Reading / Reflctions A Convert From the Storm

Reading / Reflections 

Nathaniel Vincent
A Covert From the Storm, or The Fearful Encourged In Times of Suffering

In 1670, just three months after he was married Vincent was arrested for preaching without license and imprisoned.  He was released but he was again imprisoned for preaching and on false charges of sedition.  After His last imprisonment he was so weakened he was not able to preach.  In 1671, he writes from that prison cell to inform, encourage and comfort those whom he has pastored.  His words are worth our attending.

Of his own desire:
He (Vincent) longs to be warning the secure, whodo not see the sword drawn out against them; to be stopping the mad men who are making such haste to eternal destruction; to be inviting the miserable to mercy, and the lost to a Savior."

Of Satan:
"He commands the generality of the world, who are at his service, and are led by him at his peasure, and those whom he cannot rule, he is resilvoed, when he can, to mest and disquiet."

Of Satan's schemes:
"You had better, says Satan, understand when you are well and keep yourselves so; you had better live inoeace and plenty, as do the most of those about you do, than be singular in your way, and by that singularity make so many enemies, and pull down so  many troubles on your heads."

Of Satan's servants' schemes:
"They first raise lies of believers, confidently affirming them to be rebelious.  Seditious enemies to the kingdoms (thought indeed the pillars of the nations where they live) having lied against them, they endeavor their ruin; having misrepresented them, they fall on them.  They lie in saying, the saints are not fit to live, and then they strike to root them out of the land of the living.  Thus they make nothing of transgressing at once oth the sixth and ninth commandment."

A "Plug" for reading the Puritans
This was life in England.  Life for the Puritans.  Life for those who would be called Pilgrims and would journey to the shores of this continant and plant the seeds for what would be come our country.  

These are our true fore-fathers. Men and women loving God and hating sin.  men and women who would not be conformed to man's dictates concerning the worship and service of God.  They did not come seeking "liberty" for they knew the world, the flesh and the devil would always seek to hinder their walk with the Master.  For them, "liberty" was somethng only found in Christ and with that liberty they were satisfied.

They sought the honor and glory of God and left life, liberty and the pursuit of anything else to the providential will of God.  Let whe world, the flesh and the devil do what they would, these few, these non-comformists sought first to live in obedience and worship of God.

Worship for them was inclusive of all of life.  Sundays, or the Sabbath, was "the" one day they set aside for rest and, setting aside all diversions and distractions, they focused on those thing of "spiritual" value.  The other six days they were judicious in their avoidance of anything they saw as detrimental to the saints growth and stability.  If it had the potential for distracting them from Him, they avoided it not so much as wrong but as dangerous to the health of the believer.

These were not perfect people.  They could be just as stumbling as any other believer.  But perhaps the difference is that they knew that, accepted that and so structured their lives and habits so that they contributed their weak and faulty efforts to their sanctification and the strength of the whole.  Few other identifiable groups of believers can claim such a commitment to be in but not of the world as these.

Refusing to retire from the world to live in isolation as well as refusing to attack the world and conquer it by force, these men and women shouldered the yoke of living among the unredeemed and suffering the vicissitudes attending that commitment.  They indeed understood well the obligation and cost of taking up the cross and following Him.

They said, "No," to the state as well as to the state church and with very very few exceptions they suffered willingly and greatly for the sake of Christ and conscience.  Though reading their works can be work for their language and grammar are alien to us and they can go on and on, it would behove us all to carry both the Word and one of their works where-ever we go and to attend to them both when-ever we can.

I do recommend the following and, no, I have no "connection" with them.  However these folks have done some magnificent work in putting these Puritan classics into a more modern English and are very reasonably priced:

http://www.apuritansmind.com

For 2013 - so far

Working on a blog but it's too long right now.  But just consider:
1.  The key words for 2013 for us will be suffering and persecution - in new and exciting ways.
2.  God is faithful - He will get all of His to heaven.

Counsel????  Admonition????
Resolve to:
Memorize the Decalogue
Memorize the Model Prayer
Memorize the Apostles Creed
and use them as a re-starting blocks!!!!!

Jude 1:24-25 ESV
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,  to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

It's just scary down here ---

I was praying this morning and as I prayed (I tend to do it as a journal) I found myself writing that, "its just scary down here."  And you know, it is.

Now  perfect love casts out fear - we don't have the spirit of fear - yes, I know all that - but it's still scary down here.

Fear is natural or sinful.  To not fear is to give up some part of being human.  to allow fear to keep us from serving Him is to give up some part of being His - that's sinful fear.

But fear is an emotion (?) - a judgement we make about conditions and circumstances that are very real.  Fear tells us something is dangerous - potentially harmful - probably damaging - etc.  So this natural fear can't be a no-no but it can not be the boss either.

Having said that - it is scary down here.  Politics is always scary - the power of government is always liable to abuse.  I worry about that.  I worry about my brothers and sisters who own businesses or have ministries and the possiblility that they may have to close, capitulate their consciences to the law or take a stand against the law and suffer the conseqences.  I fear for our religious freedom - especially the religious freedom of Christians.

See, it's coming to a point where we are being put in a position where we are required to do things that violate our consciences.  We are being required to do (or not do) things that pertain directly to our faith (beliefs) and though in most cases it's subtle - it's here.

At some point - and I worry that the time is closer that we think - we will have to start saying "No."  We've tried to say no in the political arena but that's "their" home field - so we've said "Ok" to the point that we will soon have to say "No!" and when we do we will suffer for it.

Where we have enjoyed the freedom to express our religious beliefs we are no longer as "free" as we were.  When folks are getting cited and sued for having home Bible studies - we are in trouble.  When the government can force us to pay for things that violate our faith - we are in trouble.

Well - it's scary down here.  But that's OK - it can't help but be.  However - we need to begin NOW to pray for a holy boldness to stand upon our faith and refuse to give way.  That will look different for different people - and that's sad -!  It shows that we have indeed not grown as He desired and we have especially not grown to be one.

So many of us will find ourselves standing alone.  Criticized and even vilified by those who claim our faith but don't know Him.  The tares and the goats and the wolves will have a very good time.  Our stubbornness in our faith will cost us much - for some of us it will cost everything but what he guards for us.

I am not a pessimist - I am a believer - and the One I believe makes it very clear that we will suffer for Him - for being His.  I wonder if I'm ready?  I don;t feel ready - but then, that's what the Holy Spirit is for - right?

Pray for yourselves and your brothers and sisters that they might see and understand the depth of hate the world and the devil has for us.  Pray that they may grow ever more sensitive in their consciences so that they do not suddenly realize they have "allowed: and "tolerated" and "compromised" to the point of a near surrender.

We must remember - "to live is Christ, to die is gain."  Paul "got it," when did we let it go?

Peter's pen 1st Peter 5:10-11

1 Peter 5: 10-11
And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.  ESV

Suffering?  Yep!  We are knocked off course, doubtful, weak and wobbly.  We will be as He restores, confirms, strengthens and establishes us.  Welcome to following Jesus!

Being His and not yet being with Him is suffering.  Get it?  All the threats, dangers, turmoil, trials, tribulations and persecutions are here, not there.  The greater our longing to be there - the more we sense that separation and suffer here.

Now, that's a left-handed blessing.  It is our suffering here, not yet with Him, that confirms we are His.  Who else would care?  For whom else would it even be an issue?  Yes, non-believers "suffer" here, but having no hope of heaven they suffer normally.  We, on the other hand, should sense an keener edge on our suffering.  We yearn for that time, that promised and assured time when:

Rev. 21:3-5
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”  5 And he who was seated on the throne said,

 “Behold, I am making all things new.”  ESV

Peter’s Pen 1st Peter 3:12-22

1Pe 3:12-22  For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." 

God sees you and hears you.  But if you, even as His, do evil, He has to oppose that and discipline you.

(13)  Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 

Uhhhhh – well, people will think I am weird, a fanatic, off the deep end……?  But if the truth is indeed true – then what consequence can there be but zealousness?  And if there is not a zealousness, what does that tell us about our view of the truth?  Uhhhh….

(14)  But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 

OK – but . . . . .   I don’t want to suffer for doing good – I want goodies, kudos for doing good – isn’t the way it works?  Oh, no – that’s “karma,” not Christ – oops, my bad.

Wait – suffer and be blessed?  That takes some thought.  Can I ask that I be blessed by the absence of the suffering?  Oh wait – I forgot, 1 Peter 2:19-25 ---- Oops!!

Fear?  There’s fear attached to doing good?  Maybe that’s why the idea of karma is popular under many guises. 

(15)  but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,  (16)  having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 

Ok – when someone asks you why you have that stupid grin on your face when you are reviled and persecuted – you need to be ready to tell them, respectfully and gently. 

Ahhh – there’s that “good conscience,” thing – again with the heart health.  I need to know in my heart that I am truly suffering for doing good – looking to honor Christ as my Lord.

I shouldn’t be suffering because I am an obnoxious pain – or an arrogant irritant – but for doing good – for honoring Christ.

Oh – really – “when” I am slandered for my “good” behavior.  Oh that’s gonna be fun – but Oh, yeah, they did that to Him, too – even on the cross they did that to Him - 1 Peter 2:19-25 ---- Oops!!

(17)  For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. 

Oh??  God’s will might be that I suffer for doing good?  Gee, that’s a happy thought!  But, wait – if I suffer for doing evil and I claim Christ as Lord, don’t I have a much bigger problem??  Oh.

(18)  For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,  

Not fair!  Here I am worrying about suffering for doing good and that being God’s will and bam – here’s the cross thing.  But that’s the whole point isn’t it?  1 Peter 2:19-25 ---- 

Oops!!

(19)  in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison,  (20)  because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 

Uhhh – if God is so gracious – how can I be less so?

(21)  Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 

How can I not want to do good to ALL when I am the beneficiary of such a great gift?  How can I suffer myself to be and do less than my Redeemer? 

(22)  who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

Here is the power to live for and as Him.  All things are subject to Him – especially me.  I have nothing to lose and I have gained much.  He is in control and if I trust Him as good and righteous and holy and gracious, then I will indeed desire to grow in my doing good to ALL – especially those who are blind and without hope in the world.

Peter’s Pen 1st Peter 2:20-25

1Pe 2:20-25  For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.  (21)  For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.  (22)  He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.  (23)  When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.  (24)  He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.  (25)  For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Let me cut to the chase:

(21)  For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 

Any questions?

Mat 5:11-12  "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.  (12)  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.