Living Out the Greatest Commandments after George Floyd’s Killing: Eleven Principles 

When asked which commandment is the greatest, Jesus replied:

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)

How do we live out these two greatest commandments today, after the killing of George Floyd and the subsequent social upheaval?

Consider these eleven principles:

(more…)

George Floyd and the Misuse of God-Given Authority

The Apostle Paul tells us:

There is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God…. If you do wrong, be afraid, for [the ruler] does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer (from Romans 13:1, 4).

The government, the state, thus has authority to work for the good of its citizens.

One aspect of that authority is the authorization to use violence against citizens of the state. But this authority is not to be used haphazardly – randomly harming some and supporting others. That’s terror. Nor is it to be used racially – systematically harming those of one ethnicity and supporting those of another. That’s genocide or its precursors. Nor is it to be used politically – harming one’s political antagonists and helping one’s political supporters. That’s tyranny.

Rather, God grants the state authority to use violence against wrongdoers as agents of God’s wrath. The state should give a foreshadowing of the justice to be implemented on the Last Day, when God sees to it that every sin is paid for – either by the blood of Christ or by the punishment of the perpetrator of the sin. So the state should only use violence when that is either necessary to halt a crime, or when that violence is just retribution for a crime already committed.

The authors of the Declaration of Independence argue that King George III had systematically misused such powers of the state, and thus the American colonies were justified in rebelling against him, and in setting up their own government.

But the government they set up was not another monarchy, substituting one king for another. Rather, “we the people … do ordain and establish this Constitution.” As Abraham Lincoln so marvelously described this political experiment four score and seven years later, it was “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” That is:

  • “Of the people:” The governing authorities are not foreigners nor aristocrats nor a dominant ethnicity, but come from the citizenry, from among the governed.
  • “By the people:” The rulers receive their authority neither from ancestry nor by the decision of a select group, but by the choice of the governed.
  • “For the people:” In line with Romans 13 and the Constitution’s preamble, the purpose of this government is to benefit its citizens as a whole – not to enrich its rulers or to extend the power of one faction or party over another.

When the state or agents of the state violate these principles – when they use law enforcement powers and violence to advance causes other than justice, other than the general welfare – they call into question the legitimacy of the government and thereby undermine their own authority. Most importantly, they misuse the authority God has granted, dishonoring Him, and making themselves liable to His perfect judgment.

The murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis policeman is a particularly egregious example of the misuse of power. Surely as time goes on we will learn what happened prior to this man being handcuffed, whether or not the officers were justified in so doing. But there is no possible justification for standing on a subdued, cuffed man’s neck for more than eight minutes until he dies from asphyxiation.

Why did this happen? What led a policeman – who should see himself as a servant of the public – to abrogate to himself the authority to take a life?

I would suggest it’s the same mindset that led to the misuse of the intelligence agencies in an attempt to take out political opponents in 2016/17; the same mindset that during this pandemic led a governor to open beaches in areas where his supporters predominate, but to close them in an area where his political rival is mayor; the same mindset that led a president to spread horrible rumors about a former congressman being a murderer.

This mindset is not, “I’m a servant of all these citizens.” It is rather: “I’m in charge. I’m here to advance my purposes, and the purposes of those like me. If someone annoys me, if someone gets in my way or in the way of our movement, he doesn’t deserve justice – he deserves to be taken out. I don’t bear the sword in vain.”

This mindset – often clothed in self-righteous justification of one’s actions – is antithetical to biblical teaching as well as to the founding principles of this country. May we, Christ’s church, call to account those who display this mindset – whether we agree or disagree with their political positions. And by God’s grace, may our governing authorities live out Romans 13 as well as the Constitution’s Preamble and the Gettysburg Address.

But it is not only policemen and politicians who are susceptible to the virus of this mindset. Many pastors are infected. Millions of church members have caught the disease. None of us is immune. And there is no vaccination available to prevent it.

So check your social media presence. Consider how you’ve interacted this week with those who are in some sense under you – those in your family, those in your workplace, those serving you in stores. Search your heart via God’s Word. Pray with David, “See if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:24).

Our Lord came “not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). May those who wield the sword see themselves as servants of the people – and may we exercise our authority as those who serve.

 

Guidelines for in-person worship services

The Apostle Paul tells us, “In humility count others more significant than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3). In order to live out this truth as we regather, let’s follow these guidelines that have been worked out in conjunction with Bethel Korean Church. You can read the rationale for these guidelines at the end of this post.

  • Please do not attend if you have any symptoms of illness, or if you suspect you have been exposed to someone with the virus in the last few days.
  • Please avoid shaking hands at this time.
  • Please wear a mask covering your nose and mouth whenever you are within ten feet of others indoors. Yes, this will make singing more difficult. No, the mask won’t do much to protect you personally. But if you should happen to have the virus without symptoms, the mask will lower considerably the probability that you could infect others. We will have masks available Sunday morning for those who don’t own one. Please use them, take them home, wash them, and then bring them with you in subsequent weeks.
  • Don’t be concerned with trying to keep masks on young children.
  • If you feel a cough or sneeze coming on, please leave the sanctuary if possible. Please cough or sneeze into your elbow.
  • We will sit in alternate rows in the sanctuary, leaving an empty row between each row in which we sit.
  • Please leave two empty seats between your family and others sitting in your row.
  • Although the latest CDC guidance says the chance of contracting the virus from contaminated surfaces is low, we will nevertheless clean surfaces before the service, and prop doors open so we don’t have to touch door handles.
  • We will have hand sanitizer available at the entrance to the sanctuary.
  • After the service, please exit through the Fellowship Hall. Weather permitting, please interact with each other outside.
  • Please wash your hands regularly, for at least 20 seconds.
  • For the time being, we will not have Sunday School, a nursery, or adult Core Seminar. All children will stay with their parents during the service. (Some Sunday School classes may begin meeting via Zoom.)
  • For the time being, we will not have coffee available.
  • Make the best decision for your family and loved ones. Some will attend. Others will participate via the stream. We honor all those decisions.

Rationale for these guidelines:

We continue to learn more about this virus every week. As of May 23, here are some of the important facts that have led us to issue the above guidelines. We will modify this post as more information becomes available:

  • The elderly and those with certain pre-existing conditions are most vulnerable to this virus. Note that Bethel Korean Church has a considerably higher proportion of elderly than Desiring God Community Church, so we need to be especially careful with these brothers and sisters.
  • For children, this virus is less serious than the seasonal flu. Furthermore, there are almost no known cases to date of the virus spreading from a child to a family member, much less from a child to someone outside the family.
  • The virus spreads primarily by droplets breathed out. The number of such droplets expressed increases dramatically when sneezing or coughing. The number also increases substantially when singing.
  • The virus spreads primarily indoors, when people have shared a space for a lengthy period of time. There are few known cases in which the virus has spread outdoors.
  • It is possible to have the virus, have no symptoms, and still infect others.
  • Rarely, someone will have the virus with no symptoms and be particularly contagious. These “super-spreaders” can end up infecting dozens of others. There have been cases in which super-spreaders have infected many others during religious services, or associated meetings (like choir practice). The possibility of such an event increases as the space is more confined and people are closer together. We will guard against such rare events by wearing masks and, when indoors, spreading out in the sanctuary which has very high ceilings and a large volume of air.

Representing Christ at the End of the Lockdown

How do you react to our meeting on Sunday morning once again?

Some are ecstatic. Some have concerns. Some will decide not to attend.

All those reactions are understandable. All can be the result of assessing the situation biblically.

All our lives, we make decisions based on our assessment of risks and the benefits associated with taking those risks. Let’s say Frank plans to drive to Atlanta to visit a friend. The latest forecast includes a severe thunderstorm warning and a tornado watch along the route. Frank may decide to postpone the trip. He’ll be more likely to do so if his tires need to be replaced, or if he really doesn’t see well in poor weather conditions. On the other hand, if Frank is not just visiting a friend but traveling to a grandchild’s wedding, the trip can’t be postponed until next week – he’ll be more likely to travel, since the cost of not traveling is missing this one-time family event.

The decision to attend a worship service this weekend is similar. If we are biblical we value meeting together highly. We all long to praise God with one voice. We all have greatly missed interacting in person with other believers.

And yet there is another option: continuing to worship “together” via the stream. While we all acknowledge that participating virtually is inferior to participating in person, we assess differently the added value of being together physically.

There are even greater differences among us on the assessment of risk. We know this virus is much more dangerous for those over 60 and for those with certain other medical conditions. Also, some who aren’t in a high-risk category themselves interact regularly with those who are, and must be especially careful about exposure to the virus.

So we will make different decisions about attendance this weekend – and that is fine.

Remember the exhortation of the Apostle Paul to the church in Ephesus:

Walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:1b-3).

So may we show who Jesus is by the way we are humble, gentle, patient, and forbearing with one another, as we display our essential unity in Christ.

Furthermore, in these trying political times, when there are sharp differences of opinion about the danger of the virus and the usefulness of the shutdown, may we also live out Paul’s exhortation to the church in Philippi:

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves (Philippians 2:3).

There are appropriate times and places to discuss disagreements about the virus and the public policy response. May we limit such discussions to those times and place – and, in those discussions, may we be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, in humility honoring those who disagree with us as either fellow sinners saved by grace, or lost folks who need to hear of and see Jesus.

We are called to be salt and light to the world around us. As Jesus is, so are we in this world (1 John 4:17). Let us live that out this Sunday and throughout the time of the virus, among brothers and sisters in Christ and before the world, so that we do all to the glory of God.

Reflections Growing Out of the Recent Epidemic by Francis Grimke

[Born into slavery on a South Carolina plantation in 1850, Grimke served as a pastor for 50 years, primarily at Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church in Washington DC. This devotion is taken from a sermon he preached November 3, 1918, when churches were allowed once again to meet after several weeks of closure because of the Spanish Flu epidemic. The entire sermon – more than twice as long – is available here.]

We know now … the meaning of the terms pestilence, plague, epidemic, since we have been passing through this terrible scourge of Spanish influenza, with its enormous death rate and its consequent wretchedness and misery. Every part of the land has felt its deadly touch…. Over the whole land it has thrown a gloom, and has stricken down such large numbers that it has been difficult to care for them properly, overcrowding all of our hospitals…. Our own beautiful city has suffered terribly from it, making it necessary, as a precautionary measure, to close the schools, theaters, churches, and to forbid all public gathering within doors as well as outdoors. At last, however, the scourge has been stayed, and we are permitted again to resume the public worship of God, and to open again the schools of our city.

Now that the worst is over, I have been thinking … of these calamitous weeks through which we have been passing—thinking of the large numbers that have been sick— the large numbers that have died, the many, many homes that have been made desolate—the many, many bleeding, sorrowing hearts that have been left behind, and I have been asking myself the question, what is the meaning of it all? What ought it to mean to us? Is it to come and go and we be no wiser, or better for it? Surely God had a purpose in it, and it is our duty to find out, as far as we may, what that purpose is, and try to profit by it.

Among the things which stand out in my own mind … are these:

(1) I have been impressed with the ease with which large portions of the population may be wiped out in spite of the skill of man, of all the resources of science.… How easy it would be for God to wipe out the whole human race … if he wanted to; for these terrible epidemics, plagues, the mighty forces of nature, all are at his command, all are his agents. At any moment, if he willed it, in this way, vast populations or portions of populations could be destroyed.

(2) I have had also this question come into my mind, why of those who took the disease some recovered and others did not? The reason may be found, in one sense, in purely natural causes— some were physically better prepared to resist the disease, were stronger in vital power, and so pulled through. Others, not having sufficient vitality, went down under the strain; but I believe there is also another reason, and is to be found in the will of God.… Some day we have all got to go, but how, or when, or where, we do not know; that is with God alone. In Job 12:10, we read:

In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.

We speak of accidental deaths, … but there are no accidents with God. All things are within the scope of his providence….

(3) Another question similar to the above kept also constantly going through my mind, why are some taken with the disease and others not? … The ultimate explanation must be found in the sovereign will of God. It must be because He wills it.

(4) Another thing that has impressed me, in connection with this epidemic, is the fact that conditions may arise in a community which justify the extraordinary exercise of powers that would not be tolerated under ordinary circumstances. This extraordinary exercise of power was resorted to by the Commissioners in closing up the theaters, schools, churches, in forbidding all gatherings of any considerable number of people indoors and outdoors, and in restricting the numbers who should be present even at funerals. The ground of the exercise of this extraordinary power was found in the imperative duty of the officials to safeguard, as far as possible, the health of the community by preventing the spread of the disease from which we were suffering….

And so, anxious as I have been to resume work, I have waited patiently until the order was lifted.…

(5) Another thing that has impressed me in connection with this epidemic is how completely it has shattered the theory, so dear to the heart of the white man in this country, that a white skin entitles its possessor to better treatment than one who possesses a dark skin.…

In this terrible epidemic, which has afflicted not only this city but the whole country, there is a great lesson for the white man to learn. It is the folly of his stupid color prejudice. It calls attention to the fact that he is acting on a principle that God utterly repudiates, as he has shown during this epidemic scourge, and, as he will show him when He comes to deal with him in the judgment of the great day of solemn account….

(6) Another thing has impressed me during this epidemic. It has brought out in a way that is very gratifying, the high estimation in which the Christian church is held in the community—the large place which it really occupies in the thought of the people. The fact that for several weeks we have been shut out from the privileges of the sanctuary has brought home to us as never before what the church has really meant to us. We hadn’t thought, perhaps, very much of the privilege while it lasted, but the moment it was taken away we saw at once how much it meant to us….

(7) There is another thing connected with this epidemic that is also worthy of note. While it lasted, it kept the thought of death and of eternity constantly before the people. As the papers came out, day after day, among the first things that everyone looked for, or asked about, was as to the number of deaths. And so the thought of death was never allowed to stay very long out of the consciousness of the living. And with the thought of death, the great thought also of eternity, for it is through death that the gates of eternity swing open…. The grim messenger is God’s summons to us to render up our account. That there is an account to be rendered up we are inclined to lose sight of, to forget; but it is to be rendered all the same. The books are to be opened, and we are to be judged out of the books. During the weeks of this epidemic—in the long list of deaths, in the large number of new-made graves, in the unusual number of funeral processions along our streets, God has been reminding us of this account which we must soon render up; He has been projecting before us in a way to startle us, the thought of eternity.

You who are not Christians, who have not yet repented of your sins, who have not yet surrendered yourselves to the guidance of Jesus Christ, if you allow these repeated warnings that you have had, day by day, week by week, to go unheeded—if you still go on in your sins, should God suddenly cut you off in your sins, you will have no one to blame but yourselves…. God has opened the way for your salvation, through the gift of His only begotten Son, who died that you might have the opportunity of making your peace with God…. Before you go out of this house make up your minds to do the right thing—the wise thing—the only sensible thing. You have come out of this epidemic alive, while thousands have perished. Are you going to spend the rest of your days in the service of sin and Satan, or in the service of God? You know what you ought to do; you know what you will do, if you consult your best interest—if you do the right thing.

(8) There is only one other thought that has come to me in connection with this epidemic; it is of the blessedness … of the sense of security which a true, living, working faith in the Lord Jesus Christ gives one in the midst of life’s perils. I felt … the blessedness of a firm grip upon Jesus Christ—the blessedness of a realizing sense of being anchored in God and in His precious promises. While the plague was raging, while thousands were dying, what a comfort it was to feel that we were in the hands of a loving Father who was looking out for us, who had given us the great assurance that all things should work together for our good. And, therefore, that come what would—whether we were smitten with the epidemic or not, or whether being smitten, we survived or perished, we knew it would be well with us, that there was no reason to be alarmed. Even if death came, we knew it was all right. The apostle says, “it is gain for me to die.” Death had no terrors for him….

In the presence of such a faith, in the realization of God’s love, as revealed in Jesus Christ, in the consciousness of fellowship with him, what are epidemics, what are scourges, what are all of life’s trials, sufferings, disappointments? They only tend to work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. But, of course, if faith is to help us; if it is to put its great strong arms under us; if we are to feel its sustaining power under such distressing circumstances, it must be a real, living faith in God …—a faith that works, that works by love, and that purifies the heart. Any other faith is of absolutely no value to us in the midst of the great crises of life…. [Now] is a good time for those of us who are Christians to examine ourselves to see exactly how it is with us, … whether our faith is really resting upon Christ, the solid Rock, or not….

If, as the result of such examination, we find that we did not get out of our religion very much help, in bracing us up under the strain through which we have been passing, then we know that there is something wrong: either we have no faith at all, or it is very weak…. Or, if we find that we were helped, that our fears were allayed as we thought of our relations to God and to his Son Jesus Christ, then we have an additional reason why we should cling all the closer to him, and why we should be all the more earnest in our efforts to serve him. We ought to come out of this epidemic more determined than ever to run with patience the race that is set before us; more determined than ever to make heaven our home….

Let us all draw near to God in simple faith. Let us re-consecrate ourselves, all of us, to him….

 

Boldly Approach the Throne of Grace

What do you do when you feel condemned? Or when you feel like God is distant, hidden, and silent – you’ve tried to reach Him, tried to obey Him, and nothing happens? Or when life is hard because of disease, death, disappointment – breakdown of relationships, betrayal, or abandonment?

In these times of the virus, many are facing disease, or death, or unemployment, or bankruptcy of a business the family has worked incredibly hard for years to build.

But such questions about God occur not only in these extraordinary times, but in all times in this fallen world. We are always tempted to abandon faith in God, to think He’s not living up to His side of the bargain, to conclude He is not what Scripture says – or, if He is, to think He has rejected you personally.

Hebrews 4:13 could lead to such feelings of condemnation: “All are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” He knows what is inside us. He discerns not only our actions but also our desires, our thoughts, our intentions. We are guilty before Him.

However, immediately after this verse the author tells us: “That guilt need not lead to condemnation! We have a great High Priest, Jesus! He sympathizes with our weaknesses! So there is mercy and grace available – indeed there is a throne of grace, because of our great High Priest and King!”

A throne of grace – that phrase appears only in Hebrews 4:16. The king sits on a throne, exercising justice, punishing evildoers, guiding and directing His kingdom. No one who is guilty, no one who stands condemned, can ever boldly approach the throne if the king knows all.

And yet: This king’s throne is a throne of grace. Though He is completely just, He stands ready to forgive and accept because of the mediatorial work of Jesus the Son, the High Priest. We therefore can boldly approach this throne of grace, whatever our doubts, whatever our sufferings, whatever our discouragements. Through Jesus, the King will grant us grace, and a perfectly-timed help.

That is the main point of Hebrews 4:13-5:10: Given who Jesus is, when the struggle is hard, it makes no sense at all to abandon the faith. Rather, it makes perfect sense to boldly approach this throne of grace – for that is the only place to find real help. You may not see that help immediately. There may be days or weeks or years or decades of walking by faith not by sight. But because of our great, sympathetic, merciful, and effective High Priest, you will receive God’s help at exactly the right time.

So hold fast to your confession!

In first verses of chapter 5, the author introduces three characteristics of any High Priest, and then shows how Jesus exhibits those characteristics – and, indeed, is superior to other such priests. We’ll see that in Hebrews 5:1-10, then consider the exhortations the author gives us in Hebrews 4:14-16 on the basis of those truths.

Three Characteristics of Earthly High Priests

God designed the priestly and sacrificial system in the Old Testament so that before Jesus was even born we would have pictures of who He is and what He does. The High Priest is one key part of those pictures. So we must do our best to understand the High Priest so that we might see JC in the way that God intends.

Three characteristics of earthly High Priests are brought out in Hebrews 5:1-4.

First, from verse 1: The high priest is “chosen from among men,” and thus is a man himself. But he acts “on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.” He thus is a mediator between God and men.

Why do we need a mediator? Because we are guilty, condemned by God. We have rebelled against our rightful king.

While all priests offer sacrifices, picturing the atonement of the people’s sins, once a year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, only the High Priest enters the Holy of Holies (as described in Leviticus 16), picturing the very presence of God.

The second characteristic is mentioned in Hebrews 5:2: “He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness.” That is: When the people are rebellious, sinful, or questioning, the High Priest doesn’t just berate them: “You failures! Do better! Work harder!” Why not? Because he too is “beset with weakness.”He too faces those temptations. He understands the difficulty of seeing God, of focusing on Him in the midst of a fallen world. So he can deal with sinful people as God intends.

Furthermore these High Priests also sin themselves, so as Hebrews 5:3 says, the High Priest is “obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins” (see Leviticus 9:7).

So the High Priest is a mediator between God and men who deals gently with God’s people.

We see the third characteristic in Hebrews 5:4: “No one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was.”

A High Priest is called by God. No one is to grasp for this position, to put Himself forward and campaign. God Himself has to appoint the High Priest.

Thus a High Priest is a mediator between God and man who deals gently with the people and is called by God.

Jesus: the Great, Sympathetic, and Merciful High Priest

JC is similar to all High Priests in these three ways.

Hebrews 5:5-6 tells us He is called by God. The author quotes Psalm 110:4 to make this point.

But why does the author quote Psalm 2 also? That text doesn’t mention the High Priest.

By quoting that psalm, the author draws our attention back to chapter 1 (where Psalm 2 was also quoted) to begin to show us that Jesus is superior to all other High Priests. He’s not only a man – He is the Son. He is the exact imprint of the nature of God.

So Jesus is indeed similar to the other High Priests, but He’s better.

Hebrews 4:15 indicates that Jesus can also deal gently with God’s people. He sympathizes with our weaknesses because “in every respect [He] has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Perhaps the NEB renders this clause better: “because of his likeness to us, [He] has been tested every way, only without sin.’”

For the point is not: “If I’m tempted to commit some horrible crime, Jesus must have been tempted to commit that same horrible crime.” Rather, Jesus is genuinely like us. He is genuinely human. His entire life was a test, a trial, a temptation.

Whenever life is tough, we humans are tempted to forget the promises of God, to lapse in our faith in God, and thus to lapse in faithfulness to God, thereby falling into disobedience.

In His genuine humanity, Jesus experienced such temptation – and He never gave in. Because He resisted to the end, He knew the power of temptation far better than you or I.

Hebrews 5:7 elaborates on this idea:

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.

Clearly Jesus prayed to God with tears in Gethsemane. But that same night, prior to His prayers in the Garden, our Lord says to His disciples, “You are those who have stayed with me in my trials (temptations)” (Luke 22:28). Since the disciples weren’t with Him when Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus is referring to other temptations that came on Him during his years of ministry.

Therefore, we must think of “prayers … to him who was able to save him from death” in contexts in addition to Gethsemane or the wilderness. So think of Jesus in light of Hebrews 2:15: Jesus delivers “all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery”. To do that He first had to conquer that fear of death, that fear of missing out on life Himself. Jesus too was tempted to think that God was withholding something good, desirable, fulfilling, or exciting from Him. He too was tempted to forget God’s great and precious promises. Jesus fought every minute of every day via prayer against such lack of faith. He persevered in faith, in trust, in dependence on God. Thus Hebrews 5:8: Although He was Son, He “learned obedience through what he suffered.” That is: He learned what it means to endure in faith when all your flesh cries out to turn away from God, when all around you say you’re foolish, missing out on life, when you’re mocked, derided, beaten, spit upon – and it could all end if you just say, “God’s promises aren’t true!”

Jesus lived out true faith which leads to faithfulness which leads to obedience from the heart. So, more than any of the former High Priests, more than any pastor, more than any parent, He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward. He knows and sympathizes with our weakness.

Thirdly, Jesus is a mediator between God and man. This truth is the primary focus of later chapters; it’s only alluded to twice, briefly, in today’s passage.

Hebrews 4:14: “We have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens.” As Hebrews 9:24 makes clear, Jesus has passed through the heavens into God’s very presence so that He might make intercession for us, so that His death might cover our sins. That is, He is our mediator.

Then Hebrews 5:9: “Being made perfect (or, “complete”), he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him. Because He is the mediator, He is the source of salvation, salvation you can never lose, salvation to the uttermost (using the language of Hebrews 7:25). This salvation is for all those who, like Him, have faith in God, in His promises, and thus are faithful to God, and thereby obey Him from the heart.

This is the High Priest we have: Called by God, able to deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, and the perfect Mediator between God and man.

So Draw Near to the Throne of Grace for Help!

Based on these truths, the author gives two exhortations in Hebrews 4:14-16:

Hebrews 4:14: “Let us hold fast our confession.” That is: Hold fast to the truth! God has spoken! He has revealed who He is, who we are, how we can be part of His grand story of glorifying Himself. And the truth is: He has given Jesus, the Son, the King, for us! He lived like us, He was tempted like us, He suffered beyond what we suffer. He understands our weaknesses and trials. He died as a sacrifice for our atonement. He is the High Priest called by God, the one mediator between God and man. God invites us to Himself via that Mediator. So hold fast to the truth, despite the winds of doctrine swirling around us, despite the trials and the pressures and the fog of unbelief.

Second exhortation, Hebrews 4:16: “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to a well-timed help.”

Draw near! Now! Always!

Surely we need to draw near in times of crisis – whether the crisis arises from viruses or job losses or death or abandonment.

But just as surely we need to draw near to that throne of grace every day, every hour. Only then can we enter His rest.

He is King of all that happens, the seemingly trivial details of our lives as well as the big decisions.

He rules over us as individuals and over the entire creation as it moves to the culmination He has appointed.

His throne is a throne of grace! Thus, whatever we have done, however sinful we have been, however hard our heart has been, whatever the ways we have rejected Him and ignored Him and despised Him – we have a great High Priest! He will be our advocate, sympathizing with our weakness.

So our High Priest calls out:

“Come to me! Come to the throne. Don’t be afraid. You are covered by my blood. Trust in God’s great promises. Trust in Me as your Redeemer. Everything you need you will find in Me. I alone am the source of true joy. Come to Me.”

Given what this high priest has done, given that He is the Son, “no exhortation could be more logical … than … to hold fast our confession…. Nothing could be more senseless than for us to abandon our confession … because of the pain of the contest” (Philip Hughes, Commentary on Hebrews, 1977, p. 171).

So where are you? Tempted to throw away your former confidence? Attracted to a life lived by your own wits, by your own resources? Feeling like you’re missing out on life because you’re trying to follow God’s ways, and haven’t seen the benefits? Or thinking that you’re now beyond God’s forgiveness – you’ve strayed too far, you’ve repented and then sinned too many times, you’re no longer worthy to be called his child?

God promises us: He is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. And He shows this to us through Jesus, our High Priest.

Because of that High Priest, God’s throne is a throne of grace. So draw near. This is the only path to true joy. This is the only path to true fulfillment. This is the only path to rest.

Come to Him.

[This devotion is a shortened and edited version of a sermon preached May 3, 2020. You can watch a video of the service at this link.]

Strive to Enter God’s Rest

“Let us therefore strive to enter [God’s] rest” – Hebrews 4:11.

What does the author mean by this command?

There is an eternal rest God promises His people in which:

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away (Revelation 21:4).

And God calls all people everywhere to repentance and faith in Jesus so that they might enter that eternal rest (Acts 17:30).

But there is an important sense in which we enter God’s rest today, getting a taste today of that eternal rest.

How do we strive to enter today’s rest?

Striving to enter God’s rest today is working hard to look away from ourselves, to look to Jesus, to trust in God’s promises, every minute of every day.

Or think of it this way: Striving to enter God’s rest is working hard to live out Psalm 23 every minute of every day:

God is your shepherd; you lack nothing in Christ. He leads you in His paths – and they are good and restful, even if they pass through frightening and dangerous valleys. He delights in you and honors you as His own – and those who try to harm you, those who hate you and abuse you, will have to acknowledge that. His goodness and love will pursue you your entire life – and He will in the end bring you into His eternal rest as part of His beloved family.

We initially come to faith in Jesus in this way, trusting in the promise of the Gospel: that God created us for His glory; that we all reject that purpose and rebel against Him; that He sent His Son to die on the cross to pay the penalty for the sins of all who would believe in Him hereafter; that the benefits of that sacrifice, including becoming part of the intimate family of God, accrue to everyone who will repent and believe this Good News.

Subsequent to salvation, Hebrews 4:11 calls us to continue to trust daily in the Gospel and in all of God’s promises. Because in this life we are always tempted to lean on our own resources, to lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6). We must acknowledge that we cannot save ourselves, nor can we make ourselves into the type of person we desire to be, nor can we accomplish anything for God through our natural resources.

We can never merit salvation through good deeds, nor can we ever merit God’s commendation through acts we do in our power.

So when we strive to enter God’s rest, we confess to God every day:

“I am a sinner; You are the Savior. In my natural self there is no good thing, only darkness – You are all goodness and light. I can only become what I really want, I can only become what You desire, through Christ in me: changing me, working out His purposes in me. So may my work apart from Your power cease. May your power take over.”

As Ray Stedman says:

We do not have what it takes, and we never did. The only one who can live the Christian life is Jesus Christ. He proposes to reproduce his life in us. Our part is to expose every situation to his life in us, and, by that means, depending upon him and not upon us, we are to meet every situation, enter into every circumstance, and perform every activity. We cease from our own labors.

But this is not easy. That’s why the author of Hebrews tells us we must strive to enter God’s rest, we must make every effort to depend continually on God.

Jesus doesn’t want your self-powered effort. He doesn’t need your toiling. He, after all, has all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18)! He wants your trust.

What happens when we ignore this command and step out in our own power?

When those who don’t have faith in Christ strive to live up to some standard and fail, they respond in one of three ways:

  1. They fool themselves into thinking they actually did live up to the standard, or will beginning tomorrow.
  2. They justify their failures, saying something like: “I’m only human – no one could really live that The real standard is to do better than most others, and surely I’m accomplishing that!”
  3. Or they feel like failures, overwhelmed, condemned – they can never become what they wanted, even by their own standards.

What about Christians? What happens when we strive apart from God’s power?

We too become burdened. We are so busy, we are working so hard, we are toiling and striving – and all the joy of the Christian life has left us. We get caught in a fog of unbelief, through which we can’t see God – so we go through the motions, saying all the right things, doing all the right things, but we’re not really trusting God. We are not striving with His power; we are flailing away with our own energy. And so we are weary, burdened, feeling like we can’t continue, but wondering how in the world God’s work can go on without our hard efforts.

To such people, Christians and non-Christians, Jesus calls out:

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30).

So – when faced with a task that must be accomplished, we are not to grit our teeth, saying, “Yes, I can! I can do it.”

We must admit: “I cannot do this! I am unable! In my natural self, I will fail!”

And turn to Him. He is our yokemate. It is His yoke. We are paired with Him. And He pulls. So when we pull – it’s really by his power.

What does it look like when we live out such active dependence on God?

Consider the difference between the Apostle Paul and the rich young ruler.

There is no doubt that Paul works hard. He details in his letters many of the obstacles he had to overcome: Beatings, imprisonments, shipwrecks, death threats, rejection, betrayals, exposure to the elements – and eventually execution.

So Paul works his tail off.

What about the rich young ruler (Mark 10:17-22)? He too has been working hard; he tells Jesus he has kept all of God’s commandments from his youth! We might be tempted to laugh at that – but he is sincere and, undoubtedly, those looking at his life would conclude that he was an upright, honorable man.

But he has a nagging feeling that all that obedience isn’t good enough. He feels that he needs to do something more.

So he asks Jesus: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” You see: He wants to toil for God! He says, “Give me some task to do, even a great one – I’ll do it! I’m able!”

How does Jesus reply? Jesus does not tell him to go do some great feat requiring perseverance, danger, or hardship. Instead, He tells him to do the easiest thing in world. Indeed, all he has to do is to give one command to a servant, and it’s done.

And yet this easiest task in the world is exceptionally hard. To do it, he has to trust in the promises of God.

Jesus says, “Get rid of everything that you think shows that you are important. Give it away.” And Jesus does not say next, “Then you’ll have earned status as My disciple.” Instead He simply says, “Then follow Me.”

This man could strive in His own power to prove his capabilities, but he did not trust God. He saw Jesus face to face – and Jesus looked at him with love! – yet he turned away. His confidence was in himself and in his riches – not in God. So he holds on to his riches, and walks away from Jesus sorrowful.

In contrast, in all his difficult labors, the Apostle Paul strives “with all [God’s] energy that He powerfully works within me” (Colossians 1:29). He served “by the strength that God supplies– in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:11).

That’s how we too must serve, how we too must live. Not by that fruitless striving of the rich young ruler, always trying to prove ourselves, striving to show to God and to others and to ourselves that we’re good enough, we’re strong enough, we’re faithful enough to deserve honor and friendship and commendation. But leaning on Him and on His Word, praying without ceasing, turning to Him in active dependence, trusting in His promises, we live and love and worship and serve, confident in our status because of Christ’s work, delighting in the gifts God gives, thankful for the tokens of His love strewn across our paths.

This is His rest. May we strive to enter it – in complete dependence on Him.

[This devotion follows up on the April 19, 2020 sermon, “Brothers and Sisters, Strive to Enter God’s Rest!” (video). This content draws from a 2008 sermon, “Work Hard Yet Relax During the Race of Faith” (audio, text).]

 

Enter God’s Rest

“If we have been swayed from the place of resting in your grace today – swayed by shame, by error, by vanity, by pride, or by love of the praise of people, act, O Holy Spirit!

“Reveal our error, convict conscience, and bring us to quick repentance. Rekindle our affections, restoring them again to their one worthy object, who is Christ, and who alone holds the words of eternal life.”

Douglas McKelvey, Every Moment Holy (Rabbit Room Press, 2017), p. 7.

Thanks to Beth who read this to our small group as we were discussing the command to strive to enter God’s rest (Hebrews 4:11).

The Lies of Satan and the Word of God

Our Lord Jesus tells us:

[The devil] was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.  When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar, and the father of lies. (John 8:44)

What lies does Satan tell you?

Here are seventeen that he has used against me over the years – and responses to each from God’s Word. I encourage you to make your own list, adding additional lies, and developing a list of Scriptures to use in our battle against the enemy.

(1) THE LIE: There is no such thing as Satan

THE WORD: Satan tempts (Matthew 4:10-11), can be rebuked (Zechariah 3:2) and resisted (James 4:7), fell from heaven (Luke 10:18), asks to be able to accomplish his purposes (Luke 22:31-32); our battle is neither against flesh and blood nor against an abstract force, but against rulers and authorities (Ephesians 6:12).

(2) THE LIE: “You’re so bad, you might as well never try to be good.  God will never forgive you for all that you’ve done.”

THE WORD: “Don’t you know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.  And that is what some of you were.  But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (emphasis added)

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

(3) (Satan doesn’t aim to be consistent: Note that this third lie is virtually the opposite of the second, but he uses both against the same person, sometimes within minutes):

THE LIE: “Aren’t you becoming a wonderful Christian now!  Look at all the things you do for God!  Isn’t it too bad that all those other Christians aren’t doing so well.  And all those unbelievers . . .  Well!”

THE WORD: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3)

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith– and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– 9  not by works, so that no one can boast. 10  For we are God’s workmanship.” Ephesians 2:8-10a

(4) THE LIE: “Don’t even try to resist this temptation — you can’t do it!”

THE WORD: “God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”  1 Corinthians 10:13

(5) THE LIE: “Shouldn’t a great mind like yours take an academic interest in Christianity?“

THE WORD: “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.  But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.  He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things– and the things that are not– to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.  It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God– that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.’”  1 Corinthians 1:26-31

(6) THE LIE: “This is more important right now!  You can (read the Bible, pray, serve others) tomorrow.”

THE WORD: “We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”  Hebrews 6:12

(7) THE LIE: “God’s way is no fun; you will miss out on life if you follow him!  My way is the way to life!”

THE WORD: “When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness.  What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of?  Those things result in death!  But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 6:20-23

“. . . the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace . . .” Galations 5:22

(8) THE LIE: “You’ve been good for quite a while now – come on, you deserve a little fun.”

THE WORD: “If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!”  1 Corinthians 10:12

(9) THE LIE: “This sin really doesn’t matter . . . It’s only a little one.”

THE WORD: “Be perfect, therefore, as your father in heaven is perfect.” Matthew  5:48

(10) THE LIE: “Everyone else is doing it, so it must be ok!”

THE WORD: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2

(11) THE LIE: “Just this once. Come on, just this once!  See what it’s like!  No harm can come from this one time!”

THE WORD: “Each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he  is dragged away and enticed.  Then, after desire has conceived it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death.”  James 1:14-15

“This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.”  1 John 2:5-6

(12) THE LIE: “No one will ever know!”

THE WORD:  “There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.” Luke 12:2

(13) THE LIE: “You’ve already blown it — you might as well give in the rest of the way and ask God to forgive you later.”

THE WORD: “What shall we say, then?  Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?  By no means!  We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”  Romans 6:1-2

(14) THE LIE: “You’ve given plenty to God — keep this for yourself.  He can’t expect you to give him everything!”

THE WORD: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters — yes, even his own life — he cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:26 (emphasis added)

(15) THE LIE: “God doesn’t love you!” 

THE WORD: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

“I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39

(16) THE LIE: “God couldn’t possibly intend for you to do that!  Here’s an easier way to accomplish the same thing!”

THE WORD: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways…. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”  Isaiah 55:8-9

(17) THE LIE: “If anything looks good to you, go after it!”

THE WORD: “Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For everything in the world — the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and his pride in his possessions — comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.”  1 John 2:15-17

The Faith to Rejoice

A unseen virus spreading around the world. Millions losing their jobs. Uncertainty about whether or not we can ever get “back to normal.” Will tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or millions die of this disease?

What are your thoughts about God in these times? Are you praying? If so, how? With tears? With anger? With a broken and contrite heart?

Habakkuk 3:17-19 contain words of great hope. But we won’t understand those verses unless we see the depth of despair that faced the prophet writing them.

The immediately preceding verse reads:

I heard and my inward parts trembled, At the sound my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones, And in my place I tremble. Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, For the people to arise who will invade us. (Habakkuk 3:16)

Habakkuk sees God as a consuming fire, pure and holy. In chapter 1 he called out, “God, why don’t you give us justice! Punish these evildoers!” By 3:16 he sees the enormity of that punishment – the coming destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. And he trembles.

Seeing the horrible end coming to his country, the prophet writes our text::

Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord GOD is my strength, and He has made my feet like the feet of a deer, And makes me walk on my high places. (Habakkuk 3:17-19)

Let’s consider these three verses in turn:

Verse 17: I’ve Lost Everything!

The economy of Judah at this time was based almost exclusively on agriculture and livestock. Agriculture could be divided into permanent crops – fruit trees, olive trees, grape vines – and annual field crops, like wheat and barley. According to this verse, what parts of this economy have failed?

  • The first three items: figs, grapes, and olives – that is, all the permanent crops.
  • The next item: fields – that is, the annual crops, the staple foods, the source for most of the calorie supply. So neither the permanent nor the annual crops have yielded anything
  • Final two items: Flock and cattle – that is, sheep, goats, and cows. All their livestock are dead.

So do you see what he is saying? “Even though I’ve lost everything; even though all my income disappears.” We might say, “When I lose my job and the unemployment insurance runs out; when I can’t work and am denied my disability claim; when we’re sick and can’t pay our medical bills.”

But really Habakkuk’s situation is worse than anything we can imagine in this country. For in Judah there is no social services agency, there are no homeless shelters, there are no food stamps – and during the destruction of Jerusalem there are no well-off relatives. Emergency rooms that serve the indigent don’t exist. No income for Habakkuk means starvation. It means death – first for the weakest in the family, the old and the young, and eventually for everyone.

So in this verse Habakkuk says: Though it looks like all God’s gifts have been taken from me.

How does Habakkuk respond to this situation?

Verse 18: Yet I will Rejoice!

Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.

Note here three reactions Habakkuk avoids:

  1. He does not lash out at God in anger: He does not say, “God, you have no right to destroy your people! You are a faithless God!”
  2. He does not pretend that the evil won’t happen. He doesn’t withdraw into a fantasy world, saying, “That’s too terrible to think about. I will close my eyes and think of something else. I’ll watch Netflix all evening and get distracted.”
  3. And, note carefully, he does not even say, “Despite all this, I will endure! I will keep a stiff upper lip and stick it out! I will still wait for the Lord! I will remain faithful!”

Instead, what does he say? “I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!”

Habakkuk not only foresees the possibility that he could lose everything; he foresees the certainty that the world as he knows it – along with everything and everyone he loves – will be destroyed terribly. And in this extremity he says not only, “I won’t accuse God of being unfaithful,” but, “I will rejoice in God.”

How can he say that? Looking ahead to the terrors of Nebuchadnezzar’s siege, how can Habakkuk rejoice in God? He answers that in verse 19:

Verse 19: For God Led Me Here

The Lord GOD is my strength, and He has made my feet like the feet of a deer, And makes me walk on my high places.

Consider three questions that arise as we try to understand what he is saying: Why does he say his feet are made like those of a deer? What is implied by “high places”? And what does he mean by He “makes me walk”?

(a) “He has made my feet like the feet of a deer.” If Habakkuk had lived on this continent, he might have said, “like those of a bighorn sheep.” Many years ago, Beth and I hiked for a week in Montana’s Glacier National Park. Frequently we would look up at a rocky, seemingly inaccessible peak – and there near the top we would see bighorn sheep. They would climb to the uppermost crags and run over rock fields as easily as we would run on the beach.

Why are bighorn sheep able to do this? Because of their feet – their tough, cloven hooves. These hooves aren’t hurt by sharp rocks; rather, they are able to grip even small outcrops. God designed their feet for climbing. They don’t slip. They don’t fall.

Note that the point is not the power of the sheep, but the design of the sheep’s foot. Habakkuk uses the word for the female deer, not the male, to emphasize this point. The female deer too is able to climb to the highest heights, to run over rocky fields, because of her special feet.

So Habakkuk rejoices that his feet are made like deer’s feet, like the feet of bighorn sheep – designed by God to travel over the most difficult ground.

(b) “My High Places”

For many of us today, the phrase “walking on high places” connotes recreational mountain climbing: Go out on a beautiful day, climb to the highest peak, experience a great view, exercise your body, get back to nature. But these are recent ideas. In Habakkuk’s day, no one exercised for the sake of exercise. Recreational mountain climbing was still a few millennia in the future.

Instead, in his time, “high places” connotes a difficult, challenging place. A place one would not want to go unless it is absolutely necessary. You might climb to a high place to gain defensible ground in a battle, but you only go there if you can’t avoid it. So “high places” here means a difficult, challenging place.

(c) “Makes me walk on my high places”

The NIV translates this, “enables me to go on the heights.”

Most English translations use two verbs here: the NAS, “make” and “walk”, the NIV, “enable” and “go”, the ESV, “make” and “tread.” But in Hebrew, there is only one verb, the usual verb for “walk”, with a stem change that indicates the subject is caused to do the normal action of the verb. So in this case, the phrase might mean:

“He leads me to these high places; He makes me go there even though I don’t want to.”

Or, it might mean (as the NIV interprets it):

“He enables me to walk on places I could not go without his help.”

I think both ideas are present. Habakkuk is not talking about a pleasant afternoon of rock climbing. He dreads what God has in store for him; he knows the path is very challenging, very dangerous. In that sense, God is leading him to a place he does not want to go. Yet God is his strength, and Habakkuk is confident that God will enable him to do what he could never do on his own.

And that is why he is joyful! God led him to this very spot. And though there is pain and difficulty here, he knows that God will either rescue him from the danger or allow him to die. But even death is controlled by God; that will come about only if God directs.

So why rejoice? God is good! He is wise! He is in control! And He knows what He is doing!

Lessons for Living By Faith

Let’s draw two lessons that may not be obvious from what we have said so far:

(1) By definition, walking by faith is harder than walking by sight

Habakkuk chapter 2 presents us with lessons about how not to live by faith. The proud one searches for satisfaction, security, accomplishment, and honor. All of us desire these things. The natural response to these desires is to seek them directly: to try to satisfy ourselves, to try to establish our own security, to try to accomplish great things, to aim to bring honor to ourselves. The natural response is the easy response.

But to the one who lives by faith, God says, “Don’t pursue these directly! You will not find them that way. I know, that’s the natural thing to do. But I tell you: Trust in Me! Delight in Me! And I will give you the desires of your heart. You will find true satisfaction, true security, true accomplishment, and true honor in Me alone!”

So you say living by faith is hard? That’s no surprise. Walking by sight is easy. Walking by faith is hard. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be walking by faith.

(2) Living by faith means loving God, instead of loving God’s gifts.

Habakkuk sees all God’s gifts disappear. Now, the question is: Will he love God?

Think of a parent who lavishes gifts on a child. The child says he loves his parent. But isn’t the child’s reaction to the ending of those gifts the real test of his love?

Or consider a young man who loves a young woman; he gives her many gifts, he writes lovely poems for her, he sends her flowers daily. She takes his gifts, reads his poems to others – but then ignores him.

How easy it is for us to act that way toward God! To love His gifts, to delight in His gifts – and to become angry if those gifts disappear.

There is a great deal of difference between, “I love what you do for me” and “I love you.”

Living by faith means loving God Himself! We indeed must be thankful for His gifts – but God is our delight, He is our portion, He is our treasure, and nothing we desire compares to Him.

So as God opens Habakkuk’s eyes to the coming of one of the most terrible events in human history, the prophet – knowing that God will bring this about –can delight in God, who enables him to walk on the high places.

What about our sorrows today, our worries about this virus?

All pain and suffering in the fallen world results from sin, beginning with man’s initial sin in the Garden. And God is dealing with sin. Through Jesus’ death on the cross, He has rendered death powerless. He has promised to end sin, to end rebellion, to fulfill His every promise for those in Christ.

So rejoice! Not because of the pain and sorrow, but because you can be confident that our God Reigns! He is sovereign over the affairs of men. He will be exalted by your joy in the midst of sorrow. He will stand by you and enable you to walk over those high places.

Once this particular pandemic ends – and it will end – what other high places lie ahead for you? Will he enable you to have great victories – playing a key role, perhaps, in the Third Great Awakening in this country? Or in establishing a church planting movement among an unreached people group? Or to have such career success that you give millions in funds to advance the Gospel, to provide for the poor, to change the culture?

Or will your high places be more like Habakkuk’s, more like those described in Hebrews 11:35-38: Mocked, beaten, imprisoned, poor, destitute?

Whatever your high places might be, know that God has guided you there. He will enable you to endure, He will enable you to rejoice. Trust Him. Delight in Him. Throw yourself upon Him. And love Him with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.

[Much of the material in this devotion is taken from a sermon preached in 2001. You can read the entire sermon – which is about twice as long – here.]