For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns – broken cisterns that can hold no water. Jeremiah 2:13
Why is it that men will forsake the fountain in favor of the cistern?
With the fountain there is an endless supply, not just of water, but of living water. A never ending source and an unmatched quality. There is no effort to be expended in order to drink your fill, except that which is necessary to come to the fountain.
Yet we humans, always desiring to attain by the works of our own hands, reject that which is freely offered in favor of that which we can produce by the sweat of our brow……even when the quality is so terribly inferior and the end result imminently unsatisfying. At the fountain we are offered water of life. All the cistern can offer is something stale and stagnant.
So how are those cisterns working out for you? What cisterns, you ask?
How about the cistern of religious activity that we choose instead of the fountain of encountering God?
How about the cistern of saying prayers that replaces the fountain of real soul travail that touches heaven?
How about the cistern of singing worship songs instead of the fountain of true worship in spirit and truth that pours itself out at the feet of Jesus?
Dig with all your might the cistern of your choice. Meanwhile all of heaven is astonished at our foolishness. Will we never learn that only at the fountain of our precious Lord Jesus will we ever find satisfaction? Or will we go on ever building cisterns….and ever thirsting?
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life….” John 11:25
If there is one thing I’ve learned about religion, it’s that religion is satisfied with behavior modification. It generally goes no deeper that that, because it sees the problem of mankind as this: we are bad people who need to be made good. But the problem is much more desperate than that. We aren’t merely bad; we are dead. Dead in trespasses and sin. A bad man at least has the hope that he can become better. A dead man is hopeless and can do nothing for himself.
But Jesus can do everything for us…..and He has. Not only has He resurrected us (giving us freedom from the death that once held us) but He has also given us life. Not religion……LIFE!
When Jesus spoke these words, He was addressing Martha, whose brother Lazarus had died a few days earlier. Martha realized that her brother would rise again in the resurrection at the last day. I marvel at Jesus’ response to her. He didn’t say “I will be his resurrection and life on that day”. He said, “I am the resurrection and the life.” Life is never postponed to some future time or place. In Jesus, life is always present tense. He is the RIGHT NOW resurrection and life.
Tomorrow, Christians across the world will celebrate Resurrection Day, only to return on Monday to an existence that seems to fall short of the abundant life Jesus promised to His people. How long will we be content with this? When will we take hold of Him in faith and refuse to settle for an ordinary existence? Romans 6:4 says this: “….just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, EVEN SO we also should walk in newness of life.” That kind of life is anything but ordinary.
On this Resurrection weekend my prayer is that God would awaken us to the spiritual realities of LIFE in Jesus, that we would taste it, and be forever discontent with every lesser thing.
Herodias had desired the death of John the Baptist for some time but was unable to see her desires accomplished. Herod stood in the way. And so she waited….for an opportune day. When it came, she was ready. Herod had thrown a birthday party for himself. A feast, certainly accompanied with enough drinking to dull good judgment. The important, influential and prominent men were in attendance. So when he gave his word to Herodias’ daughter to give her whatever she asked, and she asked for that one thing that he hadn’t really wanted to part with, he was put in a difficult position. The Bible makes it clear that because of those who sat with him he complied with her request. To do otherwise would be to damage his reputation. He didn’t really want to kill John, but he preferred to maintain the good opinions of men.
Our adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8). He is waiting for an opportune day. A day when circumstances have come together to make the possibility of compromise optimal. Most days we realize that the benefit of obeying God is always greater than the cost. But then there is that opportune day when the cost seems greater than what we are willing to pay.
In myself, everyday is an opportune day for sin to overpower me. But in Him, Jesus, I have everything I need for life and godliness. If I will only stay in Him, every day will be an opportune day….not for sin, but for victory, peace and a God-glorifying life in the Spirit.
During Old Testament times it was a common custom that when someone was unable to pay their debts, they might sell their liberty and become a bondservant of their debtors, and thus work off their debt. In order to protect the bondservant, laws were given to prevent unfair treatment or excessively long periods of service. Exodus 21:1-6 provides for the release of a bondservant in the 7th year of service. This passage also details the process to be followed in the event that the servant decides to stay with his master after his term of service has expired:
Now these are the judgments which you shall set before them:If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free and pay nothing.If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him.If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself.But if the servant plainly says, “I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’then his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.
It seems so unusual that anyone would voluntarily choose to remain under a master when they could choose their independence instead. Who would make such a choice? The answer appears obvious – no one. And truly there are none among this sinful race who possess within themselves the desire to make such a choice, even when that Master is the Lord of glory.
We did not love Him. We did not want to stay with Him and serve Him. We would not be pierced for Him, so He was pierced for us.
In His piercing He plainly declared His love for us
In His piercing He promised to stay with us
In His piercing He declared that He would serve as our High Priest forever.
The servant would not be pierced for the Master, so the Master was pierced for the servant…..so that we could love Him, so that we could serve Him, so that we could stay with Him forever.
God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” 1 Timothy 2:4-6
WHY PREACH THE GOSPEL??? Men are saved through it.
“It is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.” Romans 1:16
WHY PREACH THE GOSPEL??? God takes pleasure in the salvation of souls.
“Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord God, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?” Ezekiel 18:23
WHY PREACH THE GOSPEL??? God expects it.
“Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, “Surely we did not know this,” does not He who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?” Proverbs 24:11-12
There is a man in my church who has been recently diagnosed and is currently undergoing treatment for leukemia. Even with treatment, the doctors give him just over a year to live. I saw him yesterday after church and stopped to inquire about his health. After he updated me on the status of various tests and procedures, I asked him this question: “With eternity looming before you as a near reality, what has become the most important thing in life?” Here is his response:
“I was saved when I was eight years old; that was 55 years ago. 20 years ago I moved to this city to go to Bible college. And then I just settled in to life. I pretty much lived the American dream. I have a nice house, a couple of nice cars and a savings account. And none of that means anything to me now. I have wasted my life. The only thing that matters is what I can do for the Lord Jesus with the time I have left.”
It makes me mindful that life is just a vapor for all of us and we will stand before the Lord Jesus and look into that glorious face. So much of what we currently think of as important will not matter at all on that day.
I pray that the Lord would help us all, His people, to wake up to what really matters……eternal things…..those things that bring the Lord Jesus glory in this earth and make Him known. The American dream is a tranquilizer that has numbed us to the fact that we are strangers and pilgrims on this earth. We are citizens of another country….a heavenly one. And unless we awake to this fact, we may all find that we have lived wasted lives.
His name was Dalvis. It was difficult to tell his age. His face was weathered by the sun and ravaged by the effects of a life of drunkenness. Most men his age were retired and enjoying their grandchildren. But Dalvis was homeless and wandering on Bourbon Street. It was a noisy, crowded night as St. Patrick’s Day parades rolled through the street. But when Dalvis saw me from the other side of the street, he walked over and asked me if I was a Christian. When I told him that I was he said, “I don’t want to go to hell.” He had grown up with an alcoholic mother who had beaten him daily until one day she had an encounter with Jesus Christ. Everything changed from that point forward and Dalvis told me of hearing his mother pray for his soul and of the conversations they had about the Lord Jesus. He talked about his life on the streets….how many times he had been shot and stabbed and about the two people he had killed. His life had been devastated by sin. What hope is there for someone like Dalvis (or for any of us) other than Jesus Christ? I shared the gospel with him and encouraged him to trust Christ. And as he was preparing to walk away I asked if I could pray for him. We held hands on the side of the street and as I began to pray he went down onto his knees. I knelt beside him in the middle of the filth and noise and debauchery of Bourbon Street and this man wept as I prayed for him to know this Christ that loved him enough to die for him and was strong enough to rescue him.
The team of about 16 people arrived on Bourbon Street at 11:00. After we prayed together, I found a spot to stand in the street and lifted up a prayer to the Lord that I might be useful to Him that night.
It was much more crowded than it had been the first time I went. The noise of music was louder and the smells were much stronger. Once again there were many mockers angrily cursing Jesus as they walked by us. But in the midst of it all, person after person stopped to talk to us. Some were angry and unbelieving and wanted to tell me. Some were backsliders who were convicted of their sin and angry. One such lady stood nose to nose with me, screaming at me with obscenities at the top of her voice. At one point she grabbed the back of my neck and I braced myself for what might be about to follow. I continued to respond to her with the Word of God and watched as right before my eyes she began to break and weep. She removed her hand from my neck and her friends pulled her away back into the crowd. I talked to many people that night who professed to be Christians and yet were partying it up on Bourbon Street. I encouraged them to forsake their friendship with the world and to walk in holiness for the glory of Jesus. Once again this week I saw people fall under conviction as they walked by the cross.
I have had people ask me (and I have asked myself) if this type of ministry is effective and profitable. I didn’t have an answer for that question until December, 2011. And now I can answer yes. I have seen God at work on Bourbon Street through the preaching of the gospel. I never would have thought I would be doing something like this. But over the last year the Lord has renewed my passion for the proclamation of the gospel and how I thank Him for the joy of being part of what He’s doing.
May we all, in whatever way the Lord provides, be faithful ambassadors of our Lord Jesus Christ, unashamedly making Him known in the earth.
For New Year’s Eve I had made plans to return to Bourbon Street with the people of Raven Street Church. All week long there had been a battle in me over whether or not I was going to return. My time there the previous week had been very difficult and I struggled all week with feeling inadequate for such a work. My natural temperament is reserved and quiet, so such a hostile environment left me feeling quite out of my element and unable to minister to anyone. The experience was humbling, as I very clearly saw my own weakness. It was a crushing (and necessary) blow to pride. One that kept me down for most of the week. I could hardly bear to think of returning to experience such a paralyzing ineffectiveness again. And yet……..at the same time I felt so strongly compelled to go. Thus the battle.
Friday afternoon I sat at my table feeling desperate to hear something from God regarding all of this. I opened my Bible to the place I had left off reading – 2 Corinthians 3 and almost immediately the Lord brought peace to my heart through His Word….
And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away,how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels.For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious.Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech–
The last portion caught my attention because it addressed my need – “Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech–” I looked up the word hope and found it to mean a confident expectation based on solid certainty. I searched the previous verses to find out what this solid certainty is that created a confidence that led to great boldness – “the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory”. Something clicked, and a truth that I had already known became much more solidly established in my heart – the message that we bring is a glorious message. Because of our wonderful Christ and His wonderful gospel, we can be very bold because of our confidence that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation…regardless of the weakness of the messenger.
I felt as though 10,000 pounds had been lifted from my heart. With great thankfulness to the Lord I rejoiced in the peace that washed over me concerning the trip to Bourbon Street the next night.
I never thought that I would ever spend any part of the holiday season, or any other season for that matter, on Bourbon Street. For those of you who know anything about Bourbon Street (and it does have quite a reputation) I don’t need to add anything to that. Even before I was a Christian, it wasn’t a place that I ever wanted to go. It is a place of drunkenness, strip clubs and all manner of sin.
But recently I made contact with some people who are part of a ministry called Raven Street Ministry and they go to Bourbon Street every Friday and Saturday night for open air street church right in the middle of Bourbon Street. On Friday, December 23rd, I made the trip with a few other people from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. At 11:00 PM we met up in a parking lot with the rest of the people, and a total of about 15 of us began the walk to Bourbon Street. The men carried the sound equipment and a large red cross about 10 feet tall. We got to the 500 block of Bourbon Street and began to setup the cross and the equipment. Although it was almost Christmas and the activity on Bourbon Street was less than a normal night, there were still many people out that night.
Five or six people took turns preaching and the rest of us stood either in the street or along side the street, talking to and praying with people who stopped. I have been a part of street ministry before and have been active in evangelism in my hometown of Baton Rouge, but I was in no way prepared for what I saw this night. The one verse that kinda sums it all up is this – “there is no fear of God before their eyes”. I have never in my life witnessed such blatant and hateful mockery of Christ and His gospel. I have seen street preachers before who preached such a distorted and hate-filled message that the mockery might be justified, but the gospel that was preached this night was wonderfully pure and complete – sin, righteousness, judgment, the love of God and Christ as the only Saviour. And many people despised it. One intoxicated middle aged woman actually came up and physically attacked our group and when she was finally separated away from us, she stood at a distance pointing her finger at us and screaming: “You are all white trash”, “Liars”, “Jesus would be so ashamed of you”.
Never in my life have I observed such hatred for Christ as I saw that night. My heart broke for those people who were cursing the God who was giving them the very breath that they used to curse Him. It seemed that if Jesus Himself had been there, they would have been shouting “Crucify Him!” And still as Jesus was looking down upon them that night, He loved them and desired them to repent.
I felt as thought I was witnessing the battle between light and darkness. And the darkness was very dark. But still the light was shining. The gospel was preached, Jesus was lifted up, and it was beautiful.
He is my Delight 