prayer

Summary of 1 Thessalonians – doctrine and imperative

POST OVERVIEW. A summary of the first epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians giving the letter’s  doctrinal teaching and its imperatives (instructions and commands). This emphasis on doctrine and imperative is a feature of the Discipleship Bible Study (DBS) method for epistles, which I explain in greater detail in my upcoming book on discipleship (in late 2024).

INTRODUCTION. Recently some brothers and I completed a study of 1 Thessalonians. In our study, we employed the Discipleship Bible Study (DBS) method for epistles. The “DBS method for epistles” emphasizes the doctrinal teaching in the epistle and the epistle’s behavioral imperatives (commands, exhortations, instructions). Awareness of the doctrinal teaching of the epistles develops theological convictions and study of the behavioral imperatives yields conscious repentance and obedience.

DOCTRINAL TEACHING OF THE EPISTLE > > > THEOLOGICAL CONVICTIONS

BEHAVIORAL IMPERATIVES OF THE EPISTLE > > > REPENTANCE AND OBEDIENCE

The following are the key doctrines and imperatives from 1 Thessalonians.

KEY DOCTRINES FROM 1 THESSALONIANS

1:4. “your election.” DOCTRINE OF ELECTION states that, before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4), in eternity past, God has chosen / elected all the people that He will, in time and space, call to salvation, that He will justify by faith and that He will glorify in the resurrection on the last day. This election is entirely based on God’s sovereign will and is not conditioned on any merit, quality or action of the chosen (therefore is called “unconditional election”). By the use of His providence, God will certainly bring to justification every one of those He has elected in eternity past and He will raise them up in glory on the last day.

1:5. In Thessalonica, the gospel, which is God’s appointed means of calling sinners to repentance and faith, came to them “in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.” Even Paul was amazed at how powerfully the gospel had worked in Thessalonica.

1:10. In this one verse there are actually four separate doctrinal truths. “wait for His Son from heaven.” The doctrine of the return of Jesus Christ in power and glory. “whom He raised from the dead.” The doctrine of the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Jesus “rescues us from the wrath to come.” The doctrine of the wrath of God against sin (Rom. 1:18; etc.) and the doctrine that Jesus is our Savior and He rescues us from God’s judgment by His substitutionary death on the cross.

2:19. “in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming.” Here we discovery that when Jesus returns, His saints will be present with Him. This means that, at His coming, the saints are not still waiting for the Lord, but are with the Lord.

This is the first of several teaching points that Paul will make in this epistle about the return of Jesus, about the resurrection of the saints and about the day of the Lord. The epistles to the Thessalonians contain much important doctrine on these topics of the end times.

3:3-4. Paul reminds the Thessalonians that persecution for your faith is a normal part of the disciple’s life. (See 1 Peter 1:6-9; 4:12-19; 2 Tim. 3:12; Matt. 5:10-12; etc.)

3:13. Another verse about the saints when Jesus returns. “The coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.” Once again, we see that Jesus’ saints will be with Him when He comes.

4:13-18. Clear doctrinal teaching about the resurrection of the saints, particularly about the order of events of the resurrection and about how the resurrection of the saints relates to the coming of the Lord Jesus. A GO-TO PASSAGE ON THE RESURRECTION AND ON THE RETURN OF CHRIST. [See the full teaching on this passage in my blog #700 on May 6, 2024, entitled “The order of the resurrection in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17.”]

5:2-10. Paul’s teaching on “the day of the Lord.” In a sense, “the day of the Lord” and the resurrection are two sides of the same coin. Both of these relate to the return of Christ but each one relates to a different group. While the resurrection relates to believers being glorified when Jesus returns, “the day of the Lord” relates to the terror and judgment that comes upon the unrighteous when Jesus comes in judgment. Same event, but two different experiences.

Paul’s teaching on the day of the Lord:

  • The “day of the LORD” is a common theme among the Old Testament prophets. Therefore, Paul is not inventing a new term or a new idea but is building on what the Scripture has already revealed. Paul’s teaching is necessarily consistent with other scriptural teaching about the day of the LORD. (See Joel 1:14-15; 2:1-11, 30-31; Obadiah 15-21; Micah 5:10-15; Zeph. 1:7-18 (very clear!).)
  • 5:2. The day of the Lord will come upon the unrighteous without warning and without mercy. (Matt. 24:37-41)
  • 5:3. Sudden destruction, so there will be no time for rescue or escape. In fact, on the day of the Lord, the time for rescue has forever passed and the time of judgment has come. There is no hope on that day.
  • 5:4-5. Believers are not in darkness but are sons of light and sons of day (Ephesians 5:8-9; Rom. 13:12-13), so we will not be caught unawares when the Lord returns.  
  • 5:9. “God has not destined us (believers) for wrath (1:10), but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The doctrinal truth is that everyone is heading for one of these two destinations. All those outside Christ are “destined for wrath.” All those in Christ are destined for salvation. It is incumbent upon every person to honestly assess which destination is his. If you are currently destined for wrath, then I urge you to immediately repent and bow the knee to the Lord Jesus.
  • 5:10. Our Lord Jesus Christ died for us. Here Paul references the doctrine of substitutionary atonement, that Jesus died on the cross to atone for the sins of His people (2 Cor. 5:21; Romans 14:9).

IMPORTANT IMPERATIVES FROM 1 THESSALONIANS

2:11-12. “Walk in a manner worthy (of the God who call you into His own glory and kingdom).” Paul implicitly exhorts the Thessalonians to live their lives in a way that brings glory and honor to Christ. They have recently turned to God from idols (1:9) and now Paul is instructing them to live a new life consistent with their profession of faith in Christ. This, then, is a general call to obedient, holy living. (Specifics follow.)

4:1. We request and exhort you in the Lord that you excel still more (in your conducting yourselves in a manner that pleases God). (Intro to imperatives.)

4:3. Abstain from sexual immorality. (1 Peter 2:11; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; Col. 3:5; Eph. 5:3-5) It is likely that the Thessalonians lived in a culture of pervasive sexual immorality. They were Gentiles and had been idol-worshippers (1:9) and had been complete strangers to the holy requirements of God’s Law (Eph. 4:17-19). Now Paul tells these new believers to abstain from sexual immorality. Cold turkey. Stop it! NOW! And this command applies to all professing disciples of Jesus today.

4:4. Although it is difficult to know specifically what Paul is saying here, the idea is clear. Exercise strict self-control over the desires of your physical body “in sanctification and honor” (4:4). Before these Gentiles had given themselves over to their lusts, but now in Christ, they must “possess their vessel in honor.” Sexual behavior is now controlled by Christ.

4:5. “Not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles.” Before it was completely acceptable, even expected, to behave in lustful passion, but now, as disciples of Jesus, not so. Also notice that, although these Thessalonians were from the uncircumcised, they are no longer Gentiles. Paul contrasts these uncircumcised Thessalonians with Gentiles. Why? Because now “there is neither Jew nor Greek, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). Now, since Jesus has come, the primary identifier for all mankind is not Jew or Gentile but it is disciple of the Lord Jesus or perishing sinner. The Thessalonians are no longer Gentiles but they are now uncircumcised disciples of the Lord Jesus. Therefore, they no longer act in “lustful passion.”

4:9-10. Love one another. Love of the brethren. “Excel still more.” Learn what it means to love the brethren and then excel at that activity. Love one another! (John 13:34-35)

4:11-12. “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business.” Here we must discover the essence of what Paul is teaching and then bring it into our 21st century context. I think the idea is that the life of the disciple is not ostentatious and extravagant but is simple, orderly, and disciplined. The disciple does not spend his life in dissipation (1 Peter 4:3), indulging the flesh, but lives “a quiet life” of worship, witness, and prayer.

5:6, 8. Do not “sleep,” but be sober and alert. “Sleeping” here is to be understood figuratively, meaning do not wander through life like those who are sluggishly sleepwalking. Rather, live a life of purpose and vigor, staying “alert.” Be alert to sin’s temptations and flee. Be sober about the things that distract you from striving toward the goal of holiness. Do not love sleep (Proverbs 6:10), but rather buffet your body and make it your slave (1 Cor. 9:27). Deny the body’s cravings, especially if it obstructs your will. Your discipline and your will must control your body’s desires or you will be useless as a disciple. The Lord does not recruit sluggards into battle, but instead seeks out obedient soldiers.

5:12-13. “Appreciate those who diligently labor among you and have charge over you in the Lord and esteem them very highly in love.” (Hebrews 13:7, 17; 1 Tim. 5:17; 1 Peter 5:5, 6) Those who labor among the flock as teachers of the Word and shepherds of the flock should know that they are loved and appreciated. Make every effort to love your pastors and elders in tangible ways so that they can labor with joy and be encouraged in their labors.

5:15. “Never repay another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.” In classic Pauline fashion, the apostle tells us not to do one thing, but rather to do another. The unsaved man, when he is treated unfairly, seeks to fight back with evil. Revenge is the angry response of the pride of the flesh. But the disciple of Jesus seeks to give good for everyone, regardless of how he has been treated. The disciple accepts unjust treatment, whether intentional or unintentional, and continues to seek good for all concerned.

5:16-18. “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks.” These three short verses have served me as “go-to” verses for obedience and as a strong defense against wrongful thinking. Whenever I sense that I am getting discouraged or depressed, I check my thinking and, more often than not, I find that I am discouraged because I am allowing my thoughts to dwell in a negative place. I also find that this “negative place” is a place of disobedience. I am thinking about something the Bible commands me not to think about or I am not thinking about those things that the Bible commands me to consider. Thus, I am being disobedient. To break this spell, I turn my mind to 1 Thess. 5:16-18 and begin to rejoice. I start to obey the command to rejoice. That usually dispatches the depression, but if that does not work, I will begin to fervently “pray without ceasing.” Obeying the Word, I rejoice, I pray and I give thanks for all the Lord has given me. This obedience will drive away the discouragement, which is the side-effect of poor and disobedient thinking.

5:22. “Abstain from every appearance of evil.” (1 Thess. 4:3) Appearances are important! The image that you project to others will determine the credibility of your witness. Matt. 5:16. Your personal holiness testifies to the legitimacy of the gospel. “Does Jesus really change people, or do people just sign up and then try to act nice?” The disciple must ask himself, “Does the life that I live before others attest to Jesus’ power to really save people from their sin?” What gospel does your behavior preach? Because you have come out of the closet as a witness for Jesus, people are evaluating your life and determining whether Jesus is worth following at all. This begins by abstaining from every appearance of evil.

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 5/15/2024                   #701

The Lord answers a prayer for usefulness

This morning was a little cool, with perhaps a hint of fall already in the air. My wife and I had traveled to Pennsylvania to visit our grandchildren and their parents, and I was out for an early trot-walk around the small town and the college campus to talk to the Lord and to review some of my Scripture memory.

My first thoughts had been of man’s urgent need for something of eternal importance in his life. While the things of this earth may give satisfaction and fascination for a time, sooner or later a person needs to have something of permanence on which they can stand. At some point in life, the question arises in your head, “Is this all there is?” Is this job, this indulgence, this activity, this hobby, this relationship, this family, this ambition, this bucket-list, this vacation, this travel, this goal, this dream, this fill in the blank – Is this a life that justifies my existence? Surely this is the question that God places inside each of us. And at that moment I simultaneously praised God for allowing me to know Jesus Christ and was saddened by all the myriads of people who do not know Jesus and who are thus perishing. Only the life that knows and loves the Lord Jesus Christ has any connection with eternity and any permanence and significance.

The next thought that I had was amazement at the way my very unremarkable and unimpressive life has unfolded. The Lord has truly hidden me in the shadow of His hand (Isaiah 49:2), making sure that there was very little noteworthy about my accomplishments so that I could continue to function under the radar. Perhaps the most prominent example of this is my professional “career.” I began my career as an engineer with IBM, which at the time (1982) was Forbes’ most respected company in the world. Within five years I had squandered that auspicious start and was working for a failing software company. A few years past as I moved from one job to another. Finally, in 1996, just when it looked like I was in a position to stay long-term in a dead-end job, I resigned in order to go to post-Soviet Russia for three years as a “missionary.” (1 Samuel 17:48; Jeremiah 40:1-4) When I returned from Russia, the Lord eventually gave me a position as a Buyer at a company that printed lottery tickets (Jonah 1:1). After several rounds of surviving layoffs and employee cutbacks, I again resigned so that me and my new family could move to Charlotte to complete my seminary degree (2007). When graduation from RTS yielded no direction and no open positions (it was the disastrous year of 2008), the Lord opened up a door at Wikoff Color Corporation, where I stayed till the end of my career in January of 2020. My career reveals no success and no happiness. I disliked virtually every position that I held and was unsuccessful at them all. I never grossed more than $65K in any calendar year and frequently made a lot less. There were many times of unemployment and I twice resigned from my job to pursue a Kingdom opportunity, which meant that during my working “career,” I spent six full years engaged in or recovering from those two resignations. I began my work lifetime as a degreed engineer who had turned down offers at Exxon, Harris Corporation, and a third company to work at IBM, then the most admired company in the world. Thirty-eight years later, I finished my work lifetime as a “Purchasing Manager” at Wikoff Color, a dying ink company in Fort Mill, SC, and very possibly the worst run company in the world. The Lord had ordained that I went from best to worst in my working career!

Nevertheless, despite my personal failures in my working career, the Lord has also ordained that Lisa and I are basically financially independent at this stage in our life. We are “amply supplied” (Phil. 4:18). What this means is that I can devote my time to my discipleship activities and my writing projects. The Lord has given me so many opportunities to pour out my life for others and has given me the desires of my heart (Psalm 37:4). What an amazing God! The things impossible for people are possible for God (Luke 18:27).

All of these thoughts were flooding my brain as I walked past the college campus with the result that I was almost giddy with joy. As I praised the Lord for all that He had done, I offered up a prayer and asked that He would make me more useful. “Lord, glorify Yourself by making me more useful to You.” And so I walked on and crossed Main Street and headed for home.

As I strolled down the sidewalk, I was glancing to my left at the houses and at any people I might see in them. One house stood on a hill above the sidewalk and on the front porch of the house there sat a middle-aged lady. Because of the porch rail, I could only see from her shoulders upward, but that was enough for me to notice that her head was bent forward as if she was reading or possibly writing. I walked a few paces past the house, then stopped and looked back, for it occurred to me that she might be reading her Bible or journaling and, if she was doing that, then maybe I could encourage her. So I turned back and walked to where I was just below the porch and called to her.

“Excuse me, but are you reading or journaling or what?”

“I am actually doing both.” “What are you reading?” “Well, actually I am reading my Bible.” “Oh, that’s great! Where in the Bible are you reading?” “I am reading Ezekiel.” “Wow! I love Ezekiel! I am reading in Ezekiel now, too. Where are you in Ezekiel?” “I am reading in chapter 34 where the Lord tells how He will shepherd His people.”

“That is really good. I especially love Ezekiel 33. Do you remember verses 1-9 of chapter 33 where the prophet talks about the watchman? Do you know who the watchman is?”

“No, who is the watchman?”

“The watchman is you and me. We are the watchmen. Do you know why? We are the watchman because there is a sword coming upon the land and we need to warn the people that the sword is coming and they must escape. So, we must warn them of the coming sword of judgment. Well, enjoy your reading.” And with that I waved my hand and continued my walk.

Then it hit me. The Lord had answered my prayer for usefulness! Not five minutes before I had asked Him to make me more useful and He had answered my request by putting that woman on the porch and then testing me to see if I would take the opportunity to actually be useful. He was asking me if I was I alert to His answer to my prayer. Was I willing to be useful? Praise God, He not only tested me, but He also allowed me to pass the test. I had prayed to be more useful and, five minutes later, He had allowed me to be useful. I had encouraged my sister in Christ and had (possibly) spurred her on to love and good deeds. I had helped her see more from Ezekiel than she probably had seen before. I had been useful! Praise the Lord!

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 8/2/2023                     #665

The whole creation groans and suffers (Romans 8:22)

INTRODUCTION. A post considering the decay and lawlessness of the world and how the disciple of Jesus can ignore the noise of wickedness in the world and instead keep his eyes fixed on his own personal mission and calling.

“The whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now” (Romans 8:22). This verse shouts to us the reality that, though God created a “very good” world (Genesis 1:31), sin, introduced by the rebellion of Adam in the Garden, has ruined “the whole creation” and that same sin is now bringing about the gradual but inevitable and irresistible disintegration of the created order.

Even the most furious and persistent efforts of man, the most noble and well-intentioned, eventually (or perhaps suddenly) fall victim to the encroaching chaos. It is as if we are desperately building castles in the sand, knowing that soon the tide will bring the waves to wash over our moats and collapse our handiwork. Soon there will be nothing left except a fading elevated hill of sand on the beach.

Science knows this irresistible journey to disorder as entropy and has captured the essence of the Fall in the Second Law of Thermodynamics: “As one goes forward in time, the net entropy (degree of disorder) of any closed system will always increase.” What this means is that “everything put together sooner or later falls apart” (Paul Simon). According to the laws of our physical universe (which is a “closed system”), everything is moving inevitably toward disorder.

The Word of God, the source of all truth, uses other words to communicate this same idea. “The wages of sin is death.” “The whole creation groans and suffers.” “The day you (sin) eat of it, you shall surely die.” “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity!” “Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men.” “It is appointed unto man once to die and after this, the judgment.” The message is clear: When Adam sinned, the whole creation began an irreversible and irresistible descent into chaos and destruction. Not only that, but as man’s sin steadily increases in the world, and increases at an increasing rate, the extent (breadth) and the magnitude (depth) of the ruin will likewise increase. In short, sin is like a fast spreading cancer or like a voracious nest of termites eating away at the creation, and the damage is accelerating. But we know that this corruption and disintegration cannot go on forever. Instead, this increasing sin and evil and disorder will finally result in full destruction and collapse. History is linear, and the creation is hurtling toward a cataclysmic conclusion. Soon, as sin increases, Jesus Christ will return and claim His bride the church, and will judge the earth, and then the end will come.

But the question that I must answer is, “In light of this ever-increasing sin and evil and chaos in the world, what am I, as a disciple of Jesus, to do on a daily basis?” In other words, as the world becomes increasingly dark and as the corruption and wickedness in the world become ever more obvious and repugnant and threatening, how does the Bible call me to live? For it is certainly true that the disciple of Jesus experiences the corruption of this world along with everyone else. In Romans, Paul says, “And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of the body” (8:23). And so, we groan as we experience the sadness of a world determined to rebel against the Lord.

But while we groan as a natural consequence of our sadness and sense of loss associated with sin, as disciples of Jesus we must not dwell there. In fact, our groaning because of the ambient sin in the world must become for us mere background noise, a part of the context of life in a fallen world, like the temperature outside or the phase of the moon. The degree of sin and the wickedness of the sin committed will grow steadily worse, but that must not distract us from our purpose and our mission. “Evil men and imposters will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Tim. 3:13), but we must continue to fix our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2) and persevere in the mission that He has given us, both as His body the church and as individual disciples “working out our salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12).

A SUGGESTED STRATEGY

So, as I observe the world unraveling and the wickedness and evil growing deeper and wider, the best strategy for me personally is to ignore the details of our demise and to pay little attention even to the broader collapse and, instead, to focus my attention on my purpose and focus on the tasks and the works that the Lord has given me to do (Eph. 2:10). To accomplish this, my mind strives to find answers to “missional questions.” What does it mean for me to be Jesus’ witness (Acts 1:8) on a daily basis? How can I love my wife as Christ loved the church (Eph. 5:25)? How can I be a better sower of the gospel (Matt. 13:2-8)? How do I put to death immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (Col. 3:5)? How can I repent of my anger and replace it with peace, patience, kindness, and gentleness (Gal. 5:22-23)? What is my “great work” (Neh. 6:3) and how can I pour my energies into that? What does it mean to “make the most of the time” (Ephesians 5:16)? How can I be a better ambassador for Christ (2 Cor. 5:20) and a better fisher of men (Matt. 4:19)? There are so many ways that I can grow as a disciple of Jesus and be more useful to the Kingdom that I find there is no time to keep tabs on our rapidly decaying world.

Jesus said, “Let the dead bury their own dead” (Luke 9:60). In other words, don’t waste a lot of time worrying about the wicked (Psalm 37:1-2; Psalm 73). The world is certainly going to continue to plunge into chaos and disorder and lawlessness. The Bible has declared this as truth. So accept this truth and “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14).

SDG                 rmb                 8/15/2022                   #558

“What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:9, 13 – Part 1)

INTRODUCTION. These next few posts explore the vital importance of Mission for sustaining us and helping us maintain our zeal for life. In this Bible story, Elijah runs from Jezebel (1 Kings 19) and runs to Horeb, the mountain of God to meet with the LORD and find out His purpose for the rest of his life.

ELIJAH’S PREVIOUS MISSION

As 1 Kings 19 opens, Elijah has experienced a great victory. The LORD had given him a mission and had appointed him as the prophet to speak to King Ahab about the wickedness of Israel. But now the mission regarding the drought was over. Fire had come down from heaven and had consumed the soaking wet sacrifice. The people had declared, “The LORD, He is God!” and the prophets of Baal had been slain at the Kishon. Then a cloud as small as a man’s hand (1 Kings 18:44) had grown into an entire sky black with clouds and wind, and a heavy shower had ended three and a half years of drought. The LORD has accomplished a great work through His prophet and Elijah stood briefly on a spiritual mountaintop.

Now things have changed dramatically. Jezebel has issued her threats (19:2) and our hero “was afraid and arose and ran for his life” (19:3). He heads south as fast as he can, eventually sitting down alone under a juniper tree. Then the Scripture says:

and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.” – 1 Kings 19:4

Elijah is exhausted, so he slept. Twice the angel of the LORD (the pre-incarnate Christ) wakes him and gives him bread and water, so that he can go “in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God” (19:8).

THOUGHTS ON THE PASSAGE SO FAR (1 KINGS 19:1-8)

LOSS OF MISSION. In my opinion, Elijah did not run away because he was afraid of Jezebel, at least not primarily. Oh, yes, she was an evil woman and she intended harm to Elijah, but Jezebel’s threat was not the primary reason Elijah was afraid. If the prophet were merely afraid of Jezebel, he would have stopped running long before he reached “Horeb, the mountain of God.” No, Elijah was not fleeing FROM Jezebel, but he was fleeing TO God.

Why was Elijah afraid and fleeing to God? Elijah was seeking the face of the LORD to know if his life’s work was done. Elijah was afraid because he feared that his purpose in life was finished. And if the LORD was done with him, as he feared was the case, then it was time for him to die.

He was thinking, “LORD, was that it? Was that my only work for You? Have I accomplished all the work You have given me to do? Because if my work is done, then my life is done. I would rather die than languish.” So his fear was related to his loss of mission or loss of purpose. “If I have no more purpose, then I need no more life. LORD, give me a new mission or take my life and take me home.”

For at least three and a half years, Elijah had experienced the joy of being on a mission for the LORD and with the LORD. Every day when he arose from sleep, he was engaged, even consumed by the work the LORD had given him. He was God’s chosen prophet to declare to Ahab and Jezebel their wickedness, to call them to repentance, and to warn them of the coming judgment. Every moment was meaningful. The mission was accomplished on Carmel as the LORD glorified Himself, and then came the letdown. “What is my mission now?” When Jezebel threatened Elijah with death, he thought it might be God’s signal that his life’swork was done.

Was God done with Elijah? Were his fears well-founded?

THE ANGEL OF THE LORD. We see the LORD’s compassion on his frightened prophet as he sleeps under the juniper tree. The angel of the LORD Himself comes to Elijah twice, feeding him a bread cake from heaven (John 6:35, 50) and giving him some of the living water (John 4:14). Notice also that the angel of the LORD tells Elijah that there is still a journey for him to complete (“the journey is too great for you” – 19:7),  thus giving him a strong hint that there is yet work for him to do.

FORTY DAYS AND FORTY NIGHTS. This phrase is significant because it indicates that Elijah was going to Horeb, the mountain of God, to seek the LORD with extended fasting.

I have usually read this expression in this passage as meaning how long Elijah traveled, but he did not need forty days and forty nights to travel from Beersheba to Horeb, a distance of less than two hundred miles.

Rather, when the expression “forty days and forty nights” appears in the Scripture, (with the exception of Genesis 7:4, 12), it describes times when Bible heroes spent a long time in fasting and prayer. (Moses in Exodus 24:28; 34:28 when he was on Sinai (Horeb) with the LORD receiving the Law. Jesus in Matthew 4:2 during His temptation in the wilderness.) Thus the expression here in 1 Kings 19:8 is describing Elijah coming to Horeb to seek the LORD with extraordinary fasting.

ELIJAH AND THE LORD AT HOREB

When Elijah arrived at his destination, he found “a cave and lodged there” (19:9). The word of the LORD came to him,

“What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Why did the LORD ask this question of Elijah? First, although the LORD perfectly knows all things, He wanted Elijah to verbalize the reason he had come to Horeb. It was like the perfect physician asking the patient the reason for his visit. Or like Jesus asking blind Bartimaeus. “What do you want Me to do for you?” (Mark 10:51) Or again, like Jesus asking the man at the pool of Bethesda if he wanted to get well (John 5:6). The LORD’s question forced Elijah to think about the answer. “Yeah, why am I here?”

ZEALOUS FOR THE LORD

Elijah answers, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts” (19:10). As I consider this reply, I hear Elijah telling the LORD that he has been zealous and he is still zealous, but he needs to know if the LORD still has work for him to do. “LORD, I am zealous and I am willing, but I need to hear from You if my work is done. O, LORD, do You have another assignment for me?”

NEXT POST. In my next post, I will continue to explore this story of Elijah at Horeb and will see how the LORD faithfully sends the prophet out for another mission. We will also learn how Elijah’s search for a mission has applications for us, especially during times of transition in our lives. Stay tuned.

SDG                 rmb                 5/10/2022                   #527

Psalm 116:2 – Why every believer prays (Part 2)

INTRODUCTION. One of several posts on Psalm 116:1-4. These four verses of this psalm tell why every believer prays and how every believer was rescued. (see Post #516, 4/14/2022)

2 Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live. – Psalm 116:2

Psalm 116 is an outpouring of thanks to the LORD for His amazing grace extended toward the psalmist. The LORD has taken all the initiative in rescuing this helpless sinner from his sin and from the cords of death and has dealt bountifully with him and has placed in his hand the cup of salvation. The psalm, then, is thanksgiving for the goodness of the LORD. In this post we will be meditating on the second verse. .

116:2 CALLING ON THE LORD AS LONG AS I LIVE

116:2a. – “Because He has inclined His ear to me”

What does it mean that “the LORD has inclined His ear to me?” It means He continually hears my prayers. Unlike man, the LORD never slumbers or sleeps. Psalm 121:4 – “Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.” Once He has inclined His ear to me, He is always attentive to my cry. Because He has inclined His ear to me, He does not become irritated at my persistent cries, but patiently listens to my voice as a father does to his beloved child. Psalm 103:13 – “Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.” In the midst of the cacophony of the noise of the world, the LORD distinctly hears my voice and inclines His ear to my cry.

In the book of Esther, King Ahasuerus inclined the golden scepter to Queen Esther (Esther 5:2) because she had found favor in his sight. In the same way, the LORD has inclined His ear to His child because we have found favor in His sight.

After granting Esther favor, King Ahasuerus then listened carefully to her request. “What is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be given to you” (5:3). Just so, after granting me favor, the LORD listens carefully to my voice so that He can answer my request. “What do you want Me to do for you?” (Matt. 20:32). “Ask and you shall receive” (Matt. 7:7).

The LORD whom I love has graciously inclined His ear to me. What shall I do in response?

116:2b. – “Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live.”

The sovereign LORD of the universe has inclined His ear to me and has given me free access into His presence. I have the opportunity to delight myself in the LORD (Psalm 37:4). “In Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand are pleasures forever” (Psalm 16:11). All of these have been made available to me and are mine for the asking. “The LORD has heard my supplication. The LORD receives my prayer” (Psalm 6:9). He is with me always, even to the end of the age (Matt. 28:20). With all this available to me, how will I respond?

“Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live.”

As long as I draw breath, I shall call upon the LORD!

When times are good, I will call upon Him with prayers of thanksgiving, thanking Him for giving me seasons of peace and rest. When times are difficult, I will call upon Him with prayers of thanksgiving, thanking Him for His presence and His promises of heaven, and thanking Him for giving me His Spirit who gives me strength to persevere and for giving me His Word, which reminds me of the LORD’s sovereign power over all things.

I will call upon Him when I grow old and feeble and gray, when my hands shake and my memory has faded, and I will give Him praise for having sustained me thus far.

I will call upon Him at all times, asking Him to make me more useful to the Master and asking Him to continue to purify me with hyssop and to remove any wicked way from me. I will call upon Him for a cleaner heart and a steadfast spirit. I will call upon Him to grant me the ability to love people well and to forgive my enemies and to let my speech be seasoned with salt and to let no unwholesome word proceed from my mouth, but only such as is good for edification according to the need of the moment so that it will give grace to those who hear.

I will call upon the LORD as long as I live because there is no greater delight than to fellowship with the LORD of the universe.

Yes, “I shall call upon Him as long as I live.”

My next post on Psalm 116 will consider 116:3 and the condition from which the LORD delivered us. SDG                 rmb                 4/15/2022                   #517

Psalm 116:1 – Why every believer prays (Part 1)

INTRODUCTION. The first of several posts on Psalm 116:1-4. These four verses of this psalm tell why every believer prays and how every believer was rescued.

1 I love the Lord, because He hears
My voice and my supplications. – Psalm 116:1

Psalm 116 is an outpouring of thanks to the LORD for His amazing grace extended toward the psalmist. The LORD has taken all the initiative in rescuing this helpless sinner from his sin and from the cords of death and has dealt bountifully with him and has placed in his hand the cup of salvation. The psalm, then, is thanksgiving for the goodness of the LORD. In this post we will be meditating on the first verse.

116:1 THE AMAZEMENT AND THE PEACE OF THE ONE WHO LOVES THE LORD

116:1a. – “I love the LORD.”

First, this love for the LORD is required to be a believer. Every believer loves the LORD and only believers love the LORD. Every believer cries out with the psalmist in an unashamed shout, “I love the LORD.” This is the deepest possible love of emotion and passion, a love of heart, soul, mind, and strength. This is the believer’s love for the LORD.

But second, “I love the LORD” defines the believer. There are many ways to describe a Christian. Born-again. Saved. Converted. Repented. Trusted in Christ. And, of course, there are others. But “I love the LORD” is the most unambiguous. This expression clears away all the mists and all the doubts. A believer is best defined as one who loves the LORD.

Third, “I love the LORD” demolishes any lukewarm counterfeits. The question that blows away the smoke and breaks the mirrors is the question, “Do you love Jesus?” Don’t tell me of your church attendance or of your giving to the church, of when you “prayed the prayer” or of how religious your grandmother was. Don’t impress me with your good deeds done for the church or with how you feel about Christmas. The question on the table is, “Do you love Jesus?” And, if you claim to love Jesus, how do you demonstrate that in your life? The life that overflows with love for Jesus will broadcast that love to others and will serve as an ongoing testimony to Jesus. This is what the psalmist expresses when he say, “I love the LORD.”

Before I knew Christ, I could love no one, for all I had was the twisted, selfish love of self. But now my heart overflows to the point of bursting with my love for the Lord, and that love for the LORD pours out in my love for others. But this love for others is strictly secondary for the psalmist in this psalm. This is a love-psalm from the disciple to the LORD. If this phrase were the entire psalm, the psalm would be complete. These four words express a complete thought and contain enough truth to fill entire books. How is it that the LORD would set His affections on this wretched man (Luke 5:8) and would make it possible for me to love Him (1 John 4:10, 19) “with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind (Matthew 22:37). “I love the LORD!” I long to shout it from the housetops. The Holy One of Israel is my King!

Next the psalmist adds the reason He loves the LORD.

116:1b. – “because He hears my voice and my supplications.”

How can it be that the LORD of the universe bends down from His holy throne to hear the pathetic cries of His feeble servant? Why would one so great pay any regard to one of such immense insignificance? How can we explain such grace? Consider these verses.

The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
And His ears are open to their cry. – Psalm 34:15

He (the LORD) heard my voice out of His temple,
And my cry for help before Him came into His ears. – Psalm 18:6

How can these things be? The answer is that God hears my voice and my supplications because, before time began in eternity past, He chose me in Christ to be His adopted child (Eph. 1:4-5) and because the Father sent the Son into the world to be the propitiation for my sins (1 John 4:10), and because God, by the power of His Holy Spirit, at a point in time, made me alive together with Christ (Eph. 2:4-6) and He made me His child (John 1:12); God hears my voice, I say, because I am His child.

My next post (on Psalm 116) will consider Psalm 116:2 and what the believer does in response to the amazing news that the LORD hears my voice and supplications.

SDG                 rmb                 4/14/2022                   #516

Imprecatory psalms – A definition, then a look at Psalm 69

INTRODUCTION. In post #500 on March 8, I had begun a series of articles discussing the so-called “imprecatory psalms” in the Bible. There are a number of these passages in the psalms, and their purpose seems to be to ask the Lord to destroy the psalmist’s enemies. This post will consider specific imprecatory psalms and think about how the believer is to apply these passages.

In the last post about this topic, we had taken time to get the proper mindset for these imprecatory passages. While the Bible does give us these psalms as a means of calling upon the Lord for justice, the calling down of God’s curses and God’s vengeance upon someone is an exceptional act. This is done rarely in cases of unusual cruelty or when the injustice is blatant and heinous. A believer is usually to endure the evil in the world and to persevere through the evil using the ordinary means given to us in the Scriptures. So, the believer is not to call down heaven’s curses and woes on every personal enemy at the first sign of conflict but is rather to bear with the conflict and the difficulty while pressing on in obedience. There comes a time, however, when the injustice is too evil merely to be endured. The time has come for God to stop the evil and to stop the evildoer. “Rise up, O Judge of the earth. Render recompense to the proud” (Psalm 94:2). This is when the believer calls upon the Lord and imprecates the wicked.

DEFINITION

We need to establish a definition for what we mean by “imprecatory.” The Webster’s Dictionary definition for “imprecate” is “to call down evil upon” or “to curse.” When we are referring to imprecatory psalms (verses, really) in the Bible, we mean “when the believer calls upon God to render punishment on perpetrators of evil, cruelty, or destruction.” The evildoer’s crimes and cruelty can no longer go unpunished, but the one committing these heinous, sinful acts is too powerful to be restrained by human means. Therefore, the believer cries out to the Lord, the One who is all-powerful, to observe the shocking injustice and to stop or to destroy or to punish the wicked one.

THE IMPRECATORY PASSAGES

We have talked about these imprecatory passages long enough, and now it is time to take a look at some of them. As we look at these, I want to consider the context of the verses; that is, what prompts the psalmist’s cry to the Lord, as well as the content of the cry.

Two passages stand out as the most obvious of imprecatory psalms, Psalm 69 and 109.

Psalm 69:22-28

22 May their table before them become a snare;
And when they are in peace, may it become a trap.
23 May their eyes grow dim so that they cannot see,
And make their loins shake continually.
24 Pour out Your indignation on them,
And may Your burning anger overtake them.
25 May their camp be desolate;
May none dwell in their tents.
26 For they have persecuted him whom You Yourself have smitten,
And they tell of the pain of those whom You have wounded.
27 Add iniquity to their iniquity,
And may they not come into Your righteousness.
28 May they be blotted out of the book of life
And may they not be recorded with the righteous.

CONTEXT. In this psalm of David, the author is lamenting his oppression by his enemies. The literal context, then, is one of distress from attack and affliction by David’s enemies, and David is pouring out his complaint before the Lord and asking for His intercession.

But this psalm is much deeper than that. This is an overtly Messianic psalm and is about the suffering of the Lord Jesus during His passion in Gethsemane and then His agony on the cross. The foreshadows of Calvary are obvious, for in this psalm we can hear the groans of our Savior as He prepared to bear the wrath of God on our behalf. The psalmist prophetically laments the greatest injustice in human history as by Jesus’ wounds we are healed.  

But there is even more than that because this psalm is also about the persecuted church that, as the body of Christ, suffers the world’s hatred as the witnesses of Christ on the earth. Faithful believers are “hated without cause” (69:4; John 15:25). They are reproached for Jesus’ sake (“reproach” – 69:7, 9, 10, 19, 20). Dishonor, pain, shame, distress, and affliction (“afflicted”) are the words of the psalmist, again picturing the suffering church as they endure the reviling of the world. So, the context of the psalm is suffering, and the lamentations of Christ and then of His church as they fill up His sufferings (Colossians 1:24).

Although these sufferings are God-ordained, they are, nevertheless, evil and deserve to be punished by God. These are wicked acts of injustice, and they demand a just recompense. Therefore, the psalmist calls on the LORD to act and to punish the wicked NOW.

CONTENT. David calls on the LORD to bring specific curses on these wicked men. First, he asks for physical punishment. Let their food be poison and let all peace be taken from them (22). Cause them to go blind and make their legs lose their strength and shake (23). “God, pour out Your indignation and anger upon them for their evil (24).” Let there be strife in their house and may they have no children (25). In the midst of the imprecation, the psalmist speaks explicitly of the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 (~300 years before Isaiah wrote his prophecy) and reminds the LORD of the crimes of the wicked (26). The curses conclude with spiritual, condemnatory judgments upon these evil men. May their iniquities be multiplied and never forgiven (27) and may they be blotted out of the book of life (Revelation 3:5; 13:8; 20:15) so that they will never be recorded as righteous. The effect of David’s imprecation is to ask the LORD to condemn these evil men to eternal punishment.

APPLICATION. The psalms are given to us as poetic theology and describe for the believer how they can speak to and pray to their God. How, then, is the believer to apply this psalm? It seems to me that the nature of Psalm 69 limits its application to those situations where the believer, as a member of the body of Christ, is suffering or enduring affliction because they are a follower of Jesus. In other words, the injustice being experienced comes only because a person identifies with Jesus. (See Matt. 5:10-12; 10:16-22; 24:9; John 15:18-21; 1 Pet. 4:12-14, 16, 19.) So, the believer would turn to this psalm when they are being persecuted for their faith in Jesus. Then the believer would cry out with the psalmist for justice from the Lord. Persecution of the righteous is still wrong, and it is still appropriate to cry out to the Lord that He would bring justice to His people and recompence to the evildoer.

But also, the suffering believer would pray through this psalm for perseverance through the suffering, that he would endure as his Savior endured His hour of suffering. The believer would remember that the Lord has ordained all things and that his attitude should be, “Not my will, but Your will be done,” whatever that will is.

Psalm 69 would encourage the believer that part of the calling to Jesus is a call to suffer for His name (Acts 5:41; Phil. 1:29-30). The psalm, then, reminds the believer of the privilege it is to suffer for Jesus’ name and, therefore, to suffer well, to suffer as a Christian should suffer.

ONE QUESTION. One of the issues with these imprecatory psalms, these passages that invoke cursing upon the evildoer, is that they seem to conflict with specific teaching in the New Testament about how the believer is to view their enemies. This is the topic that I want to address in the next post.

SDG                 rmb                 3/14/2022                   #502

The prominence of prayer in the new covenant – Part 2

INTRODUCTION. The new covenant, which was announced in Jeremiah 31:31-34, inaugurated by the Lord Jesus on the night that He was betrayed, and established by Jesus’ death on the cross, differed dramatically from the old covenant, which had been in effect since the Fall and which the LORD formalized when He gave the Law on Sinai. The old covenant was a covenant of works whose purpose was to bring the awareness of personal sin (Romans 3:20) and of sin’s corresponding condemnation (Romans 5:16a), while the new covenant brings with it forgiveness of sin (Ephesians 1:7) and imputed righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21).

Not only do these two covenants differ in their purposes, but they also differ dramatically in the day-to-day practices of each covenant. One of the most apparent ways that the new covenant differs from the old is in the area of prayer.

Post #483 (January 13, 2022) examined prayer under the old covenant, while this post (#484) examines prayer in the new covenant.

First, we examined prayer under the old covenant and saw that prayer was rare because few people knew the LORD.

AND IN THE NEW COVENANT?

The previous comments (Post #483) were focused on the old covenant. As we turn to the new covenant, we ask the question, “Has anything changed?” Well, some things have not changed. In the new covenant, as under the old, it is still true that those who know the Lord, pray to the Lord, and those who do not know the Lord do not. This is an immense truth. In fact, this can serve as a diagnostic tool to determine spiritual health and even to assess whether or not someone is a genuine follower of Jesus. A feeble or nonexistent prayer life may very well indicate a nonexistent relationship with Jesus Christ, even for a person who claims to be a Christian, even for a person who regularly goes to a church. But in the new covenant, this truth has not changed: “Those who know the Lord, pray to the Lord, and those who do not know the Lord do not.”

But with the coming of the Lord Jesus and the new covenant, everything else related to prayer has changed, and changed dramatically. In the new covenant, prayer becomes prominent, even primary in the life of the individual believer and in the life of the church. One of the major features of Jesus’ earthly ministry was His time spent in prayer. Since Jesus prayed, all His disciples should pray. In fact, on more than one occasion, the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. So, in contrast to the old covenant and the Law, there is explicit instruction on prayer in the New Testament and there are many examples of prayer. The New Testament epistles are full of prayers to guide the disciple in their own conversations with the Lord.

We also see that every believer is commanded to pray. A few examples will suffice. Paul charges every believer to “Pray without ceasing” in 1 Thess. 5:17. No comment needs to be made on that verse, does it? In Ephesians 6:19, again the apostle Paul directs his readers to “pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and petition for all the saints.” Prayer saturates the life of the new covenant believer and the worship of the new covenant church. Since the new covenant church is made up of those who know the Lord (Jeremiah 31:33), the church should be a place of prayer (Matthew 21:13). This is different from the old covenant temple, which was not a place of prayer, but a place of sacrifice.

Consider this for a moment. The Law of the old covenant loomed over the temple and demanded the blood of sacrifices to hold back the wrath of God. But in the new covenant, the final sacrifice has been offered and the wrath of God has been quenched (Romans 3:21-26; 1 Cor. 5:7). The Law’s demands have been satisfied (Romans 8:4) and the wages of sin have been fully paid (John 19:30). The believer has now been reconciled to God through the death of His Son (Romans 5:8-11) and fear of judgment has been nailed to the cross. The veil of the temple that intentionally separated sinful man from holy God has been ripped in two from top to bottom to show that God now dwells with His people; indeed, God, by His Holy Spirit, now dwells in His people! Now God’s people know Him because He indwells them (Ephesians 1:13-14). And as we stated before, those who know the Lord, pray to the Lord.

As we examine the contents of the book of Acts, we see that prayer is prominent in the early church. In Acts 1:14, the apostles are “devoting themselves to prayer.” In 2:42, they were continually devoting themselves to the prayers.” A bold prayer to God is prayed in 4:24-31 that results in the place being shaken. In Acts 6:4, the apostles select deacons so that they can “devote themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” In Acts 8:15, Peter and John come down to Samaria from Jerusalem and “prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.” There is no need to go through the entire book to see that prayer was central to every aspect of the New Testament church. And why was that so? The new covenant believer prays because he gets to pray! The believer is invited to come boldly to the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16). In Ephesians 3:12, Paul reminds all believers that “in Christ we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.” Paul is here referring to access to God through prayer, because he follows this up with, “For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father” (Eph. 3:14), as he begins another prayer. Again, prayer is the very heartbeat of the new covenant because conversation with his God is the privilege of every member of the new covenant church. Prayer is the rule, rather than to rare exception.

The new covenant believer has been invited to pray to the Lord of the universe any time he wants. Let us be those who pray intimately and often.

SDG                 rmb                 1/16/2022                   #484

The prominence of prayer in the new covenant

INTRODUCTION. The new covenant, which was announced in Jeremiah 31:31-34, inaugurated by the Lord Jesus on the night that He was betrayed, and established by Jesus’ death on the cross, was wholly different from the old covenant, which had been in effect since the Fall and which the LORD formalized when He gave the Law on Sinai. These two covenants differ in their forms and in their foundations. The old covenant was a covenant of works whose purpose was to bring the awareness of personal sin (Romans 3:20) and of sin’s corresponding condemnation (Romans 5:16a), while the new covenant brings with it forgiveness of sin (Ephesians 1:7) and imputed righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21).

Not only do these two covenants differ in their purposes, but they also differ dramatically in the day-to-day practices of each covenant. One of the most apparent ways that the new covenant differs from the old is in the area of prayer.

These next two posts will consider the practice of prayer in the old and new covenants, show how they are dramatically different, and give reasons why they are different.

First, we will examine prayer under the old covenant.

UNDER THE OLD COVENANT, PRAYER WAS RARE

The first observation is that “Under the old covenant, PRAYER WAS RARE.” Most prayer in the Old Testament was limited to the prophet or the priest or the king. When the people needed to hear from the LORD, they would usually go to a prophet or perhaps to a priest, but there is little evidence in the Old Testament that the average Hebrew prayed directly to the LORD. Also, in the Law, there was no command to pray and there was no instruction on prayer, so the typical Israelite was not expected to pray.

WHY WAS THERE LIMITED PRAYER UNDER THE OLD COVENANT?

There are reasons for this paucity of prayer under the Law, though. Under the old covenant, the LORD was perceived as distant and unapproachable. At Sinai with the giving of the Law of condemnation, the LORD had appeared in billowing smoke and blazing fire and thunder and the loud blaring of a trumpet. Then, in the temple, the LORD was behind the veil in the inner holy of holies and could be approached only once a year on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and even then, only by the high priest with the shed blood of an animal. The old covenant was dominated by the Law, and under the Law, God was a consuming fire. Men do not have the courage to approach or to pray to the consuming fire.

The result is that, for the Israelite who saw God as a God of judgment and as the God of the Law, there was no need to pray. God required obedience to the Law. That was clear. If I failed to obey the Law, there was a just recompence. The Law was black and white. So, why would I bother to pray and for what would I pray? The Law required me to perform, not to pray. And so, the people of Israel and Judah rarely prayed.

BUT THERE WERE THOSE WHO PRAYED

There were those, however, who lived during the time of the Law who prayed, even prayed fervently and frequently. In the Psalms we see David and Asaph and the sons of Korah and others pouring out their heart to the LORD in intimate, emotional prayers. These prayers are raw and powerful as the psalmist gives unhindered voice to the deepest feelings and secrets of his heart. We see the same thing when we look to the prayers of Hannah and Jacob, the prayers of Daniel and Habakkuk, the prayers of Hezekiah and Jeremiah. These prayers have passion and heat, and they display none of the fear engendered by the Law. The ones who pray to the LORD in the Old Testament pray to One whom they know intimately, whom they know to be gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. Those who pray, pray to the LORD because they know the LORD. There is certainly the fear of reverent awe, the sense of approaching One of unimaginable power and holiness and glory, but there is no fear of judgment or condemnation or retribution. The feelings of awe are consumed not by the fire of judgment but by the immensity of His everlasting love. And so, the one who prayed to the LORD as Redeemer and Savior during the old covenant did not pray from the Law, but they prayed from the love of God that had been given to them by grace.

What are we saying? Those who know the LORD, pray, and those who do not know the LORD do not. We are saying that those who know the LORD long to pour out their heart before Him in prayer. In the old covenant, those who knew the LORD as their Savior and their Redeemer, as their rock and refuge and strong tower; those who knew the LORD as their God of salvation, prayed to the LORD. And those who did not know the LORD, but had merely heard of the God of Israel, the God of Sinai, the God of the Law, these did not pray to the LORD. And, from what we read in the Old Testament, the great majority of people fell into this latter category. Since few people knew the LORD, few people prayed.

In the next post, we will take a look at prayer in the new covenant and begin to see how prayer is different between the covenants and why.

SDG                 rmb                 1/13/2022                   #483

Nothing is impossible for God (Jeremiah 32:17, 27)

We are frail. This reality becomes increasingly obvious with increasing years. We are frail and we are vulnerable, and we live in a broken world that is hostile to frailty and vulnerability.

And this feeling of weakness is intentional. Man is designed by his Creator to feel his vulnerability and his insignificance in the immensity of the universe and in the complexity of his world. There are so many ways that we can feel overwhelmed by life, that it must be given to us by design. There are a variety of threats that can plague us at any moment, unexpectedly breaking into our lives and shattering our former serenity. There can be threats to our most important relationships, threats to our livelihood, threats to our health, threats to our sense of security, threats to our need for meaning and significance. Any one of these threats can produce a situation where escape seems impossible and where there is no path forward that will not be tragic or disastrous. What are we to do in these circumstances? Is there an answer and a place to turn, or is surrendering to our vulnerability simply a consequence of being human? After all, who can do the impossible?

It is in these situations that the believer, the one who calls upon the name of the Lord, can turn to his God and cry out to Him. For what we need is a God who can do the impossible, who can come to us in our frailty and our vulnerability and rescue us. We need a Savior who is mighty to save, not only from sin, but also from the threats of this world. We need a God who has publicly declared His willingness and His ability to help those who cry out to Him. And in the Lord, we have such a God. Consider these passages of Scripture:

‘Ah Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You’ (Jeremiah 32:17).

“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?” (Jeremiah 32:27).

But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases (Psalm 115:3).

“With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew19:26).

“Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son” (Genesis 18:14).

The Lord has repeatedly and conclusively declared His power and His ability to do whatever He pleases, and He has also declared that it pleases Him to do good to His children. The Lord Jesus teaches that, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him?” (Matthew 7:11).

The Lord is certainly able to do the impossible and our faith tells us that He is willing to help us with our impossible situation.

“And there is no other God besides Me, a righteous God and a Savior; There is none except Me. Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:21-22)

Whatever you are facing now that seems humanly impossible is not impossible for God. Cry out to Him and have faith that His power demonstrated in the creation of the world and in raising Christ from the dead will also avail for you.

SDG rmb 1/7/2022 #481