Deu 22:13-21 13 “Suppose a man marries a woman, but after sleeping with her, he turns against her  14 and publicly accuses her of shameful conduct, saying, ‘When I married this woman, I discovered she was not a virgin.’  15 Then the woman’s father and mother must bring the proof of her virginity to the elders as they hold court at the town gate.  16 Her father must say to them, ‘I gave my daughter to this man to be his wife, and now he has turned against her.  17 He has accused her of shameful conduct, saying, “I discovered that your daughter was not a virgin.” But here is the proof of my daughter’s virginity.’ Then they must spread her bed sheet before the elders [apparently it was customary for the parents of the bride to receive the bed sheet after the wedding night].  18 The elders must then take the man and punish him.  19 They must also fine him 100 pieces of silver, which he must pay to the woman’s father because he publicly accused a virgin of Israel of shameful conduct. The woman will then remain the man’s wife, and he may never divorce her.  20 “But suppose the man’s accusations are true, and he can show that she was not a virgin.  21 The woman must be taken to the door of her father’s home, and there the men of the town must stone her to death, for she has committed a disgraceful crime in Israel by being promiscuous while living in her parents’ home. In this way, you will purge this evil from among you.” (New Living Translation)

Like many passages from the Bible, this one appears more difficult and harsh than it actually is, when one considers the engagement and marriage process of the time. First, most (if not all) marriages were arranged by the parents (this practice is still followed in some cultures today, and while often criticized, actually results in longer lasting marriages – most parents have the necessary experience to do a better job of selecting a spouse for their child than the child can; see current divorce rates as proof). Second, even though the marriages were arranged, the prospective bride and groom were not shut out of the process. Their opinion of their future spouse was a big factor in the decision (see Genesis 24:57-58, where Rebekah is asked if she will agree to go with Abraham’s servant to marry Isaac). In other words, just because a marriage was “arranged” doesn’t mean young people were forced into marriages they didn’t want to be in. Of course loving parents would always consider the wishes of their children in such matters.

Given the facts above, in order for the stoning penalty in Deuteronomy 22:21 to be applied, several things had to happen:

1. The bride must have lost her virginity before marriage.
2. The bride must have lied about her promiscuity, since the penalty only kicked in if the husband was unaware that she was no longer a virgin. This is a key point: for    the penalty to kick in, we must assume that a bride would knowingly mislead her husband about the status of her virginity, even though she risked death by doing so!
3. The parents, who presumably loved their daughter, must have chosen a husband for her who was actually psychologically capable of having her stoned to death. Would any loving parent do this?
4. The parents must have been ignorant of her lack of virginity, since no loving parent would risk the penalty.
5. The bride must have agreed to marry a man capable of stoning her to death. Would any woman do this?
6. The groom must have agreed to marry a woman that he cared so little for that he was willing to stone her simply because she was not a virgin. This begs the question: if he cared so little for her, why did he agree to marry her in the first place?
7. The groom must have been ignorant of the fact that she was not a virgin, since if she had disclosed the fact ahead of time the penalty did not apply.
8. Polygamy was a common practice of the day, so what would compel a man to kill a woman, even if he wasn’t completely satisfied with her, when he didn’t have to? Why not just marry someone else?
9. No one could receive the death penalty without at least two or three witnesses (Deuteronomy 17:6). How, exactly, could a new husband produce two or three witnesses? He would have to produce men who admitted to having intercourse with the woman. But then the witness would put himself at risk, since having intercourse with a woman who was engaged to someone else carried the death penalty as well (Deuteronomy 22:23-24), and it would be difficult, if not impossible, to prove exactly when the union took place. Thus, it is extremely unlikely that even a second witness could ever be produced, much less a third.

Given all of these factors, it is easy to see that it was extremely unlikely that a young woman would ever be punished in this manner. In fact, it’s questionable as to whether the penalty was ever applied at all, even a single time. Incidentally, according to the Jewish Mishnah, one execution every seven years, for any reason, was considered too frequent and a Sanhedrin (court) that applied the death penalty more often was said to be too “bloody.” Later scribes increased that to seventy years – and this includes murders, rapes, etc. In other words, a court that sentenced someone to death more often than once in seventy years was considered too bloody.

Since it is doubtful anyone ever suffered the death penalty under this law, then what could possibly be the purpose of the law? Why institute a law for which a penalty would likely never be applied? Herein lies the genius of the law: in one fell swoop, God’s instructions to Moses accomplished several important tasks:

1. It impressed upon young people the importance of chastity until marriage.
2. It impressed upon young people the importance of openness and honesty with parents. After all, lying to your parents about promiscuity could result in death.
3. It impressed upon parents the importance of openness and honesty with their children. No parent wanted this punishment for his or her child, and would certainly make a strong effort to communicate as a consequence.
4. It impressed upon parents the importance of finding a loving husband for their daughter, one who would love her regardless of the status of her virginity.
5. It impressed upon young ladies the seriousness of their opinion in the selection process.
6. It impressed upon young men and women the importance of communication with their prospective spouses, and the importance (to a young man) of agreeing to marry someone he could love no matter what the status of her virginity.

In retrospect, we can see that a law that appears to us to be barbaric in fact helped forge a religion, culture, family structure, and a people (the Jews) that has withstood thousands of years of persecution and every attempt to dilute or destroy it.

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9, KJV)

Because so much of what he said was misleading and flat out untrue, I felt compelled to answer it and have done so below. I’ve included as much of the transcript of his remarks as I could locate online, and inserted my own comments in bold. As you read this, remember that the speaker is addressing high school students:

Mr. Savage: “The Bible, we’ll just talk about the Bible for a second ah. People often point out that they can’t help it – they can’t help with the anti-gay bullying, because it says right there in Leviticus, it says right there in Timothy, it says right there in Romans, that being gay is wrong. We can learn to ignore the bulls**t in the Bible about gay people. [applause] The same way, the same way we have learned to ignore the bulls**t in the Bible about shellfish, about slavery, about dinner, about farming, about menstruation, about virginity, about ************. [applause] We ignore bulls**t in the Bible about all sorts of things. The Bible is a radically pro-slavery document…

My comments: This is false – because the same word is used for “servant” and “slave” and because there is no word in the Bible for “employee” many people confuse the three. Often when the Bible is speaking of a “servant” it is referring to an “employee,” not a slave. Also, the “slavery” practiced in the Bible was almost always indentured servanthood, where a person could work off a debt. In Biblical times there was no such thing as bankruptcy; an indebted individual either paid the debt, had it forgiven, worked it off, or went to prison.

Mr. Savage: Slave owners waved Bibles over their heads during the Civil War and justified it.

My comments: Maybe, but people have wrongly used the Bible to justify a lot of things.

Mr. Savage:  The shortest book in the New Testament is a letter from Paul to a Christian slave owner about owning his Christian slave.

My comments: The book to which Mr. Savage refers is Paul’s letter to Philemon, which he writes on behalf of Onesimus, a servant (probably indentured) who owed Philemon a debt and is now with Paul. How he ended up with Paul, we do not know. First, there is no mention of when he belonged to Philemon, so Philemon may have owned Onesimus before he (Philemon) became a Christian. Second, we do not know for certain the nature of their relationship (for example, was Onesimus an indentured servant working off a debt, or a true slave?), but it appears from verse 18 that he was not a true slave but an indentured servant because he appeared to owe Philemon money. Third, Paul refers to Onesimus as “one of you” in Colossians 4:9, emphasizing his conviction that Onesimus was an equal. Fourth, Paul opens the letter to Philemon by calling himself a prisoner to drive home the point that he is no better than the servant about whom he is writing. Five times in 25 verses he mentions his own bondage to emphasize the fact that he, too, is a prisoner. Fifth, Paul apparently has convinced Onesimus that returning to Philemon is the Christian thing to do (which, if a debt was owed, would be his legal and moral obligation under the law at the time). Sixth, and most important, a fact that Mr. Savage ignores is that Paul tells Philemon to receive Onesimus, not as a servant, but as a brother (v. 16). This verse alone completely invalidates Mr. Savage’s point about Philemon.

Mr. Savage: And Paul doesn’t say “Christians don’t own people.”

My comments: Actually, he does, in Galatians 3:26-28:

Gal 3:26-28 26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.  27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.  28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

Mr. Savage: Paul talks about how Christians own people.

My comments: Again, Mr. Savage demonstrates his ignorance of the Bible by making a statement that is simply untrue, all while talking to high school students who, unfortunately, are even more ignorant than he is.

Mr. Savage: We ignore what the Bible says about slavery, because the Bible got slavery wrong [no, it didn’t]. Tim — ah, Sam Harris, in A Letter To A Christian Nation, points out that the Bible got the easiest moral question that humanity has ever faced wrong. Slavery! What’re the odds that the Bible got something as complicated as human sexuality wrong? 100% percent.
The Bible says that if your daughter’s not a virgin on her wedding night – if a woman isn’t a virgin on her wedding night, she shall be dragged to her father’s doorstep and stoned to death.

My comments: Wrong again – he is referring to Deuteronomy 22:13-21, which I will address in Part II of this  commentary.

Mr. Savage:  Callista Gingrich lives. [applause] And there is no effort to amend state constitutions to make it legal to stone women to death on their wedding night if they’re not virgins. At least not yet. We don’t know where the GOP is going these days. [audience laughs] People are dying because people can’t clear this one last hurdle. They can’t get past this one last thing in the Bible about homosexuality, um. One other thing I wanna talk about is — [chuckles] — so, you can tell the Bible guys in the hall that they can come back now, because I’m done beating up the Bible. [applause] It’s funny, as someone who’s on the receiving end of beatings that are justified by the Bible, how pansy-a**ed some people react when you push back. [applause]

My comments: As you can see, Mr. Savage’s remarks vis a vis Paul’s letter to Philemon are grossly inaccurate and misleading. In Part II I will address his points concerning the passage in Deuteronomy.

While we frequently hear warnings of the dangers of temptations, it will not ultimately be your temptations that destroy you, because God understands temptation. It will not ultimately be your sin that destroys you, because all have sinned. No, it won’t be your temptation or sin that dooms you; it will be your attitude.

Satan had the first bad attitude and was cast out of heaven along with his followers. Ever since then, God has had a hatred for bad attitudes. All throughout the Bible we find mercy extended to people who struggled, for those who were tempted and fell to that temptation. We find mercy extended over and over again for sinners. Jesus never rebuked or condemned the common sinner who came to him seeking mercy or forgiveness; He forgave the woman caught in adultery, forgave the harlot who washed His feet, forgave the publican who climbed a tree to see Him. No, Jesus directed the full force of his wrath at the religious people with rotten attitudes. On the outside they appeared righteous, but they were rotten in their core. They had a holiness after the manner of men, but not according to God.

Mat 15:7-8 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

Their actions appeared righteous, but their attitudes were not right.

Mat 23:27-28 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. 28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

Of the seven things that God hates in the sixth chapter of Proverbs, at least five are directly related to attitude. He lists a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, feet swift to run to mischief, a heart that devises wicked imaginations, a false witness, and he that soweth discord among the brethren.

We are all human and make mistakes. We are all tempted. We all fail from time to time. Sometimes, we sin. The difference between those who succeed in God’s kingdom and those who fail is not mistakes or failures or sin; it is attitude. Attitudes make all the difference.

Psa 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

The thief on the cross was saved, while many religious leaders of his day rejected Jesus and died lost. The only difference? His attitude:

Luke 23:42-43 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. 43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

Attitude enabled the woman with the issue of blood to press through the crowd and touch the hem of His garment. Attitude enabled the Syrophonecian woman to brush aside the objections of Jesus’ disciples and His own rebuke of her to receive healing for her daughter.

Mat 15:26-28 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and cast it to dogs. 27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. 28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

I love my children, and have no desire to hurt them or to punish them. Sometimes I punish them because it is necessary, not because I enjoy it. Likewise, God loves His children, and He wants to forgive:

2 Sam 14:14 For we must needs die, and are as water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.

It is almost impossible to recover water spilled on the ground, yet God makes a way to redeem us

Ezek 33:11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

Ultimately, if you die lost it won’t be your sin, your doubt, or your lack of faith that dooms you, for God understands all of these things. It will be your attitude. Will you surrender to Him today?

Mat 26:36-38 36 Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. 37 And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. 38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.

Mat 26:56-58 56 Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled. 57 And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. 58 But Peter followed him afar off unto the high priest’s palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end.

Mat 26:69-75 69 Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. 70 But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. 71 And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. 72 And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. 73 And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee. 74 Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. 75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.

For someone who wrote more of the NT than any writer other than Paul, 1/6 of the total, we know precious little about John. He was the brother of James, the two sons of Zebedee; Jesus nicknamed them the sons of thunder. James and John were the two disciples who saw someone casting out devils in Jesus’ name and ordered him to stop because he wasn’t following Jesus. Jesus rebuked James and John, and said, “if he isn’t against me, he’s with me.” On another occasion they thought a certain village was disrespectful to Jesus, and offered to call down fire from heaven and consume the village. On still another occasion they asked to be seated on Jesus’ right and left in heaven. The other disciples were greatly offended at the hubris, the forwardness, of James and John.

In spite of their impetuousness, Jesus took a liking to James and John, and they became part of what we refer to today as His “inner circle:” Peter, James, and John. These three, the inner circle of Peter, James, and John, were the only three with Jesus when He was transfigured on the mountain. They were the only ones he took to the house of Jairus when he healed Jairus’ daughter. Those three and Andrew, Peter’s brother, were the only ones to whom Jesus taught the endtime in the 13th chapter of Mark. But most important of all, it was just Peter, James, and John that Jesus took into the Garden of Gethsemane when he prayed before going to the cross. What a privilege to be asked to pray with Jesus!

After Calvary, something changed in John. The cockiness, the arrogance, was replaced with humility. John never mentions his own name in his Gospel or his letters to the church. He mentions love with three times the frequency of other NT writers. Throughout his writings there is a heavy emphasis on what he saw, and what he heard; as the last apostle to die, the last eyewitness to Jesus’ ministry, death, and resurrection, his testimony as an eyewitness was crucial to the Church. Already during his time there had arisen religious groups claiming that Jesus didn’t really die. In response, John opens his epistles with these words:

1 John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; 2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you…

Peter could lay claim to having seen the risen Lord. Paul had seen Him in a vision. But only John could say “I saw him on the cross. I saw him die.” John, more than any disciple, could speak of the things which “I have seen, which I have handled.” John opens the Book of Revelation as follows:

Revelation 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: 2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.

Yes, something about the cross changed John. When John found himself exiled alone to the desert island of Patmos, the arrogant, spoiled son of thunder who asked to sit at Jesus’ right hand would have complained, but the John who had been to the cross said, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.”

John through the Spirit coined some of the great NT phrases we take for granted today. It was John who looked at the Greek alphabet and saw a type of Christ in the beginning and ending letters, and wrote of Jesus, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”

When you visit the cross it will change you. John was the only disciple of the twelve who actually went as far as the cross; our scripture text tells us the others forsook Jesus when the heat was on. Peter followed from a distance to see what would happen, but when he was confronted about his relationship with Jesus, he denied the Lord three times. There was a grave risk in following Jesus to the cross, and eleven disciples chose not to take the risk. We can understand the fear of the eleven; we can understand even the love of Mary that drove her to walk all the way to the cross. After all, it is true that it was God manifest in the flesh hanging on the cross, but to her, it was her baby, her boy. So we can understand a mother who would take the risk of going all the way to the cross. But what drove John to risk his life to get to a dying Jesus?

So it can be said that because John was the only disciple present when Jesus died, John had a different perspective from the others. There are four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and none of the others is like John’s. The other three gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) are called the synoptic gospels because of their similarities, but John’s is unique.

Yes, the cross touched John in a way it touched no one else. John didn’t have the fire of Peter – Peter was perfectly suited to preach the Pentecostal message; he was the charismatic loud mouth. John, however, was transformed from the son of thunder into a much more introspective man. It could be said that Peter was the voice of the church, Paul was the theologian, or mind of the church, and that would be true, but it could also be said that John was the heart of the church. John received something at the cross; he looked at Jesus and saw more than the mind of God or the fire of God; he saw God’s heart. Peter saw the wrath of God when Jesus threw the moneychangers out; the other disciples heard the mind of God in the teachings of Jesus. But John saw his heart in a way no one else ever did. At the cross God gifted John with a glimpse into his heart, and years later it would result in words like:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

It’s hard for us to imagine Peter writing those words. Peter’s epistles are filled lists of dos and don’ts, but from John we learn less about what to do and what not to do, and more about why we do it. John says, “if we love Him, we’ll keep His commandments.” None of the other gospel writers ever mentions one of the most crucial stories in the NT about the mercy of God. Were it not for John, we might never know about a woman caught in adultery.

John is largely absent from the history of the early church shortly after Pentecost. James became a leader of the Apostles at Jerusalem and we read of Peter going to Cornelius and preaching to the Gentiles. We read of Peter and John going to Samaria, and that’s all we ever hear of John. While we read of the exploits of Peter, Paul, Barnabas, Silas, Philip, and Stephen, little is said of John. God had a different plan for John; John was not going to be known for his miracles. Decades later, long after Peter and Paul were dead and gone, John remained as the last link to the Apostolic age. When the church needed a strong, calm, steady hand, only John was left. They affectionately called him the “old man,” “the elder,” as he was last surviving Apostle, the last connection to Jesus in the flesh, and he was perfectly suited for this role. He might not have preached Pentecost, but at the end of the first century, when the persecution under the emperor Domitian began, John would have been about 83. All of the other apostles were long since dead and gone. The persecution continued for about seven years, until he was around 90 years old. He died about four years after the persecution subsided. But what a gift to a persecuted church! It was during this persecution that he wrote the gospel. It is hard to believe it had been sixty years since he had seen Jesus in the flesh, given the freshness of his words. Those words had been burning in him for sixty years, and as a very old man, straight from the heart of God, John delivered words unmatched in all the Bible:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Had he stopped there, the rest of the philosophical world would have simply yawned. They were very familiar with the Greek philosophy of Plato, Aristotle, and others with regards to the logos, or “Word.” But because John had been to the cross, because he had looked into the heart of God, he couldn’t stop with John 1:1. He had seen something none of the other gospel writers saw, and he wrote:

Joh 1:14 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Yes, John was born one of the two sons of thunder, but the cross changed him. He wasn’t born with a heart; the cross changed him.

Jesus trusted John enough that he committed his mother to him. Not to Jesus’ half brother James, mind you, not to Peter, not to any of the other disciples, but to John. If we were to ask, out of the twelve disciples, who was the preeminent disciple, virtually anyone who knows the Bible would answer “Peter.” He was the preacher of Pentecost, the star of the first ten chapters of Acts. To this day we don’t say, “John, James, and Peter;” we say, “Peter, James, and John” when we speak of Jesus’ inner circle. The Catholics revere him as the first Pope. But never mistake ability, and gifts, and anointing, and charisma, for trust. God doesn’t trust everyone in the same way, and Jesus didn’t trust Peter with Mary, his mother; but he trusted John. Think about that for a moment; Jesus, on his deathbed, so to speak, trusted John with His mother. The closer you get to the cross, the greater the burdens, the greater the responsibilities, but the greater the grace, the greater the trust.

Perhaps you have been making your way to the cross over the past few weeks and months. Perhaps you’ve found that the road to the cross is often filled with hardship and trials. The risks of making your way to the cross will always be greater as well. Some will never take the risk, just as the other disciples ran from it. John was literally risking his life at the foot of the cross. It is often a risky business to follow Jesus all the way to the cross. But if you’ll be faithful, when you get there, you’ll see things you never saw before.

King David had been away, and while he and his men were gone, an army of invaders had come into his town and captured the women and children. His own two wives were captured, and the the people wanted to stone him. He was as upset as anyone, but his world was closing in around him. In the midst of this trial, the Bible tells us, David somehow reached down into himself and found a source of encouragement. He encouraged himself in the Lord.

We all face doubt from time to time, moments when our faith is tested. Most of us are like the man who said, “Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief.” God understands the doubts, and if we can only show spiritual courage in the face of the enemy, that’s what matters most. You may not understand why you’re in the circumstances you find yourself, but stand anyway. You may not even be sure that God will deliver you, but trust him anyway. You must always remember that your relationship with Him is not based upon what He does or does not do in the future, or on circumstances, but on what He has already done.

Even Moses had his doubts. When God spoke to him from the burning bush, he went through three phases of doubt:

1.    He doubted himself (“Who am I?”)
2.    He doubted God (“Who are you?”)
3.    He doubted Pharaoh and his reaction (“He will not believe me”)

When God had addressed all these three phases of doubt, Moses went back to the first: “I cannot speak.” God tolerated a total of five excuses from Moses.

It is easy to criticize those that doubted; we criticize Peter, who began to sink when he doubted as he walked across the water, but he did step out of a safe boat on boisterous seas and he did walk on the water. Other great heroes of the Bible faced their own doubts. Esther was afraid to go before Ahasuerus and risk her life for her people. She doubted whether she would come out alive, yet she overcame her doubts and fear, because her people needed her.

Computers are amazing inventions that have revolutionized the world. Without computers it is doubtful we could have sent a man to the moon. We have spacecraft on the far reaches of the solar system because of computers. However, before a computer can load the programs that do all of these marvelous calculations, it has to first go through a process we call “booting.” That word “booting” comes from “bootstrap,” as in “picking yourself up by the bootstraps.” It basically means doing the impossible – picking yourself up off the ground. In order to boot, a computer has a tiny program hard-wired into the circuit board. That hard-wired chip is a type of chip called a ROM, for “Read Only Memory.”   It is called “read only” because it never changes – you don’t record anything to that chip. No matter how large and powerful a computer is, it all starts with the flip of a power switch and a tiny amount of electricity that provides just enough spark to get the ROM going. That tiny little program starts the boot process, and all of the heavy duty lifting is done by programs many thousands or millions of times larger. But none of them can function without the ROM and the boot process.

In the church we often criticize the human spirit. This is not to diminish the importance of the Holy Ghost, but I was reminded this week that David did not have the Holy Ghost or full gospel at his disposal. None of the Old Testament heroes of faith had the baptism of the Holy Ghost.  Thomas did not yet have the Holy Ghost when he offered to die with Jesus. Yet each of them found something in themselves; they each found something that “booted” up their spirit and enabled them to do what had to be done.

This is not to say that you should rely on your human spirit – but it is important to realize that God has placed a sort of bootstrap faith in each of us. Romans 12:3 tells us that God has dealt to every man the measure of faith. Some think that it is the job of the preacher to remove all doubts from the people, and that would be nice, but no preacher can ever do that. No preacher can preach enough sermons to remove all possibility of doubt in your circumstances. But the preacher’s job is not to remove all doubts; it is to encourage you to press on in spite of your doubts.

You have the ability to boot up yourself today. God has placed a ROM in each of us – call it the human spirit, if you will — and the Word is the light, the spark, that activates that spirit. The preacher’s job is not to remove doubt; it is to provide the spark, through the Word, to get the boot process going in you.

You may be having doubts today: perhaps you’ve doubted your experience with God, whether you can be healed, or whether your financial needs can be met. It’s easy to serve God on the mountain, but God is looking for someone who’ll serve Him when they’re doubting, someone who says, “I won’t back down from the devil.” In other words, “I may not understand what God is doing in my life right now, why things are as they are, but I’m still not about to surrender.”

A short time later I was reading in the Psalms and came across these verses:

Psa 47:1 <To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah.> O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.

Psa 66:1-2 <To the chief Musician, A Song or Psalm.> Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands: ²Sing forth the honour of his name: make his praise glorious.

Psa 81:1-2 <To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of Asaph.> Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. ²Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery.

As I read these passages, I took real notice, for the first time, of the phrase in brackets that precedes each: To the chief Musician. David, the writer of these songs of praise and worship, is giving specific instructions to the chief musician responsible for leading the people in praise and worship. As this realization hit me, I was struck by the contrast between David’s instructions to his chief musician and the instructions of that local pastor to my friend, his chief musician. While King David instructed his chief musician to encourage the people to clap their hands, the local pastor forbids it. While King David instructed his musician to encourage the people to shout with a joyful noise, the local pastor insists upon dignity and solemnity in church. While King David instructed his musician to use timbrels (tamourines), I seriously doubt such instruments would be viewed favorably in the local church.

What else does the Bible say about praise and worship?

1Sa 4:5-6 ⁵ And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.

1Ch 15:28-29  ²⁸ Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, and with sound of the cornet, and with trumpets, and with cymbals, making a noise with psalteries and harps. ²⁹ And it came to pass, as the ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looking out at a window saw king David dancing and playing: and she despised him in her heart.

David danced in worship. Imagine that! How would that be received in many churches today?

2Ch 20:19 ¹⁹And the Levites…stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high.

2Ch 30:21 ²¹ …and the Levites and the priests praised the LORD day by day, singing with loud instruments unto the LORD.

2Sa 6:14-15 ¹⁴ And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. ¹⁵So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.

Ezr 3:13 ¹³…for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.

Neh 9:4-5 ⁴ Then stood up upon the stairs, of the Levites…and cried with a loud voice unto the LORD their God. ⁵ Then the Levites…said, Stand up and bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

Neh 12:40-43 ⁴⁰ So stood the two companies of them that gave thanks in the house of God…with trumpets; ⁴²…And the singers sang loud…and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.

Notice the recurring emphasis on “loud” and “noise.” Why is it that it is acceptable to shout and get loud at concerts, football games, political rallies, etc. but not in praise to God?

Psa 5:11 ¹¹But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.

While some modern churches forbid shouting for joy, David said let them shout for joy.

Psa 32:11 ¹¹ Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.

Psa 33:1-3 Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright. ² Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. ³Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.

Psa 35:27 ²⁷Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified…

Psa 95:1-2 O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. ²Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.

Psa 98:4-8 ⁴ Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. ⁵ Sing unto the LORD with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm. ⁶ With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King. ⁷ Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. ⁸ Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together.

Psa 100:1-4 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. ² Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing…⁴ Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

Psa 132:9 ⁹Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness; and let thy saints shout for joy.

Psa 132:16 ¹⁶I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.

Psa 150:1-6 Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. ² Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. ³ Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. ⁴ Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. ⁵ Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. ⁶Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

Isa 12:6 ⁶ Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.

Zep 3:14 ¹⁴Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.

Zec 9:9 ⁹ Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

Luk 17:15-19 ¹⁵ And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, ¹⁶ And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷ And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? ¹⁸ There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. ¹⁹And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

Not only did Jesus not rebuke the Samaritan for getting loud, He praised Him and wondered where the others were.

Luk 19:37-40 ³⁷ And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; ³⁸ Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. ³⁹ And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. ⁴⁰And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

The discomfort of religious leaders at loud praise is nothing new; the Pharisees of Jesus’ day were disturbed by it as well, and even asked Jesus to forbid it. Of course, Jesus refused, saying that if we don’t praise him out loud, the stones will do it for us!

Rev 7:9-10 ⁹ After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; ¹⁰ And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

It’s a fact: heaven will be loud with praise. So, let other churches and pastors forbid praise and worship. As for us at NewStart, we’ll continue to obey the Biblical commands to be loud, to shout for joy, to clap our hands, to praise Him with loud cymbals, to praise Him in the dance, to leap for joy, and to sing a new song!

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

Genesis 1:1

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

It all began with a simple command. For eternity past, and we have no idea for how long, God had dwelt alone. We have no idea if he had ever created other worlds or other universes. Our story, however, begins with His existence, the fact that He just is. He dwelt in the Spirit world, in neither light nor darkness – the Bible teaches us that He created both:

Isaiah 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness…I the LORD do all these things.

The Bible tells us at times that He dwells in darkness, and other times in light:

Exodus 20:21 …Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.

Yet 1 John 1:5 says God is light; light and darkness have meaning only to us. To God, light and darkness are meaningless, since He created both. With a word, He spoke heaven and earth into existence. We can only assume that He created the angelic beings at the same time He created the heavens. How long ago, we may never know. When the Bible says, “in the beginning,” it does not tell us when that was; it may have been thousands of years, millions, or billions of years ago. We simply know that God spoke a word and a great angel was formed. As the angel took shape, God said “you will be my messenger,” and He named him Gabriel. He spoke again, and this time a great and powerful warrior came into being. God declared that he (the new angel) will be His archangel, the leader, the warlord, the supreme commander over all of His angelic forces, and that his name would be Michael.

At God’s word a mist came up out of the bottomless pit and began to take shape. It was a fearsome creature, a loathsome and terrifying figure, an angel that God named Apollyon, the angel of the bottomless pit. God spoke again, and this time it was not the horrible and terrifying shape of Apollyon that appeared, but a magnificent and beautiful being, one that was, amazingly, full of wisdom. The Bible says he was perfect in beauty. God had never created anything as magnificent. How could something be better than perfect in beauty? There is no more ”full” than full of wisdom. He was adorned in every precious stone, and from the very first day of his creation he was perfect in His ways. Incredibly, he was without sin. This could have been for thousands, maybe millions or billions of years, but one day his beauty and wisdom and perfection went to his head and the scriptures tell us that iniquity was found in the heart of this heretofore perfect creature we know as Lucifer.

All of these angels were created by God and were present when the earth was created. Job 38:1-7 says the sons of God (the angels) shouted for joy when the foundations of the earth were laid. In other words, they were present at the creation of the earth. When the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and God said, “let there be light,” the angels were there. Now imagine, if you will, as the angels peer into the throne of God; put yourself in their shoes for a moment, cognizant of the fact that the scriptures declare that no man can see God:

John 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time…

1 John 4:12 No man hath seen God at any time.

Colossians 1:15 Jesus is the image of the invisible God….

1 Timothy 1:17 …invisible…

Hebrews 11:27 …invisible.

Exodus 33:20 …there shall no man see me, and live.

1 Timothy 6:16 He dwells in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see:

God is the source of all energy, so all the energy of the sun and solar system comes from Him. All the energy of every atomic or nuclear explosion is in Him. A mortal could not draw near a single nuclear explosion, how much less to the source of all energy in the universe? And so, when the angels peer towards the source of their being, what they see is not a shape, or a form, but rather pure energy. We can imagine that they see pulsating light, since God is a spirit (John 4:24) and a spirit does not have flesh and bones (Luke 24:39). Imagine  what you see when you look in the direction of the sun: you don’t see a clearly defined shape, but instead you see light. It is intense at its center, but it spreads out over all the earth and solar system. Thousands and possibly millions or billions of years ago, as the angels look into the direction of God’s throne, they see this same light, multiplied a billion times over. Gabriel doesn’t see God, he sees light; Michael doesn’t see God, he sees light; Lucifer, the angel of light, with all of his glory and majesty, looks into the throne of God and sees nothing but blinding, searing light. It’s no wonder that the angel of light gets a little jealous as he compares his glory to that of the Creator.

When the Bible speaks of His hands, His feet, His ears, His eyes it does not literally mean physical hands and feet, but it instead defines God in terms we can understand. One place says his hand spans the heavens, while another says even the heavens cannot contain Him. For centuries, possibly thousands, millions, or billions of years, this is all the angels see: pure energy. Yes, there is the occasional manifestation: the burning bush, the cloud, the pillar of fire. But they never see the essence of God in any other form – they never see God as He wishes to reveal Himself. They never see Him in a form that can be comprehended by finite minds, even those of angels.

Now we jump ahead in time four thousand years, and God sends Gabriel on a mission. He is instructed to go to Mary of Nazareth with a message:

The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee, and you’re going to be with child, and you’re going to bring forth a son, and his name is going to be called Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

The angels are very interested in this message, and there is fascination in heaven among the angels. There is a “buzz” all over heaven, because this “power”, this energy, this shapeless source of light is to come down and hover over Mary. One night while Mary sleeps, the angels watch in fascination as the blaze of energy they know as God moves over her tiny home. They stand in rapt attention and amazement as it covers her.

If there was great wonderment and fascination in heaven over the conception of baby Jesus, imagine what it was like nine months later. Every angel was on pins and needles, and there is yet another another buzz all over heaven. We must not forget that the Bible said in our text he was finally “seen of angels”. The angels of heaven ask, “What will God look like? Will He look like a normal man? Will He have red hair, or black? Will He have freckles?” Mary goes into labor, and every angel in heaven is gathered around the stable. Eyes are wide around the manger, as some angels try to peek over the others. After all, this is God about to be born; this is the source of all energy, the wisdom of the ages.

Finally, after eons of waiting, they see the birth of the saviour, and cannot contain themselves. As they are gathered around the manger, one angel says to another, “I need to go tell someone.” Haver you ever seen the excitement of a man who is a father for the first time? There is an overwhelming urge on the part of the new father to tell someone, anyone. Likewise, the angels fly off in excitement.  Who will they tell? They may not know, but they’ll find someone. Their excitement is so great, for after all, they have seen God. After centuries of waiting, they’ve seen God. After millenia of hoping, they’ve seen God. They had seen the universe, but they’ve never seen God before now. They had seen miracles, but they’ve never seen God, until now.

They fly off and the first people they see are some shepherds in a field. Have you ever wondered why the shepherds were told? Perhaps they just happened to be the first ones the angel found.

Luke 2:8-9 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

The angel said, “don’t worry, I’m not here with a message of judgement or doom and gloom…I just had to tell somebody what I’ve just seen”

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. ¹¹For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

The angel was, in essence, saying, “do you realize what is going on in Bethlehem?”

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ¹⁴Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

At this point, the angels had a shouting spell. After all, they had just seen God. What a glorious day it was when God, after millenia of time, was finally seen by the angels!

But there are still some things angels cannot see:

John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

Mark 4:11 And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:

Angels cannot see the kingdom of God, because an angel cannot be born again. An angel will never know the righteousness, peace, and joy that is the Holy Ghost. They have never been born of water and of spirit. They do not know what it is to be redeemed.

Hebrews 2:16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

Hebrews 2:17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.

Hebrews 2:18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

We have a redemption the angels desire to look into:

1 Peter 1:12 …the gospel…with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

We have access into things that angels desire. The angels would love to have the Holy Ghost, but they can’t have it. The angels would love to take on the name of Jesus Christ in baptism; they would love to be part of the bride, they would love to be at the marriage supper of the Lamb, but it is not for them.

Rev 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou…hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

Rev 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

So, as we celebrate this Christmas season and the coming of the Messiah two thousand years ago, let’s not forget that He came in an even greater way, one that even the angels envy, when He promised to return as the Holy Ghost that we can all experience today.

Paul told the Romans in Romans 7:4 that we “should” bring forth fruit unto God. Through the power of the Spirit we can bring forth fruit, but unfortunately we often fail to do so. Human nature is such that the more we’re told not to do something, the more we want to do it. Have you ever known a father who forbid his daughter from seeing a particular young man, only to find out that she secretly did so? It seemed as though the more the father forbid it, the more inclined she was to disobey. Such is our inherent human nature.

When Paul speaks of his struggles with the flesh, he is not excusing himself – he’s simply saying that we all have a built in human nature. We are responsible for our decisions, but we’re not responsible for the built-in human nature we were born with. We’re basically incapable of living a life pleasing to the Lord. This is the reason so many people fail when they “try” to “live right.” They fail to recognize that they are trying through the flesh. Rather than “living for God,” you have to allow Him to live through you. If you try to do it, you’ll fail. If you let Him do it in you, He’ll do the things that please Him through you.

Carnal people, people who are living through their own flesh and human nature, are not interested in the things of God; they don’t have time for such things. Even when they come to church they wish they were somewhere else, and when they aren’t in church their relationship with God is the last thing on their minds. However, when you’ve obeyed the Gospel your focus changes. Your relationship with God becomes the central point of your life.

Romans 8:14 offers a simple test to determine who is a child of God, and who is not: For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. If you want to know if you are a child of God, ask yourself this simple question: who is leading you? If you never consult God for daily direction, He isn’t leading you. If your decisions never take His will into consideration, He isn’t leading you. If He isn’t leading you, you are not His child, and you are living through your flesh and not through His Spirit.

1Co　1:29 ²⁹ That no flesh should glory in his presence.

God wants our flesh to fail. If our flesh succeeds we are tempted to think we don’t need God. In this sense we can be thankful for flesh that fails, since it reminds us that we are totally dependent on Him. Our failed flesh reminds us that we can’t do anything on our own, and that every day we need Him more and more.

I began attending as an agnostic, anxious to understand what the ‘fuss’ was all about.  I couldn’t comprehend how anyone could believe all the Christian hullabaloo about which I had heard. It didn’t take long for my non-belief to become skepticism and for my skepticism to become interest and for my interest to become a cautious belief. I have progressed very far in my journey as a Christian and encourage other doubters to give it an honest try. I truly have found a home at NewStart Church.

2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

The ability to examine one’s self has always been the difference between those who become great for God and those who fail in their Christian walk. The ability of self-examination enabled David to become the greatest king of Israel, but Saul was a miserable failure because he could not see or admit his own faults. Neither man had more ability than the other, but one was able to search his own heart and the other was not. Self-examination separated Peter from Judas; Peter became the great apostle, while Judas committed suicide.

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

One of the greatest tricks of the enemy is to get us to look outside ourselves, outside of our own hearts for the cause of our problems and our sinful condition. I have met people who have been in financial straights for years, yet continued to blame their hardship on someone who “did them wrong” or “ripped them off” rather than deal with the situation. I have caught myself going to a church service on more than one occasion and becoming overly critical – I didn’t like the choir, or the preaching, or the music. Then, halfway through the service, I was arrested by the Holy Ghost and reminded of why I was there.

A sinner will never experience the fulness of the Holy Ghost until he or she gets the courage to look inside the heart. As long as they continue to hold sin in their heart they will never receive what God has for them. As long as they blame someone else for not caring enough, not wanting them to have it bad enough, not praying enough, not loving enough, they will be all that they could be.

Psalm 139:23-24 ²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: ²⁴ And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

2 Timothy 3:1-2 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. ² For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

1 Corinthians 11:26-31 ²⁶ For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. ²⁷ Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸ But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. ²⁹ For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. ³⁰ For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. ³¹ For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

We are living in uncertain times; time is drawing short. What do you seek today? Different people have different motivations for coming to church. What about you? What motivates you? What is your driving force? Everyone has a driving force in his or her life. For some, it is a career; for others, it is a man or woman; others serve a love of money. For still others, it is a sports team or the next drink. Everyone has a god that they worship; the only question is, “which god is it?” Joshua said, “Choose you this day whom you will serve.” Whom do you serve? It is easy to give complete surrender to the will of God lip service, but where is your heart? Can you really sing, “Silver and Gold, Silver and Gold, I’d rather have Jesus than Silver and Gold” and mean it?

Examine your motives today. Have you lost your first love? Reexamine where your heart and your treasure are. Reexamine your investments, mindful that all will fade away someday. What will you be left with when you stand before God?