When I Die, Tear My Stillhouse Down

II Corinthians 5:1

"For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

A still house is a make-shift shack tucked and hid somewhere out of sight and scent, where a combination of corn mash, sugar & water are used to distill the ingredients to make a backwood concoction called moonshine, white lightning or mountain dew (No, not the sodie pop). The manufacture was illicit; its distribution was illicit; and the monetary gain was illicit.

The copper (or metal) kettle is as infamous as those moonshiners you see in any old picture. In those same photographs you'll also notice oak barrels. In them was the whiskey where it mixed with charcoal and other sundries like oak chips, apples, honey or Dr. Pepper to give the hard liquor a distinct flavor.

The reason I write about the still house (which, by the way, is a American Southern thing) is that it is an apt metaphor for the sinner's body. In this ramshackle abode dwell all sorts of sinful elements, poisonous compounds. Yet, the body is only part of the equation; sin is a nature and we all have it.

David said in Psalm 51:5, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me."

In Psalm 58:3, he adds, "The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies."

And, the main source in which sin springs forth is found in Jeremiah 17:9, which states, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Indeed, who can know it but God.

We have no else to blame for our choices but ourselves as a consequence of God's indictment of our nature. And, because there's no hope for any of us, in this life or the next, for absolution from our sinful state and sorry affairs we choose - when faced with this simple truth - to ignore the problem or do something about it.

When people ignore their problem about what to do about their sinful state, they turn to alcohol, drugs, gambling or any other sort of vice. Honestly, it doesn't even have to be something illicit. Anyone or anything that turns your heart away from God is considered an idol. And God made it very clear that He was to be worshipped before anything or anyone else (Exo. 20:3). By the way, the reason people run around doing all sorts

Truly, the only way through the problem of your sinful nature is Jesus Christ. God sent Him to the world to die for your sins (John 3:16) so that, by believing in Him, you would be forgiven and enter into a relationship with God through His Son (I John 1:3; 4:15).

Finally, when that body of sin dies you get a new body. Consider these verses:

1. Romans 6:6 - "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin."

2. Philippians 3:20-21 - "For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself."

3. II Corinthians 5:1 - "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

Here's a few more you all can look up: II Cor. 5:4; 6:16-18. Eph. 4:22-32; Col. 3:9-25.

The only catch is that, in order to have the Holy Spirit indwell within you (Rom. 8:11), you must be born again (Jn. 3:1-7). Ultimately, when you die that ol' body of sin can be put to rest and you will receive a glorious abode. Yes,, we groan in this makeshift stillhouse, but when I'll die, this ol' stillhouse will be torn down. Hallelujah!

Lord, I Want A New Body and A New Hope!

God sent His son, they called Him Jesus
He came to love, heal, and forgive.
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives.

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, All fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living just because He lives.

The Sweetest Possession

II Corintians 6:16

"And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people."

What a sweet title: “My people!”

What a cheering revelation: “Their God!”

How much of meaning is couched in those two words, “My people!” Here is speciality. The whole world is God's; the heaven, even the heaven of heavens is the Lord's, and he reigneth among the children of men; but of those whom he hath chosen, whom he hath purchased to himself, he saith what he saith not of others—“My people.”

To wit, Deuteronomy 10:14 states, "Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord's thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is."

In this word there is the idea of proprietorship. In a special manner the “Lord’s portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.” All the nations upon earth are his; the whole world is in his power; yet are his people, his chosen, more especially his possession; for he has done more for them than others; he has bought them with his blood (Heb. 9:22, 28); he has brought them nigh to himself; he has set his great heart upon them; he has loved them with an everlasting love (Jer. 31:3; Jn. 3:16), a love which many waters cannot quench, and which the revolutions of time shall never suffice in the least degree to diminish.

Dear friends, can you, by faith, see yourselves in that number? Can you look up to heaven and say, “My Lord and my God: mine by that sweet relationship which entitles me to call thee Father; mine by that hallowed fellowship which I delight to hold with thee when thou art pleased to manifest thyself unto me as thou dost not unto the world?” Canst thou read the Holy Book, and find there the indentures of thy salvation? Canst thou read thy title writ in precious blood? Canst thou, by humble faith, lay hold of Jesus’ garments, and say, “My Christ”? If thou canst, then God saith of thee, and of others like thee, “My people;” for, if God be your God, and Christ your Christ, the Lord has a special, peculiar favour to you; you are the object of his choice, accepted in his beloved Son.

And, if God be for you who then, Reader, can be against you (Rom. 8:31)?

All these things - and more - has the Creator of the universe afforded and lavished on you, IF you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord & Saviour. Otherwise, you are at a lamentable loss, not just for now, but for all of eternity. Don't throw away the sweetest possession of all as if it were trash.

Don't discard the great salvation that the Lord Jesus purchased for you at Calvary! I Want Jesus As My Own!

Now I've giv'n to Jesus everything,
Now I gladly own Him as my King,
Now my raptured soul can only sing
Of Calvary.

Mercy there was great, and grace was free;
Pardon there was multiplied to me;
There my burdened soul found liberty,
At Calvary.

Oh, the love that drew salvation's plan!
Oh, the grace that brought it down to man!
Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span
At Calvary!

Mercy there was great, and grace was free;
Pardon there was multiplied to me;
There my burdened soul found liberty,
At Calvary.

from C. H. Spurgeon's Morning Devotion

Brothers Til the End

Mark 3:17
And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder:

I came across the meaning of the word, boanerges, which means sons of thunder. And I got to thinking about these men and their professions. They were fishermen and called by Jesus (Matt. 4:21). So, I imagine that these Galilean men were out on their boats, fishing, baking in the sun, hauling in their catch with their bare hands. They had to be very strong. Have you ever tried lifting something up out of the water? The water tugs at you and there's the sucking of the sea as you pull, a liquid resistance, if you will. I imagine their hands had callous upon callous because of the ropes that made up the net and the salty sea healing up those cuts (not to mention the fish scales slicing into their hands and the sea water working its way into the bleeding wounds). These men must've barked at each other over the howling squalls. These brothers loved being on the boats as much as they loved each other. After all, the brothers sat and mended the nets together.

As brothers are apt to do (I, too, have a younger brother and know this to be true), they tend to compete with each other; brag and exaggerate; tease about this matter or that; speak over each other; and, even finish the other's sentences, probably with a salty rejoinder to liven things up. Their silences, when they were busy at a task or angry at each other, were just as loud. No, these brothers probably weren't into clever banter. Just honest (and loud) talk with one another, as it should be among brothers. Maybe that's the reason they were called sons of thunder because they were boisterous, good ol' Galilean boys, roughnecks, who talked loud and live loud.

Don't you know that iron sharpeneth iron, Reader?

One illustration that we find in the Bible about these brothers' temperament is revealed in Luke 9:51-56. Let's read what happens:

"And it came to pass, when the time was come that [Jesus Christ] should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village."

Can you see these brothers being indignant about how Christ was treated and how they backed each other up? I can. As an older brother, I certainly can relate to backing up my brother. They wanted Jesus to call down hellfire and smoke the Samaritans. Jesus, though, had other ideas in mind. He wanted to save and not destroy the people of Samaria.

Aren't you glad and grateful that you're no longer under condemnation (Rom 8:1-2) when you believe what the Son of God, Jesus Christ, did for you at Calvary? He's come to save you, too, and not destroy you. That is Good News, indeed!

As I read about what became of them in the Bible, I can't help to wonder what John thought or felt upon knowing that James had been killed:

"Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword." Acts 12:1-2.

I'm sure John grieved and mourned the loss of his brother while at the same time rejoicing that James was now with the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, to be absent in the body is to be present with the Lord (II Cor. 5:8).

John was banished to the Island of Patmos (Rev. 1:9). On that desolate Island, John received visions of the future and the Lord's words were recorded by him. The compilation of these visions and letters to the seven churches form the Book of Revelation.

As he lived on that island, I'm guessing that there were times he thought about his fishing days with his brother as he looked out into the bright blue Mediterranean Sea. He might've even got lost in thoughts of his youth and the joshing & joking that only brothers can know. I like to think that even though these men were in 2 different time zones (ie, temporally and heavenly), John comforted himself in knowing that one day he would be reunited with James. And both would hug and rejoice upon seeing each other and would bow down before Jesus Christ the King in gratitude for allowing them to share eternity together with the Lord of Lords.

All believers in Christ Jesus are brothers until the end. Are you one?

Eternity with Jesus can be yours, too. Here's how: The Plan of Salvation