“Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.” Psalm 8:2

Our Vacation Bible School theme this week is how God uses little things. God is able to use those people that the world views as weak and insignificant to accomplish great things. He does this because He is so great and mighty. 1 Corinthians 1:27 says, “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.” The nature of the church, the kingdom, is “like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof” Matthew 13:31-32. The world tends to think the mighty people who are the strongest and most intelligent will overcome, but God uses people like Paul, who said of his thorn in the flesh, “I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).
Think of the baby boy that was placed in the Nile and discovered by Pharaoh’s daughter (Exodus 2:1-10). Would anyone but God have known that this infant would one day grow to be a great leader to deliver the Hebrews from their mighty Egyptian oppressors? Think of the young shepherd boy who was not old enough to serve as a soldier (1 Samuel 17:28). Would anyone but God have predicted that he would defeat Goliath (1 Samuel 17:49-50), the giant Philistine, and one day become Israel’s greatest king (Acts 13:22)? Or what about the baby boy who was born to a poor couple who traveled to the small town of Bethlehem, who was placed in a manger because there was no room for Him in the inn (Luke 2:7)? Only God foreknew that this child would be the world’s Savior, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Indeed, God’s strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Therefore, we can find solace in the fact that our best efforts, no matter how small and insignificant they may seem, can be used by God to accomplish great and wonderful things. Let us then do our work, whether it is in Vacation Bible School this week or in many other efforts of the church, and trust that God will multiply the effects many times over. To God be the glory!

-Mark Day

In Acts 17 Paul ran into a group of philosophers in Athens known as the Epicureans. They were followers of Epicurus who lived 341-270 BC and taught happiness was to be found in freedom from fear of God and death and practicing what brings one the most pleasure in this life. Does this sound familiar? The popular approach to life by the masses today is similar to Epicureanism. Stumpf said Epicureanism, “was a new direction in moral philosophy, for it focused upon the individual and his immediate desires for bodily and mental pleasures instead of upon abstract principles of right conduct or considerations of God’s commands.”

Acts 17:16 describes Athens as a “city wholly given to idolatry.” The idol among the Epicureans who resided in Athens was man himself. Romans 1:25 says that the Gentiles, “worshipped and served the creature more than the creator,” which is exactly what Epicurus did and what many have done today. The focus has been shifted from what God wants to what man wants.
Whenever man is put in the place of God, moral degradation occurs. This is because there remains no objective standard for right and wrong in the minds of those who reject God as the standard for goodness. Epicurus taught against excess, claiming that it did not lead to the greatest happiness, but if man’s pleasure is the barometer for goodness, then who is to say that any self-restraint is more pleasurable than excess? The entire issue of good and evil becomes subjective and what each individual regards as the most pleasurable wins out. With God removed and man placed on the throne, every man does that which is right in his own eyes (Judges 21:25).
Jeremiah 10:23 says, “O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” Whether it is the Epicurus himself, the Epicureans Paul challenged a couple centuries later, or people today, man, left to himself, is too self-centered and sinful to do what is right. Paul concluded his sermon in Acts 17:30-31 by appealing to them to repent and follow the ways of the true God so that they will be prepared for the judgment of Jesus Christ that awaits all mankind. Instead of turning a blind eye to death and God’s commands, true happiness is found in preparing for death by following God’s commands. God knows what is good and right for us. He rightfully belongs on the throne; He is the righteous judge (Acts 17:30). When we sin we pull God off the throne of our hearts and sit on the throne ourselves, worshipping our own desires. Let us set the Lord alone on the throne of our hearts and make His ways our ways (1 Peter 3:15).

-Mark Day

In 1 Chronicles 21:1, Satan tempted David to number the people of Israel. David commanded Joab, the captain of the host, to take a census of the people. Joab recognized what king David was thinking by taking a census. David’s numbering was for the purpose of ascertaining the military strength of his people so he could bask in the pride of being the head of such a great fighting force. The motivation for David’s asking was wrong. Joab tried to reason with David, asking, “May the LORD make His people a hundred times more than they are. But, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? Why then does my lord require this thing? Why should he be a cause of guilt in Israel?” (1 Chronicles 21:3). Joab, in essence, was calling upon David to examine his heart in this matter and answer why he was delighting so much in numbering the people. But Joab’s cautions could not prevail against the king. David was set on the census being taken, so Joab gave David a sum (1 Chronicles 21:5). God was displeased with David and punished Israel; David then quickly saw his sin (1 Chronicles 21:7). Instead of being submissive to God and giving Him the glory, David’s heart had a moment of pride that caused him to number the people.

While it is not intrinsically sinful to take a census or count attendance, I wonder if the attitude David had in this instance is not sometimes among God’s people today. When we think of a healthy church what comes to our minds? We know that a healthy church has Christ as its head and foundation (Matthew 16:18-19; Ephesians 1:22-23; 1 Corinthians 3:11), is evangelistic (Matthew 28:18-20), edifies each of its members spiritually (Ephesians 4:15-16), and follows the pattern of scripture in its teaching and practice (Acts 2:42; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26). However, this image often goes out the window when we start looking at statistics. It is not wrong to note statistics and even look at the attendance trends. We have a section in the bulletin called “Gauging Our Faith” where we track such numbers. By inspiration, Luke mentioned that 120 disciples were gathered together after the Lord’s ascension (Acts 1:15), the number baptized on Pentecost day were about 3,000 (Acts 2:41), and by Acts 4:4 the number of men in the Jerusalem church was about 5,000. However, numbers are conspicuously absent in the rest of the New Testament. Other than the initial growth of the first congregation in Jerusalem, where is there any scripture that gives the numerical size of any New Testament congregation of the Lord’s church?

Much of the New Testament is addressed to congregations of the Lord’s church in order to help them maintain spiritual health, but the measure of spiritual health obviously goes beyond head-counting. We must be careful we do not get trapped into thinking that a congregation is healthy merely because it is growing numerically. “Church growth” is a term that is almost always used today to refer to numerical growth. Such thinking is over-simplistic because numerical growth can take place for the wrong reasons. In John 6, the multitudes followed Jesus because they were fed (v. 26), but when they heard hard teaching from the Lord many of them left and walked no more with Him (v. 66). Haven’t we all seen churches in the denominational world grow for the wrong reasons? While spiritual growth is perceptible to the spiritually-minded person, it does not always fit into our simple quantitative measures that we like to put down on paper. Instead of boasting in numbers, let us glory in congregations that are made of people becoming more like God, no matter how many or few their number.

–Mark Day

Belshazzar was a young Babylonian king who was filled with pride. Even though God had showed the Babylonian kings, like Nebuchadnezzar, that they should be humble before the Most High God, Belshazzar did not take to heart the lessons God had showed his predecessors. Daniel 5 reveals how he made a feast, praising the false “gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone” (Daniel 5:4). It was “the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple of the house of God which had been in Jerusalem” that he used in this drunken feast of idolatry (Daniel 5:3). Daniel 5:22 says, “But you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this.”
Because Belshazzar got drunk, he continued down a path of doing things he knew he shouldn’t. Intoxication loosens the willpower God has given us to restrict ourselves from moral transgressions and brings out the animal part of man, causing the baser instincts to hold sway. Drinking leads to doing things we will soon regret. Who has woe and sorrow? Those who seek wine (Proverbs 23:29-35).
To sober Belshazzar up to the consequences of his actions, God made a hand appear and write a message on the wall in the midst of this feast (Daniel 5:5). Belshazzar was so afraid his knees knocked and he asked for someone to come and interpret the message (Daniel 5:6-7).
Daniel was finally brought in to interpret the message of God. Belshazzar offered Daniel gifts if he would interpret the message, but Daniel esteemed the blessing of God greater than the gifts of a king and said, “Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another…” (Daniel 5:16-17). How great it would be if all of us could be like Daniel; if we could only get covetousness out of our hearts and have our sole desire to be to please God by properly interpreting and applying His message.
The writing on the wall was, “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN” (Daniel 5:25). What do these words mean?
Mene, mene: God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it.
Tekel: you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient.
Upharsin: your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.

Nothing could have been further from the mind of Belshazzar than an overthrow of his kingdom by the Medes and the Persians. Belshazzar ruled in a city that was surrounded by two enormous walls. The inner wall was 21 feet thick and 300 feet high. Chariots could ride around on the top of it. But little did he know that Darius and the Medes had spent months outside the walls, digging. The Babylonians, thinking they were secure, ignored the enemy and got drunk at their feasts. God’s message brought Belshazzar to grips with reality. The very night of the handwriting on the wall, in 537 B.C., Darius (under Cyrus the Persian) took Babylon by diverting the riverbed and going under the city gates. They killed Belshazzar.
Belshazzar knew that he should have been giving respect to the Most High God, instead he decided to live it up and enjoy pleasure, but before his night of frivolity was over he was weighed on God’s scales and put to death. When the world wishes to live for the moment, we must be seriously minded to live for that eternal day that awaits those obedient to God. “But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.” 1 Thessalonians 5:8.

–Mark Day

The Bible gives some rich images of God to help our understanding of His nature. Several figures of speech are given in the Scriptures as “lenses” through which we are better able to see God, who in reality is an invisible spirit (Luke 24:39; John 4:24; Hebrews 11:27). God is described as a king, a warrior, a rock, a father, a shield, a bird, a farmer, a vinedresser, etc.; however, one persistent figure of God in the Bible is that of a shepherd.

It seems that the shepherd is a retired figure in contemporary times since so few in the world practice shepherding the way it was conducted in the ancient Near East. The primary roles of a shepherd were providing food and water to the sheep, delivering them from dangerous predators, and gathering those who were lost. Sheep are not highly intelligent animals, lacking the capacity to find food and water for themselves in many environments; thus, they need an intelligent and caring leader that will guide them to places where the essentials of life can be found. Sheep also tend to wander and are susceptible to predators because they lack natural defenses that would enable them to escape from their attackers or at least ward them off.

To have an inept shepherd would be a terrifying condition, but to have a good shepherd would bring a sense of peace. When the nation of Judah had poor shepherds (leaders) that led them into danger, God promised that He would raise up good shepherds so that they would no longer be terrified or go missing (Jeremiah 23:4). Indeed, when Christ the good shepherd (John 10:11, 14), the branch of David would come, “In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely” (Jeremiah 23:6). As a shepherd and a king Jesus would bring peace (Isaiah 9:6-7; 11:1-5).

Let us make sure the figure of a shepherd, with his tender relationship and emotional involvement to the sheep, is not lost on us today. We must go back and consider this figure and revive it in our day to those who are unfamiliar with shepherding. No other passage in the Bible portrays this figure more tenderly than Psalm 23. David, who was a shepherd, wrote of how God is a competent shepherd who is able to meet all of our needs. Because the Lord God was his shepherd, he would not lack (v. 1). Even when he found himself in the valley of the shadow of death, he would fear no harm (v. 4a). The Lord’s rod and staff (with which he implements protection and discipline) brought him comfort (v. 4b).

Certainly God is the great shepherd. To God we owe our very existence. Every breath we breathe is a gift from Him (Acts 17:25). The food we eat ultimately comes from His hand (Acts 14:17). Even pompous rulers, who often deny Him, are sustained by the crops that grow in the field He sustains with nutrients, sunshine, and water (Ecclesiastes 5:9). More importantly, the Lord gives us spiritual protection and rest from our adversary the devil, who, as a roaring lion, preys on us (Matthew 11:28; 1 Peter 5:8). If we follow the Lord, He will lead us, His sheep, into the green pastures of eternal life. Jesus said, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand (John 10:27-28). In the great judgment scene of Matthew 25, Jesus separates the sheep from the goats, and gives His sheep eternal life (Matthew 25:32-33, 46). What a joy it will be for us to see the Chief Shepherd appear to lead us home (1 Peter 5:4).

-Mark Day