The
phrase "safe place" or "shelter in place" is familiar,
especially to the millions who live in or near America’s "tornado
alley." It is sometimes necessary to identify and equip the room or closet
or other space in our houses that would offer the most strength and protection
from the horrible event of a tornado bearing down on us. A "safe
place" is a great idea, and has saved many lives. But then again, safe
places sometimes prove to not be safe enough. When nature’s equivalent of a
bunker-bursting bomb (an F-4 tornado) lands on top of your house, there is no
space that is safe.
The world-wide Coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated fear
and insecurity. Human beings long for the ultimate safe place, a place of
protection strong enough to guarantee freedom from hurt and harm. The Bible
describes such a place – it’s called Heaven! If we interpret Revelation 21-22
as the apostle John’s inspired description of Heaven (which millions over the
centuries have done), the breath-taking and imagination-stretching words we
read there "blow the mind" and tingle the spine!
According to John
those in Heaven will be with Jesus forever in a sin- free zone no longer
dominated by the devil (22:3). Heaven is a place where "God will wipe away
every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor
crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed
away" (21:4).
Wow! No sickness, no sorrow, no crying, no dying! No funeral
homes or hospitals in Heaven. No operating rooms, no nursing care or assisted-living
facilities. No home health care services or cancer treatment centers. No hip or
knee-replacement procedures. No open-heart surgeries or stints in arteries. No
pharmacies, no Coronavirus pandemic or any other kind of thing that harms or
threatens the purity and holiness and health of that place and those who dwell
there. No tears, no fears, no worries, no problems. Further, no terrorists or
thieves will threaten inhabitants of God’s holy city, for it has "a great
and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angles at the gates" (21:12).
The ultimate safe place!
Here’s
the kicker – if you are reading these words you are not in Heaven yet! We’re
still on Planet Earth where Satan and sin and sickness and sorrow and all the
stuff that scares and threatens to hurt us is never too far away. What to do?
Before space is gone, consider this. In an address to the British Commonwealth
from a palace in London in the trying days after the close of World War II,
King George VI closed with these words: "I said to the man at the Gate of
the Year, ‘Give me a light that I may walk safely into the unknown.’ He said to
me, ‘Go out into the darkness, and put your hand in the hand of God, and it
shall be to you better than the light, and safer than the known.’ " Those
remarks are quoted by leading Christian writer, Ravi Zacharias, on page 53 of
his book Can Man Live Without God? After the quote Zacharias adds,
"As he [the king] spoke, the people were unaware that he was dying of
cancer. Those words were to become an anchor in his own time of need."
What anchors you in our own trying times?
In a passage about Heaven, the
apostle Paul called Christians to "walk by faith, not by sight" (2
Cor.5:7). Is there anything "safe" about what we see around us if we
leave faith in God out of the equation? What "safe place" on earth
can compare to what the Bible tells us about Heaven? There is none. The
ultimate safe place is Heaven. It’s safer than any place we know.
by: Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN
The
debate over the importance of doctrine among groups who claim to believe the
Bible is not new. Revelation 2:12-17 records Jesus’ letter to the church
at first century Pergamos. The Lord commended them on several positive points,
but added this strong rebuke in verses 14-15: "But I have a few things
against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who
taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat
things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have
those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Repent or
else I will come to you quickly and fight against them with the sword of My
mouth." This passage demands attention! The words "doctrine"
and "hate" occur in the same sentence! And the one doing the
talking and doing the hating is not some ultra-right-wing religious radical
extremist who is ready to terrorize opponents or walk into a worship assembly
and open fire on others who disagree with his / her fanatical religious
viewpoint. No sir, no ma’am – in this passage the one doing the hating is none
other than Jesus Christ – the same One who teaches us to love God totally and
love our neighbors as ourselves. It cannot be escaped – the Son of God is on
public record here as saying there is doctrine He "hates."
Further, He is "against them" that teach it and others who
apparently were tolerating them to teach it. He threatens to come and "fight
against them" with "the sword of His mouth." This is
a side of Jesus many modern day believers in Christ simply do not want to
accept, and who "fight against" those who do with the swords in their
own mouths! Jesus believed that doctrine matters. Here and in other places He
taught doctrine about doctrines! And He made it clear there is some doctrine he
hates.
Doctrine
matters. At 1 Timothy 4:1-2 Paul wrote sobering words to his preaching
friend and son in the faith – "Now the Spirit expressly says that in
later times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits
and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own
conscience seared with a hot iron." Say what, Paul?! Doesn’t that
sound a little judgmental and intolerant? "Demons" (KJV
"devils") have doctrines? The Greek word for "doctrines"
here (didaskalia pronounced did-as-kal-ee’- ah), defined as "instruction
(the function or the information), teaching" (Strong’s Concordance). The
word often refers to specific Christian teachings that comprise the body of
truth revealed through inspired men and preserved in the New Testament. So it
is Paul urges Timothy to "charge some that they teach no other
doctrine" (1 Timothy 1:3). There is"sound doctrine" and
things "contrary to sound doctrine" (1:10). There is "good
doctrine" (4:6); doctrine to "give attention to" (4:13)
and "continue in" (4:16); there is doctrine we should "consent
to" – that is, doctrine comprised of "wholesome words, even
the words of our Lord Jesus Christ ... which accords to godliness"
(6:3). This doctrine is divine – it comes from God. But the devil has
doctrines, too – religious ideas that are "deceiving ... lies ...
hypocritical." The devil’s doctrines never draw us nearer to God.
Instead, they cause those who believe them to "depart from the
faith." Jesus said in John 7:16, "My doctrine is not
Mine, but His who sent Me." Some doctrine is from from God, and some
doctrine is from the devil. The doctrine that doctrine does not matter is not
from God!
by: Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN
