The War of Ages

As a justice to the true wordsmith and theologian from whom I took much of my inspiration for this poem, I call attention to Charles Spurgeon and his wonderful book: Spiritual Warfare in a Believer's Life.

The War of Ages

 

When all the force of Death and Hell,

Arrayed to sound the Deathly knell.

Against the King they waged their war,

The Lamb of God whom they abhor.

 

The hellish pits of legions cleared,

On earth in darkness now appeared.

Armed with malice fixed and poised,

To kill the Lord of Heaven’s Joys.

 

The Fiendish lord of Hellish flame,

Remembering well his traitor’s shame.

As he the Rebel first to Fall,

Was cast from Heaven’s holy wall.

 

Howling hatred fills the skies,

Against the Lamb now crucified.

The Humbled Son in silence still,

Obedient to Heaven’s Will.

 

In darkness now the battles rage,

Death and Hell the King engage.

In mortal combat they will lock,

Until they break upon the Rock.

 

The lonely King upon the field,

His life, His blood, His all to yield.

For sinners’ sake He lays it down,

In willing pain He drops His crown.

 

The battle hot upon Him rests,

He cries “I thirst!” at battle’s crest.

Outnumbered by the Hellish host,

The Son of Man stayed at His post.

 

The war or ages draws to close,

The Son of God against His foes.

Hark the King His vic’try cried,

“It is finished!” as He died.

 

His foes now lay in full defeat,

In fear Hell’s legions now retreat.

For Serpent lies in broken dread,

The seed of Eve has crushed his head.

 

And ghastly Death in bloody fall,

His sickle snapped and arrows all.

Have lost their sting and poison tip,

The Suff’ring Savior broke his grip.

 

 

The final blow the King will deal,

Eternal life in triumph seal.

His Chosen Few to finally save,

The King of Life rose from the grave.

 

 

In vic’try now the King returns,

                                                       To sit upon His former throne.     

In glory here He leads His band,

The starry Host saved by His hand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time and the Unchanging God Part I

Time is strange, our perception of time is stranger still. Time flows without our desire, it moves without our approval, and we are carried along like leaves on the wind. Thus, its power is unmistakable and some seem to think that Time is a heartless and cruel force which we cannot control and should try our hardest to avoid its effects.

As Time moves, so does history. And as history moves things become darker. The human heart has not changed in millennia of history and evil has propagated. Wars, murder, rape, acts of terror, and many other evils make this world and its history a dark place.

So it seems to many Time seems a cruel cycle, and these evils only seem to grow in number and magnitude. And it seems that the good things of this world decline. And as this remains this way for decades people begin to harden, to jade, and to take evil for good, and good for evil.

So as Time flows, we as Christians cannot become jaded, we cannot assume the same as the fallen world around us, we must know that Time is not a vicious cycle, but a singular story which has a set ending, and a Perfect Author.

To begin this discussion, which will be in two parts, I want to speak comfort to those of us who see the growing darkness in our world and feel discouraged as things change seemingly for the worst.

For this thought, we must remember who is in control.

God is.

Not world leaders, not powerful armies, not even the devil (though he is for now quite powerful in our world).

God is in complete control. And we must know as things change around us as time moves steadily onward that God Himself is outside of, and controlling time. God does not change with time, He is not affected by change.

This to us who know Him, by His grace, must be a dear comfort as things move steadily towards darker times ahead.

One of the perfect Attributes of our God is His Unchangeableness. Those who study these things would call this His Immutability.

 

 

 

This is where I begin. In a world where the tides of culture, politics, even religion are constantly shifting and changing it is vital that the nature of God be unchanging if He is to be our hope in a world such as this.

Exodus 3:13-14 “13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

God’s words to Moses here reveal the character of God and His Nature as the only constant in the universe, the only unchangeable thing in, around, outside and in control of this world that is so subject to change.

Verse 14: “I AM WHO I AM.” This is the title that God gives Himself to identify Himself to His people who, in this historical context, are in need of rescue from the hands of the Egyptians.

When Moses asks how he should identify the giver of the message he is to take to the Israelites (God’s chosen people), God simply states that He is. And we cannot pass up the importance of these few words of God’s self-identification.

Simply put, God is telling Moses that: He is, was, and always will be. Time has no way to change God, indeed God is the one who created Time, and is outside and above it. When God says “I AM” He is simply stating the fact that He is.

If this remains more confusing than clarifying then perhaps you, my dear friend, will read on, and perhaps the Scriptures will clarify. And if the Holy Spirit must intervene to work upon your heart in order to understand, then allow Him access, you will not regret it!

God’s Immutability (one last time, this means His Unchangeableness), is one of His perfect Attributes, and an integral part of His character which is employed constantly in both the background and foreground of Scripture.

Malachi 3:6 says: “’For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.’”

Whilst we live this earthly life upon a sea of shifting waves there is a constant risk of us being consumed by the constant squalls. But this again is where we must run to God, for security, salvation, and stability.

Psalm 62:7 “On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.”

And again: Psalm 18:2 “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

The ancient Psalmists of the Scriptures knew well this fact, and would constantly repeat the refrain of God unchanging Nature and constant care that He gives to His children. And we too must take up this refrain if we wish for any stability or firmness in this life.

And for those struggling with this truth, we must know that not only will God Himself never change, but His Word, His promises, precepts, and principles set forth in the Scriptures will also never change.

Psalm 33:11 “The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.”

The Bible is God’s Word, His counsel to us for living according to His holy will on this earth, the Psalms, especially Psalms 19, and 119 speak of the glory of God revealed in His Word and if, for this discussion, we are to believe that God’s character in unchanging, then we must take the next necessary step and say that His Word also is unchanging.

This is essential knowledge to us, and more essential faith for us. We must believe that God in both His Character and Word remains in all things unchanged and unaffected by the rapid fading of this world and its spiral further into darkness.

For if His Words remain unchanged than His promises from the Scriptures also remain. And that means that what He has said will happen to this world and in this world according to His plan for history and His plan of redemption. But this I will discuss more in the next part of this discussion.

For now I want to wind down by way of reminder that anything good that we have or can have comes from God who remains unchanged even as we are affected constantly by changed. He is faithful, His commitment remains stable, even when ours wavers (2 Timothy 2:13).

James 1;17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

God is, to those who are His through His Son Jesus Christ, a loving and caring Father (Psalm 103:6-14), who loves to give good things to His children. We cannot lose sight of this in this rapidly changing world, as the waves of variability threaten us and as the world darkens as men take good for evil and evil for good  (Isaiah 5:20), we must remember that God is in control, and that He remains Himself, good, loving, holy and unchanging in all His perfections.

He is, and is the only one who can claim the title “I AM”.

And this, my dear friends should give us great comfort.

Servant of the Unchanging God

--The Scribe

 

 

Old Briar Way

Old Briar Way

 

I walk this path most every day,

This path most call Old Briar Way.

Along the way are growing thorns,

Filled with mankind’s hate and scorn.

 

The bloodied cuts that trace my frame,

 Remind me of my life of shame.

Full heedless of the fiery pain,

I walk the path for ashen gain.

 

Beneath my feet the red path goes,

The staining blood of brazen soles.

The road is wide and many fall,

While shrouded in the Reaper’s pall.

 

The deathly air that we all breathe,

Will someday bring us to our knees.

For every step that we all take,

We draw too near to fiery lake.

 

Our hopeless plight we have by choice,

We would not heed Salvation’s voice.

So in our place a high price paid,

The dearest pearl of heav’n in trade.

 

Old Briar Way is stripped of thorns,

Still filled with mankind’s sin and scorn.

A narrow way is blazed instead,

A way to save those who were dead.

 

Upon this path new blood is spilt,

But not by those who own the guilt.

The Innocent laid low in place,

Of all the debt of Adam’s race.

 

The thorns of mankind’s guilty state,

Are taken to reverse man’s fate.

And shaped into a guilty crown,

Put on the sinless Savior’s brow.

 

The Narrow Way paved in His pain,

Can wash away the guilty stain.

If now we walk along this Path,

We may avoid all Heaven’s Wrath.

 

Old Briar Way where I once walked,

Along this deadly path I stalked.

To save my soul the Savior came,

Reversed the Curse of thorny shame.

 

In woven crown the Curse was borne,

Through weight of sin and cut of thorn.

The Prince of Heaven humbled down,

To bear my Curse in woven crown.

 

So now to Him I sing my praise,

His anthem always I shall raise.

 Old Briar Way has lost its toll,

Because He came to save my soul.

 

 

 

The Martyr's Song

Another poem. There are many, many stories that inspired this one...

None of them are mine. But they are well worth being heard. The stories of the Martyrs.

The Martyr’s Song



 

We sing our songs,

But no one hears.

No wage but wrongs,

No food but fears.

Our lives are naught,

But coals that burn.

Bright when hot,

But dull in turn.

Our hope is far,

Our foes are near.

Held with bars

At points of spears.

 At stakes we burn,

At swords we bleed.

Our Message spurned,

No one will heed.

Our blood cries out,

For justice done.

Our souls will shout,

Till comes the One.

Our hope though far,

Through danger dire.

Salvation comes,

In flaming Fire.

Our lives to some,

Seem cursed to strife.

But we are blest,

With Heaven’s Life.

We heed no calling,

Of this earth.

Our lives we gave,

For Heaven’s worth.

No silver gray,

No idle gold.

Will tempt away

From Savior’s fold.

No Deathly pale,

Nor darkness grim.

Will make us fail,

Or reject Him.

Our war is won,

Our debt is paid.

In Him our lives,

Anew are made.

Soon we’ll stand,

On Heaven’s shore.

Free at last,

From trials sore.

Our pilgrim days,

And solemn race.

Will end in Savior’s

Kind embrace

Soon torn away,

The veil will be.

The Truth is clear

For all to see.

We knew in part,

But now in full.

The glory of

The Savior’s rule.

All tongues confess,

And knees will bend.

To worship Him,

Who has no end.

Our suff’rings now,

Though hard to bear.

To glory then,

Cannot compare.

Our lives are lost,

But this remains,

“To live is Christ,

And death is gain”.

 

The Good Shepherd's Reply to the Two Lovers

For a bit of background to this poem: I was introduced to two poems in my swimming through the sea of academia, one was "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" by Christopher Marlowe, and "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" by Sir Walter Raleigh.

Marlowe's poem was written in 1593, and Raleigh's reply to Marlowe's poem was written in 1596.

This poem is my reply to these two pastoral poems. If you wish to know about the context of this poem read the other two in order, if not, please enjoy the truth from God's Word:

The Good Shepherd's Reply to the Two Lovers

If love alone could satisfy,

And lover’s touch would never die,

To worldly pleasures would you hold?

When Reaper’s touch turns all to cold?

Were Nature’s beauty yours to grasp,

All riches human hands to craft,

Yet treasures fall to ruin or thief,

And Nature’s beauties fade in grief.

If ash be all your labors gain,

Then listen now to Love’s refrain,

I’ll lead you to the quiet streams,

And let you rest in fields of green.

Seek Me by the narrow path,

Lest ye be a child of Wrath,

If to the narrow Way you hold,

I’ll welcome you into My Fold.

As Shepherd I will gently lead,

Till you from vice and Death are freed,

My blood will wash you white and pure,

And by it make your ransom sure.

So now to Me I bid you flee,

From earthly dust and ash be free,

I pray My words your soul will move,

To come to Me and be My love.



Anno Fidelis Domini

Anno Domini… Latin for “in the year of our Lord”, a phrase not too often used in these latter days, but one that always applies to each new year that we receive.

This however is not why I am writing.

This year, 2015, has been a very strange and difficult one for me, as a writer, as a Christian, and as a human. But this is not why I am writing.

No, I write to show forth who God is, not who I am, or think I am. So I write to you this very early New Year’s letter, to show forth God’s enduring faithfulness.

Oftentimes it can seem to us that each new day comes and goes without change, without incident. Time flows on, and as the years go by, each one seems shorter and shorter in retrospect, regardless of the trials and hardships that may have taken place within that year. Even the good things go unnoticed as each year draws to a close.

 So in that spirit I wish to address all of you my dear Friends, with this thought: God shows His faithfulness more in the monotony than in the momentous.

This may seem strange, but I will explain in due course.

To preface this, I wish to share one thing from my time in 1 Corinthians on New Year’s Eve:
1 Corinthians 10:13 (and I steal only a part of this wonderful verse) “God is faithful.”

This is what this whole year has been about for me, learning this statement of fact from God’s Word. This is a statement of His character, and one that all too often I fear we (most certainly I) forget.
Anytime we sin, we forget or refuse to believe this simple statement. Anytime we worry, we discount one of God’s Holy Perfections. And anytime we complain we go the same route as the Israelites, though they saw His faithfulness firsthand in incredible, physical ways.

This is an essential part of God’s Character: “Exodus 34:6 “The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”

How does this apply to the year behind and the year ahead? Well as we reflect on what is behind and as we look forward to what lies ahead we must consider this constant: That God is working every day, in the monotony of life, in the highest mountains of pleasure and joy, in the lowest valleys of fear and pain, on the plateaus of life where everything seems strangely calm and nothing seems to be happening. We must know this truth for this next year: That God’s work will not cease until the Day He has ordained, and that He is faithful to bring us all to that day regardless of where we may be in life’s walk.

If this thought does not walk with us throughout this next year we will languish in our own sin and worthlessness. We make resolutions but cannot keep them, so we give up, and go back to the comfortable life of giving in, not thinking that God is faithfully working to make us more like Christ regardless of our resolutions. We go on with the year working, and schooling and living life, not thinking that God’s ultimate plan and appointed Day are drawing near ever more quickly each passing moment.

If we do not believe that God is faithful, then why would we believe any of His promises?
This is the trap we must not fall into this new year of life so dearly entrusted to us by our Faithful Creator.

We must renew our minds with this daily, or God’s promises of true life in Christ (John 10:7-10), freedom from sin (John 8:34-36), strength to fight temptations (1 Corinthians 10:13), our eternal inheritance in Christ (1 Peter 1:3-9), our eventual freedom from all suffering (Romans 8) and all manner of God’s very great and precious promises will hold no meaning if we do not believe that He will carry them out.

We must know that God is faithful to grow in our faith.

Consider how to deal with the lowest points in our lives, for sufferings are sure to come in this new year. The author of Lamentations had much more cause than you to fear, and to lament, but this thought assured his faith in his Lord:

Lamentations 3:19-24 “Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.””

And when your walk with God is at its highest point this truth still must rest within you, consider this encouragement from the author of Hebrews:

Hebrews 10:19-25 “Therefore, brothers,[a] since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

Now consider this by way of application: How can we recall this wondrous truth to mind in this next year?

Here is the way I have learned:

Consider this verse from the book of Jeremiah, the context (in simplest terms) is that Jeremiah the prophet is contending with God’s rebellious people, and as their sin continues their punishment is secured as God’s holy and just wrath against their sin is incurred. Under this punishment the people begin to think and to say that God has abandoned them, that He has somehow gone back on His promises to His people (though it was they who turned their backs on Him [see Jeremiah 2]). This is God’s reply to his people through Jeremiah:

Jeremiah 33:23-26 “The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “Have you not observed that these people are saying, ‘The Lord has rejected the two clans that he chose’? Thus they have despised my people so that they are no longer a nation in their sight. Thus says the Lord: If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed order of heaven and earth, then I will reject the offspring of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his offspring to rule over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.”

Do you understand what that means my dear Friends? Do you not see the glory in God’s answer?
I will ask a question: What is the most constant thing you can think of in this world?

Life, death, other more human things, hunger, thirst…

How about the cycle of the day and night? Has there ever in living memory been a day where the sun has not risen in the sky? Can you think of one? Has there ever been a day that it has not set to cool the earth and give us time to rest?

Can you give me a single instance where God’s appointed cycle for the day and the night has ceased or been off kilter? No?

That is what this verse is saying…

The sun and the moon will cease their God-appointed dance before God will be faithless.

The Great Lights of Creation will cease to move in their God-appointed places before God will fail to fulfill His promises.

God is always working, God is always Faithful. And if each day when we see the sun in the sky, moving in God’s time, and according to His command since the dawn of Creation, then we will know that His promises cannot and will not fail.

All of those promises I listed earlier and more will be fulfilled in their fullest measure by our enduringly and eternally Faithful God.

Trust in Him, and if you do not know Him, run to His feet and repent of your sinful ways, humbly ask for His forgiveness and believe in His Son, Jesus Christ who has paid debt for your sins in full with His own Blood.

Until then my Friends, in this my first writing of the New Year:

Anno Fidelis Domini--In the Year of Our Faithful LORD...


--The Scribe