Test Number Two - Matthew 4 part 4

“Then the devil took Him into the holy city; and he had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will give His angels charge concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will bear You up, lest You strike Your foot against a stone.’’ Jesus said to him, ‘On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the LORD your God to the test.’” (Mt 4:5-7)

Here comes temptation number 2. Satan is an unrelenting adversary. He continues to pursue his prey. Once again there is a "then." The devil doesn’t give up easily but stalks with a perseverance that is so much greater than our own perseverance for righteousness. He seems to weary not. We seem to weary so easily. Lord – please grant us Your strength forwe have none of our own.

Again, the "then." As I look at this second "then" I’m reminded of the former “then” found in verse 1. That “then” referred back to the devil’s tempting of Christ after His baptism. Satan made the most of every opportunity. When Christ was hungry he tempted Him with food. Now, after Christ has boldly proclaimed His confidence in His Father's Word and willingness to wait upon His Father's way, Satan tosses out another “then”.

Henry says, “In general, finding Christ so confident of His Father’s care of him, in point of nourishment, Satan endeavors to draw Him to presume upon that care in point of safety. Nor are any extremes more dangerous than those of despair and presumption, especially in the affairs of our souls. Some who have obtained a persuasion that Christ is able and willing to save them from their sins, are then tempted to presume that He will save them in their sins.” Lord - let us not presume.

Let me walk you through the other sections of this verse.

First, “…the devil took Him ….” Again, thinking back to verse 1, I am reminded that while the devil took Him that it was still the Spirit that led Him. God is the great first cause and He is causing all things (even the temptations of the evil one) to work together for the good of those who love Him and are the called according to His purpose. (Rom 8:28)

Secondly, the devil took Him “…into the holy city…” Henry reminds us that “there is no city on earth so holy as to exempt and secure us from the Devil and his temptations. The holy city is the place where he does, with the greatest advantage and success, tempt men to pride and presumption; but (blessed be God) into the Jerusalem above, that holy city, no unclean thing shall enter; there we shall be for ever out of temptation.” The only safe holy place is in the cleft of the Rock. Lord- please help me to flee to the Holy one that I might find safety in the battle that rages around me.

Thirdly, the devil “…had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple…” “How subtle Satan was, in the choice of the place for his temptations. Here, he fixes Christ on a public place in Jerusalem, a populous city, and the joy of the whole earth. He fixes Him upon the temple, one of the wonders of the world, continually gazed upon with admiration by some one or other. There He might make Himself remarkable, and prove Himself the Son of God; not, in the obscurities of the wilderness, but before the multitudes.” (Matthew Henry). Lord - please guard us from pride which goeth before a fall.


Fourthly, the devil “… said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God…” Once again, the questioning of the Word is sounded. Is this lie of the devil not at the heart of every temptation? Satan continually seeks to plant the seeds of doubt as to the trustworthiness of the Word. How persistent he is in this regard. Lord - stop our ears to his lying whispers and build up our confidence in Your written truth.

Fifthly, the devil says “…thrown Yourself down…” Mr. Henry powerfully points out that “the devil could NOT cast Him down. The power of Satan is a limited power; hitherto he shall come and no further.” The devil can only persuade, he cannot compel; he can but say, 'Cast thyself down;' he cannot cast us down. Therefore, let us not hurt ourselves, and then, blessed be God, no one else can hurt us.” Lord – please protect me from me! Self is a great enemy.

Sixthly, Satan says “…for it is written, ‘He will give His angels charge concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will bear You up, lest You strike Your foot against a stone.’” The enemy of all righteouness takes and twists the righteous Word of God.

Matthew Henry holds forth a sobering truth. He says, “Satan backed this motion with a scripture; 'For it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning Thee.' But is Saul also among the prophets? Is Satan so well versed in Scirpture, as to be able to quote it so readily? It seems, he is. Note, It is possible for a man to have his head full of scripture-notions, and his mouth full of scripture-expressions, while his heart is full of reigning enmity to God and all goodness.”

We need to examine ourselves. Do we know and use the Word of God? If so, to what purpose. Do we use it to twist and try to get our way as did the devil or do we use it because we love it and we long to live our lives in accordance with it? If the former we need to repent and flee to Christ. If the latter we need to not grow weary in well-doing.

Satan tempts. Christ responds and Christ corrects. "Jesus said to him, 'On the other hand…'” - Jesus is about to straighten that which Satan has twisted. “On the contrary Satan – You are wrong!” "On the other hand" needs to become our mantra and our first response to Satan's whispers. In Christ's strength we need to call the father of lies by his name and we need to portray his actions by their true colors.

The best way to do that is to hold his counterfeit use of the Word of God up to the proper use of the Word of God. Jesus says “…it is written, ‘You shall not put the LORD your God to the test.” Notice that “the devil’s abusing of Scripture did not prevent Christ from using it.” Christ rightly applies the Word of God in order to extinguish the fiery darts of the wicked one. We need to use our sword. We need to not fear using it because the enemy has misued it. When he whispers a twisting of the Word go and pick up the Word. Don't allow him to take the Truth out of its context and condemn you with crooked lies. "All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be fully equipped for every good work" (2 Tim 3:16). Don't take the devil at his word about the Word - go to the Word and see what it says. Let the Spirit of Christ, through the Word of Christ teach you, reprove you, correct you, train you, and fully equip you. "It is written" is the one certain thing that will expose Satan's lies and make him flee.

Lord –Lead us by your Spirit into humility and far, far from the pinacle of pride. Let us trust your word and doubt the devil's and even our own. Let us lean on Your everlasting arms as our certain support. Enable us to use our sword and let us not fear using it due to the enemy’s twisted abuses of it. This one who whispers so cunningly in our ears is the enemy who so desperately does NOT want us to unsheathe it. In our being tested may we not test you but submit to Your wise and Fatherly disposals. Grant us mercy and grace in the battle and thank you for Christ who has won the victory for us.

Trusting my God with the testing,

Lori

Answers for the 1st Test - Matthew 4 part 3

"But He answered him and said, 'It is written, "Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4)

Yesterday we looked at 4 schemes and devices that our enemy uses to tempt us to doubt. They were the things Satan interwoved into Christ's first temptation. They are the things he regularly attempts to weave in ours.

1) He seeks to make us doubt God's goodness and care for us.

2) He seeks to have us doubt God's Word.

3) He seeks to have us doubt our adoption in Christ.

4) He seeks to have us do things in our own strength.

Satan tried, tested, and tempted our LORD. Christ overcame. Matthew Henry points out how He did it. He did it with the Word! It's remarkable to me that the omnipotent Christ - God incarnate - didn't use any divine power to defeat the devil. No, He used the Word. That's the same weapon we need to use. It's the only offensive weapon in the enitre armor of God, and Christ in Matthew 4 is giving us a sword lesson.

I will rely heavily on Matthew Henry's notes this morning. They were rich and succinct and they encouraged my soul.


First of all, “Christ refused to comply." Satan attempts to sow the seeds of doubt and strives to seduce our LORD to make His own way rather than seeking the Father's way. Jesus would not command these stones to be made bread, not because He could not but because He would not. And why would he not? Hear Mr. Henry's assessment:


“At first view, the thing appears justifiable enough, and the truth is, the more plausible a temptation is, and the greater appearance there is of good in it, the more dangerous it is. Christ would not do anything that:

1. Looked like questioning the truth of the voice He heard from heaven.
2. Looked like distrusting His Father’s care for Him.
3. Looked like setting himself up His own carver.
4. Looked like gratifying Satan, by doing a thing at his motion.”


OUCH!! He avoided even the appearance of evil. (I'm going to excuse myself for a moment and crawl into some sackloth and ashes!) Friends, does that not pierce you? It does me.


LORD God, You must help me in this area. My flesh, heart and mind continually fail me. Not only do I have the appearance, but far too often I have the actions of questioning, distrusting, carving, and gratifying. Forgive me! Set my face as flint that I will not even appear to question Your voice of truth. Set my face as flint that I will not even appear to distrust Your kind Fatherly disposal towards me. Set my face as flint that I will not seek to take the reigns from You and be my own course designer. Set my face as flint that I will not grant one iota of satisfaction to my enemy. Lord – gird me up. Uphold me by Your righteous right hand in these areas. Build me upon the Rock that these stormy winds will not tear down the edifice which You have begun to build. Grant me the grace that alone is able to make me stand firm unto the end.


Secondly, Mr. Henry points out that “Christ would not comply with it but He was ready to reply to it. He answered and said 'It is written'. He put honor upon the Scripture, and He set us an example, He appealed to what was written in the law. The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit, the only offensive weapon in all the Christian armoury.” May I ask, how's your sword? Is it sharp from proper use or is it dull from no use? Do you even know where it is? Find it! Take it up! Wield it well! Hide it in your heart that it will be ever ready for use.

Remember what this precious Word declares about itself:

• “How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Thy word.” (Ps 119:9)

• “Thy word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee.” (Ps 119:11)

• “Jesus said to him, 'It is written…. Then the devil left Him, and behold angels came and began to minister to Him.'” (Mt 4:10)

“As in our greatest abundance we must not think to live without God, so in our greatest straits we must learn to live upon God. It is better to live poorly upon the fruits of God’s goodness, than to live plentifully upon the products of our own sin.”

Father – help me to stand upon Your Word. Make me to flee to Your revelation and not to my own reason. My thoughts are muddled by the noetic effect of sin. My feelings are false. My heart is desperately wicked. My righteousness is as filthy rags. My God You are altogether lovely. You are thrice holy. You are infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in Your being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. You do not lie and Your Word is truth. Help me to stand on its promises and live by its precepts. Eternal God – do not only help me to stand but lift me up and cause me to stand. Tune my ears to hear Your voice in Your Word. Shut my ears to the lies of the enemy. Your sheep know Your voice. Your children love Your word. It is written. I will listen.

Praying for grace to pass the first test,

Lori

Tempted to Doubt - Matthew 4 Part 2

[The past few days I've been posting some random notes regarding this necessary detour that God has me on. He's re-routing me a bit in order to re-create me a lot. I'm really being humbled, in a good way right now. Today's note is a bit long but it has been needful to me personally. Four doubting temptations are uncovered in these verses. They are uncovered that we might be aware of them and that we might be made able to deal with them. I pray they will be even half as helpful to you as they have been to me. If so, Soli Deo Gloria!]

“And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” (vs 1-4)

In my last post I looked simply at verse 1. The gist of it: Led by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil. God is sovereign - even in testing. Job's trial begins with God saying "Have you considered my servant Job." Christ's trial begins with "He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness." My testing begins with the ordained wisdom of my Father leading me into a place where I can be refined. Where He leads us we can be certain He will care for us. In that reality there is much comfort!

Today I jump into the first of the three temptations that Christ faced. I'll begin with a reminder from Matthew Henry about Satan's ultimate purpose in tempting our Lord and Savior:

“That which Satan aimed at, in all his temptations, was to bring Christ to sin against God, and so to render Him forever incapable of being a Sacrifice for the sin of others.”

Good news - Satan failed. Christ didn’t sin. He didn't "tank." He stood firm. Christ was the perfect, all-sufficient Sacrifice. He is the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. He is the Lamb who has taken away my sins. He is the victorious, risen King who has crushed Satan fulfilling the promise of Genesis 3:15 - "He shall crush you on the head." He is the Christ through whom I can do all things! Again - what comfort!

Through Christ’s active and passive obedience I am able to walk through this personal temptation and the many more that will come in His strength. I do not walk in my own. Clothed in Christ there is victory. Satan failed to render Christ as an un-useful sacrifice, yet he still seeks to render us as un-useful servants. [Lord God – please have mercy on us and, in Christ, let us be useful for You and for Your Kingdom. ]

Henry points out four things that Satan sought to do in the midst of Christ’s temptation. These are some of the stones he tosses upon our path in order to trip us along the way as well. See if these look and sound familiar to you. They certainly do to me.

1. Satan seeks to have us doubt God’s goodness and care for us. "After he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, He became hungry."

Satan cunningly came to Christ and took His current circumstances as a catalyst for the temptation he was about to hold forth. Jesus had been fasting for 40 days. He was hungry “and therefore Satan's motion seemed very proper, to turn stones into bread for His necessary support. Want and poverty are a great temptation to discontent and unbelief.” Hear those last 11 words again: "Want and poverty are a great temptation to discontent and unbelief." Beware!!

The devil wants us to doubt God's goodness and care for us. "If He really loved you He wouldn't allow you to go through this." "If He was truly good he wouldn't withold this from you." Thomas Brooks, in his wonderful book "Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices,"narrates this fiery dart in this way: Satan says, “Do you not see how Providence crosses your prayers, and crosses your desires, your tears, your hopes, your endeavours? Surely if God's love were towards you, if His soul did delight and take pleasure in you, He would not deal thus with you.” Satan seeks to make us doubt God's goodness and care based on our circumstances. Seeds of doubt are planted. Get them out of the garden at any cost. Destroy the seeds. Uproot the weeds. The only fruit they will produce will be rotten and deadly.

Beloved, we must remember that in God's economy our desires and dreams may NEED to be crossed for our greater good. God knows best what we need most and He is working ALL things together for our good and for His glory. Things are not always as they seem. Will I view the character of God from the finite perch of my circumstances or will I view all things from the infinite perch of His Word. One of my favorite quotes from dear old Brooks is this:

“As the waters lifted up Noah’s ark nearer heaven, and as all the stones that were about Stephen’s ears did but knock him the closer to Christ, the cornerstone, so all the strange rugged providences that we meet with, they shall raise us nearer heaven, and knock us nearer to Christ, that precious Cornerstone.”

Life is hard, very hard at times. "Want and poverty," doubt and despair, these things may tempt us, yet there is never an excuse for sin - never! Don't listen to the whispers of the enemy who seeks to destroy you by tempting you to doubt the character of your God. Listen to your God "with whom it is impossible to lie"!

There is never a reason to seek "unlawful means" to grant us relief or escape from our unhappy circumstances. I need to be reminded of that. It is so easy to simply want to bail at any cost in order to be freed from current bondage, discomfort and pain. Short-cuts don’t ever lead to pleasant places in God’s economy! Short-cuts lead to dead ends! “Those, therefore who are reduced to straits, have need to double their guard; it is better to starve to death than to live and thrive by sin.” (Matthew Henry)

[LORD God- I would beg you to not let me nor any of your precious saints shortcut our trials under the pretence of necessity. “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.” You are faithful Lord - ever faithful! O, help us to see and believe with the eyes of faith, for the eyes of our flesh regularly fail us. You will not push us too far. Let us not fall too short. Please preserve us to endure by Your way of escape and not conjure up our own. At times, my flesh longs to find its own way quickly out of this – yet, at the same time my heart and soul long to not shortcut this trial! Once again I am face to face with the realization of just how absolutely weak and helpless I am and of how real spiritual warfare is. Lord, “let endurance have its perfect result.” Make me to endure, make my friends to endure – MAKE us for we cannot make ourselves!]

2. Satan seeks to have us doubt God’s Word. "If You are the Son of God."

Look at the wicked wiles of our adversary in attempting to tear down and discredit the very Word of the Living and True God. That fiend and foe of all the blood-bought saints desires nothing more than to remove the sword of the Spirit from our hand and render us useless, hopeless, and utterly despondent. He has succeeded for a time with me in that regard, but – by grace through faith I set my face like flint in opposition to His lying schemes.

God declared loudly, boldly, and unmistakably to Christ at His baptism, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” Satan sought to discredit those words and called into question what God has said : “IF you are the Son of God, then…” If, if, if! These are the same blasphemous twistings that he used with Adam and Eve in order to bring all sin and misery into this world – including this sin and misery that I am currently in the middle of. This is how the devil works. Be aware of his schemes.

In the very beginning upon coming to Eve, that crafty and beguiling serpent deviously and deceptively said to her, “Indeed, has God said…” He seeks to have her question the Word of God. Once again, I set my face as flint and shout from the highest mountain and proclaim from the lowest valley "YES God has said and YES Lori will believe the God of truth and not the mortal enemy of God’s elect." Stand with me dear friends in standing up to him and in calling him the liar that he is! The devil is a "murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.... He is a liar and the father of lies" (Jn 8:44). Who will we trust the father of lies or the God who cannot lie?

Beloved, Satan’s greatest scheme is to undermine the Word of God. If we distrust it, if we doubt it then he has won the battle for we are without chart to guide us, without anchor to hold us firm, and without weapon to defend us. Hold fast to your sword dear friends. God's Word is a lamp unto your feet and the light unto your path. Let it shine on your current circumstances. Stand firm and resist the devil's schemes!

3. Satan seeks to have us doubt our adoption in Christ. "If you are the son of God."

Allow me to get really personal. I was adopted, physically, about 40 years ago. My parents went through all of the legal necessities to make me their child. I appreciate their sacrifice. However, four years ago they disowned me. I don't know why - they have been unwilling to talk with me. What I do know is that after 36 years they bailed. They walked out of my life completely. They quit being my parents and cast me aside to be an orphan once again. It would seem that their adoption of me was conditional and they have by their words and actions nullified it.

At times I fear that my thoughts have drifted into a comparison of them with Him. There is NO true comparison. God has adopted me at the cost of His own Son. God does not change. God is holy and without sin. He is not capricious. He is “compassionate and gracious slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindess and truth. [He] keeps lovingkindness for thousands, [He] forgives iniquity, transgression and sin.” (Ex 34). He will "not abandon His people, nor will He forsake His inheritance." (Ps 94:14).

When I find myself doubting whether I am a daughter of the King it is always because, at that moment, I am allowing my own “feelings and thoughts” to be the arbiter of truth. Satan has me doubt my sonship. What greater or more despairing dart could he hurl our way? May God enable us to trust that we are His children based on His declaration not on our discouragements. We were, by nature, children of wrath. Christians, we are, by adoption, children of God.

• "He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will." (Eph 1:5)

• "But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying 'Abba! Father!' Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son; and if a son, then an heir." (Gal 4:5-7)

Satan longs to rob us of the assurance of our sonship. Once again he lies - he is only and always lying. Who's voice will we listen to?

4. Satan seeks to have us do things in our own strength rather than rely on our God. "Command that these stones to become bread."

He seeks to have Christ doubt the Father's character, doubt the Father's Word, and doubt that the Father is truly His Father. If he can make us doubt these things then he can make us turn from seeking our Father's hand of help to attempting to provide our own. Notice his challenge to Christ. "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." He surely doesn't encourage Jesus to utter the words of the Lord's prayer - "give us this day our daily bread." He certainly does not encourage Christ with the words of James - "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow." He most assuredly does not point Him, by way of reminder, too the fact that "my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

No! Satan hates the truth and His desire is that we would not turn to our Father for help and seek the good gifts that come from Him. Satan desires not that we would ask God for our needs but that we would attempt to seize them by our own force. "Just turn the stones into bread your self. You don't need Him. He doesn't really care. Even if He did care, can He really provide what you want and need? Don't wait around for Him. Do it yourself."

Has he gotten you with this one? I have to confess that he's gotten me. Do you ever struggle with prayer? Are you more likely to hit your knees when there is a need or to hit the ground running in order to try and fix the problem? Which of the two is your immediate, first response? (Both are necessary for while the Bible tells us to pray "give us this day our daily bread" it also reminds us that "if a man will not work neither let him eat.") Both are necessary but action without asking is relying on ourselves rather than on our God.

Dear friends, know that "The devil is for nothing that is humbling, but everything that is assuring” (Matthew Henry). Satan wants us to be proud - yet "pride goeth before a fall." Satan wants us to be independent - yet "in Him we live and move and have our being". Satan wants us to throw off the Creator creature distinction and live as though we were gods. May I challenge us to return briefly to the garden and hear Satan's wicked words:

"Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, 'Indeed has God said, "You shall not eat from any tree of the garden"?' And the woman said to the serpent, 'From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, "You shall not eat from it or touch it, lest you die."' And the serpent saith to the woman, 'You shall not die!! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God.'"

There it is! Satan's scheme is that we would doubt God's goodness, doubt His word, doubt our sonship and trust in our own wisdom and strength. He would have us be like God. He would have us be a god unto ourselves. He cares not if we worship him, he only cares that we worship not our Maker. Have we fallen for His tricks?

O my God – I would ask that You would humble me. Make me to know and trust Your character and Your providence in my life. Make me to know and love Your Word and let it be my only rule of faith and life. Make me to own my adoption in Christ and walk as is befitting a child of the King. Make me to persevere in prayer and not seek to win this battle in my own strength. I cannot even properly yield the sword of the Spirit without the help of the Spirit and must confess that I have done just that very thing far too many times. Make me to be humble, strip me of my pride. But O, LORD my God, please do so in tender mercy for if You do not I am utterly and completely undone . “A bruised reed He will not break, and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish.” (Is 42) AMEN and AMEN!

Dying to discouraging doubts,

Lori

Led By the Spirit / Tempted By the Devil - Matthew 4:1

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness

to be tempted by the devil.”

(Matthew 4:1)

I sat down a few days ago to work my way through Matthew 4 at the encouragement of a dear friend who has been holding up my arms in this battle. (Friends are a blessing - particularly those who love us enough to be willing to wound us and then help us heal.) She had landed, providentially, in Matthew 4 at the very same moment that I had landed, providentially, in the middle of this fire storm. Isn't God good?! She emailed me and said "When you have a chance pick up your Bible, read Matthew 4 and look at Matthew Henry's comments on it." I took her advice and God blessed me greatly for so doing.

Honestly, I thought I'd buzz through the whole thing in one sitting. I've read these words at least 50 times. I know the story. I know the struggle. I know the solution. This shouldn't take long. Nope! Wrong! Think again!

I hit verse 1 and it absolutely flooded over me. I had to camp out on this spot for a while. Things were flying by at break neck speed and God was both encouraging me and reproving me from this verse. It was exactly what I needed at the moment and I, in God's mercy, was able to drink deeply from these 17 words. Don't doubt the inspired nature of Christ's Word. Don't doubt that every jot and tittle is written with divine purpose. These words began dividing bone and marrow in me at just the right time. Soli Deo Gloria!

Here's what struck me. In my time meditating on this verse I literally took one section at a time to dwell on and pray on. I will lay it out in the same manner here.

Matthew 4 begins with this one word. “Then…” - Mr. Henry says:

“Immediately after the heavens were opened to Him (Jesus), and immediately after the Spirit descended on Him, the next news we hear of Him is that He is tempted; for then He is best able to grapple with the temptation. Great privileges, and special tokens of divine favor, will not secure us from being tempted. Nay, after great honors are put upon us, we must expect something that is humbling. God usually prepares His people for temptation before He calls them to it.”

Henry goes on to say: “When He was baptized, then He was tempted. After we have been admitted into communion with God, we must expect to be set upon by Satan. The enriched soul must double its guard. The devil has a particular spite at useful persons, who are not only good, but given to do good.”

Looking into my heart right now and looking back at my past few weeks, I’m not sure just how applicable the last sentence is to Lori Sealy. I am not sensing my usefulness at the moment and clearly see that I am not "good" ("There is no one good, no not one."). That's not false humility, that's just the plain and simple truth! Yet, I recognize that I have been clothed in the goodness of Christ and my heart longs to be used by God. Therefore these things have been applied to me and are true of me by grace. He has made me good and He mercifully allows me to be useful.

God has been so gracious this year to give me a renewed hunger for Him. (That's how this whole silly blog thing got started.) My heartfelt prayer at the beginning of 2009 was “One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to meditate in His temple.” (Ps 27). It's still my heartfelt prayer, it really is. God has been preparing me these past few months for these past few weeks. I can't imagine having faced these difficult things without the sweet time of communion I've had with Him prior to them. He is indeed merciful and He indeed ordains all our steps.

For these past few months worship has been precious, the preaching has been piercing, my time in the Word has been richer than ever. Honestly, my hungering and thirsting for righteousness has been incomparable to any other time in my 20 year walk with Christ. “Then”… Boom! this current battle came. My times are in His hands. All of our "thens" are ordained. In mercy He fits us for the fight that He, for divine purposes allows. I am thankful for the days before this "then" and I am thankful for His presence (even when I've questioned it) in the midst of this "then".

The immediate word after "then" is “…Jesus…” In this text it was JESUS who faced this temptation. The SINLESS Christ faced temptation. How much more likely is the sinFULL Lori liable to face temptation?! I absolutely recognize that in these past weeks I have failed and fallen miserably in my trials– I think I’ve seen my frailties more clearly than I ever have - ever. Yet, isn't it good to know that temptation does not necessarily equate with sin. Recognize that Christ was tempted, yet Christ was without sin.

Henry reminds us that “temptations if not yielded to are not sins, they are afflictions only.” These past few weeks, as throughout my life, temptations have fallen into both categories. I have sinned in my temptation and I have been sanctifyingly afflicted in my temptations. The latter only and absolutely by sovereign grace. I am reminded of James’ words:

“Consider it all joy my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.”

The other thing I am particularly aware of in this biblical accounting of Jesus being tempted is the FACT that I have a high priest who understands my frailties and who in His own active obedience has granted me victory over my own struggles. I cannot begin to put human words on the glory, beauty, and majesty of that theme! I fall to the words of the Living and True God:

“For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore 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 4:15-16)

Now, I have to tell you that I had never, until this period of digging in the Word, seen the encouragement of God for us to come boldly before the throne for mercy being tied into its context of Jesus our high priest. This rocked my personal world!! Context counts.

"Draw near with confidence to the throne of grace" is connected to He who endured temptation without sin. Christ's active obedience in the midst of temptation is the foundation upon which our bold prayers can be built. This beautiful passage begins with with “Let us therefore” – in other words, because of the fact that Christ endured and overcame temptation in "all things" we are to BOLDLY draw near with confidence to the throne of grace. Here is the rubber of Christ's imputed perfect life meeting the road of my prayer life. It's time to get bold! It's time to draw near! It's time to be confident in my petitions that I might find mercy and grace in my time of need! Lord - remove the callouses from my heart and form some callouses on my knees!!

The third phrase after "Then Jesus" is “…was led up by the Spirit…” Wow! What a comforting phrase! I have not been through this trial and I am not still going through this trial apart from the hand of my God. Remember that precious prophet's words : “O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt Thee, I will give thanks to Thy name; for Thou hast worked wonders, plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.” (Is 25:1). God was sovereign in the temptation of Christ. He is sovereign in the temptations of Lori. He is sovereign in your temptations as well!

Mr. Henry remarks that, “whithersoever God leads us, we may know He will go along with us, and bring us off more than conquerors.” Oh, I will exalt Him and give thanks and praise to His name for HIS faithfulness to me in these dark days and the dark days that will most certainly come again in this life. “For the LORD will not abandon His people, nor will He forsake His inheritance.” (Ps 94:14)

Fourthly, "Then Jesus was led by the Spirit... into the wilderness…” You know, the wilderness can be both good and bad. It is good to be alone with our God and to be in a place of utter dependence upon Him. Quiet time is precious time and we not ignore it. However, it seems that it is often in the wilderness that the enemy so shrewdly deals with us.

The wilderness is sometimes a barren wasteland. At times our hearts are like deserts and Satan, sin and self pursue us in that dry and thirsty land. The Devil looks for our Achile's heel and that is where he loves to strike. How good to know that "He who is in me is greater than he who is in the world." What a comfort to know that He will make my barren places fruitful and my deserts to flow with streams of living water. Lord – you’ve promised to make all things beautiful in Your time. Would you do that with me?! Yes! You will – for so you have said and it is impossible for You to lie! Let me not despise the wilderness but delight in the priviledge of pruning.

Fifthly, "Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness…to be tempted…” Temptation comes! God sustains! Temptation does not mean we are forsaken by God – it may be a very sign of the fact that we are chosen by God. (Hear that O doubting one!) It was the Spirit of God who led the Son of God into the wilderness. “If good people are brought low, if they want friends and succours, this may comfort them, that their Master Himself was in like manner exercised. A man may want bread, and yet be a favorite of heaven, and under the conduct of the Spirit” (Matthew Henry).

I am not forsaken simply because I am forlorn! Remember, “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and god is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.” (1 Cor 10:13)

Sixthly, "Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted… by the devil.” I don’t know what has really gone on these past few days. I really, really don’t. Much of what I have faced has been beyond category for me. I'm not a mystical gal. I don't get into looking for demons in every corner. Yet, I know they are real and that they are enemies of the elect. I cannot deny that the Bible itself speaks of them and of their roaring, devouring, destroying nature. Satan and his minions are the total epitomy of evil. There is no restraining grace in them. They are absolute depravity and they seek to steal, kill and destroy. Satan is the father of lies and in him there is NO truth. His whispers can temporarily deafen us to the still, small voice of the Spirit as it comes to us in the Word. The devil is a real enemy and I am foolish to ignore him as though he did not exist! The devil is a liar and I am foolish to listen to his whispers!

There’s no need for me to speculate at whatever the source of my current battle is – self, sin, Satan – the answer remains the same. The answer is Christ in us enabling His Word to be used by us. "He who is in me is greater than he who is in the world." May we fling ourselves fully into the arms of the Omnipotently Strong Savior of sinners.

Here's the whole kit-n-kaboodle - “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” Wherever we are, if we are His, we find ourselves there by divine appointment. Whatever we face His strength is made perfect in our weakness and His grace is sufficient to carry us through. May we all flee to Christ in our darkest and in our brightest hours.

Lord I simply ask that You would make me to KNOW you through this temptation. Use this affliction to make me more like you and less like me. I praise You and take great comfort in Your sovereignty in this and in all things. There are no maverick molecules in this universe, including the molecules of trial, testing, and temptation. You are Lord of the "thens." You are working all things together for the good of those who love You and are the called according to Your purpose. Thank you for being my God and for calling me to be Your child. Amen and Amen! SDG!

Led, Tempted, and being Delivered,

Lori

A Slight Detour

So, Lori disappeared for several days. (I'm not sure if anyone even noticed.) I'm back, sort of.

God, in His perfect wisdom has been doing (and is still doing) some remodeling on me. I've actually taken a short break from Isaiah to dig a little deeper into a few other passages that are particularly relevent to some things I'm facing at the moment.


You know, there are times in our walk with Christ where He, for His good and righteous reasons, has to "burn" us a bit in order to refine us. I've been hanging out in the furnace.

The Westminster Confession of Faith sums things up well in its chapter on the Providence of God. It says:

"The most wise, righteous, and gracious God doth oftentimes leave, for a season, His own children to manifold temptations, and the corruption of their own hearts, to chastise them for their former sins, or to discover unto them the hidden strength of corruption and deceitfulness of their hearts, that they may be humbled; and, to raise them to a more close and constant dependence for their support upon Himself, and to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin, and for sundry other just and holy ends."

I'm slap dab in the midst of one of those seasons. God is humbling me and causing me to see, more and more, just how desperately needy I am of His imputed righteousness, how corrupt and decietful my natural heart is, and how utterly dependent I am upon Him for His support. It's not a fun place. The fire hurts - alot. I won't pretend it doesn't. My stubborn sinful heart finds itself fighting against the faithful flames of sanctification rather than simply submitting to them. I'm often foolish! How thankful I am that "He who began the good work in me will carry it on to the day of completion!" And that I am not my own but have been bought with a price.


The past few weeks have been ANYTHING but easy. In all honesty, of all the things I've faced in my life, these past few weeks are probably the toughest. But don't feel sorry for me - it's an important place for me to be. God knows best what I need most and in His parental care for me He is doing what is necessary to make me, -His child- more like Him - my Father. That's good!

Over the next few days (sporadically) I'm going to post some notes from Matthew 4 (the temptation of Christ) and from Romans 6-8 (the beautiful descriptions of dying to sin and living to righteousness, the conflict of the two natures, and the glories of Romans 8 - no condemnation in Christ, the ordo salutis, all things working together for good, preservation of the saints, etc.). These things have been a balm to my currently storm surged soul. The Word is good and it is good for us to be afflicted if the affliction drives us to know the Word better and own It more.


God has been teaching me much, personally, from these passages and I hope that, if anyone is even ever looking at this page, that these biblical truths will grant you comfort in your own afflictions as well.


I don't know what anyone else may be specifically facing at the moment but I do know that "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful and will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it." (1 Cor 10:13).


Friends, we are not freaks of nature, weirdos, unique or all alone in the various temptations that are falling upon us - we are sinners, we are human - these trials we face are "common to man." 1 Corinthians 10:13 offers us such hope in our temptations and trials.

While in the midst of them we may be recognizing just how faithless we are when left to ourselves (I certainly am). But there is such comfort in knowing that it is not our faithfulness that will allow us to make it through, it is HIS faithfulness. And oh how great is His faithfulness. "Morning by morning new mercies I see!"

God will not allow us to be cast off, tossed away, or throne aside in the midst of our trials. He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able for we "can do all things through Christ who strengthens us." It is not in our own strength that we wage war with the enemy - it is in Christ's strength and Christ does NOT ever lose!!

God will provide the way of escape for His tried, tested and tempted little ones. Over the past few weeks my flesh, at times, has looked for a shortcut out of this wilderness I am in. Short cuts don't bring about sanctifying results, they ultimately just make the trial last longer and cause us to miss out on the spiritual benefits that perseverance bring.

As for me, I am waiting patiently - by His grace - for His way out. If you think about it pray for me that I will not waste this trial but use it wisely, love my Lord and Savior all the more because of it, and be a more humble servant in my King's service. I have prayed for revival for years and am now asking God that He might be granting it to begin in my own heart.


More increasingly aware of my need for His glorious grace,

Lori

Opposed For Our Well-Being - Isaiah 53 part 3

"He was oppressed and He was afflicted,

Yet He did not open His mouth;

like a lamb that is led to slaughter,

and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,

so He did not open His mouth.

By oppression and judgment He was taken away;

and as for His generation, who considered

that He was cut off of the land of the living.

For the transgressions of my people

to whom the stroke was due?

(vs 7-8)

This morning I honestly do not own words to speak of the grandeur of these things. Thankfully Mr. Henry does.

"Though He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth, no, not so much as to plead His own innocency, but freely offered Himself to suffer and die for us.

"This takes away the scandal of the cross, that He voluntarily submitted to it, for great and holy ends. By His wisdom He could have evaded the sentence, and by His power He could have resisted the execution; but thus it was written, and thus it behoved Him to suffer.

This commandment He received from His Father, and therefore was led as a lamb to the slaughter. As a sheep is dumb before the shearers, nay before the butchers, so He opened not His mouth, which denotes His cheerful compliance with His Father's will. By this will we are sanctified, His making His own soul, His own life, an offering for our sin.

"The consequence of this to us is our peace and healing. The chastisement of our well-being was upon Him. He is our peace (Eph 2:14). Christ was in pain that we might be at ease, knowing that through Him our sins are forgiven us. Hereby we have healing; for by His stripes we are healed.

"Sin is not only a crime it is a disease, which tends directly to the death of our souls and for which Christ provided the cure. By His stripes He purchased for us the Spirit and the grace of God to mortify our corruptions, which are the distempers of our souls, and to put our souls in a good state of health, that they may be fit to serve God.

The dominion of sin is broken in us and we are fortified against that which feeds the disease."

He willingly did this for us. He willingly did this for Lori - for the transgression of my people for whom the stroke was due? The wages of sin is death - He took my death upon Himself. "He was delivered up because of our transgressions, and was raised up because of our justification." (Rom 4:25)

How I needed these words this morning. Apply them to my soul and my mind O Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

Needful of continued healing,

Lori

Stricken, Smitten, & Afflicted - Isaiah 53 part 2

"Surely our griefs He Himself bore,

and our sorrows He carried;

yet we ourselves esteemed Him

stricken, smitten of God and afflicted.

But He was pierced through for our transgressions,

He was crushed for our iniquities;

the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,

and by His scourging we aer healed.

All of us like sheep have gone astray,

each of us has turned to his own way;

but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all

to fall on Him."

(vs 4-6)

Christ suffered for us. Christ suffered for me! Throughout Isaiah 53, the gospel narrative is laid out in uncanny prophetic proportions. We see that Christ came - lived among us, lived as one of us - and we see that He suffered in our place. Are there more precious words in all of the Old Testament? Is this not the ultimate theme of the whole counsel of God?

As I meditate on Isaiah's words this morning my mind is also carried away to Paul's:

"...Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard 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." (Ph 1:5-8)

Christ suffered. Christ, unlike us did not suffer for ANYTHING that He did. Instead, He suffered for EVERYTHING that we did! "Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted."

I will rely much on Matthew Henry this day for His words have been sobering to my own soul.

"Christ had griefs and sorrows. He bore them, and blamed not His lot; He did neither shrink from them, nor sink under them, but persevered to the end, till He said "It is finished." He had blows and bruises; He was stricken, smitten, and afflicted. All along He was smitten with the tongue, when He was contradicted, put under the worst of characters, and had all manner of evil said against Him. At last He was smitten with the hand, with blow after blow. He was scourged, not under the merciful restriction of the Jewish law, which allowed not above forty stripes to be given to the worst malefactors, but according to the usage of the Romans. Pilate intended it as an equivalent for His crucifixion, and yet it proved a preface to it. He was wounded in His hands, and feet, and side. He was wronged and abused: He was oppressed, but our Lord kept possession of His own soul. He was taken from prison to judgement. He was proceeded against as a malefactor, He was apprehended and taken into custody, and made a prisoner; He was judged, accused, tried, and condemned. He was cut off by an untimely death from the land of the living. He made His grave with the wicked (for He was crucified between two theives, as if He had been the worst of the three)."

These sufferings, these griefs, these afflictions were born by the sinless Son of God. These sufferings, these griefs, these afflictions were born on my behalf! Christ suffered and died for me!

I continue with Mr. Henry.

"It is natural to ask with amazement, 'How came it about? What evil had He done?' His enemies esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. Because they hated Him, and persecuted Him, they thought that God did. (It is true that He was God's smitten and afflicted, but not in the sense in which they meant it.)

"He never did anything in the least to deserve this hard usage. Whereas He was charged with perverting the nation, and sowing sedition, it was utterly false; He had done no violence, but went about doing good. And, whereas He was called that deciever, there was no deceit found in His mouth. He never offended either in word or deed. The judge that condemned Him owned that he found no fault in Him, and the centurion that executed Him professed that certainly He was a righteous man."

It was not His sins but ours that brought about all of these things. "It was for our good, and in our stead, that Jesus Christ suffered. It is certain that we are all guilty before God. We have all sinned, and come short of the glory of God: All we like sheep have gone astray. Every particular person stands charged with many actual transgressions. We have gone astray like sheep, which are apt to wander, and are unapt to find the way home again. That is our true character; we are bent to backslide from God, but altogether unable of ourselves to return to him. We turn aside everyone to His own way, and thereby set up our own will, in competition with God and His will, which is the malignity of sin."

"Our sins, our sorrows, our griefs. Our Lord Jesus was appointed and did undertake to make satisfaction for our sins. For the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. The laying of our sins upon Christ implies the taking of them off from us; we shall not fall under the curse of the law if we submit to the grace of the gospel. Our sins were laid upon Him. None but God had power to lay our sins upon Christ, both because the sin was committed against Him, and because Christ was His own Son, who Himself knew no sin. It was the iniquity of us all that was laid on Christ, for in Christ there is a sufficiency of merit for the salvation of all, and a serious offer made of that salvation to all, which excludes none that do not exclude themselves."

Oh, my suffering Servant, my grief bearing God you have taken my sins, griefs, and sorrows upon yourself, help me not to foolishly attempt to pick them up again! Our sin is great, Your grace is greater!

In His glorious grace,

Lori

"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 so 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 teh 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

Christ, the Suffering Servant - Isaiah 53

"Who has believed our message?

And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,

and like a root out of parched ground;

He has no stately fomr or majesty

that we should look upon Him,

nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.

He was despised and forsaken of men.

A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;

and like one from whom men hide their face,

He was despised and we did not esteem Him."

(vs 1-3)

It is impossible to pick and choose a few verses to meditate on from this chapter. Isaiah 53 is one of the most beautiful, glorious, and heart stirring passages in all of the Old Testament to me. This passage shows my Savior - His person, His works, His heart, His humility, His patience, His sacrifice on my behalf.

Chapter 52 ended with the reception Christ would receive from the Gentile world. He would be exalted and many nations would be sprinkled by the blood of His grace. Chapter 53 begins with the stubborn unbelief of the Jewish nation regarding this same Christ -the very Messiah the prophets had foretold for generations.

"Who has believed our message?" Sadly very few of them. Christ did not meet their expectations and therefore they heaped great contempt and condemnation upon Him. "This can't be the Messiah - look at Him!!" He came from a humble home. His earthly father was a mere carpenter. His birth had been the lowliest of the low. Jesus came up from "parched ground" and surely the Messiah would come forth from the most fertile of soil!

There was nothing in His physical appearance that set him apart from other men. Saul was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. David was ruddy and handsome in appearance. The Lord Jesus Christ had "no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him." He was not homely, per se - He was simply normal. Matthew Henry puts it this way,

"It was expected that He should have some uncommon beauty in His face and person, which should charm the eye, attract the heart, and raise the expectations of all that saw Him. But there was nothing of this kind in Him; not that He was deformed or misshapen, but he had no form nor comeliness, nothing extraordinary, which one might have thought to meet in an incarnate deity."

There was nothing particularly pleasant in His life that would make men flock to Him. He was not the class clown nor mister happy go lucky. No, Christ was "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." Again I will turn to Mr. Henry's words.

"It was expected that He should live a pleasant life, which would have invited all sorts to Him; but, on the contrary, He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. His condition was, upon many accounts, sorrowful. He was unsettled, had no where to lay His head, lived upon alms, was opposed and menaced, and endured the contradiction of sinners against Himself. His spirit was tender, and He admitted the impressions of sorrow. Grief was His intimate acquaintance; for He acquainted Himself with the griefs of others, and sympathized with them."

Men "hid their faces" from Him. They still do. "He was despised." How often He still is. "And we did not esteem Him." Regularly we don't!

For the Jews of this day there was no beauty to be found in Him. What beauty is there in poverty, normality, and sorrow? They couldn't see His beauty, for the ultimate beauty of Christ is found in the beauty of His holiness and it takes spiritual eyes to catch a glimpse at that glorious sight.

Lord Jesus, would you rend the veil that so often covers our eyes and allow us to see You in the glory and majesty that Your Word reveals. The very fact that the King of kings and the LORD of hosts willingly came into this fallen world and took upon Himself poverty, sorrow and shame that we might be relieved of their burden is a portrait of the most beautiful design!

Gazing upon the beauty of His humiliation,

Lori

"Git!!" - Isaiah 52 part 3

"Depart, depart, go out from there,

touch nothing unclean;

go out from the midst of her,

purify yourselves,

you who carry the vessels of the LORD.

But you will not go out in haste,

nor will you go as fugitives;

for the LORD will go before you,

and the God of Israel will be your rear guard."

(vs 11-12)

Lovely feet have brought good news to Israel. Their peace, happiness, and salvation is at hand. Their God reigns and their cruel captor is about to fall. What are they to do with this good news? Get out of Dodge!

I loved Matthew Henry's words on these verses this morning. "When liberty is proclaimed, let the people of God hasten out of Babylon with all convenient speed: Depart, depart, go out from the midst of her; be gone. Babylon is no place for Israelites. And it is a call to all those who are yet in the bondage of sin and Satan to make use of the liberty which Christ has proclaimed to them. Let them take heed of carrying away with them any of the pollutions of Babylon: touch no unclean thing. Let them depend on the presence of God with them and His protection of them in their removal: you shall not go out in haste. They were to go with a diligent haste, but not with a difffident distrustful haste, as if they were afraid of being pursued. God will both lead their van and bring up their rear."

Lord, help me not to linger in Babylon but to walk diligently and continually in the light of Your law and by the power of Your grace with my face set as flint towards the Celestial City!

Departing,

Lori

Beautiful Feet Bringing Good News - Isaiah 52 part 2

"How lovely on the mountains

are the feet of him who brings good news,

who announces peace

and brings good news of happiness,

who announces salvation,

and says to Zion, 'Your God reigns!'

(vs 7)

Looking for a good pedicure? Here it is - let your feet bring the good news of the gospel to a lost and dying world! "How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news."

The gospel is a blessing to all who will hear and recieve it. It "announces peace." It brings to us the terms upon which peace with God can be accessed. By nature we are "children of wrath" and "enemies of God." But the good news of the gospel changes all of that. It makes us children of God and heirs of heaven!

• "But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity...thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity." (Eph 2:13-16)

• "He who was delivered up because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification. Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom 4:25-5:1)

• "For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Christ, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, i say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach." (Col 1:19-22)

The gospel "brings good news of happiness." True happiness comes from holiness and from no other fount. If I am to be happy I must be made holy. I can only be made holy through the imputed righteousness of Christ. This word happiness, in the Bible, is not a self-centered glee and giddiness as the world so often portrays it. Throughout the scripture it is often translated "blessed" or "joy" rather than "happy." It is probably best laid out to us in Christ's own words in the Sermon on the Mount when He begins his discourse with the beatitudes. Here he describes the happiness that the gospel brings to a life.

"And opening His mouth He began to teach them saying,

• Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
• Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
• Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
• Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
• Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
• Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.
• Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
• Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
• Blessed are you when men cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kind of evil against you falsely, on account of Me. Rejoice, and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

The happiness that the gospel brings is totally contrary to the counterfeit happiness of the world. It is a blessing and a joy despite our outward condition. It is true contentment in any storm. It is, as Jeremiah Burroughs puts it "that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God's wise and fatherly disposal in every condition." Only the gospel can bring about that type of peace and happiness.

The gospel "announces salvation." It is through this proclamation that salvation can be ascented to in the mind and owned in the heart. To be believed it must be held forth.

• "Whoever calls on the name of the LORD will be saved. How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whome they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings of good things!" (Rom 10:13-15)

The gospel "says to Zion, Your God reigns!" It declares the Lordship of Christ to the world which He owns and governs. It declares His sovereign power to free those who are bound in their hellish chains if they will bow the knee to Him. And it declares His sovereign right to judiciously condemn all those who treacherously cling to their sin and rebellion against His rightful authority.

Matthew Henry says that the gospel "is a proclamation of peace and salvation; it is gospel indeed, good news of victory over our spiritual enemies and liberty from our spiritual bondage. The good news is that Jesus reigns. Christ Himself, brought these tidings first (Luke 4:18, Heb 2:3) and of Him the text speaks. How beautiful are His feet, His feet that hung upon Mount Calvary!"

My Great Savior, thank you for having your feet pierced for me. Thank you for pursuing me with the gospel. Thank you for sending ambassadors into my life with beautiful feet. Make mine lovely as I seek to hold forth this glorious peace giving, happiness granting, salvation offering good news of You - King Jesus!

In His glorious grace,

Lori

Wake Up and Get Dressed - Isaiah 52

"Awake, awake,

clothe yourselves in your strength, O Zion;

clothe yourselves in your beautiful garments,

O Jerusalem the holy city.

For the uncircumcised and the unclean

will no more come into you.

Shake yourself from the dust, rise up,

O captive Jerusalem;

loose yourself from the chains around your neck,

O captive daughter of Zion."

(vs 1-2)

Chapter 52 flows naturally from the contextual thoughts of chapter 51. Israel is frightened. Israel is despairing. Israel has fainted in the midst of these perilous times. She is overwhelmed by her circumstances and overcome by her troubles. She has passed out in her fears and needs to be awakened from the slumber of hopelessness.

The cry is sounded. The alarm goes off. "Awake, awake, clothe yourself in your strength, O Zion; clothe yourself in your beautiful garments." I need to hear this alarm clock and I need to wake up!!

Perilous, difficult times fall upon us all but in the midst of them we need not fall into a doze of discouragement. No! We need to awaken and when we do we need to put on the robe of our God's strength and beauty. My own garments are filthy rags. They are tattered and torn. They weigh me down, wear me out, and quite honestly, they stink! Praise God I don't have to wear them instead I need to wear Him! I need to be clothed in Christ! I need to lay aside the garments I have made for myself and "put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts." (Rom 13:14).

Where Christ is worn flesh won't fit. His presence and His strength will bring about reformation in our lives. The garment of light will shatter the cloak of darkness. When clothed in Him "the uncircumcised and the unclean will no more come into you." Here these words and wear these robes. "Shake yourself from the dust, rise up, O captive Jerusalem; loose yourself from the chains around your neck, O captive daughter of Zion."

O LORD, awaken your people from the slumber of despondency, clothe us in your strength and beauty, chase away the unclean things that linger within, raise us from the dust and loose the chains that so often tie us down. Help us to wake up and get dressed!

In His glorious grace,

Lori

Felling Fear by Faith -Isaiah 51 part 2

"I, even I, am He who comforts you.

Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies,

and of the son of man who is made like grass;

that you have forgotten the LORD your Maker,

who stretched out the heavens,

and laid foundations of the earth;

that you fear continually all day long

because of the fury of the oppressor,

as he makes ready to destroy?

But where is the fury of the oppressor?

The exile will soon be set free,

and will not die in the dungeon,

nor will his bread be lacking.

For I am the LORD your God,

who stirs up the sea and its waves roar

(the LORD of hosts is His name).

And I have put My words in your mouth,

and have covered you with the shadow of My hand..."

(vs 12-16)

Does God know us or what? (Rhetorical question by the way!) Over and over in this book He looks right into the hearts of His people and gives them exactly what they need most. Quite often it seems that what we need is an infusion of faith to quell our fears. That is what unfolds again this day.

In verses 9-11 Israel has cried out to God in the midst of her timorousness. She looks around and all is not well - from her perspective. Is God asleep? She cries out in a desperate prayer "Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake as in the days of old, the generations long ago." She reminds the never-forgetting God of all the miraculous delivering works He has done for her in the past and of all the promises He has made regarding her future. (While the omniscient God does not need to be reminded, we often do and thus these words should serve as a rallying cry for Israel's faith.)

She calls upon God to bear His arm of strength. He answers her by bearing the compassions of His heart. It's a good starting place, for the love and compassion He has for His children undergirds all of His Kingly acts on our behalf.

"I, even I, am He who comforts you, who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, and of the son of man who is made like grass...?" How does God comfort His knocking-kneed children in the midst of their greatest fears? By lovingly pointing out the foolishness of their current wordly fears and pointing them to the great antidote - love for and faith in their God.

The Israelites are consumed by the fear of man. No doubt they are in a serious situation and there is real need for an honest evaluation of their circumstances. However, their evaluation is anything but honest at the moment. It is one-sided and it is bogged down on the side of man. There are two sides to every coin. They have stared long and hard at the "tail" of man. It is time to flip the coin and see the glory of its "head" - their Living God!

Who is this that they are so fearful of? The great man - Babylon. Yet this mighty nation is still made up of mere men - mere dying men! Matthew Henry says, "It is absurd to be in such dread of a dying man. We ought to look upon every man as a man that shall die. Those we fear we must look upon as frail and mortal, and consider what a foolish thing it is for the servants of the living God to be afraid of dying men!"

You know, it really does boil down to a perspective problem. My vision is blurred. My thinking is fuzzy. My hearing is stopped up. How often do I find myself, a "servant of the living God" being absolutely paralyzed by the fear of "dying men"?

My fears are ultimately grounded in my forgetfulness. "Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies and of the son of man who is made like grass; that you have forgotten the LORD your Maker, who stretched out the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth...?" Refocus Lori!! Remember girl!! Look to the LORD your Maker - the Creator of the heavens, the Former of the foundations of the earth. He is for you - who shall be against you?! He is from everlasting to everlasting - they are from ashes to ashes and dust to dust!

God not only mercifully chides His children for their forgetfulness of Him but also for the all-consuming nature of their fears. "Who are you...that you fear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor..." "It is absurd to fear continually every day. Now and then a danger may be iminent and threatening and it may be prudent to fear it; but to always be in a toss and to tremble at the shaking of every leaf, is to make ourselves all our lifetime subject to bondage." (Matthew Henry)

Christ came to set us free from this fearful prison. Why are we so prone to flee back into it's dark dungeon? Just as Christian and Hopeful forgetfully wandered off the path to gaze momentarily at "greener pastures" and found themselves suddenly whisked away and imprisoned by Giant Depair in Doubting Castle - so are we. We wander off from the remembrance of our all-consuming God and find ourselves overcome by our all-consuming fears. Christian had the key in his breast during his entire captivity, he had forgotten it. Once he remembered he was able to escape. Beloved - Christ has given us the key that enables us to flee freely from our fears and it is revealed in these next verses.

"The exile will soon be set free, and will not die in the dungeon, nor will his bread be lacking. For I am the LORD your God, who stirs up the sea and its waves roar (the LORD of hosts is His name). And I have put My words in your mouth, and have covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, 'You are My people.'"

Here is the covenant promise. He is our sovereign - we are His servants. He is our omnipotent Father -we are His needy children. He is our God - we are His people and our God will do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Our God will provide for us what we cannot provide for ourselves. He will break down the prison bars. He will provide the manna from heaven. He will calm the raging sea and soothe the savage storm. He has told us these things in His Word and it is to that infallible, inspired, all-glorious Word that we need to flee in our times of fear. ("And I have put My words in your mouth, and covered you with the shadow of My hand.") Am I fleeing to the faith which comes from hearing the Word of God (Rom 10:17) or am I floundering in the fear that naturally comes from listening to the howling winds that often surround me?

• "If Thy law had not been my delight, then I would have perished in my affliction. I will never forget Thy precepts for by them Thou hast revived me." (Ps 119:92-93)

• "Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path. I have sworn and I will confirm it, that I will keep Thy righteous ordinances. I am exceedingly afflicted; revive me, O LORD, according to Thy word." (Ps 119:105-107)

• "Establish my footsteps in Thy word, and do not let any iniquity have dominion over me. Redeem me from the oppression of man, that I may keep Thy precepts." (Ps 119:133-134)

• "Trouble and anguish have come upon me; yet Thy commandments are my delight. Thy testimonies are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live." (Ps 119:143-144)

O my fearless Father, I am prone to falter and to stumble and to find myself bound behind the bars of doubting castle. My forgetfulness of You and of your promises to me often leads me to foolish fears. Lord, faith comes from hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Give me ears to hear, eyes to see, a mind to comprehend, and a heart that beats for the glory and by the grace of God above all else. "'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear and grace my fears relieved." Make me a faithful fearer of You alone and make me to walk in obedience to the light of Your law no matter how dark my days may be.

Thankful to be safe in the Son,

Lori

Moth Eaten Garments, Grub Groveled Wool and Eternal Salvation - Isaiah 51

"Lift up your eyes to the sky,

then look to the earth beneath;

for the sky will vanish like smoke,

and the earth will wear out like a garment,

and its inhabitants will die in like manner,

but My salvation whall be forever,

and My righteousness shall not wane.

Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,

a people in whose heart is My law;

do not fear the reproach of man,

neither be dismayed at their revilings.

For the moth will eat them like a garment,

and the grub will eat them like wool,

but My righteousness shall be forever,

and My salvation to all generations."

(vs 6-8)

We live in a world where things don't last forever. Change is the one certain thing. One day turns into another. We age. We die. Things rust, rot, and ruin. As hard as we try to make things stay the same, they don't. However, in the midst of all of this there is One who is above and beyond our finite realm - the Infinite and Immutable God.

In Isaiah 51 we see that while worldly things eventually wear out and fade, heavenly things do not. Particularly addressed in these verses are God's righteousness and His salvation. What a great comfort! The eternal things are the unchanging things - that's what really matters. "Just as the [gospel] shall spread through all the nations of the earth, so it shall last through all the ages of the world" and throughout all eternity!

The sky will one day "vanish like smoke", the earth will "wear out like a garment", all of its inhabitants will one day "die in like manner." Those are just the facts - and we see the truth of those facts playing out before our very eyes each day. There are other facts too, though. "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our Lord shall stand forever." The things of God are eternal, everlasting, unfading, unchanging, certain, steadfast and sure. What things am I relying on for my comfort? In what things do I find my identity? Where is the root of my happiness, peace, and joy? "Those whose happiness is bound up in Christ's righteousness and salvation will have the comfort of it when time and days shall be no more." (Matthew Henry)

Our Eternal God, in these verses, reminds us of His eternal gifts to us - righteousness and salvation. They are ours forever. They can't be stolen, swiped, or soiled. In light of that reality, He calls us to stand strong and not be fearful of the "reproach of man" nor be "dismayed at their revilings."

How easily we are discouraged. How quickly, like Peter, we lose sight of Christ and begin to sink in the waters of the world. This should not be!! Christian, we must take our eyes off of the water and place them on the Word. We must plug our ears from the reproaches of mad men and tune them to the glorious promises of our God. We must not wallow around in the dismal dirt of our adversary's revilings but must rest in the revelation of the Omnipotent King - our Father and Friend!

The "moth will eat them like a garment, and the grub will eat them like wool. But [His] righteousness shall be forever, and [His] salvation to all generations." The insults and mockery that are often hurled at our faith are nothing more than the flapping of moth eaten garments and grub groveled wool. Do not pay them any attention. They will be silenced and we need not fear them. Instead, fear the LORD for that fear leads to wisdom and life!

• "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life: whom shall I dread?" (Ps 27:1)

• "Praise the LORD! How blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in His commandments.... For he will never be shaken; the righteous will be remembered forever. He will not fear evil tidings, his heart will be steadfast, trusting in the LORD. His heart is upheld, he will not fear, until he looks with satisfaction on his adversaries." (Ps 112 selected)

• "The LORD is for me, I will not fear; what can man do to me?" (Ps 118:6)

Clothed in His eternal righteousness and salvation,

Lori

Faithful Fear, Flickering Firebrands, & Forever- Isaiah 50 part 2

"Who is among you that fears the LORD,

that obeys the voice of His servant,

that walks in darkness and has no light?

Let him trust in the name of the LORD

and rely on his God.

Behold, all you who kindle a fire,

who encircle yourselves with firebrands,

walk in the light of your fire

and among the brands you have set ablaze.

This you will have from My hand;

and you will lie down in torment."

(vs 10-11)

Here in these verses, God has laid out for us the difference between those who are His children and those who are children of wrath. The believer and the unbeliever are contrasted. The characteristics of the righteous and the wicked are spelled out. In these verses we find a portrait of the grand antithesis between the faithful fear of God and the foolish love of the world!

In verse 10, Isaiah speaks of the righteous man. First of all, that man fears the Lord. ("Who is among you that fears the LORD?") "A child of God is one that fears the LORD with a filial fear, that stands in awe of His majesty and is afraid of incurring His displeasure." (Matthew Henry). The Christian knows who his God is, knows what He is like and is filled with respect and reverance for his Creator and King. He loves his God and doesn't want to do anything that would disappoint his Daddy!

Secondly, this good and holy fear of the Lord causes the righteous man to obey the Lord. ("That obeys the voice of His servant.") He is one who is willing to have God's Word as his only rule of faith and practice. If the way of his life is found to be contrary to the Word's way, he will change his way - post haste! Christ is his Prophet, Priest, and King. He will be ruled by none other than King Jesus. He will heed the voice of the faithful ambassadors whom the King has sent and he will willingly be transformed by the renewing of his mind to the wonderful words of life.

Thirdly, let it be known that the one who fears and obeys the Lord is not guaranteed a bright and cheery path but a firm and faithful God. ("That walks in darkness and has no light.") God doesn't promise us pleasure but perseverance. There are times when the wicked seem to prosper and the righteous seem to falter. There are times when all seems sunny in the land of the lost and when violent storms seem to surround the land of the living. Be reminded that things are not always as they seem. God is more interested in our holiness than in our supposed happiness. He knows that which will bring true and lasting peace and joy and He loves us enough to see that we gain the real thing rather than the counterfeit. Darkness and storms have divine purposes in God's economy. The rain falls on the just and on the unjust. However, the rain will ultimately bring eternal and everlasting benefit to only the redeemed.

Finally, though dark may be his road, the righteous man has the Light of the world, the Sun of Righteousness as his guard, guide, and friend. ("Let him trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.") The dark path only makes him love and trust the Bright and Morning Star all the more. "He shall find God all-sufficient to him" (Henry). He shall learn that "even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day." (Ps 139:12). Outward darkness shall always be scattered by heavenly light! Beloved, the Son is always shining even in our darkest nights.

In verse 11, Isaiah redirects his portrait and sketches out the marks of the wicked for us. The colors of the pallet change. These are dark and shadowy and the real light that previously pierced the darkness for the righteous man can not be found on this section of the canvas. The unrighteous man seeks to make his own light. "Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who encircle yourselves with firebrands, walk in the light of your fire and among the brands you have set ablaze. This you will have from My hand; and you will lie down in torment."

Mr. Henry sums up this section quite well. "Presuming sinners are warned not to trust in themselves. They kindle a fire, and walk in the light of that fire. They depend on their own righteousness, and burn their incense, with that fire (as Nadab and Abihu) and not with the fire from heaven.

"They compass themselves about with sparks of their own kindling. As they trust in their own righteousness, and not in the righteousness of Christ, so they place their happiness in their worldly possessions and enjoyments and not in the favor of God. Creature-comforts are as sparks, short-lived and soon gone. They are ironically told to walk in the light of their own fire. Those that make the world their comfort, and their own righteousness their confidence, will meet with bitterness in the end." The wicked will "lie down in torment" and "meet with bitterness in the end." It is not a pretty picture. It was once my picture and I am beyond finding words to express my gratitude at God's merciful intervention in redrawing the lines, colors and theme of my own personal portrait!

There you have it: faithful fear or flickering firebrands. Forever hangs in the balance of these scales. Here is the gospel laid before us. Are we seeking to live by our own mustered up light? A light that may momentarily snap, crackle and pop like the sparks of a campfire. It makes a loud noise but then is no more. Or are we seeking to live by the light of the One who is Light eternal and unchanging? The darkness is as light to Him and His flame never dies.

"A godly man's way may be melancholy, but his end shall be peace and everlasting light. A wicked man's way may be pleasant, but his end will be eternal darkness." (Matthew Henry)

Walking in Light,

Lori