Category: All Articles

Pentecost Settles the Issue of Occupation

by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Ministry

–May of 1998

Pentecost Settles the Issue of Occupation

William Carey, the father of modern missions, was once asked in a condescending tone by someone of social standing, “Mr. Carey, am I correct in understanding that your occupation is that of a cobbler?” Carey’s polite response was, “No, sir. By occupation I’m a missionary. I only repair shoes to make a living.”

Carey was right. He understood the New Testament concept that by definition all Christians are salt and light. All are missionaries, witnesses, and ambassadors for the Kingdom’s advance. John R. W. Stott stated it with powerful precision when he said, “The Holy Spirit is a missionary spirit; and if we are not possessed with a missionary spirit, then we are not possessed with the Holy Spirit.” Jesus confirms this when He tells his disciples that once they had received the promise of the Father they would be witnesses, both at home and abroad.

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit makes witnesses out of all of us, regardless of our trade or vocation. The Apostle Paul made it clear that a part of the promise of Spirit fullness is that God will “walk in us.” Paul meant that God through His Holy Spirit will carry out redemptive activity through our lives in this present world.

The early Methodists were powerful examples of people who were totally focused by the Holy Spirit on redemptive activity. It was said of Francis Asbury that “he was not a many-sided man, but a one-sided man. If he were not 100 percent religious, it was not because he did not intend to be. If all other Americans were not 100 percent religious, that was but an indication of the work he must do.” Asbury genuinely loved people; but it was always their deepest selves, their souls, he wanted. Polite company and worldly conversation were tolerable at best. He was always impatient to get to the ultimate question with everyone. Diversions were only diverting. Once Asbury turned aside to see a test of a primitive steamboat and pronounced it “a great invention.” But he was not the type to be wondering where he could lay hands on some cash to buy stock in the company. Rather, one suspects he had some vision of the expansion of Methodism and the Kingdom of God by means of the steamboat.

Thomas Oden warns us, “The church that forgets the gospel of salvation is finally not the church, but its shadow. The church that becomes focused upon maintaining itself instead of the gospel becomes a dead branch of a living vine.”

Pentecost both broadens and narrows our focus. The Holy Spirit energizes our hearts to see all men as candidates for God’s grace. He enlarges our vision to see the world as redeemable. At the same time, He narrows our commitments and seeks to channel our employment in the things that matter most.

The coming of the Holy Spirit in our lives will settle the issue of occupation once and for all. Whether doctor, lawyer, farmer, of factory worker, the man or woman filled with the Holy Spirit will find that his first and foremost work is to be a faithful witness for Jesus Christ. Only a personal Pentecost can so change the orientation of our lives that we see the things of this world as only a means to an end. The end is always the advancement of God’s Kingdom. Have you allowed Pentecost to settle the issue of occupation in your life?

The Rent Veil

by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Theology

–April 0f 1998

The Rent Veil

It had been hanging there for years.  It looked as if it might hang there forever.  Beautifully embroidered in blue, purple and scarlet, this massive curtain hanging in front of the Mercy Seat, had guarded its secret well.  It was there to fulfill a double function.  On the one hand, it was there to keep men out.  Sinful humanity had to keep a respectful distance.  On the other hand, it was there to shut God in.  For behind that hanging veil there was silence as deep as death and darkness as black as night.  A darkness that not even the Judean sun blazing down at noonday could penetrate.  For centuries this veil had symbolized the separation between a holy God and sinful man, and it looked as if it would hang forever.

The gospel writer tells us, however, that at the very moment Jesus died, a pair of unseen hands tore the veil from top to bottom.  This, of course, was no mere coincidence.  When Christ died outside the walls of the city the veil inside the walls of the temple was rent in twain.  The obvious question is “why?”

The verdict of all Christendom is that in the deepest sense, that rent veil before the Mercy Seat stands for three fundamental things.  First of all, the rent veil means the disclosure of a secret.  A secret that revealed the inmost heart of the Eternal Father.  It was characteristic and symbolic of temple religion that as you passed from the outer court through the inner court toward the center, the lights were progressively dimmed until you reached the veil hanging before the Most Holy Place.  Behind the veil the ark of God sat in perpetual darkness.  It had been that way for centuries.  But when Jesus died and the veil was rent, the sunshine came streaming in!  The whole world would now know that a holy and just God was also a God of love, and this God of love was making a way into His very presence.

Someone has said that you can’t prove love by words.  Even God couldn’t prove it with just words.  Once and again God had said, “Come now, let us reason together,” but that couldn’t prove love.  Once and again God sent His prophets to be His voice to men, but not even the word of God, blazing through the lips of faithful prophets, could do it.  Furthermore, God sent His only Son, preaching, challenging, and healing; but not even that could do it.  Then when it seemed that the last word had been said, and God Himself could do no more, suddenly from top to bottom the veil was rent.  The heart of God lay bare.  The rending of the veil was symbolic at best.  But the rending of the flesh of Christ in His death on the cross gives me the very heart of the eternal God, because it isn’t words at all.  It is a deed against which I can batter all my doubts to pieces and rise in faith, trusting the atoning work of that cross and knowing that God truly loves me.

But the rent veil stands for something more.  It stands for the opening up of a road—the offer of a right-a-way.  As you study the symbolism of temple worship, it wasn’t only the progressive lowering of the lights as you neared the center that was characteristic of the temple.  It was also the progressive heightening of the barriers.  There was a carefully graded system of exclusion.  First you had the outer court where anyone might come.  Then there was the inner court, which was reserved for true born Jews.  Beyond that was the holy place, where only the ministering priest might enter, and finally came the holiest of all, where only one man on one day of the year was allowed to enter.  There was no access to the Mercy Seat for the common man.  No grasp of this great hand of the eternal God.  There was only the barrier of that relentless veil that meant death and sacrilege to touch.  But the cross of Christ changed everything forever.  When the Friend of sinners gave His life, the veil was rent; and a road of access was opened for all.  It was a road so wide that the Holy Scripture tells us, “whosoever will may come.”  It was a virtual “sinner’s highway.”

There is a story told about John Duncan, a professor who taught Hebrew at Edinburgh many years ago.  He was sitting one day at communion at a Highland church, and he was feeling so personally unworthy that when the elements came around he felt he couldn’t take them.  He allowed the bread and wine to pass.  As he was sitting there, feeling absolutely miserable, he noticed a girl in the congregation who, when the bread and wine came around, also allowed them to pass, and then she broke down into tears.  That sight seemed to bring back to the old saint the truth he had forgotten.  In the caring whisper that could be heard all across the church, he was heard to say, “Take it, Lassie, take it!  It is meant for sinners!”   Then he himself partook.

The rent veil stood for the disclosure of a secret and the opening of a road; and finally it stood for the confirming of a hope.  Can you hear the magnificent words of the apostle when he said that we should “lay hold upon the hope set before us, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil, whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus made an high priest forever.”  Jesus has opened the way to God and given us hope beyond the grave.  In the words of Bunyan, “death’s flood hath lost its chill since Jesus crossed the river.”

The saints of yesteryear have gone through the river and come out shouting.  Many of our own dear loved ones have gone, and the trumpets have sounded for them also on the other side.  We remain standing on the banks of this present world, looking over with the eye of faith.  Jesus has taken the sting out of death and the grave.  He has removed the darkness and opened the way to eternal life.  The songwriter said it well, “See He is the mighty Conqueror, since He rent the veil in two.”

The Beauty of Holiness

by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Christian Living, Theology

–March of 1998

The Beauty of Holiness

In a recent revival meeting, the pastor and I were reminiscing about some of the people we had known from years gone by here on the Hilltop. The name of Mrs. R.W. Dunn was mentioned. Sister Dunn was a beautiful example of Christian holiness, so gentle and winsome. My pastor friend went on to say, “I miss that sweetness that has made holiness people truly beautiful people.”

My friend’s comments were not just sentimental reflections on the loss of a few “old timers,” whose personality just happened to lend itself toward gentleness. Nor was it a jab at today’s holiness constituents. Rather, I believe it was a genuine longing for God’s people to array themselves in the beauty of true holy living – a trait that has indeed been historically true of holiness people.

God is interested in beauty. A casual glance at His creation gives overwhelming testimony to that fact. Take a drive over the Beartooth Highway in the Great Rockies. Spend a day touring New England’s brilliant autumn countryside. Watch the sunrise on the southern edge of the Grand Canyon. Take an unhurried look at a bougainvillaea bloom blowing in a warm southern breeze, or a shy water lily in a beaver pond in upstate New York. Spend an afternoon peering through the pristine waters of the Caribbean at the breathtaking display of coral reef, while splendidly colored fish dart about. For that matter, just look out your window at the budding narcissus and the chirping cardinal. God has spared nothing in making a beautiful world!

If you are still not convinced, look into the Scripture at the two building projects God has undertaken. Read about the intricate tapestry of the tabernacle and the ornate designs God planned there. Then, turn to the closing book of the Bible and read the breathtaking description of Heaven. The overwhelming beauty of the eternal city of God impoverishes the human language to describe it.

Doesn’t it stand to reason that if God has so clearly testified to His interest in beauty that He would also want beautiful people? I believe at the very heart of redemption is the removal of the ugliness of sin and the restoration of the beauty of holiness. As a matter of fact, Peter and Timothy both take considerable portions of a chapter to tell us that a life adorned with the ornaments of “good works” and “a meek and quiet spirit” are in the “sight of God of great price.” This is a beauty that flows out of a regenerated and sanctified heart. It is a beauty that is attractive and alluring. On the contrary, any attempt to fabricate beauty through worldly embellishments becomes a false beauty, just as any attempt at holy living that is negative, self-conscious, weird, or denunciatory is like lilies that have begun to rot – repulsive and ill smelling.

Can the qualities of Christian beauty be defined? I believe they can, and I also believe that they are quite obvious. For instance, holy people are beautiful people because they are real people. Pretense and sham are always beauty spoilers by anyone’s yardstick. People who are authentic, genuine, and truthful (all traits of true holiness) can always be described as beautiful people. Another element of beauty is richness. Holy people are beautiful people because they are rich people. No, not in the sense of dollars, but in the sense of depth and fullness. Paul Rees said it like this, “A fussy straining after piety is not beautiful; it is pathetic. True holiness, however, is an overflow of the indwelling Christ. It is not something that has to be strenuously pumped up. It is artesian. It is the natural overflow of inner goodness.”

Holy people are beautiful people because they are balanced people. Jesus denounced the Pharisees because of their ugly imbalance. He described them as people who paid the most minute  attention to the least of issues, yet neglected the most obvious and weighty responsibilities of true spiritual living. The holy man has balance and proportion. He has the ability to disagree without becoming disagreeable. He knows how to be separated without being eccentric. He knows how to be sober without becoming morbid. He knows how to be firm without becoming harsh.

God is actively engaged in making His saints beautiful people. It begins in the decisive moments of conversion and cleansing, and continues in the daily discipline of being conformed to His image. It is my constant prayer that the Lord will make my life appealing and alluring so that I may truly worship Him “in the beauty of holiness.”

The Word in Worship

by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Christian Living, Theology

–Winter of 1997

The Word in Worship

For many Americans the recent blur of holiday activities was momentarily suspended by a curious news story out of Clearwater, Florida, a few days before Christmas.  It began when a pedestrian outside of a local bank noticed that one of the large smoke-colored windows appeared to reflect the image of Mary, the mother of Jesus.  Word spread rapidly and within hours police officers had to be summoned to manage the influx of traffic as worshipers of Mary flooded the streets and sidewalks, offering prayers, reciting the rosary and shedding tears of adoration and joy.  One wonders how it is that the groundskeeper seemed to be expressing the minority opinion when he concluded that the image was simply a coincidental result of a chemical reaction between the window finish and the lawn sprinkler.

It goes without saying that the religious frenzy displayed outside the Clearwater, Florida, bank, while having a veneer of spirituality and piety diverged widely from true Scriptural worship.  Any time the central authority of Scripture is compromised, a fatal blow is struck to the heart of worship.  Heresy and cultic malpractices are the inevitable results.  Conversely, when God’s Word is consciously and consistently given priority, it contributes a soundness to worship, clearly defining the object of worship and governing the worship process in general.

However, lest we smile to condescendingly upon the misdirected idolizers of Mary, it might be appropriate to examine ourselves and ask if our worship is truly modeled and marked by the Word of God.  There is little doubt that we pay lip service to the supreme and prominent place that Scripture should occupy in our religious assemblies.  Furthermore, we have remained unquestionably committed to the supernatural character of the Bible, readily denouncing any and every threat or perceived threat to the doctrines of inspiration and inerrancy.  But, does this laudable conviction manifest itself in a real objective way – particularly in the context of public worship?  Or do our hurried worship services encumbered with a litany of organizational announcements, sandwiched between a handful of extemporaneous digressions ranging from stories of transportation difficulties on the way to church to half-humorous reflections on last week’s church get-together, leave little time for careful, thoughtful reading and meditating on the Word of God?  Are sermons something more than motivational speeches or spiritual pep-talks wrapped in a Scripture text?  Do they, in reality, unfold the holy Word?

In this book, The Ultimate Priority, John MacArthur, Jr., laments that, “some sermons are only marginally biblical but move the congregation and make them laugh and cry…They might be interesting, fun, entertaining, exciting and impressive sermons, but they do not help the people worship God.”  The result of such biblically deficient worship is predictable.  Worship eventually relaxes into a ragged, undefined shallow exercise that ultimately focuses on self rather than on God.  Over time the average congregation acclimates itself to the spiritually lean atmosphere.  Rather than sensing that something is wrong, they actually begin to enjoy and expect these services of entertainment where they always leave feeling good.

In Nehemiah the power of the Word of God to motivate true worship is clearly demonstrated as Ezra read from the sacred scroll in the presence of the standing congregation.  Though convicted and challenged by the Word, the grateful assembly responded in chorus, “Amen, Amen.”  With lifted hands they “worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground.”  May God grant us such a revival…a revival of true worship, firmly grounded in and flowing from a meaningful commitment to the holy Word.

The Wind Should Be In Our Face

by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Ministry

–October of 1997

The Wind Should Be In Our Face

“While I was showing, at Charles’ Square, what it is ‘to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God,’ a great shout began.  Many of the rabble had brought an ox, which they were vehemently laboring to drive in among the people.  But their labor was in vain; for in spite of them all, he ran round and round, one way and the other, and at length broke through the midst of them clear away, leaving us calmly rejoicing and praising God.”

The above memory preserved in the personal diary of Rev. John Wesley on July 12, 1741, is typical of a hundred other entries which he made in his now famous journal.  Thumbing back a few pages on Friday, October 19, 1739, Wesley, preaching in Newport, lifted the text, “What must I do to be saved?”  He then records that one old man “…during a great part of the sermon, cursed and swore almost incessantly; and, towards the conclusion, took up a great stone, which he many times attempted to throw.  But that he could not do.”

The warm-hearted preaching of Wesley and his colleagues often touched off a hot-headed reaction in nobles and peasants alike, as the counter cultural influence of early Methodist checked and challenged the advance of evil at every intersection of life.  It was said that an old Methodist meeting house could be identified by its broken windows, a witness to the opposition of offended and angry antagonists.  However, at other times the straightforward preaching of Wesley and his army of circuit riders was rewarded when confronted sinners melted under the searing light of early Methodism’s “sin and salvation” message.  Historian Mark Knoll records one such victory from the ministry of Burton Randall, a friend and comrade of the illustrious Peter Cartwright.  Randall wished to preach in a town near Dubuque, Iowa, but the only building large enough to host a crowd was the pool hall.  The owner consented to the meeting and, out of respect for the visiting ministry, covered his gambling table with a sheet.  “Where upon Randall, noticing a similarity to a coffin, preached a vigorous sermon that resulted in the conversion of the proprietor and the sale of his hall!”

But whether they met with opposition or success, Methodist pioneers altered neither their message nor their method.  They clearly understood that the gospel banner had always been carried forward while facing winds of opposition.  However, it seems as if the world today neither opposes nor affirms the church.  It appears that the church marches around carrying the gospel banner, invoking nothing more than a yawn from the opposing forces of darkness.  While this is certainly not the case in many third world countries, here in the West it appears that even the holiness movement is in danger of settling in to a comfortable co-existence with a sinful society.  We have perfected the art of preaching against sin, but not in such a way as to disturb a sin drunken culture around us.  As Vance Havner once said, “We have developed the fine art of almost saying something.”  We have separated ourselves from the world and the world is separated from us, and neither side seems to care.  Where formerly the church was persecuted, today it is simply ignored.

I am not calling for, nor encouraging a bullish and offensive behavior simply to pick a fight with sinners so we can rejoice that we have been persecuted for Jesus’ sake.  Nor is mistreatment in opposition being held up as a litmus test of genuine Christianity.  Martyrdom itself is not proof of truth.  But surely if we are indeed being salt and light in a sin-darkened world, if we are truly confronting society’s sins such as abortion, immorality, gambling, pornography, discrimination and homosexuality, if indeed we are denouncing the apathy, lukewarmness and deadness of those who sleep in Zion, and if we are openly challenging humanistic, atheistic and New Age philosophies, somewhere along the way we will encounter both opposition and success.  Some will resent our message and retaliate.  Others will respect our message and capitulate.  Surely the wind will once again blow in our face.