables rather than camels as some suggest.

Rather, Jesus is saying ‘Think of the smallest hole you can - a small city gate? Smaller. A fox hole? Smaller. A fishing net gap? Smaller. A roof leak? Smaller. The eye of needle? Yes! Think of that as the gate into the kingdom.

Then think of a common large animal. A cat? Bigger. A dog? Bigger. A lion? Bigger. A cow? Bigger. A camel? Yes. (Why not an elephant? Jesus is speaking to the poor and they may not have heard of an elephant.) Think of that as a person who is rich.

Now imagine trying to get a great big camel into a tiny needle eye. You know how difficult it is to get thread in the eye of a needle; a camel is ridiculous. There is humour here, of course! By nature rich people cannot get into the kingdom, they cannot become Christians. The problem is not the riches themselves but the tendency to hold on to their riches and rely on them. We are not thinking simply, of course, of the materially wealthy. Money and possessions are not the only things that people rely on. You can be rich in other ways: you can be clever, popular, talented. They can all keep you out if you are not careful.

The Scottish Method

One of the things that all faithful preachers must speak about is sin. It must be done faithfully but carefully. In his 1969 work The Homiletical Innovations of Andrew W. Blackwood (Studies in Preaching; No. 3) the pastoral theologian Jay E. Adams says that the homiletician Blackwood (1882-1966) advocated the use of the Scottish method in this area. That is to say, you preach against your own sins with the hope that even where people are not tempted in the same way as you they see how they can make a similar application to themselves.

I have heard many preachers do this well. Clearly, if you are tempted to murder your kids or run off with the woman next door, best to confess that to the Lord and say no more about it. What you want is a sin or temptation that exposes our shallow and wicked nature but that is easily forgiven by most.

So for example, I heard an American preacher once describing how now that the children have grown up and left the nest he and his wife like from time to time to lay in bed watching TV or something of that sort. He will be sent downstairs for ice cream at some point further enhancing the evening's enjoyment. He then describes how, having filled two bowls he spend the time ascending the stairs carefully weighing up which might be the bigger of the two so he can give the other to his spouse. I think that is a neat way of exposing the greed that lurks in his own heart and in yours and mine too, no doubt.

Another time I heard a minister from the North of England describe how on a hospital visit, as he left the car park, he managed to bump another car. Quite candidly, he described how he seriously considered for some moments simply driving off and saying nothing. But how could he? And so he began to frame a note to put on the car he had hit. Again it is an identifiable way of exposing the selfishness and the lack of love that lurks in all our hearts. May be you would never dream of not owning up but no doubt there are other areas where you would be tempted not to do the right thing.

A third example would be an older Englishman who has ministered all his life in Scotland. I remember him describing how he has set there writing a letter to a grand child and in his head he has congratulated himself on how wonderful he is writing to the child such a wonderful spiritual letter. Again, it makes the speaker look a little silly and exposes his pride and self-regard - something we all share in common.

Each preacher has to think of his own example. The one that comes most forcefully to my mind in this area is the way on a Sunday we will be singing a hymn I have chosen and I will notice how well some of the words fit with what has been preached or is about to be preached, even though I did not choose the hymn for that reason. I imagine others in the congregation thinking "Oh, he's worked so hard on this and found such appropriate words." In truth, I doubt if anyone is thinking such a thing. It still exposes my pride and my willingness to take credit where no credit is due. It is a good example to take as it self-mocks and points to the foolishness and wickedness that lies in all our hearts.

Amazing Rescues

In church history amazing stories are found. God rescues his servants – sometimes in the nick of time. In his Mystery of Providence John Flavel (c 1627-1691) gives several examples.

• There are the Protestants besieged in Beziers, France, delivered because a drunken drummer went to his quarters at midnight and rang the town alarm-bell, not knowing what he was doing, at just the moment when the Protestants were about to be attacked. 
• There is the spider that weaves its web over the mouth of an oven just after little Pierre Du Moulin (1568-1658) had hidden in there during the 1572 St Bartholomew Day massacre in Paris, creating the impression that no-one had been near that door in a while. 
• Flavel also mentions Pierre Merlin (1503-1633), chaplain to Admiral Coligny, who was sustained for many days at a time by a hen that daily lodged an egg in the place where he had hid himself from his cut-throat pursuers.

We can add these

• A rather offbeat story is that of Bernard Gilpin (1517-1583) who, in the time of Queen Mary, despite his strong Protestant sympathies, was minister of Houghton-le-Spring, in the North East of England. His enemies eventually complained to Bonner the Bishop of London and a royal warrant was secured for his apprehension. He prepared for martyrdon in London, requesting his house-steward to provide him with a long garment suitable for him to wear to the stake. However, on the way to London he fell from his horse and broke his leg. This delayed his journey south and before he got to London, the news came that Mary had died. He at once returned to Houghton-le-Spring, where he continued to labour for years to come.
• The Scottish missionary to the New Hebrides, now Vanuatu, John G Paton (1824-1907) wrote of more than one instance when he was in mortal danger but escaped with his life. Once he woke to find his house surrounded by armed men intent on killing him. He knelt and made his final prayer but went out to reason with them. “At last” he says “some of the Chiefs, who had attended the Worship, rose and said 'Our conduct has been bad; but now we will fight for you, and kill all those who hate you.'" Another time, a man ran at him with an axe but he was defended by a Kaserumini Chief who snatched the spade Paton was working with and defended him. Another time a native called Ian summoned him to his sickbed. As Paton leaned over him, he pulled a dagger and held it to Paton’s heart. Again, he thought his time had come but Ian suddenly wheeled the knife around and thrust it into the sugar cane leaf. “Go, go quickly!” he said. Paton ran for his life the four miles back to the Mission House, “faint, yet praising God for such a deliverance”.
• A more modern example would perhaps be Hassan Dehqani-Tafti (1920-2008) of Iran. In November 1979 two gunmen entered his bedroom. Four shots were fired that narrowly missed him. His wife Margaret preserved the pillowcase with its four bullet holes as a reminder of the deliverance. A fifth shot passed through her hand as she flung herself across her husband's body to protect him.

Persecution and martyrdom

Somewhere near St John's Wood I think it was that some 40 gathered for worship. The meeting was interrupted and 27 were brought before Sir Roger Cholmly. Some women managed to escape but 22 were committed to Newgate and remained there seven weeks. The jail keeper explained to them all they needed to do to be released was to hear mass but this they could not do, so 13 were burnt, seven in Smithfield and six at Brentford (two others died in prison, the other seven survived). The seven who died in Smithfield were called Pond, Estland, Southam, Ricarby, Floyd, Holiday and Roger Holland. They were sent to Newgate, June 16 1558 and executed June 27.

Roger Holland, a merchant-tailor of London, was first an apprentice with one Master Kemption, at the Black Boy in Watling Street, giving himself to dancing, fencing, gaming, banqueting and wanton company. He had received for his master certain money, to the sum of £30 and lost it all at dice. This set him on escaping to the continent.

He shared this with a fellow servant in the house, Elizabeth, a believer. She had recently inherited a legacy and so she gave him £30 to cover the losses on condition that he reformed his way of life and come and hear the gospel preached and read the Bible, calling on God for grace in prayer.

Within six months Holland had become a zealous Christian and was used in the conversion of his father and others when he visited Lancashire. His father gave him £40 to start a business in London. He used this to repay Elizabeth and shortly after the two were married. It was the first year of Queen Mary. He was not martyred until the sixth and final year of her reign. He was among the last to die in Smithfield.

Psalm 129 and Ploughing furrows

In agriculture it is good to get the seed deep into the ground if it is going to flourish and initially people would use hoes to create holes in the ground into which the seed could be scattered. Early on it was realised that a more efficient method is to create a furrow in the ground, an extended hole, a sort of trench. This is done with a plough. Here the psalmist says it is as if the enemies of God's people have been ploughing furrows into the backs of the people. He says that the furrows are long because it has been going on a long time - from the slavery of Egypt to the opposition of the Canannnites and especially the Philistines through to - and we do not know when this psalm was written - the carrying off of the people of the northern kingdom by the Assyrians and then the southern kingdom by the Babylonians.