The Lord Humbling His People
EDITOR'S LETTER
Image source: Juli Kosolapova, Unsplash
Before the Israelites entered into the Promised Land of Canaan after wandering forty years in the wilderness, Moses told the people how they must live in the land God was giving them. The vast majority of the book of Deuteronomy contains the words Moses spoke to the Israelites.
In Deuteronomy 8, Moses told the people to remember the Lord their God and to beware lest they forget Him. Along with a call to obey every commandment of God, Moses told them to remember the ways God worked in their past history. Verse 2 says, “And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.”
I am going to focus on God humbling the people as He led them all the way through the wilderness, and the purpose of it. In verse 3, Moses said that God humbled the people by allowing them to hunger and feeding them with manna; something they had never seen before. The people were humbled in the sense they were shown how helpless they were. They were in the wilderness. They had no food. There was no way they could get food to satisfy their hunger. No shops existed in the wilderness, and since it was a barren land, they could not harvest any crops. So God met their daily needs by sending manna from heaven. Without God’s intervention, they were bound to die. God showed them how dependent they were upon Him for their supply of daily food.
He also had another lesson. Bread alone was not enough to sustain them. In order to experience the true life God has for His people, they needed every word that comes from the mouth of God. You need every word that comes from the mouth of God, too. You must read all the Bible, not just your favourite portions, and base your life upon what God says.
God promised to take the Israelites into a land full of an abundance of good things. Moses warned the people to remain humble by showing dependence upon God and acknowledging that those good things came from Him, instead of proudly saying that they gained wealth by their own power (verses 17, 18). What a lesson. Don’t place your confidence in your own abilities or skills. These were given to you by God. Give Him thanks for these gifts, and use them for His glory with His help.
There is Only One God
Isaiah chapters 44-46 are three wonderful chapters that declare God to be the only God, and illustrate the futility of idols. I encourage you to read through these chapters with that theme in mind. Also, look out for the many ways in which God is described. These great declarations of God are made in the context of prophecies that God will deliver His people from their sins and from the Babylonian captivity. These prophecies were given years in advance, even before Judah had been taken to Babylon. All this is proof that the Lord is the only God, and only He can predict the future because He sovereignly controls all events of history.
“I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no God.”
God’s declaration that He is the only God is mentioned fourteen times in these three chapters. It begins in 44:6, “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts; I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no God.” Did you notice all the things said about God? He is eternal, the King and Redeemer of His people (in this case Israel) and the Lord of hosts. This term ‘the Lord of hosts’ speaks of the almighty power and reign of God over the entire universe.
This is the basis for God’s revelations to us and all people. Since He existed before anything else and lives eternally, and since He is the sovereign ruler over everything, only He can declare what will happen in the future because He determined it long ago and will bring it to pass. Can any other god do that? Of course not!
Another declaration is made in 45:5, but this time it is prophesied in advance as a message God would give to Cyrus king of Persia, who had not even been born. Even though Cyrus was an idol worshipper, God called him for the purpose of being the means by which He would restore the people of Judah back to their own land and also command that the temple be rebuilt in Jerusalem. The Lord said, “I am the LORD, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me.” It is as if He is telling Cyrus that his idols are not gods at all and he is a fool for worshipping them. The Lord continued, “I will gird you, though you have not known Me, that they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other” (45:5b, 6). God was going to use Cyrus, even though Cyrus didn’t know or worship God, so that people in all the earth would know that He is the only God. Verse 7 expands on the truth that God is the only God by speaking of His works. He is the one who at the beginning of time formed the light as He spoke, saying, “Let there be light,” (Genesis 1:3) and light appeared. He is the one who controls the changing from light to darkness each day in such an orderly manner – a declaration that He is God, but something that is ignored by so many people.
As the only God, He is the one who makes peace and calamity on earth. The Bible knows nothing of the heresy that good things come from God and evil things come from the devil. God is in control and works all things to fulfil His perfect purpose. This is made clear in Psalm 46:8, 9a, “Come, behold the works of the LORD, who has made desolations in the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth.”
A good illustration of God being the one who makes peace and calamity can be seen by looking at Israel’s conquest of the Promised Land. On the one hand, God was making peace for Israel as He gave them victory over their enemies. At the same time, He was creating calamity for the enemies of Israel by destroying them. He also sends trials to His people to make them better people and build their dependence upon Him.
God’s creation of the heavens and the earth is evidence that He is the Lord and there is no other (Isaiah 45:18).
Image source: Samuel McGarrigle, Unsplash
His work of salvation is also a great testimony that He is the only God. He is the one who saves His people. Unlike what is believed in most religions, people cannot save themselves and gain acceptance in the sight of God. God saves. He is “a just God and a Saviour; there is none besides Me” (Isaiah 45:21). Joining these two attributes together is behind the plan of God in sending Jesus into the world to die for sinners. Jesus satisfied the justice of God by taking upon Himself the sins of His people and being punished by God for them.
The result of this is glorious. It is seen in the gospel call of Isaiah 45:22, “Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.” Idols and the gods of the nations are futile because they cannot save you from your sins. Only God can because He is the only God and because Jesus paid the price of your sins for you. That is why you must respond to God by looking to Him as your Saviour. That is why you must eternally give thanks and praise to Him for the wondrous work He has done in saving you and helping you in life.
How Can You Be Right With God?
There is one question that is universally at the heart of most religious beliefs: How can a person be right with God? Almost without exception, the answers are similar, although expressed in slightly different ways. Most religions proclaim that a person will be right with God based on their good works. For example: they have faithfully offered sacrifices, shown kindness to others, prayed every day, gone on pilgrimages and the like. Do you see the focus? It is on what a person has done to please the god.
“Most religions proclaim that a person will be right with God based on their good works. ”
However, Christianity stands out as vastly different. If you ask a Christian how he knows he is right with God, he will not begin by talking about all the good things he has done. He might answer like this, “I was a wicked sinner who had rebelled against God and disobeyed His commandments. My God died for me and suffered the punishment for my sins for me. I trusted in Him and now I am accepted as righteous in His sight based on His work for me, not my own good works.”
Consider the apostle Paul as he gave his testimony of his assurance that he was right with God. He didn’t speak of the good things he had done such as his missionary journeys, writing books of the Bible, preaching or showing kindness to others. Not at all! Here is what he said, “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy” (1 Timothy 1:12,13). Certainly no good works there. Paul only spoke about his terrible sins. He went on to say, “And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:14, 15).
Why the big difference? Most religions worship a god who does not exist; a god who can do nothing. Their god cannot do anything for the people, let alone save them from their wicked sins. Therefore, the people can only supposedly be saved by the things they do.
But Christians have a blessed hope because they serve a living God who saves them based on the work He did for them, not on the works they do for God. Romans 5 goes to the heart of the matter, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (verse 1). Verses 6-8 take it further by explaining that Christ demonstrated His love for sinners by dying for them. Then we have the wonderful words of verse 9, “Much more then, having been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” A Christian is right with God because Jesus is his Saviour who died for him and suffered the punishment he deserved because of his sins.
“For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
He is saved by faith in Jesus Christ, not his own works. Ephesians 2:8, 9 makes it so clear, “For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Titus 3:5 says, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us.” You cannot be saved by your good works. You must trust in the grace and mercy of God toward you as a sinner in His sight. What a glorious hope in which to rejoice. Make sure that your trust is in Christ to save you and make you right with God because you are unable to save yourself by any good works of your own. Salvation is from Jesus Christ alone, just as Peter so clearly stated in Acts 4:12, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Quotes to Ponder
Here are a few quotes from well-known historical believers. Be enriched by pondering the great truths these people expressed.
“But my sin was this, that I looked for pleasure, beauty and truth not in Him but in myself and His other creatures, and the search led me instead to pain, confusion and error. Faith opens a way for the understanding, unbelief closes it.”
- Augustine
“We should always look upon ourselves as God’s servants, placed in God’s world, to do His work; and accordingly labour faithfully for Him; not with a design to grow rich and great, but to glorify God, and do all the good we possibly can.”
- Robert Morrison
“Our attitude towards belief is as follows: we will accept and adhere to all truth in the Bible, and refuse to accept anything that is not in the Bible.”
“Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer.”
- John Bunyan
“There are those who seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge; that is curiosity. There are those who seek knowledge to be known by others; that is vanity. There are those who seek knowledge in order to serve, that is love.”
Image sources: Wikimedia Commons
Faithful Until Death
Wang Mingdao at the Christian Tabernacle in Beijing, circa 1950. Image source: Wikimedia Commons, courtesy of Wang Tianduo and Zhang Guiyan.
Wang Mingdao was born at Beijing, China, on 25 July 1900, during the Boxer uprising in China. This was a troubled time when there was a revolt against foreign influences that were destroying Chinese culture. Missionaries were hated because they were seen as introducing a foreign God into China.
Wang Mingdao was converted at the age of fourteen and changed his name from Tie-zi (meaning Iron Son) to Mingdao (which means Understanding the Word). He devoted the rest of his life to understanding the Word of God and living a life of holy obedience to God. He was well known for his refusal to compromise the truth and his determination that the church must remain separate from government control.
He began teaching in a Presbyterian mission school when he was nineteen years old, but was only there for a year because he was dismissed from his position when he came to an understanding of the biblical mode of baptism and was baptised by immersion.
He spent a lot of time studying the Bible, which developed his understanding of biblical truth. Wang Mingdao was a firm believer in the inerrancy of the Bible, the depravity of man, justification by faith and the necessity for holiness of life. Repentance, conversion, holiness, purity and truth were the hallmarks of his preaching.
Wang Mingdao founded the Christian Church in Christ and faithfully preached in the church and went to other provinces in China to spread gospel truth. In order to help Christians in China, he began publishing a newspaper called Spiritual Food Quarterly in 1926.
Wang Mingdao was not quick to baptise people who claimed to be Christian, but waited to see fruits of conversion, as evidenced by holy living, in their lives.
The time in which he ministered was difficult for Christians. When the Japanese occupied China during World War II, they insisted that all churches join a Japanese organised federation of churches. Despite being threatened on numerous occasions, Wang Mingdao refused to join because he firmly believed that the church and state must be separate and that Christians should not be “unequally yoked together with unbelievers” (2 Corinthians 6:14).
When the Communists took control of China, they expelled all Christian missionaries from China. In 1954, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement was founded. It was based on the principles of self-governance, self-support (not receiving money from foreigners) and self-propagation (not associating with foreign missionaries or churches). In theory, there was no self-governance of the church because the church was under the authority of the communist government. The government determined who preached and what should be preached.
“Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.”
Many churches joined the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, thinking they would have greater freedom than if they refused to join, and that the church would ultimately benefit. Wang Mingdao refused. He stated plainly in an article entitled We – For the Sake of Faith, “We will not work with these non-believers or participate in any of their organisations. Moreover, even with those who have pure belief and commitment to serve God, we can only have spiritual unity and not organisational union because we cannot find such teachings in the Bible. Our attitude towards belief is as follows: we will accept and adhere to all truth in the Bible, and refuse to accept anything that is not in the Bible. To be faithful to our God, we are willing to pay any price and make any sacrifice.”
Wang Mingdao paid the price for his biblical stand and for speaking against the government and those who sided with the government. In August 1954, he, his wife and eighteen young church members were arrested at about midnight, tied up and taken to prison. He was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for the crime of resistance to the government.
While in prison, he was brainwashed and signed a confession saying he would join the government church. Soon after his release, he was convinced he had betrayed Christ, so he went back to the authorities and told them his confession was made under duress and did not represent his true feelings. He was immediately returned to prison for twenty years; finally being released in 1980 when he was eighty years old.
“... an unrivalled symbol of uncompromising faith until his death.”
It would have been easy for Wang MingDao to hide his confession that resulted in his release, since hardly anyone knew about it, but he refused to do so because he believed in absolute honesty and truthfulness and did not want people to think of him more highly than they ought.
Wang Ming-Dao died on 28 July, 1991 – three days after his ninety-first birthday. He remained faithful to God until death and has been called “an unrivalled symbol of uncompromising faith until his death.”
We hope you enjoyed the excerpts from this month’s volume of The Christian Informer.
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