Back in October of last year we explored the story of Jesus and His disciples on the Lake of Galilee in the midst of a fierce storm. This is a continuation of those lessons.

There is yet another principle that we see displayed in this story of Jesus and His disciples on the Lake of Galilee. We see the necessity of storms in the spiritual life of disciples. There were a number of lessons learned on the Lake of Galilee in the midst of this fierce storm that could not have been learned any other way.

For example, the storm reveals to the disciples their powerlessness and their need for someone to rescue them. They are weak and the storm that threatens them is strong and, in their own power they will not survive. Realizing the threat and their own powerlessness, the disciples fly to Jesus for rescue. Without the storms of life, how do we see our need to be rescued and how do we see our dependence on one much more powerful than us? For this reason God brings storms into our life so that we will never forget our weakness and will constantly look to Him for rescue and protection.

Also, the storm provided a perfect context in which Jesus could reveal His true identity and His true power. Up to this point the disciples had seen Jesus perform some pretty amazing miracles, but they still did not grasp who He actually was. And then the storm comes upon them on the lake and this seemingly ordinary man stands up in the boat and commands the wind and the waves to be hushed. If there had been no fierce storm on the lake, there would have been no occasion to realize the identity of the Stiller of the storm, but in the storm, Jesus displays His power and glory when He shows He is God.

If there are only blue skies and if all the rains are gentle and refreshing and if all the seas are calm and all the barns are full of grain and if everything is peaceful and prosperous (etc., etc.), how does God reveal to us that He is mighty to save? If all our problems have human solutions, how does God demonstrate He is a great deliverer?

And so God allows and even brings storms into our lives so that:

• We will call out for help to the great Stiller of the storms;
• We will be reminded of the identity of the God who can still the storms;
• When He delivers us, we will have another testimony to His faithfulness and to the fact that “the eye of the Lord is toward the righteous and His ear is open to their cry.”

So when there are storms in your life, call out to the one who is able to still any storm, realizing that though we are often powerless, He is mighty to save.  SDG    rmb   1/15/2017

In meditating about the first three verses of Psalm 14, I have been struck by how much these verses teach us about the sinfulness of man and about how justly he deserves judgment from the Lord.

These verses teach us about the willfulness of unbelief. The fool (‘nabal’ in Hebrew, which can also be translated ‘godless one’) has defiantly rejected the one true God in a willful act of rebellion. That is, the fool is not neutral or passive in this situation. A fool is not a fool because he is ignorant, but, in the Hebrew mind, a fool was a fool because he was not obedient to the LORD. The psalm reads, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’“ Notice that he has said “in his heart.” For the Hebrew, the heart was where the will and the emotions dwelt. So out of his wicked heart, the fool’s will and emotions rebel against the authority of the LORD and the mouth then shouts its godless defiance: “There is no God!” But again this is not the shout of ignorance, but is the defiant rebellion of a sinner. The fool’s unbelief is first willful.

Next the psalm instructs us about the consequences of unbelief. “They are corrupt; they have committed abominable deeds; there is no one who does good.” When a person choose to reject God, they necessarily discard all moral restraint in the same moment. As a result, they become corrupt in their mind and heart and then inevitably become corrupt in their behavior. Having abandoned the only authority of moral right and wrong, the godless one “commits abominable deeds” with apparent impunity. Right and wrong are removed and there is nothing that prevents the most heinous wickedness. These are the consequences of unbelief.

Thirdly, this psalm teaches is there is a motivation for unbelief. What I mean is that the fool enjoys the personal benefits of his unbelief and so, to keep receiving those benefits, the fool is motivated to reject God and refuse His rule and reign. By “benefits” I am referring to the rewards of sin which accrue to the fool from his iniquity. Having tasted the pleasures of sin, the fool craves more and he knows that bowing the knee to the LORD in obedience will put an abrupt stop to his pleasure from sin. Therefore, the fool does not “seek after God (14:2),” for this would threaten his sin. “They have all turned aside (14:3),” and have turned away from the path of righteousness, for there is no pleasures of sin on the highway of holiness. So the fool is motivated to remain in his unbelief to indulge in the wicked pleasures of sin.

And so the word of God presents us with man, the planet’s great, dominant biped. Created to be God’s vice regent and to spread the glory of God throughout the earth, because of sin he has been rendered a fool who commits abominable deeds and who, in his natural, fallen state, is unable to do good. The Bible is remarkably consistent in its description of man after the Fall. This short paragraph from a psalm echoes what the Scripture teaches throughout its pages, that man is morally ruined and has turned aside from God to pursue his sin. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).” In fact, these three verse from Psalm 14 are quoted by Paul in his epistle to the Romans as he summarizes his prosecution of mankind (3:10-12) and declares “There is none righteous.” As we have seen from this short study, man is in his unbelief by willful choice and he remains in his sin because the natural man loves his sin.

It is from this miserable state that all mankind must be rescued if men and women are ever to stand before the Holy One, God the Almighty. But how could this ever take place? Where is the Champion, the Rescuer, the Redeemer, the Savior who has the power to change this situation and who, having the power, is willing to pull men and women from the pit of destruction?

But this is exactly how the Bible describes Jesus. The gospel of Jesus Christ declares that Jesus is mighty to save and that, if a man or a woman will confess their sins and will repent of them and will forsake their love of sin and will bow the knee to Jesus Christ as Lord and will trust in Jesus, then the Lord Jesus will save them and will change them. The Lord Jesus left heaven and came to earth to die on the cross to take away sin, so that whoever believes in Him would have eternal life. The fool has said in his heart that there is no God, but through faith in Jesus Christ, even the fool can be saved and can go to heaven.                     SDG            rmb     1/10/2017

Right now, the entire southeast United States is experiencing an extreme drought with places like north Georgia having been without any rain at all for almost three months. I live in North Carolina where we are seeing forest fires in the western part of the state. I have lived in or near western North Carolina for more than 50 years and have never heard about a single forest fire until this year. For reasons that I will explain in this series of blogs, I believe that the drought is a judgment from God because of the sins and disobedience of this nation, and I want to urge all believers to pray and ask the Lord to be merciful and to send rain on the parched ground of the south.

So before I begin this study on drought and on how to pray for rain, I appeal to all my brothers and sisters in Christ, and especially those in the southeast United States, to pray using 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 that the Lord would hear from heaven, would forgive our sin and would send rain on our land.

How Adam’s sin has affected the earth and has given us drought – The Fall

In the Garden of Eden, the LORD God provided everything that Adam and Eve needed to flourish. Everything was given in abundance and there was no lack of anything. This was a consequence of what may be called “the Adamic covenant” or “the Adamic probation.” God had promised the first man Adam that He would provide everything he needed, but this promised provision was conditioned on Adam’s obedience. When man rebelled and sinned against the LORD God by eating the forbidden fruit, the arrangement between God and man changed. Instead of providing all that the man needed, the earth was cursed (Genesis 3:17-19) and, from that point on, anything that man received from the earth was solely the result of God’s gracious provision. In fact, from the point of the Fall onward, the earth became a means of expressing the LORD God’s favor or, more evidently, God’s judgment. In this present study, we will see that God will withhold rain from the earth as an expression of His judgment on a people or on a nation. The point is that, because of his sin, man has forfeited God’s initial covenant and thus has no legitimate claim on any of God’s blessings which were promised to him in the beginning. After the Fall, all mankind in all places on the face of the earth is dependent on God’s grace for whatever blessings He gives.

The implication of this brief look at this aspect of redemptive history is that God is perfectly justified in withholding His rain from a geographic region when the people’s sin and rebellion has exceeded God’s grace. What we will see in this study is that there are several places in the Old Testament (in the Law, in the history of Israel and in the prophets) where the LORD warns that He will withhold His rain from disobedient Israel, and there is nothing in the contexts of these Old Testament warnings that would suggest they have been abrogated.

To sum up, here is what we have learned from this study so far.

• In Adam’s sin, man has forfeited his right to God’s blessings as a promise and now receives those blessings solely as a result of God’s grace. Thus rain is now a result of God’s common grace.
• In the Old Testament, the LORD warned that He would shut up the heavens and send no rain if the people did not obey Him and did not observe the LORD’s commandments and statutes (references verses will be given later)
• There is nothing in the context of these Old Testament warnings that would indicate they are no longer in effect today, so we can assume that God’s threatening about withholding rain as judgment for sin still holds.
• MY CONCLUSION is that our sin and rebellion in the USA has exceeded the LORD’s patience extended to us in His common grace and, as a result, God is judging us by withholding rain. Our disobedience has led to drought

The next blog will discuss the Scriptures which support the statements that I have made in this blog and will cover many of the verses which present the instances when God warned of the consequences of disobedience or tell of His withholding rain.

There will also be a blog on how to pray for rain biblically so that the LORD will hear our prayers, including how to prepare our heart as we present our requests to God.

In the meantime . . .

“If I, the LORD, shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, and My people, who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chron. 7:13-14

SDG      rmb      11/23/2016

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. (Matthew 5:4)”

So far, we have explored two ways of considering this verse to understand mourning. First we considered the mourning over sin that begins the new life in Christ, acknowledging that this is certainly the primary understanding of this passage. Second, we considered the mourning that sometimes comes to the believer as they encounter the pervasive evil of this world. While we are called to persevere and even to overcome the wickedness and the evil of this world (Romans 12:21), there are times when we mourn this burden and lament the ravages of sin (Mark 9:19) that have so stained the world.

Now I want to briefly consider a third type of mourning, which is the mourning that comes to believers as they encounter the physical death of those whom they love. I say “consider” for this feeling of sorrow at the death of a loved one is a profound part of human experience, but I say “briefly” for the believer should respond to life’s sorrows differently than those who are of the world. In fact, if we are far along the path of sanctification, we may even think that there should be only celebration: another saint has entered heaven and has won the victory that Christ purchased for them. In his direct and challenging style, J C Ryle urges believers to see the death of a believing loved one in this way:

“Are you one who is mourning over a departed believer? Then take comfort from this Scripture (Luke 23:39-43 the thief on the cross with Jesus). See how your beloved ones are in the best of hands. They cannot be better off. They never were so well in their lives as they are now. They are with Jesus, whom their souls loved on earth. Oh, cease from your selfish mourning! Rejoice rather that they are freed from trouble and have entered into rest.”       “Christ’s Greatest Trophy” in Holiness by J C Ryle

But we also see in the Bible that God in His word acknowledges the feelings of sorrow and the subsequent mourning that come to humans, even believing humans, when they encounter death. Thus the healthy response is to balance mourning with the trust and joy that are appropriate to believers when death is encountered.

What does the Bible have to say about this mourning? First, it is important to remember that Jesus Christ Himself wept at Lazarus’ tomb (John 11:35). This is profound, for in this act of sorrow and mourning, Jesus sanctioned mourning. If the Son of God wept at the event of a person’s death, then it is okay if we mourn at the death of one of our loved ones. I do not know the full meaning of Jesus’ tears, but I do know that He wept, and that is good enough.

Next, it is also significant that Jesus gave His apostles instructions about what to do when He died in Jerusalem (John 16:6, 20, 22) and His instructions included their sorrow over His death. At no time does Jesus correct or rebuke this sorrow, again indicating that it is good and right to mourn and lament the loss of a loved one.

In at least two places Paul makes clear that sorrow and mourning are appropriate and normal for all people, even believers, when they encounter death. In 1 Thessalonians 4:13, the apostle says that believers will grieve when their friends have “fallen asleep,” but that they should do so as people who have a sure hope. Grieving while believing is the pattern for followers of Christ. In Philippians 2:27, Paul praises God that He spared Epaphroditus from dying and thus delivered Paul from “sorrow upon sorrow.” Paul would certainly have mourned if his good friend and co-laborer in the gospel, Epaphroditus, had died of his sickness, but God was merciful and spared the man for ongoing gospel service.

Finally few believers are sanctified to the point of having no fear of death and of having no doubts about heaven and hell, but the Bible allows for disciples who still need to grow. In other words, God is gracious and compassionate toward those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, even if there are still lapses in their trust. So the Bible allows the believer to be human and express their mourning in appropriate ways, but the Bible also insists that we grasp tightly to the promises of God and continue to trust the Lord with all our heart and might.

What we have seen is that, by balancing the two responses of mourning and of gripping to God’s promises, we can develop a healthy theology of mourning. In those life events when our humanity demands an expression of mourning and a lamenting of a loss, we can weep as the Lord wept (John 11:35; Romans 12:15) and pour out our pain before the Lord. We know, however, that we can only mourn briefly and we can only stay at the place of sorrow for a short time, for if we stay there too long, we run the risk of acting in unbelief. Because of the truth of the empty tomb and because of our trust in the promises of God, our mourning must turn quickly to joy. So our humanity mourns the separation from the one who has fallen asleep in Christ, but our spirit then shouts the victory cry: death has lost its sting, Christ has defeated death, and soon Christ will throw death and Hades into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14).

For the believer, then, we can see that “blessed are those who mourn, for they will be satisfied.”                        SDG                 rmb                 11/20/2016

In the Sermon on the Mount, our Lord is teaching about the kingdom of God and is describing the characteristics of the citizen of the Kingdom. After saying that the blessed person is poor in spirit, Jesus declares, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. (Matthew 5:4)” I want to take some time to consider this topic of mourning and understand what Jesus is teaching us. We will see that there is great blessing concealed in mourning.

In Part 1 of this study we discovered that the primary point that Jesus is making in Matthew 5:4 is that those who mourn deeply over their sin and who repent of their sins and trust in Christ for forgiveness and salvation will be comforted. Their mourning over sin will be replaced with the joy of salvation. That is certainly the main teaching of this verse. But while this is the “Mount Everest” of this verse, I believe there are a couple of “sand dunes” of application related to mourning which can also be useful to the believer.

In these last days of the last days, I find myself deeply troubled by the rampant escalation of evil in this world. Through every available medium, man’s wickedness, cruelty and blatant immorality are constantly on display and I am affected by this. God’s holiness and His commandments are despised and ignored and man hurtles like a runaway train toward God’s judgment.

The pain created by the escalation of evil causes me to mourn. I mourn the fallenness of man and the sadness of this life and I lament how irreversibly we have strayed from God’s paths of righteousness and peace and I can become so discouraged.

But I believe that God has spoken into this type of mourning also and that there is a path from the place of mourning and lamentation that leads into the place of God’s comfort.

God has provided us with His Word and there in His Word I can find solace. I read in the psalms of other believers who experienced similar mourning over the evil and wickedness in the world and sharing these lamentations with others brings comfort. Also, as I read of others who cried out to the Lord in the midst of their mourning, I can likewise cry out to the Lord, for God’s Word has sanctioned my lamentations. If life was difficult for them, then it is okay if it is difficult to me.

It is also obvious from the pages of Scripture that the Lord Jesus Christ was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:3). As Jesus walked through this sinful world, there is no doubt that He was burdened by the sin of the people around Him. Jesus mourned the evil in the world and yet still kept His eyes fixed on the cross (Hebrews 12:2). Thus He left me an example to follow in His steps (1 Peter 2:21). He demonstrated that life in this fallen world is about striving against sin (Hebrews 12:4). With Jesus as my perfect example of striving against sin, I can imperfectly strive while mourning the evil remaining within me and the evil I see and feel in the world around me.

Finally, even though this mourning is a burden and can sometimes drain me of joy and encouragement, I know that my mourning is temporary. Even if it should last for all of my lifetime, I am convinced that one day the mourning will cease and I will arrive in heaven. One day the Lord will wipe away every tear from my eye (Revelation 21:4) and will eliminate all wickedness and evil and sin and will take me to the house of the Lord. Because of Jesus and His death and resurrection, I am persuaded that heaven is my destination. Therefore, blessed are those who mourn in the Lord, for they will be comforted.      SDG    rmb      11/19/2016

In the Sermon on the Mount, our Lord is teaching about the kingdom of God and is describing the characteristics of the citizen of the Kingdom. After saying that the blessed person is poor in spirit, Jesus declares, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. (Matthew 5:4)” I want to take some time to consider this topic of mourning and understand what Jesus is teaching us. We will see that there is great blessing concealed in mourning.

Now as we consider this passage, it would seem that mourning could only be a blessing if there was a remedy for the mourning. In other words, if there was a remedy or a relief from what caused the mourning, then in some sense this might be considered a blessing.

But that is not what Jesus is saying here. Here in this verse, Jesus is saying that there is a certain kind of mourning which actually produces blessing. O, how can this be? How can there be a mourning that produces blessing? For mourning is a groan from the depths (Psalm 130:1). We mourn over those events and circumstances that hit us at the very core of our emotions. We feel utter despair and yet we feel helpless to change the thing bringing despair.

Misery and wretchedness and aching grief are the feelings which are associated with mourning. Then how can we mourn to produce blessedness? What manner of mourning is this?

But Jesus Christ, the Son of God, declares, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” How can this be? The answer is as profound as it is straightforward. To paraphrase: “Blessed are those who mourn over their own personal sin, for they will be forgiven of their sin, they will be cleansed of their unrighteousness and they will be reconciled to the Holy One.” Jesus is talking about the blessing that comes from that initial mourning over personal sin and the subsequent repentance that results in the salvation of the sinner.

This mourning that produces blessing is a mourning over sin both tangible and palpable. It is a misery and a guilt that is felt at the bottom of your soul. As we would mourn over catastrophe and devastating loss, so we must mourn over our sin.

Mourning is an emotional experience, and he who would experience the blessing of forgiveness must first endure the wretchedness of bearing and acknowledging the guilt of his sin.

This mourning is the goad that leads to repentance. Indeed, Paul refers to this mourning as “being ‘made sorrowful to the point of repentance.’” (2 Cor. 7:9-10) Mourning and repentance overlap, with repentance almost inevitably and irresistibly following genuine mourning over sin.

This mourning over sin demands relief. “Who will set me free from the body of this death? (Romans 7:24).” “God, be merciful to me, the sinner. (Luke 18:13)” The crushing weight of my personal sin cannot be borne long. “Woe is me, for I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips. (Isaiah 6:5)” When I have seen the blazing holiness of the Lord God and then have felt the depths of my utter unholiness, I am led to mourning. When my sin and wickedness were hidden from my awareness, their weight could be easily borne, but when I have acknowledged my sin (Psalm 32:5) and I have thus brought all my iniquity and my evil into the light, I quickly realize that the weight of my sin and shame is overwhelming and I cannot bear that weight. I must find deliverance. I must give the burden of all that sin to someone who is able to bear it, and that Person is the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone is able to bear all my sin so that I do not.

So I mourn my sin, which leads me to confession and repentance and faith in Christ, which transfers my sin to my glorious Savior and conveys to me the blessing of forgiveness and righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21).

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

It is mourning over sin that makes my scarlet sins as white as snow and my crimson iniquity as white as wool. Isaiah 1:18

It is mourning that sets me free from sin. 1 Peter 4:1; Romans 6:7; John 8:36

It is this mourning over my sin that justifies me before a holy God. Luke 18:13-14

Have you ever mourned over your sin? Have you ever felt the misery and the wretchedness of your iniquity? Have you ever lamented your own sin to the point of crying out to God for mercy and forgiveness? If not, realize that today is the day of salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ declares that those who mourn are blessed. I urge you to receive that blessing today.      SDG     rmb     10/29/2016

Here in this Bible passage from the gospel of John (John 6:35-40), Jesus teaches how important it is to come to Him and to believe in Him. Let’s look at this story carefully to see what it teaches us and how we should respond.

John 6:35-40 English Standard Version

³⁵ Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. ³⁶ But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. ³⁷ All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. ³⁹ And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. ⁴⁰ For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

DISCUSSION OF THE BIBLE PASSAGE:

In 6:35, Jesus proclaims, “I am the bread of life.” What does Jesus mean when He says that He is the bread of life? Bread is, of course, a food that is known world-wide as a source of daily sustenance. We all need our “daily bread.” But the bread that any person gives you will only last a short time. Ordinary bread will not sustain for long nor satisfy for very long. But when Jesus says that He is the bread of life, He is not talking about physical bread and physical hunger. You see, all people come into the world spiritually hungry, seeking meaning and purpose and hungering for answers about life and death. When Jesus declares that He is the bread of life, He is saying that He is the only one who will satisfy all of your most basic longings. Jesus is the bread who will satisfy your spiritual hunger. If you will come to Jesus, He promises you that you will never hunger.

What will Jesus, as the bread of life, give to those who come to Him?

• If you will come to Him, Jesus will give you peace. Only Jesus can give you peace with God and peace with yourself. If you will come to Jesus, you will know peace. Your strivings for meaning or happiness or significance or purpose will be satisfied by the peace that Jesus gives.
• If you will come to Him, Jesus will give you joy. As the bread of life, Jesus will give you an inner joy that will overflow into all of your life.
• If you will come to Him, Jesus will give you hope. There is a kind of hope that is little more than a wish. This hope says, “I know that things look bleak and appear to be getting worse, but if I just keep up my hope, maybe it will all turn out okay.” This is NOT the hope that Jesus gives. Jesus gives you hope that is an anchor for the soul, a hope that is both sure and steadfast, because Jesus is God and therefore has the power to keep His promises. If you come to Jesus, He will give you the hope of His presence in this life and the sure hope of heaven when your life on this earth is over.

After declaring that He is the Bread of life, Jesus goes on to tell how anyone can receive eternal life.

6:37  If you will come to Jesus, He promises to receive you and to save you from the judgment of God. Jesus will receive anyone who comes to Him for salvation. No matter what your past and no matter what your present, if you will come to Jesus Christ, He will receive you and will change your future.

6:38  Jesus is the Son of God and has come down from heaven on a mission to do the will of God the Father. And what is the will of God the Father?

6:39  Jesus has come down from heaven to save and to give eternal life to all those who come to Him and to raise them up to heaven.

6:40  It is the will of God that everyone who hears about Jesus Christ and believes in Him will have eternal life.

The Bible says that this life with Jesus Christ and all the blessings that come with knowing Jesus begin by coming to Jesus and believing in Jesus.

So what does it mean “to come to Jesus”? It means realizing that you are a sinner and that you have not obeyed our holy God as He requires. “To come to Jesus” means acknowledging that you deserve God’s judgment, but that you are asking Him for His mercy and forgiveness instead. “To come to Jesus” means making a life-long commitment to follow Jesus and to obey Jesus, no matter where He leads you for the rest of your life.

And what does it mean “to believe in Jesus”? It means to trust Jesus as the promised Messiah, the one who has come to save His people from their sins. It means to believe the facts about Jesus: His sinless life, His atoning death on the cross, His glorious resurrection from the dead, and His soon-coming return in power and glory. It means to believe that He is who He claimed to be, the Savior and Redeemer. He is the Son of God and He is God the Son. But to believe in Jesus means more than just to believe facts. “To believe in Jesus” means to commit all of your life, body and soul, to Him and to trust in Him and to live your life from now on for His glory.

Jesus has offered Himself to you as the bread of life and has issued you the invitation to come to Him for eternal life. Will you come to Him? Will you believe? Will you be saved?

If you want to learn more about this, please let me know.   SDG    rmb   10/14/2016

Asa built . . . because the LORD had given him rest.

In 2 Chronicles 14 we meet Asa, king of Judah, and in 14:2 the Scripture says, “Asa did good and right in the sight of the LORD his God.” King Asa, therefore, is going to be a good example to us, a role model for us to follow, so we will look for things that Asa did and then do likewise, at least in principle.

When we reach 2 Chronicles 14:6, we discover that Asa acts with great wisdom and demonstrates a principle that all believers would be wise to emulate. The Scripture reads:

“He (Asa) built fortified cities in Judah, since the land was undisturbed and there was no one at war with him during those years, because the LORD had given him rest.” 2 Chron. 14:6 (NASB)

PRINCIPLE: When the LORD gives you periods of rest and relative peace, use those times to build your spiritual strength so that you are ready for future battles.

At the beginning of his reign, Asa had a period of ten years when the land was undisturbed (14:1) and he made great use of that time. He removed much of the idolatry from Judah and he commanded the people to return to the LORD God (14:3-5). But Asa also built fortified cities and surrounded them with walls and towers, gates and bars (14:6-7). “So they built and prospered.”

Now let us consider what our brother Asa did during the time of peace and rest and learn what the Scripture is teaching us through his example. Notice that Asa found himself the new ruler of a kingdom in which there was rest and prosperity. There was no war and there was no real strife or conflict. Now in that situation Asa could have simply indulged himself and created more luxury and opulence in Jerusalem. That was what the kings of the northern kingdom of Israel had done and the results had been bad. But Asa knew that, as the LORD gives rest, He may also allow or bring war and conflict. Since the future is unknown and since the king should prepare his kingdom for war, Asa used the time of rest to build his strength. And so Asa firmly and clearly established the fact that his reign would be marked by obedience to the LORD. He also took practical steps to strengthen his kingdom’s defenses and to fortify his cities. In other words, instead of squandering ten years of peace, Asa used that time for edification to the glory of God.

The APPLICATION for the believer is clear. When the Lord brings you into a “broad place” where there is peace and prosperity, use that time to “fortify your own cities,” figuratively speaking. When the Lord gives you rest for a season, invest that season so that you will be strong in a time of battle.

What are some practical examples?

When the Lord gives you rest, LEARN TO PRAY WITH URGENCY AND WITH POWER so that you will be ready to pray in the midst of the fire. Make sure that heaven is very familiar with your voice.

When the Lord gives you rest and “no one is at war with you,” use that time to ATTACK ANY REMAINING OR INDWELLING SIN in your life. David said, “Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me and I will be whiter than snow” (Psalm 51:7). Seasons of rest are excellent times to examine yourself and weaken the flesh. Target specific areas of sin or places where you are vulnerable to temptation and confess and repent and deepen your holiness. During those times of peace, allow the Holy Spirit to search you and show you any wicked ways and then bring that into the light. Don’t waste those times of rest, but rather use them to strengthen the purity of your walk with the Lord.

When the Lord gives you rest, DEEPEN YOUR TRUST in the Lord. Know and be confident that the Lord is worthy of your complete trust. Then you will be ready when the serious threats arise and when Satan whispers doubts in your ears.

When the Lord gives you rest, make the most of that time by using it to BECOME GROUNDED IN THE WORD OF GOD. Know the promises that God has given so that they will be available in time of trouble. Know biblical doctrine and theology so that you won’t be shaken when persecution or heresy arises.

PRAYER – PURIFY – TRUST – SCRIPTURE. Becoming strong in these spiritual disciplines during times of rest will prepare you to stand firm and steadfast in the battles.

SDG      rmb      10/12/2016

One of my favorite authors is J C Ryle, an English pastor from the nineteenth century, and perhaps his best book is entitled Holiness. In his chapter on sanctification, Ryle comes to the point in his treatise where he presents how sanctification and justification differ. This is a masterpiece of writing and is typical of the direct style of Ryle. Here are his points:

1. Justification is the reckoning and counting a man to be righteous for the sake of another, even Jesus Christ the Lord. Sanctification is the actual making a man inwardly righteous, though it may be in a very feeble degree.
2. The righteousness we have by our justification is not our own, but the everlasting perfect righteousness of our great Mediator Christ, imputed to us, and made by our own faith. The righteousness we have by our sanctification is our own righteousness, imparted, inherent and wrought in us by the Holy Spirit, but mingled with much infirmity and imperfection.
3. In justification our own works have no place at all, and simple faith in Christ is the one thing needful. In sanctification our own works are of vast importance, and God bids us fight, and watch, and pray, and strive, and take pains, and labor.
4. Justification is a finished and complete work, and a man is perfectly justified the moment he believes. Sanctification is an imperfect work, comparatively, and will never be perfected until we reach heaven.
5. Justification admits of no growth or increase: a man is as much justified the hour he first comes to Christ by faith as he will be to all eternity. Sanctification is eminently a progressive work, and admits of continual growth and enlargement so long as a man lives.
6. Justification has special reference to our persons, our standing in God’s sight and our deliverance from guilt. Sanctification has special reference to our natures and the moral renewal of our hearts.
7. Justification gives us our title for heaven and boldness to enter in. Sanctification gives us our qualification for heaven and prepares us to enjoy it when we dwell there.
8. Justification is the act of God about us, and is not easily discerned by others. Sanctification is the work of God within us, and cannot be hid in its outward manifestation from the eyes of men.

Many obstacles in discipleship and evangelism can be avoided by understanding how these two theological concepts differ. We would all do well to make sure we were clear on these truths.     SDG      rmb      10/10/2016