The Greatness and Weakness of Old Testament Worship

We need food. We need shelter. We need love. We need respect.

But what is our greatest need?

Scripture is clear: Our greatest need is to see Jesus for Who He is, and to respond accordingly. Only in this way can we fulfill the purpose of our creation. Only in this way can we draw near the One in whose presence is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11). If we are His people, and He is our God, we can lose everything else – and yet still gain (Mark 8:34-37, 10:29-30).

So the book of Hebrews exalts the Lord Jesus and commands to consider Him, to keep our eyes fixed on Him. In particular, the author shows that Jesus is superior to any Old Testament priest and that the New Covenant in Him is superior to the Old Covenant.

Seeing these contrasts, we today are tempted to denigrate Old Testament worship – either to ignore the long sections of Scripture that describe it, or to go further and think of such worship as false and misleading.

But the New Testament never treats Old Testament worship that way, neither in Hebrews nor anywhere else.

Remember: All Old Testament worship forms were commanded by God! They are all part of God’s torah, His instruction about Who He is, who we are, how we can be reconciled to Him, and how we can fulfill the purpose of our creation in a fallen world.

Thus, there is a greatness to Old Testament worship.

At the same time, as Hebrews make abundantly clear, there is a weakness in that worship.

So let’s ask: How was Old Testament worship great? And how was it weak?

Hebrews 8:5 tells us of its greatness: The Old Testament priests “serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things.”

Think of the glory! These priests were serving a copy of heavenly things!

So their worship forms were not something that they thought up, that they decided would be appropriate ways to worship God.

Neither was their worship patterned after forms that peoples around them were using.

No! God showed Moses the true, heavenly reality! And then God helped Moses to see how to best reflect that heavenly reality on earth, through the tabernacle, through the sacrifices, through the annual feasts and other forms.

Thus, all these forms of worship pointed as effectively as possible to the heavenly reality on which they were patterned. And today, you and I have the privilege of being able to read God’s instructions to Moses, and thereby to learn about the heavenly realities – indeed, to learn about Jesus through them. As He Himself says, “If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me” (John 5:46; see also Luke 24:44).

So Old Testament worship is great because the Israelite priests serve a copy of heavenly things! It is precious! It was a wonderful gift of God to the people of Israel – and the description of it is a wonderful gift to us today.

But if that’s the case, how is it weak?

Old Testament worship is weak because those priests served a copy of heavenly things. Only a copy.

No one was ever redeemed by their sacrifices – that redemption had to take place in the true tent (Hebrews 8:2).

Furthermore, many Old Testament worshipers – even many of the priests – were simply going thru the motions. There was no inner delight in God, no broken and contrite heart before Him (Psalm 51:16-17).

So Jesus has obtained a much more excellent ministry (Hebrews 8:6). He ministers in the heavenly reality! Not in a shadowy copy. And He mediates a better covenant, with better promises – the New Covenant (Hebrews 8:8-12, Jeremiah 31:31-34). The very phrase “New Covenant” – written 600 years before Christ – implies that the first covenant one day will be obsolete (Hebrews 8:13). Now that Jesus has come, has died, and has risen to the right of hand of God, that time has come. Jeremiah’s prophecy is fulfilled. As great as Old Testament worship was, as wonderful as it was for the priests to picture heavenly realities, now that the perfect has come, the partial can pass away.

So the author of Hebrews emphasizes once again: Look to your great High Priest! Keep your eyes fixed on Him!

That is our greatest need today. It will remain our greatest need forever.

So exalt Jesus in your heart – and read about God-ordained, Old Testament worship forms so that you might exalt Jesus all the more.

Then praise God for the Old Covenant – and praise Him all the more for fulfilling that covenant in the New.

[This devotion is taken from part of the July 5, 2020 sermon. You can watch that service here; the sermon begins at 37:35; this section of the sermon begins at 1:03:35.]

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).]

 

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.]

 

Fight the Good Fight of Faith: The Key Battle During the Pandemic

“Fight the good fight of faith” (1 Timothy 6:12).

Paul tells Timothy: Fight the good fight to believe that what God says is true. Fight to believe that God is Who He says He is, that Jesus became man, that Jesus died for your sin, that He reigns now, that He will return and bring in the new heavens and the new earth.

This is a fight, isn’t it? And not only for Timothy. For you and me also.

The Greek word translated “fight” is an athletic term, particularly used of wrestlers. Wrestling a powerful opponent is difficult; he uses every ounce of energy to defeat you. You have to exert a supreme effort to win the contest.

In these days of the coronavirus, we must fight this fight of faith. We look around and see fear, even panic; we see starkly different forecasts for what lies ahead; we see political leaders guessing about the best way forward; we see many around us lose their job, lose all their income; we see or hear of others who are horribly sick, isolated, connected to a ventilator, with friends and family forbidden to visit.

How do we believe in God, how do we trust Jesus, when around the world we see pain, chaos, and hardship?

David shows us how to fight that fight of faith in Psalm 27.

In the first half of this psalm, David’s life is going well:

  • His known sins are under control;
  • His enemies are present, but not exerting any influence;
  • He’s very confident in God.

When our life is going well, we can be tempted to relax in our pursuit of God. It’s easy to begin to coast.

But David doesn’t do that. On the contrary, he continues to seek to know God better, to worship Him more fully – and in these ways he prepares for the inevitable future battle.

That battle comes in the second half of the psalm. Enemies attack – but David is prepared. He fights the good fight of faith.

You and I need these lessons in the midst of this pandemic – but we also need these lessons in the good times that will come again. We will need to use those coming times of peace, when we’re on the mountain tops of our life with God, so that when the battle comes again, we’re equipped. We’re ready. We’re strong in the Lord.

Gathering Strength for the Fight of Faith

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes,
it is they who stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident. (Psalm 27:1-3)

Note David’s strong focus on Who God is. He uses three metaphors in verse 1 to remind Himself of God’s character:

First: God is Light.

Imagine you are walking in a strange place on a moonless night. There are no electric lights anywhere. You have no flashlight, and your cell phone battery is dead. You can see nothing around you. You don’t know what danger might lie ahead.

But in that darkness, God shines! He is light! He shines into the darkness of our ignorance; He shines into the darkness of evil.

Second: God is our Salvation.

He not only lets us see the danger we were blind to; He delivers us from evil. And that deliverance includes not only the attacks by evil forces from outside us, but also the evil inside us.

Third: God is our Stronghold.

He is our strong tower. In Him, we are protected from every evil attack. His walls are unassailable.

So we need not fear.

David elaborates on these points in verse 2 and 3. Even when enemies try to “eat up [his] flesh,” to completely destroy him, they are the ones who fall. Even if overwhelming numbers attack him, David is confident. In what? Not in himself! Rather, he is confident in His light, His salvation, His stronghold – God Himself.

So in these first three verses, David highlights the benefits God gives him.

But beginning in verse 4, he tells us he worships God not primarily for benefits; rather, he worships God for Who He is:

One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple. (Psalm 27:4)

David asks for one thing. Now, David does ask for other things, even in this psalm. But this, says David, is the center. This is the key. This is the foundation. This is the greatest good – better than protection, better than healing, better than long life, better than fame and riches and success.

If we are to successfully fight the good fight of faith, we must seek this one thing also: To desire God. To treasure Jesus above all the world has to offer.

If instead we worship God first and foremost for what he does for us, what will we do when those benefits seem to disappear? What will we do when He seems to hide His face? What will we do in pandemics and tsunamis and wars and disasters? We won’t be like Jesus who “for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame” (Hebrews 12:2).

So David seeks God. He seeks to be able to worship God always. He seeks to see His beauty – how? Via His revelation of Himself in the worship He has ordained in His house.

For us, what is the equivalent? Seeking to see God’s beauty in the worship as He has ordained in our era: through the preaching of Word, the Lord’s Supper, baptism, prayer, reading, and singing.

Do you think of worship in those terms? Not as a duty to be performed. Not as an opportunity to be entertained. But as an offered privilege of gazing upon the beauty of the Lord, seeing Him better, deepening your love for Him, your delight in Who He is.

Then David adds: “To inquire in his temple.” The Hebrew verb can be translated in different ways; the NIV renders this word, “seek,” in which case this phrase reinforces the idea of seeking His face. But “inquire” could mean asking: “Am I really right before you, Lord? Am I walking in your truth? That is how I want to live, so please open up to me what is displeasing to You.”

So David’s primary desire is to see God for Who He is by worshiping in the ordained way, and for God to open up to him anything displeasing in himself, so that he can walk in His light.

May that be your primary desire also.

Then, having seen God for Who He is, what is David confident He will do?

For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.
And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the LORD. (Psalm 27:5-6)

David reiterates that God is his stronghold and salvation, protecting him. But he goes beyond those earlier themes. Now, his head is lifted high above his enemies in their presence – so that they might see that God truly loves him. This leads to David’s great expression of joy.

Thus, in this time of experiencing closeness to God, on this mountain top, David prepares himself for the inevitable valley. He roots out sin, he learns more of God’s character, he cultivates delight in worshiping with God’s people.

Do you live this way in times of victory? When all seems at peace, do you prepare yourself for the fight? Or do you relax – thinking the time of fighting is over?

The Fight of Faith in the Valley

We see a stark change of mood in verse 7. Suddenly David is no longer on a mountain top. He struggles:

Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me!
You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, LORD, do I seek.”
Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger,
O you who have been my help.
Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation! (Psalm 27:7-9)

Now the battle is engaged. David cries out for an answer from God.

He returns to the idea of seeking God’s face, what he said was his one, primary desire. But now he has to fight to keep that one desire central. Seemingly more pressing matters try to divert his attention. But David commits himself: “I seek Your face. I remember Who You are. I delight in You!”

But the struggle doesn’t end when he makes that commitment. He must plead in verse 9: “Don’t hide your face from me! I want to gaze on your beauty all the days of my life – and I was doing that! But now it appears as if you are hiding, as if you are angry, turning me away. You have been my help in the past – don’t throw me away like trash! You are my light, my salvation – don’t abandon me!”

Does this battle sound familiar? To all appearances, God is not his salvation, does not love him. And so David cries out to God in his pain – as he does in so many psalms.

So I say again what bears repeating: Don’t be reluctant to cry out to God when you are in pain. Even if you don’t have words to say – be confident that the Holy Spirit intercedes with “groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26).

Note how David cries out: He calls on God to do what He has promised; He asks God to act in accord with His revealed character. We see this in verses ten to thirteen, as David lives out four steps in the good fight of faith:

First step: Remember the depth of God’s covenant commitment to His people.

For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the LORD will take me in. (Psalm 27:10)

The idea is even if my own parents could forsake me, God will welcome me. Now, realize: David feels as if God might cast him off. But he fights against that perception by remembering God’s revelation of Himself: He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love forever and ever. He promises never to leave or forsake His people. We today can also hold to promises unavailable to David: “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion” (Philippians 1:6); nothing “will separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).

Second step: Ask God to teach and lead

Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. (Psalm 27:11)

While on the mountain top, David was learning more of Who God is. Now, in the valley, he needs to apply that knowledge and to continue to learn, to continue to be led in His paths. In tough times, Satan tries to convince us that God’s path is the path not to life but to missing out on life – and so David asks God, “Guide me, direct me on Your road.”

Third step: Pray for protection

Here for the first time we hear of what prompted David’s fear:

Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;
for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence. (Psalm 27:12)

We often start with that prayer for protection, skipping over the first two steps David takes. By all means we should pray that God would protect us from the virus, from His enemies, and all the other dangers we face. But we, like David, must realize that we need to see God more than we need God’s protection. We need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus – He is the pioneer and finisher of our faith. When we are focused on Him, then we, like Him, can endure the trial, scorning its shame, for the joy set before us (Hebrews 12:2).

Fourth step:  Believe His promises

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! (Psalm 27:13)

On the mountain peak, when God seemed close, David desired to gaze upon His beauty. Now, in the valley, he believes, he has faith, that he will be able once again to look upon His beauty, even though it seems as if God has abandoned him.

This is the ultimate good fight of faith – to believe in the hardest times that you will indeed see God once again, as He has promised. And He always keeps His promises.

Finally, David concludes by drawing lessons from his personal experience for all of God’s people of all time:

Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD! (Psalm 27:14)

“Wait” does not mean sit around and check Facebook while hoping that God might act. Rather, the word translated “wait” connotes an eager expectation, a confidence that God will indeed act. So David says, “Wait with eager expectation for the God who is your light, your salvation, and your stronghold to act. Strongly depend on Him, thoroughly rely on Him; be courageous enough to have persistent confidence in Him. Expect Him to act, especially in every dark valley.”

Conclusion

As we face the valley of the coronavirus, as we encounter other trials at this same time, ask yourself if you are feeling frantic: Did you fail to equip yourself for this battle when times were good? Unlike David, did you coast through those good times?

If so, don’t say, “I blew it! Now I can’t seek God’s face! I can’t fight the good fight of faith!”

Instead, repent. Turn. “A broken and contrite heart He will not despise” (Psalm 51:17). Jesus is the propitiation for our sins – including the sin of failing to prepare for the valley. In Him, you are forgiven. So fight the fight to believe now – and commit yourself in those future times on the mountain top to prepare for the inevitable valleys ahead.

The weeks ahead will be difficult. Day after day the number of confirmed cases will rise. The death toll will expand. Friend and loved ones may well get the virus.

But God’s promises are exactly what we need in such times.

And the most important promise is that through Jesus we can see Him. We can know Him. We can be His beloved child.

So don’t lose focus! Go hard after God: In reading, in worship, in song, in learning who He is, in seeking His face. Cry out to Him on the basis of Jesus’ work, not your own. Wait for Him with eager expectation. Trust His promises.

Remember: He never promises that He will make life easy. When life does seem easy – that’s a mountain peak He has graciously given to help you prepare for the next valley.

His promise is: “I’m worthy of your trust. I’ve proved that again and again, in the history of Israel, in the history of the church, in your own life.”

So in the year of the coronavirus, fight the good fight of faith. Fight to believe.

And thus bring glory and honor to the One who brought you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

[This devotion is an edited and shortened version of a sermon on Psalms 26 and 27 preached April 9, 2017. You can listen to the audio of that original sermon here.]

 

 

Abide in His Love by Karl Dauber

[Karl preached this sermon on John 15:1-11 March 22, 2020]

At Desiring God Community Church, one of our stated core values is being “Joy-Pursuing”.  Specifically, we pursue joy in God.  Our Mission Statement reads: “We exist to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples”.  So, the pursuit of joy is a big part of who we are as God’s people.

But we are broken people who live in a broken world.  As a result, life is often filled with disappointment and a sense of emptiness.  And very often, what we feel is a strong desire to just feel better.  And this impulse can drive us to worldly things that appear to offer satisfaction.  OK, maybe not really satisfaction.  Maybe just a way to escape for a while and get away from that sense of disappointment and emptiness.

I’ve seen a bad dynamic that can happen in my life:

  • I sin.
  • Then I feel disappointed in myself.
  • Then I hear the voice of the Accuser saying that God is disappointed too, and unhappy with me because of my sin.
  • Then the thought that God is unhappy with me makes feel even worse.
  • But I don’t want to feel bad – that’s what I was trying to escape in the first place.
  • So, I run away from God and toward something that promises to make me feel better, or at least makes me forget how bad I feel.

Does this sound familiar to you?  It’s like Adam and Eve in the garden.  They sin, feel guilt, and hide from God.

I have found that if the Accuser’s lies underlying this dynamic are not defeated, it is impossible for me to pursue joy in God.  If I am not convinced – not just intellectually, but at an emotional level – that God feels joy and delight when he looks at me, I will run away from him, rather than towards him.  Pursuing joy in God is impossible, unless I first know that he finds joy in me.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could say, like Jesus said in John chapter 8, that we always do what is pleasing to God, and therefore know that God is always with us?

Wouldn’t it be great if we could always hear God saying to us, as he said to Jesus: “you are my beloved child, with you I am well pleased”?

But how can this be possible, when we sin so much?  We certainly cannot claim, as Jesus did, that we always do what is pleasing to God.

The answer of course is the good news of the gospel.  Jesus became as one of us, a human being, and lived the perfect life that we should live.  And he died in our place on the cross, paying the debt we could not pay, receiving in himself the judgement we deserve.  Jesus took our sin and punishment and gave us his righteousness.

Therefore, we can say that we are always pleasing to God.  God’s joy in us is never interrupted or diminished by our frequent falling into sin.

This is not to say that our sin does not grieve God – it does.  But that is a very different thing than saying it affects God’s joy in us.  God can delight in us and be grieved by our sin at the same time.  We must make this distinction and hold onto both truths.  Otherwise, we will fall into one of two errors:

  • Thinking that our sin makes God unhappy with us, so that he is no longer “well pleased” with us. Our sin turns his smile into a frown.  That is anti-gospel, because it makes our righteousness, not Christ’s righteousness, the basis of God’s joy in us.
  • Thinking that our sin does not matter to God. Thinking that being saved is the important part.  Being obedient – well, it’s a good thing of course, but not absolutely necessary.  But we know from the scriptures that our sin is a very serious matter.  It is so serious that Jesus and the apostles warn us frequently that those who continue in sin have no reason to believe that they are in Christ and are saved at all.

Jesus’s words to his disciples in John 15 addresses this issue, and it helps us to see the importance of why our fight against sin is supremely important, and how we can fight sin, and how we can have joy.  The setting is the evening of the Last Supper.  Later that night Jesus would be arrested and next day crucified.  This is Jesus’ last opportunity to spend extended time with the 12 disciples.  Looking at this passage, we see:

  • Four truths
  • One command
  • Five results

Four truths

  1. (vs 1) Jesus is the true vine. There is only one vine, one source of life.  This entire passage is a picture of our dependency on Christ.  We are completely dependent on him. In verse 5 Jesus emphasizes this.  Without his life in us, we can do “nothing”.  It’s not that we will be less fruitful – we will be completely unfruitful, like a dead branch.
  2. (vs 2) All people are branches, both the fruitful and unfruitful. All people owe their very existence to Christ.  As we recently saw in Hebrews 1:3, Jesus upholds the universe by the word of his power, and that includes all of us.
  3. (vs 3) We have been made clean by the word of the gospel. Notice the word “already”.  Jesus doesn’t tell us to abide so that we can be made clean.    We are already clean.  Earlier in this gospel of John, Peter said to Jesus: “you have the words of eternal life”.  We heard the word of the gospel: the promise of Jesus that his sacrifice to pay our debt will save us from God’s judgment, redeem us from slavery to sin, give us life and set us free, and bring us into his Kingdom.  We heard that word, and by God’s grace we believed it, and that has made us clean.  This passage is not about how we can be saved.  It is about how we who have been saved should live.  How we can have joy.  How we can fulfill our purpose to magnify the glory of God.
  4. (vs 2) Our Father in Heaven is at work. He does two things:

First, He removes.

What does he remove?  The unfruitful branches. The unfruitful branches are unfruitful because they do not believe and therefore do not abide.  In verse 4, Jesus describes such a branch as being “by itself”.  What does this mean?  During winter, you can’t tell which branches are alive and which are dead.  But when Spring comes and it’s time for the leaves to come out, then you can see.  There are branches that produce no leaves, no flowers, no fruit.  They are connected to the tree physically, and are supported by the tree, but they no longer have any connection to the life of the tree.  This is a picture of those who were created by God, and continue to exist only by God’s gracious provision, and yet do not acknowledge their dependence on him.  In rejecting their Creator, they reject the very purpose of their existence – which is to enjoy and magnify the glory of God.  It’s like a branch of an apple tree that stubbornly insists that it does not want to bear apples!  Such a branch no longer has any purpose.

What is the destiny of these unfruitful branches?  They are like the branches that fall to the ground in a strong wind because they are dead and have no strength.  Psalm 1 says that “the wicked will not stand in the judgment”.  In verse 6 of this text, Jesus says the dead branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.  In the Bible, fire is always a picture of judgement.

Secondly, our Father in Heaven prunes.

What does he prune?  The fruitful branches.  Now, if you are someone not familiar with agricultural life, and most of us are not, this seems a bit unexpected.  If a branch is bearing fruit, why would you mess with it?  Leave it alone.  Don’t fix what isn’t broken.

And pruning sounds painful, doesn’t it?  It involves cutting and removing.  That doesn’t sound pleasant. In Hebrews chapter 12 the author says, “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

Verse 2 explains the purpose of the pruning:  the pruning produces “more” fruit.  What does this tell us about fruitfulness?  It tells us that fruitfulness is a progressive process.  The farmer sees a branch with some fruit on it, maybe just a little bit, and he thinks “Aha!  This branch is alive and well.  It’s worth keeping.  Therefore, I will prune it so that it reaches its full potential.”  This should be encouraging to us.

On his 20th anniversary sermon, John Piper said that upon looking back and reflecting on the spiritual growth he saw in himself and in the congregation, he was not impressed.  Our faith is not impressive.  But he also once asked: “If you are not running the race of faith, are you walking?  If not walking, are you crawling?  If not, are you at least facing the right direction?”

John Freeman of Harvest USA once visited our church.  And I remember he compared Christians to a glass of beer, in which there is just a little bit of beer in the bottom of the glass and rest is just foam.  But at least there is some beer in the glass.

If it seems like there isn’t much fruit in your life, don’t fret about that – the Father is working in you.  Instead, be thankful. Praise God that there is any fruit in you at all.  In this passage Jesus said that apart from him there would be no fruit.  So, the presence of even just a little shows that you are indeed in the vine, and the life of Christ is in you.

One command

There is only one command in this passage, and that command is not “bear fruit”.  The command is “abide”.  Specifically, abide in Christ.  Jesus uses the word abide 10 times in 11 verses.  You don’t have to be a Biblical scholar to see Jesus’s main point here.  There is only one command, but it is apparently really important.  Jesus wants us to abide in him.  Therefore, that should be our focus, not fruitfulness.  We should be looking at Jesus, not looking at ourselves.

But what does it mean to abide?  Consider verse 10:

If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

For a long time, this statement by Jesus troubled me.  On the surface this verse seems to imply that we earn Christ’s love by obeying his commands.  But our obedience is not constant.  Is Jesus’ love for us therefore not constant?  Is our righteousness the foundation of our relationship with Christ?  But this is clearly contrary to the gospel.  In fact, this is no gospel at all.

Jesus’ love for us is constant.  Why?  Precisely because it is not contingent on our obedience.  In verse 16 Jesus reminds his disciples that Jesus chose them, not the other way around.  In Ephesians 2:1-6, the Apostle Paul writes that we were chosen when we were still sinners in rebellion against God.  Jesus’ righteousness, not ours, is the foundation of the love that He and the Father have for us.

Consider also Colossians 3:1-4 that speaks about us being united with Christ.  According to that passage, two things happened to us:

  1. We have died with Christ. This means that in God’s eyes, our sin has been punished just as surely as if we ourselves had died on the cross.  As our advocate, Jesus does not ask for mercy from the Father, he asks for justice because our sin has already received its due punishment and the debt has been paid.
  2. We have been raised with Christ. And where is Christ?  Seated at the right hand of God – the place of greatest honor before God!  That is where we are.  That is who we are.

In God’s eyes, we have the righteousness of Christ, and therefore he can continually delight in us as he delights in Christ, even though our obedience is not continual, as Jesus’ obedience is.

With that understanding then, let’s look more closely at verse 10.  Jesus is clearly expressing some kind of contingency that is dependent on our obedience. That’s clear from the word “if”.  “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love”.  What does this mean?  What is Jesus telling us?

In thinking about the word “abide”, the word “abode”, or residence” comes to mind, and what it means for Christ and the Father to be our abode.  Psalm 61 David said, “for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy”. This is a very helpful word picture.  Think of disobedience as leaving the strong tower of God’s love.  In vs 10 I think Jesus is saying: “when you continue in obedience, you are in effect staying within the strong tower of my love, where you will experience the full joy of that love.  When you fail to keep my commandments, you are in effect leaving the tower (no longer abiding in it) and therefore you forfeit the enjoyment of that love.”  Christ’s love for us is constant, but our enjoyment of that love is not constant because we do not constantly abide in it. You can’t enjoy a relationship which you walk away from!

Do you see what Jesus is saying?  He is urging us to remain in his love because that’s where life and joy are found.

So, what does it mean to abide in his love?  It means making a conscious decision about where you are going to seek life and joy.  Obeying Jesus’ commands is the outer result of an inner decision.  It is the outworking of a heart-felt conviction that I’m not going to find joy in this thing, or that thing, over there, or over there – but here, and only here, in Christ.

But this is not a one-time decision, is it?  It’s a decision we need to make continually, step by step, day after day, hour by hour.  How can we cultivate this together?

In 1 John 4:19, the Apostle John says “We love because He first loved us”.  God’ love for us comes first and our love for him is a response to that love.  By intentionally and prayerfully reflecting on the magnitude of God’s mercy and love for us, we cultivate a response of love for God.  In Colossians 3, Paul writes at length about putting to death earthly desires and instead living holy lives.  But he doesn’t start with that, does he?  First, he tells us to set our minds on things that are above.  Our joy in God is the power to overcome the competing allure of the things of the world.

So, ask yourselves: what do you desire?  And I mean, really think about it.  The question is not what the objects of your desire are, but why you want them.  You have to look deep down to find the desire beneath the desire.  What are you really looking for?

Do you want to be accepted and loved by someone who knows everything about you?

Behold Jesus, who knew everything about you before you were born, and chose you for himself before the foundation of the world.

Do you want affirmation that you matter?  That you have value?

Behold Jesus, who died on the cross and endured the punishment of Hell.  Why?  So that he could have you to be with him for eternity.

Do you crave security in a world where nothing seems certain?

Behold, he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Behold, your life is hidden with Christ in God.  Jesus said he has given us eternal life, that we will never perish, and that no one can snatch us out of his hand.

Do you want rest and peace?

Behold Jesus, who frees us from all that would enslave us, and calls us to himself that we might have rest for our souls.

Do you hunger to see justice and righteousness in the world?

Behold, Jesus the King is coming, and he is going remove all causes of evil from the world.  He is going to destroy Satan with a word from his mouth, and he will rule in righteousness forever.

Do you hunger to finally be finished with your struggle against sin, and to be perfect in holiness, just like Jesus?

Behold, Jesus is coming, and the scriptures say that when he does we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is, and he is going to present us faultless and without blemish before the Father.

Do you long to be thrilled and amazed?  To see great wonder and beauty that brings tears to your eyes and makes you shout?

Behold, Jesus is coming and when he does he will come in clouds with great power and glory, and the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea.

We need to set our minds on these things.  We need to see the big picture.  In this way, we will increasingly treasure what is invisible and eternal, rather than what is visible and passing away.  This is how we abide in Christ.

Five results of abiding

  1. We will bear fruit. Look at verse 5.  Note that this is a promise, not a command.  We don’t make this happen.  The life of Christ in us makes the fruit happen.  That’s why Paul refers to the “fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 5:22-23.  And how does Paul say that this will happen?  He tells us in verse 16 to “walk by the Spirit”.  That’s just another way of saying: “Abide in Christ”.  The New Testament scriptures have much to say about this fruit and what it looks like, but generally this fruit will show itself in 2 ways:
    • As an increasing conformity to the character of Christ
    • And an increasing love for God and others.
  1. Our desires will be conformed to the will of Christ. Look at verse 7. This is implied by the certainty that we will be given what we ask for.  We will be given “whatever we wish”, because when we are abiding in Christ, our desires are in alignment with Christ’s desires.
  2. We will have the full joy of Christ. See verse 11.  This is not like the “joy” that the things of the world offer.  The joys of the world are very temporary, always enslaving, and ultimately destructive.  In contrast, the joy we have in Christ is lasting.  It can never be taken away.  Finding joy in Christ liberates us from whatever else is trying to enslave us.  And joy in Christ is life-giving, not soul-destroying
  3. We will prove to be Christ’s disciples. See Verse 8.

Who needs this proof?  Not God – he knows those whom he chose (vs 16).  So why is proof is needed?

    • For our own reassurance. In Romans 5 Paul taught that God’s pruning in our lives results in fruit that proves we belong to Christ and that this increases our hope and joy.
    • In Matthew 7 Jesus said that the fruit that comes from abiding is an important way to distinguish between good and false teachers.
    • At the judgment our fruit will bear witness to all of creation that we are indeed in Christ. And this leads us to the 5th result…
  1. God will be glorified. (Verse 8) The Father is glorified when we bear fruit.

By his rebellion, Satan declares that God’s glory is worthless, and he is constantly trying to use us to support his case.  Remember how he trued to use Job this way?  Satan claimed that Job feared God only because he gets worldly benefits.  Satan claimed that Job did not worship God for who God is.

We tend to think that our daily choices are a small thing. It’s just about us.  It isn’t.  Our choices have cosmic implications.  When we choose the world instead of the one who created it, we take Satan’s side of the argument, showing that we consider God’s glory worthless, and we join in the rebellion.  But when we reject the promises of the world and instead choose to find joy by abiding in Christ, we uphold the superior worth of God’s glory and our fruit bears witness that we have made that choice – and that magnifies God’s glory.  Nothing we do gives God greater glory than the day-to-day decisions we make to choose to abide with Christ rather than running off to find joy elsewhere.

How can we apply this?

First of all, based on this passage, what should you do when you sin?  The Father’s delight in you does not change.  What changed was that you walked away from his love.  So, go back – immediately.  There’s no reason to wait. No reason to hide.  Go back to Jesus’ love.  Go back to joy.

Secondly, think deeply and prayerfully with the help of the Holy Spirit on the following questions:

  1. When am I not abiding?
  2. What is hindering me or distracting me from abiding in Christ?
  3. Where am I abiding instead of in Christ? What captures my imagination and thoughts when I’m free to think about what I wish?  Where do I go to get a sense of well-being, or to escape?

And then, share this with a close brother or sister in Christ.  This is a fight, and we do not fight alone.

From the song “Stay” by Big Daddy Weave

I’ve seen the flash of lightning
I’ve heard the rolling thunder
I’ve felt the crashing of the waves
And though I’ve known Your presence
And been filled with wonder
Still there are many things that pull me away

I’ve felt Your hand of mercy through my darkest failures
And on the other side You’ve covered me with grace
And like a child lost and afraid, You come and find this runaway
And in Your loving arms You bring me home again
What’s it going to take to make me stay?

Break my heart with what breaks Yours
Until You’re all I’m living for
Show me what it means
Not just to believe but to remain

I don’t want to hurt You anymore
I don’t want to waste another day
‘Cause it breaks Your heart, it breaks Your heart
When I keep walking away

You know what it means to sacrifice
But You tell me that it’s better to obey
You’ve giving me a thousand brand new starts
Jesus, give me what it takes to stay|
Give me what it takes to stay
Let me stay, I want to stay

A Mighty Fortress is Our God

“A mighty fortress is our God – a bulwark never failing.” Martin Luther wrote those words (in German) as well as the tune we use around 1528. This was a time of great danger. It seemed as if the leaders of the Reformation could be killed at any moment – and what would happen to the cause then?

Luther’s partner, Philip Melanchthon, was particularly worried. Luther responded in a letter dated June 27, 1530:

With all my heart I hate those cares by which you state that you are consumed. They rule your heart . . . by reason of the greatness of your unbelief…. If our cause is false, let us recant. But if it is true, why should we make Him a liar who has given us such great promises and who commands us to be confident and undismayed?…

What good do you expect to accomplish by these vain worries of yours? What can the devil do more than slay us? Yes, what? …

I pray for you very earnestly, and I am deeply pained that you keep sucking up cares like a leech and thus rendering my prayers vain. Christ knows whether it comes from stupidity or the Spirit but I for my part am not very much troubled about our cause…. God who is able to raise the dead is also able to uphold his cause when it is falling or to raise it up again when it has fallen…. If we are not worthy instruments to accomplish his purpose, he will find others. If we are not strengthened by his promises, where in all the world are the people to whom these promises apply? But more of this at another time. After all, my writing this is like pouring water in to the sea.

We in the US do not face death for the Gospel. But life often does seem out of control – particularly today, with so much uncertainty about the spread of COVID-19, and the economic effects of the steps taken to limit its spread. It can seem as if random chance is harming those around us and taking aim at us – or even worse, as if Satan himself is advancing his cause and will overwhelm God’s people.

Psalm 46 is written for times like 1530 – and for times like 2020.

We don’t know when this psalm was first written and recited. Some have speculated that it was written after the Assyrian king Sennacharib besieged Jerusalem – and God slaughtered 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in their sleep. Whatever Whether the historical occasion, the Kingdom seemed to be in grave danger from a powerful military force – so powerful that there seemed to be no hope – and God delivered His people.

We’ll consider verses 1-7 together under two headings, and then verses 8-11 under a third.

Is Everything Falling Apart?

In 1530, Melanchthon worried that everything was falling apart. Today, the coronavirus leads to similar feelings.

The psalmist pictures those feelings. In verse 2 he speaks of “the earth giving way,” and “the mountains being moved into the sea.” Indeed, the waters of the sea roar and foam, and the mountains themselves are fearful, for they “tremble at its swelling.”

To understand these expressions, it’s helpful to remind ourselves of the creation account in Genesis 1. Before God works, darkness is over the face of the deep waters. There is nothing but water. On the third day, God gathers the waters into one place, the sea, and commands dry land to appear.

So note: in Psalm 46 God’s work is being reversed! The mountains – the dry land that looks most powerful, most secure – are moved back into the sea. God ordered creation; now disorder seems to reign.

That’s what’s happening with the natural order. What about the political order?

Verse 6 tells us, “The nations rage, the kingdoms totter.” In Hebrew, the word translated “totter” is the same word translated “moved” in verse 2. The physical order is being moved and shaken, and thus is falling apart; just so with the political order.

When things seem to fall apart, when all that we’ve thought firms, secure, rock-solid begins to shake and totter, when it seems as if no one is in control, that danger is all around, we are tempted to fear. Thus the psalmist exhorts us in verse 2, “We will not fear.”

He then grounds that exhortation in the character and promises of God.

God Secures His People

In the creation account, God imposed order on the chaotic world. In Psalm 46, God shows His people that while all may appear to be returning to chaos, He still rules. He still governs. And He secures His people

Verses 1-7 tell us of three ways that God secured His people at that time – ways that He continues to secure His people today:

First: God is with us!

This is the primary message of the entire psalm.

  • He is our refuge – that is, He shields us from danger.
  • He is our strength, empowering us in weakness.
  • He is not only a help, but a present help, right beside us, in our presence; He never leaves us nor forsakes us.

To underline this point, verse 11 repeats verse 7:

The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our fortress.

With Him we are secure. No enemy can scale His walls. No danger can assault this fortress.

Verses 4 and following expand on this image:

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. (Psalm 46:4-5)

Picture a flourishing, vibrant city, surrounded by unassailable walls, with a river flowing through its midst so that there is a continual supply of water. God’s people are the city. God is both the walls surrounding the city and the Protector dwelling in its midst. He helps the city immediately – at the earliest time, at the crack of dawn.

So the first way that God secures His people: He is with us. He is always with us.

The second way that God secures His people: He stabilizes us.

Remember, verse 2 speaks of the mountains being moved into the sea, and verse 6 (literally) of the kingdoms being moved. But verse 5 tells us that since God is in the midst of the city, “she shall not be moved.”

Even if both the created order and the political order are falling apart – even if a new virus threatens our entire world – God stabilizes and secures His people. They do not slip, do not fall, do not stumble.

The third way that God secures His people: He controls the dangerous forces

Verse 6 is my favorite:

The nations rage, the kingdoms totter, he utters his voice, the earth melts (Psalm 46:6)

In the midst of chaos and political upheaval, in the midst of war and intrigue and betrayal and scheming, in the midst of disease and disorder and disarray, God speaks! And all falls before Him.

  • He doesn’t organize His people into an army to fight the enemy, though He could;
  • He doesn’t send lightning and wind and hail to destroy them, though He could.

Rather – just like during creation week – He speaks – and His will is done. His words all by themselves are mighty and powerful.

So you see: Though all around you may seem out of control, may seem to be falling apart, God is in control. He is never out of control. He only has to speak – and that chaos, that opposition, is over and done with. Thus, when we see chaos continuing, when God’s enemies thrive – this is happening only by His permission, in order to accomplish His good and wise purposes.

He is almighty, He is in control of all. As Luther wrote:

The prince of darkness grim,
We tremble not for him.
His rage we can endure,
For, lo, his doom is sure:
One little word shall fell him. (emphasis added)

With those three ways that God secures His people fresh in our minds, let’s return to the picture of God’s people as a city. The New Testament authors pick up on this idea. In Hebrews 11, the author tells us Abraham followed God’s call, not knowing where he was would lead, for “he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.” (Hebrews 11:10) Like Abraham, all followers of Jesus while in this world are strangers, exiles, refugees, seeking a homeland – and God has indeed prepared for us a city.

Revelation 21 then pictures this city that God has prepared:

I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.  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 21:2-4)

So Psalm 46 tells us that today God’s people are His city, surrounded by His fortress. He is in their midst. Though powerful forces are arrayed against this city, attacking it, trying to undermine it, God is an impenetrable fortress, and we are secure.

Hebrews and Revelation then picture the future, the new heavens and new earth. God’s people are still a city – but now, God has spoken His word, He has felled the prince of darkness grim, and His enemies are no more. He is with us in the present, and He will be with us for eternity. But in eternity, in the new city, we no longer need His protection. The old order has passed away. He has wiped every tear from our eyes.

So when it seems as if everything is falling apart – from viruses, from wars, from natural disasters – know: God secures His people today, and in eternity He will rid creation of all that is opposed to Him and to His people.

“So Relax! I Am Exalting My Name!”

Come, behold the works of the LORD, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. (Psalm 46:8-11)

We’ll highlight three commands in this final stanza:

First: Look!

The people must come and behold God’s works. He utters His voice – and even the earth melts. So any enemy has no chance whatsoever. Look at His might. Look at His power. Look at how He has acted in the past.

That was encouraging in the psalmist’s day.

But today, when we look, we see God at work doing something much greater than a defeating a huge enemy army.

In Luke 10, Jesus sends the 72 out to proclaim the Gospel. Going in the power of Jesus, the see Him at work – even demons obey them! They return, excited about the authority they exercised.

Jesus responds:

Behold (Look!) I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:19-20).

Furthermore, Jesus says:

Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it (Luke 10:23-24).

We in our day are privileged to see what the people of God have longed to see for millennia: God using people like you and me to reach all the nations with the Gospel. We see peoples who have walked in darkness for thousands of years seeing the great light; we see a plentiful harvest – and so pray for more workers.

So look! Behold! Look at the great victories that God is forging by His Word! Pay attention! His Kingdom must come – and it is coming. The evidence is all around us. And all the seeming chaos in this world is working to bring that end about.

So that’s the first command: Look!

The second command: Recognize!

“Know that I am God” in verse 10 is translated in the NET, “Recognize that I am God.”

That is: “Draw the conclusion from what you see! Recognize who I am and what I am doing. Recognize my sovereign power. I am indeed almighty. I am indeed working for your good. Look – and then recognize Me in all that happens.”

The final command: Relax!

We read in verse 10, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

Question: Is God speaking to the warring parties, saying: “Stop your fighting!” That’s what some translators think. But others – particularly the British translator and commentator Alec Motyer – think God is speaking these words to His people: “Be still – don’t be worried – relax – know that I am God.”

I think that’s more consistent with the rest of the psalm. God says, “I am with you. I love you. I am your fortress. I control all these forces arrayed against you. All may appear to be falling apart, but one word of mine will order the chaos and defeat the enemy. For I am doing a great work. My name must be hallowed. I must be exalted among the nations. I must be exalted in all the earth. I must bring those from every tribe, tongue, and nation to myself. And everything that happens is working to that end according to My plan. That is where all is heading, even though you can’t see it. So relax! Trust Me! I am for you! And I am glorifying My Name.”

Conclusion

What concerns you today? The virus? The economy? Your own health? The death of a loved one? The seeming chaos around us, and thus all aspects of the future?

However dark all may appear in your life, it cannot appear darker than the night our Lord was betrayed by a close friend, brought before a show trial, abused, whipped, mocked, and then nailed to a cross where He died.

For the disciples, that was the moment when all their hopes were dashed, when they were the most confused.

Yet: God utters His voice: And Christ conquers death.

  • He rises from the dead!
  • He sits at the right hand of the Father!
  • He reigns in power!
  • He will return with great glory!

Look! God was in control even at the crucifixion. And so: Recognize: He is in control in your darkest hour.

So be among His protected, secure people!

Trust that at that crucifixion Jesus paid the penalty for your sins!

Turn to Him and be saved!

Then: relax. Trust Him. God secures His people. He will be exalted in the earth. It is certain. That day will come – despite viruses, despite Satan, despite our own weakness.

Relax – and know that He is God.

My Excellent Wife, My Valentine

[This devotion is a shortened, edited version of the sermon preached December 29, 2019, our fortieth wedding anniversary. You can listen to that sermon via this link.]

In the afternoon of December 29, 1979, Beth and I were married.

Though we didn’t really understand what was happening, in that ceremony God made the two one (Matthew 19:6).

In the following days, we spent some time at Surfside Beach, pondering what had happened. I had thought that since we already loved each other, since we already were committed to each other, the ceremony would just act to formalize our relationship for others; the relationship itself wouldn’t change all that much.

How wrong I was. How ignorant of biblical truth. I began to get a taste of that truth during those days at Surfside.

As Tolstoy writes in Anna Karenina concerning a fight between spouses early in a good marriage:

It was then that [Levin] clearly understood for the first time what he had failed to understand when he led [Kitty] out of the church after the wedding. He understood that she was not only close to him, but that he could not now tell where she ended and he began. He realized it from the agonizing feeling of division into two parts which he experienced at the moment. He felt hurt, but he immediately realized that he could not be offended with her because she was himself.

Beth and I have been one now for forty years. Out of that unity, I want to fulfill Romans 12:10 by showing honor to Beth, this excellent wife, via Proverbs 31.

In Proverbs 7, a father warns his son against the allure and call of an adulterous wife. In contrast, Proverbs 8 consists of the call of another woman: Wisdom personified. Lady Wisdom says that to fear the Lord not only leads to our avoiding evil but to our hating it (Proverbs 8:13).

Then Proverbs 9 presents both Lady Wisdom and Dame Folly calling out to us. Wisdom calls us to find true life in following God; Folly calls us to rebel against Him, which leads to death.

So we must listen to Lady Wisdom, wisdom personified, and reject Dame Folly.

Proverbs 31 concludes the book, and once again calls upon us to look to a woman for wisdom. But in this chapter we look not to wisdom personified in the abstract, but to wisdom lived out in our mothers and our wives. This chapter gives us examples of different ways wives and mothers are like Lady Wisdom, so that we might learn to live wisely ourselves day by day, whether we are male or female, old or young, married or single.

So now let’s turn to the text. I’ll identify nine characteristics of the excellent wife, and share some examples of how Beth lives the out.

First: The excellent wife is wise, fearing the Lord

Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. (Proverbs 31:30)

The theme of Proverbs is that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom. Thus, we should train our daughters and sons to have such fear, and praise those who live it out.

But often instead we reserve our greatest praise of others for their charm and physical beauty.

Now, there is nothing inherently wrong with charm and beauty. However, Dame Folly can appear charming and beautiful. Thus charm and beauty can be deceitful, for they promise what they on their own cannot deliver: endless joy in delighting in physical beauty or an engaging personality. Physical beauty will fade; every personality is flawed – for all have sinned. So if you trust in charm and physical beauty, you will be disappointed.

Understand: It is good and right for me to delight in Beth’s physical beauty; it is good and right for me to be attracted by her charm. Indeed, I should cultivate those desires, and deepen them towards her (see this sermon on Proverbs 5 and 6 text audio). But her beauty and charm are not deceptive because she fears the Lord, because she has biblical wisdom. So that is the most important reason to praise her

Second: The wife is excellent and strong

“An excellent wife who can find?”  (Proverbs 31:10). “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” (Proverbs 31:29). Other translations render the the word translated “excellent” as “noble” or “virtuous.” Yet the underlying Hebrew word includes a connotation that none of those English words communicate: Strong. Indeed, “strength” is the root meaning of the Hebrew word. It is used, for example of Gideon in the phrase translated “mighty man of valor” (Judges 6:12). One translator thus translates the word, “valiant.”

The wife’s strength is emphasized in Proverbs 31:17 (“She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong”) and Proverbs 31:25 (“Strength and dignity [or ‘majesty’]) are her clothing.”)

So this woman is virtuous, honorable, and strong; she has the moral character and fortitude to be a blessing to her family and to her society.

I could tell multiple stories of Beth displaying such strength, but one in particular stands out. In August of 2001, we flew to Cameroon to serve for an academic year at a seminary. The day after our arrival, we apportioned our sixteen boxes of luggage and six children in two vans to make the eight-hour drive from Douala to Bamenda. I was in the van driven by Victor, together with three sons including our youngest, six-year-old Joel. The other van with Beth and the rest of the family had left Douala prior to us.

About two hours into the trip, we came around a corner to find a pickup laden with fruit making a U-turn right in front of us. Victor tried to avoid the vehicle, but we hit the right rear of the truck hard. Something smashed the windshield; our luggage rammed forward, breaking the anchors in the rear seat, pushing it against the front seats. I jumped out of the car and opened the rear door. My two older boys were shaken and somewhat bloodied, but seemed ok. Joel, however, had a deep puncture wound in his leg. The calf was hard as a rock from internal bleeding. I feared it might be broken.

In an unfamiliar country, with an injured child, uncertain of what to do, I was at a loss. But by the grace of God the other van, having stopped at a computer store, arrived about five minutes after the accident.

Beth immediately displayed her strength. Churning on the inside, she remained calm. She was steady. She was decisive. Joel did not seem to be in immediate danger – we could go on to Bamenda where much better medical care was available.

That night in an email to supporters, I wrote: “[I was] so thankful to have her there, with her always cool head and uncommon good sense.”

Strength and dignity are her clothing.

Third: The excellent wife is trustworthy

The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life. (Proverbs 31:11-12)

Verse 12 is the foundation of verse 11. Because the husband knows she is doing him good, not harm, always, he trusts her.

At one point a few years ago I was upset about something Beth had said or done that could be interpreted as unsupportive. I felt as if she wasn’t behind me. So I communicated this to her at some length. When I finally stopped talking, she initially didn’t say anything, instead just looking at me. Then very calmly, very graciously, she simply said, “After all these years, don’t you know me?”

I did know her then – and she called me back to what I knew.

I trust her completely. I can hardly imagine not trusting her.

Fourth: The excellent wife speaks wisdom

“She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. (Proverbs 31:26)

It’s possible to be wise without communicating that wisdom. Wise instruction is as important as wise actions.

The phrase rendered “teaching of kindness” in the ESV is difficult to translate; others render it “law of kindness,” “faithful instruction,” or “loving instruction.” The main idea: How do you live a life of loyal love before your spouse, your family, your neighbors, and society?

Titus 2:3-4 gives a partial answer: Older women are “to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children.” It has been my great privilege to see Beth live this out in private conversations, in pre-marital counseling, in crisis counseling, and in our family.

Fifth: The excellent wife is a diligent provider

The point here is not simply that she meets physical needs. Rather, she loves her family by providing food and clothing.

Much of the chapter details how she does this:

  • She “works with willing hands” (Proverbs 31:13)
  • “She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness” (Proverbs 31:27)
  • She brings food, makes cloth, makes bed coverings, and sells garments she has made (Proverbs 31:14, 19, 22, 24)
  • “She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household” (Proverbs 31:15)

We all are faced with an abundance of temptations to fritter away our time. We can spend hours and hours flipping through items on our phone, seeking entertainment and thrills, keeping up with the latest news or gossip or sports information, to no good effect.

Beth is much like this Proverbs 31 wife. A relaxing evening for her is spent in her sewing studio, or reading a good book – often a book recommended by one of her children or friends, thus deepening that relationship.

Sixth: Through her diligence, her household is safe and secure

  • “She laughs at the time to come” (Proverbs 31:25).
  • “She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet (Proverbs 31:21).

These verses help us properly interpret this often misunderstood verse:

“Her lamp does not go out at night” (Proverbs 31:18).

Verse 18 refers not to her diligence, but to the security of her household. The lamp of the household’s prosperity continues even in dark times

Remember, Scripture tells us proper sleep is a gift of God: “It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep” (Psalm 127:2). Proverbs 31 commends disciplined, productive work, accompanied by restful sleep, as you trust in the Lord.

Seventh: She is generous and sincerely concerned

“She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy” (Proverbs 31:20).

Generosity includes much more than providing monetary support. We can give money and not be “generous” in a biblical sense (see this sermon from 2014 text audio).

Beth lives out the showing of sincere concern in practical ways. Several years ago she reached out to a young Burmese mother. After learning who she was and what she was missing, she began to teach her to sew. Now the Make Welcome sewing ministry teaches dozens of students; many make clothes for themselves and their families, and several graduates are employed doing what they love.

Make Welcome is about much more than money and clothes, however. The time together produces joy, smiles, friendships, healing, safety – and they all hear of Jesus, whatever their religious background.

Eighth: The excellent wife blesses her husband

“Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land. (Proverbs 31:23)

The husband is respected because of what he has become through his wife. Just so in our marriage. I am a far better pastor, a far better father, and a far better son because of who Beth is, because of how she has influenced me, because of how God has changed me through her.

Ninth: So her family praises her

“Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: ‘Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.’” (Proverbs 31:28-29)

What does the husband mean by, “You surpass them all”?

He is not making an objective, comparative statement of fact: “I have investigated all other wives, all other women, and you come out on top!” That would be impossible – but that also would be of zero importance in God’s economy (rather akin to Jesus’ disciples arguing about who is the greatest).

Rather, “You surpass them all” is similar to the statement about sexual desire in Proverbs 5:19:  “Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love.” It is good and right for my sexual desires to flow deeply towards Beth; indeed, I should work to deepen those desires, yet keep them well-channeled toward her alone.

So the message from Proverbs 5 is: “I have the privilege of knowing you sexually in ways no one else can, and I have the deepest delight in who you are, who we are together.”

The similar message of Proverbs 31 is: “I have the privilege of knowing your character, your love, your wisdom in ways no one else can, and I have the deepest delight in who you are, who we are together.”

And to you, Beth, I add: Some can give an appearance of deep wisdom and love for others. I see you at all times – I see you even at your worst. And I praise you for genuine wisdom and genuine love.

So husbands and families: Delight in the way God has used and strengthened your excellent wife or mother. Thank Him for her fear of Him for the wisdom she therefore has. State your appreciation for the role she plays in society, in your family, and in your personal life.

So here we are, forty years into our marriage. God took two naïve young people and made us one; He has guarded that unity these four decades. Maybe He will give us another four decades of marriage. Maybe we have little additional time together.

But, Beth: To live as one with you has been a huge privilege. I delight in who you are, in how you reflect the person of Jesus, in how you love me when I am unlovable, in your gracious wisdom and diligent service, in your genuine beauty and enduring charm, in your love for our Savior and your delight in Him.

Thank you for forty years of ever-deepening delight.

All of you, ask: What other women do I know who exemplify some aspects of this practical wisdom?

  • Praise them.
  • Emulate them.
  • Encourage them.
  • Listen to their instruction in how to love.

For the excellent wife of Proverbs 31 fears the Lord. She knows that apart from God’s grace, there is no hope for her and others. She knows that Lady Wisdom is a pointer to Jesus: He calls. He says, “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). The excellent wife knows rest is found nowhere else, only endless striving or destructive dissipation. She knows that various deceitful calls of Folly all lead us away from dependence on the Lord Jesus.

So listen to her. Like her, fear the Lord. And thereby deserve the praise that accords to the excellent wife.

Abortion and Selfish Ambition

[This is a shortened, edited, and updated version of a sermon preached January 23, 2000. You can read the sermon in its entirety here.]

Thursday January 22 marks the 47th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade that prohibited states from putting almost any restrictions on abortion. Since then, tens of millions of unborn babies have been aborted in this country, very rarely less than 7-8 weeks after conception. At 7-8 weeks, the baby’s heart is beating; his hands and feet are formed; she swims through the amniotic fluid.

Twenty years ago our friend Michele gave birth to baby Sean, only six months into her pregnancy. Sean weighed 28 oz; here is his picture. Today, by God’s grace, Sean lives. Yet thousands of babies as old and developed as Sean have been aborted in this country, legally, many by a procedure too gruesome for me even to describe.

Indeed, today a large percentage of all babies conceived in the US are aborted, while millions of couples wait years for a baby to adopt.

Why does this happen? Why do mothers kill their own babies? Why do fathers agree to do away with the bone of their bone and flesh of their flesh? Even among those who identify themselves as Christians, why do some favor no limits on abortion, or even have abortions themselves?

The fundamental problem is that we give the wrong answer to the question: Where does one find fulfillment and satisfaction?

Getting this answer right is of central importance, above and beyond the abortion debate. You may give the “right” answer to abortion questions, but still get this answer wrong. If you believe that you will only find fulfillment and satisfaction by success in this world – by accomplishment, by relationships, by pleasures – then in the end you can rationalize almost any action.

Dear friends, the only source of true fulfillment is God Himself. If we are satisfied with God, if we seek Him first, if we truly delight in Him, then we have all good things.

On the other hand, a heart not satisfied with God, not delighting in Him, a heart which is dead set on trying to get what the world has to offer, frequently will not let anything stand in its way. When our hearts are set on fulfilling our worldly desires, we end up destroying what God has given us for true fulfillment – like the children He has given us.

So where is your heart?

We will first examine a question specific to the abortion debate: Is an unborn baby human? Then we’ll return to James and investigate the central problem, which he identifies as selfish ambition resulting in death. But James also presents the solution to this problem: Humbling oneself, resulting in exaltation.

Is an Unborn Baby Human?

What does Scripture say about unborn babies? Are they human? Let’s consider three biblical reasons for answering “yes” to the question, along with biblical support for our actively defending the unborn.

First, the Bible uses the same word to refer to babies before and after birth. Genesis 25:22, referring to Isaac’s wife Rebekah when she is pregnant with Jacob and Esau: “The children struggled together within her.” The word “children” is the normal Hebrew word. Similarly, Luke 1 records what happens when Mary, who is pregnant with Jesus, visits her cousin Elizabeth, who is in the 6th month of her pregnancy with John the Baptist: “When Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb.” The word “babe” translates the same word used in the next chapter to refer to Jesus after his birth: the angel says to the shepherds, “You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”

Second, God chooses and works on unborn babies. In Psalm 139:13 David writes, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” David’s essence, what makes him David, was put together by God not at birth, but prior to birth, in the womb. Furthermore, the angel says to Zechariah concerning his son, John the Baptist: “For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine or liquor; and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, while yet in his mother’ s womb” (Luke 1:15). Can a non-human be filled with the Holy Spirit?

Third, Adam’s original sin and humanness are passed on at conception. David writes in Psalm 51:5: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.” David is not saying that his mother was particularly sinful. He is saying that from the moment of conception, he was in sin. In Romans 5 Paul states that sin entered the human race through Adam and is passed down to all his descendants. Therefore at the moment of conception, that new creature is both sinful and human, created in the image of God.

So the Bible teaches that unborn babies are human. But does it matter? Do we need to be concerned with these babies, particularly before they are viable outside their mother’s womb?

God is especially concerned with the weak and powerless. Psalm 82:3-4 reads: “Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” Who is weaker and more needy than that little one who will die if separated from his mother?

If the unborn baby is a weak, needy human, and if God is especially concerned with the weak and needy, then abortion is a terrible, common sin.

Let us now turn our attention to the central cause of such sin.

The Problem: Selfish Ambition

Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. James 3:13

James asks each one of us: “Do you think you are truly wise and intelligent?” What is the evidence for wisdom or intelligence?

James says the evidence includes “his deeds [done] in gentleness of wisdom.” The word translated as “gentleness” here is translated “meek” in the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” This refers to our yielding to God, our willingness to say, “God, you are the wise one. I submit to you, acknowledging that your ways are far above mine.” So I would paraphrase “deeds in the gentleness of wisdom” as “actions characterized by wise yielding to God.”

Now James contrasts such a person with the false wisdom of the world:

But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. James 3:14

The person in verse 14, instead of yielding to God, has “bitter jealousy” and “selfish ambition.” The wise person has a focus on God and his goodness; this person is focused on self, on what he does not have.

The word translated “selfish ambition” is unusual, appearing in earlier literature only in Aristotle, where it refers to the way a politician will try to make himself look good — frequently through deceitful means — to attract more support. Like such a politician, the unwise man is trying his best to arrange matters so that he gets what he wants; the unwise man tries to get others to admire him, even if he is unworthy of their admiration.

But isn’t this the advice that we hear so often today? In books and on the internet, we read how to present ourselves in the best light so that we can advance in our careers; on the racks in the supermarket, we read headlines telling us to buy the magazine so that we can know the secrets of making a 40 year old look like a 20 year old, so that we can find life by catching that attractive, elusive member of the opposite sex. In effect, all this advice is instructing us in the best way to fulfill our selfish ambition.

What is the source of such “wisdom?”

15 This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.

Clearly, this is not the godly wisdom we read of in verse 13. Instead it is “earthly, natural, demonic.” In English translation it appears that there is a contradiction between the last two words. But James’ contrast is not between “natural” and “supernatural.” Instead, he contrasts the wisdom from God with the natural, pseudo-wisdom of our sinful selves.  These natural, sinful desires can cause us problems on their own — but Satan also works through these desires, tempting us away from God.

What is the result of selfish ambition?

The Result of Selfish Ambition: Death

What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. James 4:1-2

James says the result of this selfish ambition is murder, death. Certainly James is not talking exclusively about literally killing another person; for example, if I am filled with selfish ambition, and my wife gets in the way — then I kill the marriage.

But just as certainly, this verse is fulfilled literally in abortion: If my baby girl gets in the way of my selfish ambition — kill the baby before she’s born.

Abortion and other forms of killing result from our selfish ambition, our exalting pleasures and fulfillment in this life above the true fulfillment that only God can give.

For in the end, all forms of sin constitute a rejection of God. Indeed, James goes on to say that this rejection of God is the equivalent not only of murder but also of adultery:

You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. James 4:4

James uses the word “adulteresses” here. Does this mean that all of us men are off the hook? No. God’s people are the bride of Christ. So if God’s people look for pleasure and fulfillment away from any source other than God himself, that is adultery. Hostility. Becoming God’s enemy. We, Christ’s bride, are adulteresses.

Therefore, selfish ambition leads us to become murderers and adulteresses. We have rejected God. Will he reject us? Will he divorce us? James has just said we have made ourselves into God’s enemy; is there no hope?

The Solution: Humbling Oneself

Consider this paraphrase of James 4:1-10:

(1) Why is it that you war and battle each other? Is not the source the strong desires for what you do not have, these desires that battle inside you? (2) You want something badly and don’t have it, so you kill; you passionately want something others have, and can’t obtain it, so you battle and war with each other.

Fools! God is the source of everything good. You don’t have, because you haven’t asked Him! (3) Or, you’ve asked Him, but you’re trying to use God as a genie to provide ephemeral pleasures for yourself.

(4) Do you not realize that you are the bride of Christ? If you then love the world, you are nothing but an adulteress! You are acting in hatred toward your true husband, making yourself His enemy! (5) Did God write this in the Scriptures for no reason? “I have made my Spirit to live in you, and thus I have a deep, jealous desire that you be mine alone.”

(6) But do not despair; God’s grace is greater than all our sin. Therefore he also says in the Scripture, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (7) Therefore, be humble! Submit yourself to God as to a military commander, who has the good of the entire army at heart. Do not give in to Satan’s temptations, but resist him — and by God’s grace he will flee from you. (8) Approach God yourself, and he will come to you. Cleanse yourself from outward sins; make your inner thoughts and desires pure, devoted to God, instead of divided between God and the world. (9) Mourn for your sin, and for the sin around you; replace your carefree silliness of enjoying worldly pleasures with gloom and mourning for all that’s wrong. (10) In sum, come into God’s presence, falling on your face, acknowledging that you deserve nothing from Him, that you have spurned the one who loves you — and your husband, the source of all true joy, will pick you up, honor you, and give you the true joy and pleasure of knowing Him.

James’ final command, to humble ourselves, sums up all the commands. He tells us: Replace your selfish ambition, your desire to put yourself to the forefront, with true humility, acknowledging and accepting your place in God’s plan. Only in that way is there hope.

The Result of Humbling Oneself: Exaltation

The irony of all this is stated in verse 10: When we truly humble ourselves, when we acknowledge that we are nothing before God, when we quit trying to make ourselves look better than we really are, then God lifts us up! He exalts us! God tells us that we will find our true selves by abandoning the world’s ways of exalting ourselves. When we humble ourselves, we become what God intends us to be; we find all true fulfillment, all true glory, all true happiness, all true joy. For joy and peace are found only in a relationship with our Creator.

Conclusion

John Piper puts it this way:

The root cause of abortion is the failure to be satisfied in God as our supreme love. And, for all the great legal work that needs to be done to protect human life, the greatest work that needs to be done is to spread a passion – a satisfaction – for the supremacy of God in all things. That’s our calling

Do you find your satisfaction in God? Or in the possessions and relationships of this world?

How often do you give in to the temptations of this world, and seek fulfillment through exaltation of self, killing and destroying all that gets in your way?

What about abortion itself? As we have seen:

  • Aborting a baby is a terrible sin.
  • Encouraging another to have an abortion is a terrible sin.
  • Planning to have an abortion should you or your girlfriend become pregnant is a terrible sin.

How many of us have committed one of those terrible sins?

How many of us have committed other terrible sins, of seeking after earthly treasures, loving this world, pursuing ephemeral pleasures?

My friends: I am a terrible sinner. But the good news of the Gospel is that Jesus died on the cross for terrible sinners such as you and me!

So humble yourself! And He will exalt you!

I encourage you: Take a piece of paper, and on that paper write two words: “Condemned” and “Forgiven.” Look at those two words; consider the implications of each one. Then circle the one that is true for you. For there are only two choices. One is true. The other is not.

If you circle “condemned,” then I praise God. You’ve taken the first step toward forgiveness. Humble yourself in God’s presence. Trust Jesus as the One who paid the penalty for your sins. You need no longer be condemned.

If you circle “forgiven,” if you are forgiven in Christ, then there is no longer any reason for guilt, no matter what you have done, no matter what terrible sin you have committed.

Have you mourned for your sin? Have you wept over it? Do you want to be clean, in your actions and in your heart? Do you long to be rid of this sin that ensnares you? Do you believe in Jesus Christ as Lord? Will you be satisfied in him?

Psalm 51 tells us: A broken and contrite heart he will not despise. Know it! Delight in Him! Be satisfied in Christ alone!