The following articles were written by Pastor David Becker
of Charlestown Bible Church and published in New Hampshire newspapers
and/or periodicals. Click on a title to read that article or scroll down
to read the articles successively.
God
Is So Good | We Have A
Priest |
The Leper's Cleansing | What Does God Expect From Me? | Soul Thirst
God is so Good
Many of us remember as a child singing that little chorus, "God
is so good, He’s so good to me." How often are children’s
songs filled with powerful truth. The part which gives this line such meaning
is the little word so. God is so good. My mind is immediately drawn to the
New Testament where this word is given the same usage, "For God so
loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son." God did not
just love this world. John 3:16 says that He so loved the world. His love
was
no ordinary love. It was a love which so desired to see man rescued from
the curse of sin that God was willing to give the dearest object of his
possession, His only begotten Son. Such can be said of the truth found
in this little chorus. God is not just good to us. Rather, God is so good.
Have we ever been to the place where we truly appreciate God’s goodness
in our lives? The special privileges of mankind began at creation, where
God breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life, and man became
a living soul. God has made us in His image. He has given us bodies which
both science and the psalmist David agree, that "we are fearfully and
wonderfully made." He has surrounded us with a world that is completely
suited to our comfortable survival. The entire solar system moves according
to His will in order to provide for us the climate and the seasons given
to support life. He nourishes us with the fruits of this earth. He has surrounded
us with family and friends. This goodness is not just limited to the nice
and noble, for God causes the sun to shine on the just and the unjust. Even
those that deny Him and refuse to honor Him with their lives are blessed
with His goodness. We must confess with the Psalmist, "Oh that men
would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to
the children of men!"
There is a warning attached to the goodness of God. The apostle Paul warns
his readers in Romans that the goodness of God is to lead us to repentance.
If we can acknowledge God’s goodness in the acts of His providence,
how much more in the work of His redemption. He that spared not His own
Son, but delivered Him up for us all. What love. What goodness. May we contemplate
God’s goodness this day, and may this meditation lead us to the
reconciliation found in the cross of His Son, Jesus Christ.
David Becker, Pastor
Charlestown Bible Church
149 East St.
Charlestown, NH
603-826-4465
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We Have a Priest
It has been said that protestants
are against the priesthood. That is not a true statement. In fact, as a
protestant minister,
I myself have a priest. I meet with him on a daily basis. I offer to him confession
for my sins and transgressions. I tell him my discouragements and my fears.
I have complete confidence in my priest. He has proven his love for me, being
willing even to give his own life for my well being. He is faithful above all
others. He has never once failed to bring my prayers and supplications before
the Father. He has never failed to provide for the cleansing of my sin. He
is always available. I can call upon him at any time of any day. He never turns
me away. His word of guidance and exhortation can be trusted and obeyed. His
most endearing quality is that of his mercy. He has walked in my shoes. He
has faced the tempter’s ploys and withstood the fiery darts of persecution.
He knows the weakness of my heart and the frailty of my frame. Yet his words
to me are gracious and his rebukes mild. This is my priest.
The writer of the book of Hebrews deals with this issue of priesthood. He shows
the failures of the Aaronic priesthood, how their sacrifices could never make
our conscience perfect before God. But God had ordained a better priesthood,
one prophesied by the psalmist that would come from the line of Melchisedec.
It was this priest that would minister through the power of an endless life.
It was this priest that would enable us to enter in boldly before the throne
of grace through his sufficient sacrifice. He tells us that we have such an
high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God. This is
my priest, and I need none other. I come before Him daily to obtain mercy,
and find grace to help in time of need. This priest is available to all that
will come unto Him in faith. Will you not take advantage of the priesthood
of Jesus Christ today?
David Becker, Pastor
Charlestown Bible Church
149 East St.
Charlestown, NH
603-826-4465
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The Leper's Cleansing
Leprosy is a disease which plagued
the ancient world. It would first appear as white scab slightly deeper than
the skin. It would then spread over the entire body of the victim. A leper,
under the Mosaic law, was considered unclean. Not only was he shut out of society,
but he was forbidden to worship at the temple. Such was the unfortunate state
of the leper. Leprosy is a vivid picture of sin. God looks at us, as the Jews
upon the leper, and sees us as unclean. We are forbidden to enter into His
holy presence. We are shut out from the life that is found in Him. It is encouraging
then to look at the leper’s cleansing, for it shows us how we too may
be made clean.
If a leper went to the priest with a small, but leprous scab on his arm, he
was pronounced unclean. If, on the other hand, a leper went to the priest completely
covered with the disease from head to foot, he was pronounced clean. In the
same way must sinners come to our high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. True
repentance does not come with self righteousness and religious effort admitting
only to a few bad habits. True repentance comes to Christ confessing that sin
covers us from head to foot. Not only have our sins transgressed the law of
God, but our works of righteousness fall far short of His glory. We admit with
the apostle Paul when he said, "For I know in me, that is in my flesh,
dwells no good thing." Christ is looking for such to come unto Him, for
He said, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
The leper was then sprinkled with blood , washed with water, and once again
allowed into society. All that passed him knew full well that he was a leper.
The scars of the disease were quite evident. The difference was that he was
now a cleansed leper. The blood of Christ can cleanse us of all sin. The washing
of the Spirit by the Word can give us a new life of obedience. And even though
we will always bear the fading marks of sin in our members, we are now sinners
cleansed by the grace of God.
David Becker, Pastor
Charlestown Bible Church
149 East St.
Charlestown, NH
603-826-4465
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What Does God Expect from Me?
There are some in our nation that
do not believe in the existence of God. The fact that our coins have imprinted
upon them "in God we trust" is almost offensive. The majority, however,
do believe in a supreme deity. The majority of that majority believe to some
degree in the God represented in the Judeo-Christian tradition which the founders
of our nation upheld. To those of us who believe in the existence of this God,
our first question should be, "What does God expect of me?" Is God
concerned with our lives? Does God have a standard whereby we will be accepted
or rejected in the day of reckoning? These are not questions to be passed over
lightly. These are the questions that must be answered before one can walk
in this world in peace and confidence.
The Scripture is clear of what God expects of us. He demands of us perfection.
He demands perfect obedience to His law. He demands a life void of sin, void
of unbelief, void of disobedience. Paul tells us in his epistle to the Romans
that only the doers of the law shall be justified. This is the same as saying
obey the law perfectly. James tells us that whosoever shall keep the whole
law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. Paul tells us that as
many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law. Our question then
may be clearly answered. Obey God perfectly and live; sin against His law and
die.
Where does that leave us? Perfect obedience? To keep such a record is humanly
impossible. Impossible indeed, for Paul tells us that by the deeds of the law
there shall no flesh be justified in His sight. God expects of us perfect righteousness,
but we have no such righteousness to give. God, however, has not left man without
hope. He has provided for us a perfect righteousness. Paul describes this as
the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ. A righteousness
which God has wrought for us through the righteous life of His Son Jesus Christ.
Christ told us that He came not to destroy the law but to fulfill it. This
righteousness which Jesus fulfilled during His vicarious life of perfect obedience
is the righteousness which God promises to give to all those that put their
faith in Jesus.
What does God expect of me? The perfect obedience which God demands, He has
promised to give unto us through faith in His only begotten Son. Does your
heart long for such righteousness? Place your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,
and you will be able to stand holy and without blame before Him in love.
David
Becker, Pastor
Charlestown Bible Church
149 East St.
Charlestown, NH
603-826-4465
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Soul Thirst
Those who have expended energy outside during the
recent hot and humid days of New Hampshire know something about thirst. The
moment that cool liquid passes your lips you feel as if you could drink indefinitely.
The reason your body craves water after a hot workout is because it had lost
so much of its fluids in the process. You then begin to experience the physical
phenomenon known to every human being: thirst.
There is a great need in our land for men and women to experience what the
Scripture describes as soul thirst. This does not refer to the desire of the
body for physical fluid. Rather, it describes the inner yearning of a person
to have his spiritual needs met. Just as in physical thirst, the soul has lost
so much of its vitality. Sin has pushed mankind through a tragic workout of
death and misery. We have lost sweet communion with our Creator. We are now
bound to follow that which cannot give life or satisfy the soul.
There are many who have run sin’s obstacle course and are now experiencing
soul thirst. They simply desire to have peace in their heart. They long to
love and be loved. They want their consciences to be quieted. They desire the
assurance of sins forgiven and of eternal life. They have tried every vice
and pleasure that sin can bring them and have realized that none of these things
can quench their thirsting of the soul.
For those experiencing such thirst, the Scripture has a word for you. Isaiah
wrote, "Ho, everyone that thirsts, come ye to the waters. Yes, come, buy
wine and milk without money and without price." There is someone who can
meet this need of the heart. He will not require your money or your religious
efforts. All He desires is for you to come to Him with a thirsty heart, with
a desire for Him to meet your spiritual need. Jesus said, "If any man
thirst, let him come unto me and drink. If any man believes on me, out of his
belly shall flow rivers of living water." Jesus says to all experiencing
soul thirst to come unto him with a heart of faith. He will give you within
a continual supply of that which can satisfy this thirsting of the soul.
David Becker, Pastor
Charlestown Bible Church
149 East St.
Charlestown, NH
603-826-4465
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