Mom the Model 5/9/99

II Kings 4:22-26

JESUS CHRIST chose to make His earthly entrance through a family circle. The Biblical record of what happened to Joseph after Christ’s childhood is incomplete. Evidently Joseph died before Jesus reached the age when He set out on His earthly public ministry. There is interplay between mother and Son however. They had an exchange at the wedding of Cana of Galilee. Their ultimate regard for each other was revealed on Calvary. Even in His agony He provided for His mother Mary by instructing His disciple John to look after her. Thus is revealed the high regard with which He held the role of mother. We should also.

One day a year mom is showered with gifts, cards, and flowers. It’s her day. In reality she is entitled to be treated as the queen of the home every day.

Mothers are models whether they know it or not. They are observed by their children and mentor their offsprings by example as well as precept.

We can learn much from Bible moms. Can you imagine comments coming from these little Bible sons:

“Abraham, stop wandering around the countryside and get home in time for dinner.”

“Cain, get up off your brother. You are going to kill him if you keep that up.”

“David, I told you not to play with that sling in the house. Now put it down and practice your harp. We pay good money for those lessons.”

“Samson, get your hand out of that lion’s mouth. You don’t know where it has been.”

“Noah, no you can’t keep them. I told you I don’t want you to bring home any more stray animals.”

“James and John, stop that burping contest at the table. If you keep that up people will call you the sons of thunder.”

“Judas, have you been in my purse again?”

There is a beautiful Biblical example of a good mother. Things are not always good BUT God is always good. This mom’s life was interrupted by a tragedy no mom desires.

Let’s recapitulate the Old Testament story as recorded in II Kings 4. An elderly Shunammite woman asked the man of God, Elisha, to pray for her to have a child. By the grace of God she conceived. The blessing of late-blooming motherhood brought her unusual joy. She and her elderly husband had joined God in the creation of a life that had an eternal destiny.

One day the child was working in the field with his father and was overcome with a headache. He was taken to his loving mother. She like all mothers had to serve as a living hospital. Great grief struck later in the day when the child unexpectedly died. Having waited late in life to have the child made the loss even more grievous.

Seeking consolation the sorrowing mother asked her husband if she could visit the man of God, Elisha. The answer of her husband was in effect, “Why, it isn’t time for church?” She knew one’s religious life not to be confined to special days but rather was a lifestyle.

When Elisha saw her chariot coming, he sent his servant, Gehazi, to greet her with three specific questions: “Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?” She answered, “It is well.”

How is it with you?

I. HOW IS IT WITH YOU AS A PERSON?

“Is it well with you?”

Only when things are right with you can they be right in all areas of your life.

Her only child was dead and this is her answer.

Her initial response was appropriate. When the child died, she was overwhelmed with pungent sorrow. I am glad this is noted in the Scripture. Christians have feelings also. When trials come it is only natural we should feel them. Sorrow comes to all. We need to learn from her how to respond. Her’s was not: DESPONDENT SORROW, REBELLIOUS SORROW, MURMURING SORROW, BUT SUBMISSIVE, AND SANCTIFYING SORROW.

She didn’t brood over her bereavement, nor nurse her grief. She didn’t indulge in the luxury of sorrow.

She turned to the Lord by seeking counsel from the man of God.

Our trials like hers are intended to achieve three ends:

1. To reveal the true character of the person.

2. To demonstrate the true nature of God.

3. To show what purpose the trial is designed to serve.

It is in our adversities we have the greatest opportunity to bear our most effective witness.

II. IS IT WELL WITH YOU AS A PARTNER?

“Is it well with your husband?”

The word “partner” implies being a part of the whole. In any partnership it is possible for there to be a breakdown in the fulfilling of the role by one or both partners. What is to be done in a marriage when there is a breakdown in a marriage by your partner? Faithfully fulfill your role regardless of the conduct of your partner. You are not responsible for your partner’s faithfulness — you are responsible for faithfully fulfilling your own role. She was cooperative. She asked her husband.

Assess your role. How are you doing? What changes need to be made? When will you begin making these changes?

Measure yourself by the standard of Proverbs 31: 10, 11 & 25 – 31.

III. HOW IS IT WITH YOU AS A PARENT?

“Is it well with the child?”

The role of parent is one of the most responsible in all of life. The office of mother is of inestimable importance.

One mother belatedly realizing the importance of the role of mother said:
“If I had my child to raise all over again,
I’d finger point less and finger paint more.
I’d do less correcting, and more connecting.
I’d take my eyes off my watch, and watch my eyes more.
I’d care to know less, and know to care more.
I’d do more hugging and less tugging.
I’d teach less about love of power,
And more about the power of love.”

The Father of our country, George Washington, said, “The greatest teacher I ever had was my mother.”

Abraham Lincoln noted, “No man is poor when he has a godly mother.”

Andrew Jackson astutely noted, “The memory of my mother and her teachings were the only capital I had to start life with, and on that capital I have made my way.”

Sir Winston Churchill commented, “If we want to change our nation, begin by enlisting the mothers.”

For more than half a century the Statue of Liberty has enlightened New York Harbor as a symbol of freedom. When the sculptor, Bartholdi, looked for a model, he chose his own mother. Many children are looking for a model and mom is the one chosen.

In Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian the same word “Madre” signifies mother, as well as a mold for casting. German and Danish establish the fact the word for mother is matrix, mold.

Mom can be a much more effective mold than environment or heredity. Harry and Ada Mae Day lived remotely in a four room adobe house. They were far from any school. About the only person they saw all week was the mail man. Ada Mae saved and subscribe to newspapers. Using them she home schooled their daughter Sandra. Soon her capacity outgrew her mother’s teaching capacity. They sent her to boarding school. She excelled academically and later graduated from Stanford. She, Sandra Day O’Conner became the first female Supreme Court Jurist. Her mother modeled excellence for her and helped mold her.

Ada Mae knew the principle of the proverb: “Through wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established” (Proverb 24:3)

In our complex society we have a great diversity of mothers.

There are “potential mothers.” I use this term to refer to every unmarried female. Your regard for the dignity of your own sexuality is to be commended. You honor your God by obeying His word and maintaining your virginity until marriage. In spite of the popular misnomer, it can be done. After giving a lecture on sexual abstinence until marriage in a public school, one lovely teen emotionally, privately said to the speaker, “I didn’t know it was OK not to have sex. I thought if you were normal, you had to. I am so relieved to know you don’t have to.” That is how misinformed our youth are as a result of the entertainment media painting on a canvas intended for the brush of God’s Word.

There are those dear “would be mothers” who have not been involved in giving physical birth to a child. This may be true for any one of a variety of reasons. For whatever the reason, many of these have found fulfillment in modeling the virtues of godly womanhood. They too are to be praised.

There are “birth mothers.” These are young women who have become pregnant out of wedlock. They have come to the realization that they are not socially, emotionally, physically, or financially able to provide properly for their child. In love they elect to let their baby be adopted by loving parents who can better care for the infant. This is an act of great love on behalf of the birth mother.

By electing not to abort her child and to give it birth these young women have let a blessing grow out of a burden.

There are “traditional mothers.” A traditional mom is one who in marriage has joined with her husband in creating a life that has an eternal destiny.

Being a mother is one of life’s greatest blessings and biggest challenges. She is a living encyclopedia who is expected to know Hank Aaron’s batting average, how to tie a square knot, and where last Sunday’s comics are. She is expected to know where the sun goes at night, how jet propulsion works, the chief export of Zimbabwe, and where baby kittens come from.

She is a master mechanic who knows how to get a pants leg out of a bicycle chain and make an electric train back up without blowing a fuse. She can repair anything with Scotch tape and a paper clip.

She is a walking clinic in which splinters and loose teeth can be removed painlessly, an earache can be stopped in the middle of the night. AND she can cure chicken pox in time for the fourth grade picnic.

It is as a detective she fulfills her role best. She can find the missing mate to every pair of socks. When the flashlight, scissors, or comb disappears, she can find them before anyone confesses to the crime.

Mother’s are the wealthiest people in town. She is rich in pride when her teenager offers to mow the neighbor’s yard free when he is sick. She is rich with pride when her Little Leaguer insists on playing even with a sprained finger rather than let the team down. She is rich with pride as she watches her daughter tenderly tuck her doll into bed; she hopes her child will know the happiness of being a mother that she knows.

At birth a mother has placed in her hands a miniature human being who is a candidate for a personality. She, perhaps more than any other person, will imprint that young life with a system of values.

Mom’s even have their own glossary of terms in which they define from their perspective certain terms:

EAT: What children do between meals but rarely at meals.

EAR: Where children store dirt.

ENERGY: What children have too much of when there is nothing to do and none of when there is something to be done.

EXCUSE ME: A mother’s favorite expression allegedly used by children of previous generations.

CHINA: A mystical land allegedly populated by children who like left over vegetables.

CAR POOL: A system of transporting children usually assigned to a mom when the greatest distance is to be traveled with the most children who have had the most sugar.

One sign of national prosperity mentioned in scripture is, “Boys and girls playing in the streets”, Zechariah 8:5. We lack that. Threats of molesters and drug pushers make our streets unsafe. Make your home a place of play.

The process of training up a child in the way it should go must begin at birth. There is a tendency for the old sin nature to assert itself. “As soon as they are born,” says Psalm 58:3, “they “go astray, speaking lies.”

Teach your child “to choose the good and refuse the evil.” (Isaiah 7:l6). Train your child to look on both sides of a statement or issue by asking, “Where did this come from?” and “Where is this leading?” Does it have a Bible base and will it lead to results pleasing God?

Remove obstacles that might hinder your child. The first time one of our grandchildren came for a visit was memorable. I came home to find an antiseptic house. All decorative appointments were packed and anything not nailed down or weighing over l00 pounds was stored. Cabinet doors were secured with clever catches that would challenge a NASA scientist.

Remove improper TV, books, speech and habits.

Comfort your child. God wants you to set an example even He can follow. He said, “As one whom His mother comforteth, I will comfort you.” (Isaiah 66:13).

Every woman still engaged in mothering should rejoice to stop and ask of herself, “How is it with my child?”

For it to be right with the child, she must be able to give the right answer to the question, “How is it with you?”

She and her husband both need to ask, “How is it with my partner?”

How is it with your God? The answer to this question colors the responses to the others. Does your household know by profession and practice it is well between you and the Lord?

Not only do mothers need to answer this last question, husbands and children need to also.

As a child, you need to give your mother the assurance it is well with you and your Heavenly Father by making public your faith in Jesus Christ.

As a husband, you need to give your wife the confidence it is well between you two by making it right with your Heavenly Father.

How to Interpret Criticism

Hate is often what some individuals or groups hurl at those who hold a view opposing them. Those who hurl the epithet of hate do it as though they don’t. The very use indicates they do especially when accompanied by demeaning language. Their accusations are often accompanied by certain derogatory adjectives. I dislike some things for which some stand. 

When subjected to such, realize the reason for criticism is often to quiet the one criticized. No one likes criticism so just don’t speak up for your position to avoid criticism. Thus, the voice of the critic goes unchecked. Basically some criticism is to silence the one criticized. Hence, the critic wins.

This is an enactment of the old adage: “What Peter says about Paul says more about Peter than Paul.

Some of the best insight regarding criticism I ever received was given me by one of the nations best and most successful football coaches who himself was often criticized in spite of his success. He said, just consider the source. In other words, Paul, just consider Peter’s motive. I would only add, and consider who he is and what he does.

Another reaction to criticism is to evaluate whether it is justifiable and if so what positive response you should make. We are all subject to being wrong, often unintentionally.

Hate is defined in the dictionary as “to dislike intensely or passionately; feel extreme aversion for or extreme hostility toward; detest.” I don’t have those feelings regarding anyone. Any person who believes in a thing stands opposed to the anthesis. The critic is not reluctant to stand for his belief. Neither should the one criticized, after evaluating if his cause is just, be reluctant to defend his position.

God is described as love. Not that He does love, of course He does, but that He is love. He is the personification of love. That love necessitates hate of certain things. For example, Scripture notes,”These six things does the Lord hate. Yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaks lies, and he that sows discord among brethren.” (Proverbs 6:16-19)  Note especially the last of these. It is not only the seed sown, but the actual sower.

We have reached the point in America where there are advocates of things contrary to our heritage or moral standard. Some are devout critics of those values and those who espouse them. If you believe in those values, don’t let criticism  mute you.

Be a Martin Luther who under a threat considered to consign one to hell, is traditionally said to have stood before his critics and declared, “Here I stand, I can do no other,” before concluding with “God help me. Amen.”

Life’s Storms

The expression “a storm of life” is often used to describe a turbulent time in life.

Jesus said. “In the world you will have tribulation….” (John 16:33)

Tribulation is another word meaning basically the same as a storm in life. So we have been warned there will be storms, and yet we act surprised. He said you “will have,” not may have tribulation.

The disciples along with Jesus were caught in a physical storm on the Sea of Galilee. If He and they were caught in a physical storm we should not be surprised when we are caught in figurative storms.

Here is the good part of the statement He made regarding tribulation: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Once in going from Ephesus to Patmos by tourist ship we were caught in a storm at sea. The ship was tossed about so fiercely I was concerned some in our party might fall overboard. The ship’s captain said if you think this is rough just wait until we get in open water, meaning there is more storm ahead.

Jesus was with the disciples in that boat on the Sea of Galilee physically. In our storm He was no less present, though not physically, but spiritually. I with no less urgency than the apostles called on Him for help. Though our physical storm was not abated, He calmed the storm in my heart.

He said He would always be with us and He was. In your turbulent times don’t be so absorbed with the storm, you lose a sense of His presence.

Jesus said, “I have overcome the world.” The Bible has a lot to say about being an overcomer. It notes, “…this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

Overcomers are followers of Christ who successfully resist the power and temptation of the world’s system. An overcomer is not sinless, but one who holds fast to faith in Christ until the end. He does not turn away when times get difficult. Overcoming requires complete dependence upon Jesus for direction, purpose, fulfillment, and strength to follow His plan for our lives.

The Greek word most often translated “overcomer” stems from the word nike which implies “a battle” in which “to carry off the victory.” The Bible teaches Christians the world is a battleground, not a playground. The victory that overcomes the world is our faith. “Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

Romans 8:35–39 is a summary of a variety of storms and includes this statement: “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” In your next storm remember who is in the boat with you.

Are You Dying to Live?

ROMANS 6: 1 – 5

Jesus wants to employ the same power by which He was resurrected to awaken the talent, ambition, and joy within you. If you are a Christian the following should excite and challenge you. You have new life in Jesus. It:

GIVES NEW CHARACTER (Vss. 1 – 2)

A caterpillar is in the process of metamorphosis even before it becomes a butterfly.  It changes in nature from a caterpillar to a butterfly inside its outward form before it emerges in all of its new life beauty.

GUARANTEES NEW CONDUCT (Vss. 3, 4)

To illustrate the transition of the old nature to the new, baptism is used.

Literally, baptizo, the Greek word used, is acknowledged by scholars of all faiths to mean literally: to dip, plunge, submerge, or immerse.

Figuratively it means to identify with.

1 Corinthians 10:2 speaks of the followers of Moses and says, “all were baptized into Moses …”  Those who followed Moses were identified with him.

Water baptism is a physical picture depicting a spiritual experience which precedes it.  That spiritual experience is identity with Christ.  Don’t confuse the picture, water baptism, with the reality, trusting of Christ as Savior.

GRANTS NEW CAPACITY (Vs. 5)

In verse 4, “that” introduces a purpose clause.  The purpose of our identity with Christ is that we “should walk in newness of life.” A believer has a new relationship to sin.  Such a one is “dead to sin” (vs. 2) and should not “live any longer in it.”  This means you do not have to live under sin’s controlling influence.

A believer has a new relationship with the Savior.

We share in His resurrected life.  By identifying with Him, we are risen to walk “in newness of life.” Resolve to do it today, then do it one day at the time.

Too many Christians live a life as though they are living between Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  That is, they live a life of despair.  They are not living in the power of His resurrection though they have been redeemed by His death.

Lazarus’s physical resurrection is an illustration of our new life.  He had new life physically.  Christ commanded Him to “come forth.”  He came out bound and Christ said, “Loose him and let him go.”  Christ does not want you bound, but free to love and serve.

Can you imagine Lazarus ever wanting to go back to that grave sight, put on his old grave clothes, and lay in the tomb.  Well, that is how some believers appear to want to live at times. Stay away from your old tomb, that is, old sinful lifestyle.

That is wrong.  Romans 6:5, says “we have been united together…in the likeness of His resurrection.”  “United” means to have been fused together with Him, thus, become one with Him. Such empowers you to walk in newness of life.

A Memorial to the Foundations 5/30/99

“If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?” Psalm 11:3

Jesus Christ, with His crucifixion imminent, was dining in Bethany when a member of the dinner party anointed His feet with an expensive ointment and wiped them with her hair. The gift of the ointment was expensive but the wiping with her hair was expressive. A woman’s hair is her glory. If you don’t believe it try to interfere with her appointment at the beauty salon.

Jesus said, “Wherever this gospel is preached throughout the whole world, what this woman did will also be spoken of as a memorial to her” (Mark 14: 9).

A memorial is a testimony and tribute to something or someone noteworthy. Go on the Web and look for the heading “Memorial Day” and you will find a variety of headings, such as, Viet Nam Memorial,” “Beirut Memorial,” and a variety of others.

Our nation has a memorial day designated to honor those persons who have given their lives in defense of their country. The origin of the day is obscure. Some say it began on Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, some Columbus, Mississippi, others on Belle Island, in the St. James River, near Richmond, Virginia.

In 1966 the U.S. Government declared Waterloo, New York to have been the birth place of Memorial Day, May 5, 1865.

In his inimitable manner Henry Wordsworth Longfellow wrote of the graves of those killed in battle:
“Your silent tents of green
We deck with fragrant flowers;
Your’s has the suffering been,
The memory shall be ours.”

We have faint memories when it comes to recalling the values and virtues for which our country formerly stood. The Psalmist posed an intriguing question when he asked: “If the foundations are destroyed what can the righteous do?”

I. FOUNDATIONAL CONCEPTS
Unless we remember some of the primary concepts inherent in our culture the culture is in danger of degeneration. Most of the foundational virtues and values upon which our nation was built are now under attack.

WHO WE ARE is under attack. Evolutionary thought that we originated from green slime in a primordial swamp gives not dignity to humankind. The reality you were created in the image of and by a loving God gives dignity and self-worth.

We are told we are nothing but animals. God told us to have dominion over animals.

We are told we are only machines programmed to make automatic responses to external stimuli. The Bible says we were created by God and given a free will.

Methodically the foundations are being destroyed. Revisionist historians are presenting a skewed misrepresentation of our past. Biographers are increasingly hostile to their subjects dredging up any negative and exploiting it. Social scientists stridently assert that human beings are products of their genes and environment.

Secularism professes human beings are self- sufficient and have no need of God.

Many in the art and literary communities repudiate structure, form, and conventional values.

The media creates the impression sleaze is everywhere, that nothing is sacred, that no one is noble, and that there are no heroes. There are 81 TV sets per 100 Americans and the average set is on eight hours a day. Actors, actresses, supermodels, and musicians are no longer simply entertainers. They are treated as philosophers, theologians, deities telling us what values we should have.

Their immoral life style is advocated as the norm. The freedom allowed by cohabitation is to be preferred to the commitment marriage requires. They fail to tell the whole story as revealed by unbiased studies. When a mother and her boy friend live together the child is 33 times more likely to be abused. When the parents are unmarried the child is 20 times more likely to be abused.

If a couple lives together before they marry they are 46 times more likely to divorce than those who live morally.

Living together before marriage is divorce training.

Numerous studies confirm that couples who live together before marriage have a lower level of happiness and well-being than married couples.

The foundation of the church is constantly under attack. Tragedy of tragedy that it is often from within as clergy disgrace their office and abandon sound teaching in search for what the people want.

A leading personality in America wept recently (George Gallop) when he said of his denomination (Episcopal) “We have lost our denomination and can’t get it back. Because of the structure of the denomination it has fallen into the hands of liberal theologians and there is nothing we can do about it.”

That can be said of more than one denomination. It can be said of many churches in all denominations.

Much of the decline in the dynamic of the churches in America has been caused by ministers who don’t teach\preach God’s Word. H. Richard Niebuhr commented the faith of many is weak because: “It preaches that a God without wrath brought man without sin, into a kingdom without judgement through the ministration of a Christ without a cross.”

Materialism has become an effective means of destroying the foundations of righteousness.

Years ago Rousseau expressed it well in explaining the mood of street life in Paris. One of his heros said: “I’m beginning to feel the drunkenness that this agitated, tumultuous life plunges you into. With such a multitude of objects passing before my eyes, I’m getting dizzy. Of all the things that strike me, there is none that holds my heart, yet all of them together disturb my feelings, so that I forget what I am and who I belong to.” (Cox, “Religion in the Secular City”)

What are we to do?

II. FRAUDULENT COUNCIL
The first advice given the Psalmist is: “Flee as a bird to your mountain. For look! The wicked bend their bow, They make ready their arrow on the string, That they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart” (Psalm 11: 1, 2).

Psalm 11: 2 depicts the stealth assault to which believers are subjected.

Their tongue is bent like a bow and their words are “arrows” against the bow string. They seek to replace God’s law and justice with human autonomy and its resultant spiritual anarchy.

Let’s escape. Ignore it. Look the other way. There is nothing you can do about it.

U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia made remarkable comments to the Christian Legal Society at the Mississippi School of Law. He said, “Being a Christian means holding values the world will count as foolish.”

Did you notice who said it? A member of the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Scalia. Did you notice what he said? He didn’t say Christian values are foolish. To the contrary, he thinks they are correct. He said the world will count them as foolish.

Scalia warned that those who believe in the transcendent moral order and power of God that raised Jesus from the dead must be prepared for derision.

Justice Scalia illustrated his point by referring to Sir Thomas More, a noted English author and statesman during the reign of King Henry VIII. When Henry VIII announced he was going to divorce Catherine of Aragon and appoint himself head of an independent Britain Sir Thomas More refused to endorse the acts. He refused to compromise his convictions and resigned his post as Lord Chancellor of England. Henry VIII, a most worldly king, said of More and his Christian convictions, “That’s foolish,” and beheaded Sir Thomas More.

More did not flee he stood by his convictions. Justice Scalia’s critics proved him right about the world calling a person’s Christian convictions foolish. They demanded he resign from the court for holding such views.

III. FAVORABLE CONDUCT
The Psalmist offers three insights.

A. “In the Lord I will put my trust” (Vs. 1).
“The Lord is in His holy temple … His eyes behold the children of men…” (Vs. 4).

Go to the Lord in worship and prayer. He will enable you to gain strength to rebuild the foundations of your life.

A Harvard professor who is a Christian warned his students: “If you do not pray daily, one day you will have to learn how to pray.”

B. “His soul hates him that loves violence” (Vs. 5).

By the time the average American youth reaches the age of 18 he or she has seen over 18,000 acts of violence depicted on TV. Like the drip, drip, drip on a stone it gradually erodes the fabric of our society until it becomes the norm.

There is a stage of adolescent development known as the cognitive stage. In the word cognitive can be heard the word “cog.” Cogs lit together and result in productivity. During this stage of development a person learns to compute according to what they have learned. They learn to put the pieces together, to reason. When they have been fed a diet of violence it seems right. Teens of today are the same as they have been for every era. They tend to think the world focuses on them, what they wear and how they look. They form gangs into which to retreat and hang out. They seek to prove themselves. They fail to see the consequence of their actions. The school is the common ground where all these forces come to play.

Let me illustrate how influential the media is. A little boy in Ethiopia listened to a short wave radio account of an Olympic runner winning his race. That simple single message inspired him to sacrifice everything to become the greatest distance runner in the world and win his gold medal in Atlanta. If Haile Gebrselassie was so inspired by a short wave broadcast what influence is the media having on our youth. If a ten second spot can inspire people to purchase worthless products, then the pervasive violence on TV is having a tremendous impact on 77 million children turning into teenagers.

A corollary to God hating violence is His demand for justice. In his Second Inaugural address President Lincoln said, “The Almighty has His own purposes: ‘Woe unto the world because of offenses! For it must be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh …. as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, ‘the judgements of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether.’”

Cease to do violence!

C. “The Lord loves righteousness” (Vs. 7).
The starting point is with Jesus Christ.

If the foundations be destroyed what shall the righteous do? They must do what the Lord loves —- righteousness.

What does a basketball player do? He plays basketball.

What does a printer do? He prints.

They do what is inherent in their profession.

The righteous are to do what is becoming of their profession.

I contend we are each living a memorial to our self. Three things reveal our true values.

One is our calendar. Study your calendar and let it tell you what you think of our Lord and righteous deeds. Does your schedule reveal time reserved daily to spend time alone with Him in prayer and Bible study? What does your Sunday calendar reveal regarding your devotion to Him?

A second is your check book. In what are you investing. What support to you give to righteous causes? Is it a “me” centered check book or a Christ centered one revealing spiritual interests?

A third is your Bible. What does it reveal by its wear or lack of wear? Does it show signs of use?

John the disciple of Christ was called “Camel Knees.” His knees supposedly had callouses like those of a camel from kneeling so often in prayer.

Your membership involvement is a memorial to you. In what are you involved? How involved are you in the body of Christ?

Memorial Day is a day to pay tribute to those who gave their lives for us. In the eternal spiritual warfare Christ gave his life for us. What gratitude are you showing? What is your memorial to His victory won at Calvary?

The foundations of any nation can be destroyed. But there is one indestructible foundation on which
life can be built.

“No other foundation can any man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (I Corinthians 3: 11).

He can enable a person to live properly on their way to that city which has foundations whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:10).