A Vision of the One True God

Posted on May 10, 2023 by Joseph V. (Josh) Carmichael

“This is the end of the account. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts terrified me greatly, and my face turned pale, but I kept the matter to myself.” Daniel 7:28

Daniel 2 describes a dream of Nebuchadnezzar. In his dream we see a statue made of various materials, each of which describes the movement in world history of empires from the Babylonians to the Medo-Persians to the Greeks under Alexander the Great, to the Roman Empire. A statue of precious metals gives us the world’s view of these self-exalting rulers and kingdoms.

However, in Daniel 7 we see in Daniel’s own dream how these kingdoms look from God’s point of view: beastly. A lion with eagle’s wings gives way to a gluttonous bear which gives way to a leopard with four wings which finally gives way to a frightening fourth beast. Some wretched horns complete this part of the vision.

Thankfully, for Daniel and for us, he also sees visions described by those familiar and sacred terms for all believers: The Ancient of Days and the Son of Man. Hallelujah! The one true God reigned in his vision!

But I come to the verse above to remind us how Daniel reacted to these apocalyptic visions that give us a portion of this genre of literature in the Bible. He received the shock value God intended. He did not start speculating. He did not start pontificating. He did not get out his newspaper and try to figure out how current events related to his vision. He was rightly terrified, to the point of his face turning pale. And like Mary, after the visit from the angel, he kept the matter to himself, pondering, meditating, and praying.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, help me to ponder, meditate, and pray over your word. May your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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The Great Snare

Posted on May 8, 2023 by Joseph V. (Josh) Carmichael

Yet no one was speaking openly of Him for fear of the Jews. (John 7:13 NASB)

If you look at the preceding verses in John 7, it sounds very current. One group of people want Jesus to cash in on his notoriety: So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples can see your works that you are doing.  For no one does anything in secret while he’s seeking public recognition. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.”  (For not even his brothers believed in him.) (vv. 3-5 CSB) Watch out, social media, Jesus’ own brothers are ready to treat him like a carnival act.

It is the other group, however, that alarms me more. They are afraid to even speak his name out loud. Does that have a contemporary ring to it? He is just him. And you can tell that they are very self-conscious as they even speak openly of him. In fact, John tells us: Still, nobody was talking publicly about him for fear of the Jews (v. 13).

Solomon warned us about this long ago: Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe (NIV 1984). As you go out today, fearing people rather than God will trip you up. So I say, “Dance with the One who brung ya!” Paul was privy to the temptation as well: Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ (Gal. 1:10). You better be settled on this before you even go out today. That way you can serve Christ unencumbered. And Jesus minced no words about the issue: “Therefore, everyone who will acknowledge me before others, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever denies me before others, I will also deny him before my Father in heaven” (Matt. 10:32-33 CSB). Even before you go out, choose this day whom you will serve. If the Lord is God, follow him. (See Josh. 24 & 1 Kgs. 18.)

The message is clear and the temptation against it will only grow stronger. And do not be naïve. This goes for the word of God. Denying the word of Christ is part and parcel to denying Christ. Just as the devil questioned in the garden, Did God really say? so is it in our own day. Do you really believe “such and such” is a sin? The question will come. Are you firm in your convictions? The Bible is. Be prepared to answer boldly, truthfully, accurately, courageously. And it may help to go ahead and memorize the words of Jesus in Matthew 19:4-6, among other passages.

BENEDICTION: May the one true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, strengthen you and help you. May he uphold you with his righteous right hand. Amen.

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Does it really say that?

Posted on May 3, 2023 by Joseph V. (Josh) Carmichael

For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;

he adorns the humble with salvation. (Psalm 149:4 CSB)

Have you trusted Jesus alone for salvation from your sins? Have you responded to his call to come and find rest for your soul (Matt. 11:28-30)? Are you one of the Lord’s people? The psalmist tells us the Lord takes pleasure in his people. Is that amazing or what? As I read this the other evening I was struck afresh with wonder. I certainly needed to hear that. It reminded me of a time about six or seven years ago when I was reading Sinclair Ferguson’s book The Whole Christ for the first time. I wept in my study in Selma as I pondered the fact that Jesus loves me. Yes, like many of us I have sung “Jesus Loves Me” since I was a child. But I suppose I usually sing it as if the “me” is just one straw of hay in an earth-sized haystack. But in reality we are each the proverbial needle in that haystack that he finds! (See Gen. 3:8-9; Luke 15:1-7; John 6:39-40; 15:16-18.) And even now Jesus has gone to prepare a place for his people that where he is we may be also (John 14:3). Look, I know that people is plural and so Psalm 149 is talking about what we now know as the Body of Christ, the church. But I am a member of that body. And he loves each member even as he loves the whole (Ephesians makes this clear). So… the Lord taking pleasure in me. What a thought! Dear Lord, thank you for your love for sinners like me. Please help me to approach your throne of grace with boldness (Hebrews 4) and to abide in you (John 15). To God be the glory! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Anxiety Like a Lead Zeppelin

Posted on May 1, 2023 by Joseph V. (Josh) Carmichael

Anxiety in a person’s heart weighs it down, but a good word cheers it up. (Proverbs 12:25 CSB)

As a pastor and a hospital chaplain, anxiety often overcomes me with a double-dose: Sunday followed by Monday. I can find myself sweating profusely and feeling faint. Just did yesterday. And then came close today. When will it end? Come, Lord Jesus.

By God’s grace and in his wonderful timing last night I read about prayer and anxiety, about what “an unused prayer link” to God looks like. “Anxiety. Instead of connecting with God, our spirits fly around like severed power lines, destroying everything they touch. Anxiety wants to be God but lacks God’s wisdom, power, or knowledge. A godlike stance without godlike character and ability is pure tension. Because anxiety is self on its own, it tries to get control. It is unable to relax in the face of chaos. Once one problem is solved, the next in line steps up. The new one looms so large, we forget the last deliverance” (Paul Miller, A Praying Life)

“Pure tension.” “Unable to relax in the face of chaos.” Thank you, Paul, for these phrases that help me describe my dilemma. However, life must go on even in the midst of the situations that unleashed the anxiety. What do I do? Another Paul tells me to be anxious for nothing but to pray about everything. … through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7) These Pauls think alike. Prayer. Well, I can try. Peace. That sounds divine.

But the Proverb mentions a good word that cheers up. Peter, have you got anything for me? Indeed: Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you.  (1 Peter 5:6-7). OK, here goes. (And thank you, Solomon, for the ancient and relevant insight, a sort of stairway to heaven.)

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The Living God

Posted on April 28, 2023 by Joseph V. (Josh) Carmichael

Then King Darius wrote to those of every people, nation, and language who live on the whole earth: “May your prosperity abound. I issue a decree that in all my royal dominion, people must tremble in fear before the God of Daniel:

For he is the living God,

and he endures forever;

his kingdom will never be destroyed,

and his dominion has no end.

 He rescues and delivers;

he performs signs and wonders

in the heavens and on the earth,

for he has rescued Daniel

from the power of the lions.” (Daniel 6:25-27 CSB)

Daniel’s deliverance from the den of lions turned King Darius from playing god to fearing God. What did he learn? God is real. He is alive. In fact, he is self-existent. He is eternal. He ain’t going nowhere like each successive king of the empire in question. His kingdom, spiritual and not geographical (though it covers the earth), is indestructible. His sovereign reign (redundancy intended!) is most certainly not temporary. He is a Savior and Redeemer. He is divine. He is beyond us. As Creator, there is nothing and no one outside his control. Yet he cares enough and pays enough attention that he hears and answers the prayers of an old man named Daniel in Babylon and his earthly king (see 6:11 and 16b).

PRAYER: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Thank you for hearing my prayer. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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The Pattern of Practical Piety

Posted on April 26, 2023 by Joseph V. (Josh) Carmichael

When Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house. The windows in its upstairs room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before. (Daniel 6:10 CSB)

King Darius of Medo-Persia had been duped and flattered into signing a law limiting all prayer by his subjects only unto him for thirty days. The penalty for breaking said law? Being thrown into a den of lions. Colleagues jealous of Daniel’s success were the culprits. Daniel, now in his eighties, had lived his entire adult life a Jewish exile in Babylon. How had he survived? The help of the Most High God.

Who had given Daniel and his friends favor with the steward during their early years in Babylon? God (1:9). Who had blessed him with knowledge and understanding, even of dreams and visions? God (1:17). How were Nebuchadnezzar’s officials (including Daniel and his friends) delivered when unable to interpret his vision? Daniel urged his friends to ask the God of the heavens for mercy concerning this mystery (2:18). The God of the heavens revealed the mystery to Daniel and Daniel praised the God of the heavens (2:19-23). Daniel reluctantly, but faithfully and compassionately, told Nebuchadnezzar of the fall that his pride would bring him (4:19-27). Daniel accurately revealed the fate of the proud and blasphemous Belshazzar on behalf of the Most High God (5:22-28). Even in his old age, Daniel had found favor with a further ruler of the land, Darius.

Daniel’s life was characterized by a consistent and ordinary practice of piety. That is, he prayed to God, honored God, served a “secular” vocation to the glory of God, and generally exhibited a simple, if unflinching, faith in God. He did not parade his faith. However, he lived it out and daily partook of the ordinary means of grace at his disposal. In chapter 6 we find that, as Jesus would later warn us, the world hated Daniel because of his quiet faithfulness that led him to distinguish himself above them (6:3). He lived a life above approach and so they schemed to try and trap him between his vocation to serve Darius, his boss, and his commitment to worship his Lord, the Most High God (6:4, 5).

Daniel learned of the new law and its penalty. What did he do? He did not fret, rationalize, go into hiding, or search his concordance for verses that might give him a way out of the apparent dilemma. He continued his daily pattern. He prayed. As S. R. Driver points out, “it is not a question of a positive sin which he will not commit, but of a positive duty which he will not omit.” He simply continued his lifelong habit of worship of God.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, help me to remain faithful when persecution comes. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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The Living Word

Posted on April 24, 2023 by Joseph V. (Josh) Carmichael

And this word is the good news that was preached to you. (1 Peter 1:25b ESV)

What word? The word through whom God spoke and everything that is came to be (Genesis 1:1-25). The word that was spoken from the fire on the mountain (Exodus 19:21-20:1). The prophetic word: You are the man! bringing conviction of sin unto repentance (see 2 Samuel 12:7 CSB). The one to whom the Lord God gave the tongue of one who was instructed to know how to sustain the weary with a word (Isaiah 50:4). The word that refuses to return to God empty, but accomplishes all that he pleases (see Isa. 50:11). The word that is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path (see Psalm 119). The Word through whom all things were made that were made and who became flesh and dwelt among us (see John 1).

And in the context of Peter’s letter (1:22-25), this word is the truth through which we are purified by our obedience to it. It is the living and abiding word of God, through whom one is born again unto new life in the Spirit. Though the things of this world will fade away, the word of the Lord remains forever. This word is the good news that was preached to you.

Have you believed? Have you been born again? There is one name under heaven given among men and women by which we must be saved: Jesus. Call on the name of the Lord and be saved. Jesus says to come unto him and find rest. Do not be ashamed of the gospel, the good news, for it is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe. (See Matt. 11; Acts 2, 4; Romans 1; 10) For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame, since there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord of all richly blesses all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Romans 10:11-13)

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That Sounds Like a Bad Idea

Posted on April 19, 2023 by Joseph V. (Josh) Carmichael

King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine in their presence. Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that his predecessor Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, wives, and concubines could drink from them. So they brought in the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, wives, and concubines drank from them. They drank the wine and praised their gods made of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. (Daniel 5:1-4 CSB)

The trouble started in the first two verses of Daniel. We are told that it was God who gave Nebuchadnezzar the victory over Judah. Yet he took vessels from the house of God. And that is not all: Nebuchadnezzar carried them to the land of Babylon, to the house of his god, and put the vessels in the treasury of his god. Anyone remember the Bad Idea Jeans commercial from when SNL used to be funny? Cue the punch line.

Well, where do we start? Belshazzar, who seems to be Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson, gets drunk as a show. In his drunkenness he orders the holy vessels taken from Jerusalem be brought out. These vessels are in the Babylonian temples as a demonstration that their gods are stronger than God. Do you see God’s patience behind the scenes? For approximately 66 years, items meant to honor him have been in a profane place. Now they are about to be used profanely. Notice the repetition throughout the passage. Think of it as italics or bold script. The author is making a point. The section concludes with a drunken pagan worship service, led by the king. Those in leadership ought not do such things.

I want to start listing all the public ways I see God being dishonored around me. But I think I must start with myself. Do I put any other gods above the triune God? Do I love God’s name? Do I take his name in vain? Does it cause me pain to hear others belittling God and his name? Is the name of Jesus sweet and precious to me? After all, there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). Do those who come in contact with me daily know that I fear, that is, I have a holy reverence, for my God? God will not be mocked (cf. Gal. 6:7, 8). Belshazzar and his nobles mocked God. Bad idea!

The fifth chapter of Daniel concludes: That very night Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans was killed (5:30). You don’t trifle with the one true and living God.

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Elect Exiles

Posted on April 17, 2023 by Joseph V. (Josh) Carmichael

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ: To those chosen, living as exiles, … May grace and peace be multiplied to you. (1 Peter 1:1-2)

To those chosen, living as exiles. Do you find yourself feeling out of place where you live? If so, you are not alone. But the Apostle Peter addressed us this way 2,000 years ago. The fact is that this world is not our home. We are exiles. I am preaching through the book of Daniel right now in my pulpit ministry, so this concept of exile is fresh in my mind. Daniel and his three friends were young Jewish men who were taken from their home and placed in a foreign land. That time became known in the history of redemption as The Exile. To be in exile is to be away from home and in some sense not able to immediately return.

We are living in times the prophet Isaiah described, with a rebuke: Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter (5:20). If you are sanctified in Christ Jesus, then you will not feel at home in such times. It is disturbing to observe morality being turned upside down. It is frightening to see evil and good being not only confused, but subverted. And it is sad to see the very things that would bring flourishing being substituted for things that will only bring pain. Paul describes this vividly and graphically in Romans 1:18-32.

Jesus has gone to prepare a place for his people that where he is we may be also (cf. John 14:1ff.). But in the meantime he has sent us the Spirit of truth. He also reminded us to be of good cheer in the midst of tribulation because he has overcome the world. And as one of our favorite Christmas carols reminds us, Jesus came to make his blessings flow as far as the curse is found. So even as you feel disoriented these days, do not lose your compass, the Word of God. God has prepared us for such times. Peter also said, Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you (5:6-7).

PRAYER: Dear Lord, sometimes I feel lost. Thank you for your Word, the lamp for my feet and light for my path. Please write it upon my heart and help me to hunger and thirst for righteousness. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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The Wonder of the Word

Posted on April 13, 2023 by Joseph V. (Josh) Carmichael

Open my eyes so that I may contemplate wondrous things from your instruction. (Psalm 119:18 CSB)

The writer to the Hebrews described God’s word as living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart (4:12). Paul instructed Timothy: All Scripture is inspired by God, and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16). That word inspired there does not mean inspirational. It is a compound Greek word actually invented by the Apostle Paul: God-breathed. The Bible was written by men as they were inspired by the Holy Spirit. It is divine: the word of God to men and women, to boys and girls.

God’s word thus has the power, through the work of the Spirit, to bring one to the point of conviction of sin, profession of faith in God, and confession of the truth and power of God. It gets down inside us and shines light on our darkness, piercing our hearts that we may turn away from sin and turn to God. And this word tells us that as we confess our sin he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from unrighteousness (see 1 John 1:9). God’s word teaches us the way of salvation and how to live as one thus saved. It tells us what we ought not do and what we ought to do. It shows us our errors and how to recalibrate our lives. It trains us in righteousness, that is, in the ancient path—the good way—where we find rest for our souls (see Jeremiah 6:16 and Matthew 7:13-14; 11:28-30).

The ESV translate today’s verse, Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. This is a prayer to God that as we read and encounter the Bible, and the God of the Bible, our spiritual eyes would be opened, our hearts would be filled, our minds would be sharpened, and our souls would be strengthened. It is a prayer to experience the joy of our salvation. Pray this prayer with the psalmist. Read God’s word. Meditate on the Scriptures—the Holy Bible. God will answer this prayer. And you and I will be changed and made for fit for God’s purposes for us.

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