BIBLE ANATOMY (4) and we see what the Bible says about

Kissing (!) Laughing , Remembering  and Diagnosis !

 

BIBLE  KISSING

 

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Kissing is mentioned nearly 50 times in the Scriptures.

David kisses Jonathan;  Orpah kisses Naomi;  Isaac kisses Jacob;  Moses kisses Aaron;  Joseph kisses his brethren;  Paul kisses the Ephesian elders … and so it goes.  Nearly every reference to kissing has to do with men kissing men and women kissing women.  Even Paul’s advice to “greet one another with a holy kiss” would have been understood in that way (I Corinthians 16:20).

But there is a case of Elisha kissing a woman … I Kings 19:20!!!

 

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1.       THE KISS OF DEATH!

 

In Luke 22:47-48 we read of Judas Iscariot leading a huge mob into Gethsemane’s garden about midnight to arrest the Lord Jesus.

One writer speaks of Judas as the “Man who kissed the Door of Heaven … and went to Hell”.  After all, the Lord Jesus was the ‘Door’ (John 10:9), and Judas did go “to his own place” (Acts 1:25).

That kiss … of betrayal … was truly a kiss of spiritual death.

 

2.       THE KISS OF LIFE!

 

Luke 7:36-50 relates the story of the Lord Jesus in the Pharisee’s house.  And of the sinful woman who washed His feet with her tears … and kissed them.

 

Others in the room saw the broken flask of perfume (v. 38) … but the Saviour saw a broken heart.  It was an act of repentance and renunciation of her past life (the perfume was the ‘tool of her trade’!), and it was an act of adoration.  She went away forgiven … it had truly been a “Kiss of Life!”

 

3.       THE KISS OF WELCOME!

 

Luke 15 records what is commonly called the Parable of the Prodigal Son.  Maybe it should be referred to as the Parable of the Loving Father.  When he saw his son a great way off … “he ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him” (15:20).

 

This is a picture of the God who delighteth in mercy.  “The arms of love that compass me would all mankind embrace” (C. Wesley).

 

This is the God of all grace who is not willing that any should perish.  And, oh, how He waits to greet the returning sinner … with a kiss!

Those who “Kiss the Son” (Psalm 2:12), who bow before Him and confess and renounce their sins, or to put it another way – those who place saving faith in the One who died for them – will be welcomed into the Family of God.

Surely that is an offer … too good to refuse??

 

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Germs didn’t worry newspaper correspondent, poet C.J. (Sentimetal Bloke) Dennis, who wrote in the 1920’s:

 

They say, my dear, romance is dead and kissing is taboo.

But does it really matter very much to me and you?

They say it is insanit’ry, and silly things like this,

That forty thousand microbes cling to every clinging kiss.

Yet, in spite of all their learned talk and medical alarm,

Another forty thousand wouldn’t do us any harm.

 

This silly talk of microbes, dear, is foolish vain advice,

A bee may catch a microbe;  but the honey’s very nice.

You’ve filched ten million germs from me, and I am on their track;

And, ere the evening’s over, sweet, I mean to have ’em back.

So, close your eyes and lay your head on my encircling arm.

Oh, another forty thousand wouldn’t do us any harm.

 

You see what the scientists are up against – they’ve got no hope of nullifying mononucleosis.

 

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BIBLE  LAUGHING

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There are about 40 instances in the Bible where the word ‘Laughter’ is mentioned.  And if you add the name “Isaac”, which means ‘laughter’,   the number climbs another 95 times!

So a sermon on Laughter is not out of place.  What is out of place is a sermon that is solely designed to amuse the congregation without bringing them closer to the Lord Jesus.

 

As William Cowper wrote in the 18th century :

                    “… … … ... ’tis pitiful

                    to court a grin when you should woo a soul;

                    To break a jest when pity would inspire

                    Pathetic exhortation …”

 

But carefully used humour in the sermon can awaken (or re-awaken) interest; can drive home the point at an unexpected moment; or illustrate a hard-to-grasp theological truth.

Notice four kinds of laughter mentioned in the Scriptures …

 

1.       THE LAUGHTER OF DELIGHT!

 

Back from 70 years in Babylonian exile came the Jews to their beloved Jerusalem.  And there was singing and laughter upon their lips …


Psalm 126 1   When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.
2   Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them.
3   The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.

 

If that was true of the Lord’s Old Testament people redeemed from literal bondage, how much more should it be true of us who have been redeemed from spiritual bondage?  As we journey to the Heavenly Jerusalem there should surely be a song and a joyous laugh upon our lips also.

 

In the Sermon on the Mount the Lord Jesus expressed this truth  …


Luke 6: 21  Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled.

 Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.

 

 Not just in Heaven, but even during our earthly pilgrimage, we have a foretaste of the joy of which the Saviour speaks.

Joy comes high on the list of the ‘fruit of the Spirit’. (Galatians 5:22).

Our spirituality is not to be measured by the soberness of our appearance.  Christians have something to laugh about!!

It is true the Bible never records that the Lord Jesus laughed whereas it does tell us “Jesus wept” (John 11:35).  Nevertheless the Lord was a welcome Guest at a wedding (John 2), and the children came willingly to Him (Matthew 19:14), and His enemies accused Him of being a party-goer (Matthew 11:18-19) … one can hardly doubt that He was accustomed to laughter!  Some commentators have even seen humorous comments in some of His sayings and parables. 

And Paul actually made a ‘pun’ in his letter to Philemon. (vs.11)  And another rather savage one in Galatians 5:12.  (One needs to read them in the Greek to get the impact of these verses.)

 

  No one is denying that there are things around us that cause the heart to ache … the sheep scattered without a shepherd … society’s problems … those out of work through no fault of their own … domestic crises.  But Paul gets the right balance when he describes himself as  “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing …” (II Corinthians 6:10 ).

The believer’s laughter may not be always on the outside, but it is always ‘deep down in the heart’.

 

2.       THE LAUGHTER OF DISBELIEF

 

*        Sarah laughed at the Lord’s declaration that she would have a child (Genesis 18:9-18).

 

*        One can imagine the Philistine giant laughing at the young shepherd lad who confronted him with a sling-shot and five smooth stones.  But that laughter died in his throat when the rock thudded home!  (I Samuel 17:41-44).

 

*        There are those today, as the Scripture foretold, who scoff and laugh at the promise of our Lord’s return (II Peter 3:3-4).

 

 Missionary C.T. Studd wrote an excellent little booklet called the Laugh of Faith … the antidote to this laughter of disbelief.  “Faith,” he wrote, “laughs at impossibilities and cries, ‘It shall be done’!”

 

3.       THE LAUGHTER OF DERISION

 

*        Job suffered the laughing taunts of the young men (Job 30:9-10).

 

*          Nehemiah was on the receiving end of the Samaritans’ derisive laughter (Nehemiah 2:19).

 

*        Elisha was ridiculed by the young men (II Kings 2:23-24) … and they lived to regret it!

 

*          Jeremiah, imprisoned in the stocks at the Gate of Benjamin, lamented that he had become a laughing stock before his fellow countrymen (Jeremiah 20:7-8).  He even wanted to quit the ministry that the Lord had given him!!

 

 *       The Saviour also knew the scorn and foolish laughter of wicked men.  A Messianic prophecy spoke of the ribald ditties and derisive mockery in the inns around Jerusalem.  It is surely one of the saddest texts in the Old Testament …

 

Psalm 69  12  I was the song of the drunkards.

 

  Psalm 22 spoke of His physical suffering … even more graphically than that revealed by the Gospel writers.

 Psalm 22: 7   All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip,

they shake the head, saying,
8   He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him:

let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

 

“Tell us who it was that smote Thee”, the soldiers demanded of the blindfolded Saviour.   “He saved others … but He can’t save Himself”, cried the mob at the foot of the cross.  And they laughed … laughed … as they invited Him to come down …

 

We believe He was who He claimed to be because He stayed up there, dying as a sacrifice for the sins of the world.

 

“Sinners in derision crowned Him” with thorns …

And believers in Him are not to be surprised if a godless world sometimes treats them in the same manner.

 

4.       THE LAUGHTER OF DEITY!

 

He who laughs last, laughs best.

And whilst ungodly men may laugh today in derision and disbelief, yet the Day is coming when God shall laugh at their puny rebellion.

 

Psalm 2 1   Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
2   The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
3   Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
4   He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the LORD shall have them in derision.

 

 And on that Day, instead of their laughter, there will be “weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 12:42).

But the people of God will walk the streets of gold … and their mouth shall be filled with singing … and laughter!

 

Which will it be for you??

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BIBLE  REMEMBERING

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“Don’t worry if you start to lose your memory … just forget it!”

And failing memories come to all of us sooner or later.  The Bible has much to say on the subject …

 

1.          POOR MEMORIES

 

Like the chief butler who forgot all about Joseph … Genesis 40:23.

And like Joash who forgot the kindness of Jehoiada … II Chronicles 24:22: “King Joash did not remember the kindness Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had shown him but killed his son.”

 

Peter tells us that he wrote his second letter to remind his readers of things they already knew!  II Peter 1:12-13:  “So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have.  I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body.”

 

’Tis true … we need to be reminded of these Christian truths again and again.  And that’s one reason why I attend church twice on Sunday and again on Wednesday night …

 

2.          JOGGED MEMORIES

 

Because the Lord well knows how prone we are to forgetfulness (“He remembereth our frame” (Psalm 103:14), He suggested some memory aids for His people.

In the Old Testament we have special Feast Days … such as the Passover – a memorial to God’s deliverance of His people from Egypt (Exodus 12:14).  Other Feast Days were annual reminders of God’s goodness towards them (Leviticus 23:10-14, etc.).

A tassel of blue was to be worn by the Israelites on the hems of their garments (Numbers 15:37-41).  Like a string around the finger in modern society, these tassels were a reminder of the God of Heaven above and the Laws He had given them.

Joshua 4 tells of the altar of stones on Jordan’s banks … a memorial of His faithfulness (Joshua 4:5-7).

In the New Testament the Lord’s Supper is a continual reminder of the great salvation provided for ‘whosoever’ by our Saviour’s sacrifice (I Corinthians 11:23-27).

 

It is good to memorise Scripture.  Every Christian should know …

Romans 3:23

                    Ephesians 2:8-9

                             II Corinthians 5:17

                                       John 14:6  

                                                Revelation 3:20

                                                          Psalm 23

And , of course , John 3:16 !

 

3.       SAD MEMORIES

 

Like the Jews in Babylon who wept when they remembered Zion (Psalm 137:1).

And like the aged men who watched the rebuilding of the Temple … and wept because it was a barn compared to Solomon’s (Ezra 3:12).

During our earthly pilgrimage we will all have sad memories at one time or another.

Thank God that the sufferings and sorrows of this life are not worthy to be compared to the Glory yet to be revealed!  Romans 8:18 – “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

It seems, from Isaiah 65:17, that in that Home on High, the memories of this life will be taken away … and just as well!

 

4.          HAPPY MEMORIES!

 

Paul thanks God as he recalls his fellowship with the Philippian believers:  “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy” (Philippians 1:3-4).

Not only the memory of souls being won to the Lord Jesus … but seeing them grow in the Faith … and go on to serve Him aright.

 

CONCLUSION

 

Nehemiah said it as he builded the wall and waged war with the enemy:

 

“I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.  And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, ‘Be not ye afraid of them:  remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses’” (Nehemiah 4:14).

 

Amen!!  And Amen!!

 

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BIBLE  DIAGNOSIS

or

“ Say  Ahhhh !! ”

(A New Year Check-up … by the Great Physician)

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INTRODUCTION …  Lots of folk think it wise to visit their Doctor for an annual check-up.   But the soul is even more important than the body, yet few take time to submit that to the Great Physician.

Presbyterian evangelist, Billy Sunday, used to say ,”If some of you folk were as weak physically as you are spiritually … you’d be in a wheel-chair!” 

Wow !

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 (1) How’s your heart ?

The old Gospel song posed the question …

How about your heart ?
That’s the thing that counts today ;

Is it black with sin - or is it pure within ?
Has the Lord come in to stay ?

And that’s the pre-requisite. The Bible calls it ‘conversion’.  We cannot effect it ourselves ... but God can.

Ezekiel 36 :25"Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. 26And I will give you a new heart with new and right desires, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony heart of sin and give you a new, obedient heart.[1] 27And I will put my Spirit in you……  ( New Living Trans.)

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(2)  Show me your tongue !

  Such is a doctor’s customary approach  . It can reveal much concerning the state of one’s health. Likewise the tongue can reveal  one’s spiritual condition.

* It can reveal to which country we belong.  A filthy tongue indicates that one  is not a member of God’s Kingdom.  “Thy speech betrayeth thee !” ( Matthew 26:73)

 * It is our way of making known that which interests us most.   Note the reply of the apostles to the Jewish authorities …

Acts 4:18So they called the apostles back in and told them never again to speak or teach about Jesus.
19But Peter and John replied, "Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? 20We cannot stop telling about the wonderful things we have seen and heard." ( N.L.Trans.)

Are you embarrassed to let folk know that you are a follower of the Lord Jesus ?

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(3) How’s your appetite ? 

1 Peter 2:2You must crave pure spiritual milk so that you can grow into the fullness of your salvation. Cry out for this nourishment as a baby cries for milk, ( N.L.Trans.)

Just as a babe needs spiritual nourishment, so the child of God needs to regularly partake of God’s Word.  And to attend a helpful Bible study … and read  Christian literature.  A baby that was only fed once a week, ( on Sunday morning !)  would soon sicken and die.  

 

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(4) Are your knees getting stiff ?

Psalm 95:6      Come, let us worship and bow down.
        Let us kneel before the LORD our maker,

 Outward posture in prayer is secondary to the heart attitude.  But whether one literally kneels or not, the importance of prayer cannot be under-estimated. The Lord Jesus taught His disciples to pray … and set the example!

Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath,

the Christian’s native air;

his watchword at the gates of death,

he enters Heaven with prayer.

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(5) Is your Eye-sight clearly focused  ?

It was after the awe-inspiring vision of our Lord’s glory on the Mount of Transfiguration that the trio of disciples fell “face down upon the ground.”

Matthew 17:7Jesus came over and touched them. "Get up," he said, "don't be afraid."

 8And when they looked, they saw only Jesus … ( N.L. T. Trans )

And the believer should likewise keep His eyes focused on the Lord Jesus.

He alone is Saviour , Mediator, Great High Priest and Coming King.

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CONCLUSION

 

I’m glad  that  in 1947 I accepted the Lord Jesus as my Saviour and received “ a new heart” .  And  it’s my New Year prayer that  my tongue,  appetite , knees and eyesight  will be  well-pleasing to Him.

  

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