Possibilities

Mark 9:20-23 KJV
And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.
And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.
And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.
Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

There are two mental states that lead men to do almost superhuman things
First, when they have lost hope of living.Accounts abound of the superhuman feats of men in combat. When the possibility of survival is eliminated and they almost unconsciously elect to do a mission that is improbable to say the least, and, having no hope of survival, not only survive but accomplish the improbably ( I would say impossible, but they accomplished it, proving it was not impossible).

Second, when they believe something strongly enough.
History is also filled with the stories of those men and women who have changed the course of nations, doing what most others would believe impossible, simply because they believed they could do it.

On the spiritual scale the possibility of accomplishing the impossible through faith is increased exponentially by the fact that our faith is placed, not in the man who does the work but in the God who empowers his work.

I am afraid we have lost much faith today. We have witnessed a weak and beggarly type of Christianity for so long that we have retreated into a Christianity that is built upon programs, plans and business schemes. We follow the counsel of those who have supposedly "done it" and too often fail to really look to Christ and believe Him.

What might be accomplished through a Christian who takes his eyes are off of the leaders of the world and places them solely upon Christ, our world may never again know.

God give us more men like Paul. Let us see what is possible through trusting only You!

From Whence Can A Man Satisfy These Men?

Mark 8:4 KJV
And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?
The disciples saw what they considered three major concerns with ministering to the multitude;

The size of the needThere were, the Bible says, about four thousand of them. The numbers would have been daunting in most normal circumstances. That type of crowd requires considerable planning, coordination and manpower to provide for.

The limitation of resourcesThey certainly had not taken enough food with them to provide for a group of any size, much less a crowd as large as this one was.

The seclusion of their location
Even if they had the funding and the manpower to put together a meal for such a multitude, they were in a desert place, a wilderness. There simply was no access to enough food for this size of congregation.

On top of all of this, I see another important word in the verse, "satisfy." They realized that they were being asked to do more than pacify this crowd, they were being asked to satisfy them. They needed not just to give them a bite, but to give them sufficient.

This is a tremendous picture of the predicament the Christian finds himself in today.

The numbers of souls in need of spiritual refreshment is huge and growing larger every day.
The task of getting God's Word to them seems absolutely impossible; too much to ask of us. And we too find our resources so limited.

We have little so far as worldly wealth goes.
We are so few in number compared to the numbers of souls on the planet, and we are a fragmented and divided group, generally not willing to yoke up even with those of like faith, let alone with those of different faiths. I am not saying this is wrong. I believe in independence and separation. I am just pointing out that we are limited in our resources.

And we too are in a wilderness place.
This world is mostly hostile to our faith. We have no where on this earth to turn to find more resources and supply. We scratch out what we can, thankful for any and every provision we find. We certainly can't claim to have a storehouse anywhere nearby where we can requisition unlimited resources.

And on top of that, those we try to minister too seem to want so much more than we believe we can provide. They don't want merely peace with God. They want God to be a genie who answers their every call and gives them their every wish.

The problem seems impossible except for this one thing. We are following our all powerful God whose supply is unlimited and from whose storehouse we may requisition all of heaven. We may not see it with our eyes and we may not always see how that supply is being employed but we can trust our loving Heavenly Father that He has more than enough for those who will receive it.

Sage Advice

Mark 7:13 KJV
Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

The context of this verse stems from the Pharisees questioning why Jesus' disciples ate without washing their hands. One of the commentaries I looked at noted that the Pharisees said their hands were unwashened, not that they were unclean. The issue being dealt with has to do with ceremonial concerns and not sanitary ones. It is obviously a good idea to wash our hands before eating. However, the Pharisees had taken this to another level. They had gone from "cleanliness is next to godliness" to cleanliness is godliness." They had made common sense equal to, and in many cases, above the Word of God.

Perhaps a good definition of a modern Pharisee is one who does the same thing, who takes what is in his opinion, common sense and supplants God's Word with it.

Perhaps he had good intention originally.
Perhaps he only meant to give sage advice and good counsel.
But his worldly wise counsel was not in the Word of God and, being accepted as wisdom and generally acknowledged by others as sound counsel, this advice, though not found in God's Word, became as authoritative as or more so than God's Word.

American Christianity has done that. We have elevated things that are not in the Word of God to the status of the Word of God. Fiscal conservatism, the American family unit (with the wife at home baking biscuits), being a republican rather than a democrat, as well as a number of other reasonable, but not biblical principles have been so elevated that many times they define Christianity rather than the Word of God. In some cases, Christians would cling to them rather than the Word of God, making the Word of God of none effect in their lives.

Teaching

Mark 6:6 KJV
And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.
The impressive thing is that, though there were those who did not believe, still Jesus travelled, connected with people and taught.

I heard someone called a "people collector" today. What a wonderful characteristic to have, especially if that person collects people to hear and receive the Word of God. The work of the ministry might be described this way:

Going round aboutNot sitting still, not allowing yourself to get settled but to be on the move, being where people are.

The villages
Not just around your friends and family and those you know and are comfortable with, but those in other places: small places as well as large places, not merely seeking to win the multitudes but willing to reach the one or two.

Teaching
People need to hear the Word of God, clearly presented and accurately expounded, which necessarily requires that time has been spent in study so that we may the more effectively teach.

He Answered The Unclean Spirit's Prayer

Mark 5:12-13 KJV
And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.
And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.

Robertson's Word Pictures does a decent job of expressing the question that came to my mind this morning.
"These words present the crucial difficulty for interpreters as to why Jesus allowed the demons to enter the hogs and destroy them instead of sending them back to the abyss. Certainly it was better for hogs to perish than men, but this loss of property raises a difficulty of its own akin to the problem of tornadoes and earthquakes."

In answer to the question Gill offers these comments
"It may be asked, why did Christ suffer the devils to enter the herd of swine, and destroy them, which was a considerable loss to the proprietors? To which may be answered, that if the owners were Jews, and these creatures were brought up by them for food, it was a just punishment of their breach of the law of God; or if to be sold to others, for gain and filthy lucre's sake, it was a proper rebuke, both of the avarice and the contempt of the laws of their own country, which were made to be a hedge or fence for the law of God: or if they were Gentiles, this was suffered to show the malice of the evil spirits, under whose influence they were, and who would, if they had but leave, serve them as they did the swine; and to display the power of Christ over the devils, and his sovereign right to, and disposal of the goods and properties of men; and to evince the truth of the dispossession, and the greatness of the mercy the dispossessed shared in"[1]

And Jamieson Fausset and Brown says
"The owners, if Jews, drove an illegal trade; if heathens, they insulted the national religion: in either case the permission was just."

A thought came to me this past weekend that seems to fit this question somewhat. In an evidence of the supernatural nature of the Bible, it is so simple the youngest of children can grasp its most important concepts and commands, but the Bible also contains such depth that no mortal man can ever claim to have thoroughly mastered it. We can only speculate today why the Lord would have answered the prayers of such evil as these devils. Certainly whatever Christ does is righteous. We do not question that in the least. But we cannot pretend to understand all that is behind giving leave to the unclean spirits.
What happened to the after the swine died?
Were they permitted to wander about until they had found a new person to possess?
Were they then committed to the bottomless pit?

These questions will only be answered when we enter into glory.
[1] From Gill's Comments on Matthew 8:32

He Knoweth Not How

Mark 4:27-28 KJV
And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.
For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.

John Gill says
".....this is said, not to denote that man of himself, upon hearing the word, can bring forth the fruit of grace in himself; he cannot regenerate himself, nor quicken, nor convert himself; he cannot believe in Christ, nor love the Lord of himself; nor repent of his sin, nor begin, or carry on the good work; he can neither sanctify his heart, nor mortify the deeds of the body; or even bring forth the fruits of good works, when converted. For all these things are owing to the Spirit, power, and grace of God: men are regenerated according to the abundant mercy of God....through the sun of righteousness, the dews of divine grace, and operations of the blessed Spirit, it rises up and brings forth fruit."

While we cannot make this happen in and of ourselves, it does happen. We need not fear whether God will do the work, either in ourselves or in the hearts, minds and souls of others. We must merely believe that, upon scattering the seed, God will do the work of converting. This is a matter of faith. We must not allow ourselves to worry and fret as to whether God will do His part in the conversion of souls. He, above all, is faithful and true.

Called, They Came, but they were Not All Converted

Mark 3:13 KJV
And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him.

Immediately following this passage the Bible says Jesus ordained His twelve Apostles, among them Judas Iscariot, "...which also betrayed Him...."
Judas was called
Judas came and
Judas followed Christ
But Judas was not converted. That tells me that others could be called and come and even follow and obey the Lord for a time without being genuinely born again. The fact that we have heard the Word and agree with it does not necessarily mean that we have been saved. Even the fact that we have followed in some form of outward obedience is not a sure sign of conversion.
Baptism
Church membership and attendance
Sunday School teacher even
Pastor

None of those things prove salvation and none of those things ought to be relied upon for our salvation. Of course, Jesus knew from the beginning what Judas would do. And God knows today who is and is not truly converted. It is no problem for Him. The trouble comes for us who can only look on the outside. I cannot know a person's true spiritual condition except to see the fruit of their life. In that case, the only fruit that really tells the tale for me is how they end. If they are faithful to the end I may fairly expect their conversion to be true. But what about the individual? Can I, as a man, ever know that my soul in secure in Christ? I can if the Bible is true. Many Scriptures speak of the subject of assurance, 1 John 5:13 being among my favorite.

I ought not assume my salvation based upon the assurances of others.
Nor should I count my eternity upon what I have or have not done.
The truest proof of conversion is the witness of the Spirit of God to my own spirit, that I am a child of God.
This is nothing another human being can see and a person can either tell you that he has a witness in His spirit that he does not have or else he may mistake his early zeal for the Lord as that witness. But the one who is honest, quiet in spirit and listens to the Lord will know if that witness is present.

For Us

Mark 2:27 KJV
And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:

I am going to accept that, from Jesus' employment of David's eating the shewbread, that this passage applies to more than ust the Sabbath, but is true in fact of all of God's law.

Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. God did not create us so we could obey His laws. God created His laws for our benefit and good. God's laws are not meant to be a burden to us, something that we fret over and stress about. These laws are meant to aide us in our lives for God. True enough, if we attempt to find our righteousness in them, we will find that this same law that God meant for good becomes a snare of slay us. However the law, properly understood and obeyed, is not mean yoke. It brings joy and comfort and grace into life.

Jesus said all of the law could be summed up in two great commandments;
Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy souls and with all thy might and
Love thy neighbor as thyself

Any thinking person can see that to obey these laws would be the greatest benefit both to the obedient one and to the world in which he lives.

Thank God for His law!

A Solitary Place

Mark 1:35 KJV
And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.

I am at the church this morning, the day after Thanksgiving. No one else is around and the building is quiet. It is a solitary place right now.

Tomorrow morning the church will have several and varied activities taking place: visitation groups in the morning, a Saturday intensive class throughout the day, and a martial arts discipleship class in the evening. Then, just two days from today we will meet for our Sunday services. This place will be a beehive of activity. Young children will move swiftly through the hallways, a group of ladies will gather for a private time of prayer, classrooms will begin to fill with students, music will play on the pianos and over our speaker system, finally God's Word will be preached. This place, which is so silent and solitary right now will be anything but in just two days.

I am thinking today that there must be these solitary times, and significantly more of them than the busy times, to make the busy times have any meaning whatsoever. Jesus met His heavenly Father in a solitary place. How can we expect to meet Him anywhere else? Sure, there is an appropriate time for the bustle of the assembly of believers. But that assembly is oiled and made fit, through those solitary times we spend in the presence of God alone.

A New Song

Psalms 149:1 KJV
Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints.

From Gill's Commentary
"...for a new mercy received, a new victory obtained, or a new salvation wrought; more particularly the new song of redeeming grace through Jesus Christ, the song of the Lamb, in distinction from the old song of Moses and the children of Israel at the Red sea, on account of their deliverance, which was typical of salvation by Christ, the oldest, being the first song we read of; but this is a new one, which none but the redeemed of the Lamb can sing; a song suited to Gospel times, in which all things are new, a new church state, new ordinances, a new covenant, and a new and living way to the holiest of all; a song proper for renewed persons to sing, who have new favours continually to bless and praise the Lord for..."

Every day the Christian has a new reason to sing unto the Lord.

Build Up Jerusalem

Psalms 147:2 KJV
The LORD doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.
Although the primary meaning is a literal reference to the city of Jerusalem and the people of Israel still the passage offers hope for Christians of our day. The Lord is busy about the business of building up a people for Himself out of the outcasts of this world. Those who come to a saving faith are seldom the notables of worldly wisdom and wealth. Most often we are those who have experienced in the deepest ways that this world is no friend to man made in the image of God.

So the Psalm offers a foundation for our prayer that the Lord would build up His church, any one of those local churches whose pastor or people might sense the urge to seek it of the Lord.

Oh Lord build up our church. Gather together in this place those who feel estranged from this world and long for fellowship with You.

Every Day

Psalms 145:2 KJV
Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.

The word bless means to kneel as an act of adoration and to either proclaim upon or desire for the glory and benefit of another. This, the Christian should do before God every day.

Every day should include some time on our knees before the Lord
Every day should incorporate some time simply adoring the Lord and
Every day should include some time when the Christian purposes to bring glory and and delight to the Lord.

While we would not be wise to spend all day every day on our knees, and we cannot give all day of every day in public acts of adoration to the Lord, we can and should live all day every day to bring glory to the Lord.

"Every day will I bless thee" my God.

No Man

Psalms 143:2 KJV
And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.
This should be the plea of every human being. We could never be justified in the sight of God in our own goodness. We could never do anything that would redeem ourselves from the guilt of our sin.
Gill says,
"The psalmist knew he was but a man, and could not contend with God; and a sinful creature, and could not answer him for one of a thousand faults committed by him; and though his servant, yet an unprofitable one; his nature, his heart, his thoughts, words, and actions, would not bear examining, nor stand the test of the holy law of God; nor was he able to answer the demands of divine justice in his own person...."

We only have one hope, and that is that God will not enter into judgment with us. And that can only be accomplished when we hind in the person of Jesus Christ.

Thank God for Jesus Christ.

Sweet Words

Psalms 141:5-6 KJV
Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.
When their judges are overthrown in stony places, they shall hear my words; for they are sweet.
David not only says that he welcomes the "smiting" of the righteous and their reproofs but says

It will be an excellent oil.
He will receive it as it is meant, to be an ointment to aide him in his spiritual infirmities.

It will not break his head.He knows these reproofs will not destroy him but rather minister to him.

And then he says that when those who have reproved him go through any calamity, for surely all men go through calamities and experience times when we are overthrown, he will

Pray for them.Rather than being bitter and upset, rather than being vengeful and secretly rejoicing in their difficulties, he will lift them up in prayer.

Speak sweet words to them.They will hear them because he has not turned himself from them. He does not avoid them. And in their time of distress he will be among those that speaking gently, kindly and sweetly to them.

Faith

Psalms 139:6 KJV
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

David says he knows something that he cannot know.

He knows truth about God.
He knows God has searched him
He knows God is acquainted with all his ways
He knows he cannot flee from God's presence
He knows God possessed his reins in his mother's womb
Yet though he knows it, he cannot attain unto it. It is above him even though it has been revealed to him.

So it is with faith. Faith knows things to be true.
Faith has researched the evidence
Faith reads the articles from those who have studied these things before him.
Faith listens carefully to the preaching and searches the Scriptures to see if these things be true.
Faith can articulate its position.
But when all things are said and done, faith still cannot attain to and say it has hold of even those truths it has discovered. God is too high, too wonderful for the human mind to ever fully attain to it. We simply rejoice that we get to know the truth, not that we have to fully solve and prove it.

Perfection

Psalms 138:8 KJV
The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.

This is both the expectation and the prayer of the earnest believer.

Our hope is in this promise.
What joy and fulfillment when we are finally perfected!

Our prayers are always toward the fulfillment of this promise.
We recognize our frailties and weaknesses, yea even our sins. We sense, and the more we seek the Lord the more we sense it, our unworthiness to name the name of Christ. Yet our God has promised to perfect us and to this end we do groan, longing for that day of final and complete perfection before the Lord.

And yet, at the same time, this is the battle our flesh most resists. The thing that is our soul's desire is the very thing our flesh hates. This perfection requires the mortifying of the flesh. The old man must be crucified to make way for the new man. And just as in Christ's day, crucifixion is a slow and painful process. The victim's physical pain would be forever relieved if only they would submit to the inevitable and relax but the survival instinct of the flesh will not allow that. So the victim battles for breath. Each gasp of air is painful to receive and only extends the whole experience of pain that much longer. So we would be so much better off of the old man would just surrender to death already. But he can't do that. He fights on, he struggles for life and breath and for control over the soul and spirit. It is inevitable that the flesh will be mortified when we finally stand in the presence of the Lord; still it fights on for another moment of control, of sin, of fleshly passion.

Oh for that day when I will be perfected!

The Stone's Threefold Presentation

Matthew 21:42-44 KJV
Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

I thought Scofield's notes on the stone were worthy of consideration;
"Christ, as the "Stone", is revealed in a threefold way:

(1) To Israel Christ, coming not as a splendid monarch but in the form of a servant, is a stumbling stone and rock of offence. (Isa_8:14); (Isa_8:15); (Rom_9:32); (Rom_9:33); (1Co_1:23); (1Pe_2:8).

(2) To the church, Christ is the foundation stone and the head of the corner (1Co_3:11); (Eph_2:20-22); (1Pe_2:4); (1Pe_2:5).

(3) To the Gentile world-powers He is to be the smiting-stone of destruction (Dan_2:34).

Israel stumbled over Christ; the church is built upon Christ; Gentile world-dominion will be broken by Christ."

Thank God for that Rock I am blessed to build my life upon!

Before, No More Than Any Other

Psalms 132:13 KJV
For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation.

Spurgeon's Treasury of David says of Zion and this verse,
"It was no more than any other Canaanite town till God chose it, David captured it, Solomon built it, and the Lord dwelt in it. So was the church a mere Jebusite stronghold till grace chose it, conquered it, rebuilt it, and dwelt in it. Jehovah has chosen his people, and hence they are his people. He has chosen the church, and hence it is what it is. Thus in the covenant David and Zion, Christ and his people, go together. David is for Zion, and Zion for David: the interests of Christ and his people are mutual."

Here is the thing most wonderful; though we are simple and mean, no more than any other, when God chose us and saved us God has done marvelous things in us.

He has captured our flesh and dealt with our sin
He has built in us the principle of righteousness through Christ and
He has indwelt us through the Holy Spirit of God
What should have been undesirable, God has desired and made His own habitation.

Thank God for His grace in our lives!

Psalms 130:5 (KJV) Wait For The Lord

Psalms 130:5 KJV
I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.
I want to deal with this verse from three angles

First there is
The active ingredient in the verse
"Wait"
The term means literally "to be bound together." I love this thought. It is more than that the Christian simply does nothing while he waits for God to act. The Christian literally cannot do anything unless God does it. He has so twisted himself up in the Lord that he is only able to perform when the Lord performs.

Secondly there is
The double statement in the verse
"I wait" "my soul doth wait"
Repetition in the Word of God is never vain and always makes he truth of the passage much more urgent. The Psalmist says that He waits. It is a statement of fact. His relationship with Christ requires that he wait upon the Lord. He also says "my soul doth wait." It tells us that this is more than mere fact. He is in agreement with God in waiting. He does not just wait because he has no choice. He waits because His soul is bound up with God and rejoices in God's plan, whatever waiting that plan requires.

Finally there is
The definition in the verse
"...in His Word do I hope."Waiting for the LORD means hoping in His Word. We are not passive in our waiting. While we wait we learn God's Word and hope in the promises and plans of God revealed within it. His Word is our encouragement and supply during our wait.

Offences

Matthew 18:7 KJV
Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!

An offence is something that causes another to slip or fall. And here is what we know about offences from this one verse;

It is one of the hardships of life in this worldEven the creation groans in pain waiting for the day of redemption. One of those woes this world experiences is that it is a place of offence. The creature (being the world that God created) must grieve that it is a breeding ground for those traps that would ensnare the children of God.

It is not possible to live in this world without facing offences
The best of men and in the best of environments experience offences and temptations to stray away for Christ. It is impossible to avoid them altogether. And I would say it is unwise to live in such fear of them than we cloister up or hide away in hopes of missing them. Surely we would be wise not to run into the face of offences and temptations. But neither should we seek to avoid them to such an extent that we do not venture to do great things for the cause of Christ.

It is imperative that we who walk with the Lord not be the ones who cause those offencesIt is such a terrible thing that a brother would be an offence to another brother that the passage makes it appear that being such an offence may be a sign that we are not really believers at all: the offending party faces everlasting fire.

Finally the chapter ends with a word to the offended and it is just this, forgive. Regardless of the offence and the offenders reaction to the fact that they have offended, forgiving them is the only option we have. And there is even some indication that the one who doesn't forgive isn't a true believer either.

As Mount Zion

Psalms 125:1-2 KJV
They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.
As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever.
Jerusalem is in the mountains at a fairly high elevation. The city itself encloses a number of hills or mountains within its borders including Mt Zion and Mt Moriah. And then the city itself is surrounded by other mountains even higher.

It reminds me of going up to the Mt Rainier recreation area called Paradise. Paradise itself sits at probably 6000 feet above sea level and is technically already on the slopes of Mt Rainier. But from the observation deck at Paradise a person can see he is virtually surrounded by mountain peaks, Rainier being just one of them.

God's Word says that the sol that trusts in the Lord has two characteristics:

He is like Mt Zion
And he cannot be moved, he abides forever.

So is the saved soul. He is secure; he cannot lose His eternal salvation. He will live forever.

He is surrounded by the Lord
Those mountain peaks around Jerusalem serve as a type or picture of God, who has encompassed His own. They not only are secure, but they are surrounded. They are safe in the promise that God has given them eternal life and they are established in that promise by God's almighty presence.

The Lord is on our Side

Psalms 124:2 KJV
If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us:
If the Lord was not on our side,
Our enemies would rise up against usVs 2
The waters would flow over us
Vs 4-5
The predator would devour us
Vs 6-7

But God is on our side. And because He is on our side He is our help and aide. There are enemies. There are floods and disasters. There are predators that would devour us. But thank God He is on our side. And while we face these difficulties God carries us through these.

The Heart

Matthew 15:8 KJV
This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

Matthew 15:18-19 KJV
But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
The issue I want to address today is the heart. John Gill says of this passage,
"...they had no true love to God, nor faith in him, nor fear of him; they were not at all concerned for his presence with them, or for communion with him, or for his honour and glory; their hearts were in the world, and after their covetousness; they made religion a tool to their secular purposes, supposing gain to be godliness; sought the applause of men, and contented themselves with bodily exercise; having no regard to internal religion, powerful godliness, or where their hearts were, so be it, their bodies were presented to God in public worship; and what they did it was to be seen and approved of men, not caring what the searcher of hearts knew concerning them..."

These people had both the talk and the walk of the believer. But they were missing the key to it all, they did not have the heart of a believer. Christianity is more than talking and walking for Christ. All of that is external and can be engineered by human means. It is the heart that is the key to all that is Christianity.

The heart is the seat of affections. The issue of faith is an issue of what we love. So the question of the sincerity of one's faith is answered not in what he says or even in how he lives, it is in what he loves. And that is nothing man can fabricate.

This Desire

Psalms 119:5 KJV
O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
Gill says,
"The psalmist, sensible of his own inability, as every good man is, to keep the commands of God, prays for grace, direction, and assistance in it"

Barnes Notes
"Indicating the desire of the pious heart. That desire - a prevailing, constant, uniform desire - is to keep the law of God."

While the one who truly desires to know the Lord also knows his own inability to walk with the Lord, it is still his desire. His heart cries out for the wisdom, grace, strength to keep the statutes of the Lord and to obey them. He often falls (as is indicated even within this Psalm) but he is quick to beg God's help to stand again, and he is constantly seeking that direction from the Lord.

By beginning the cry with the word "O" a term denoting grief and surprise, the Psalmist indicates his cry is that much more expressive and earnest. This is no small thing with him. It is the greatest need of his life. It is his most urgent priority. Let others things fall to the wayside if need be. He must be directed to keep God's statutes.

O that we would have such urgency!

That's Better!

Psalms 118:8 KJV
It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.

This is simple enough I feel like just leaving it be without comment.

What could be better?

It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.

Any man
For any reason

Where Is He?

Psalms 115:3 KJV
But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.

I am always amazed at little glimpses in the Bible that indicate to me that things have not changed that much in all of human history.

Even in the days of the Psalmist tere were those who could not see the hand of God at work on earth.
As powerful as God had shown Himself
As many evidences as there were of God's presenceStill the majority would not believe.

So the Psalmist just says it plainly. "...our God is in the heavens..." That's where He is.
He is so much higher than the petty men and women of this earth.
He is so much more exalted than the phony gods that mankind had conjured up.
He is in the heavens!
He dwells on high.
He humbles Himself to behold the events of the earth.
That is where He is!

And "....He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased." He manifests Himself at His own pleasure. He reveals Himself to those whom He pleases.

What comfort!
What joy!
What assurance!The God I worship is in the heavens. He does as He pleases; and He has been pleased to save me.

How Humbling that He Has Humbled Himself

Psalms 113:6 KJV
Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!

Here is an amazing thought; God humbles Himself to behold the things that are in heaven
The angels
The seraphim and cherubim
The New Jerusalem
All of the wonders of heaven, in all of their beauty and all of their perfection, still God is so much above them, He humbles Himself to behold them.

And yet He also beholds the things that are in the earth.
With all of our problems
With all of our hypocrisy
With all of our idolatry
With all of our sinfulnessGod beholds us!

And the premise is not that He does so out of anger and disgust. Though God is angry with the wicked every day, God's grand design and chief purpose in beholding us is that He might redeem and save us.

The Greatest Commandment

Psalms 111:1 KJV
Praise ye the LORD. I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.

Psalms 112:1 KJV
Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.

Jesus said that the greatest of all commandments is to love the Lord thy God .....and to love thy neighbor as thyself. This principle is found throughout the Bible in various places and we ought to put much more emphasis upon it than we do.

It is the gist of the Ten Commandments, six of them having to do with our relationship with God and the other four having to do with our relationship with man. First John is packed with this principle. I placed Psalms 111 and 112 together as representing these two greatest of all commandments as well. Each begins with the words "Praise ye the Lord." From there Psalm 111 goes on to describe God Himself. It is a Psalm of praise for the qualities and greatness of the Lord. Psalm 112 to describe the man that fears the Lord. The natural reaction to the greatness of God is to fear the Lord and the natural compliment to fearing the Lord is to take note of others who do the same.

Help Me

Psalms 109:26-27 KJV
Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy:
That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, LORD, hast done it.

This verse carries such a different and unique motivation for salvation. The psalmist desires God's salvation
Not so he can escape hell
Not so he can be blessed personally
Not for any selfish reasons

The Psalmist says the reason he seeks salvation is so others would know that the Lord has done it.

God's glory should be our only interest. If it glorifies God it ought to please us even if there is no personal benefit, even if it is a personal sacrifice. Men understand this. They will give their lives for the benefit of their country, and we honor that. Why should we not do the same for Christ?

Whoso Is Wise

Psalms 107:43 KJV
Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.

The wise person will observe what is found in this Psalm and thereby shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord. So what is it that is found in this Psalm? I think we can break it into four pieces, all headed by the same words, "Oh that men would praise the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men."

First, we observe
God delivers the rebellious when they cry unto HimVs 8-14

Secondly, we observe
God saves the fools who cry unto HimVs 15-20

Thirdly, we observe
God saves the sailor when he cries unto Him
Vs 21-30
I believe we could consider this an appeal for the laborer of any sort. The man who works with his hands for a living has one of the most challenging passages through this life, toiling each day to make enough to provide for his family. Many times his works is dangerous, but he must do it. It is his only way of provision. That man may cry unto the LORD in his distress.

Fourthly, we observe
God turns rivers into wildernesses and wildernesses into waters
God pours contempt upon princes and sets the poor on high
Vs 31-43

I recently heard an audio accounting of the life of an English itinerant preacher from the 1700's. This preacher said that he focused His messages on "the righteousness of God in saving sinners." And he said that message found long lasting converts.

The message that must be preached today is a message of the doom that the sinner is facing and that God saves them, in a righteous manner.
He does not brush over their sins.
He does not excuse wickedness.
He suffers their judgment for them
That is the lovingkindness of the LORD.

What Is Your Glory?

Psalms 106:20 KJV
Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.

The Bible says "they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox." This is a reference to Aaron's creation of the golden calf. So their glory was the thing they worshiped.

That means before they changed their glory to the similitude of an ox, their glory was almighty God. The object of our worship is our glory.

For some people, the most glorious thing about them is their house
For some it is their car
For others it would be a boat

For some people, their glory is their job; all they want to speak about is the job they have. They feel they are important because of their work.

Another person's glory is their health.
Another person's is their hobby or some other skill.
One person's glory is their family.

For another, they glory in their life experiences; vacations, trips and etc.

Another's glory is their church. I heard a preacher yesterday say "some people worship, worship."

But to glory in any of these is to accept a dull and rusted glory in comparison to the glory that belongs to the one whose life is wrapped in the worship of the Lord. The Lord only is glorious. To trust in and worship Him is to partake in His glory.

Don't Forget His Benefits

Psalms 103:2 KJV
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

This is a powerful Psalm for the Thanksgiving season in that it provides a list of those "benefits" we can be thankful to God for. The list is larger that I intend to detail right now, but I do want to give some of them as examples;
God forgives all our iniquities
God crows us with lovingkindness and tender mercies
God satisfies our mouths with good things
God executes righteousness
God will not always chide His people
God has not dealt with us after our sins
God has removed our transgressions
God pities them that fear Him

And there are tons more benefits I did not list here.

But my thought today is this; we are so prone to forget those benefits. It is a wise man who recognizes this and works at a remedy. A wise man will rehearse the benefits of the Lord.

He will be sure to record them in some way when those benefits are obvious and
He will be sure to review that record on those days when he is struggling to remember them.

The Law In the Millenial Kingdom

Matthew 6:33 KJV
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
I remember being taught in Bible College that the primary application of the Sermon on the Mount is to the Jews and is an offer of the Kingdom. We of course employ many parts of that sermon to modern day Christianity;
The Beatitudes
The Lord's Model Prayer
Judge not that ye be not judged and
Seek ye first the Kingdom of God
Are all favorites of most Christians and I am not today claiming that we should not see them as having application to Christianity today. Some Christians believe this sermon to be the key to being a Christian. Those Anabaptist forefathers which eventually became the Mennonites and Amish were willing to die rather than forsake a life lived according to the Sermon's model.

But an interesting thought came to my mind as I read through the Sermon in a devotional way; could this not be the "constitution" that will be used to govern the 1000 year reign of Christ? If so, we know that we will rule and reign with Christ and that He will rule with a rod of iron. It is likely that these are the laws we will enforce in the millennium.

Once again, I am sure that there is an application for today's Christians that can be found in the Sermon on the Mount. But fresh light has been shed for me as I have envisioned those souls in the millennial kingdom needing to be reminded to pray to the Lord who is visibly before them, needing to be urged to meekness or being persecuted and literally seeing their persecutors dealt with.

A God that Forgavest Them

Psalms 99:8 KJV
Thou answeredst them, O LORD our God: thou wast a God that forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions.
Two blessings and a warning are found in this verse:

Blessing Number OneGod answered them.
Speaking of Moses, Aaron and Samuel (and I think the range reaching from Moses to Samuel, implies more than just these men specifically, but the Israelites in general and, by application, to believers today as well). What a blessing to have the assurance that God answers us in our times of need and when we come to Him in prayer. Prayer is more than a religious exercise. It is communion with our Almighty God. Hallelujah it is a two way communion!

Blessing Number Two
God forgave them.
Moses Aaron and Samuel were all sinners. Good men as they were, and used of the Lord as they were, they were still sinners. But God forgave their sins. I think the context specifically means that God answered their prayers and forgave their sins.
1 John 1:9 KJV
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
A warning in the verse
God took vengeance of the inventions
Those inventions being their sins. The one that comes most strongly to my mind is Aaron's sin in making the golden calf. We also know of Moses sin in striking the rock. And we know of God's judgment of each of those. Though Samuel's sins are less momentous, and his judgments not so well documented, stil that demonstrates that even in those whose sins do not appear so grievous, God still takes vengeance upon them. This too is said, not of the lost, but of the believer; even of the best of the believers. The warning is clear. Though God will always forgive us when we ask, He will also still judge our sins.

So while the believer may always rejoice in forgiven sin, he must also not think he has a license to sin.

Surrounded by the Nations

Matthew 4:15 KJV
The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;

This verses, a fulfillment of Isaiah 9:1, points out that not only in the Lord's earliest ministry but also in the eternal plan of God, the Gospel was not just for the Jews but also the Gentiles.

The Bible does ay of the Lord that
John 1:11 KJV
He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
His own were the Jews and He came to them first.
But He did not come to them only.

God's holy plan had Jesus Christ, from a very young age, dwelling in the midst of both Jews and Gentiles. While Nazareth may have been a strictly Jewish community, the northern regions of Israel were not. Each trip to Jerusalem would have involved some contact with the Gentile people who inhabited portions of that northern land (not to mention the Romans who had occupied Israel by that time).

And then came the early days of the Lord's ministry. Just after his temptation in the wilderness, and immediately after hearing of the imprisonment of John the Baptist, Christ moved from Nazareth to Capernaum in fulfillment of Isaiah 9:1. John Gill says of Capernaum that it,
".... was situated by the sea of Tiberias, beyond Jordan, and in, "Galilee of the nations"; the upper Galilee, which had in it people of other nations besides Jews."

So almost from the beginning of His ministry, while He came unto His own, He surrounded Himself with the Gentiles.

And the significance of that is just this; that the Gospel is for all people and always has been. God has never desired that His people seclude themselves into conclaves of their own faith but has designed that we live among the nations, witnessing and testifying that the same Christ which has given us faith can do the same for them.

Giving

Psalms 96:7-8 KJV
Give unto the LORD, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the LORD glory and strength.
Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts.

I find the word give three times in these two verses. The interesting thing is that it does not speak of what God gives to us but what we are to give to God. The God who owns everything expects that we, who have so little in comparison, would give to Him

Who is to give
"O ye kindreds of the people"

We are to be givers and specifically givers to the Lord. No doubt we have things backwards in our day. We call good evil and evil good. We believe God is supposed to give to us. The Bible, however, says we are to give to God.

What we are to give
"glory and strength"

Not money and offerings.
Not sacrifices and oblationsThose have their place and we are to give them as well. But what we are really to give (and we likely give it when we give those offerings, sacrifices and financial contributions) is glory and strength.

We give Him glory by proclaiming that He is glorious.
We give Him strength in the same way

But we can also give glory by behaving gloriously, by living holily and
We can give strength by giving the strength of our life in His service.

Why do we give
"due unto His name"

We give it because He is due it.
Not that He needs it. He would be glorious and powerful without us.
Nor that we can add any to what He has. We are so tiny in comparison to Him.
We give it simply because it is His due. He deserves it.

Content In This

Psalms 93:1 KJV
The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.

I think it was Thomas Watson who said, "Let the Christian be content in this, that God should rule the world."

There could be
Nothing more important
Nothing more powerful
Nothing more comforting
Than to have the firm conviction that "The LORD reigneth..."

This world likes to challenge that conviction.
The strife that is in the world
The current political circumstances
The mockery of the faith in the media
All call our conviction into question

Then there are those things that come up in our own minds to challenge our conviction:
Why don't more people believe?
Why doesn't the Lord answer (positively) every prayer?
Why do God's people suffer so in this world?
These and a hundred questions like them root down to the core of our convictions and test and prove them.

But when our conviction is solid, and we have this confidence, that regardless of how it appears with the human eye, "The LORD reigneth..." there is such power that flows in through and for that believer.

The Depths of His Thoughts

Psalms 92:5-6 KJV
O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.
A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.
I see three persons in these verses and with them, three different reactions to the wondrous things of God's Word.

The believer, as represented by the Psalmist himself. He views the things of God, His works and His thoughts and great and admires their depth.

The brutish man is like an animal. He only sees things as they relate to the natural. He has no spiritual discernment. He cannot know the depths of God's work and thought.

The fool is silly. Especially is this true of spiritual things. He may see them, he may know something about them, but they have no serious meaning to him.

One of the most amazing things about the Lord is the depths of His thought. That it is deep and that I must dive in in order to comprehend the tips of them only add majesty and glory to them.

Before His Face

Psalms 89:14 KJV
Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.
Our God is an awesome mixture of justice and mercy; judgment and truth.

God dwells on a throne of justice and judgment. He can no more be unjust than He can be un-God. God can no more prevent judgment than He can refuse to be God. Key to His character as God is that He is both justice and judgment.

However, standing before Him in mercy is the Lord Jesus Christ. The person of Christ intermediates between God and man so that whenever God views man, He sees Jesus Christ, the way, the truth and the life.

How He Loves the Church

Psalms 87:2 KJV
The LORD loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.

Barnes Notes has this to say,
"The particular allusion here seems to be to the thronging multitudes pressing into the city for public worship - the numbers that gathered together at the great feasts and festivals of the nation; and the meaning is, that he looked with more pleasure on such multitudes as they thronged the gates, pressing in that they might worship him, than on any other scene in the land....
Much as he might be pleased with their quiet abodes, with their peace, prosperity, and order, and with the fact that his worship was daily celebrated in those happy families, yet he had superior pleasure in the multitudes that crowded the ways to the place where they would publicly acknowledge him as their God."

This dispels to some degree those that like to call family times of worship or quiet times in the mountains the same thing as attending an organized church.

No doubt there is little as pleasant to our own senses as a peaceful time alone near a lake or in the forest.
No question it is a precious time when a family gathers around the family Bible and meet with the Lord together

But far superior to those, and requisite to their being what they are intended to be is the faithful and regular assembling of the people of God together in the House of the Lord.

The Lord Himself loves that!

Peace

Psalms 85:8 KJV
I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.

Whenever the Lord speaks to His people it is a message of peace. Even if the words are of warning or judgment, the purpose God has in mind is peace. God's desire is to see His people know the peace of mind that comes from having things right in their lives and the peace with God that results from having a right relationship with the Lord.

This peace is only possible through the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Living Word of God. When God speaks peace, He speaks Jesus Christ, as the solution to all man's obstacles to peace.

Then, once we have this peace and our relationship with Christ is secured, God urges us not to return again to folly. Even the people of God are prone to the foolishness of this world. Like the woman taken in adultery, Christ forgives and says "go, and sin no more.."

Strength To Strength

Psalms 84:7 KJV
They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.

No one has been able to invent the perpetual motion machine. Everything that that has life and energy finds that life and energy expends itself in the process of its life or energy. In other words, everything must be refueled.

We will eat a breakfast, but we do not expect that breakfast to sustain us indefinitely. We will need to eat again.
We slept a good night's sleep last night, but we will need to dothe same again tonight.
I received my paycheck, but I will need to receive another in order to continue to pay my bills.
I paid my bills, but I will have to pay them again.
Even inanimate objects expend energy and must have the energy restored.
I must fill my vehicles with fuel almost every week.
My propane furnace requires that its tank is refilled frequently (especially in the cold of winter)
My battery power razor must be recharged
All life and energy must be refilled, restored and revived. They must got from strength to strength

Why should we think it a strange thing that the same applies to that which is spiritual?
The soul that hears a sermon must hear another
The one who has been ministered to must be ministered to again
The believer that has been refreshed in the house of God must be refreshed yet again and again
And the same is true of the church itself. In order for the church to be revived, have fresh energy, experience the vigor of life, it must also be refilled.

That means the believers in the church help to maintain the life of their church by serving in ways that bring fresh visitors and new souls into the church.

Mortify That Flesh

Psalms 81:10-15 KJV
I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.
But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.
So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels.
Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!
I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries.
The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever.

God's desire for Israel was good and only good, but Israel could not see it. Though God had done so much for them, ye they "would none of me."

God says that if they had hearkened to unto Him and walked in His ways He would have subdued their enemies and turned His hand against their adversaries and overcome the haters of the Lord.

But the lesson, I believe, is that, like Israel, even the redeemed today do not hearken to God or walk in His ways. Our sin nature is so overwhelming we are foolish to believe we can overcome it. The answer today is not to learn better how to overpower our flesh. The answer is to run to Christ again and again. We have gotten off track when we attempt to reform the flesh, even in those who have trusted Christ.

We do not need to reform the flesh, we need to mortify it.

For Thy Name

Psalms 79:9 KJV
Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake.

There are three requests listed
Help us
Deliver us and
Purge away our sins

Nearly all (but not all) of the trials we find ourselves in are caused by our sins. Some of our trials are not because of our own sins, but because we live in a world of sin. We need deliverance.

But the key to this verse is in the foundation for the requests.
For the glory of thy name
For thy name's sake

The reason why God answers prayers is not for our own benefit, but for the glory of and the sake of His own name. That is what is meant by praying in Jesus' name; not just that we throw out His name in our prayer, but that we comprehend that the purpose for answered prayer is to glorify the name of Jesus and for the sake of Jesus Christ. Those prayers, offered for those reasons, are the prayers the Lord is bound to answer!

And, if we truly pray for those reasons, if God's answer is "no" we will be content because we know that is what brings glory to His name.

A Song In The Night

Psalms 77:2 KJV
In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.

It is a terrible place to be when our souls refuse to be comforted. Sometimes, regardless of the best efforts of friends, family and other sources of help, our troubles are so extensive that there just seems to be nothing that can help.

We hear the comforting words, but we are not comforted.
We appreciate the visits of the concerned, but we are not comforted.
We are exposed to the promises of God, but we are not comforted

The Psalmist goes so far as to say that his memories of God troubled him and that he complained (presumably to God).

He could not sleep
He could not speak
He was overwhelmed

So what helps in times like that? Well first of all, when we get like that we have a tough time accepting any help and especially help that requires personal motivation. But once we come to the place where we are ready to fight the depression this Psalm does come to our rescue.

First, the Psalmist considered the days of old
vs 5
Something about meditating upon what God has done leads to hope about what God will do.

Second, he remembered his song in the night.vs 6
He remembered those times when he had reason to sing. He spoke with his own heart about what God had done and he forced himself to make a diligent search of those past blessings. Sometimes, when we are most down, it is a huge struggle to remember times when we were not down. He made his spirit do the work of remembering

Third, he appealed to the Lordvs 7-9
Couldn't he experience God's mercies once again? Of course he could!

Fourth, he came out of the depthsvs 10-20
Though his infirmity was real once his eyes were upon the Lord things changed in his soul. The mood of these last ten verses is upbeat and hopeful.

All of us go through down times. Some of us stay in them much longer than we need.

This Psalm can be a huge help!

God IS Righteous

Revelation 16:5-7 KJV
And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.

Here is a truth that must never be forgotten; God is righteous in all of His judgments.

That God is angry with the wicked every day is completely righteous
That God sends those who do not trust in Christ to hell is completely righteous
That God does extraordinary things to cause one to believe but seemingly does not do that in another is completely righteous
That God pours out wrath upon this world is completely righteous

God does not have to explain to me why some souls get saved and others do not. He does not need to satisfy me why He crated Lucifer knowing He would fall and tempt mankind to sin.
God is worthy
God is true and
God is righteous
Always and in all things.

Today and Tomorrow

Psalms 73:24 KJV
Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.

What a wonderful comfort this verse is to the believer. We have here a promise both for today and tomorrow.

Today, God guides us with His counsel
The Word of God,
The conviction of the Holy Spirit, and
The ministry of the local churchAll serve together to give counsel and guide us in our daily walk. Life here can be challenging and difficult. Trials come that tax the faith of any believer; decisions must be made that can make or break a person's spiritual growth. But with the guidance of God's counsel the believer is able to navigate his challenging course.

Tomorrow, God receives us to glory
The hope and joy of every Christian is to enter into the glories of heaven. While we have a purpose and work that is necessary here; our goal is not to have the best of lives here, but to have the best of life in eternity.

Nothing better than guidance today and eternity tomorrow!

This Generation

Psalms 71:17-18 KJV
O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.
Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.

I have read that in the earliest centuries of Christianity a man was not considered mature enough to be much of a preacher until he had already finished a career; John Chrysostom (sometimes called John the golden tongued), for instance, did not start pastoring until he was in his 70's. In our current day it seems like churches are looking, not for maturity and a pastor with enough experience and study to be of sound doctrine, but a pastor with youth, physical vigor, and "vision." One church I know told me that they did not want a pastor who was over 50 years old. Another pastor, who was "older than that" had a difficult time finding a church interested in a man of his age.

Sounds like the Psalmist knew something of this same difficulty. Though the reasons for his lack of effectiveness was different, I can understand his heart's prayer. I do not want to lose my ability to be used of the Lord because the gray hairs have begun to outnumber the darker ones. I have a desire to be used to show the younger generation the strength, the power, and the truth of God and His Word.

O God, forsake me not. Use me to preach in the power of the Holy Spirit to the generation coming behind me!

Let all

Psalms 70:4 KJV
Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified.

Within this prayer are three requests for the people of God:

Let all those that see thee rejoice and be glad in thee
A good description of a Christian is someone who seeks the Lord. The believer ought to be the kind of person who pursues a close and ever increasing relationship with the Lord. The idea of seeking implies that what we seek is always kept out of range. The Christian should never be content that he has attained the relationship he seeks in the Lord. We will not fully have that relationship until we reach heaven. But in the seeking, we may find true joy (though never absolute satisfaction). There is gladness in the pursuit after the Lord.

Let such as love thy salvation say continually
Here we find another good description of the Christian; he loves God's salvation. He is not interested in a man made type of salvation. He could care less for a salvation he has worked up for himself, but he loves the salvation that
God has devised
God has provided and
God offers to any who humbly come to Christ

Of those, the Psalmist prays that they will offer continually the third prayer of the passage

Let God be magnified
The Christian's most constant motivation is to see that God be magnified in this world. How we ought to pray first that more Christians call on men to magnify God and that more men come to know Christ and magnify Him.

Who Hates God?

Psalms 68:1-3 KJV
Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.
As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice.

The thought occurred to me this morning, "Who are they that hate God?" I think we sometimes look at passages like this and dismiss them. We view them as Old Testament and having nothing to do with our present spiritual economy or else we view all people as righteous and thus, outside of these Scriptures. We may view these enemies (I think with some legitimacy) as being the world, the flesh and the devil. We can also apply them to those influences (rather than people) that draw us away from a close relationship with the Lord.

So what do we know from the Scripture as a description of those who are either God's enemies or those who hate God?

Matthew 6:24 KJV
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Romans 8:7 KJV
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

James 4:4 KJV
Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Though there are differences and subtleties that would be good to explore in these verses the one common theme through them all is worldliness; a love for the things of this world. In other words, to love the things of this world is to hate God and be His enemy.

Now this gets to be a little more personal! Surely each of us can see ourselves in this definition.

Oh, Lord, deliver us from our affections for the things of earth. Grant us hearts that desire only heavenly things! Then may we say we truly love the Lord.

Chosen

Psalms 65:4 KJV
Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.
The man God chooses is truly blessed because
He has true faith in Christ
He shall never perish
He has been effectually called
He is justified by the righteousness of Christ and
He shall be glorified in God's time

Gill says
The persons whom God has chosen for himself are, in their state of nature, at a distance from him by reason of sin; and through the blood and sacrifice of Christ, by which atonement is made, they are brought nigh to him; and in the faith of Christ the Mediator, their hearts are engaged to approach unto God, and come with boldness to his throne, and ask grace and mercy of him; and through the grace of Christ they have nearness to him, and communion with him.

Those God chooses He also causes to approach Him.

Better Than Life

Psalms 63:3 KJV
Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.
This week I heard of the tragic death of a young man, just 28 years old, who lost his life in a car accident. This young man, the grandson of a dear friend, has a wife and two children and had just begun deputation to raise support to be a missionary to England.
His life was promising
He seems to have been an exemplary young Christian man

His death seems to have happened senselessly and untimely. But this truth concerning God remains constant, ""...thy lovingkindness is better than life..."

I grieve for his wife and kids.
I grieve for my friends, his grandparents
But I rejoice in the thought of the wonders this young man sees today. And I long for the day when I will see them with him.

He Only

Psalms 62:6 KJV
He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.

The Psalmist repeats twice "He only is my rock....."

My thoughts focused on the world "only"

Strong's Concordance gives these three tenors to the definition of the word

A limitation "only"
May we have no other rock and no other hope for salvation and defense. May we see Christ alone and only as our rock.

An affirmation "surely"His hope is fixed in Christ. He does not question whether this rock is the right rock. He has no worries as to whether his choice is correct. He is sure.

"Certainly"
And this rock is a secure rock. What he trusts this rock to accomplish will most certainly be accomplished.

I have no hope other than the hope I place in Christ.

Slay Them Not

Psalms 59:11 KJV
Slay them not, lest my people forget: scatter them by thy power; and bring them down, O Lord our shield.

The superscript for this Psalm reads, "To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David; when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him."
So this Psalm is not David's prayer against Gentile nations. These are the men of Israel under the leadership of King Saul.

And yet David calls them
mine enemies
workers of iniquity
bloody men
heathen and
wicked transgressors
Even those who claim the same spiritual heritage as we do can become terrible enemies in our battle to wholly follow the Lord.

However, as terrible as these names are David assigned the servants of Saul, he also prayed "Slay them not...." Though they deserved it and though in his flesh David may have even entertained the notion; in his spirit David knew that the answer was not their destruction but their conversion.

I doubt there is anyone we should ask God to slay. But there are countless number we ought to be asking God to "bring down" in the flesh so that they might come to follow the Lord as they ought.

My Soul

Psalms 57:1 KJV
Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.

The Psalmist makes this request for mercy
Not based upon his own goodness
Not based upon anything he had done
But based upon his trust in the Lord

He says that it is his "soul" that trusts in the Lord. It was not his mind, it was not his intellect. It was his soul; that vital part of himself that really animates everything else.

Sometimes a person may not act like they trust in the Lord
Sometimes a person may not mentally believe they trust in the Lord
Sometimes we might emotionally not feel like we trust in the Lord

The issue is what is happening in your soul? Is there a drawing to Christ that takes place in your soul? Is there something that can't turn from the Lord but must seek and appeal to Him? Does your soul trust in Him?

Then ask for His mercy and hide in the shadow of His wings. The calamities will overpass one day. We will be in His glorious presence and experience only God's greatest joys. Trust in Him and ask for His mercy.

Justification and Sanctification

Psalms 56:13 KJV
For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?

I see in this passage the complimentary doctrines of justification and sanctification.

Justification is a one time and immediate act
"For thou hast delivered my soul from death..."

The body will still, in most cases, experience death. But the soul of the justified is irrevocably saved. The soul will live on with God eternally.

Sanctification is a process that will not be completed until we finally reach our eternal home
"...wilt not thou deliver my feet from fall, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?"
Sanctification is that cleansing and purifying process the child of God goes through in this life. As it is not completed in a one step and immediate act, there are times when the believer may question whether it is happening at all. But, as Gill says, this phrase "wilt thou not" is not intended to question God's ultimate grace, but "strongly affirms" that God will in fact deliver our feet from falling.

And that purpose for sanctification is at least two-fold;
First, "that I may walk before God" our fellowship with the Lord is built first upon our relationship with Christ and then upon our holiness and separation from sin.

Second, "in the light of the living," as we become less like this world and walk more with the Lord, other will see. Other believers will see and be encouraged as well as draw near to have fellowship one with another. Others who are lost will see and become convicted. Either they will become believers themselves or else they will be repelled by the holiness and exposed as the unbelievers they are. But either way, the light of God's glory shines.

God Looked Down

Psalms 53:2 KJV
God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.

This Psalm bears an ominous message (one so important to hear that it is found twice here and Psalm 14, as well as being expanded upon in Romans 3). That God Himself could find "none that doeth good" or "that seek God" bodes poorly on the state of mankind.
We are not a generally good people with a few exceptions.
We are not even a generally bad people with a few exceptions.
We are a wholly wicked people with no exceptions
Oh how we need grace!

However, the thought that struck me this, that "God look[s] down from heaven upon the children of men."
That God cares
That God knows what we do
That God has any interest
That God condescends toward us
Is a matter of absolute amazement? Any man or woman would be wise to reflect upon this. God is so high above us; His interests are so vast and so beyond us that thought like these drove the Psalmist to say "what is man that thou art mindful of him?"
But He is mindful of us. And that ought to sound a signal in us to be alike mindful of Him.

Favor

Proverbs 8:35 KJV
For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD.

The "me" of the passage is wisdom which can refer to
The wisdom of knowing and obeying the Bible
The wisdom of practicing the teachings of Proverbs or
The wisdom that is Jesus Christ

The promise is that when we find this wisdom we will
Find life and
Obtain favor of the Lord

The greatest need any man has is first find eternal life in salvation from our sins and then to obtain this favor of the Lord.

The favor is our first simply because we are "accepted in the beloved." God sees us in Christ and He favors Christ. But there is a favor that we also seek in our quest to know the Lord and to experience His presence, His person and His power.

I seek the favor of the Lord. I shall find it in Christ.

Confession

Psalms 51:3 KJV
For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

1 John 1:9 KJV
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

As wonderful a promise as 1 John 1:9 is, it occured to me that Psalm 51 is a model for that confession. David was a believer, he did not need to seek a relationship with the Lord; he already had one. But this believer had fallen into the depths of terrible sin. It was time to confess and God's provision has seen to it that confession was preserved for our benefit today, not just so we know what David did, but se we may learn to do the same in our times of confession.


Confession involves
Confrontation
Nathan squarely confronted David's sin and brought him to repentance. No one genuinely confesses until they have genuinely repented.

Consideration
Vs 3
David saw his sin as ever before him and realized the sin was ultimately against God (not Uriah and Bathsheba or even the nation of Israel)

Cleansing
Vs 7-8
The wages of sin is death. David pled the blood of God's sacrifice as His only hope for cleansing.

Creation
Vs 9
He needed a clean heart and a right spirit. That is the work of the Lord in the believer.

Coming
Vs 11-12
Sin drives us from the presence of the Lord. We have to return.

Conversions
Vs 13
A man who walks with God witnesses to others.

The Difference

Psalms 49:12 KJV
Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish.
Man is created the highest of all of God's beings. Though there are many differences between man and the rest of the creation, this one thing stands as the greatest distinguisher; man was created in the image of God.

But that image was marred by the sin of our first parents so that the Bible says their son, Seth, was created, not in the image of God but after the likeness of Adam.

Through Christ, however, any who come to hide in Christ regain the image of God. It is not in our flesh of course, but in the fact that God sees Christ in us that restores to us that image.

But for the lost man, the man who honors self rather than humbles self and hides in Christ, the Bible says of that man that he is no different than the beasts of the field.

• They do not bear the image of God
• They do not walk in a living relationship with God and
• They will not go on to be forever with God in eternity

• Though those who come after them may acknowledge and approve of them
• Though they may have great wealth and comforts in life today (or not)
• Though they believe their house wil continue forever

The Bible says when they die they will carry nothing away[1] and thus "this their way is their folly."[2]

[1] Verse 17[2] Verse 13

Our God

Psalms 48:14 KJV
For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.

What a good reminder this passage gives us.
To know that this God (of the Bible) is not just God but our God is comforting.
If God existed, but we had no relationship with Him, if we were not His and He ours, our thoughts of Him would be terrifying. But He is our God. He is our redeemer and our Heavenly Father.

To know that this God is our God for ever and ever is reassuring.
He is not our God so long as we are doing right; He is our God for ever and ever.

To know that this God is our God and guide so long as we must travel this path of life on earth is empowering.
Though most men will not walk the way God guides me, I do not walk this path alone. God is with me, each step I take is calculated by Him for my own benefit and for His own glory.

Come, Behold

Psalms 46:8 KJV
Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth.

This is the call all believers ought to make to all they have opportunity to come across. What God has done in this world
His creation
His Word
His direction with children of men
His defeat of the devil
His condemnation of sin and
His gift of Jesus Christ
Nothing is more impressive and nothing is as important as that a person beholds these works and finds through them the means to come to Jesus Christ and be born again.

It is Sunday. Let us come and behold the works of the Lord.