A View From The Sycamore Tree

Our Praying Priest - Mark 1:35

2010-12-30T05:46:00.006-05:00

"And in the early morning, while it was still dark,

He arose and went out and departed to a lonely place,

and was praying there."

(Mark 1:35)

I don't know about you, but prayer is a struggle for me. It is the hardest part of my Christian walk. I wrestle like a dog in this discipline. It is in the moment of moving through this means of grace that my doubts grow the greatest, that my exhaustion seems insurmountable, and that my thoughts scramble and discombobulate like wheat in a whirlwind!

I want to pray. I pray to pray. I fall on my face over and over and over as I attempt to pray. Understand?

That's why passages like this are precious to me. In them I see the priority that Christ puts on prayer and am reminded that inspite of the difficulties I must press on and pray on.

My Savior, Jesus Christ, was and still is a pray-er! The Word gives me many examples of His times of prayer on earth and it tells me that He is, even now, praying for me in Heaven. He is at this very moment "at the right hand of God, interceding for us" (Romans 8:34). The writer of Hebrews goes so far as to say that "He lives to make intercession for us" (Hebrews 7:25). Wow!

That's good news for one who struggles with prayer. My feeble attempts at coming boldly before the throne of grace are perfected by my great High Priest - Jesus!

Elsewhere, the Word reminds me that Jesus prays for me and here the Word reminds me just how desperately I need to follow the example of my gentle Shepherd and persevere in prayer. Think about it. This is Jesus - the Holy One of God - and He is praying! If Jesus places prayer as a priority how much MORE should I?!?! He doesn't "need" it. I do!!

In the context of the passage, Jesus has been working overtime. From the place of His humanity He should be worn slap out. But exhaustion is not an excuse for punting prayer. Honestly, when we are weak and tired and strained and drained do we not have even greater need to fall on our face before the God who alone can give us the strength we need to do the things we must?!

Let us learn from the example of our Master and let us rise early and pour out our adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication. As we do so, let us lean upon Jesus, the One who intercedes for and helps us press on in prayer!

In His glorious grace,

Lori

The Doctor is Always In - Mark 1:29-34

2010-12-28T05:36:00.004-05:00

"And immediately after they had come out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon's mother-in-law was lying sick with fever; and immediately they spoke to Him about her. And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she waited on them.

"And when evening had come, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city had gathered at the door. And He healed many who were ill with various diseases; and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was." (Mark 1:29-34)

Today's text is a pretty straightforward one. In times past it would be one that I probably wouldn't even bother to blog about. But I am sort of on a personal mission here with the book of Mark. I am really trying to soak up and meditate on every single thing I can about my Jesus. I don't want to miss even a morsel right now, so bear with me as I take note of several simple truths from this passage.

First, I notice just how busy our Lord was while on the earth. He has just been preaching in the synagogue. He has just dealt with a demon and now "immediately" after these things He is heading to the house of His friends - probably to enjoy some homespun hospitality. BUT when they arrive they find Simon's mother-in-law very sick and so, once again, Jesus goes to work. No doubt, our Savior didn't come to be idle. He came to do the work of the kingdom! And do it He did!

Second, I notice the tenderness with which our Lord deals with the afflicted. He comes to this feverish one and raises her up, taking her by the hand. "Taking her by the hand!" This is the first time this phrase makes an appearance here in Mark, but it occurs many more and it encourages me each time I run across it.

These words may not mean much to you, but I am one who has really been made to see my own weaknesses in recent months. Knowing that Jesus recognizes the frailty of His people and reaches out His own hand to take ours is a marvelous thought. In the passage before us, it is a physical hand aiding in the cure of a physical ailment. In my own life, it has been an invisible spiritual hand, reaching out to me through the pages of the Word and along the paths of providence. How thankful I am for a personal Savior who still takes us by the hand and raises us up out of the pits we often dig for ourselves!

Third, I notice that there are literal multitudes running to Jesus for refuge, rescue, and redemption. After He has healed Simon's loved one the crowds start coming. People are bringing the sick and the satanically assaulted. It would seem that the entire city has gathered at the door. And well they should!! "Wherever Christ is, there let His patients be!" (Matthew Henry).

Fourth, I notice that despite a LONG day Jesus just keeps on giving and giving and giving! He doesn't send them away with a "sorry, worn slap out!" He doesn't hang out the old "Out to lunch! Be back in 1 hour" sign. No! The Doctor is in and He goes to the masses and works miracles!

Beloved, this is our Jesus! He does not grow weary of our cries. He does not get frustrated at the continual needs which we bring to Him. He comes to us with that compassionate hand, that outstretched hand, that healing and helping hand.

What is your need? What is plaguing you? What is weighing you down? What is holding you captive? Bring it to Jesus! Crowd close to His door! Cry out to His compassionate character! He will not disappoint! He will not despise! He will deliver! Draw near to the door of the divine Doctor and find help and healing in His outstretched hand. The Doctor is always in and He delights to make house calls!

In His glorious grace,
Lori

Authority in Word and Deed - Mark 1:21-28

2010-12-26T06:05:00.001-05:00

"And they went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and began to teach. And they were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
And just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, 'What do we have to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who You are - the Holy One of God.'
And Jesus rebuked him, saying, 'Be quiet, and come out of him!' And throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice, and came out of him. And they were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves saying, 'What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.'
And immediately the news about Him went out everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee." (Mark 1:21-28)

One of the things that is so clearly evidenced in the gospel accounts is that Jesus both spoke and acted with great authority. No wonder! He is God come in the flesh. HE is the Authority on authority!! He is omniscient wisdom. He is omnipotent ability. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. He is Creator of all that is and He spoke this world into existance with only a word.

Authority? No doubt!!

In this passage we see the authority of Christ playing out in His words and in His works. He has come to Capernaum and, as was His custom, He has entered the synagogue and is teaching the people.

Folks are amazed! They've never heard a preacher like this. Can you even imagine sitting under a sermon spoken by Jesus Himself?! They knew there was something different about this "man" - as would we. It could not be denied and they shook their heads in great wonder at His words!

But the authority of Jesus would not only be heard that day, it would also be seen!

While He preaches, in walks a man possessed with an unclean spirit. This dude is dogged by demons and those demons are not one bit happy about the day's guest preacher!!

Amazingly, however, instead of tucking their tails and running down the road, these evil principalities walk their hostage right up to Christ and start talking. More properly it could be said that they start testifying!!! Truly, all of creation testifies to the truth of God - even the demons!!

They say: "What do we have to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are - the Holy One of God."

Here is a tangible example of the truth of James 2:19 which says: "You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe and shudder."

Three particular things jumped out to me from the demon's monologue.

One, the unclean spirit recognized the humanity of Jesus. He knows that He is "Jesus of Nazareth" - a title which speaks of His earthly home and points to his human nature. The demons believe that Jesus is real - no phantom, no mere apparition, no fairytale of fancy. Jesus
Christ, has come in the flesh. He is there and the demons know it full well

Two, this malevolent minion understood both the power and the mission of the One in whose presence he now found himself. Remember, Jesus came fulfilling a promise to crush Satan's head (Genesis 3:15) and to usher in the kingdom of God (Mark 1:15). The spirits understand this and that is why they "shudder". That is the very reason that this one asks "Have you come to destroy us?"

Three, this fallen angelic force also recognizes the deity of Jesus. "I know who you are - the Holy One of God." He is aware that this is no ordinary man. This is not even some amazing extra-ordinary man - this is God incarnate!!! The demon gets it. He believes. There is nothing lacking in his head knowledge of the reality of the One who is before him.

There is no denying, from the text, that the principalities of darkness know much about our Redeemer. They understand His person and His purpose. Might I ask, what about us? A simple understanding of the facts about Jesus, a sound cranial knowledge of who He is and why He has come, a solid belief about Him doesn't necessarily ensure that we are Christians - it could point out that we are not much more than a demon?!! "The demons believe and shudder" - and sadly that is a step above many people today!!

But, back to the text.

Jesus has allowed this foul fiend to speak, but only for a limited and foreordained moment. Now that he has said what was necessary for testimony time, Jesus rebukes him and literally tells him to shush and shoo! And so he does. The demon goes dumb. The minion's made mute and immediately he comes out of the young man whom he had held prisoner. Satan has left the building!! Yes, Jesus has authority!

Suddenly, all of those who had just been pondering at the power of His preaching are beside themselves in marvelling at the might of this Man's miracles.

"What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him!"

Friends, here is the authoritative Jesus. He speaks with power. He acts with power. He rules in might and reigns in majesty! His words are trustworthy. His works are tremendous. He sets prisoners free and stops the mouths and the malicious messes of the enemies of His people.

This is our Jesus. This is the incarnate One from Nazareth. This is the holy One from God. Do you believe, not just about Him, but in Him?

He who willingly rescued this young man from his prison will rescue you from yours! As Matthew Henry points out, surely it is in our best interests to make Him our Friend who has such great authority that even the demons obey. Jesus, what a friend for sinners! Is He yours?

In His glorious grace,

Lori

The Grandest Title a Minister Can Own - Mark 1:17

2010-12-23T11:35:00.004-05:00

"And Jesus said to them,

'Follow Me, and I will make you

fishers of men."

(Mark 1:17)

Pastor. Evangelist. Preacher. Elder. Shepherd. Overseer. Minister.

I have to admit that when I pause to think on the various titles given to those set apart to proclaim the good news of the gospel these 7 always pop into my mind long before the title that Jesus gives. Yet, this title, "fishers of men" is the first title, the earliest title, mentioned in the gospels. It is the title that Jesus Himself uses and it tells us alot about the role, duty, and calling of those who have been ordained to serve our Savior. It also tells us of our need to stand in the gap, fervently praying for those who are striving upon the sea of souls. A faithful pastor's work is never done. I know, I'm married to one!

J. C. Ryle writes beautifully on this idea of ministers as fishers. He says:

"The meaning of this expression is clear and unmistakeable. The disciples were to become fishers for souls. They were to labor to draw men out of darkness into light, and from the power of Satan to God. They were to strive to bring men into the net of Christ's church, so that they might be saved alive, and not perish everlastingly.
"We ought to mark this expression well. It is full of instruction. It is the oldest name by which the ministerial office is described in the New Testament. It lies deeper down than the name of bishop, elder, or deacon. It is the first idea which should be before a minister's mind. He is not to be a mere reader of forms, or administer of ordinances. He is to be a fisher of souls. The minister who does not strive to live up to this name has mistaken his calling.
"Does the fisherman strive to catch fish? Does he use all means, and grieve if unsuccessful? The minister ought to do the same! Does the fisherman have patience? Does he toil on day after day, and wait, and work on in hope? Let the minister do the same! Happy is the man, in whom the fisher's skill, and diligence, and patience, are all combined!
"Let us resolve to pray much for ministers. Their office is no light one if they do their duty. They need the help of many intercessions from all praying people. They have not only their own souls to care for, but the souls of others. No wonder that Paul cries, 'Who is sufficient for these things?' (2 Corinthians 2:16). If we have never prayed for ministers before, let us begin to do it this day."

Thanks Mr. Ryle. That is a good reminder both for the fisherman and for all of us who have been fished out of the surging sea of sin and set safely into the river of redemption. It is a hard job and truly no one is sufficient in and of themselves. Therefore, look to Jesus, my brothers - He who Has called you is faithful to equip you!

Striving to pray more for my fisherman, Phillip and for all his fishing buddies,

Lori

Immediately - Mark 1:16-20

2010-12-22T20:48:00.008-05:00

"And as He was going along by the Sea of Galilee,

He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon,

casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen.

And Jesus said to them,

'Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.'

And they immediately left the nets

and followed Him.

And going on a little farther,

He saw James the son of Zebedee,

and John his brother,

who were also in the boat mending the nets.

And immediately He called them;

and they left their father Zebedee in the boat

with the hired servants, and went away

to follow Him."

(Mark 1:16-20)

Each year as I read over this passage I am convicted by the use of the word "immediately" as it is used to describe the actions of these first disciples. Jesus calls and "immediately" Simon and Andrew get up and leave everything they have ever known to follow One whom they have just now met. The same thing is true of James and John. "Immediately" Jesus calls and they show no sign of hesitation in leaving their father, their friends, their home, their job, their possessions, their life. "Immediately" they set off following this Carpenter turned Prophet.

There is much to be learned and much to be emulated in the actions of these brothers of ours. They teach us, as Matthew Henry says, that "those whom Christ calls must leave all to follow Him and by His grace He inclines them to do so. We must sit loose to this world, and forsake everything that is inconsistent with our duty to Christ."

OUCH!

What about me? Am I an "immediately" kind of gal? Am I willing to get up and go when He calls? Am I willing to leave all to follow my Savior? Am I a first response sort of sister when it comes to the clear commands of the Word of God or would I rather play it safe and hang out on the sidelines? Sadly, I far too often ponder the possibilities, argue through all the options, and philosophize on whether or not God really means what He has said.

"Surely, Lord you wouldn't have me give this up?!"

"Most certainly you really mean for me to fix this first, or get this deed done, and then get moving!"

"Don't you think I'd do better serving you in this capacity?"

"Not now Lord! How about tomorrow?! I'll be fresher and more capable of doing the job with excellence!"

Oh for grace to be more like Andrew and Simon and James and John. Ultimately, oh for grace to be more like the One whom they followed. He came, immediately, when the Father sent Him. He came in the "fullness of time". He came right on time! He came, "although existing in the form of God, not regarding equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond servant, being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." (Philippians 2:6-8)

Jesus came when called. He left everything for us. No one has EVER been asked to leave more!! May we, by His grace, be made to "have this attitude in ourselves which was also in Christ Jesus."

When He has come to serve us so freely, so willingly, so cheerfully how can we refuse to go and serve Him with such grumbling and complaining and arguing attitudes?

How did Andrew, Simon, James and John leave everything with such immediate obedience and follow? They did it because they saw Jesus, the Pearl of greatest price and in looking at Him, everything else paled in comparison. Are we fretting and fuming or are we following? The determining factor is found in the object of our gaze and in the treasure of our heart. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith and let us in light of that run with endurance the race that is set before us. Then and only then will we follow "immediately" and leave all else behind.

Praying for grace to follow,

Lori

The Sermon That Jesus Preached - Mark 1:14-15

2010-12-21T16:13:00.001-05:00

"And after John had been taken into custody,

Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God,

and saying, 'The time is fulfilled

and the kingdom of God is at hand;

repent and believe in the gospel."

(Mark 1:14-15)

I've sat under quite a few sermons in my time. Some good. Some not so good. Many of those sermons have referenced the gospel. Sadly, few have explained it. Here in Mark 1, we have a cliff-note version of a sermon that Jesus preached. It is said in the text that He came preaching the gospel of God and in a mere 18 words we see that the heart of the gospel is covered. Should we expect anything less from the Son of God?!

The passage tells us that Jesus has come to Galilee. He's come on a mission. In Him the time prophecied from Genesis 3 forward was being fulfilled. Jesus is the promised Messiah. He is the One whom Isaiah said would bear our griefs, sorrows and sins. He is the sacrificial Lamb who would be "pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our inquities." His mission was to come and ransom sinners from the prison of their sin. He has come to die and He has come to rise again from the dead, exactly as the prophets of old have foretold. His resurrection ushers in a kingdom where the sting of death has been eradicated and where the Satanic serpent's head has been completely crushed (Gen 3:15). He has come to make paupers princes and sinners sons! Truly, in Jesus "the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand."

He has come on a mission and He has also come with a message. Jesus came bearing the good news of a gracious God. He came telling sinners to "repent and believe in the gospel." Repentance and faith are His message and in these two words an eternity of truth is communicated. Here is the heart of a true gospel sermon and here are two vital elements that must be communcated in faithful evangelistic preaching.

Repentance points to the fact that we are sinners, justly guilty before a holy God. It conveys our need to recognize our sad sinful state and to turn from it. Faith points to the fact that our salvation from this sin must lie not within us, but without. It directs our gaze to Jesus who is utterly outside of us. He is the One we must turn to as we turn from our sin. The gospel is not a matter of pulling ourselves up by the bootstraps and suddenly walking in a circumspect fashion. No, it is a matter of recognizing that our boots are broken and that our straps are crap! They are both completely useless in the salvation of our souls! Our own efforts will lead us nowhere but to a bigger mess!

Repentance is seeing and fleeing our sin. Faith is believing in the message of Christ's mission and acknowledging that He alone can redeem us from our fallen fetters. Repentance is turning. Faith is trusting! It is trusting totally in the work of Jesus to save us from our sins. It is an acknowledgment that our own works - even the best of them - will do nothing but damn us deeper.

"Repent and believe in the gospel." This is the message of the Man on the mission! It is the sermon that Jesus preached. These two theological truths go hand in hand and cannot be separated from one another nor from the true gospel any more than heat and light can be separated from a real fire! They are the two sides of the one coin.

Matthew Henry in summing up this sermon writes:

"By repentance we must lament and forsake our sins, and by faith we must receive the forgiveness of them as it is offered to us in Christ. Both of these go together. We must not think either that reforming our lives will save us without trusting in the righteousness and grace of Christ, or that trusting in Christ will save us without the reformation of our hearts and lives. Christ Jesus has joined these two together -let no man think to put them asunder."

Jesus came on a mission and He came with a message. He came as the fulfilment of the promise of a Savior for sinners. He came to establish a kingdom that would have no end. He came preaching that we must repent and believe in the good news of this great gospel. Beloved, are we resting in what He has done and trusting in what He has said? How are we responding to the sermon of the Savior?

By grace alone,

Lori

In The Wilderness - Mark 1:12-13

2010-12-15T07:09:00.007-05:00

"And immediately the Spirit impelled Him

to go out into the wilderness.

And He was in the wilderness forty days,

being tempted by Satan;

and He was with the wild beasts,

and the angels were ministering to Him."

(Mark 1:12-13)

The temptation of Jesus is a very well known New Testament story. It's recorded in all of the gospel accounts except for the book of John. Both Matthew and Luke give much more detailed descriptions than does our friend Mark. The latter succeeds in summing up the whole experience in only two verses and gives a solid cliff note of Christ's "crisis". Two verses covering 40 days!

Now, with that said, I must admit that everything in me wants to run to those other gospel accounts and share with you the lessons I've learned in times past from the "extended-play" versions. Matthew and Luke's renderings are truly deep mines containing many precious jewels. They are rich with insight into the schemes of Satan. They are full to over-flowing with pictures of the three-fold Achiles' heel that dwells in all of our hearts (the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life). And they abound with examples of how to properly defend ourselves with the sword of the Spirit against those wicked and dastardly devilish schemes. Oh, how I want to go there! But I have made a promise to myself that I am going to stick like glue to Mark and focus on what he deems necessary for the moment.

So, what does Mr. Mark have to teach us this day? Well, I have personally learned 4 things from these 2 verses.

First, Mark teaches us that suffering and struggle and temptation and wilderness experiences are not necessarily a sign of God's displeasure with us. Clearly the details of this account tell us that trial and tribulation come to those whom the Father loves and lauds as well as to those who are in stubborn rebellion against Him. Affliction, temptation and tearful testings are not only for those who are justly under His holy wrath and righteous displeasure - they are often meted out as refining fire to those whom He highly esteems!

Think about it, this is the wilderness temptation of Jesus! It is Jesus, folks! The same Jesus who has just been publicly declared to be the much loved Son of God. He has just been lifted up as the One in whom the Father is well pleased. He has, only moments before, received a glowing recommendation and the apex of accolades. Yet IMMEDIATELY after these wonderful words - these true words - the precious words - Jesus is being led by the Spirit into the wilderness where He spends 40 days in that desolate place being terribly tempted by the devil.

Friends, there is much here to encourage us and to sober us in our journey through this fallen post-Eden desert. Being deeply loved by God gives us no exemption from the wilderness!! Christian, be encouraged that - no matter what you are facing - God loves you! Be sobered that He loves you enough to test, try, and sanctify you through the fire of affliction. Wisely, He will not leave us as we are and mercifully He will, through the wilderness, make us what we should be! Trials come even to those whom He is well-pleased with. Jesus Himself reminds us that "In the world you will have trouble, but take courage; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

Are you facing a wilderness? Take comfort and find courage my fellow Christians for you are in the company of Christ. Truly, we have a High Priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses for He has been tempted in all things as we are. (Hebrews 4:15) Truly, because He has walked the wilderness road before us He now earnestly pleads with us to "draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16)

Secondly, Mark infers that God has a hand in the trials that come our way. Notice that it is the very Spirit of God who leads the Son of God into this wilderness. It is ultimately not Satan who devised this plan and this place. No, it was God. And God was leading, guiding, and directing Jesus into this trying place. Just as it was with Jesus here in Mark 1, so it was with Joseph (Genesis 45:5-8), so it was with Job (Job 1:7-8), and so it is with us. Surely "our times", all our times, "are in His hand" (Psalm 31:15).

I don't know about you, but I find a lot of hope in that. There is nothing that comes my way - no good thing, no bad thing, no pleasant thing, no painful thing - NO thing that has not ultimately come to me through the all-wise, all-loving, and all-sovereign hand of God. The path I follow - be it stony or smooth, be it beaming with light or shadowed in darkness - that path is carved for me by my God "in perfect faithfulness" (Isaiah 25:1) and shall accomplish His good pleasure in me in His perfect way and on His perfect day (Romans 8:28). The temptation of Christ was a good thing. It was a good thing because He who was tempted in all things as we are did so "without sin" (again see Hebrews 4:15) and that made Jesus an acceptable Savior - a Lamb without blemish or spot - a sinless Sacrifice on our behalf. May we thank God for the temptation of Christ and may we flee to this victorious Warrior in our own temptations!!

That leads me to lesson three.

Third, Mark teaches us that there are real enemies who would seek to undo us. The passage says, "And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts." The passage speaks of two different enemies - the spiritual and the physical. Clearly we all can name countless tangible "wild beasts" who have tempted us to sin -even friends and family (not to mention our own flesh) can act as "wild beasts" from time to time. I don't want to spend my time on the "seen" enemies this morning - bottom line, we need to avoid those people and those places that tempt us (1 Corinthians 15:33, Mark 9:43-48) and we need to avoid them like the plague!! I d0, however, want to pause for a moment on the "unseen".

Paul clearly tell us that "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12). The Word declares that we have real, true, and horrific unseen spiritual enemies. The devil is no dead dumb dogma - he is a real and active adversary.

It is he who came to Adam and Eve in the Garden and tempted them to doubt the Word of God and instead trust his own deceptive whispers (Genesis 3). It is he who sought to destroy righteous Job (Job 1 & 2). It is he who sought to accuse Joshua the high priest (Zechariah 3). And it is he who sought to mess up the Messiah (Matthew 4, Mark 1).

This same Satan seeks to devour us. He often disguises himself as an "angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14) and sneakily looks for ways to snatch up the seeds sown upon the paths of our lives (Luke 8:12). Know that he is and that he "prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). Know that he is and that he is a prowling liar - "he is the father of lies" (John 8:44). Know that he is and that he is a prowling, lying thief - "the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy" (John 10:10). Know that he is and know that he is looking for opportunities to trip you up. "Do not give the devil an opportunity" (Ephesians 4:27). Know that he is and "put on the full armor of God that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil" (Ephesians 6:11). Know that he is and know that if, by grace, you "resist him, he will flee" (James 4:7).

All of this brings me to the fourth and final thing that Mark teaches us.

Fourthly, Mark teaches us that while we have a real enemy, we also have a real Ally. "And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were minstering to Him."

While Jesus was battling in the wilderness He was not alone in the battle - angels were ministering to Him. Friends, we are not alone in the battle either - and we have One much more capable and competent than just the angels fighting with us and interceding for us! We have Jesus!! We. Have. JESUS!!

"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who wil bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intecedes for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written. "For Thy sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loves us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:31-39)

Friends, the devil is real and the devil really comes to steal, kill and destroy us BUT Jesus is even more real and He has come to save us and give us life and deliver us from the snares of the wicked one.

Jesus has withstood the devil's temptations and in Jesus we can too! We must "be on the alert and stand firm in the faith" (1 Cor 16:13). As I recently heard Reed DePace proclaim from his pulpit in Montgomery, Alabama - the ONLY way we will stand firm is to stand behind Jesus!!

Beloved, Mark teaches us that even the dearly loved children of God will face trials and testings - testings ordained by the very Spirit of God. He tells us that there is a real enemy - but He also directs our gaze to the great Ally - "Jesus Christ, the Son of God."

Where are we standing this day? May we stand behind Jesus, hidden in the veil of His blood and kept safe and sound in the cross of Christ which has successfully crushed the head of Satan and has secured the salvation of our sinful souls!

Standing, by grace alone,

Lori

"For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as w are, yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of mercy, that we may find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:15-16)

Well Pleased - Mark 1:9-11

2010-12-11T21:04:00.007-05:00

"And it came about in those days

that Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee,

and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

And immediately coming up out of the water,

He saw the heavens opening,

and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him;

and a voice came out of the heavens saying:

'Thou art My beloved Son, in Thee I am well pleased.'

(Mark 1:9-11)

John the Baptist was not only privileged to verbally proclaim the coming of Christ, he was privileged to physically anoint Christ as He entered into His public ministry. John the Baptist was given the honor of baptizing Jesus Christ, the Son of God!

So, here in these verses we have the account of the baptism of Christ. Much could be said. Much could be debated. I'm not into all of that at the moment. For now I'm simply looking for Jesus in the various sections of this gospel account and the thing about my Savior which most attaches itself to my head and to my heart this day springs forth from the Father's words about the Son.

A voice from the heavens speaks and it says: "Thou art my beloved Son, in Thee I am well pleased."

There is a LOT of good news about Jesus packed in those eleven words - good news for struggling sinners like you and like me!

We are here told that the Christ who came is much loved by the Father who sent Him. More than that we are told that the Father who sent Him is well pleased with the Son who came.

You know, Jesus came to save sinners. He came into this world because "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

Think about it friends, the kingly Father is well pleased with the princely Son who left heaven's throne room for a stinky cattle stall. He is pleased with the sinless Son who became sin for us. He is pleased with the eternal Son who died the death that we deserve to die. He is pleased with the omnipotent Son who did indeed crush Satan's head through His resurrection and has opened the gates of heaven to His much loved sinful siblings!!

The Father has spoken and He has said, "This is My beloved Son, in Him I am well pleased!"

Those words are glorious words, my fellow believers.

"That voice declared the wondrous and ineffable love between Father and Son. Those words announced the Father's acceptance of the Son as the mediator, substitute, and surety of the new covenant. Being 'in Christ' we are accepted in the Beloved and when the holy eye of God looks at us, He is 'well pleased.'" (Matthew Henry)

Here at the "beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ" as it is recorded by Mark we have a marvelous promise. The Father is well pleased with the Son. It is a promise that should calm our fears when we fail. It is a promise that should drive away our doubts when we despair. It is a promise that should steady our steps when we stumble. God the Father is pleased with Jesus the Son. Christians, you who are saved by the vicarious work of Jesus Christ - and there truly are no other kind- the Father is well pleased with your Savior - and because of that, He is well pleased with you!!

In Christ, we too are His beloved sons and daughters - and in Christ, with us He too is well pleased!

The thought blows my mind!!

Lori

Making Ready the Way - Mark 1:1-8

2010-12-11T20:47:00.003-05:00

"The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,

'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,

who will prepare Your way;

the voice of one crying in the wilderness,

'Make ready the way of the Lord,

make His paths straight.'

John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness

preaching a baptism of repentance

for the forgiveness of sins.

And all the country of Judea was going out to him,

and all the people of Jerusalem;

and they were being baptized by Him

in the Jordan River confessing their sins.

And John was clothed with camel's hair

and wore a leather belt around his waist,

and his diet was locusts and wild honey.

And he was preaching and saying,

'After me One is coming who is mightier than I,

and I am not fit to stoop down and

untie the thong of His sandals.

I baptize you with water;

but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.'"

(Mark 1:1-8)

Every really good story has an introduction. An introduction consists of those prefacing words and descriptions that will set the stage for all that is to come. Chapter 1 verses 1-8 are the introduction for the good story of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God as told by Mark.

There are several interesting revelations made in these 8 verses, but the thing that most grabbed my attention was the idea of the very introduction itself!

We see that this introduction of the good news of Jesus doesn't simply begin here with Mark. No, it goes all the way back to Isaiah - hundreds of years earlier.

(Actually the introduction of Jesus, the Messiah who was to come and save His people from their sins goes back to the dawn of time in Genesis 3. In verse 15, just after the fall, we are told that God was going to send One who would bruise Satan on the head. One whom Satan would bruise on the heel. That One was Jesus Christ, the Son of God - and that very passage is a foreshadowing of the crucifixion of our Lord. The introduction continues throughout all of the books of the Old Testament as we are "introduced" to the Christ who was on the way to save the day! But I digress.)

Mark references Isaiah - a book that is full to overflowing with prophecies about Jesus. (Just glance at chapters 6, 9 or 53 for starters.) But interestingly, Mark begins his introductory comments about the gospel of Jesus with an introduction to the introduction!! Mark's introduction is about the one who was prophecied to make the introduction - John the Baptist.

No doubt, every good king has a herald - or two, or three, or twenty! There are those who are employed with the task of announcing the coming of the king so that the people might be prepared for his appearance. John the Bapist is that herald, set apart to trumpet the coming of the long awaited Messiah - Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Isaiah 40 is the place where you'll find this remarkable prophecy about the messenger who would go before the Messiah. He would come as a "voice crying in the wilderness" and he would tell the people to "make ready the way of the Lord."

How amazingly accurate is this prophecy, though not surprisingly so. Afterall, these are the words of the omniscient and sovereign God of the universe. The intricately detailed fulfillments of these centuries old prophecies are one of the glorious proofs of the validity and trustworthiness of this Book of books.

Indeed, John did come before Christ. He was born 6 months prior and he began preaching this heralding sermon in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar - just as Jesus was about to begin his own public ministry.

John, the wild man of the wild-erness - the preacher who wore camel's hair and ate bugs and wild honey - the man who perfectly fit the description of the prophet Isaiah, this John came pointing people, not to himself, but to the One who was on the way. He sought to prepare the ground for the great Sower. He sought to make the road ready and the path straight for the One who was headed to Calvary. He sought to direct the people's attention, not to John but to Jesus - the "One coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals. I baptize you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

John came to tell the people of the Lamb of God who was come to take away the sins of the world and tell of Him he did - just as Isaiah prophecied.

John was "making ready the way."

What strikes me as I read these words is how, even still, there is a herald who makes ready the way for Jesus. When Jesus came physically, God sent John to get things ready. When Jesus comes spiritually, into the life of a sinner, God sends His Holy Spirit to get things ready. He sends One to breathe life into a dead soul and to form flesh where there has been but stone. God the Father, sends God the Spirit to do effectual regenerating work in the inner part of the one to whom He is sending God the Son. He sends His Spirit to "make ready the way of the Lord."

Friends, do you know those whom you long to see embrace Jesus? Might I suggest that we bombard the throne of heaven and beg our Father, who is rich in mercy, to send the herald of His precious Holy Spirit to open blind eyes, unstop deaf ears, and breathe life into corpses dead and deteriorating with sin? We once needed the herald of the Holy Spirit. How thankful I am for those who prayed for the preparation of my heart to hear and how much more grateful am I for the God who prepared the hard, dry, stony soil that lay within me!

May we take comfort in knowing that God will make ready the way for the salvation of His people. May we also take action in begging Him so to do!

Thankful, beyond words, for the herald of His Spirit in my own heart,

Lori

Introductory Comments on A Book About Jesus

2010-12-09T16:06:00.006-05:00

"The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God..."

(Mark 1:1)

Recently I have found myself with a deeper need to dig into Jesus. (Honestly, God has sort of providentially backed me into the corner of deeper need! OK, so that's a vast understatement.)

In the past month I have truly begun to ask, "Who is this Savior of sinners and do I REALLY know Him or do I just know a decent bit about Him?" In striving to answer the question and answer it well, I found myself drifting to the gospel of Mark. There's a reason for that.

First, Mark is one of the four gospel accounts of the life of Jesus. Seems like one of the four historical gospel books would be a good place for me to start.

Second, Mark is, at least from my readings, a rather unique gospel account. Mark deals not as much with what Jesus says as with what He does - though both are there. Here, my attention is focused more on the works of Jesus though still holding forth the words of Jesus. Here, I am made to gaze upon the Person of Christ - the living, breathing, walking, and working God with us - Jesus!

Mark is not, like Matthew, a book meant to convince us that Jesus is the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. It is not, like John, written to primarily convince us of deep doctrinal truths about Him - though again they are there. To me, Mark seems to be Jesus for the average Joe - and there's a lot of average Joe in me.

Over a month ago I really began to dig into this book and I have not been disappointed in my excavation. I have asked God to introduce me to Jesus, my Savior, through these pages as I have never known Him and I must tell you, I think I am beginning to see Him more clearly than ever before. For years I have viewed Him much more as "Christ" - the theoretical office bearer who died for the sins of the world. Now, I am truly beginning to see Him - through this book - as "Jesus" the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of Lori.

It is my prayer that as I share some of my personal notes and private lessons learned from Mark's gospel, which is described as "the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God," that anyone who happens to pop onto the pages of this blog will catch a glimpse of the beauty of Jesus Christ as well.

How thankful I am for the Word of God which points us so poignantly to the Christ of God. Oh to love Jesus more and more - that is my heart's cry. May it be yours as well!

In His glorious grace,
Lori

Jesus Does All Things Well

2010-12-08T15:19:00.003-05:00

I haven't posted any notes in a while. There's a reason for that. The God of the universe has been working overtime on me - very personally, very providentially, very profoundly and I've just needed to sit down and shut up.

My loving heavenly Father has been making me stare down my past, making me learn to rightly rest in Him for my present, and teaching me to trust Him with my future. It's been a pretty big deal and the good news is that, much like Eustace Scrubb in C.S. Lewis' "Voyage of The Dawn Treader", the dragon scales are falling off of this stubborn saved sinner and the far too often blind eyes of a redeemed doubter are begining to be focused much more clearly not simply on the abstract idea of a theoretical Christ who saves sinners but on the real Person of Jesus - Immanuel - God with us - the Lamb of God who died for this sinner.

I hope in the next few days or weeks to begin to share some things again with you - both here on my blog and on Face Book. Today, I want to share one thing that greatly encouraged my heart over the weekend and has captivated it again this day.

As I mentioned, I have really been made to stare down my past. It is not something I intended to do. It has been literally forced down my throat and it has not been an easy pill to swallow. The past year and a half of my life has involved my having to accept some really hard things. It has further involved my having to begin to deeply trust the all wise and utterly sovereign hand of God in those really hard things. Even over the course of the last few days I have been made to look in the face of one who has haunted me and hear the very words that far too often have unfolded as whispers in my own mind. That happened in an all too uncanny way while watching a Disney movie with my family - the movie being "Tangled". My husband was there - he witnessed it and was as flabbergasted as I!!

[Now, a caveat - I FULLY accept the Biblical admonition that we are to forget what lies behind and press on towards what lies ahead. Far too often we dwell too much on yesterday and end up being paralyzed by our self-imposed wallowing. There is a flip side to that though. Personally, I am one of those who has far too often denied my past and in so doing I have been paralyzed by my own toughness. Getting out of that calloused condition has been and is still being a process for me - very much a process. Oh, sweet sanctification!! I am thankful for a patient God and even more thankful for a personal Savior - the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, more on all of that later.]

So... what am I getting at? Well, if you, like myself, have some yesterdays that just simply stink, or perhaps your today seems terrible from your current point of view, or maybe your tomorrow looks bleak and bitterly cold and absolutely unbearable - then these next few words are for you.

Saturday morning, while reading of Jesus' healing of a deaf and mute man in Mark 7, these words jumped off the page to me: Jesus "has done ALL things well." Aparently they jumped off the page to my dear departed father in the faith, J C Ryle.

His words:

"Let us remember this as we look back over the days past of our lives. 'Our Lord has done all things well.' He has done all things well in first bringing us out of darkness into marvellous light - in humbling us and teaching us our weakness, guilt and folly - in stripping us of our idols, and choosing all our portions - in placing us where we are, and giving us what we have - how well EVERYTHING has been done! How great the mercy that we have not had our own way!

"Let us remember this as we look forward to the days yet to come. We know not what they may be, bright or dark, many or few. But we know that we are in the hands of Him who 'doeth all things well.'

"He will not err in any of His dealings with us. He will take away and give - He will afflict and bereave - He will move and He will setlle, with perfect wisdom, at the right time and in the right way. The great Shepherd of the sheep makes no mistakes. He leads every lamb of His flock by the right way to the city of habitation.

"We shall never see the full beauty of these words till the resurrection morning. We shall then look back over our lives, and know the meaning of everything that happened from first to last. We shall remember all the ways by which we were led, and confess that ALL was 'well done.'

"The why and the wherefore, the causes and the reasons of everything which now perplexes, will be clear and plain as the sun at noon-day. We shall wonder at our own past blindness, and marvel that we could ever have doubted our Lord's love. 'Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. Now we know in part, but then shall we know even as we are known.'"

Beloved friends, whatever you have faced, whatever you are even now facing, whatever waits to pounce upon your path tomorrow or the next day - know that it flows from the hands of an all-wise, all-loving, all-sovereign Savior - One who does ALL things well! One who is working all things together well! Here is one of the great comforts of the Christian, here is one of the practical blessings and benefits of resting in Jesus the Redeemer. Not only does He redeem your life from the eternal pit, He redeems it from the earthly one as well and makes all things beautiful in their time. He shall restore the years the locusts have eaten. (Joel 2:25-27)

Do you know this miracle Worker? Do you know this loving Savior of the ransacked? Are you resting in the ability of the Master Architect to straighten that which is crooked? Are you trusting in the Sun of Righteousness to shed light on the road that is deeply dark? Are you gazing upon the all lovely Lilly of the Valley, Jesus, the One who makes the broken beautiful?

My friends, Jesus does all things well. How thankful I am for that which He is doing in me - "though painful at present" - and how I pray that you will see that He is doing the same in each of you!

Kept by the grace of Christ Jesus alone,

Lori

I Cursed Christ - Galatians 3:13

2010-07-19T05:14:00.000-04:00

"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law,

having become a curse for us -

for it is written,

'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.'"

(Galatians 3:13)

Sometimes I tend to just "poo poo" my sins away - thinking of them simply as slight slip ups, minimal mistakes, and average accidents. "Oh, this is really no big deal. What's it really matter? What'll it really cost?"

If, like me, you've ever thought that sin is just really "no big deal" then let this note help us think again.

You know, my sin and your sin cost Christ His life. Jesus came and "gave Himself for our sins." He "delivered Himself up for me." That folks is a big deal- a BIG big deal. Our sins killed Christ!

OK -'nuff said? Nope! Not nearly enough!

Even greater to me, is what this passage in Galatians says was attached to that death - a curse. Not only did Jesus die for me, He became a curse for me!! In reality, my sin cursed Christ - and yours did too! Christ was damned in my place that I might not be!! Beloved let it sink in for that is the biggest of big deals!!!

We often think of Christ in His exaltation - and we need to. He's the Son of God, the righteous and holy One, the omniscient and omnipotent miracle worker. He stills the storm. He raises the dead. He disperses demons. He is God incarnate.

However, we also need to pause and consider Christ in His humiliation. He became a curse for us! "He poured out Himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; and bore the sins of many" (Isaiah 53:12).

The Lion of Judah became the Lamb who was slain. That spotless Lamb took our spots upon Himself. He was defiled by our defilement. To be blunt - He was covered in our crap! The "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" took it away by taking it upon Himself. He became our scapegoat. He bore our sins - no, even bigger than that - he BECAME our sins!!Friends - sin is a big deal and salvation from sins is an even bigger deal!!

Still not convinced? Listen to Luther:

"Christ became the greatest transgressor, murderer, adulterer, thief, blasphemer that ever was or ever could be on earth. When He took the sins of the whole world upon Himself, Christ was no longer an innocent person. He was a sinner burdened with the sins of a Paul who was a blasphemer; burdened with the sins of a Peter who denied Christ; burdened with the sins of a David who committed adultery and murder. This gave the heathen occasion to laugh at the Lord on Calvary's cross.
In short, Christ was charged with the sins of all men, that He should pay for them with His own blood. The curse struck Him. The Law found Him among sinners. He was not only in the company of sinners. He had gone so far as to invest Himself with the flesh and blood of sinners."

Having gone so far as to "invest Himself with the flesh and blood of sinners" Jesus went even farther and died for sinners - He died for me!

Luther continues:

"Our merciful Father in heaven saw how the Law oppressed us and how impossible it was for us to get out from under the curse of the Law. He therefore sent His only Son into the world and said to Him: "You are now Peter, the liar; Paul, the persecutor; David, the adulterer; Adam, the disobedient; the thief on the cross. You, My Son, must pay the world's iniquity." The Law growls: "All right. If Your Son is taking the sin of the world, I see no sins anywhere else but in Him. He shall die on the Cross." And the Law kills Christ. But we go free. "

Dear reader, this is the good news of the gospel! "The law kills Christ, but we go free!" This is the picture of just how pernicious our sin is and it is the portrait of just how precious our Savior is. "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us."

"God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Christ was made the curse that He might become the cure!

This truth should have a two-edged effect upon our hearts. Our hearts should be heavy with the realized weight of our sin - my sin cursed Christ and is therefore an eternally big deal!! However, this truth should also make our hearts overflow with joyful freedom - my curse became His curse and I bear it no more!!

"My sin - O the bliss of this glorious thought! My sin, not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more; praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!" (Horatio Spafford, 1873)

Oh beloved - this is the great exchange! Christ took our sins upon Himself and placed His righteousness upon us.

Has the grandest of all transactions taken place in your life? It can if you will by grace, through faith believe on this One - this Jesus Christ the Son of God - who became the curse to redeem you from it!

In His glorious grace,

Lori

By Faith - Galatians 3:10-11

2010-07-16T05:19:00.004-04:00

"For as many as are under the works of the Law

are under a curse; for it is written,

'Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all

things written in the book of the Law,

to perform them.'

Now that no one is justified by the Law

before God is evident; for,

'The righteous man shall live by faith.'"

(Galatians 3:10-11)

"The curse of God is like a flood that swallows everything that is not of faith. To avoid the curse we must hold on to the promise of the blessing in Christ." (Martin Luther)

So begin Dr. Luther's thoughts on this section of holy writ.

Matthew Henry writes in a similar vein:

"We cannot be justified but by faith fastening on the gospel, because the Law condemns us. If we put ourselves upon trial in that court, we are certainly lost and undone."

These fathers of the faith are clear because the Word of God is clear. Paul himself could be no clearer than he has been about all of this. Yet he continues on with reminding reproof because we are... well... we're hard headed. Repetitive reminders regarding our redemption are a good thing. Hear this well:

The Law kills. Christ gives life.

The Law condemns. Jesus redeems!

"A man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Jesus Christ."

Elsewhere Paul reminds us that "that which is not of faith is sin." Only works that are fixed to faith are of any worth - and even then they are only of value as salvation's fruit and not in any way shape or form are they to be construed as salvation's root. We cannot earn God's favor for His favor is a gift freely given. We are all lost and undone by the Law's standard. Gloriously, we are all found and restored by Christ's fullfilling of that standard!

"The righteous man shall live by faith." That faith is in the Son of God who gave Himself for our sins. As Peter preached at Pentecost - words which were drawn from the gospel of the Old Testament: "And it shall be, that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord whall be saved."

Later, when Peter is preaching to the Gentiles at Caesarea he holds forth this same justifying message (still resounding with Old Testament gospel language): "Of Him [Christ] all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins." (Acts 10:13).

We are cursed and condemned under the weight of the Law. Our Lord Jesus Christ became a curse for us and stood condemned in our place that we might be freely forgiven, not because of our works but, because of His!

Luther writes:

"Because God saw that we could not fulfill the Law, He provided a way of salvation long before the Law was ever given, a salvation that He promised to Abraham, saying, 'In thee shall all nations be blessed.'

The very first thing for us to do is to believe in Christ. First, we must receive the Holy Spirit, who enlightens and sanctifies us so that we can begin to do the Law, i.e., to love God and our neighbor. Now, the Holy Ghost is not obtained by the Law, but by faith in Christ. In the last analysis, to do the Law means to believe in Jesus Christ. The tree comes first, and then come the fruits."

Friends, the Law will lay you low in the grave. The Lord Jesus Christ - the Living Law - will set you free to produce much fruit. Live by faith in the Risen Son of God. In Him is life and life abundant.

"The righteous will live by faith." Are you living?

In His glorious grace,

Lori

The Gospel Beforehand - Galatians 3:8

2010-07-15T05:27:00.001-04:00

"And the Scripture, foreseeing that God

would justify the Gentiles by faith,

preached the gospel beforehand

to Abraham, saying,

'All the nations shall be blessed in you.'"

(Galatians 3:8)

Justification is no new thing. It is not a New Testament invention. It is not the new and improved way of salvation. The way to heaven didn't used to be through works and suddenly somewhere around 33 AD it morphed into grace. No, since the dawn of time the people of God have been saved by grace, through faith, in Christ. No man has ever been justified by the works of the Law. Every saved sinner has always been justified by faith in Christ Jesus.

"How can it be?" You may protest.

"Come on, Jesus didn't even pop on the scene until the dawn of a new time marker. What about all of those sacrifices that were required? What about all of that blood that was spilt? What about...?"

Yes, what about all of that?! Those are good and important questions.

Let me remind you of a few things before going a single step further.

1. In this very book of Galatians, the Bible clearly states that "by the works of the Law shall NO flesh be justified."

2. Further in this same epistle, the Bible also states that "if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly."

3. Elsewhere (Hebrews 10) the Bible informs us that "it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins."

Yes, what about all of that blood? Yes, what about all of those laborious tasks and ceremonies?

What about them? They were types of shadows and pictures of HE who was to come. The lambs were vivid illustrations of THE Lamb - the Lamb of God who would come to take away the sins of the world. All of that shed blood was a tangible portrait of THE Blood which would be shed for the remission of sins. All of that work was a reminder of HIS work which would be done on our behalf. Everything in the old was a foreshadowing of that which would be fulfilled in the new. All of it, every bit of it pointed to the Messiah who was to come and save His people from their sins. The gospel of grace has always been and always will be.

How can I say that? Because the Word of God says it. This is no stretch. In the very text before us we are plainly told that the Scripture "preached the GOSPEL beforehand to Abraham...."

Friends, the gospel is nothing new. Yes, our understanding of it may be fuller than was theirs. We have the whole counsel of God in our possession. We can pick it up. We can pour over its pages. We can look long into its testimonies. We have a full account of who Christ was and of what He did. Yes, we are blessed beyond measure to live at such a time as this.

But they were not without a gospel witness. The promise of the coming Messiah arrived on the scene as soon as the misery of the fall fell.

At the heels of Adam's rebellion we find God's redeeming restoration and attached to it we find the promise of Christ. To the serpent, that enemy of God's elect, it is said in Genesis 3:

"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel."

Genesis 3:15 is the first proclamation of the coming of the suffering Servant and of the conquering King. Far in the future, Satan would seek to slay our Savior by striking a painful blow on Calvary's cross - a heel bruiser. BUT... the very wounds which the Messiah would bear are the very wounds which granted us the gracious victory and would ultimately crush that sneaky and slithering snakes plan - a mortal head wound!

On and on and on it goes throughout the Old Testament. Take a quick glance at Psalm 22 and at Isaiah 53 simply for starters. The works of the coming Messiah on our behalf - His role as our Prophet, Priest, and King - all of these things are well described long before His physical entrance into time and space.

"Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness."

Abraham believed the gospel? Do we?

The gospel of grace was proclaimed to Abraham centuries before the tangible, historical outworkings of it on Calvary's cross. Even before it physically occurred it was efficacious to save Father Abraham by grace, through faith. If it was enough to save him then it is enough to save us.

The gospel was preached "beforehand" and it continues to be preached afterwards. Are you resting in the good news of what Christ has done on your behalf? He has "given Himself for our sins to deliver us from this present evil age. "

"Abraham believed" - do we?

In the grace of the gospel,

Lori

Abraham Believed - Galatians 3:6

2010-07-14T05:48:00.003-04:00

"Even so Abraham believed God,

and it was reckoned to Him as righteousness."

(Galatians 3:6)

There are two key ingredients to the recipe of righteousness that is found here in Galatians 3:6.

"Abraham believed!"

We are not told that Abraham reasoned, nor that he understood, nor that he had it all figured out. No, we are told that he "believed".

And what did He believe? "Abraham believed God!"

Abraham was a man of faith - simple faith. He took God at His word. He trusted what God said. He believed that God would do what He promised and fully abandoned himself to His care. Abraham simply submitted Himself - even to that which he could not see. "Abraham believed!"

Do we?

Those who know me well know that I am a reasoning wrestler. It could often be said of me "Lori reasoned", "Lori wresteled", and "Lori wrangled."

Is it just as often said of me "Lori believed"?

As poor, weak Peter humbly acknowledged to His restoring Redeemer - "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You." With Peter I cry out in the midst of my own weakness - "Lord, You know all things; You know that I believe in You!" With the demon-possessed boy's father of Mark 9 I most earnestly and honestly cry out: "I do believe; help my unbelief."

Weak faith is still faith - real faith. Sometimes I wonder if doubting faith is not even greater faith, for to walk with God in spite of the storm of uncertainty shows a trust that is often absent when things look pretty and line up perfectly.

Abraham believed and by grace, I do too!

If you find yourself in similar shoes to mine - believing yet doubting, resting yet at times reasoning your rest away - Dr. Luther's thoughts may encourage you (not to mention challenge the hang nail out of you).

He writes:

“To believe in God as Abraham did is to be right with God because faith honors God. Faith says to God: 'I believe what you say.'"

He goes on to remind us that "when we pay attention to reason, God seems to propose impossible matters in the Christian Creed." Think about it (or maybe don't)- the virgin birth, Creation out of nothing by only a word, hell, heaven, the hypostatic union of Christ as 100% God and 100% man, water into wine, talking donkeys, speaking serpents, the dead rising.... "Reason shouts that all this is preposterous. Are you surprised that reason thinks little of faith? Reason thinks it ludicrous that faith should be the foremost service any person can render unto God."

He continues:

"Let your faith supplant reason. Abraham mastered reason by faith in the Word of God. Not as though reason ever yields meekly. It put up a fight against the faith of Abraham. Reason protested that it was absurd to think that Sarah who was ninety years old and barren by nature, should give birth to a son. But faith won the victory and routed reason, that ugly beast and enemy of God. Everyone who by faith slays reason, the world's biggest monster, renders God a real service, a better service than the religions of all races and all the drudgery of meritorious monks can render.
Men fast, pray, watch, suffer. They intend to appease the wrath of God and to deserve God's grace by their exertions. But there is no glory in it for God, because by their exertions these workers pronounce God an unmerciful slave driver, an unfaithful and angry Judge. They despise God, make a liar out of Him, snub Christ and all His benefits; in short they pull God from His throne and perch themselves on it.
Faith truly honors God. And because faith honors God, God counts faith for righteousness."

Now, I am by NO means telling us that we should check our brains at the door -nor does the Scripture. Elsewhere God beckons us to "come, reason together." BUT... the rub comes when we exalt our human reason above His divine revelation. At that point we establish our own thinking as the arbiter of truth and set our mental abilities up as God.

Just as physical works will not justify us, neither will mental ones. Faith is not reason that we conjure up. "Faith is the gift of God."

Friends, what are you banking on? As the credit commercial asks, "What's in yer wallet?" The righteousness of Christ or the reasonings of the creature?

"Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned (credited) to Him as righteousness." With father Abraham may we fall to faith and not rest on reason.

By grace, through faith,

Lori

Bewitched - Galatians 3:1-3

2010-07-13T05:29:00.002-04:00

"You foolish Galatians,

who has bewitched you,

before whose eyes Jesus Christ

was publicly portrayed as crucified?

This is the only thing I want to find

out from you;

did you receive the Spirit by the

works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?

Are you so foolish?

Having begun by the Spirit,

are you now being perfected by the flesh?"

(Galatians 3:1-3)

Are you sensing a theme in Paul's letter? Does anything in particular seem to be a pivotal point in his writing?!

Our salvation is all of Christ, only of Christ, freely of Christ, and fully of Christ! Justification is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. We bring nothing to our salvation but sin and to think that we can "do" anything to earn our way to God's favor is the height of deception.

Well, here we go again. The theme is still weaving its way - and weave on it must for if we miss this point we have missed everything!

At the start of chapter 3, Paul is speaking to those who have embraced Christ BUT are still trying to do something to merit His favor and to earn their keep. He is about to question them on several fronts.

First, he asks "what in the world has gotten into you?!" In the Biblical language he writes: "You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you?"

Oh, how easily led astray we silly sheep can be. We are so quickly drawn away. We are readily deceived. We are seduced so simply. We are "bewitched" without much effort at all.

I loved Luther's thoughts on this bewitching.

"We are all exposed to the influence of the devil, because he is the prince and god of the world in which we live. Satan is clever. He does not only bewitch men in a crude manner, but also in a more artful fashion. He bedevils the minds of men with hideous fallacies. Not only is he able to deceive the self-assured, but even those who profess the true Christian faith. There is not one among us who is not at times seduced by Satan into false beliefs."

He continues:

"The tricky devil can make a lie look like the truth. Since he has this uncanny ability to make us believe a lie until we would swear a thousand times it were the truth, we must not be proud, but walk in fear and humility, and call upon the Lord Jesus to save us from temptation.

Although I am a doctor of divinity, and have preached Christ and fought His battles for a long time, I know from personal experience how difficult it is to hold fast to the truth. I cannot always shake off Satan. I cannot always apprehend Christ as the
Scriptures portray Him. Sometimes the devil distorts Christ to my vision. But thanks be to God, who keeps us in His Word, in faith, and in prayer."

Friends, let us recognize how quickly we can be capsized, how prone we are to wander, and how easily we will believe the lie. Knowing that, let us flee to Jesus - the Author and Perfector of our faith, the Shepherd and Guardian of our Souls.

He alone can keep us from being "bewitched" by the luring aroma of works righteousness. Neither our justification nor our sanctification can be achieved through our own efforts. Be not foolish. Having begun in Christ we will also be perfected in Christ. Having been regenerated by the Spirit we will also be matured by the Spirit. He who began the good work in us will complete the good work in us.

It is all of grace - from start to finish. Rest in Him who gave Himself for our sins! Rely upon Him who delivered Himself for my sins! We are crucified with Christ, resurrected with Christ, and living in Christ.

In His glorious grace,

Lori

Needlessly - Galatians 2:21

2010-07-12T05:10:00.002-04:00

"I do not nullify the grace of God;

for if righteousness comes through the Law,

then Christ died needlessly."

(Galatians 2:21)

Grace!

Amazing Grace!

Marvelous Grace!

Wonderful Grace!

Grace That is Greater Than All My Sin!

Surely the Law kills and truly no man is justified by the works of the Law.

We know this is true because the Bible declares it to be true. Over and over and over Paul has driven this fact home in his letter to the Galatians. He has shot straight. He has spared no punches. He has not minced his words. "A man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Jesus."

Here in Galatians 2:21 he is going to give us a slightly different twist on this exact same truth, though. Here, he is going to show us how the very fact that Christ died proves his point.

If there was ANY other way to be saved, then why did Christ come?

"If righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly."

If there was ANY other way to save us then Christ would not have been the way!! For us to fall upon our own merits to save us is for us to mock His!!

Looking to Luther:

"Did Christ die, or did He not die? Was His death worth while, or was it not? If His death was worth while, it follows that righteousness does not come by the Law. Why was Christ born anyway? Why was He crucified? Why did He suffer? Why did He love me and give Himself for me? It was all done to no purpose if righteousness is to be had by the Law.

Or do you think that God spared not His Son, but delivered Him for us all, for the fun of it?"

Surely it was not for the fun of it. Certainly it was due to the necessity of it. Most assuredly it was not for any reason other than it was the only way. Jesus Himself declared "I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no once comes to the Father, but through Me" (John 14:6).

Many of our hymnwriters understand this truth.

"Not all the blood of beasts on Jewish altars slain, could give the guilty conscience peace, or wash away the stain: but Christ, the heavn'ly Lamb, takes all our sins away, a Sacrifice of nobler name and richer blood than they." (Isaac Watts, 1709)

"Not the labors of my hands can fulfill Thy Law's demands; could my zeal no respite know, could my tears forever flow, all for sin could not atone; Thou must save, and Thou alone." (Augustus Toplady, 1776)

"What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Nothing can for sin atone - nothing but the blood of Jesus; naught of good that I have done - nothing but the blood of Jesus." (Roberty Lowry, 1876)

Friends, our redemption cost nothing less than the very Son of God's execution. If you think of sin lightly, think again. No "little thing" would cost so great a price!

I turn again to Luther who so beautifully sums all of this up:

"If my salvation was so difficult to accomplish that it necessitated the death of Christ, then all my works, all the righteousness of the Law, are good for nothing. How can I buy for a penny what cost a million dollars? The Law is a penny's worth when you compare it with Christ. Should I be so stupid as to reject the righteousness of Christ which cost me nothing, and slave like a fool to achieve the righteousness of the Law which God disdains?

Man's own righteousness is in the last analysis a despising and rejecting of the grace of God. No combination of words can do justice to such an outrage. It is an insult to say that any man died in vain. But to say that Christ died in vain is a deadly insult. To say that Christ died in vain is to make His resurrection, His victory, His glory, His kingdom, heaven, earth, God Himself, of no purpose and benefit whatever.

That is enough to set any person against the righteousness of the Law and all the trimmings of men's own righteousness....

Who would not detest his own vows, his cowls, his shaven crown, his bearded traditions, yes, the very Law of Moses, when he hears that for such things he rejected the grace of God and the death of Christ. It seems that such a horrible wickedness could not enter a man's heart, that he should reject the grace of God, and despise the death of Christ. And yet this atrocity is all too common. Let us be warned. Everyone who seeks righteousness without Christ, either by works, merits, satisfactions, actions, or by the Law, rejects the grace of God, and despises the death of Christ."

Christ didn't die needlessly, let us not live as though He did. Righteousness does not come from the Law, it comes from Christ. Look to Him. Live in Him. Believe on Him. Be made righteous by Him!

In His glorious grace,

Lori

For ME? - Galatians 2:20

2010-07-09T05:17:00.002-04:00

"...the Son of God, who loved me,

and delivered Himself up for me."

(Galatians 2:20)

I was rolling along. I was moving forward. I was storming right on into verse 21 and then two words stopped me in my tracks.

"For me!"

"For ME!"

Wow! You know, the gospel is not just for the masses. Christ didn't simply die for the multitudes. Jesus didn't give Himself only for the many. My Savior delivered Himself up for ME!

Once again - Wow!

This is an up close and personal thing. This is God getting down and dirty with this wretched sinner named Lori Sealy. It was not only "for our sins" that Jesus came - it was for MY sins!!

Friends, is this not an amazing thing? Does this not blow your mind? We have a personal God who knows us personally. He came personally to rescue us personally. Does such love not move you to tears?! It should!

I know myself personally. I know how wretched and vile and corrupt and just flat-out wicked I am in my own heart and head. (You know that about yourself as well.) Well, God knows it even better than I do - and in spite of His perfect knowledge He chose to come anyway and He came "for ME!"

Luther wrote:

"Read the words 'me' and 'for me' with great emphasis. Print this 'me' with capital letters in your heart, and do not ever doubt that you belong to the number of those who are meant by this 'me.' Christ did not only love Peter and Paul. The same love He felt for them He feels for us."

ME! These are two letters of love from the God of love. Christ loves ME! Jesus died for ME! "For ME!" Are you counted with me as a "me" this day? You can be and I pray you will be!

In His glorious grace, which has been given to "me",

Lori

Crucified With Christ - Galatians 2:19-20

2010-07-08T05:12:00.004-04:00

"For through the Law I died to the Law,

that I might live to God.

I have been crucified with Christ;

and it is no longer I who live,

but Christ lives in me;

and the life which I now live in the flesh

I live by faith in the Son of God,

who loved me,

and delivered Himself up for me."

(Galatians 2:19-20)

Wow! Are you longing for freedom? Well, here's where you'll find it - in Christ crucified for you. But first, let us realize just how NOT free we are apart from Him.

This section of Galatians begins with some bad news - the Law kills! That bad news simply serves as the honest backdrop for the good news of the gospel which is about to be proclaimed - Christ gives life!!

Truly, no one can be justified by the Law. The Law condemns us. It shows us just how terribly we miss the mark. It accuses us - and rightly so. Honestly, as Paul proclaims, the Law kills us - it is a taskmaster that mercilessly drives us to our grave. The more we try to live the Law the more we die to the Law. ("through the Law I died to the Law....")

BUT... Christ has lived the Law for us and has sacrificed Himself for our sinful failure to fulfill its demands. Jesus is, in fact, the living Law and as our sufficient Savior he has set us free from the just wages of the written Law which held us in choking chains. His perfect life and atoning death have granted us the power to live unto God - a thing we were NEVER able to do before. "For through the Law I died to the Law, THAT I might live to God." Through Christ, we are suddenly free to do that which we were utterly incapable of before - we are free to do the right thing!! There's your good news and what good news it is!!

Paul's not done, however. He has more to say about this good news.

He writes: "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me."

Having been crucified with Christ we find real life, living life, vibrant life, a holy life. Our dead and enslaved selves are set free and are resurrected anew. Our stillborn selves are born again. Our old and worn out selves are re-created to a status of brand new and useful in His service! Truly this Galatians passage is a parallel picture of 2 Corinthians 5:17 where we are told that "therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come."

Henry writes:

"The old man is crucified. The new man is living. Sin is mortified. Grace is quickened. 'I live, yet not I.' He has the comforts and triumphs of grace; and yet that grace is not from himself but from another."

Beloved, this is a mantra we need to return to regularly. "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me!" Look not to yourself - look to your Savior!!

If we look to ourselves we will see our sin. If we look to our Savior - to Christ crucified for us and ourselves crucified with him - we will see our salvation! Look not to yourself. Look to Him"who gave Himself for our sins to deliver us from this present evil age!"

Through Jesus we live because He lives in us! He is our righteousness. He is our life. He is our power. He is our protector. He is our hope. He is our - everything!! We are in union with Christ - inseparably amalgamated to Him and in that fact we find freedom.

Luther writes the following about Christ's living in us and the benefits that are ours because He does so:

"Since Christ is now living in me, He abolishes the Law, condemns sin, and destroys death in me. These foes vanish in His presence. Christ abiding in me drives out every evil. This union with Christ delivers me from the demands of the Law, and separates me from my sinful self. As long as I abide in Christ, nothing can hurt me.

With Christ domiciling in me, the old Adam has to stay outside and remain subject to the Law. Think what grace, righteousness, life, peace, and salvation there is in me, thanks to that inseparable conjunction between Christ and me through faith!

Paul has a peculiar style, a celestial way of speaking. "I live," he says, "I live not; I am dead, I am not dead; I am a sinner, I am not a sinner; I have the Law, I have no Law."
When we look at ourselves we find plenty of sin. But when we look at Christ, we have no sin. Whenever we separate the person of Christ from our own person, we live under the Law and not in Christ; we are condemned by the Law, dead before God.

Faith connects you so intimately with Christ, that He and you become as it were one person. As such you may boldly say: "I am now one with Christ. Therefore Christ's righteousness, victory, and life are mine." On the other hand, Christ may say: "I am that big sinner. His sins and his death are mine, because he is joined to me, and I to him."

How amazing! How wonderful! How marvelous!!

Do you find yourself dead? Have you been killed by the Law? Do you see yourself as absolutely unable to live up to its demands? Friend, that is a good place to be for in the acknowledgement of your inability you may, by faith, fling yourself upon the certainty of Christ's ability.

You CAN'T keep the Law - and you don't have to - for He has kept it for you to enable you to live it through Him. Are you living in Him, through Him, and to Him? Are you looking to Him or to yourself? Are you crucified with Christ or dying in your doleful duty? Are you living in Him and He in you? Are you, by faith, resting upon His meritorious work and therefore bearing the fruit of that work? Are you depending on the fact that He has loved you and given Himself up for you? The cross of Christ is the place where freedom is found. Flee to it my friend - and find your life in His death!

"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me."

Crucified,
Lori

Faith Alone - Galatians 2:16

2010-07-07T05:42:00.005-04:00

"Nevertheless knowing that a man

is not justified by the works of the Law

but through faith in Christ Jesus,

even we have believed in Christ Jesus,

that we may be justified by faith in Christ,

and not by the works of the Law;

since by the works of the Law

shall no flesh be justified."

(Galatians 2:16)

Paul wants to make it clear. There is NO working our way to heaven or to holiness. Clearly and emphatically he tells us that a man is NOT justified by the works of the law.

This is the cardinal and foundational starting point for being a Christian. It is imperitive that we begin with an understanding that we can't "DO" a single thing to get in good with God. We are sinners - all of us. We have fallen short of the glory of God and there is no ladder long enough, no bridge broad enough, nor any work wide enough to get us to Him.

We are sinners and what we naturally do - all the time - left to ourselves - is sin!! We are by nature bad trees bearing bad fruit (Matthew 7:17) and no matter how hard we may try to produce good fruit it just won't happen. It cannot happen! Our most righteous deeds are but filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6) and our wicked hearts are continually producing wicked things (Mark 7:21-23). Bottom line - apart from Christ - we are only and always sinning.

As a matter of fact, the more we work for our salvation the more we, in reality, are simply storing up wrath and judgment for ourselves for the wages of all the labors of our hands is death (Romans 6:23). Since "whatever is not from faith is sin" it is easily deduced that "those who seek to earn the grace of God by their own efforts are trying to please God with their sins" (Luther). Friends, that is foolish.

Paul's point here in Galatians 2:16 is clearly and repetitively stated. "A man in NOT justified by the works of the Law... since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified."

Hear his words and listen to how Horatius Bonar has phrased them poetically...

Not what my hands have done can save my guilty soul;
not what my toiling flesh has borne can make my spirit whole.
Not what I feel or do can give me peace with God;
not all my prayers and sighs and tears can bear my awful load."

Not what our hands do. Not what our flesh feels. Not what our will works. None of these things can justify.

Only Jesus justifies!!

It is only by grace through faith in Christ that we are pardoned, forgiven, cleansed, and made righteous.

"A man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus..."

Oh my friends, this doctrine of justification is indeed the heart of the gospel. This is most assuredly that which holds it all together. This is the cardinal truth. This is the narrow gate by which we enter upon the road to redemption.

We are sinners. We are sinners to such an extent that we can do NOTHING to get ourselves out of the miry mess we've made - NOTHING!! We are incapable! We are incompetent!! We are dead in our trespasses and sins. We need to repent. We need to turn from our supposed self-sufficiency and we need to turn to our Savior's sufficient sacrifice!!

God loved us - rebellious wretches that we are - enough to send His Son, "His only begotten Son that whoever believes on Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Jesus "gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age."

Believe not in yourself but in Him!! He came that you might live through His merit and not die in your own.

What are you looking at to save you? What are you counting on to keep you? Are you seeking to save yourself? Are you walking in your works and resting in your record? If so you will find yourself justly judged on the last day "for by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified."

Look to Jesus. Look to the One who has done for you what you cannot do for yourself. Faith and repentence are the hallmark of holiness.

"Thy work alone, O Christ, can ease this weight of sin;

Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God, can give me peace within.

Thy love to me, O God, not mine, O Lord, to Thee,

can rid me of this dark unrest, and set my spirit free.

Thy grace alone, O God, to me can pardon speak;

Thy pow'r alone, O Son of God, can this sore bondage break.

No other work, save Thine, no other blood will do;

no strength, save that which is divine, can bear me safely through."

(Horatius Bonar - 1861)

Resting on His work, repenting of mine,

Lori

Justification - Galatians 2:16

2010-07-06T05:39:00.001-04:00

"Nevertheless knowing that a man

is not justified by the works of the Law

but through faith in Jesus Christ,

even we have believed in Christ Jesus,

that we may be justified by faith in Christ,

and not by the works of the Law;

since by the works of the Law

shall no flesh be justified."

(Galatians 1:16)

The message of Galatians 1:16 is clear: justification is ONLY by faith in Jesus Christ and not by the works of the Law. Over the next few posts it would appear that justification is going to be the grand theme. Honestly, it's the grand theme of Paul's entire epistle. In light of that perhaps it would be wise to make sure that this important term is defined and understood.

I know of no fuller and better definition than the one found in the Westminster Shorter Catechism. It states:

"Justification is an act of God's free grace, wherein He pardons all our sins and accepts us as righteous in His sight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone."

Webster defines it as "the act, process, or state of being justified by God." He then goes on to define "justified" as "having been proved right " or "legally absolved".

Good words, for by the act of God's free grace, through the sacrificial work of Christ, we have been legally absolved of our sinful guilt and are now accepted as righteous and holy in His sight. Amazing.

This morning I want us to pause and notice the five defining points that the Westminster Shorter Catechism gives of this bright shining salvific star that is known as justification. It think it will serve us well before delving further into Galatians.

1. Justification is an act of God's free grace. It is all of grace. It is all of FREE grace. It is nothing that we earn or work for. It is a gift. And it is a gift that is freely given gift.

"...being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith..." (Romans 3:24-25)

2. Justification is an act of God's free grace where he pardons all our sins. He forgives us. He wipes the slate clean. He declares us not guilty!

"Just as David also speaks of the blessing upon the man to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works: Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account." (Romans 4:6-8)

3. Justification is an act of God's free grace where He accepts us as righteous in His sight. God not only forgives us, but once He does He now looks upon us a righteous. He looks at us and sees not our sin but Christ's salvation applied in us and His righteousness imputed to us.

"God, reconciled us to Himself through Christ...not counting our trespasses against us, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.... He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:18-21 - selections)

4. Justification is an act of God's free grace that is imputed to us ONLY because of the righteousness of Christ. Christ's righteousness is credited to our account (imputation). His holiness is put into the bank of our life. Jesus has made the eternal deposit of righteousness and has also made the withdrawl of the guilt and power of sin from our lives. The latter He has crucified in His own flesh on Calvary's cross. It is ALL of Him, ONLY of Him, FULLY of Him and absolutely not one single iota of us.

"For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man's obedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous." (Romans 5:17-19)

5. Justification is an act of God's free grace that is received by faith alone. It is not getting by doing, it is receiving by believing! It is faith that takes hold of Christ and even that faith is a gracious gift of God.

"...found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which come from God on the basis of faith." (Philippians 3:9)

OK, so here's the summary - In justification we are, by grace alone through faith alone, freely and fully forgiven of our sins and given the righteousness of Christ.

That is the good news of the gospel and that is the good news we're about to look at in Galatians. By grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ's work alone we are forgiven and declared not guilty.

What's in your life's bank account?

Justified by Him, through Him, and to Him,

Lori

Behind the Back or To the Face? - Galatians 2:11

2010-07-05T05:33:00.002-04:00

"But when Peter came to Antioch,

I opposed him to his face,

because he stood condemned."

(Galatians 2:11)

In the last post we looked at Peter's blunder, today I want to look quickly at Paul's response.

Peter has fallen into some foolishness. Paul has seen it. What will he do about it?

Well, one thing he WON'T do about it is talk about Peter behind his back! We don't see Paul sneaking around to all of the Gentiles saying, "Hey, did you see what Peter did? Did you see how he was all buddy buddy with you guys up until the Jewish Christians popped up on the scene? What's up with him? Can you even believe that he would act that way?"

Nope. Paul is not going to talk about Peter. He is going to talk to Peter. Please, please take note of that fact.

The text says that Paul "opposed him to his face."

Friends if one of your fellow followers of Christ falters don't talk to everyone else - talk to him! Be reminded again of Galatians 6:1: "Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ."

Similarly, we see Jesus encouraging the same thing in Matthew 18 - encouraging us to go to the man not to the masses! Our Lord tells us:

"And if your brother sins, go and reprove him in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother."

That is always step one in reproof - take it to the person not to the people. Sure, Matthew 18 goes on to give further steps which we are to follow if he does not listen - but step one must be done as step one if your brother will be won!

So, the question for the day is this: Am I loving folks face to face or am I tale-bearing and talking behind their back?

Lord, grant us all the humble boldness to love one another as Paul loved Peter.

In His glorious grace,

Lori

Perfected in Our Imperfections / Acquitted of our Condemnation- Galatians 2:11-13

2010-07-02T06:04:00.012-04:00

"But when Peter came to Anitoch,

I opposed him to his face,

because he stood condemned.

For prior to the coming of certain men from James,

he used to eat with the Gentiles;

but when they came, he began to withdraw

and hold himself aloof,

fearing the party of the circumcision.

And the rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy,

with the result that even Barnabas

was carried away by their hypocrisy."

(Galatians 2:11-13)

True confession time! In reading over these verses, which were next on my list, I found myself initially saying: "Oh well - nuttin' today!" Some days that is how it seems. The word looks empty and impractical. It appears more historical than devotional. You know, I came close to simply skimming over this section and going on with the duties of the day, checking my Bible reading off of my "to do" list.

I am learning that my Bible reading is no "to do" it is a "to digest". I thought there was 'nuttin' and once again I am proved wrong. I am amazed yet I not surprised at what has pierced my heart this morning from this "impractically historical "section. Truly, this is the living Word of the living God and surely every jot and tittle of it is inspired and is profitable for our teaching, reproof, correction, training and full equipping for every good work.

Here's the condensed scoop that has so radically grabbed my attention this morning:

There are no perfect people... there is One perfect Propitiator!

Let me try to flesh that out. Here's what's happening...

Paul has been in a bit of a conflict with the Judaizers regarding circumcision. These guys are part of the "Jesus plus" contention. They are of the belief that men need Jesus "plus" the sign of circumcision in order to truly be saved. Paul has been dealing well with them - always pointing them to the same truths we have just looked at in Galatians chapter 1 - grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. He has even gone so far as to call in the other apostles and leaders of the church to examine the issue just to make sure he's teaching them rightly.

Peter is among those who have been gathered to examine things. He is there to help assess the situation. He arrives and, at first, when he meets with the Gentile churches we find him hanging with them well. He's eating their food and drinking their beverages. He's feasting and fellowshipping - just as he should.

BUT...then...enter the Jewish Christians.

"Uh oh! What will they think of me?!" asks Peter.

He withdraws.

He bails from their banquet.

He hides from their hospitality.

He parts from their presence.

And why? Because Peter - like us - was a people pleaser!!!

Do you see how big that is? Do you get it? Does it encourage your heart as it has mine?

Friends, there are no perfect people! Think about it, THIS IS PETER!! Sure, we've seen him blow it in the past - but didn't he learn from his mistakes? Come on, THIS IS PETER!!! Peter, the zealous one, who alone went to Jesus in the storm on the raging water only to sink when his faith failed him and his eyes wandered. YET... this is Peter who was rescued and restored by Jesus and learned from his drowning to walk WITH Christ in His power instead of simply TO Christ in his own strength.

THIS IS PETER!!! Peter who denied Christ so horribly prior to the crucifixion - yet Peter who was the only disciple to get close enough to Jesus to get caught. This is Peter who wept so bitterly because he betrayed his Lord. This is Peter who was so perfectly and precisely restored by Jesus after the resurrection and told to go and feed His sheep. This is Peter who after that point is a different dude - humbly bold with the gospel. It is he who led the other apostles in their appointment. THIS IS PETER - and you know what my friends? Peter ain't perfect.

Most assuredly we are not to attribute perfection to any person - not to Peter, not to Paul, not to Penny, Patrick, Perry or Patsy. And we are certainly not to think it true of ourselves!

Matthew Henry writes:

"Here note the weakness and inconsistency of the best of men. Here note how prone they are to falter in their duty of God out of an undue regard to the pleasing of men."

Do you struggle in this area? Do you find yourself fumbling and stumbling in this very thing that Paul warned us about in the previous chapter - this area of pleasing people and seeking the favor of men above the favor of God?

Friend, you're not alone. Here is the rubber of sin meeting the life of a saint - and a saint whom we tend to consider a "big dog". This is Peter - the mighty Peter - the bold as a lion at times Peter - and he fell into people pleasing!

It is a true and worthy statement: "no temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man...."

I was momentarily stopped in my tracks this morning as I read these words about Peter here in Galtians 2 and as I thought of my own struggles - not only my struggles with people pleasing but also my struggles with every other sin in the book!

My own inadequacies, my own falterings, my own flat out failings flooded my mind. You know, the text says that Peter "stood condemned". Hands down he was guilty! There was no denying it nor any doubt about it. He "stood condemned." Wow - you know what? Left to myself I stand condemned too.

Condemned.

Guilty as charged.

Justifiably worthy of having the book thrown at me!

Left to ourselves we are all of these things but resting and trusting and believing in Christ we are not!! The promise of condemnation is catapulted as far as the east is from the west if we are saved by His sufficient sacrifice on our behalf. Remember, "Christ gave Himself for our sins that He might save us from this present evil age." No condemnation is just one of the many benefits of gospel grace.

I received a precious note from a faithful friend yesterday on this very thing. She had been studying in Romans 8 and was greatly encouraged by what she had learned about our acquittal in Christ. She knew that I would be as well and that is why she wrote, sharing with me both what the word said and the incredibly encouraging comments of Matthew Henry regarding it.

That chapter begins with "there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." It ends with "Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yet, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us."

Henry writes regarding these things. It is lengthy but is well worthy of our long lingering.

"What shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us, so as to prevail against us and hinder our happiness? Be they ever so strong, ever so many, ever so mighty, ever so malicious, what can they do?

While God is for us we may with a holy boldness defy all the powers of darkness. Let Satan do his worst, he is chained. Let the world do its worst, it is conquered. Principalties and powers are spoiled and disarmed, and triumphed over, in the cross of Christ.

Who then dares fight against us, while God Himself is fighting for us? And God IS for us! We have supplies ready in all our wants. Who can cut off our streams, while we have such a fountain to go to? Think on what God has done for us and on what our hopes are built. He spared not His own Son and we may know that He loves us in that fact. He did not spare His own Son that He might spare us!

Can it be imagined that He should give so great a gift for us when we were enemies, and should deny us any good thing, now that we are friends and children? We have a ready answer for all accusations and a security against all condemnations. This word is enough, "it is God who justifies."

We may challenge all of our accusers to come and put in their charge. Who shall lay anything against them? Doth the law accuse them? Do their own consciences accuse them? Is the devil, the accuser of the brethren, accusing them before our God night and day? This is enough to answer all accusations, "it is God who justifies". This fact overthrows them all; it is God, the righteous and faithful God who justifies. Who is he that condemns?

Though they cannot make good the charge, yet they will be ready to condemn; but we have a plea ready which cannot be over-ruled. It is Christ that died for us.... It is Christ, and our union with Him, by which we are thus secured. By the merit of His death He paid our debt."

Are you condemended as Peter? You can be redeemed by Christ!! This is the message of the gospel. This is the certain hope of the Christian. Is it your message? Is it your hope?

Christ's death has paid the price and His resurrection has proven the pay. "It is finished." Your debt is paid. The guilt is gone. There is therefore now no condemnation for those imperfect people pleasing persons who are in Christ. Christian - there is therefore now no condemnation for you.

Peter wasn't perfect. Neither are we. Neither is anyone other than our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ - the great God-man.

In glancing at Martin Luther this morning I was pierced with the fact that in our common imperfection there is actually common comfort. [If you read nothing else I have written this day, please read this. It has so lifted my own faint heart.]

Luther writes:

"Samson, David, and many other excellent men, fell into grievous sins. Job and Jeremiah cursed the day of their birth. Elijah and Jonah became weary of life and prayed for death. Such offenses on the part of the saints, the Scriptures record for the comfort of those who are near despair. No person has ever sunk so low that he cannot rise again. On the other hand, no man's standing is so secure that he may not fall. If Peter fell, I may fall. If he rose again, I may rise again. We have the same gifts that they had, the same Christ, the same baptism and the same Gospel, the same forgiveness of sins. They needed these saving ordinances just as much as we do."

My faltering friends, let us recognize our inability to be perfect. We are guilty of imperfection. But let us not stand eternally condemned in our guilt. Instead, let us rest on Christ - the perfect One - who "gave Himself for our sins that we might be delivered from this present evil age."

Resting in my perfect Redeemer, rescued from own my imperfection,

Lori

Set Apart to Proclaim: the God-Glorifying Goal of Gospel Grace - Galatians 1:15-16

2010-07-01T05:23:00.003-04:00

"... it pleased God,

who set me apart from my mother's womb,

and called me by His grace,

to reveal His Son in me,

that I might preach Him among the heathen..."

(Galatians 1:15-16)

I almost passed it by. I almost read right through it and never noticed how dear it was. I glanced at it as if it only applied to Paul and then it hit me. This isn't just about Paul and his calling, no - this is about me and mine and you and yours.

True, the context is about Paul's life and conversion and call to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, but I do believe there is an appropriate application of encouragement and exhortation to us as well.

Five things jumped out at me pretty quickly this morning. Again, they are statements Paul makes about himself - but they are statements that, to some degree or another, are true of all Christians.

First, "it pleased God" to save me, sanctify me, and set me in His service. Does that not blow your mind? God - Almighty God - the holy One - the Maker of heaven and earth - the King of Kings and the LORD of Lords has been PLEASED to call me out as His own and to set me apart to serve Him.

I often don't find much pleasing or pleasant about myself but my heavenly Father does. I see my sin tangled up in everything and tend to get terribly frustrated at myself. God sees it even better than I do - and He loves me none-the-less. As a matter of fact, He loves me so much that He has been "pleased" to grant me all of the benefits of being adopted into His family. He is "pleased" to call me His daughter and He is "pleased" by me as His daughter! That is like a shot of encouragement straight to the heart this day!

Second, God has set His people apart for salvation and service, even from before the time they were born. That which you are called to do and gifted to do and granted to do, He has set in motion even before you entered into this world.

Matthew Henry wrote:

"Every gift, be it small or great, spiritual or temporal, and every good thingwe should ever do, God has ordained while I was in my mother's womb where I could neither think nor perform any good thing."

Truly, James spoke well when he said, "every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow."

Know that your abilities are from Him and are to be used for Him.

Third, we have been called by grace. Truly it is THE repetitive theme of Paul. "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast."

What did God see in us that would have moved Him to save us? Nothing! Nothing at all - He was simply "pleased" to do for us that which He had no reason to do for us. Our salvation is ALL of grace. Think upon the particular context here and listen to Martin Luther's take on it as he supposes to speak for Paul.

"Did God call me on account of my holy life? Or on account of my pharisaical religion? Or on account of my prayers and fastings and works? Never! Well, then, it is certain God did not call me on account of my blasphemies, persecutions, and oppressions. What prompted Him to call me? His grace alone!"

Friends, it is true of Paul and it is true of us. By grace we're saved - grace free and boundless! Grace soley and grace wholly!

Fourth, God has reveald His Son in us. Our God, in sending Christ "to die for our sins and deliver us from this present evil age" has not merely revealed Christ TO us but also IN us. He's not simply some theoretical idea that empowers us, He is a real Person that indwells us and enables us.

Jesus is not merely a way to help us get where we need to go. He is not merely a map to show us the way, a light to lead us there, or even a cattle prod to prompt us when we go astray. No! Jesus has not only been revealed TO us but IN us. He dwells within. He is the very Root by which we are established and nourished and flourished!

He Himself tells us: "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; He who abides in Me and I in Him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing." (John 15:4-5)

This is one of the cardinal truths that sets the message of Christianity apart from all other religions. It is not us getting TO God it is God getting IN us!

Fifth, these things have been done in us that He may be revealed through us. Paul was called to preach. While we may not have the same formal calling that the apostle does, we do still have a calling. We are saved and set apart, as Peter reminds us, "that we may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."

Christian, the God who has been pleased to set you apart from your mother's womb, and has called you by His grace, and has revealed His Son in you has done it with a two-fold purpose. That we should personally believe in the Son of God, and that we should publicaly proclaim Him to a lost and dying world.

Do you know Him and are you, by His grace working in you, making Him known?

In His glorious grace,

Lori

Lord, Speak to Me That I May Speak

Lord, speak to me that I may speak in living eches of your tone; as You have sought, so let me seek you erring children lost and lone.

O teach me, Lord, that I may teach the precious things you do impart; and wing my words, that they may reach the hidden depths of many a heart.

O fill me with Your fullness, Lord, until my very heart o'er flow in kindling thought and glowing word your love to tell, your praise to show.

O use me, Lord, use even me, just as you will and when and where; until Your blessed face I see, Your rest, Your joy, Your glory share.

(Frances R. Havergal - 1872)

Pleaser - Galatians 1:10

2010-06-30T05:24:00.005-04:00

"For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God?

Or am I striving to please men?

If I were still trying to please men,

I would not be a bond servant of Christ."

(Galatians 1:10)

Man pleaser or God pleaser? Where do we fall? Which side to we land on?

Quite often it is a real battle. Am I living for the approval and accolades of people or am I living for the glory of God and the good of His kingdom?

Our right or wrong understanding of the gospel may play a key role in which side of the line we find ourselves standing on.

For me personally, there is often a conflict between the two.

The apostle Paul, here in verse 10, points us to the type of pleaser we should be and the gospel of grace truly is the hingepin for it all.

Galatians began with a description of Paul's office. He was "an apostle (not sent from men, nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead)...."

Right off the bat he makes it clear that his goal and his mission are not man-centered but Christ-centered. He has been called by God for God and not by man to please man. In light of that calling and in response to the distorted gospel of the preachers of works righteousness, Paul, in verse 10 becomes a bit more direct in his language regarding whom it is that we are to please.

Now remember, the gospel that Paul has proclaimed is one of grace - absolute amazing grace. He tells us of Christ who gave Himself for our sins. He proclaims the sacrifice of Jesus not the sacrifices of sinners. He speaks of what the Lamb of God has done and not of what we have done or of what we must do. He writes of God's "willing" of our deliverance and of Christ's giving Himself for that deliverance.

Paul's gospel is completely God-centered. 100% of it is His doing.

"So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy." (Romans 9:16)

"But by God's doing you are in Christ Jesus...." (1 Corinthians 1:30)

"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works that no one should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Paul's gospel leaves us nothing to boast in. Nothing but sovereign mercy - nothing! It pierces our pride and slams our self-sufficiency. It humbles us in our own weak and incapable state and then lift's us up in God's gracious power manifest on our behalf!

This gospel of grace most assuredly has its foes. False prophets have risen up seeking to draw us away from the simplicity of God's good news and they have desired to disturb us into deserting into the wilderness of works. That's what Paul has been battling in verses 6-10. He's been fighting against a message that seeks to stroke us on the back and pat us on the head and tell us "Hey, you're not all that bad. You have a lot to offer. Don't listen to all of this nonsense that would tell you that you're a hopeless and helpless sinner. Sure Jesus came, but He came simply to help you stir up all of that good which is hidden down deep inside. You can do it, friend!"

No doubt, a salvation that we are able to earn is a proud and people pleasing proclamation. Equally beyond doubt, a salvation that only God can give is a self-humbling and God-exalting message.

Paul will be no people pleaser here. He is called to please His Lord. He will please His Lord by pointing us away from ourselves and pointing us to our Savior.

In this context the temptation for people pleasing in Paul's life is to pat folks on the back and say, "OK, you're right. I've been a little bit hard on you. This other gospel is still gospel. In the end it will all sift out the same." The temptation for Paul came in regards to the message that was his life.

Where does the temptation for people pleasing hit in our lives? What's the rub for us that would cause us to care more about them than Him? Search it out and pray for mercy to destroy it my friends. Our chief end is His glory not our own. Our chief joy is found in Him and in nothing else. The greatest pleasures rest in pleasing our Creator and King. Our end is to please God and find His favor, not man's.

Matthew Henry wrote:

"No man can serve two masters, and therefore he dare not allow himself to gratify men at the expense of his faithfulness to Christ."

Let us check our hearts.

Let us check our motives.

Let us rest in the gospel of grace which alone can change them both.

Christ "gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age." Christ even gave Himself for our sin of people-pleasing in order to deliver us out of it and place us squarely into the center of a God-pleasing life.

Heed Paul's words. "For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Am I striving to please men?"

Rest upon Paul's answer. "If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ."

The key to no longer living as a slave of people is to live as a bond-servant of Jesus!

A recovering people-pleaser seeking to live as a renewed bond-servant,

Lori

Swift to Swoon from Gospel Grace: A Warning to Hearers and Heralds - Galatians 1:6-9

2010-06-29T05:09:00.009-04:00

"I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting

Him who called you by the grace of Christ,

for a different gospel;

which really is not another;

only there are some who are disturbing you,

and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

But even though we, or an angel from heaven,

should preach to you a gospel contrary to that

which we have preached to you,

let him be accursed.

As we have said before, so I say again now,

if any man is preaching to you a gospel

contrary to that which you received,

let him be accursed."

(Galatians 1:6-9)

Look out folks. Paul ain't playin'!!

He has heralded the grace and peace that are ours in Christ. He has held forth the glorious good news that Christ Jesus gave Himself for our sins. He has trumpeted the hope of deliverance from this present evil age that is granted to all those who trust in our sufficient Savior. And he has humbly stood amazed at how quickly we forget these things that have so radically changed our lives.

Spiritual dementia seems a common plague from time to time for the people of God. Stealthily concealed gospel deception seems a common ploy of the arch-enemy of God. We'll glance at both of these things morning.

Paul, the preacher who has so clearly stated these glorious gospel truths regarding Christ's gift of grace and peace and deliverance, is about to fire an anathematic dart right at the heart of the prophets of any and all "gospel" messages that depart from the Biblical message of savation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. If you are a wanting to holler out any type of hope based upon your own righteous deeds you might want to reconsider, for - as we will see - the stakes are rather high.

Paul gives us several warnings in these verses. Warnings that we need to heed! So put on your listening caps and hear well his words.

1. We are swift to swoon and fast to fall for a fake and false gospel (vs 6-7)! Here are these Galatians who have just been given the gift of gifts - grace and peace with God the Father straight from the sacrificial hand of God the Son. Now, after having received such a precious prize, here they are ready to return it at the service desk of stupidity in exchange for their own vain attempts at works righteousness. No wonder Paul is amazed!

Friends, let us learn from their deserting quickness and beware of our own tendancy to it. We are all prone to wander. We are all prone to pride. Grace crushes our pride and reminds us daily that we have brought NOTHING to our salvation other than our sin. Our sinful flesh wants a piece of the action. It wants Jesus "plus" something that we've done and that brings us to Paul's second warning to us...

2. Any "gospel" that is not all grace is not at all gospel (vs 6-7). A graceless gospel is a Christless gospel and a Christless gospel is a false gospel! Jesus "plus" is not the true gospel and if that is what you are seeking then you are seeking a gospel that is no gospel at all. You are pursuing a "gospel" that will damn you rather than deliver you.

Matthew Henry, commenting on this passage wrote:

"Those who seek to establish any other way to heaven than what the gospel of Christ has revealed will find themselves wretchedly mistaken."

May we heed well the warning.

Luther's comments on this gospel twisting and its demonic source are thought provoking:

"Note the resourcefulness of the devil. Heretics do not advertise their errors. Murderers, adulterers, and thieves disguise themselves. Just so the devil masquerades all his devices and activities. He puts on white to make himself look like an angel of light. He is astoundingly clever to sell his patent poison for the Gospel of Christ. Knowing Satan's guile, Paul sardonically calls the doctrine of the false apostles "another gospel," as if he would say, "You Galatians have now another gospel, while my Gospel is no longer esteemed by you."

Our enemy is cunning and crafty. He seeks to make his pernicious poison ever so close to the merciful medicine that our soul most needs. He pretends to be a friend and fellow follower of our Lord but adds just enough of pride's pestilence to lead us to the land of the lost while all along the way we think we are headed to the realm of the redeemed. Examine the gospel that you are counting on to save you. Is it of Christ the Deliverer or is it of demons and devils?

Luther continues:

"When the devil sees that he cannot hurt the cause of the Gospel by destructive methods, he does it under the guise of correcting and advancing the cause of the Gospel. He would like best of all to persecute us with fire and sword, but this method has availed him little because through the blood of martyrs the church has been watered.
Unable to prevail by force, he engages wicked and ungodly teachers who at first make common cause with us, then claim that they are particularly called to teach the hidden mysteries of the Scriptures to superimpose upon the first principles of Christian doctrine that we teach. This sort of thing brings the Gospel into trouble.
May we all cling to the Word of Christ against the wiles of the devil, 'for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.'"

At this juncture falls Paul's third point.

3. The disturbing diffusers of this distored doctrine will be damned (vs 7-9). Yes, I know - not a very pleasing point. As I said at the start, Paul ain't playin'!

Paul's not playing because there is nothing here to play about. This is no game - this is the most serious stuff of the soul. The gospel is the hingepin that all of eternity rests and pivots upon. If the gospel is distorted then our assumed "deliverance" will in reality be our downfall.

Paul is here giving the greatest and most serious of warnings to those false prophets who would proclaim this different and disturbing "good news" which is in fact the worst of bad news.

The words of this warning drew my thoughts to Christ's words in Matthew 18:6. After speaking of the simplicity of child-like faith - where we humbly receive Christ alone as the hope of heaven - Jesus says:

"...but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea."

Hmmm - guess Jesus wasn't joking about this either!

I was challenged by Adam Clark's thoughts on this section of Galatians 1. He wrote regarding these false preachers prophecies:

"It is called a gospel, but it differs most essentially from the authentic narratives published in the evangelists. It is not gospel. It is not good tidings, for it loads you again with the burdens from which the genuine Gospel has disencumbered you. Instead of giving you peace, it troubles you; instead of being a useful supplement to the Gospel of Christ, it perverts that Gospel. You have gained nothing but loss and damage and change.
That gospel which Paul had already preached to them is the only true gospel. He says, 'Were I to preach any other, I should incur the curse of God.' If your false teachers pretend, as many in early times did, that they received their accounts by the ministry of an angel, let them be accursed; separate them from your company, and have no religious communion with them. Leave them to that God who will show His displeasure against all who corrupt, all who add to, and all who take from the word of His revelation."

He continues:

"Let all those who, from the fickleness of their own minds, are ready to favor the reveries of every pretended prophet and prophetess who starts up, consider the awful words of the apostle. As, in the law, the receiver of stolen goods is as bad as the thief; so the encouragers of such pretended revelations are as bad, in the sight of God, as those imposters themselves. What says the Word of God to them? Let them be accursed. Reader, lay these things to heart!"

OK, Adam - you've got me laying it to heart.

Friends, we are foolishly fast to go A.W.O.L. and there are many who are goading us so to do. Please beware of any gospel that is not God's gospel of grace which is found fully in the work of Christ and not at all in the works of men. Yes, we are to produce good works as Christians. BUT our works are the FRUIT of our salvation and not the ROOT. Christ alone is the Root and any gospel that seeks to add to that sole salvific Root is no gospel and will lead us to hell rather than to heaven.

Take heed lest you be decieved and rest solely upon Christ "who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age."

In the gospel of His glorious grace,

Lori

"Not the labors of my hands can fulfill Thy law's demands; could my zeal no respite know, could my tears forever flow, all for sin could not atone; Thou must save, and Thou alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling; naked, come to Thee for dress; helpless look to Thee for grace; foul, I to the Fountain fly; wash me, Savior, or I die."(From "Rock of Ages" - Augustus Toplady - 1776)

"None other Lamb; none other name, none other hope in heav'n or earth or sea, none other hiding place from guilt and shame, none beside Thee!" (Christina G. Rossetti - 1894)

"Thy works, not mine, O Christ, speak gladness to this heart; they tell me all is done; they bid my fear depart.

Thy pains, not mine, O Christ, upon the shameful tree, have paid the law's full price and purchased peace for me.

Thy cross, not mine, O Christ, has borne this awful load of sins that none in heav'n or earth could bear but God.

Thy righteousness, O Christ, alone can cover me: no righteousness avails save that which is of Thee.

To whom, save Thee, who canst alone for sin atone, Lord, shall I flee? (Horatius Bonar - 1857)

How To Help a Wandering Sheep - Galatians 1:6

2010-06-28T05:30:00.002-04:00

"I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting

Him who called you by the grace of Christ,

for a different gospel..."

(Galatians 1:6)

Do you have friends or family that are wandering outside the safety of green pastures and grazing in the desert lands? Maybe you yourself are tempted to stray outside of the guardrails of grace and to roam in the realm of the rebel. Either way, Paul has a message for us this morning from Galatians. It is a message I needed to hear this day. It is a word regarding how we need to react to struggling sinners and wandering sheep.

Let's quickly review what has gone on thus far in Galatians. From the start, Paul has pointed us to the peace that is ours from the grace that is Christ's. "Grace and peace to you from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ."

He has proclaimed to us both the beauty and the simplicity of the gospel which is: "Christ gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age."

Truly it is good news. Truly it is the greatest news which alone answers our greatest need. How I pray that this gospel grace which Paul proclaims is known by you, dear friend!

Sadly, in spite of the greatness of this good news, we are offering foolish sheep who wander out of the safety and plentiful provision of our gentle Shepherd's grand green pastures. You know, sin remains in us though it no longer reigns in us and far too often our sinful lusts fight to overthrow our sancitification and seek to pull us back down into the miry pit. Just take a glance at Romans 7 and see if the battle described there is not at times your own.

As Robert Robinson penned in his classic hymn:

"O to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be; let that grace now like a fetter, bind my wand'ring heart to Thee. Prone to wander - Lord, I feel it - prone to leave the God I love: here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above."

The apostle Paul knows this foolish tendancy that is in all of us to go A.W.O.L. from the gospel of grace. He knows that we are prone to wander back into the world of works and in a shepherdly way he is about to go and gather the straying sheep he loves so dearly and bring them back to mercy's meadows.

In the opening words of Galatians 1 verse 6 Paul fleshes out his later admonition from Galatians 6 verse 1:

"Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness...."

Let's face it - Paul is staring at stupidity.

He is dealing with dumb.

He is facing foolishness.

His hearers are wanting to wander away from the glorious gospel of grace and are considering returning to the yoke of self-sufficient slavery. Sadly, my flesh would probably want to tell these deserters, "Dude! What in the WORLD are you doing?!?!" I'd be angry at their arrogance. I'd be ashamed at their audacity. "What are you thinking abandoning the grace of Christ for a different gospel?!"

That's me. Thankfully that's not Paul and we all should take notes from this preacher's patience. Got your pencil ready? You may want to take notes!

Paul is neither angry nor ashamed - at least not of the sheep. The words he chooses instead are "I am amazed."

He's amazed - as we all should be! Paul is not seeking to destroy these roaming rebels. He doesn't want to dog them he wants to deliver them. He is seeking to save them from themselves and therefore he is restoring such a one in a spirit of gentleness (Galatians 6:1).

Have you ever wandered? I surely have. I am far to quick to bail. In my wanderings I have found folks angry at me and ashamed by me. That's not been very helpful in bringing me back.

However, in my floundering I have also had brothers and sisters who have come to me as Paul has come to the Galatians, with humble amazement accompanied by gracious grieving and tangible help.

This morning I want to go no further with the message of Galatians 1:6 other than to challenge us with this...

How are we responding to deserters? Are we ticked? Are we flustered? Are we seeking to micro-manage their meandering? Are we angry, ashamed, or amazed?

Let us learn from Paul.

Let us be amazed at our fellow flock-mates quick parting and let us be amazed at the tendency of our own hearts to do the very same. Further let us pray for grace to restore wandering sheep in a spirit of true gentleness always pointing them back to the gospel of grace which is the only true gospel.

If we don't want to deal with deserters in gospel grace then perhaps we don't really understand gospel grace. In that case, maybe we ourselves are the ones most in need of it and perhaps we are the straying sheep who could best benefit from the gentle Shepherd's staff!

An amazed wanderer who is regularly being restored,

Lori

I Was A Wandering Sheep

I was a wandering sheep, I did not love the fold; I did not love my Shepherd's voice, I would not be controlled. I was a wayward child, I did not love my home; I did not love my Father's voice, I loved afar to roam.

The Shepherd sought His sheep, the Father sought His child; they followed me o'er vale and hill, o'er deserts waste and wild: they found me nigh to death, famished and faint and lone; they bound me with the bands of love, they saved the wand'ring one.

Jesus my Shepherd is; 'twas He that loved my soul, 'twas He that washed me in His blood, 'twas He that made me whole; 'twas He that sought the lost, that found the wand'ring sheep, 'twas He that brought me to the fold, 'tis He that still doth keep.

I was a wand'ring sheep, I would not be controlled; but now I love my Shepherd's voice, I love, I love the fold. I was a wayward child, I once preferred to roam; but now I love my Father's voice, I love, I love His home.

(Horatius Bonar, 1843)

Delivered - Galatians 1:4 (part 2)

2010-06-26T05:57:00.005-04:00

"Grace to you and peace from God our Father,

and the Lord Jesus Christ,

who gave Himself for our sins,

that He might deliver us out of this present evil age,

according to the will of our God and Father,

to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen."

(Galatians 1:3-5)

Real grace and true peace are gifts that come from the Father, through the Son. The Lord Jesus Christ gave Himself for our sins and He gave Himself with a real and tangible purpose - He came to deliver us! He didn't simply give His life as an ethereal portrait of love and grace and peace and sacrifice and deliverance. No, He gave His life to actually free us from our captivity. Christ is the conquering Captain and the rescuing Redeemer. He came and He accomplished that which He came for.

Jesus the Son of God became the Son of Man "that He might deliver us out of this present evil age." He came to deliver us. Is deliverance yours? Are you conquered by Christ or still controlled by the captor of this present evil age? It is an important question to consider.

"This present world is an evil world and it has become so by the sin of man" (Matthew Henry).

We live in a fallen world. You know that. You see that. It is a world, that though glorious in many ways, is tainted with sin at every turn. There is a hint of sorrow and saddness even in the greatest blessings that this life has to offer.

Flowers fade.

Friends fail.

Laughter languishes.

Existence is eventually extinguished.

The present age is often a painful age - as Paul puts it - an "evil age".

But there is One who brings beauty from the ashes, who makes all things beautiful in their time. This One makes the most crooked paths straight and the bumpiest roads smooth. Christ Jesus is He who has come and given Himself to deliver us from the curse and bondage and captivity of life under the sun in a sinful, evil land.

Since sin entered the world through Adam's transgression there has been an epic war fought here on creation's battlefield. Sin and Satan and self are fiendish foes that we must fight and fight feverishly. They are foes that we will fall to in our own strength. Oh, praise God for a Savior who truly saves. Praise God for delivering Omnipotence who comes bringing freeing grace and peace to those for whom He has given Himself!!

Hear again the words of Galatians 1:

"Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age..."

Luther points out that the very use of the language "that He might deliver us" is in and of itself a graphic picture of our own utter, complete, and total inability.

We need Christ to deliver us because we cannot deliver ourselves!!

We are stuck!

We are chained!

We are undone!

We are hopeless and helpless in and of ourselves!

We need Someone outside of us to free us!

Jesus Christ is that Someone!

May our hearts overflow with praise as we meditate on the fact that Christ has come and done that which we can in no way do ourselves. He has freed us from this present evil age.

So, I suppose the important question this day is - are we living as free men or are we living as captives? Are we living as slaves or as sons?

Christ "gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age". Are we living under the curse and control of this evil age or are we living in the freedom that He has given Himself to deliver us into?

Later in this very book, Paul will remind us that "it was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery."

As poetic Dylan put it "everybody has to serve somebody". Who are we serving? What yoke are we tied to this day - the yoke of a fallen and fearful slave or the yoke of a freed bond-servant? The former yoke steals, kills, and destroys. The latter yoke gives life and life abundant!

Christ has come and has given Himself to deliver us. He has come to place upon us the yoke of freedom. Our Deliverer says, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and my load is light."

This freeing deliverance is from God the Father. Christ has given Himself for our sins "according to the will of our God and Father." Friends, our adoptive Daddy loves us and He has made a way to bring us out of the family of fallen orphans and into the home of His eternal inheritance.

The very fact that He willed our Deliverer is a testimony to His great love for us. He so loved us that He sent His Son - His only begotten Son - that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life!

Are you believing in Him?

Are you pardoned from your perishing?

Are you resting in your Redeemer?

Are you delivered from this present evil world - not by what you have given- but by what Christ has given?

Oh friend, flee to Him in faith and find freedom as you do - true freedom - eternal freedom - glorious freedom - freeing freedom! He gave himself to deliver you - walk no longer in your chains!

In His grace and peace,

Lori

"What tho' I cannot break my chain

or e'er throw off my load,

the things impossible to men

are possible to God."

(Augustus Toplady - 1770)

He Gave Himself For Our Sins - Galatians 1:4

2010-06-25T05:11:00.007-04:00

"Grace to you and peace from God our Father,

and the Lord Jesus Christ,

who gave Himself for our sins,

that He might deliver us out of this present evil age,

according to the will of our God and Father,

to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen!"

(Galatians 1:3-5)

Grace and peace. Do you long for them? They are ours if we are Christ's. Peace comes from grace and grace comes from Jesus. One flows from the other.

Saving grace is the one necessary pre-requisite for lasting peace. The Lord Jesus came to this fallen world and lived the perfect life that we could not and died the death that our sins deserved. He rose again from the grave that we might not fear the grave. In His propitiatory act, and in that act alone, will we find the grace we need and the peace we long for.

Paul is going to drive that point home in Galatians 1:3-4. I hope to drive it home along with him.

Grace and peace come from Christ "who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen."

Oh, where to begin? How glorious are all of the words before us!!

Paul, in this epistle, will be consistent in his mantra of God's grace. Peace and deliverance are not found in what we "do". We will never work our way there. It is not in our grappling and grasping that we attain it . It is in His gracious giving. Peace and deliverance are found in Christ's gracious gift of Himself!! Is His gift yours?

Luther reminds us of what it is that our Redeemer gave and why He gave it. He writes:

"Gave what? Not gold, or silver, or paschal lambs or an angel, but Himself. What for? Not for a crown, or a kingdom, or our goodness, but for our sins. These words are like so many thunderclaps of protest from heaven against every kind and type of sef-merit. Underscore these words, for they are full of comfort for sore consciences.
How may we obtain remission of our sins? Paul answers: 'The man who is named Jesus Christ and the Son of God gave Himself for our sins.' The heavy artillery of these words explodes papacy, works, merits, superstitions. For if our sins could be removed by our own efforts, what need was there for the Son of God to be given for them? Since Christ was given for our sins it stands to reason that they cannot be put away by our own efforts."

That last line grabs me: "Since Christ was given for our sins it stands to reason that they cannot be put away by our own efforts."

Beloved, do not think of sin lightly. Do not think grace to be cheap. Do not think of peace as an easily obtained thing.

Sin is serious, grace is costly, peace is granted at the greatest price. Sin cost God His Son! Our sin was paid for by Christ's suffering, blood, and death. "Nothing could for sin atone. Nothing but the blood of Jesus!" Our sin is serious - oh so serious - for only the sacrificial gift of God the Son could pay for it!!

Christ gave Himself and He gave Himself for our sins - for OUR sins! How precious are those three little letters - "our".

My friends, Christ died for sinners.

Christian - He died for you!!

It is not simply someone else's sins for which He died - it was for our sins. Own your sin (confess it) and own your Savior's giving of Himself on its behalf (believe)!!

Turning once again to Luther:

"Make ample use of this pronoun 'our'. Be assured that Christ has canceled the sins, not of certain persons only, but your sins. Do not permit yourself to be robbed of this lovely conception of Christ. Christ is no Moses, no law-giver, no tyrant, but the Mediator for sins, the giver of grace and life.
We know this. Yet in actual conflict with the Devil, when he scars us with the Law, when he frightens us with the very Person of the Mediator, when he misquotes the words of Christ and distorts for us our Savior, we so easily lose sight of our sweet High-Priest.
For this reason I am so anxious for you to gain a true picture of Christ out of the words of Paul 'who gave Himself for our sins'. Obviously, Christ is no judge to condemn us, for He gave Himself for our sins. He does not trample the fallen but raises them. He comforts the broken-hearted. Other-wise Paul should lie when he writes 'who gave Himself for our sins.'"

Friends are you weighed down? There is One who has given Himself for our sins. There is One who has come to bear our unbearable load. That which is a crushing burden to you is but a speck of dust to Him.

Dear ones are you overwhelmed by guilt? Flee to the One who has given Himself for our sins. There is One who has taken our guilt upon Himself and placed His righteousness upon us. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ.

Rejoice with me, O Christian, that there is One who gave Himself to be stricken, smitten and afflicted on our behalf. Jesus is the Giver of grace and peace. He who gave Himself for you will not refuse to give these things to you.

"Grace and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins...."

Resting in that which He has given,

Lori

Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted

Stricken, smitten, and afflicted,see Him dying on the tree! 'Tis the Christ by man rejected; yes, my soul 'tis He, 'tis He. 'Tis the long expected Prophet, David's son, yet David's Lord; by his Son God now has spoken: 'tis the true and faithful Word.

Tell me, ye who hear Him groaning, was there ever grief like His? Friends thro' fear His cause disowning, foes insulting His distress; many hands were raised to wound Him, none would interpose to save; but the deepest stroke that pierced Him was the stroke that Justice gave.

Ye who think of sin but lightly nor suppose the evil great here may view its nature rightly, here its guilt may estimate. Mark the sacrifice appointed, see who bears the awful load; 'tis the Word, the Lord's Annointed, Son of Man and Son of God.

Here we have a firm foundation, here the refuge of the lost; Christ's the Rock of our salvation, His the name of which we boast. Lamb of God, for sinners wounded, sacrifice to cancel guilt!None shall ever be confounded who on Him their hope have built.

(Thomas Kelly, 1804)

Grace & Peace - Galatians 1:3

2010-06-24T05:45:00.004-04:00

"Grace to you and peace from God our Father,

and the Lord Jesus Christ,

who gave Himself for our sins,

that He might deliver us out of this present evil age,

according to the will of our God and Father,

to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen."

(Galatians 1:3-5)

So, a new blog series begins this morning. After several weeks of roosting in the Psalms I now turn my devotional attention to the book of Galatians. Galatians- the epistle which so clearly directs our attention to a salvation based on grace alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone. This is the book of justification by faith and the book which describes the freedom that is ours because of what our gracious Savior has done.

I'll never spend enough time gazing at this glorious grace - nor will you! Mercy is a thing we should marvel at and meditate on more and more and the wise apostle Paul intends to help us do just that over the course of these 6 chapters.

Paul, as he always does, begins his letter with grace and peace.

"Grace and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ."

It is his hallmark greeting. You will find this word for word opening salutation in Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, 2nd Thessalonians, 2nd Timothy, Titus and Philemon. You'll find an extremely close derivitive in Colossians, 1 Thessalonians and 1 Timothy. Paul is all about grace and peace. Shouldn't we all be?!

Paul is also all about the proper order of grace and peace. First grace then peace. Bottom line, there is no peace without grace for true gospel grace is the only way to true lasting peace. You will never have the latter without the former. Hear this my friends and let it resonate in your heart and mind and soul.

Do you want peace? Then the first question that must be answered is "am I a recipient of grace?" Again, the order is always first grace then peace.

So - how do I know if I am a recipient of grace? Where does grace come from? How do I get it?

Well, most assuredly we don't earn it or grasp it or apprehend it by our own efforts. Grace is... well... its grace!!

That wonderful free grace of Jesus is the grand theme of Galatians. It is also the clear declaration throughout all of God's Word.

The Bible teaches us that our salvation is "the free gift of God" (Romans 6:23) - it is a free gift! This free gift "does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy (Romans 9:16). Truly it is "by grace that you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works that no one should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). And "if it is by grace, then it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace" (Romans 11:6). It is "by His doing that we are in Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 1:30).

Paul, in his opening discourse in Ephesians paints it beautifully when he writes:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed upon us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us." (Ephesians 1:3-8)

If you skimmed over that quickly or skipped over it entirely I want to encourage you to go back and drink in these Biblical truths. This is important stuff! It is the heart of the gospel. These things are the foundational stones upon which a life of grace and peace must be built.

Beloved, we "were dead in our transgressions" and "we were made alive together with Christ (by grace we have been saved)" - Ephesians 2:5

On and on and on the theme goes throughout the pages of Scripture. "He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by His grace we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (Titus 3:5-7).

"Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. No wonder John Newton and so many of the other hymn writers sing of this glorious theme so often - it is the song of our salvation! This "Fountain of Never Ceasing Grace", this "Grace 'tis a Charming Sound", this "Marvelous Grace of Our Loving Lord" is truly the "Wonderful Grace of Jesus!"

"By grace I'm saved, grace free and boundless; my soul believe and doubt it not. Why stagger at this word of promise? Has Scripture ever falsehood taught? No; then this word must true remain: by grace you too shall heav'n obtain. By grace! None dare lay claim to merit; our works and conduct have no worth. God in His love sent our Redeemer, Christ Jesus to this sinful earth; His death did for our sins atone, and we are saved by grace alone." - Christian L. Scheidt, 1742

So, returning to Galatians and Paul's apostolic benediction of grace and peace. I don't know about you, but I want it, I need it and verse 3 goes on to show how this saving grace, which leads to lasting peace, becomes mine.

It comes from God the Father and through Christ the Son. It comes from no other place and through no other source. Grace is God's gift and the sole instrument through Whom it is funneled is none other than Jesus Christ - none other!

"Grace to you, and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen."

I am currently reading through Martin Luther's commentary on Galatians and it is oh so very very rich. Here is an excerpt from him on this whole idea of grace and peace.

"The article of justification must be sounded in our ears incessantly because the frailty of our flesh will not permit us to take hold of it perfectly and to believe it with all our heart.
The greeting of the Apostle is refreshing. Grace remits sin and peace quiets conscience. Sin and conscience torment us, but Christ has overcome these fiends now and forever. These two terms, grace and peace, constitute Christianity. Grace involves the remission of sins, peace and a happy conscience. Sin is not canceled by Lawful things, for no person is able to live up to the Law. The Law reveals guilt, fills the conscience with terror, and drives men to despair. Much less is sin taken away by man-invented endeavors. The fact is, the more a person seeks credit for himself by his own efforts, the deeper he goes into debt. Nothing can take away sin except the grace of God."

Hear it well, my friends. "Nothing can take away sin except the grace of God" and that grace is imputed to us only through the atoning work of Jesus!

Luther continues:

"The Apostle does not wish the Galatians grace and peace from the emperor, or from kings, or from governors, but from God the Father. He wishes them heavenly peace, the kind which Jesus spoke of when He said, 'Peace I leave unto you; my peace I give to you.' Worldly peace provides quiet enjoyment of life and possession, but in affliction, particularly in the hour of death, the grace and peace of the world will not deliver us. However, the grace and peace of God will."

Grace and peace is what we all most need and grace and peace is that which God the Father, through Christ the Son gives. Over the next few days and possibly weeks I'll be delving deeper into this glorious epistle which speaks so clearly of the one and only way to obtain these precious gifts. This is a message I need to be reminded of - and you do too!

Beloved, grace is not a thing earned, it is a thing given and it is a thing given by the One who gave Himself for us - the Lord Jesus Christ.

Look not to yourself but to Him. There and there alone will we find the grace we need and the peace we so long for.

In His glorious grace and perfect peace,

Lori

Not What My Hands Have Done

Not what my hands have done can save my guilty soul;

not what my toiling flesh has borne can make my spirit whole.

Not what I feel or do can give me peace with God;

not all my prayers and sighs and tears

can bear my awful load.

Thy work alone, O Christ, can ease this weight of sin;

Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God, can give me peace within.

Thy love to me, O God, not mine, O Lord, to Thee,

can rid me of this dark unrest,

and set my spirit free.

Thy grace alone, O God, to me can pardon speak;

Thy pow'r alone, O Son of God, can this sore bondage break.

No other work, save Thine, no other blood will do;

no strength, save that which is divine,

can bear me safely through.

I bless the Christ of God; I rest on love divine;

and with unfalt'ring lip and heart, I call this Savior mine.

His cross dispels each doubt; I bury in His tomb

each though of unbelief and fear,

each ling'ring shade of gloom.

I praise the God of grace; I trust His truth and might;

He calls me His, I call Him mine, my God, my joy, my light.

'Tis He who saveth me, and freely pardon gives;

I love because He loveth me,

I live because He lives!

(Horatius Bonar - 1861)

Accomplishing What Concerns Me - Psalm 138 (part 3)

2010-06-23T05:11:00.001-04:00

"I will give Thee thanks with all my heart;

I will sing praises to Thee before the gods.

I will bow down toward Thy holy temple,

and give thanks to Thy name

for Thy lovingkindness and Thy truth;

for Thou hast magnified Thy word

according to all Thy name....

Though I walk in the midst of trouble,

Thou wilt revive me;

Thou wilt stretch forth Thy hand

against the wrath of my enemies,

and Thy hand will accomplish what concerns me;

Thy lovingkindness, O LORD is everlasting;

Do not forsake the works of Thy hands."

(Psalm 138:1-2, 7-8)

This is the final section of Psalm 138 and the last in this group of psalms of hallelujah. This psalm of David encourages us - as do all the hallelujah psalms - to thanksgiving and praise. In the opening verses we are challenged to give wholehearted thanksgiving ("with all my heart") and wholeworldly praise ("before the gods"). There is no part of us that should not be worshipful and there is no place where we should not be worshipping! As has so often been the case in these psalms, the glorious lovingkindness and tested truth of our God are held before us as a grand catalyst for all of these things.

In the next group of verses we were exhorted to become humble humans and not haughty ones! "For though the LORD is exlated, yet He regards the lowly; bu the haughty He knows from afar." Pride goeth before a fall. Humility is a guarantee of grace.

This morning, in the final two verses of the psalm we are reminded of the care that God takes for His precious people in the midst of awful affliction and of His providential dealings to make them more Christ-like in the process.

Two main things grab my attention.

1. Troubles come and God revives us in them frees us from them. "Though I walk in the midst of trouble; Thou wilt revive me; Thou wilt stretch forth Thy hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Thy right hand will save me."

I turn to Henry's comments:

"David walks in trouble but encourages himself with hope. 'When my spirit is ready to sink and fail, Thou wilt revive me and make me easy and cheerful in my troubles.' God would protect him. He would stretch out His hand against the wrath of his enemies - to restrain them and set bounds for their actions. God would in due time work deliverance for him; 'Thy right hand will save me.' Christ is the right hand of the Lord that shall save all those who serve Him."

What comfort and consolation is found in our caring, compassionate and conquering Christ!

2. Troubles come and God has a good purpose in them and through them. "The LORD will accomplish what concerns me; Thy lovingkindness, O LORD, is everlasting; do not forsake the works of Thy hands."

Whatever has come to us has come to us from Him! His fingers sift all of the sands of suffering and funnel them with perfect faithfulness into our lives. It is our great and gracious God, it is our all-wise and loving Father who orchestrates the hands of providence to stoke the flames of refining fire to just the right temperature in order to conform us more and more to the image of Christ. Christian, what you are facing this day and what you are enduring this season are all part of His accomplishing that which concerns you. Do you trust Him? Do I? And are we leaning on His strength or on our own to survive the strife?

Turning once again to Mr. Henry:

"Our hopes that we shall persevere must be found not upon our own strength, for that will fail us, but upon the mercy of God, for that will not fail. It is well pleaded, 'Lord, Thy mercy endures forever, let me be forever a monument of it.' David turns his expectation into a petition, 'forsake not, do not let go of the work of Thy own hands. Lord, I am the work of Thy own hands, my soul is so, do not forsake me.'"

My fellow monuments of mercy go back and read it again.

What more is there to say than that which Henry has so eloquently stated? Perhaps only "Thank You, LORD" with all of my heart!

In His glorious grace,

Lori

Regarded Near or Known Afar? - Psalm 138 (part 2)

2010-06-22T06:01:00.001-04:00

"I will give Thee thanks with all my heart;

I will sing praises to Thee before the gods.

I will bow down toward Thy holy temple,

and give thanks to Thy name

for Thy lovingkindness and Thy truth;

for Thou hast magnified Thy word according to all Thy name.

On the day I called Thou didst answer me;

Thou didst make me bold with strength in my soul.

All the kings of the earth will give thanks to Thee, O LORD,

when they have heard the words of Thy mouth.

And they will sing of the ways of the LORD.

For great is the glory of the LORD.

For though the LORD is exalted, yet He regards the lowly;

but the haughty He knows from afar.

(Psalm 138:1-6)

Looking yesterday at the first 3 verses of Psalm 138 I was reminded of my privileged duty to be wholly thankful to my God, to praise Him before a watching world, and to worship Him aright - through the person of Jesus Christ.

This morning I am reminded of my need for humility in all of those actions and in all other affairs of this life. God is opposed to the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.

By nature I am not humble. By nature I am selfish and arrogant and seek my own way and my own good. How thankful I am that my God is one who changes natures!!

It is interesting to me that verses 4 and 5 deal with the kings of the earth and the fact that they will give thanks to our Lord.

Kings are powerful people. Kings are often prideful people. They have no need to bow down to anyone and rarely do. All the bowing is done to them, not by them.

But here we are told the kings of the earth will give thanks to the King of the universe. The King of kings will be exalted and all of the kings who rule under the sun will honor Him in song. Why? Because He alone is the GREAT potentate. His glory is great and He will be exalted.

Thinking on this picture two different passages came to mind. The first is from Psalm 2. It is a psalm that speaks of the ragings of wicked kings. It speaks of those arrogant rulers who seek to dethrone the High King. These kings and their lands are "in an uproar" and are "devising a vain thing." These kings have taken "their stand and counsel against the LORD and against His Anointed."

God's reaction is that "He laughs." He knows the folly of their insurrection. Who can dethrone omnipotence? Who can kill eternity? Who can ambush omnisicience? No one!!

God's admonition to these kings is as follows:

"Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the LORD with reverence, and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, lest He become angry, and you perish in the way for His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!"

In Psalm 2 I am reminded that the kings NEED to do what Psalm 138 says they WILL do. They need to "kiss the Son."

The holy and inerrant word of this King of kings proclaims that a day is coming when "every knee shall bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Ph 2:10-11) at that time God will "make His enemies a footstool for His feet" (He 1:13).

The kings will sing - either as humble bondservants or as conquered warlords. And that leads to verse 6...

"For though the LORD is exalted, yet He regards the lowly; but the haughty He knows from afar."

Which kind of person am I?

Am I lowly?

Do I recognize He who rightly rules over me or am I arrogantly seeking His overthrow?

God knows the lowly! He gives grace to the humble. He does not despise the weak. BUT He opposes the proud and knows the haughty only from afar. In otherwords, our God is intimitely acquainted with those who, by grace, know their place but is not familially connected to those who seek to make their own way. To the one He is a loving Father. To the other He is a righteous Judge.

This morning I must ask are we kissing the Son or are we kissing ourselves? Are we KNOWN by Him or just known of Him? Are we in His family and therefore heirs of all that goes along with His majestic thrown or are we usurping peasants seeking His downfall and thus awaiting the wages of His just judgment?

It is an important question. Are we 'regarded' close or 'known afar.'

Praying for humility,

Lori

With All My Heart - Psalm 138 (part 1)

2010-06-21T05:35:00.000-04:00

"I will give Thee thanks with all my heart;

I will sing praises to The before the gods.

I will bow down toward Thy holy temple,

and give thanks to Thy name

for Thy lovingkindness and Thy truth.

For Thou hast magnified Thy word

according to all Thy name.

On the day I called Thou didst answer me;

Thou didst make me bold with strength in my soul.

(Psalm 138:1-3)

David is determined.

He's determined to give thanks.

He's determined to sing praise.

He's determined to worship.

AND, he's determined to do it with all of his heart!

David WILL give thanks to his God and he will do it with all that is within him. Half-hearted part praise just won't cut it. It is the great God whom we worship and He is worthy of our everything! He is worthy of our ALL!

David "would praise God with sincerity and zeal, with that which is within and with ALL that is within. He would praise God with inward impressions agreeing with outward expressions." (Matthew Henry)

I can't speak for you, but that little word "all" gives me cause to pause. How often is my thanksgiving only partial? How often do I merely go through the motions? How often do I just do my duty and say "thanks God" while never truly being engaged in heart and mind and soul? How often do my "outward expressions" not line up with my "inward impressions"? Sadly, not often enough.

Oh, Lord - stir my heart to sincere service! Make me to give thanks with ALL my heart.

Our God deserves our all. Honestly, He deserves that and then some! How I pray that the God of great grace would grant to me a grateful heart - a grateful heart that would give its "all" back to Him.

David is determined to give earnest and honest thanks. David is also determined to sing praises to His God - the living God - right slap dab in the midst of all of the false gods. "I will sing praises to Thee before the gods." Am I so determined? Am I willing to speak of my God, to extol His wonders and mercies, to offer a sacrifice of praise even when all around me might despise Him - and therefore despise me? When all around me mock Him - and therefore might mock me?

The timing of the writing of this particular blog entry is actually rather funny. As I type this morning, I am sitting in a hotel lobby near the Atlanta International Airport. We are on a church business trip with our denomination talking about missions in North America. My family is still asleep up in our room and the only place I could find this morning to read and pray was down here - slap dab in the middle of the watching world. I looked all around this hotel trying to find a private place - there was none. So here I am - in the lobby beforethe "gods" of metro Atlanta with my Bible in hand. The location wasn't my perfect preference for morning praise - not by a long shot - but it was my only option. By grace, I was determined to praise my God as this day began and by providence here I am.

Now, suffice it to say that at 5:15 AM there aren't a ton of folks floating around, but there are some. There is the front desk man (he looks sleepy), the cleaning crew (they look grumpy), some gentlemen heading to work out (they look consumed), a businessman here and there heading out to conquer the world (they look busy), etc. I've gotten a few glances and I've even had a few conversations as I sat here reading and praying. One in particular went:

"Is that a Bible?"

"Yes, sir it is."

"Hmm. Interesting!"

I suppose it sort of struck me as funny to be meditating on "praising God before the gods" as I sit here right in the heart of Atlanta doing that very thing! David was determined - and this day I suppose I should be thankful that God has made me determined as well.

David was determined to be wholeheartedly thankful, to praise his God wherever he was, and to worship Him as He was directed to - "bowing down toward Thy holy temple." Worship was very regulated in Old Testament times. It still is today- it is just directed a little differently.

We are a temple - the temple of the Holy Spirit. And this temple has a high priest- His name is Christ. It is to Him, through Him, toward Him, and all about Him that we are to worship. He is the Mediator between God and man. Are we worshipping through Him? Are our lives bowed down before Him? No one comes to the Father but by Christ - are we coming to the Holy of holies through the great temple sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ?

O, let us give thanks with all of our hearts, singing praises to our God who is the God of all gods. Let us bow down in worshipful submission to His Lordship and let us stand in grateful awe of His "lovingkindness and truth."

David is determined to do these things and he was determined with good reason. He knew of God's lovingkindness and of His truth. He had seen these things "magnified" in his life and in the world around him. He had seen God prove faithful to His covenant. He had seen answer after answer after answer to prayer. He writes:

"On the day I called Thou didst answer me; Thou didst make me bold with strength in my soul."

Henry's thoughts on this were wonderful:

"If God give us strength in our souls to bear the burdens, resist the temptations, and do the duties of an afflicted state, if He strengthens us to keep hold of Himself by faith, to maintain the peace of our own minds and to wait with patience for the issue, we must own that He has answered us and we are bound to be thankful."

Christian, look back. Call to mind the ever ebbing Ebenezers of our great God. We have called. He has answered. He has ordained all of our days and all of our ways in perfect faithfulness. He has given us strength when we were weak and boldness when we were meek.

Remember. Remember and revere. Remember and give thanks with a whole heart.

So much more lies ahead in Psalm 138. But this morning as I sit here watching the world wake up, watching the masses of men pursuing the gods of this world, I for one am thankful for the God who made this world and am thankful for a hotel lobby where I can sing His praise and bown my heart before Him.

In His glorious grace,

Lori

Remembered and Redeemed - Psalm 136 (part 5)

2010-06-18T05:45:00.002-04:00

"Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;

for His lovingkindness is everlasting....

Who remembered us in our low estate,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting,

and has rescued us from our adversaries,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting;

who gives food to all flesh,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Give thanks tot he God of heaven,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting.

(Psalm 136: 1, 23-26)

So, we come to the end of Psalm 136. We have, thus far, been reminded to thank God for His wonderful character and for His sovereign rule. Those things are practically displayed in His care over creation, His power over persecutors, and His lavishing of a land upon His chosen children.

This morning, the final two sections of the Psalm fall out. In them, we are encouraged to give thanks to the Lord - the good Lord - because we see His everlasting lovingkindness displayed in our redemption and in His daily provision. Good reason, eh?

Friends stop and think about it, we were not born noble but notorious.

By nature we are children of wrath and our father is the devil. We were born blind, deaf and dumb orphans - Ephesians goes so far as to say that we were stillborn orphans! We came into this world as God's enemies - as reckless rebels hell bent on hell itself and hating our Creator.

We were not righteous - none of us. We had no understanding of spiritual things - none of us. We did no true good nor desired to - none of us. (See Romans 3:9-13). Let that fact sink in.

God's Word declares that all of us have "sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and yet, while we were still helpless" - HELPLESS - "at the right time Christ died for the ungodly." (Romans 3:23, 6)

We were in a low estate - the lowest of low estates.

But...

But God...

But God's lovingkindness is everlasting. And He poured that everlasting lovingkindness out upon us!!

"God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 3:8). "The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23)

Christian, He has seen us in our low estate, He has remembered us in our low estate, and He has done something about our low estate!!

He has rescued us from our adversaries - from our greatest adversaries - sin, self and Satan!! Therefore"Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting!"

God has redeemed us from the spiritual pit and He shall preserve us with physical provision. It is God "who gives food to all flesh, for His lovingkindness is everlasting."

He does not save our souls to destroy our bodies. No, "it is an instance of God's merciful providence that wherever He has given life, He gives food agreeable and sufficient" to sustain it!

"Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow." (James 1:17).

Lost one, are you found and fed? Then the response is simple...

"Give thanks to the God of heaven, for His lovingkindness is everlasting."

Giving thanks,

Lori

Give Thanks to the God of the Nations - Psalm 136 (part 4)

2010-06-17T06:02:00.002-04:00

"Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;

for His lovingkindness is everlasting....

To Him who smote the Egyptians in their firstborn,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting,

and brought Israel out from their midst,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting,

with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting;

To Him who divided the Red Sea asunder,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting,

and made Israel pass through the midst of it,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting;

but He overthrew Pharoah and his army in the Red Sea,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting.

To Him who led His people through the wilderness,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting;

To Him who smote great kings,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting,

and slew mighty kings,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting:

Sihon, king of the Amorites,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting,

And Og, king of Bashan,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting,

and gave their land as a heritage,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting,

even a heritage to Israel His servant,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting."

(Psalm 136:1, 10-22)

This next section of Psalm 136 contains much - MUCH that should encourage the heart of a believer and press him to praise!! Here we see the greatness of our God as the King of kings. Here we see His power in preserving His people and in pummeling their persecutors.

Are you living in fear of the "Pharaohs" this day? Are you doubting your ability to conquer Canaan? Well then, don't just glance but gaze deeply at this section of Psalm 136.

Jehovah - the good God of gods and Lord of lords - is the sovereign Ruler of all rulers. Pharoah failed in his arrogant attempts to imprison the people of God. God sent the plagues upon them, sparing His own people in the midst of them - to such a great degree that not even a dog would bark against His chosen children.

The final plague broke the stubborn backbone of this cruel king and he let God's people go. But as they fled they found themselves facing what seemed to be a no win situation. Pharoah's wicked heart recanted of his repentance and he came chasing down the Israelites with his assaulting army. The horses and chariots of Egypt were in hot pursuit and before Israel was the Red Sea. Here they were between a rock and a hard place - or more appropriately between an army and a wet place!!

But God...

But God... the God who's lovingkindness is everlasting...was with them.

With His strong hand and outstretched arm He divided the Red Sea asunder and made Israel pass through the midst of it and then overthrew Pharoah and his army in the same waters that only moments before had stood up to allow His people to pass!

I love Matthew Henry's thoughts on this:

"God brought them out of Egypt. He forced them a way through the Red Sea, which
obstructed them at their first setting out. He not only divided the sea, but gave His people the courage to go through it when it was divided, which was an instance of God's power over men's hearts, as the former was an instance of His power over the waters."

Oh beloved, this God who protects and provides is our God. Will you not thank Him with me for His protection and provision of us?!

From the escape out of Egypt He leads them into the wilderness. He led them there and He fed them there.

From the wilderness He had them conquer kingdoms - Sihon of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan both fell. They fell and their lands became home to the people of Jehovah. "As He said to Pharoah, 'Let my people go', so He said to the Canaanites, 'let my people stay!'" (Henry)

Can you see His power displayed in His dealings with these wicked lands? Can you see His love and care displayed in his dealings with His precious people?

Friends - "His lovingkindness is everlasting." This same lovingkindness that was lavished upon them is the same everlasting lovingkindness that is offered to us.

Rest in the God of Israel. Rest in His care for you. Rest in His provision to you. Rest in His rule over creation and the nations. As you rest in Him give thanks to Him - "for He is good and His lovingkindness is everlasting!"

Resting and rejoicing,

Lori

Everlasting Mercy Seen in the Created World - Psalm 136 (part 3)

2010-06-16T05:35:00.001-04:00

"Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;

for His lovingkindness is everlasting....

To Him who alone does great wonders,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting;

to Him who made the heavens with skill,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting;

to Him who spread out the earth above the waters,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting;

to Him who made the great lights,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting;

the sun to rule by day,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting,

the moon and stars to rule by night,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting."

(Psalm 136:1, 5-9)

For the past two posts I've been slowly stopping to savor the encouragements to praise and thanksgiving that are found here in Psalm 136. First, we are moved to grateful devotion due to the wonderfully repetitive reality of God's everlasting lovingkindness - which just keeps giving and giving and giving. Second, we are moved to reverent thanksgiving simply because of who our God is - Jehovah, the good God, the God of all gods, the Lord of all lords.

Let us give thanks - continually - to this glorious God!!

Verses 5-9 contain the next classified grouping in this psalm. As verses 1-3 pressed us to praise the Lord for the greatness and goodness of His character so the rest of the psalm will press us to praise Him for His deeds. These next 5 verses look specifically at the majesty of God as Maker of heaven and earth and at the splendor of Him as the Sustainer of all that is.

Our God is a God who alone works wonders. It is He who spoke all that is into existence with only a word (Genesis 1). He has made the heavens with skill. The heavens do indeed tell the glory of our God - in their beauty and in the perfection of their design. The skill of our God is evident in the placing of the planets in proportion to the sun, in the chemical makeup of each planet's atmosphere, in the necessary nuances of varying gravitational pulls in order to sustain life here on earth. He has spread out the earth with purpose - to give us our purpose which is to glorify Him.

He has made the sun and the moon and the stars. The sun which gives off light and heat and the moon which reflects that light with such beauty. Oh that we would be as the moon - a reflection of the lifegiving power of our gracious God!

In creation "we see not only His wisdom and power, but we taste His mercy in their benign influences" (Henry). We see His compassion in the rain as it refreshes a parched land. We see His care for us in the cool breeze. We see His power in the storm. We see His beauty in the blooming of the flowers and sense the eternality of Him in trying to count the grains of sand on the seashore. On and on and on the list continues. "All I have seen helps me to trust my Creator for all I have not seen!"

The God whom we are to give thanks to is the God who has made all and sustains all. Will you give thanks to Him with me this day? Look about, look around...look to the splendor of the heavens and the myriads of galaxies that it contains, meditate on the microscopic life which is teeming under the rocks in your yard, gaze long and hard at that ant recognizing that it has a neruological and cardiovascular system, pause to think of the wonder of your own children. Creation points us to the Creator and it clearly calls us to praise Him!

"Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting."

In His glorious grace,

Lori

Thanking God for Who He Is - Psalm 136 (part 2)

2010-06-15T06:01:00.001-04:00

"Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;

for His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Give thanks to the God of gods,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Give thanks to the Lord of lords,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting."

(Psalm 136:1-3)

We have MUCH to be thankful for. God's lovingkindness towards us is everlasting. His mercies are new every morning. His faithfulness is great. Bottom line - HE is great and therefore greatly to be praised!

In these first three verses of Psalm 136 the writer of this poetically repetitive hallelujah psalm points us to the character of God as one of the catalysts for thankful praise.

We are to give thanks to God not only for what He does but at an even more basic level for who He intrinsically is.

Friends, if God did NOTHING for us He would still be worthy of EVERYTHING from us. He is God! We are not. There is a great distinction between the Creator and the creature and we have been created by Him and for Him. Let us therefore give Him praise!

He is God - and He is a glorious God as the writer of psalm 136 will show us.

First, "give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting."

Let us give thanks to the LORD. It is to Jehovah that our gracious praises must flow. It is to the one living and true God - the great I AM that the thankful adorations of our heart must be directed to.

Let us give thanks to the LORD for He is good. As I have mentioned again and again in this series of psalms, our thanksgiving and praise should not resound simply because He does good but at a much more foundational level because He IS good! His very character - its holy excellencies and uncomparable goodness - is the thing which should most drive us to our knees in grateful contemplation and erupting praise! His goodness knows no end. It is eternal and inexhaustible. Does that fact not cause your heart to well up within you? Beloved, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting."

Second, "Give thanks to the God of gods, for His lovingkindness is everlasting."

Let us give thanks to the God of gods. Jehovah is not some man-made deity. He is no idol of many's contrivance. No falsely formed Friend. No, He is the One from whom all powers are derived. Man could not even invent an idol were it not for the fact that the living and true God gave him the breath and ability to cut and carve and create. It is in Him that we live and move and have our being.

Paul understood this in Acts 17 as he preached Christ to the philosophical pagans at Mars Hill. He stood in the Areopagus and spoke to them of their many "gods" - even their altar to the unknown god - and pointed them poignently to the God of gods.

"Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' What therefore you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; neither is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things; and He has made from one, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation, that they should seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each
one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own
pets have said, 'For we also are His offspring.'"

He continued:

"Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead."

Paul was directing the gaze of these great thinkers away from the gods of this world and the gods of their imaginations to the God of gods. What God/god are we living for? There is but One worthy of our life. Oh friends, "Give thanks to the God of gods, for His lovingkindness is everlasting."

Third, "Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His lovingkindness is everlasting."

Let us give thanks to the Lord of lords. Just as there is one God so there is truly only one Lord. This Jehovah alone is the true sovereign of all sovereigns and the one great and mighty potentate who reigns and rules supremely. It is He who is the King of kings. Rulers rise and fall at His bidding. Nations wax and wane at His command. His sovereignty rules over all. Therefore, let us not waste our times with little lords but live our days for the Lord of lords.

"Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His lovingkindness is everlasting."

This is the God whom we worship. He is the good God, the God of gods, the Lord of lords. Is He not utterly worthy of all of our thanksgiving and praise? His lovingkindness is everlasting because He is everlasting.

Thankful for the character of the God who is,

Lori

A Prelude to Thanksgiving - Psalm 136

2010-06-14T05:31:00.002-04:00

"Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;

for His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Give thanks to the God of gods,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Give thanks to the Lord of lords,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting.

To Him who alone does great wonders,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting;

to Him who made the heavens with skill,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting;

to Him who spread out the earth above the waters,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting;

to Him who made the great lights,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting:

the sun to rule by day,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting,

the moon and stars to rule by night,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting."

(Psalm 136:1-9)

This is a psalm of thanksgiving. (Kind of obvious, eh?!) It is a hallelujah of gratitude for who God is and for what He has done. We have much to thank Him for and just in case we are suffering from some form of Ebenezer amnesia the psalm writer is about to jog our memories.

In these 26 verses (of which I am only going to give a brief intro to this morning) we will be reminded of the greatness of God in and of Himself, of His creative and sustaining power over the entire universe, of His role as Israel's God and Savior and King, of His condescending act of redeeming us from our hopeless and helpless estate, and of His never-ceasing beneficence. He is a good God, a great God, a gracious God, and a giving God. Won't you give thanks with me?

There is a repetitive phrase used very effectively in this particular hymn of thanks:

"for His lovingkindness is everlasting."

Just in case you were wondering, it is used 26 times in 26 verses - I think this everlasting lovingkindness is a point that our lyricist wants to drive home!!

This echoing mantra points us to several truths.

1. Just as the words are repeated so are the mercies of God which they convey. Over and over and over we are told "for His lovingkindness is everlasting" because over and over and over His everlasting lovingkindnesses are poured out upon us. As Augustus Toplady phrased it in one of his old hymns, we have a "fountain of never ceasing grace" and that fountain is the "saint's exhaustless theme." Oh, give thanks with me for this merciful and gracious lovingkindness which flows freely and un-endingly from Him.

2. Just as the words are repeated in regards to varying situations and circumstances so are the mercies of God applied to us in all the varying realms and spheres of life. In this one psalm our attention is drawn to the mercies that are ours in worshipping God, in all of the created order, in national history, in redemptive history, and even in the provision of our daily bread.

No matter what we are facing this day "His lovingkindness is everlasting." Oh, give thanks with me to this One who's mercy and grace is repeatedly everpresent with us in all things, in all places, in all times.

Christian, whatever your day holds it is held together by the everlasting lovingkindness of God.

3. Just as the words are repeated so should our own thoughts of God's everlasting lovingkindness be. Clearly, the mercies of our God are an echoing theme, not only in Psalm 136, but in all of Scripture. With a quick perusal via my computer search engine I came up with 290 references to God's lovingkindness/mercy. God's lovingkindness to undeserving, rebellious, ungrateful sinners is the heart of the gospel and the recognition of that fact should be at the heart of our worship. God's everlasting lovingkindness is a crowning jewel of His amazing character!

Over the next few mornings I'll be breaking down the things that have grabbed my far too often unthankful heart. By the end I pray that we will all be echoing the psalmist's mantra not only with our lips but with our hearts and with our lives.

"Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting."

In grateful hallelujahs,

Lori

Dead Idols & a Living God - Psalm 135 (part 3)

2010-06-11T05:24:00.004-04:00

"Praise the LORD!...

The idols of the nations are but silver and gold,

the work of man's hands.

They have mouths, but they do not speak;

they have eyes, but they do not see;

they have ears, but they do not hear;

nor is there any breath at all in their mouths.

Those who make them will be like them,

yes, everyone who trusts in them.

O house of Israel, bless the LORD;

O house of Aaron, bless the LORD;

O house of Levi, bless the LORD;

you who revere the LORD, bless the LORD.

Blessed be the LORD from Zion,

who dwells in Jerusalem.

Praise the LORD!

(Psalm 135:1, 15-21)

In this first hallelujah psalm we've been pressed to meditate on the goodness and beauty and greatness of the God who has called us out as His own prized possession. We've been urged to praise Him for who He is and for what He has done. Here our attention is drawn to the vain things that natural men often naturally worship. There is truly no comparison.

John Calvin has said that our hearts are idol factories and in that statement he has spoken well. While, in our current culture, we may not manufacture quite as many tangible vessels of idolatry - I haven't noticed a "get your statue of Dagon" stand here in my own small burg (not yet) - we most certainly are constantly in the business of making heart idols left and right.

We worship ourselves, our friends, our toys, our desires, our labors, our reputations - on and on and on they go. Yes, our hearts are idol factories and the product that they are producing isn't up to par.

The same psalmist who has just directed our attention to the true and living God - you know, the One who is good and lovely and great, the One who is above all gods, the One who does as He pleases in heaven and on earth - now directs our attention to the false and dead gods of our contrivance.

"The idols of the nations are but silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak; they have eyes, but they do not see; they have ears but they do not hear; nor is there any breath in their mouths."

What kind of gods are these?

They are created not creating.

They are formed not forming.

They are impotent not omnipotent.

They have mouths but can't speak...

.......... He spoke all of creation into existence with only a word.

They have eyes but can see nothing...

.......... He sees ALL things and even the deepest darkness is as light to Him.

They have ears but can't hear...

..........He hears even the thoughts that we never audibly utter.

There is no comparison - none whatsoever! Dead idols can't compete with a living God!!

May this incomparable comparison stir our hearts to hallelujahs! It is the living and true God who is our God. Therefore "bless the LORD.... You who revere the LORD, bless the LORD. Blessed be the LORD from Zion, who dwells in Jerusalem. Praise the LORD!"

Praising the glory of His greatness,

Lori

The Greatness of the Good God - Psalm 135 (part 2)

2010-06-10T05:52:00.001-04:00

"Praise the LORD!...

For I know that the LORD is great,

and that our Lord is above all gods.

Whatever the LORD pleases, He does,

in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps.

He causes vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth;

Who makes lightnings for the rain;

Who brings forth the wind from His treasuries.

He smote the firstborn of Egypt,

both of man and beast.

He sent signs and wonders into your midst, O Egypt,

under Pharoah and all his servants.

He smote many nations,

and slew mighty kings,

Sihon, king of Bashan,

and all the kingdoms of Canaan;

and He gave their land as a heritage,

a heriatage to Israel His people.

Thy name, O LORD, is everlasting,

Thy remembrance, O LORD, throughout all generations.

For the LORD will judge His people,

and will have compassion on His servants."

(Psalm 135:1, 5-14)

We, the chosen people and prized possession of God, have been told to praise the good and lovely God. Here, in verses 5-14, we are extolled to praise the greatness of this good God. Yes, our God is good. He is kind and His mercies are new every morning. But He is not merely some jovial old grandpa pouring forth blessings upon His children. No, our good God is a GREAT God. Mighty in power. Sovereign in all things. He "is above all gods and whatever He pleases, He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps."

Henry sums it up this way:

"The Lord is great, great indeed, who knows no limits of time or place. He has an absolute power, and may do with it what He will. This absolute almighty power is of universal extent; He does what He will in heaven, in earth, in the sea, and in all the deep place that are in the bottom of the sea or the bowels of the earth."

God is great and greatly to be praised. Hallelujah!

The psalmist not only arbitrarily claims the greatness of our God, he goes on to give instances and examples of His great power. He does so in "the kingdom of nature" and in "the kingdoms of men".

He begins with God's great and sovereign control over the "kingdom of nature". Again I turn to Henry. His eloquence is worthy of more than a cliff note description.

"All the powers of nature prove the greatness of the God of nature, from whom they are derived and on whom they depend. The chain of natural causes was not only framed by Him at first, but is preserved by Him. It is by His power that exalations are drawn up from the terraqueous globe.

"The heat of the sun raises them, but it has that power from God. It is He who, out of those vapors so raised, forms the rain. They are returned with advantage in fruitful showers.

"He makes lightnings for the rain; by them he shakes the clouds, that they may water the earth. here are fire and water thoroughly reconciled by divine omnipotence.

"Winds blow where they list, from what point of the compass they will, and we are so far from directing them that we cannot tell whence they come nor wither they go, but God brings them out of His treasuries with exactness and design."

A great God who works great things and rules all things exactly as He pleases in the kingdom of nature. Praise the Lord, you His people!

Secondly, the psalmist shows us the greatness of God and the awesomeness of His power in the "kingdoms of men." He gives us historical examples of God's dealings with Pharoah of Egypt, Sihon of the land of the Amorites, and of Og King of Bashan. These were mighty men who struck fear into the hearts of people. But their human power was no match for God's omnipotence. Pharoah fell. Sihon sunk. Og was obliterated. The greatness of the good God triumphed over all their schemes. The great God protected His prized people against the pestilent plans of these wicked warlords. God had given a promise to His possession and nothing - no power, no potentate, no principality - would stand in the way.

"No powers of hell or earth can prevent the accomplishment of the promise of God when the time, the set time, for it has come." (Matthew Henry)

O my sanctified siblings, praise the great God with me!! He is above all gods. He does whatever he pleases in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in the deeps. He rules nature. He rules kings. He rules us - and He seeks our greatest good!!

"His name is everlasting" and so is His dominon. "His remembrance is through all generations" and so is His love for you, O chosen child. "The LORD will judge His people" (thankfully through the merits of the Christ whom He has sent to redeem them) and "He will have compassion on His servants."

O, how can we not sing hallelujah?!!! How can we not live hallelujah?!!!

Join me in praising the greatness of the good God. Praise the LORD!

In His great and glorious grace,
Lori

Hallelujah!! - Psalm 135 (part 1)

2010-06-09T05:24:00.003-04:00

"Praise the LORD!

Praise the name of the LORD;

praise Him, O servants of the LORD,

you who stand in the house of the LORD,

in the courts of the house of our God!

Praise the LORD for the LORD is good;

sing praises to His name, for it is lovely.

For the LORD has chosen Jacob for Himself,

Israel for His own possession."

(Psalm 135:1-4)

Psalm 135 begins the final contextual group of psalms in God's hymnbook. The previous group (120-134) is known as the psalms of ascent. These (135ff) are the psalms of praise. Matthew Henry refers to them as the "hallelujah psalms" - I like that! Each of these begins with a hallelujah and ends with a hallelujah and in between they are full of the reasons why we should shout hallelujah to our great God. Henry says that hallelujah is the "alpha and omega" of each of these songs. How I pray that these hymns of Zion would move us to make praise the alpha and omega of our songs and of our lives!

This morning I only want to focus on the first 4 verses of the first of these psalms. While I read the entire passage this morning, my meditation never got beyond these first few words. There is much to digest here and I don't want to gorge myself on this festive feast but savor it slowly and fully enjoy all the amazing flavors that it contains.

In verse 1 we are told to "praise the Lord." The psalms of ascent have given us much reason to thank the Lord - He has done great things. The psalms of hallelujah remind us that we are not only to thank God for what He has done but praise Him for who He is!! Let us maginify the Lord! Let us lift high His name and offer to Him the sacrifice of praise! Praise the name of the Lord with me!

But who is to do this act of worship? The latter half of verse 1 and the whole of verse 2 tell us who is expected to do this. "Praise Him, O servants of the Lord, you who stand in the house of our God, in the courts of the house of our God."

Children of Zion, heirs of salvation, my fellow Christians - WE are to do this act of worship!! You and I are called to cry out in joyful shouting to our God! It is the privileged duty of the people of God to praise Him and the writer of this particular anthem is about to tell us why we should. (As if we truly needed instruction in it!)

We should "praise the Lord for the Lord is good." Not only has He done good - He IS good. He alone is good. There is none like Him in heaven or on earth. His innate goodness is a reason for our shouts of adoration and for our songs of joy! Praise Him oh people, praise Him for He is good!!

We should "sing praises to His name for it is lovely." Our God is the essence of true beauty. All beauty in this created world is simply a shadow of the greater beauty of the One who formed it. Just as a glorious sunset that is painted on the evening sky causes us to pause and shake our head in amazement at its beauty, so the loveliness of our God should evoke the praise of His people. Specifically, verse 3 tells us that His name is lovely. The name of Jehovah is a beautiful name. It is a name that bespeaks power and authority and eternality and sovereign dominion. It is the name of the Lord - the great I AM. Sing praises with me to this lovely name!!

We should "praise the Lord... for the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel for His own possession." As if His goodness and beauty were not enough reason to worship, His remarkable kindness and amazing mercy in making us His own prized possession certainly seals the deal. Beloved (and this verse reminds us that this is our proper title), the good God with the strong and lovely name has chosen you for Himself. Christian, you are His own possession. Pause and let it sink in!!

My husband is currently preaching through 1 Peter and just last week encouraged our congregation with these glorious words from chapter 2:

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."

Is that not an incredible parallel to Psalm 135:1-4?

Oh my friends, the good and lovely God has chosen us - we who were not a people, we who were His enemies. He has chosen us to be a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and His prized possession!! The God who would have been perfectly just and righteous to make us objects of His wrath has made us recipients of His mercy!! Why? "That we might proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light."

Sounds like Peter understands the hallelujah psalms!!

Come! Over these next few days, come and join me in these psalms of hallelujah! Come and praise the Lord with me! Come and praise the name of the Lord with me, O you servants of the Lord. He is good. His name is lovely. He has chosen us as His own possession. Let us praise Him for who He is and for what He has done!

Hallelujah!

Lori

Bless the Lord / Be Blessed By Him - Psalm 134

2010-06-08T05:28:00.005-04:00

"Behold, bless the LORD,

all servants of the LORD,

who serve by night in the house of the LORD!

Lift up your hands to the sanctuary,

and bless the LORD.

May the LORD bless you from Zion,

He who made heaven and earth."

(Psalm 134)

This morning I come to the final Psalm of ascent. I'll miss these. This last one is a short one, but it says plenty. It speaks of blessing God and being blessed by Him. Glance with me at these 3 short verses and at the three points I have derived from them.

1. The ascenting psalmist begins with a call for ALL of the servants of the Lord to bless the Lord. "Behold, bless the LORD, all servants of the LORD, who serve by night in the hosue of the LORD!"

In the cultural context it is a call to the Levitcal priests who served during the night watches of temple time to bless the name of Jehovah. It encourages them to speak well of their God - is He deserving of any other type of speech?

It is a call for them - it is also a call for us. We have been declared, by God, to be "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of God's own possession that we may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9)".

So, my fellow priests, are we blessing the Lord? Are we proclaiming the excellencies of this great God who has called us from darkness to light? Are we extolling the wonders and grace and mercies of this One who called us out and drew us in? "For you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy" (1 Peter 2:10). Are we blessing this One who is so worthy of our praise and adoration? If not, is it not time to start? If we don't want to, if we have no desire to, then what does that say about the condition of our hearts?

2. The ascenting psalmist exhorts us to bless the Lord through our worship of Him. "Lift up your hands to the sanctuary, and bless the LORD."

We are not only to speak well of Him with our lips, we are to live well to Him in our worship! "Let us lift up our hands in prayer and praise and vows. Let us do our religious work with diligence and cheerfulness and with an elevation of mind" (Henry).

So, my fellow worshippers, are we worshipping? Are we reaching up to the One who has reached down to us? With David are we "glad when they said unto me, let us go to the house of the LORD?" Oh, may He make us glad. There is no other more glorious act done under the sun than this act of worship.

3. The ascenting psalmist ends with the benefit of being blessed as we bless. "May the LORD bless you from Zion, He who made heaven and earth."

God deserves our blessing and our worship. He is God - that is enough motivation for us to praise Him. However, God is an ever benevolent God. He just keeps giving and giving and giving and giving. His mercies are new every morning. His lovingkindness is everlasting. His goodness endures forever. He is a fountain of never ceasing grace. The psalmist knows that. Therefore immediately on the heels of encouraging our blessing the name of God he prays that God will in turn bless us - because that is simply what God does.

This closing prayer in verse 3 is a reminder to us that it is the blessing of God that we should desire. It is not the blessing of men, nor the blessing of the world. It is not wealth, or fame, or prosperity that we should long for - it is God and His gifts. We should seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. We should hunger and thirst for His righteousness. We should desire His gifts and not our own.

Matthew Henry ends his brief comments on this psalm with these words.

"God's blessing us is His doing well for us. It is that which we are taught here to desire. We need desire no more to make us happy than to be blessed of the Lord, for those whom He blesses are blessed indeed."

How true. How wonderfully true.

My friends, my fellow servants, may we bless the Lord this day. May we worship Him with lifted hands and hearts and heads and as we do may we wait expectantly for the true blessings that come from being His people and the sheep of His pasture. It is "He who made heaven and earth." It is He who made us and not we ourselves. Let us therefore enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Let us give thanks to Him and bless His name. For He is good and His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness is to all generations.

Bless the Lord with me and be blessed as you do!!

In His glorious grace,

Lori

Unity - Precious and Profitable - Psalm 133

2010-06-07T05:54:00.001-04:00

"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is

for brothers to dwell together in unity!

It is like the precious oil upon the head,

coming down upon the beard,

even Aaron's beard,

coming down on the edge of his robes.

It is like the dew of Hermon,

coming down upon the mountains of Zion;

for there the LORD commanded the blessing -

life forever."

(Psalm 133)

There is nothing less harmonious than a quarrel. There is nothing more melodious than unity. This is a psalm about the beauty of a song sung together in unison. These words speak of the precious and profitable nature of true communion with the saints.

David is speaking on the excellence of brotherly love. He says, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell in unity!!" This is a GOOD thing. This is a pleasant thing. This should be a desired thing. Is it? Are we living with the fellow followers of Christ in this manner? Are we united or divided? Are we seeking to mend the breaches or striving to tear down those things which should bind us together?

In this next to last psalm of ascent, David uses two pictures to make us crave this wonderfully woven friendship and fellowship. He gives the picture of oil and dew to show us how good Christian comradery is.

"It is like precious oil." Oil was a valuable commodity. It cost a pretty penny and was used only on special occasions. Christian unity is compared to the contents of this vase of value.

Henry writes:

"Let them live in love. This living is a rare thing and therefore is admirable. It is fragrant as the holy anointing oil, which was stronglty perfumed, and diffused its odours, when it was poured upon the head of Aaron, or of his successor the high priest, so plentifully that it ran down the face, even to the collar or binding of the garment (vs 2). So must our brotherly love be, with a pure heart, devoted to God. Holy love, is in the sight of God, of great price. "

As priestly oil flowed so must our love for one another. May they know we are Christians by our love. May that love be the aroma of Christ to a persishing world.

Friends, what do we smell like in our dealings with one another? Are we as precious perfume or as a rotting corpse?

"It is like the dew of Hermon." Brotherly love is not only precious but profitable. The cool morning dew brings comfort and needed refreshment to a land that is often parched by the scorching sun. So should be our love towards one another - we should refresh one another. The world hates us. The world seeks to burn us out. Are we fanning the flames of fury or dousing them with the dew?

Again turning to Henry:

"Holy love is profitable as well as pleasing: it is as the dew; it brings abundance of blessings along with it, as numerous as the drops of dew. It cools the scorching heat of men's passions, as the evening dews cool the air and refresh the earth. It moistens the heart, and makes it tender and fit to receive the good seed of the Word. It is as the dew of Hermon which is a common hill (for brotherly love is the beauty and benefit of civil societies), and it is as the dew that ascended upon the mountains of Zion, a holy hill (for it contributes greatly to the fruitfulness of sacred societies)."

Beloved, are we loving?

Are we loving as precious perfume?

Are we loving as pleasing and profitable dew?

May we love for in loving there is blessing. The goodness of brothers dwelling in unity is not only like precious oil and morning dew but it is a key to true blessedness in this life.

The psalmist reminds us that upon Mt. Zion - where our sacred society was so gloriously established - we were given the promised blessing of "life forever".

"Loving people are blessed people. They are blessed of God, and therefore blessed indeed. The blessing which God commands on those that dwell in love is life for evermore; that is the blessing of blessings. Those that dwell in love not only dwell in God, but do already dwell in heaven."

Lord, help us to love one another this day forth and for ever more.

In His glorious grace,

Lori

Weaned from Wandering in Worldly Wonder - Psalm 131

2010-06-06T06:10:00.003-04:00

"O LORD, my heart is not proud,

nor my eyes haughty;

nor do I involve myself in great matters,

or in things too difficult for me.

Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;

like a weaned child rests against its mother,

my soul is like a weaned child within me.

O Israel, hope in the LORD

from this time forth and forever."

(Psalm 131)

Over the course of the past two weeks I have been utterly amazed at the timing of landing here in the Psalms of ascent. Just being flat out honest - life has been dark for me recently - blindingly dark. As, I shared in my last post, the previous psalm in many ways is the psalm of the past 13 months for me. I have been in the depths - deep depths! I have cried out to God for mercy - at times uncertain of whether He was even there to hear. I have been made painfully aware of my sinfulness and have seen His merciful lovingkindness poured out to me where His wrath should have gushed forth! I have been made to wait upon the Lord - for quite some time and while waiting I have hoped in His Word. The lessons I have learned in that precious Word - many of which have flown off of my fingers onto this blog - have truly been an anchor for a soul that has been so violently adrift at sea. My friends, Lori Sealy has been in the midst of a spiritual war of epci proportions and I have, by grace - by NOTHING but grace - been kept in this overwhelming flood and have been enabled to wait and watch for His redeeming rescue.

My Redeemer has come! The Psalms of ascent - the Psalms of those who sing on their way to worship their Redeemer - have truly been my Psalms. At this moment in my life I own these words, by sheer grace and by perfectly planned providence. Today is no exception. Today is, yet again, the cry of my heart and the testimony of my circumstance. Several particulars grabbed me as I meditated this day.

1. David has been humbled. "O LORD, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty." I have had both a proud heart and haughty eyes in my life - they have been smashed upon the altar of affliction. For 13 months our gracious God has been orchestrating those things which would humble me. He has been proving to me that, in and of myself, I have ZERO to be proud of and even less to hold onto haughtily. What do I have that He has not given? Only my sin - and surely there is nothing in that blackness in which to boast!

With David, because of the hard path God has had me walk upon I can, this day honestly cry out "O LORD, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty." I am thankful, beyond measure, for His mercies in putting me in my rightful place and helping me to view myself with sober judgment.

2. David has learned to avoid crossing over the line. "Nor do I involve myself in great matters, or in things too difficult for me." Personally, this was a very, very precious word. I have often acknowledged that I think far too much, question far to often, and doubt far more than I should. Deuteronomy 29:29 has recently become a recurring mantra for me:

"The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law."

I know that my natural inclination is to try and cross over the line and enter into the land of the secret rather than in contentedly meditating in the land of the revealed. God, has been driving me out of His secret land and forcing my hand to go to work in my own - the revealed land which belongs to me. There is much that is too difficult for me to comprehend. There are many things about God that are greater than my ability to understand. This finite one cannot contain the infinite ONE and I am wasting my time trying!! Besides, there is plenty for me to feast upon in the pages of His word - more than I will ever fully fill up on in this life. What is contained on that provided plate is completely sufficient for all of life and godliness - I need nothing more. I am learning to revel in the revealed and to marvel that there are secret things - which simply point me to the infinite majesty of my great God!!

3. David has become as a weaned child - content and resting where he once craved and wresteled. "Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; like a weaned child rests against his mother; my soul is like a weaned child within me."

OK - so here's the daily jackpot for me. For years I have read over these verses. I have seen the analogy. I have quoted it to others. Today, for the first time, I got it!! It is mine!! This illustration is my life!!

I have two children. I have nursed them both. Both were greedy little root hogs -particularly Joshua. If they got near a bosom - even one that was not my own -they were looking for the goods, going for the grub, searching for the source - in a greedily unrelenting fashion! But once they were weaned they could relax in peace - happy simply to be in my presence. They slept still and content where they had once sniffed and struggled and striven. Being weaned, they were satisfied to rest upon my breast.

Wow! I have been a milk hungry root hog!! I have fought and wrestled and conived and even contrived ways to get to my God and to apprehend those things (even good things - like a firm faith) which I have longed for from Him. I have, like Jacob, sought to wrestle with omnipotence in order to get the blessing from Him. I have, like Jacob, been wounded in the process - wounded wonderfully!!

God has been weaning me since April of 2009 and I think He's succeeded! (Who would've thunk it?!) I am now finding myself content in my inabilities and resting in the strong arms that have sustained me thus far. Being sanctified has satisfied and I am finding great comfort in composing and quieting my soul to rest in His righteousness.

That may not make any sense at all to you - but it is the very essence of what is happening to me. For 13 months I have wrestled with great, great doubt - doubt as to the very existence of the God who has made me and saved me. I have sought to fight my own way out of my doubt. I have sought to faithfully use the means of grace to get to Him. And yet I have been the one seeking to work the grace in order to get where I wanted and needed to be. He has let me fall and falter in order to remind me that faith is not a good I can get but that it is a gift that He gives. He has humbled me by teaching me that faith will never be completely free of faithlessness this side of heaven - and I need to accept that. There is no perfection in the land of sanctification - I am not yet glorified but I will be!! Faith will be made sight on the final day. Here, under the sun, I believe but have great need of my Father to help me with my unbelief. That's exactly what He is doing - He is helping me to be OK with my unbelief and increasing my mustard seed faith along the way.

This psalm is dear to me - because it is real to me. I am being weaned from wandering over the Deuteronomy 29:29 line into worldy wonder. The haughty heroine has been humbled and quieted and stilled and weaned and is finally finding rest on the breast. Free!! Not free from my sin, but free in Him even with my sin!!

No wonder the psalm ends with these words:

"O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forever."

I am hoping - and happy to be here.

In His glorious grace, on His strong breast,

Lori

Out of the Depths / Into Redemption - Psalm 130

2010-06-04T05:24:00.001-04:00

"Out of the depths I have cried to Thee, O LORD.

Lord, hear my voice!

Let Thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.

If Thou, LORD, shouldst mark iniquities, O LORD,

who could stand?

But there is forgiveness with Thee,

that Thou mayest be feared.

I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait,

and in His word do I hope.

My soul waits for the LORD

more than the wathcmen for the morning;

indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning.

O Israel, hope in the LORD;

for with the LORD there is lovingkindness,

and with Him is abundant redemption.

And He will redeem Israel from all iniquities."

(Psalm 130)

I must admit that this psalm made this sinner smile this morning. It is a psalm that resonates as real in my life. It has been my prayer. It has been my lot. It has been my hope. It is my certainty.

For 13 months I have cried out of the depths for God to hear my voice. He has often appeared silent. More often than that I have often appeared stubbornly deaf! Over the course of the past 2 weeks He has seen fit to pull me out of the depths and to put me radically back into the arms of redeeming grace. I am overwhelmed at His mercies to me. This psalm, in so many ways, is a mirror of my recent days.

In these eight verses we see the cry of the afflicted, the reality of their sin, the promise of forgiveness to the repentant, the need for patient perseverance while in the trial, the rule of God's word as our guide in the darkness, the lovingkind character of our God even when all would say it is not so, and the declared fact of abundant redemption - that is ultimately ours in Christ. Wow! There is much here.

First, the psalmist is in deep waters. "Out of the depths I have cried to Thee, O LORD." He is surrounded and sinking. "The best men may sometimes be in the depths, in great trouble and affliction" (Henry).

Second, in these deep waters he cries out to His God. "Out of the depths I have cried to Thee, O LORD. Lord, hear my voice! Let Thine ear be attentive to the voice of my supplications." Sinking times must be praying times!!

"In the greatest depths, it is our privilege that we may cry unto God and be heard. To cry out to God is the likeliest way both to prevent our sinking lower and to recover us out of the pit." (Henry)

Are we overwhelmed by deep waters? Let us, with the psalm writer, cry out to the Lord!

Third, let us always recognize our sinfulness. "If Thou, LORD, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?" Folks, friends, fellow failers... do we have any idea just how wretched we are left to ourselves? There is NOTHING good in us - save Christ. All of our most righteous deeds are but filthy rags - the MOST righteous ones - and if God were to treat us as our sins deserve we would be decimated in the dust. But...

Fourth, let us always remember the mercies of our God. "But there is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared."

Summing up these two points Mr. Henry writes:

"We cannot justify ourselves before God or plead 'not guilty.' If God were to deal with us in strict justice, we would be undone. It is of His mercy that we are not consumed by His wrath. It is our unspeakable comfort, in approaches to God, that there is forgiveness with Him,for that is what we need."

How true...how marvelously true. I read these words and my heart both weeps and leaps. My sin is obvious to me. It is ever before me. The battle with it is real. Equally true - no, more powerfully true - is the mercy of my Master towards me. The Holy One has looked upon me and has lavished me with lovingkindness. He has seen my sin. He has sent my Savior. He has forgiven me and I am now enabled to stand, clothed in Christ's righteousness. Ain't it grand?!?! Ain't it gloriously grand?!?!?!

Fifth, we must wait upon the Lord. "I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait." Sinking times should be praying times and praying times are often waiting times. Patience is a virture that is most frequently developed in the school of affliction. Sanctification is not a microwave meal. There is no "easy" button. There is no quick fix. There is the long haul -therefore, wait upon the Lord.

Henry writes:

"I wait for the Lord; from Him I expect relief and comfort, believing it will come, longing till it does come, but patiently bearing the delay of it, and resolving to look for it from no other hand."

Sixth, we must fix upon His word. "And in His word do I hope." His word is the lamp unto our feet and the light unto our path that will guide us through the murky darkness. It alone is our rule of faith and life and upon that firm foundation we must build our house of hope.

"We must hope for that only which He has promised in His word, and not for the creatures of our own fancy and imagination." (Henry)

Seventh, we must watch while we wait and we must watch with expectance! "My soul waits for the LORD, more than the watchmen for the morning; indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning." When in the depths we often watch out for the waves more than for the Maker of them. Peter walked on the water as long as His eyes were on Christ. He sunk when he stopped watching. How true it is of us as well. We need to watch for our Helper. He will come - right on time - and pull us from the dark and dank depths.

I love the comparison with those who watch for the morning. Morning dawns. We know it is coming. Even so - honestly, more so - the morning of our redemption from the pit is coming. This picture presses us to be confident in the coming of our conquering Captain.

The psalmist is in essence saying:

"Well-assured that the morning will come; so am I that God will return in mercy to me, for God's covenant is more firm than the ordinances of day and night, for they shall come to an end, but the covenant is everlasting!" (Henry)

Eighth, our hope will not be disappointed. "O Israel, hope in the LORD; for with the LORD there is lovingkindness, and with Him there is abundant redemption. And He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities."

What more can be said than is said in these verses?

Are you in deep waters? Pray! Cry out to the One who can hear you over the crashing waves and the howling winds. Cry out to Him recognizing your sins and the just consequences for them. Cry out to Him knowing that He is a merciful and forgiving God who longs to lavish His lovingkindness upon us. Wait as you cry - wait on His timing and not your own. Wait in the Word - let it be chart to keep you from being lost on the stormy sea. Wait with expectancy KNOWING that morning will dawn at exactly the right moment. Wait - for your conquering King is coming in abundant redemption. What more could we ask for?

After 13 months of drowning in the sea of forgetfulness. After a little over a year of hanging on to hope by a thread - a tattered and torn thread - I have seen the abundant redemption of the LORD poured out upon me - a sinner who cannot stand on her own. But - He has made me stand. He is making me to walk on the water with Him - the very water that pulled me under on my own.

Watch and pray, my friends. Watch and pray - redemption will raise you from the depths!

In His glorious grace,

Lori

Plowing Persecuters Don't Prevail. Praising People Do! - Psalm 129

2010-06-03T05:32:00.003-04:00

"'Many times they have persecuted me

from my youth up,' let Israel now say,

'Many times they have persecuted me

from my youth

yet they have not prevailed against me.

The plowers plowed upon my back;

they lengthened their furrows.'

The LORD is righteous;

He has cut in two the cords of the wicked.

May all who hate Zion,

be put to shame and turned backward,

let them be like grass upon the housetops,

which withers before it grows up;

with which the reaper does not fill his hand,

or the binder of sheaves his bosom;

nor do those who pass by say,

'The blessing of the LORD be upon you;

we bless you in the name of the LORD.'"

(Psalm 129)

"The church of God has been often greatly distressed by its enemies on earth. God's people have always had many enemies, and the state of the church, from its infancy, has frequently been an afflicted state."

So begin Mr. Henry's comments on Psalm 129. This is a psalm about persecution. It is a psalm that speaks of the enemies of God's people, of their actions against Zion, and of God's actions against them!

You who are counted among the beloved Israel of God on this day, are you being hounded by the hoardes of hell? Are those who hate your Father pursuing you, His child? Take comfort in this psalm. There is much hope found in its contents and there is much hope found even in its context - for this psalm is a song of ascent as have been the 10 previous psalms. This psalm about the persecuting plows of the wicked is a psalm that the church of old sang on its way to worship. May we be moved to worship as we examine it - not matter who is striving to stop us!!

Here Israel is encouraged to speak as one man - this psalm is personal because their persecution (while corporate) has been personal. They have been trampled upon - each of them. They have been pursued - every one of them. They have been taken captive - all of them. It is not difficult for them to look at their circumstances and to speak personally - as one man. It is true, "many times they have persecuted ME from my youth up."

The psalmist tells us that "the plowers have plowed upon my back; they lengthened their furrows."

This is descriptive language, poetic language, picturesque language. Their enemies have sought their destruction through harsh and painful means. They have set upon them as a farmer would a field. They have put the plow to the body and soul of these folks and have sought to tear them asunder. If they could have their way they would rip Israel to pieces, limb by limb. They want to demorilize them. They want to demolish them. They want to decimate them!

Yes, things have been horrible and times have been tough. Doggone it, the hairy hoardes of hell have gone to bush hogging on their backs!!! "YET they have not prevailed against me." Why? Because "The LORD is righteous; He has cut in two the cords of the wicked."

Henry sums it all up well, very well:

"The enemies of God's people have all along used them barbarously. They tore them as the husbandman tears the ground with his ploughshare. When God permitted them to plough thus He intended it for His people's good, that, their fallow ground being thus broken up, He might sow the seeds of His grace upon them; even though the enemies meant it not so!"

The persecutors made their furrows deep and long. They were unrelenting in their pursuits. They cared not how it cut. They were unconcerned with how long it would last. They simply wanted to inflict pain and bring Israel to her knees. They were "aiming at the destruction of the church."

But...

...but God!! (It seems a common theme in these psalms!)

"The church has always beeng graciously delivered by her Friend in heaven. The enemies' projects have always been defeated. Christ has built His church upon a rock, and the gates of hell have not prevailed against it, nor ever shall. God has cut asunder the cords of the wicked. He has cut their gears, their traces, and so spoiled their ploughing. He has cut their scourges, and so spoiled their lashing. He has cut the bands of captivity in which they held God's people." (Henry)

Oh friends, what persecutors pursue you this day? Are you currently ravished for righteousness? Take heart in your hurt for Israel's God is your God!! They shall not prevail against you and the very wounds they inflict will be used by our gracious God for your good. He will sow seeds of grace in the painfully plowed parts of persecution. From those rows He will grow you into a cedar of Lebanon - tall and strong and straight and prospering.

But the wicked are not so...

You will be as a tree firmly planted they will be as grass quickly fading!

Those who hate Zion will be brought to shame. They will be turned backwards. Their forward momentum will take a 180 and they will find their own plows to be pursing their own backs!! The wicked are sovereignly destined for destruction by the God whose beloved they have belittled!! God will not be mocked and His people will not be jostled without justice!

Turning one last time to Henry:

"As they are enemies to Zion they are so certainly marked for ruin that they may
be looked upon as the grass on the house-tops, which is little and short and sour and good for nothing. It withers before it grows up to any maturity, having no root; and the higher its place is - which perhaps is its pride - the more it is exposed to the scorching heat of the sun, and consequently the sooner does it wither."

Here's the summation of the psalm. God's people are often persecuted in this world. They are often mangled mercilessly. But...God... will not allow the enemies of His church to prevail. He will deal justly and right on time with our adversaries and He will take their very schemes of destruction and use them to grow us in greater grace!! Peace will not be upon them. Blessing will not rest among them. But it shall be with us - for the God of peace is for us!

Plowing persecuters don't prevail. Praising people do!!

In His glorious grace,

Lori

The True Secret of Blessedness and Well-Being - Psalm 128

2010-06-02T05:50:00.001-04:00

"How blessed is everyone who fears the LORD,

who walks in His ways.

When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands,

you will be happy and it will be well with you.

Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine,

within your house,

your children like olive plants

around your table.

Behold, for thus shall the man be blessed

who fears the LORD.

The LORD bless you from Zion,

and may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem

all the days of your life.

Indeed, may you see your children's children.

Peace be upon Israel!

(Psalm 128)

All of us want a blessing. We naturally want things to go well for us. We long to prosper, to flourish, to succeed in life. Yet, many flounder and fumble and falter and fail. Life is hard. Things don't go as we would devise. Our plans don't always execute as orchestrated. What to do? How to respond? How can we be blessed?

Blessed and earthly successed are not always synonymous. Real prosperity doesn't necessarily mean an expansion of goods and an increase of worldy gain. True blessedness and ultimate well-being are not found without but within. The ninth psalm of ascent gives us the true secret of true blessedness and the one key that shall truly unlock everlasting well-being.

The psalmist wrtes:"How blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in His ways."

Do you long for blessing? It is available for you - no matter who you are - no matter what you've done - no matter where you've come from. Blessedness is a gift that "everyone" can own. But it comes from a place that our natural inclinations would never look. Being blessed comes from fearing God.

Doesn't it echo Solomon's words from Ecclesiastes 12?!

"The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the whole duty of man."

A quick perusal of just a few of the Proverbs will give us further examples of the blessedness of fearing God - of rightly revering Him, humbly honoring Him, and acquiescing to His authority.

- "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge." - Proverbs 1:7

- "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom." - Proverbs 9:10

- "The fear of the LORD prolongs life." - Proverbs 10:27

- "In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence." - Proverbs 14:26

- "The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life." - Proverbs 14:27

By grace through faith in Christ, fear God and walk in His ways. There you will find a fountain of life and a river whose banks overflow with true blessedness.

The psalmist goes on to tell us that in this reverant fear and faithful walking we shall find well-being. He states, "It will be well with you."

I love Matthew Henry's take on this:

"Whatever befalls you, good shall be brought out of it. It shall be well with you while you live, better when you die, and best of all to eternity."

No wonder Solomon tells us that "in the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence." Truly all things are working together for our good - even death itself!

Two particular categories of terrestrial blessedness are given as examples in this psalm. The blessedness of successful labor and the blessedness of a godly family.

A god-fearing man is a god-fearing worker. Whatever he does he does unto the LORD and therefore he seeks to do his job as well as is possible. He will be honest. He will be diligent. He will be gracious. He will be faithful. Therefore he "shall eat of the fruit of his hands."

"He shall have something to do (an idle life is a miserable life) and he shall succeed in his emplyoments and enjoy what he gets." (Henry)

A god-fearing man is a god-fearing husband and father. He will seek to love his wife and lead his children in ways that will bring honor and glory and praise to His God. He will seek to nurture and protect and cherish his wife as a precious fruitful vine. He shall seek to teach and train and build up his children cultivating them carefully as young olive plants that will one day grow into strong olive trees.

Blessing - real blessing...

Do you long for it? It can be yours. It is for "everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in His ways."

"In every nation he that fears the LORD and walks in His ways is accepted of Him and therefore is blessed by Him whether he be high or low, rich or poor. In this world, if religion rule him it will protect and enrich him." (Matthew Henry)

Are you fearing? Are you walking? Ultimately, are you resting upon the only One who can enable you to - the Lord Jesus Christ? He is the key that unlocks the vault of true blessing. He is the One who's active obedience in fearing God and keeping the commandments enables you so to do.

Be blessed - everyone of you - be blessed!

In His glorious grace,

Lori

A Well Built House / A Well Filled Quiver - Psalm 127

2010-06-01T05:33:00.001-04:00

"Unless the LORD builds a house,

they labor in vain who build it;

unless the LORD guards the city,

the watchman keeps awake in vain.

It is vain for you to rise up early,

to retire late,

to eat the bread of painful labors;

for He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.

Behold, children are a gift of the LORD;

the fruit of the womb is a reward.

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,

so are the children of one's youth.

How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them;

they shall not be ashamed,

when they speak with their enemies in the gate."

(Psalm 127)

Throughout my life I've had the opportunity to look at a lot of houses. Phillip and I have had to move quite a few times in our 15 years of marriage and I've also done some househunting with friends over the years. I have seen incredibly well built houses. Houses with firm foundations, solid infrastructures, well planned out living space, well thought through storage space, intricate detailed trim work, immaculate yards, and containing the latest kitchen appliances. Sweet - well built - houses. Houses that I'd LOVE to live in.

I've also looked at some real humdingers. Dumps you might call them. During our search for seminary housing we looked at houses with sagging roofs, rotting wood, peeling paint, falty foundations, unplanned entrances to basements (ie. massive holes in the floor) leaky pipes, crooked doorways, and weed filled lots.

Some houses are well built and well maintained. Some houses are not.

In similar fashion, some homes are well built and well maintatined. Some are not.

Solomon, in his psalm, tells us the secret to a truly well built house/home. The secret is in the Builder. The security is in the Sustainer.

"Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it."

Do you want a well built house? Do you want a well built family? Then you want God as your architect!! "We must depend on God's blessing and not our own contrivance for the raising of a family" (Matthew Henry).

Don't labor in vain trying to create a faithful family - leave it to God to design the blueprints and then follow them! Who is the builder of our homes? What architect are we relying upon? Are we living in a strong and solid site built structure or in a massively manufactured man made mess?

It is God alone who fabricates a TRULY well built home and it is God alone who guards a truly well built home.

"Unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain."

Ultimately, it is not our strength, nor our wisdom, nor our watchfulness that will keep our homes in order - it is God's! The strongest men, the mightiest armies, the craftiest invaders are NOT match for Him though we are no match for them. Who is guarding the gates of our homes? Are we depending on Him as our chief Watchman and are we putting on the armor He has provided for our protection?

The grand Architect and omnipotent Watchman is also a benevolent Benefactor. He gives to His people. He gives to those who live in His houses, who rely upon His rule, and who rest in His security.

"For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep."

A home built on Christ, a home guarded by God is a home full of rest and peace and blessing. Knowing that our homes are well-built and well-protected we can sleep soundly knowing that even while our eyes are closed and our minds are dull that our gracious God is still meeting our every need - perfectly - abundantly - continually. Oh - the rest of the righteous is sweet!

Going further in his description of a well built house, Solomon reminds us that our children come from God, will be cared for by God, and will be used of God. They are a glorious addition that He gives to fill the homes that He builds and to increase the Kingdom that He rules.

"Behold, children are a gift of the LORD; the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; they shall not be ashamed, when they speak with their enemies in the gate."

Henry writes:

"Children are a heritage and a reward and are so to be acccounted as blessings and not as burdens, for He that sends the mouths will send the meat if we trust in Him. Children are a heritage FOR the Lord as well as a gift FROM Him. The family that has a large stock of them is like a quiver full of arrows, of different sizes we may suppose, but all of use at one time or another; children of different capacities and inclinations."

I for one am thankful this day for a well built house. It is not a perfect house, it is full of sinners (mainly full of me!) - but it is a secure and settled house becaue it's architect and wathman is Christ! It is built on a solid rock and all of the rains of this life shall not sink it. (Matthew 7:24-27)

God has indeed built and is still building our home. It is He who heads it up. It is He who keeps it going. It is He who loves and leads and guides and guards us. While my quiver has only two arrows - and two incredibly different arrows - they are the arrows He has given and they are the arrows that I entrust to Him to use as He would most see fit.

I am a well blessed woman in a well built house and I am grateful beyond measure!!

In His glorious grace,

Lori

A Dream Come True / Tears Turned to Joy - Psalm 126

2010-05-31T05:23:00.002-04:00

"When the LORD brought back the captive ones of Zion,

we were like those who dream.

Then our mouth was filled with laughter,

and our tongue with joyful shouting;

then they said among the nations,

'The LORD has done great things for them.'

The LORD has done great things for us;

we are glad.

Restore our captivity, O LORD,

as the streams in the South.

Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.

He who goes to and fro weeping,

carrying his bag of seed,

shall indeed come again with a shout of joy,

bringing his sheaves with him."

(Psalm 126)

During the period of Babylonian captivity, the Israelites must have felt as though they were living a nightmare. Here, in this seventh psalm of ascent, Cyrus has set some of them free. They now feel as if they have exited the nightmare and are experiencing a dream.

"When the LORD brought back the captive ones of Zion, we were like those who dream."

Was this real? Could this truly be happening? Or were they merely dreaming?

No! This was really happening. The chains had fallen off. Their captors had handed them the key and the prison doors were flung wide open. The terrors of the night that had bound them for so long were vanquished and at long last they were free!

And what did their glorious freedom result in? Joy!!

Joy uncontainable!!

Joy unsuppressible!!

"Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with joyful shouting."

Henry writes:

"While the people of Israel were captives in Babylon their harps were hung silently upon the willow trees. But now that their captivity is turned they resume their song! Providence pipes to them and they dance."

I love that last sentence. "Providence pipes to them and they dance."

I have been in that place. I have had my harp hanging in silence and I have had its strings retuned and its melody restored. I have - even over the past 7 days - seen cruel captivity turned to festive freedom. Providence has piped to me and I am dancing, filled with laughter and on my tongue there is joyful shouting!

God has worked wonderful things for His people and their neighbors have noticed.

"Then they said among the nations, 'The LORD has done great things for them."

When God saws asunder the shackles that have bound you, people will notice. They may not like what they see - but they still will notice. How we should pray for God to be glorified by our response in the midst of our captivities (without grumbling and complaining and with trusting and expectant hearts) and how we should equally pray that He would be glorified in how we respond to our rescues from those captivities (joyful shouts of thanksgiving)!

There is a watching world. May they be left without an excuse regarding the promises of God and His power in performing them for His people.

Israel echoes the cries of the nations. "Yes folks, you are right the LORD has done great things for us and we are glad!!"

The captives are set free. The dream is a reality. Laughter fills their hearts. Joyful shouting is on their lips. They are glad. However, they are also realistic. We should be as well.

They have been through much and, even though they are free from one affliction, there are still difficulties that will lie ahead in the time left here under the sun. They recognize the fact that there are still pot holes in the road of life - some bigger than others. They understand that there are still weeds in the garden and that the final harvest has not yet been reaped. And they recognize that many opportunities and many other things have been lost during the time of their imprisonment. So they pray that God would redeem the lost days.

The psalmist's prayer that God would "restore our captivity" immediately drew my thoughts to the prophet Joel and his words regarding God's restoring of that which the locust had eaten. In chapter two of this minor prophet's sermon we are told:

"Do not fear, rejoice and be glad, for the LORD has done great things. Do not fear, beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness have turned green, for the tree has born fruit, the fig tree and the vine have yielded in full. So rejoice, O sons of Zion, and be glad in the LORD your God; for He has given you the early rain for your vindication. And He has poured down for you the rain, the early and latter rain as before. And the threshing floors will be full of grain, and the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. Then I will make up to you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the creeping locust, the stripping locust, and the gnawing locust.... And you shall have plenty to eat and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; then My people will never be put to shame. Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and there is no other; and My people will never be put to shame." (Joel 2:21-27)

Put in the psalmist's language: "Restore our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the South. Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting. He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed, shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him."

Mr. Henry's thoughts on this were incredibly devotional. I quote him at length. He writes:

"These verses look forward to the mercies that were yet wanted. Those that had come out of captivity were still in distress, even in their own land (Nehemiah 1:3) and many still remained in Babylon.

"'Restore our captivity. Let those that have returned to their own land be eased of the burdens which they are yet groaning under. Let those that remain in Babylon have their hearts stirred up , as ours were, to take the benefit of the liberty granted.'

"The beginnings of mercy are encouragements to us to pray for the completing of it. All the saints may comfort themselves with this confidence, that their tears will certainly end in a harvest of joy at last.

"Weeping must not hinder sowing; when we suffer ill we must be doing well. Yea, as the ground is by the rain prepared for the seed. There are tears which are themselves the seed that we must sow, tears of sorrow for sin, our own and others, tears of sympathy with the afflicted church, and tears of tenderness in prayer and under the word.

"Job and Joseph and David and many others had harvests of joy after sorrow. Those that sow in the tears of godly sorrow shall reap in the joy of a sealed pardon and a settled peace."

Selah!

Beloved, Christ sets captives free. It is not a dream it is the truest of truths. Are you living in the nightmare of bondage or walking in the freedom of faith?

There is a redeeming rescue available from your captivity. Flee to the One who makes dreams come true and who turns tears into joyful shouting.

In His glorious grace,

Lori

3 Precious Promises - Psalm 125

2010-05-30T06:05:00.002-04:00

"Those who trust in the LORD

are as Mount Zion,

which cannot be moved,

but abides forever.

As the mountains surround Jerusalem,

so the LORD surrounds His people

from this time forth and forever.

For the sceptor of wickedness shall not rest

upon the land of the righteous;

that the righteous may not put forth

their hands to do wrong.

Do good, O LORD, to those who are good,

and to those who are upright in their hearts.

But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways,

the LORD will lead them away with the doers of iniquity.

Peace be upon Israel!

(Psalm 125)

Three precious promises! Three promises are here made to the people of God. Oh, how we should hold these dear!!

First, it is promised that we are established by faith. "Those who trust in the LORD are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever."

The people of God are established. ESTABLISHED! We are as settled as a great and mighty mountain. We shall never be shaken, never be demolished, never be moved. (See Psalm 46.) "Those minds shall be truly stayed that are stayed on God. Their faith shall be their fixation." (Matthew Henry)

Oh my friends the faith that God has granted to us is an anchor and a firm foundation. We are, by His grace, securely established. We are a mountain that can't be moved!

Second, it is promised that we are hemmed in by the eternally powerful protective presence of our God. "As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds His people from this time forth and forevermore."

God is with us.

Ever with us.

Always with us.

Surrounding us.

Encompassing us.

Keeping us.

From this time forth and forevermore!

He will not leave us nor forsake us. He will not abandon us to ourselves nor to our enemies. Never ever!! This is an eternal promise that is "from this time forth and forevermore."

Beloved, we are never alone. NEVER! We are never in real danger. We will not be ambushed by an unknown enemy. We are secure within the impenetrable fort of Almighty God. His omnipresence envelopes us. His omnipotence guards us. His omniscience watches over us. His love for us knits these three precious attributes together to us!! We are surrounded by our loving LORD from this time forth and forevermore.

Third, it is promised that our troubles will not outlast our triumphs. "For the sceptor of wickedness shall not rest upon the land of the righteous."

True, troubles will come. Jesus Himself taught us that "in the world you will have tribulation." But He went on to assure us of our need to "take courage; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33). Here is the promise that there is an end to the battle and a grand victory in sight. Troubles will come but troubles will not remain. They are but "light and momentary."

Mr. Henry writes:

"It is promised that, though troubles may come upon their lot, they shall not rest there. They shall not continue as long as the enemy would design nor as long as the people of God should fear. God will cut the work short in righteousness, so short that even with the temptation He will make a way for them to escape."

Three precious promises.

Three precious promises made to those who trust in the Lord.

Psalm 125 ends with a practical prayer based upon these precious promises. Should not the promises of God always press us to prayer? And should not our prayers echo the promises that have provoked them? In these final 2 verses they most assuredly do. God has promised to do good to His people and to deal justly with those who are not His people. Therefore, the psalmist prays specifically for that which God has said will be.

"Oh LORD, do good to those who are good, and to those who are upright in heart. Remember Your covenant promises to Your people whom You have redeemed by Your own blood. BUT as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways, lead them away with the doers of iniquity."

There are only two groups of people in this world and there are absolutely antithetical promises made to them.

The righteous will flourish as a tree firmly planted by streams of water. They will flourish even though it may appear that they will falter. The wicked are not so. They will be as chaff which the wind blows away. (See Psalm 1).

Which are you? Which am I?

Do you desire these promises to be yours? Then make certain that you are His!! Flee to Christ the only real Refuge the only true Tower, the Protector and Provider of these three precious promises.

In His glorious grace,

Lori

Had It Not Been the Lord - Psalm 124

2010-05-29T06:01:00.004-04:00

"'Had it not been the LORD who was on our side,'

let Israel now say,

'Had it not been the LORD who was on our side,

when men rose up against us;

then they would have swallowed us up alive,

when their anger was kindled against us;

then the waters would have engulfed us;

the stream would have swept over our soul;

then the raging waters would have swept over our soul.'

Blessed be the LORD,

who has not given us to be torn by their teeth,

Our soul has escaped as a bird

out of the snare of the trapper;

the snare is broken and we have escaped.

Our help is in the name of the LORD,

who made heaven and earth.

(Psalm 124)

God's people have been under some form of great oppression. It has been horribly harrowing. It has threatened to undo them. It has come close to pulling them under.

But...

...but God....

But God, in His infinite mercy and covenantal kindness has delivered His people from danger. In view of that, David is overflowing with a thankful heart and has penned this fifth psalm of ascent.

The psalm breaks down into two main parts. Verses 1-5 describe the magnitude of the affliction they were facing and then verses 6-8 give God all the glory and honor and praise for their rescue from it.

Clearly things have been more than a bit unsettling. Men have risen up against the people of God. They have been determined to destroy Israel. Look at the language used to describe their circumstances.

-"They would have swallowed us alive."

-"The waters would have engulfed us."

-"The stream would have swept over our soul."

-"The raging waters would have swept over our soul."

It is not a pretty picture. The clouds are dark and omnious. There is no recognizable light on the horizon. There is deep despair and massive fear. "The people of God were reduced to the very brink of ruin" (Matthew Henry). Their enemies wanted nothing less than their complete demise and utter destruction and they were dead set at accomplishing their goal.

David and his people were in peril - great peril - BUT...

...but GOD...

...but God was on their side!!

Oh that is good news. In that fact we find the great white knight riding to rescue his persecuted people. He has come and He has gained the victory.

David cries out for the entire corporate community that "Had it not been for the LORD who was on our side they would have massacred us!" God was for them, therefore, who could be against them?!

Matthew Henry, writing from David's perspective says:

"God was on our side; He took our part, espoused our cause, and appeared for us. That God was Jehovah and there the emphasis lies. If it had not been Jehovah Himself, a God of infinite power and perfection, that had undertaken our deliverance, our enemies would have overpowered us."

Oh my friends - that same Jehovah is still on the side of His people in this day and time!! He remains for us. Pause and drink in that glorious truth. Jehovah is for us!!

I am reminded of Paul's words to the Romans:

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, 'For Thy sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.'

"But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor power, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:31-39)

Were it not so, were the LORD not for us - regarding our physical and spiritual enemies, we too would have sunk beneath the mire and been utterly undone. "Had it not been the LORD who was on our side...they would have swallowed us alive!"

With that triumphant truth proclaimed there is only one logical and natural response - praise!! And that is exactly what David does. He blesses the name of the LORD. "Blessed be the LORD, who has not given us to be torn by their teeth."

The danger was great. Their God was greater. It is always the case. Rejoice, oh people of God!!

David beautifully describes the grand extent of their rescue. They were hopeless and helpless. They were as a little bird caught in a powerful snare. There was NOTHING they could do. NOTHING!!

But...

...but God!

"They were delivered like a lamb out of the very jaws of a beast of prey. They were rescued like a little bird out of the fowler's snare. God's people are sometimes taken in the snare and are as unable to help themselves out as any weak and silly bird is, and then God breaks the snare and turns the counsels of the enemies into foolishness." (Matthew Henry)

Oh, how could David and all of Israel not break out into praise of such a redeeming God!! How can we not do the same?

When we pause to consider just what God has done in our spiritual and physical rescues how can we not break out into emphatic praise? The apostle Paul did. In the book of Romans, after spending eleven chapters of noting the majestic works of his omnipotent and holy God, the wretched fallen condition of his helpless fellow man, and the redeeming mercies that are manifested to us in Christ he breaks out with these words:

"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the LORD, or who became His counselor? Or who has first given to him that it might be paid back to Him again? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen." (Romans 11:33-36)

That is where my heart lands this day. In all honesty, I have spent the past 13 months in the fowler's snare. The waters have threatened to engulf me. The raging waters have come close to ruining me.

But...

...but God.

The Lord has been on my side and has plucked me out at just the perfect moment. The clouds have lifted. The sun has broken through. The enemy has vanished. "Blessed be the LORD, who has not given us to be torn by their teeth!!" It is my heart's cry this morning.

David ends with a final declaration regarding Israel's Helper. He says: "Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth."

Friends, is the God who made the world your help? Are you resting in the name of the LORD as your only hope against the enemies of your body and soul? If He is for you then who can be against you? If He is against you then all is lost. Faith in Christ makes the difference.

Israel's enemies in Psalm 124 had no hope. They had no hope because they were God's enemies. Jehovah was not for them and therefore everything was against them! They fell eternally into the very traps and snares that they sought to destroy His church in. It is a dangerous thing to fall into the hands of a righteously angry God and there is only one way to escape that wrath that justly belongs to us all. That way is through Christ. Apart from faith in Him you are a helpless and hopeless enemy of Almighty God.

Paul tells us: "For while we were still helpless at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.... and God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." (Romans 5:6-10)

Oh friends, the same Jehovah who rescued Israel from the fowler's snare will rescue you. If you are His enemy, flee to Him, through Christ, in repentance and faith and become His friend! He will offer you a treaty of peace - eternal peace. If you are His child, then rest knowing that your "help is in the name of the LORD who made heaven and earth."

Lift up your eyes. Lift up your eyes to the One who is enthroned in the heavens. Lift up your eyes to this Christ who is your all-sufficient Surety. Lift up your eyes to the LORD Jehovah who is on your side and bless His name for His marvelous merices to you! There is lasting help and hope found in none other.

Praising Him for rescuing me,
Lori

The Perfect Picture of Prayer - Psalm 123

2010-05-28T06:01:00.006-04:00

"To Thee I lift up my eyes,

O Thou who art enthroned in the heavens!

Behold, as the eyes of servants

look to the hand of their master,

as the eyes of a maid

to the hand of her mistress;

so our eyes look to the Lord our God,

until He shall be gracious to us.

Be gracious to us, O Lord, be gracious to us;

for we are greatly filled with contempt.

Our soul is greatly filled with the scoffing

of those who are at ease, and with the contempt

of the proud."

(Psalm 123)

Another precious prayer is before us. The psalmist in Psalm 123 is lifting his eyes to the King of heaven in his time of need.

"To Thee I lift up my eyes, O Thou who art enthroned in the heavens!"

It is a repeated theme from Psalm 121 - "I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from whence shall my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth."

Since we have just been given a double reminder perhaps we should pay double attention and follow with doubly determined duty!!

Ultimately is this not the picture of every prayer we ever pray? In prayer are we not lifting our eyes above and beyond our situation to the God who is sovereign in our situation?

"In every prayer we lift up the eye of our soul to God." (Matthew Henry)

Clearly we are to "lift up our eyes" to our God. Not so clearly, that can come across as an abstract idea and an impractical proclamation. Thankfully the psalmist gives us a bit of a practical picture of what our heart's attitude and soul's desire in this prayerful posture should be.

He writes: "Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress; so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until He shall be gracious to us."

We are to lift up the eyes of our soul and look to the Lord of our life. We, as His willing and thankful bond-servants, are to look unto our King who alone can subdue our sinful selves and our antagonistic adversaries. Matthew Henry paints the picture well:

"The eyes of a servant are turned to his master's directing hand, expecting that he will appoint him his work. Servants look to their master, or their mistress, for their portion of meat in due season. Likewise, to God we must look for daily bread and for grace sufficient."

We are to look to our Master - our good and gracious and great Master. We are servants of the Most High God. The cattle on a thousand hills are His. Omnipotent power is His. Omniscient wisdom is His. And amazingly my Christian siblings, WE are His. Not merely in a sense of Divine ownership but in the sense of familial relationship - we are said to be the apple of His eye. Let us therefore look to Him - our Master, our Maker, our Lover, our Lord, our Father and our Friend!!

In this particular Psalm the singers are clearly in some form of trouble. They are objects of "contempt" and "scoffing." Times are hard and days are difficult and what are they doing about it? They are not foolishly trying to fix it all themsleves. They are humbling pleading with the high King of Heaven to grant the grace that is so desperately needed!

They are lifting their eyes to the One who can supply their needs. They are going to the God of mercy. They are seeking their Father's face. They are honestly setting their grievances before Him and are trusting that in due time their marvelous Master will rescue them from their current woes.

What about us?

Are we living with lifted eyes or are we living as hypocrites and fools who merely have our eyes fixed on the things of this world? Are we trying to take matters into our own hands and seeking to be blessed by the benefits of this life only? If so, be forewarned that what we have attempted to fix will fail and that our reward will be received in full in this world alone (Matthew 6:2).

But if we are living as the psalmist of ascent, lifting our eyes to the real Rewarder and trusting ourselves to His care, then our Father who sees grants eternal, imperishable, undefilable, lasting rewards.

Psalm 123 is prayer in its finest form. Let us therefore pray with eyes lifted up to the One who is enthroned in the heavens. Let us patiently set our sights on the perfectly providing hand of our gracious God.

"To Thee I lift up my eyes, O Thou who art enthroned in the heavens? Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress; so our eyes look to the LORD our God, until He shall be gracious."

Lifting the eyes of my soul heavenward,

Lori

Glad to Go / Prepared to Pray - Psalm 122

2010-05-27T06:19:00.006-04:00

"I was glad when they said to me,

'Let us go to the house of the Lord.'

Our feet are standing within your gates,

O Jerusalem.

Jerusalem, that is built

as a city compact together;

to which the tribes go up,

even the tribes of the Lord -

an ordinance for Israel -

to give thanks to the name of the Lord.

For there thrones were set for judgment,

the thrones of the house of David.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:

'May they prosper who love you .

May peace be within your walls,

and prosperity within your palaces.'

For the sake of my brothers and my friends,

I will now say, 'May peace be within you.'

For the sake of the house of the Lord our God

I will seek your good."

(Psalm 122)

David is glad to go to the house of God. Here is one who did private worship well - very well! Throughout the Psalms his personal prayers, meditative musings, and soulful songs are laid out for us. This is a man who knew how to spend honest, heartfelt time with his God. He glorified gladly within his own house.

Yet David knew that true religion is more than just a "personal relationship" it is also involves public practice and corporate communion. David loved gathering together with the saints in the worship of God.

Psalm 122 gives us a grand glimpse into David's love for the church of the Old Testament and it has granted me a growing groaning for the church of our own day and time. I hope it will you as well. With David, can you and I honestly say "I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go to the house of the Lord"?

Two simple points jumped out at me this morning regarding David's love for the church and are serving as a catalystic hinge pin for examining my own.

David's love for the church was evidenced in the fact that he was glad to go. "I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go to the house of the LORD."

When his fellow believers said, "Hey Dave, let's go and worship our God," David jumped for joy. He hopped to the head of the line. He ran eagerly to the temple. He went to worship. And he went GLADLY!!

Those that love God should react in the same manner today. We should leap for joy and be filled with gladness when our friends say to us, "Let us go to the house of the Lord."

Might I ask, are we glad to go? And if not what does that tell us either about our own heart or about our current congregation?

Oh how we should be glad to go! A biblically functioning church - a church where the word is faithfully preached, where discipline and accountability are mericfully ministered, where fellowship is sweet, where the sacraments are regularly given - is a small taste of heaven on earth. It is through the church of Christ that we find "our feet standing within [God's] gates."

A gospel church is a foretaste of glory.

"When our journey here is tedious we should comfort ourselves with this - we shall be in the heavenly Jerusalem shortly and that shall make ammends for all the fatigues of our journey." (Matthew Henry)

Are we glad to go?

David's love for the church was evidenced in his preparedness to pray. "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem....I will now say, 'May peace be within you' for the sake of the house of the LORD our God I will seek your good."

David was not only glad to go, he was prepared to pray.

Our prayer life says much about our love life. (I confess that is a personally convicting statement and one that our gracious God has been mercifully dealing with me on over the course of the past year. By grace I am learning.) The things that we most love are often the things that we most meditate upon and if our devotion to them is truly God-centered, will we not dutifully lay them before His throne?

David loved the church and his spoken lip service was backed up by his active prayer service. He prayed for the peace of Jerusalem.

Several specific points of his prayer are laid out in the closing verses of Psalm 122.

1. David prayed for the prosperity of the people who loved Christ's church. "May they prosper who love you." Might I ask - are we praying for our brothers and sisters in Christ? Are we praying that God might grant them true prosperity (not particularly financial nor physical - though those are worth of our intercession). Are we praying for their prosperity that they might be used for gospel prosperity? Are we interceding for the saints?

2. David prayed for the protection of Christ's church. "May peace be within your walls." Are we praying for unity among those within her walls and safety from those without? Are we praying that the gospel church might grow and flourish and be spared from unseemly blemishes and from harrowing attacks?

3. David prayed for proper provisions of leadership in Christ's church. "May prosperity be within your palaces." Are we praying for our leaders - praying that God would raise future leaders up and sustain those who already are serving? Are we standing in the gap for our pastors, our elders, and our deacons? They often stand in the gap for us and are so regularly the objects of the fiery flaming arrows of discouragement, temptation, and exhaustion. Are we praying that God will prosper them in their efforst to prosper the Kingdom of Christ?

David owned the call to prayer. He not only exhorted others to do so but took it upon himself to hit his knees.

"I will now say, 'May peace be with you.' For the sake of the house of the Lord our God I will seek your good."

He was committed to pray for the peace of the church and he did so all for the glory of God and for the good of the saints.

David was glad to go and prepared to pray. Are we?

In His glorious grace,

Lori

Look Up Your Help is Here - Psalm 121

2010-05-26T05:41:00.004-04:00

"I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;

from whence shall my help come?

My help comes from the LORD,

who made heaven and earth.

He will not allow your foot to slip;

He who keeps you will not slumber.

Behold, He who keeps Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD is your keeper;

The LORD is your shade on your right hand.

The sun will not smite you by day,

nor the moon by night.

The LORD will protect you from all evil;

He will keep your soul.

The LORD will guard your going out

and your coming in

from this time forth and forevermore."

(Psalm 121)

I've come to the end of Ecclesiastes and as is my habit, now begin to work my way through another 10 Psalms. This morning the lines have fallen to Psalm 121. Wow!

I must admit, I hated leaving Solomon's sermon. Its providential pertinance to the present path that I've been traveling has been amazing. I have learned much from the old wise king.

This past year has found me, in many ways, walking in Solomon's shoes. Testing. Questioning. Searching. Faltering under the weight of vanity. Striving to remember my Creator and yet often finding myself forgetful of Him. My God has guided and guarded me through an incredibly dark valley and even this past Sunday morning as I meditated on Ecclesiastes 12 some of the scales fell off of the eyes of my heart. I have loved this book!

This morning I found myself sighing as I went to the Word. "Oh, I'm going to miss Ecclesiastes."

Opening my Bible I found that the next passage in my study order was Psalm 121. A psalm that teaches us to look to God as our all-sufficient One. As I read through this song of ascent I found myself ascending to the mount of thanksgiving. This psalm declares that which my God has done for me, is doing for me, will do for me all the days of my life here under the sun. I have been surrounded by a swelling storm surge - one that has come frighteningly close to pulling me under - yet the God of this psalm has proven true regarding the promises of this psalm - even over the course of the past week. This is a perfect place to land after Ecclesiastes!

Psalm 121 begins with a determined statement from the psalmist. "I will lift up my eyes to the mountains."

Far too often I find myself not looking up, but looking down and looking around. Like Peter when he sought to walk to Jesus I find myself being so overwhelmed by that which is threatening to undo me that I get undone! I look at my circumstances rather than to the God of my circumstances. It is then that I sink - and often sink hard and deep.

We are here admonished not to look down, not to look around, but to look up!

Look up, Lori! Look above your adversarial circumstances. Look above the valley of the shadow of death. Look above the waves. Look above the winds. Look to the mountains - the high mountains. Look to Mount Zion. Look beyond the mountains to the God who is higher and wiser and more settled than the mountains. "I will lift my eyes."

Lift your eyes and look up! There is no safety nor security in focusing on the things that threaten. There is nothing in looking down that will preserve you. Do you need help? Do I? Then look up. Let us lift our eyes!

"I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from whence shall my help come? My help comes form the LORD, who made heaven and earth."

Look up! Look up to the mountains. Greater than that look up to the God who created the mountains. In Him is our help. He who created heaven and earth can create a way out of the wild wilderness for us. Let your hope and your confidence be found in this God who is your Help! The strong God. The steadying God. The steadfast God.

Look up to Him. He has promised us so much. Look at just a sampling of His precious promises from this Psalm.

"He will not allow your foot to slip." He will steady you from fully falling.

"He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep." He will never NOT be available. We have an ever watchful and an ever wakeful God. He is never napping and is always watching.

"The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand." God has made it His duty to keep us. He is our protector. Could we be any safer?

But not only is the LORD our refuge, He is also our refreshment! He is our shade. He comforts us from the scorching heat of a dry and weary land. He is an oasis in the desert and an ever-flowing fountain for a thirsty soul.

He is at our right hand - "the working hand. Therefore, let us turn ourselves dextrously to our duty and we shall find God ready and near to assist us and give us success" (Henry).

"The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul." No matter what the circumstance. Be it the flames and fires of persecution, be it the frozen tundra of abandonment, the Lord will protect us from ALL evil - from ALL evil! He will sustain us from evils within and from evils without. He will keep our soul - eternally. Even if our flesh and our heart fail - our soul is secure! How safe we are in all situations!!!

Beloved, there is nothing to difficult for our God. NOTHING! There is no situation that can snatch us from His hand (Romans 8:28-39) and no evil that can ultimately overcome us! How unbelievably amazing is this helping, keeping, protecting, always watching, never sleeping Creator God?!

Are you lifting your eyes to Him? What else would you dare lift your eyes too? Look up! Lift your eyes to the moutains from whence your help shall come!!

Oh, these are precious promises. These are protective promises. The God who has made us will help us. The God who is with us will keep us. The God who has ordained our steps will protect us in them. Look up! Lift your eyes to the One from whom your help comes!

The psalmist closes with these words. "The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever."

Beloved - this is an ongoing, ever applying, never failing promise. God is our guard. He guards all of our days! He guards all of our ways! He is guarding us as we go out and as we come in. He is our hedge. He is our shield. He is our fortress. He is our comforting and conquering King!! From this time forth and forever - eternally, continually, in life and in death - He is with us. Lift your eyes. Look up!

What circumstances are sinking you this day? What are you looking at? Oh friends, look up. LOOK UP!! Your Helper is near! Your Creator is awake! Your Keeper is kind! Your Guard will guide! Look up and find help for your time of need.

He has enabled me to finally lift my head above the raging river of the past 13 months. He has granted me the grace to look to Him. He has helped me and I am humbled!

In His glorious grace,

Lori

The Succinct Sum, Root, and Rule of Religion - Ecclesiastes 12:13

2010-05-25T06:14:00.002-04:00

"The conclusion, when all has been heard, is:

fear God and keep His commandments,

because this is the whole duty of man."

(Ecclesiastes 12:13)

Quite often I like to just get to the bottom line of things. Let's cut to the chase and filter through the fluff. While Solomon has most certainly not been feeding us any fluff throughout these 12 chapters of Ecclesiastes, he does succinctly boil it all down to the basic message here in the closing words of his grand sermon.

Israel's king has taught us much about the vanity of life lived under the sun. We have been challenged with its brevity - it is but a "puff" - and honestly with the ultimate meaninglessness of it if it is lived only with a horizontal, here and now understanding.

Finally, in verse 13 the preacher's prime and powerful purpose is proclaimed. Life is to be lived veritally if it is to have any lasting meaning horizontally and Solomon is about to give a thumbnail sketch of what vertical, religious living looks like. Here the succinct summary of lifegiving religion is revealed and its foundational root and rule are exposed.

What is the bottom line according to Solomon?

"The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the whole duty of man."

Do you want to cut to the chase? Well, here it is.

The true way to live well, the ultimate pathway to peace, the home of happiness, the essence of our chief end is found in godliness. Here is the summary of true religion...

"Setting aside all matters of doubtful disputation, to be religious is to fear God and keep His commandments. The root of religion is the fear of God reigning in the heart - a reverence of His majesty, a deference to His authority, and a dread of His wrath. The rule of religion is the Law of God revealed in the Scriptures. Our fear towards God must be taught by His commandments and those we must carefully observe. This is of vast importance - it is the whole duty of man, it is all his business and all his blessedness. Our whole duty is summed up in this and our whole comfort is bound up in this." (Matthew Henry)

When all has been said and heard this is what it all boils down to: the fear of God and the keeping of His commandments.

Looking at that which is left in the pot of life's purpose I find myself saying: " But...but..but can't do this!!" Oh, how I need God's grace, for who IS able to do that? No one! Not you! Not me! No not one! (Romans 3:10-12)

We are not by nature God fearers. We are by nature self pleasers.

We are not by nature Law keepers. We are by nature rule breakers.

As I have meditated this morning on the "conclusion of the matter" I am overwhelmed by the absolute impossibility of the task before me and it has made my thoughts turn to the true story of Christ's encounter with the rich young ruler. (Luke 18:18-27)

This gentleman came to Jesus wanting to know what he must do to inherit eternal life? He wanted to get to the bottom line and the succinct sum, root and rule of religion.

"Let's cut to the chase good Teacher, what must I do to be saved?"

Jesus, in infinite wisdom, cut to the chase of this young ruler's chase cutting question. In a matter of moments Christ undoes this proud fellow's thinking about his own goodness - "No one is good except God alone" and about his personal ability to keep the Law perfectly.

"So, you want to know what you must DO - well, you know the commandments of the One Good God, so keep them." (Read between the lines "Fear God and keep His commandments.")

"Oh, Teacher, that I have done since my youth!! Whew!! Thanks for the info. Glad that's settled."

But it was NOT settled. Not by a long shot.

Christ went for the heart and He pressed this man with the hypocrisy of his proud assessment regarding his own character and ability to perfectly keep the Law.

Jesus said to him, "One thing you lack, sell all that you possess, and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come follow Me."

"What?!"

This fellow hadn't really kept the law. He had other god's before God and he was controlled by covetousness!

This rich young man relished his riches. This young ruler was ruled by them. This leader was led by his own lusts. And Christ showed him that ultimately he feared losing his things more than he feared God and that he obeyed the desires of his flesh much more than the Law of his God.

Friends, are we not really in the same boat? I know that I am. When backed into a corner with this different twist on Solomon's same bottom line the rich young ruler failed at the conclusion of the matter. He didn't fear God and keep His commandments. We fail as well - every time!

"When the rich young ruler heard these things, he became very sad; for he was extremely rich.... And they who heard it said, 'Then who can be saved?' But Jesus said, 'The things impossible with men are possible with God." (Luke 18:23-27)

The ultimate bottom line, the dutiful conclusion of the matter is that the things which are required of us - fearing God and keeping His commandments - are impossible for us.

IMPOSSIBLE!

"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)

That is why we need a Savior and that is why our God sent One.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

We cannot keep the Law of God perfectly, but Christ did!!

The Lord Jesus came and lived that life that we could not live, died the death that we deserved to die, and rose again from the dead that we might live in newness of life during our days here under the sun and for all eternity with Him in the Celestial City beyond the sun!

Christ came to redeem us from the Law and to justify us by grace through faith in Him.

God made "Him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Cor 5:21)

Do you long for the bottom line of the bottom line? It is Jesus!

Christ has done for you what you cannot do for yourself. He has fully fulfilled the "conclusion of the matter." Jesus has done it for you and if you will rest in Him as your only hope and help He will even now do it through you. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!" "Apart from Him you can do nothing."

Christ's obedience to the bottom line of fearing God and keeping His commandments is the root of your salvation. It is impossible for you. All things are possible for God!

Rest in the root of His righteousness. Be clothed in the coat His character. Your own garments are but filthy rags. (Isaiah 64:6)

"The conclusion, when all has been heard is: fear God and keep His commandments." Christ has conquered the conclusion and calls you to merely come to Him in repentance and faith. Even that He enables you to do (Ephesians 2:8-10).

He, Himself is the succint sum, root, and rule of religion. May we, by grace through faith, rest in the Root and through Him bear much fruit! That's the bottom line of the bottom line!

"He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by His grace we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." (Titus 3:5-7)

"And it shall be, that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Acts 2:21)

Fearing God, keeping His commandments, and resting in Christ's accomplishment of my duty,

Lori

Remember While You Can - Ecclesiastes 12:1-5

2010-05-24T06:14:00.001-04:00

"Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth,

before the evil days come and the years draw near

when you will say, 'I have no delight in them';

before the sun, the light, the moon, and the stars

are darkened, and the clouds return after the rain;

in the day that the watchmen of the house tremble,

and mighty men stoop,

the grinding ones stand idle because they are few,

and those who look through windows grow dim;

and the doors on the street are shut

as the sound of the grinding mill is low,

and one will arise at the sound of the bird,

and the daughters of song will sing softly.

Furthermore, men are afraid of a high place

and of terrors on the road;

the almond tree blossoms,

the grasshopper becomes a burden

and the caperberry is ineffective.

For a man goes to his eternal home

while mourners go about in the street."

(Ecclesiastes 12:1-5)

Wise King Solomon offers to us some incredibly thought provoking words about really living while we are young and about being sober minded regarding the fact that we will grow old and die. There is much poetic and there is much practical in these 5 verses.

He begins with an exhortation to those who are still in the prime of life - an exhortation to "remember."

"Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth."

From the beginning of our days we should remember the One in whom our beginning began!! It is He who made us and not we ourselves (Ps 100) and we were made by Him to live for Him.

Young ones - remember Him while you can and live for Him while you may.

"It is the greatest absurdity and ingratitude imaginable to give the cream and flower of our days to the devil and reserve the bran and refuse and dregs of them for God." (Matthew Henry)

"Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth...." Why should we remember while we are young? Because the evil days are coming. "...before the evil days come and the years draw near." The evil days when old age will creep upon you stealing your abilities and your delights.

Solomon paints the most incredible portrait of old age that I have ever run across. He honestly and accurately describes what the aging process is like with illustrative language. I am strongly leaning upon the enlightening words of Mr. Henry for these thoughts.

The aged man is as the darkening of the sun, light, moon, and stars (vs 2). His abilities and intellect are slowing down and decreasing. He is like clouds returning after the rain (vs 2). He goes from one infirmity and malady to the next. As soon as one ailment is calmed another one begins to flare.

During old age the watchmen of the house tremble (vs 3). The head and hands that have guarded so much of a man's life begin to shake with the tremors of senior citizenship and can no longer serve as a proper guard. The mighty men stoop (vs 3). The strong legs which carried him from place to place - often running - are now feeble and bent down. The grinding ones stand idle because they are few (vs 3). The teeth stop doing what they were made to do because they are falling out. Those who look through windows grow dim (vs 3). Eyesight fails and fades to black.

As if that weren't enough, Solomon continues. In verse 4 he tells us that the doors on the street are shut. In our old age we find ourselves staying in more and more and venturing out less and less. Our doors are shut because behind them we feel more safe. Furthermore, one will arise at the sound of a bird. Our sleep becomes restless and the slightest things awaken us. The daughters of song will sing softly. While a bird may awaken us from our slumber the songs and sounds we so long to hear will fade as our hearing slips away.

In verse 5 things don't get any better. Men are afraid of high places and of terrors on the road. Due to our ever growing weakness and frailty we are fearful of climbing to the heights and even of strolling on the street. We may stumble. We may fall. It is best to avoid those spots. The almond tree blossoms. The hairs of our head (if they remain) turn white as the blooms of the nut tree. And finally, the grasshopper becomes a burden. Even the slightest things are a drudgery and a heavy weight.

There is nothing pleasant about the aging process. Therefore...

"...remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days draw near when you will say, 'I have no delight in them.'"

May we heed Solomon's admonition knowing that our day is coming. "How can we expect God to help us when we are old, if we will not serve Him when we are young?" (Henry)

We are born, we live young, we grow old, and then we die dead! "For a man goes to his eternal home while mourners go about in the street."

The day of our demise will come. Solomon has always been forthright regarding that fact. What we have remembered in the days of our youth will effect where we go in the days after our death.

"Death will fix us in an unchangeable state. Man shall go to his eternal home." (Henry)

We shall go home but what home are we heading for? What treasures are we storing up in this life that will follow us into death? Where is our eternal home? Who is our father? Is it the Father of light or the father of darkness? We are either living as children of God or children of the devil and that familial condition will determine which home we will spend our eternity in. Therefore, the question is a crucial one.

Dear friends, remember while you can. Remember your Creator and live for Him. In so doing you will die with Him and will find rest - eternal rest. "For a man goes to his eternal home."

For the Christian this should bring great comfort. Who doesn't want to go home to see this Father? Is He your Father?

Beloved, no one comes to this Father but through Christ. Jesus Himself said:

"I am the way and the truth and the life, no one can come to the Father, but through me." (John 14:6)

Flee to the way to real remembering. Remember Him and you will never be forgotten.

Remembering and resting,

Lori

Gracious Giving - Ecclesiastes 11:1-6

2010-05-23T05:55:00.000-04:00

"Cast your bread on the surface of the waters,

for you will find it after many days.

Divide your portion to seven, or eight,

for you do not know what misfortune

may occur on the earth.

If the clouds are full, they pour out rain upon the earth;

and whether a tree falls toward the south or north,

wherever the tree falls, there it lies.

He who watches the wind will not sow

and he who looks at the clouds will not reap.

Just as you do not know the path of the wind

and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman,

so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things.

Sow your seed in the morning, and do not be idle in the evening,

for you do not know whether morning or evening sowing will succeed,

or whether both of them alike will be good."

(Ecclesiastes 11:1-6)

My natural habit is to hoarde and my selfish tendancy is to take. Solomon here says, "NO! Make it your practice to provide." He is teaching us the important lesson of how to become a gracious giver.

These six verses are on charity and benevolence. For years I think I've missed their significance and relevance and have simply skimmed over them rushing to get to the next "meaty" section of Solomon's sermon. Not this year - cue the sound of squalling brakes - I'm stopping and I'm staying and I'm staring at what lies before me.

Israel's great preaching king is "pressing the rich to abound in liberality to the poor." Now, before you say "Well, that doesn't apply to me, I'm not very rich, I don't have much at all", let me challenge your thinking. Comparatively speaking - on the scales of humanity, we are all so rich. Even in our current economy we have so much more than many in this world and we can always find someone in worse straits than ourselves. So may we listen and learn without trying to weasel our way out of this life lesson.

In our abundance (and even in our mediocrity) are we giving freely to others?

We should be. As Solomon says, we need to "cast our bread on the surface of the waters." We need to give graciously ...

"...even though it may seem thrown away and lost as that which is cast upon the
waters. Send it on a voyage and send it as a venture, as merchants that trade by
sea. Trust it upon the waters; it shall not sink." (Matthew Henry)

We need not only to give graciously but we need to give generously. "Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight...."

"Be free and liberal in the works of charity. Give not a pittance, but a 'portion' - a meal. God is rich in mercy to all, to us, though unworthy; He gives liberally, and upbraids not with former gifts." (Henry)

We need to give graciously and generously and we need to give without excuse. "He who watches the wind will not sow and he who looks at the clouds will not reap."

If we look hard enough we will always find a reason to keep rather than to cast. "Well...bad times may be a coming. I probably need to store up a bit more for myself. I'll give another day."

"If we stand thus magnifying every little difficulty we shall never go on with our work." (Henry)

Yes, bad times may be "a coming" which is all the more reason for us to give graciously and generously this day!! "You do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth." Now is the opportunity. Let us do good while we are able and excuse our excuses from our presence!

In our gracious and generous charity, in our non-excusable beneficence, we must trust. We need to trust God with our giving - even if we cannot see clearly how He will provide. "Just as you do not know the path of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things."

God has promised that He "loves a cheerful giver" and that as we give it shall be given unto us - good measure, pressed down, and shaken together! His economy is not like ours - praise Him for that truth!! He will make good on His promise and follow through on His word even if we cannot fathom how. Do we fully understand the wind? Do we fully understand our own formation? No, yet we trust that it is and that it works. Let us do the same with our liberality.

"Sow your seed in the morning, and do not be idle in the evening." Let us give and let us trust. Whether out of little or out of lot let us give graciously knowing that God has always outgiven us and always will.

In His glorious grace,
Lori

The Marks of Magistrates - Ecclesiastes 10:16-17

2010-05-22T06:07:00.004-04:00

"Woe to you, O land, whose king is a lad

and whose princes feast in the morning.

Blessed are you, O land, whose king is of nobility

and whose princes eat at the appropriate time -

for strength and not for drunkenness."

(Ecclesiastes 10:16-17)

Well, there is certainly nothing new under the sun - including the reality of wise and foolish leadership. Throughout history, nations have been guided by the prudent and by the idiotic, by the kind and by the treacherous. In our current times it is so -one country is governed well and another is governed wildly. In our own nation we see it to be true - look at the headlines regarding those folks who rule over us and think of your first reaction to some of their shenanigans - "He did what?!?!!"

Clearly Solomon knew of the reality and here he addresses the problem with both woes and blessings.

First of all, he offers a "woe" to the nation who is "led" by an immature prince. Matthew Henry pointed out that it may not refer only to immaturity of age but immaturity of understanding. There may be an old foolish king and there may also be a young wise king. Age is not the issue.

The foolish magistrate is the one who "feasts in the morning." In otherwords, his appetites rule him, not he them. He is a slave of his own lusts and serves himself when he should be serving his people.

Why woe? Because when the land is led by a lax lad things will fall apart. "Through indolence the rafters sag, and through slackness the house leaks" (Ecc 10:18). The foolishly feasting prince is not the prepared prince. His walls are weak. His borders are broken. His people become peasants. The nation that is thus ruled by the fool will suffer grave consequences.

"When judges are epicures, and do not eat to live but live to eat, what good can a nation expect?!" (Henry)

But...

"Blessed are you, O land, whose king is of nobility and whose princes eat at the appropriate time - for strength, and not for drunkenness."

Quoting Mr. Henry at length:

"The people cannot but be happy when their rulers are generous and active, sober and temperate, and men of business. Wisdom, virtue and the fear of God, beneficence, and a readiness to do good to all mankind, these ennoble royal blood. When magistrates are more in care to discharge their trusts than to gratify their appetites; when they eat in due season, that is, when they have dispatched their business, the land is blessed. Magistrates should eat for strength, that their bodies may be fitted to serve their souls in the service of God and their country. It is well with a people when their princes are examples of temperance, when those that have the most to spend upon themselves know how to deny themselves."

Oh, for such leaders in our own land. I am reminded by these words of my need to heed Paul's admonition in 1 Timothy 2.

"I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity."

Are we praying for increasing wisdom and selflessness for those who rule over us? If not, shouldn't we start?

In His glorious grace,

Lori