How Do You Roll?

April 21, 2022 at 3:11 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments
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Question: One of the hymns we sing in church, “I Have Found a Friend in Jesus,” says, “He tells me every care on Him to roll.” I know we are supposed to give our worries and cares to Jesus, but where in the Bible does it say to “roll” them? What does that mean?

Answer: I want to commend you for paying close attention to the words that you sing in church. I am always encouraged when musical worship is not only emotional and joyful, but also didactic (Colossians 3:16). I will put a link to the hymn you are talking about, sometimes called “The Lily of the Valley,” here so everyone can read the lyrics.

I noticed that each verse in the song ends with the word “soul,” so it looks like the author was selecting words that rhymed, and he used the word “roll” in the second to last lines of both verses one and three. In verse one I believe the reference is to I Peter 5:7 (which itself paraphrases Psalm 55:23).

Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

Psalm 55:23

Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

I Peter 5:7

“Roll” rhymes with “soul,” and “cast” does not, but a famous missionary/preacher/writer, George Muller, popularized the expression, “rolling” our burdens onto the Lord, and there is a good chance the songwriter had heard or read that expression. Oswald Chambers‘s famous devotional, “My Utmost for His Highest,” also has an entry which talks about rolling our burdens onto the Lord.

To “cast” means to throw, but, in ancient times it was common to carry heavy objects or loads on a person’s shoulders. These loads were too heavy to be thrown, but they could be “rolled” off onto another person’s shoulders at a point of transfer. Perhaps the songwriter took the liberty of painting this lyrical picture: Even if we are not strong enough to “cast” or throw our burdens onto Jesus, we can at least roll them off, and He is glad to take them onto the same strong shoulders that carried the Cross of our redemption to Calvary’s hill.

With Whom Will You Bear?

April 18, 2022 at 3:02 pm | Posted in II Corinthians | 1 Comment
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Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me.

II Corinthians 11:1 (emphasis added)

We get the impression at the beginning of II Corinthians Chapter 11 that Paul was very uncomfortable. There is a sense in the later chapters of II Corinthians of starting and stopping, and frequently interjecting apologies or explanations for why he is stating all his own credentials, and offering evidence of his love for the Corinthians. He tells them that what follows is going to sound foolish at times. The request to “bear with me” will have a payoff later in the chapter.

The analogy that he uses for his relationship to the Corinthian believers is that of a father of the bride.

For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

II Corinthians 11:2

There is a sinful jealousy – perhaps more properly called envy – in which we become jealous of what someone else has, or in which we become resentful over perceived blessings that are coming to others but not to us. Paul wanted to make it clear that he was talking about another kind of jealousy – a Godly jealousy – the kind of jealousy that arises out of pure love and guards the affections of others and doesn’t want those affections given to someone who will hurt them. If we know that we have another person’s best interest at heart, then it is right to want that person’s affections returned to us.

Spouses should have this type of jealousy: jealousy OVER, not jealousy OF. Paul wanted the believers he had led to Christ and had loved, to be pure and chaste, devoted singularly to their Bridegroom, so that they could be suitably presented to Him at the last day: the MARRIAGE Supper of the Lamb.

The enemy of singular devotion – of simple supreme and exclusive faithfulness to Christ – is subtilty.

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

II Corinthians 11:3

This was the type of subtilty that the the false teachers had learned from Satan, who persuaded Eve to question God’s goodness, and who tempted her into divided loyalty (which is really another name for disloyalty).

For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

II Corinthians 11:4 (emphasis added)

This matches the idea we saw earlier in Verse 1. The Corinthians had no qualms at all about bearing with the false apostles and Judaizers; they might at least bear with the true Apostle, Paul, who, though it went against his instincts to admit it, was not at all behind the other Apostles when it came to spiritual power, wisdom, authority, and Biblical knowledge imparted directly to him by Christ Himself.  

For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.

II Corinthians 11:5

Peter was not, contrary to Roman Catholic dogma, the first pope.

But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been throughly made manifest among you in all things.

II Corinthians 11:6

Paul was not a great orator or rhetorician – at least not apart from Holy Spirit inspiration. Those subtle skills were the deceitful domain of the false prophets. When you find yourself trying to discern which Christian leader to follow, look to faithfulness way before you look to giftedness.

Have I committed an offence in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely?

II Corinthians 11:7

Verse 7 was a response to the accusation of the false teachers that Paul didn’t demand financial support for himself because he knew he wasn’t worthy of it. (Ironically, if he had demanded such support, they would have accused him of greed and ill motives.) Paul preached the Gospel freely precisely because he did not want it to seem like he was a charlatan or a huckster.

I robbed other churches, taking wages of them, to do you service. And when I was present with you, and wanted, I was chargeable to no man: for that which was lacking to me the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied: and in all things I have kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself. As the truth of Christ is in me, no man shall stop me of this boasting in the regions of Achaia. Wherefore? because I love you not? God knoweth.

II Corinthians 11-8-11

He actually had a dual motive: He not only wanted to avoid false accusations, but, this way, he could call God as his witness concerning his genuine love for the Corinthians. This must be the underlying motive for us, too, in any virtue for which we become known. Honesty, hard work, generosity, wisdom – all those are great, but their purpose is not self-glorification. They are the means and the product of loving and serving God and others.

But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.

II Corinthians 11:12-13

Here was the proof that the false apostles were Satanically influenced. They were hypocritical in addition to being deceitful. They led others astray, even as they themselves profited from the gullibility of their victims. Deceit, disguise, and doublecross are the marks of the devil.

And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

II Corinthians 11:14-15

Paul was so reluctant to go on about his own trustworthiness and admirable qualities, that he again qualified his self-defense:

I say again, let no man think me a fool; if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I may boast myself a little. That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly, in this confidence of boasting. Seeing that many glory after the flesh, I will glory also. For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise.

II Corinthians 11:16-19

Home Is Where the Soul Goes

April 13, 2022 at 9:17 am | Posted in I Thessalonians | 2 Comments
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Charles Whiting lived in Irvington, New York. He was a little over 80 years old in 2005, when his wife, Catherine, died. NBC News reported that Mr. Whiting “stayed connected” to his wife after her death, through his Verizon phone. Specifically, he would call his own phone every day “to hear his wife’s voice saying ‘the Whitings aren’t home.’” One day, though, Verizon upgraded his service, and the voice message was lost.  Mr. Whiting “immediately called Verizon and waited for an hour for help. He got disconnected, so he called back. After another 90 minutes, he said he was told he couldn’t get the message back and that he would just have to record a new one.” Mr. Whiting felt devastated.

The story has sort of a happy ending because some sympathetic Verizon employee eventually found the old recording. However, we might wonder if Mr. Whiting, the grieving widower, has access to a better source of comfort than a short voicemail message.

Certainly, there are few things in this world as distressing as the death of a loved one. The Bible holds no condemnation or rebuke for those who feel sorrow at such a time. However, the Bible holds great hope for those whose loved ones have died a physical death after receiving the salvation of Jesus Christ.

But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

I Thessalonians 4:13-18

When a Christian dies, his or her Christian survivors feel sorrow, but not the sorrow of “others which have no hope.” For we have the greatest Hope of all:  the Lord Jesus Christ. He will one day reunite all those who have died in the faith, and this is a great source of comfort, and even joy, in the midst of grief.

I would have loved to have been present when two of my all-time favorite preachers met at a Bible conference many years ago. Vance Havner’s wife had recently died, and Warren Wiersbe, seeking to comfort him, told him, “I was sorry to hear about you losing your wife.” 

“She’s not lost,” Havner replied. “Something can’t be lost when you know right where it is.”

Keep Calm and Trust God

April 8, 2022 at 3:36 pm | Posted in Isaiah | 3 Comments
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God sent Isaiah to meet with King Ahaz at the location of Jerusalem’s water supply.

Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller’s field;

Isaiah 7:3

The name Shearjashub his name meant “a remnant shall return.” Isaiah Chapter 7 presents the first of a series of events that happen when a vineyard brings forth wild grapes. God, the perfect parent, still had wild and rebellious children, but the real encouragement is that He was prepared to do what was necessary to make them right.

Syria (Rezin) and Israel (Pekah) wanted Ahaz, the king of Judah, to join an alliance against Assyria. They also wanted a puppet king (the son of Tabeal) for Judah. Tabeal meant “good for nothing.” However, Ahaz had probably already made a secret treaty with Assyria. Isaiah told him to calm down and trust God. He also offered to show him a sign from God – a virgin would give birth – but Ahaz refused to trust the Word of God. He pretended to be too pious to need a sign. He was frightened. 

Frightening times are often times of great testing. Will we trust the Word of God? Trusting God is hard when times are hard, but sometimes we feel like we are just going to have to suffer through, like it can’t get any worse, but when we are afraid – when we believe, based on our human reasoning, that we are about to get hurt unless we can find some resources, or scheme our way out of it – THEN we must trust the Word of God. He will never leave nor forsake His children. We are SEALED by the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption.

Ahaz did not trust the Word of God, and Judah was conquered by Assyria. The vineyard would be ravaged.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall [even] be for briers and thorns.

Isaiah 7:23


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