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MAKING THE BRIGHT CHOICE

It was a sad, sad day in the Christian world when one of its great warriors was finally laid to rest. Believers everywhere knew that pulmonary fibrosis was invading his life, that the shadows were drawing near, and finally, on July 19, 2003, the incomparable Bill Bright fell asleep in the Lord. He once told an interviewer, “Don’t worry. My last breath here will be followed by my first breath in the presence of Jesus.” And surely no follower of Christ had a brighter hope of the resurrection than the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, active in 191 countries. He was a great teacher, a pioneer in the fasting-and-prayer movement, and a disciple faithful to the end.

Here on this Wednesday, as we’re right in the middle of a study about another hero of faith named Gideon, you might think that’s the tie-in. And we could do a whole lot worse. But there’s a deeper reason why I reverently invoke Pastor Bright’s memory today. Many of you know that Bill Bright and countless volunteers were instrumental in bringing the gospel film, Jesus, to a spiritually hungry world. Translated into 786 languages, this powerful drama has been seen by a global audience that numbers in the billions. Countless men, women, and children – in some of the world’s largest theaters or viewing on a tattered sheet strung up between two weather-beaten trees in the Sahara – have had their first introduction to Christianity through the Jesus motion picture.

But the other synonym for “Bill Bright” has got to be – say it with me if you know – The Four Spiritual Laws. That’s right. Someone estimated once that upwards of 2.5 billion copies – and that’s in 200 languages too – of this simple, life-transforming tract have been published and scattered everywhere like the proverbial leaves of autumn.

Now . . . hold that thought. We’ll get back to the four laws in a few moments, but let’s reprise our story here in the book of Judges chapter six. An angel of the Lord – actually the Lord Himself – has commissioned Gideon to lead a commanding force to defend Israel against the invaders from Midian. With just a heavenly touch, Gideon’s offering of meat and unleavened bread has been consumed in flames, so this young wheat-thresher is convinced that God is present with him. But before the military campaign can commence, there’s one thing that has to happen first. Here’s verse 25 and following:

“That same night the Lord said to him, ‘Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. Then build a proper kind of altar to the Lord your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering.’”

Baal is a rather famous pagan god here in Old Testament times; you may remember the great Mount Carmel story where Elijah and the God of heaven got the best of the so-called “rain god.” But text notes here in the book of Judges remind us that Baal’s “female consort” god was named Ashtoreth; Asherah was supposedly the consort of El, “the chief god of the Canaanite pantheon.” One web site recently suggested that some people considered Asherah to actually be a female consort for Jehovah, the true God of heaven, which is an appalling twist. But the NIV scholars, in telling us about these male/female deity duos, delicately inform us:
“Worship of the Ashtoreths involved extremely lascivious practices.”

First and Second Kings both describe the presence of prostitution in these pagan worship centers – on both sides of the aisle. It’s no wonder that God said to Gideon: “First things first. These abominations have got to go before we sound the battle cry.”

It’s interesting – now down in verse 27 – that Gideon had the political presence of mind to wage this campaign at midnight when the streets in Ophrah were empty and most Baal-worshipers had gone to bed. But the next morning there was a great hue and cry, until Gideon’s dad, a Baal-worshiper himself, said to the lynch mob: “Hey! Don’t attack my son. If Baal’s not able to defend himself, he’s not much of a god, is he?” One commentator observed:
“If Baal could not defend his own altar, how could he be trusted to protect his worshipers?”

By the way, in verse 32, the dissipating mob gives Gideon the nickname “Jerub-Baal,” which basically means: “Let Baal contend.”

Now – two quick points. First, imagine how the God of heaven must have felt as His chosen people abandoned Him for these false, flimsy gods of fornication and failure. He would send rain, and the people would turn their backs to Him and give praise to Baal in a water-drenched orgy of lust.

In a fascinating Christian sci-fi-type of book entitled Watching the War, author David Smith points out that planet earth is still God’s territory while Lucifer does his thing here below. Notice:

“‘Funding for This Project Provided By God.’ I almost would expect,” the author writes, “that a billboard posted just outside Eden might contain that announcement. Lucifer’s own campaign had to receive a green light by the three Rulers” – God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost – “before the temptation at the tree could happen. But that is a disquieting thought . . . and yet strangely comforting too. . . . God, valuing free will and understanding above all else, gave His declared enemy a planet . . . and a tree . . . and thousands of years of existence to try to prove his point. Satan lives today because God gives him life. Unless you believe created beings can exist on their own, you have to draw that conclusion. The devil and Cain and Judas Iscariot, along with Adolf Hitler, Stalin, Khomeini, and all like them, did their thing while God Himself provided the very spark of life. Now while that’s an odd thought, at the same time it tells me just how fundamental is God’s commitment to liberty. He desires the freely given love of His creatures so intensely that He actually ‘funds’ the evil campaign that will at last ensure love’s reign through eternity.”

For seven years here in the fallen forests and fields of Israel, God gave breath and sustenance and 70 heartbeats a minute to men and women who were bowing down to the opposition god. People worshiped Baal with strength that God had given them; they offered up children as human sacrifices – children created in God’s image, and shaped in the womb BY God.

But now here’s the second unchangeable point: before God can truly swing into action on our behalf, before He can fight for us against our own Midianite armies, the false gods have to go. The Baal idols have got to be torn down, and the Asherah poles, of the year 2005, must be destroyed.

The Adventist Bible Commentary hits that very nail on the head. Listen to this:

“God would not honor a sacrifice to Himself until the idols were overthrown. So it is today. Every idol must be removed from the heart if we would claim God’s blessing today.”

And now back to our departed Christian brother and guiding light, Bill Bright. In his Four Spiritual Laws, he talks about repentance. What is it? Can a teenager on the beach just say to an itinerant preacher, “Sure!” – get baptized in the Pacific Ocean waves – and go right back to a life of promiscuity, pot, and pride? Can Jesus and the Baals of our age co-exist in peace? And the answer is no. Repentance is this, according to Bill Bright’s powerful tract:

“Receiving Christ involves turning TO God from self (repentance) and trusting Christ to come into our lives to forgive our sins and to MAKE US what He wants us to be.” And notice this: “Just to agree INTELLECTUALLY that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for our sins is not enough. Nor is it enough to have an emotional experience” – as might happen on the beach, or when listening to a preacher on the radio. “We receive Jesus Christ BY FAITH, as an act of the will.”

And let’s notice here in Judges six that the real power of God didn’t get ramped up until the false gods were ridden out of town on a rail. God is always there; God is always love . . . but He can’t be truly active and powerful until He is seated on the throne and giving the orders.

Could this be why fasting, doing without food and truly SEEKING the face of God, was partly what made Bill Bright such a passionate powerhouse for God? Not that God is looking for self-sacrifice or pain on our part, but a man like Bright says, “God, I want Your presence so intensely that I even want to give You these dining-and-snacking-and-digesting hours all this week. I want my mind focused totally on You and Your will and Your vision for this lost world, not on the supper menu or the featured pie-of-the-month at Marie Callender’s.” And you know, friend, we look at the global footprint God allowed Bill Bright to cover, the hosts of Midian defeated by his prayers, and we can only conclude: “There is something in this.” As the prayer in Four Spiritual Laws concludes:

“Jesus . . . I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior AND LORD. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person YOU want me to be.”