Day 7/11 – Pollution

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Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man by Walter A Henrichsen (“Walt”)
Pollution
Day One Hundred Ninety-two

“So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, says the Lord; and so with every work of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean.” Haggai 2:14

Three parts comprise the prophecy of Haggai, one of the three prophets after the return of the Hebrews from the Babylonian Captivity. In the second part the Lord, referring to the Law, asks, “If one carries holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and touches with his skirt bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any kind of food, does it become holy? The priests answered, ‘No.’ According to Leviticus, the skirt was made holy by the holy flesh, but it could not communicate this holiness any further. Then God asks, “If one who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered, “It does become unclean.” The legal defilement makes everything it touches unclean.

The defilement of sin is greater than the sanctifying of holiness. Because of our nature, sin spreads more easily than righteousness. It takes more effort to build than to destroy, to pollute the land than to cleanse it, to corrupt a person than reform him, to make a drug addict than to cure him. The supernatural work of Christ can correct the crime and corruption in you; when Jesus touches you, you are holy because of the imputed holiness of Christ. This work of Christ in you does not result in your making anyone else holy.

When you sin the defilement of your deed touches many; it does not stop with you. God says to His people that the effects of pollution are greater than the effects of sanctification. Remember this when you are tempted to think that your sin will only affect you. Your sin will spread its tentacles in every direction and by it “many are defiled.”265

265 Hebrews 12:15

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Psalm 1-3 Acts 17:1-15 (New King James Version)

Psalm 1-3
BOOK ONE
Psalms 1–41
The Way of the Righteous and the End of the Ungodly
1
Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the [a]ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
2
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he [b]meditates day and night.
3
He shall be like a tree
Planted by the [c]rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.
4
The ungodly are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
5
Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6
For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the ungodly shall perish.
The Messiah’s Triumph and Kingdom
2
Why do the [d]nations [e]rage,
And the people plot a [f]vain thing?
2
The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against the Lord and against His Anointed,[g] saying,
3
“Let us break Their bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us.”
4
He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
The Lord shall hold them in derision.
5
Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,
And distress them in His deep displeasure:
6
“Yet I have [h]set My King
[i]On My holy hill of Zion.”
7
“I will declare the [j]decree:
The Lord has said to Me,
‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
8
Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
9
You shall [k]break them with a rod of iron;
You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ ”
10
Now therefore, be wise, O kings;
Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
11
Serve the Lord with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
12
[l]Kiss the Son, lest [m]He be angry,
And you perish in the way,
When His wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.
The Lord Helps His Troubled People
A Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son.
3
Lord, how they have increased who trouble me!
Many are they who rise up against me.
2
Many are they who say of me,
“There is no help for him in God.” Selah
3
But You, O Lord, are a shield [n]for me,
My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
4
I cried to the Lord with my voice,
And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah
5
I lay down and slept;
I awoke, for the Lord sustained me.
6
I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people
Who have set themselves against me all around.
7
Arise, O Lord;
Save me, O my God!
For You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone;
You have broken the teeth of the ungodly.
8
Salvation belongs to the Lord.
Your blessing is upon Your people. Selah
Footnotes:
• Psalm 1:1 wicked
• Psalm 1:2 ponders by talking to himself
• Psalm 1:3 channels
• Psalm 2:1 Gentiles
• Psalm 2:1 throng tumultuously
• Psalm 2:1 worthless or empty
• Psalm 2:2 Christ, Commissioned One, Heb. Messiah
• Psalm 2:6 Lit. installed
• Psalm 2:6 Lit. Upon Zion, the hill of My holiness
• Psalm 2:7 Or decree of the Lord: He said to Me
• Psalm 2:9 So with MT, Tg.; LXX, Syr., Vg. rule (cf. Rev. 2:27)
• Psalm 2:12 LXX, Vg. Embrace discipline; Tg. Receive instruction
• Psalm 2:12 LXX the Lord
• Psalm 3:3 Lit. around

Acts 17:1-15
Preaching Christ at Thessalonica
17 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.” 4 And some of them were persuaded; and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas.
Assault on Jason’s House
5 But the Jews [a]who were not persuaded, [b]becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace, and gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. 6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too. 7 Jason has [c]harbored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king—Jesus.” 8 And they troubled the crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things. 9 So when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.
Ministering at Berea
10 Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 These were more [d]fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. 12 Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men. 13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was preached by Paul at Berea, they came there also and stirred up the crowds. 14 Then immediately the brethren sent Paul away, to go to the sea; but both Silas and Timothy remained there. 15 So those who conducted Paul brought him to Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him with all speed, they departed.
Footnotes:
• Acts 17:5 NU omits who were not persuaded
• Acts 17:5 M omits becoming envious
• Acts 17:7 welcomed
• Acts 17:11 Lit. noble