“When I Return Your Captives Before Your Eyes” (Zeph 3)

(vs18-20) “I will gather those who sorrow over the appointed assembly, who are among you, to whom its reproach is a burden. Behold, at that time I will deal with all who afflict you; I will save the lame, and gather those who were driven out; I will appoint them for praise and fame in every land where they were put to shame. At that time I will bring you back, even at the time I gather you; for I will give you fame and praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I return your captives before your eyes, says the Lord”.

The time is coming when the tables will be turned, and the Lord will show us victory. He is for us, and in due time, He’ll reveal to everyone else that He is on our side (Rom 8:31).  He is cleansing us, so that we can be saved and triumphantly exalted before all creation.

The Lord Jesus was poor, rejected, and despised of men, but God is for Him, exalted Him, and soon, He shall return in clouds of glory.  Let us look upon salvation this way. God brings us painful chastisements and cleanses the pride within, but then He exalts us. One day soon, He will, “gather those who were driven out”, and, “appoint them for praise and fame in every land where they were put to shame” (vs19).  The world appears to be winning, but it is not, and the WORD of God gives us strength to carry on.

Don’t fret that He deals painfully with you, because He has victory in mind in your in chastisement.  He says, “Therefore wait for Me, says the Lord, Until the day I rise up for prey; my determination is to gather the nations to My assembly of kingdoms, to pour on them My indignation, all My fierce anger; all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of My jealousy.  For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they all may call on the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one accord” (vs8-9).  Many people can’t be reproved. The market crashes, the home is destroyed, and the religion proves false, but they do not turn or repent. He says, “I have cut off nations, their fortresses are devastated; I have made their streets desolate, with none passing by.  Their cities are destroyed; there is no one, no inhabitant. I said, ‘Surely you will fear Me, You will receive instruction’ – so that her dwelling would not be cut off, despite everything for which I punished her. But they rose early and corrupted all their deeds” (vs5-7). Yet you are tender, touched by your sinfulness, and troubled. He puts His hand on you and you beg for mercy. He says, “From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia My worshipers, the daughter of My dispersed ones, shall bring My offering” (vs10).  You are the people who mourn in Zion, who pray for holiness, and you are being purged inwardly continually.  Stay the course. He favors you.

The wicked appear to be prospering, but it is only because they are asleep at the wheel.  They are spiritually ignorant, heap up wrath, and yet they feel no present pain like zombies.  He says, “The Lord is righteous in her midst, He will do no unrighteousness. Every morning He brings His justice to light; He never fails, but the unjust knows no shame” (vs5).  I’m told that lepers rub their eyes and noses away, not because these things are destroyed by leprosy, but because they’re unable to feel the pain.  They rub, scratch, and the end result is gross.  Paul said, “having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of god, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness” (Eph 4:18-19). It is the same with HAPPY sinners now.  All is going well, so they think, but they really are walking off a cliff, and yet sensing no danger.  You, however, are chastised to repentance, and fruit unto salvation is the result. Bless God that He chooses to change you, or you’d never be saved in the end.

Finally, God’s grace CLEANSES before it comforts. He says, “In that day you shall not be shamed for any of your deeds in which you transgress against Me; for then I will take away from your midst those who rejoice in your pride, and you shall not longer be haughty in My holy mountain. I will leave in your midst a meek and humble people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness and speak no lies, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth; for they shall feed their flocks and lie down, and no one shall make them afraid” (vs11-13).  He never gives the peace of forgiveness without repentance from sin. It is always the same.  He says, “Neither do I condemn you”, and, “Go, and sin no more. Faith is no idle thought; it is active surrender to the word of God.  We lean upon Christ as the One He who died for our pardon.  He’s also the One who gives us power to live holy because of the blood He shed.

Don’t fear that He’s against you. He says, “Sing, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away your judgments, He has cast out your enemy. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall see disaster no more.  In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: ‘Do not fear; Zion, let not your hands be weak.  The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing” (vs14-17). He’s chastened, so that He can rejoice over us with love, even as a proud parent looks upon a well-mannered child (Prov 23:24). He looks upon us lovingly WHILE we’re sinners, but love provokes Him to clean us up, because justice demands that we be saved FROM our sins, so that we can be rewarded with the righteous.

Bless His name. He cares for you, smiles over you, and He shall exalt you in the presence of everyone, when He reveals your holiness and judges the wickedness of sinners.

“The Mercies of the Lord” (Ps 89:1-37)

“I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; with my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, Mercy shall be built up forever; Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens” (vs1-2).

God has done great and mighty things for us, saving us from sin, destroying the enemy's power, and giving us the inheritance that we haven't earned (vs5-18). He says, “O Lord God of hosts, who is mighty like You, O Lord? Your faithfulness also surrounds You. You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, You still them. You have broken Rahab in pieces, as one who is slain; You have scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.” He has moved towards us in holy grace, conquered our unbelief, and He has revealed Himself to us in saving power, all for Jesus Christ's sake, rewarding us for His Son's obedience and in faithfulness to Him. We bless, praise, and honor God's name for this reason: He is our Savior, He overcame our foes, and He will be with us to the end.

This covenant is for a particular people - predetermined by God whom He purposed to save - and nothing shall ever altar His plan; it's His glory that He predetermines a people, saves them by blood, and brings us through unto the end ENTIRELY by His own power, His own faithfulness, and His doing for us BEFORE we do for Him. He says, “I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to my servant David: Your seed I will establish forever, and build up your throne to all generations”. He is the Giver of grace, and grace precedes repentance and faith. Grace is the essential source where every blessing comes from! This love, this blood redemption, this covenant fulfilling God, is the cause of unceasing praise (Eph 1:3). He alone has saved us, destroyed the foes of sin and Satan, and He is praiseworthy continually. Bless His name FOR salvation!

Secondly, there is One chosen among the people, and His name is Jesus Christ, and He is the reason that we're saved, because God has exalted, loved, and blessed us in Him (vs19-29). It reads, “Then You spoke in a vision to Your holy one, and said: I have given help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people. I have found My servant David; with My holy oil I have anointed him, with whom My hand shall be established; also My arm shall strengthen him”. He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and He is the mediator of the covenant, the One by whom we're blessed.

Christ's perfect obedience is the relationship with God that we need. Many think that God just loves people and wants to bless us, but they don't understand His utter holiness. When Adam sinned, the world was cursed, and babies were born subject to death, already depraved and OFFENSIVE to God (Rom 5:14). When the angels sinned, they were cast down to darkness, never to hear ONE WORD of mercy toward them. Sodom and Gomorrah, the world in the days of Noah, and the destruction of the Israelites as favored nation, all prove that God is holy, and only by the holiness of Christ... by someone OUTSIDE of us and apart from us... can God be just to save.

You are not saved because you keep up your end of the bargain, but continually, faith brings us to Christ as why we're saved, and then it acts accordingly. But, actions without faith are self-righteous, self-serving, and will not be received by Holy God (Heb 11:6). We must have faith in Christ as why God will give the blessing, and then by faith, we live in expectation of heaven to come. Don't put your obedience or merit on the scale with Christ, but see Him entirely as the reason you're favored, and you'll always have refuge in the storm.

Finally, we fail and falter, but God's with us still (vs30-37). He says, “If his sons forsake My law and do not walk in My judgments, if they break My statues and do not keep My commandments, then I will punish their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless My lovingkindness I will not utterly take from him, nor allow My faithfulness to fail. My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.” We have hardships and suffer punishment for our sins in chastening love, but the Father and son relationship we have will never be removed for Christ's sake. He is the reason God LOVES and saves you.

He chose you in Christ before the world began, and you're accepted in the Beloved. He didn't wait on us to get right, but He SAVED us (Titus 3:3-5). Now, even when we're wrong, He will not break the covenant, because the covenant is unbreakable!! Bless the Lord's name. We're chastened, and many prove to be bastards instead of sons, but God's TRUE elect, those real saints of God who trust Christ amidst our sinfulness, will never, no never be cast away. He says, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. (Is 43:1-2). Our hope is the faithfulness of Christ to God, and God's faithfulness to us because of Him, and this is unbreakable, able to endure chastening, and belief producing amidst the storms. If I could depart from Christ and break the covenant, if I could cause God to repent of His love, then I’d be unloved for certain, as would everyone of us. But, the unbreakable bond is kept up by Him, so that even when my heart is cold, and I’ve had seasons of near departure, He's kept me in line for Christ's sake.

Brethren, praise and honor God for your salvation because it is FAITHFUL and sure, based upon Christ, and in covenant terms that will never crack or falter! He will love you to the end and bless you, and if you believe the promise is good because of Christ, then it is yours, and so is the security of knowing you're on God's side forever.

“Let Him Alone” (Hosea 4:14-5:12)

“For Israel is stubborn like a stubborn calf; now the Lord will let them forage like a lamb in open country. Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone. Their drink is rebellion, they commit harlotry continually. Her rulers dearly love dishonor” (vs16-18)

The worst thing possible is being LEFT ALONE by God (Hos 4:14-19). He said, “Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone”. When sin is not reproved in the conscience by chastisements... when we think we're getting away with it... then we really hurt ourselves, because we don't hurt, and so we destroy ourselves increasingly (Eph 4:17-19).  In chastisement, God gives us warning, but if we feel no pain and are without chastisement, then we're bastards (Heb 12:7-8).  God must save us, and when He doesn't speak and move us, then we can't be saved.

Saints are allowed to be destroyed in our schemes, by God letting them “prosper”, until we learn later (2 Chron 20:35-37).  Sinners are permitted to rebel, only to be utterly taken out in the long run.  Thus, silence is fearful, and doing your will and getting away with it is one of the worst things imaginable. When God says, "let them alone", He refuses to give knowledge necessary for salvation, since we've so despised the knowledge He gave already.

Saints are encouraged to discern our way by God's word, rather than our feelings or success.  We secure our path, because we can't judge by "open doors", which, perhaps, we've forced and opened ourselves. We seek God's kingdom, walking in the light of scripture, and we make sure that we're safe, rather than deceived (Ps 139:23-24).  Don't think painless joy is the mark of safety; it is better to have misery and be blessed by God's word exalting your way as pleasing to Him, than to have the delusion of peace (Rev 2:8-11).

Secondly, ignorance causes destruction, so heed knowledge (Hos 5:1-4).  We read, “They do not direct their deeds toward turning to their God, for the spirit of harlotry is in their midst, and they do not know the Lord.” People don't know God naturally and must be taught.  Those who obey God's word in trembling fear are blessed for receiving God and believing Him for who He is in truth (Is 66:1-2).  Those who reject the gospel are cursed in their lie, punished for their caricature of God, and they miss out on the salvation Christ gives. Do not be unwise! God is whom He declares Himself to be, and the Lord Jesus is the one and only mediator, the only One capable of appeasing wrath. Salvation is free, earned by Him, and given to sinners not one bit better than another. Therefore, only God is glorified in the salvation that makes us obedient, for He saves for real, giving the blessings of holiness. If this God is yours, then rejoice, and honor Him wholeheartedly. If you have another, or if you're cold towards God's commands for you, then repent. Ignorance isn't bliss.

Finally, God hurts us for taking man's word over His, so FEAR God and glorify Him who is Lord and Savior (Hos 5:10-13). He says, “Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked by human precept”.  Man can't help or heal the bones that He's broken, so disregard men and serve God.  Know where you stand according to scripture, and do not bow to anyone else (Matt 10:27-28).  God will fight for the hated believer, but He hates the fear of man, and He'll show that man can't save you, and glory is Christ's alone (Deut 32:36-41).  Your God is either the God of the bible in grace and truth, or it's man-made idolatry.  Who will you serve?  God or men?

“Taken Away” (Hos 4:1-13)

Hear the word of the LORD, you children of Israel, for the LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: "There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land. By swearing and lying, killing and stealing and committing adultery, they break all restraint, with bloodshed upon bloodshed. Therefore the land will mourn; and everyone who dwells there will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea will be taken away.

God takes away from us.

He chastises us because we're sinful (vs1-3). We read, “There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God... therefore the land will mourn; and everyone who dwells there will waste away”. He doesn't hurt us for no reason, but we've brought pain into this world, so that all misery is justified, and if we learn the gospel by it, then He'll comfort. He paid our sins, will give us grace to obey, and will bring us to bliss. Surely, a curse causeless will not come (Prov 26:2).

The Lord is wise, and you are in grief. What shall you do? Is the answer to blame God and turn your back, or is it to confess your sins, admit that He is right, and obtain mercy? There is GRACE to be had, but there must be an acknowledgment of God's JUSTICE first. No one is mercifully saved, until he admits that he deserves all the misery he could endure, even hell itself.

Misery is the result of unbelief and sin (vs4-10). We read, “So I will punish them for their ways, and reward them for their deeds. For they shall eat, but not have enough; they shall commit harlotry, but not increase; because they have ceased obeying the Lord”. Learn the lesson now. You can't fight God, neglect the gospel, live as you desire, and still have the blessed pleasure of the Holy Spirit. You can't have Christ and sin, so one must go. Either you'll walk with God peaceably, or peace will be removed (Luke 9:23-24).

Sinners today have false peace, and soon, they'll have wrath to awaken them. Believers are BLESSED to be conscience of our gloom, for the Holy Spirit reveals that we've lost our first love. Let us all get back to Christ and stay with Him, hating the consequences of sin, and hating the lost fellowship of unbelief and self-rule. It is ALWAYS better in the Father's house than squandering our joy on harlots.

Sin seems alluring, but it is baited with a painful hook (vs11-13). We read, “They have played the harlot against their God. They offer sacrifices on the mountaintops, And burn incense on the hills, under oaks, poplars, and terebinths, because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters commit harlotry, And your brides commit adultery”. Wickedness feels good until the morning, when God brings judgment to light. Therefore, don't judge by present pleasure. Judge by the word of Christ.

I talked to a man today who had a brain aneurism. He said it was from smoking 50-60 cigarettes a day. He smoked one recently, went numb in his limbs, and saw light. He said that he would never smoke again, and determined to use an organized effort to ensure it. He is looking to the future, and thank God, he had some problem with smoking, so he could quit before more damage was done. Therefore, the absence of pain, all the years the cigarettes made him glad, was nothing more than the storing up of pain for later. He felt good all those years, but he was smoking himself, by his own admission, into near death. He must quit. Likewise, the lusting woman flatters you, the business deal can be corrupted, the family can be ignored, and we can refuse repentance because we THINK we're prospering and we're enjoying the pleasures of sin. But, payback is coming. Today's joy will be tomorrow's frown, so don't wait on the misery. Trust the gospel IMMEDIATELY and prepare.

“My Oil and My Drink” (Hos 2:2-15)

I will not have mercy on her children, For they are the children of harlotry. For their mother has played the harlot; she who conceived them has behaved shamefully. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, Who give me my bread and my water, My wool and my linen, My oil and my drink.’ (vs4-5)

She mistakenly thought that sin, self, and circumstances made her satisfied and happy - that she'd received good from some source other than the Lord - so He brings her to nothingness and barrenness, so that she can be saved (vs2-5). We read, “For she said, I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my linen, my oil and my drink”.  She walked in proud rebellion, but trouble and helplessness would make her trust Christ.  It's the same with us.  Sin deceives us, self-strength lies to us, and we credit our zeal, success, and salvation to ourselves, giving our love to everything but Christ, who alone is why we aren't going to hell!

What hinders you?  Where do you look for comfort?  What is your praise?  Many say, “I need a wife”, or “a better husband”, but they blindly miss out on God who alone gives peace. Job 35:10 says, “But no one says, Where is God ,my Maker, who gives songs in the night, who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth, and makes us wiser than the birds of heaven?”

Secondly, He brings us down, because we won't listen (vs6-13). We read, “Therefore I will return and take away My grain in its time and My new wine in its season, and will take back My wool and My linen, given to cover her nakedness.” We glory in our strength, so we learn our weakness. We boast in our zeal, so He takes it away, giving us the miserable fruit of self-promotion and defeat. We boast in ease, boast in feelings, and glory in success, so He gives us trouble, sorrow, and failure.  We boast in our ability, but He removes it, because of His love!  He did not redeem us to serve ourselves, or for us to give our love to another, so He saves us by the furnace of affliction. Isaiah 48 says, tells us, “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it; for how should My name be profaned? And I will not give My glory to another” (Is 48:9-11).

Finally, He returns to His afflicted and saves the poor in spirit (vs14-15). He says, “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, will bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfort to her. I will give her her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor (Trouble) as a door of hope (because He saves afflicted sinners); She shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt”.  We failed and faltered because we had to learn that salvation's of the Lord, and it's to His glory in obedience and praise.  Now, being low, we trust Him, and as believers, we get the fruit of faith. I'm aware, by the pain of sin, that obedience – faith, and doing what God says all day and night - is the best thing for me, the only way to be happy, and THE calling of my life (Eph 4:1-3). He saves us as sinners, so that His glory and obedience to Him is the most important thing in our life.

Be encouraged if He is your Savior and Lord.  Rejoice, if you're desperate enough to believe!

“Be Healed” (Heb 12:12-29)

“Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed” (vs12-13)

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Savior of sinners, and He tells us, “Be healed”. We are chastened rightfully and our sin is exposed, but it isn't to make us quit the race. He says, “lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed”. We are to be encouraged, not discouraged, receiving grace to meet our needs. Don't got the way of Esau, “who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. For you know that afterward,when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears (vs17).” It will be TOO LATE for many who've heard Christ in the gospel. Every opportunity was given, the entreaties were real, and God WOULD have saved them, but they would not, turned back in the day of battle, and they must eternally perish REGRETTING eternal life rejected.

This fate is not ours, because we have not come to a God who rejects us (vs18-24). We haven't come to the legal terrors of Sinai, where God quaked, “And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, I am exceedingly afraid and trembling”.

We haven't come to be judged upon what we deserve, but what the Lord Jesus earned to give. We don't stand in our performance, for that would be death, judgment, and rejection. We come to God by what Jesus did, and we're received all the way to heaven, before the throne, among the angels and saints perfected. Spiritual worship is in new covenant grace earned by the death of Jesus, the mediator of every blessing.

Don't reject Him (vs25-29). God spoke from Mt Sinai, and the earth quaked. He shall soon shake the heavens and the earth, coming back to destroy this world, and to establish the new heavens, where Christ's followers dwell alone. You and I would be foolish to resist the gospel message. Many say, “Will God receive me?” God says, “See that you do not refuse Him who speaks”, so that the burden is not on God to be willing: He proves that in the Son, saying “Come”, “be healed”, and “do not refuse”. Instead, you and I are to heed the call, trust His grace to change us into obedient people, and love others. We're to walk in holiness and shamefaced reverence.

We, like the Son, serve the Lord in fear and rejoice in trembling. He says, “For our God is a consuming fire” (vs29).

“Do Not Despise the Chastening of the Lord” (Heb 12:3-11)

“And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: 'My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives."(vs5-6)

Chastisement is part of Christianity, common to all sons of God, and never to discourage us (vs3-6). He says, “For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives”.  He gives us needful pain, in His love, to save us, and to do for us what we won't do for ourselves, which is purify the life, separating from sin.  He stops us from worldly living, so be thankful you're loved and corrected, rather than allowed to rebel.

We must be chastened, or we must perish (vs7-8). He says again, “But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are bastards and not sons”. We can have God's painful help, or His unbearable wrath, but He's determined to lovingly correct His church.  Receive it as CORRECTION. This is the way to go! Believe God's love always, believe His gospel, and receive His care. Never let pain or disappointment kill your joy in future grace, your hope of present help, or to disfigure the justness and goodness of God's ways.

Good things come from chastisement, even life eternal, love, joy, and peace (vs9-11).  He says again, “Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?” Chastisement purges us from self-glorying unbelief, delivers us from disobedience and slavish fear, and returns us to the Lord from whom we've departed.  Pain produces GAIN, when the Lord saves us from unbelief by touching us a little with its consequences.  Thank God that He destroys your intentions rather than destroying you (2 Chron 20:35-37).  Remember, look to the grace that's coming and never merely to the pain that you're enduring.

He says again, “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it”. Chastisement reveals unbelief and sin, draws us near to God, and teaches us naked faith. We receive the fruit of love and obedience in the end.  Like weight training, which involves pain... like exercise, which demands discomfort... we improve by what we go through.  The end is WORTH the pain it takes to get there. 

Look at your own experience. Look at your greatest chastisements, the pain you've experienced over sin and pride, and see the love for God, the boldness in Christ, and the comfort of the Spirit that you now enjoy.  See how life is better, learning to believe at all times and love as He commands.  Your family approves the end result of your sufferings, and your brethren are blessed by what you've become. Your own soul is nearer and clearer about heaven, your true home, and about God, your everything. You now see sin as your disgusting foe, and you trust God to conquer it. Chastisement has been for good, and it will always improve us and work for us!

“The Canaanites Were Then in the Land” (Gen 12:6)

(vs5-8) So they came to the land of Canaan. Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.

It doesn't matter who is in the land, the Lord has promised it to us, and his promise is good. He will cast out the foe, He will fight the enemy, and He teaches us, “Only believe that I will do this for you. Only believe that I’m this good, this powerful, and the Son of God has EARNED you this much grace”. He says literally, “Get out of your county, from your family and from your father’s house [from your own ways], to a land that I will show you [love]. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing” (Gen 12:1-2). Take the promises absolutely as something God will do, even as He cursed Canaan ahead of time, saw the wickedness of those He would destroy, and promised us good from the love of His heart.

Don't be ashamed of the promises or of the promising God.

Abraham left Ur of the Chaldees, but it took him a long time, some years perhaps, before he made it to the Promised Land because of unbelief. “The Lord had said to Abram”, but he remained in Haran under his father's hand rather than believing FULLY. Scripture says, “And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot... and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. So the days of Terah were two hundred and fiver years, and Terah died in Haran” (Gen 11:31-32). Likewise, a man, a church, or a child may be called of God to some great thing, even the promises before us, and yet we listen to carnal counsel and look to men, rather than trust the living God.

Don't be this way, and be thankful that He has killed your compromises and forced you on Christ. Be glad the promise is still good, and though you FAILED, you may have it now. He says, “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you”, so that worshiping properly will return with all good fruit, “You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; and My people shall never be put to shame” (Joel 2:25-26).

The bible is HOPEFUL to sinners because God comes in GRACE and gives us eternal life, promises us good, and fulfills it.

“Cursed Or Blessed” (Gen 9:20-27)

(vs24-25) So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. Then he said: "Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brethren."

A curse causeless will not come, so that if we're cursed, we deserve it, and if we're wise, the curse will lead us to Jesus Christ (Prov 26:2). He reveals that we are sinners so that He can save, if we RECEIVE it for this purpose.

Look at the misery in your life as something DESERVED. It doesn’t matter what you suffer, only One has suffered blameless, and He died SUBMISSIVE to the Father for us.

We suffer because WE rebelled in Adam. All together, we all said, “We shall be as god, knowing good and evil, choosing for ourselves what is right and wrong by our decisions. We will rule our destiny and govern our course”, and God has said “CURSED is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord” (Jer 17:5).

We can believe that misery is DESERVED and get mercy, or we can perish. Remember, Rahab the harlot? She was a Canaanite, but she said, “According to your word, so be it. And she sent [the spies] away, and they departed, and she bound the scarlet cored in the window”. Not only did she protect the spies, but she hoped in mercy on God's terms. She didn't say, “It is no fair that I'm cursed, that Christ is the only way”, but she took the mercy that she could receive, and God saved her and made her able to save others.

A church that has been going her own way, preaching Christ full of the flesh, can repent, and preach in love. The father that has corrupted his home by selfish indifference and ego can change his ways and lead his children to God. The home that was ruled by the flesh in many ways can be changed into a place of peace, where Christ dwells. In every area, we see the FRUIT of sin and the fruit of faith, and faith is much better, even as Noah said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem, and may Canaan be his servant, May God enlarge Japeth”, so that when he saw his sons' obedience, he knew it was of God, and being of God, it is blessed (Gen 9:26-27).

Canaan pictures the result of unrepentant and sinning saints, even as David's son must die, and Absalom, after killing his brother,maliciously seeks David's head. David, like Peter, Moses, Solomon, Eli, you and me, suffered because of unbelief. God said, “Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. for you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun” (2 Sam 12:11-12). The believer who doesn't repent brings unneeded misery upon himself and becomes the cause of his own trouble. He, like Ham, walks in pride. He points the finger in self-righteousness and condemnation of others, so his sons pick up on his legal ways. They despise the mercy of God, because while Ham knew Christ (he was in the ark and came out alive after the flood), he didn't teach his children, like Eli, as he should. Eli was told, “For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them” (1 Sam 3:13).

I urge you! Believe that your actions in this life have consequences. You are saved by grace, but imagine the harm if you show up to work undressed, unwashed, and you make a mess instead of doing your job. Believer or not, the boss will let you go, the cops will be called, and you will bear the misery of your actions, for “he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality” (Col 3:25). Yet, if you go obediently, it is because God is with you, and whether you're blessed in man's eyes is irrelevant. God's blessing is on you, “knowing that from the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ” (Col 3:24).

Choose God's will, lest you suffer the chastisement of His fury. This message has made me repent and fear God, even as Paul tells us, “let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, performing holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor 7:1). Do things God's way and be blessed, instead of cursed. Do not say, “I'm in Christ, so nothing matters”. Say, “I'm in Christ, so keep me from sin, lest I hurt myself. Help me, Oh Lord, to love as I’ve been loved, doing people good.”

Don't be judgmental. You've obtained mercy just like Noah, and like him, you fall. Scripture says of this great man, “And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent” (Gen 9:20-21).

We war and conquer sin, but NO ONE conquers it completely or lives above the fray. We are deplorable self-confessed sinners, so when you see faults in others, retract the finger and stick out the helping hand. Scripture says, “Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father's nakedness” (Gen 9:23). Isn't this how He treats you? He died for your sins, covers your shame, and He doesn't treat you any less graciously because of it. He doesn't say, “Come to Me, you that labor and are heavy burned, and I'll point out your failures, laugh, and gossip”. He says, even though it cost Him His life, and even though our sins are in His face, “I will rest you” (Matt 11:28).

Be like Christ and reap the blessings of faith. The entire world serves your relationship with God. Or, be like Ham and watch your actions and decisions breed thorns and thistles.

“That I May Know the Number of the People” (2 Sam 24:1-2)

How Big Am I?

Again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, "Go, number Israel and Judah." So the king said to Joab the commander of the army who was with him, "Now go throughout all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and count the people, that I may know the number of the people."

We're weak as God makes us, and it is our own fault. In Him, we are POWERFUL, even if we are not the mightiest. 1 Samuel 23:17 says, “These things were done by the three mighty men”, so that we do great things and conquer with God. In ourselves, what we deserve, we are always an inch above chastisement for the evil within. Only God refrains us from sin. He keeps us from falling, and when He is displeased, He allows us to fall. He directs things, so that He may be exalted before us. He uses the SIN that's inside of us to chastise it out of us, bringing us into devotion. We must walk devoted to God, or we must learn it.

But, like Job, we are never SO high spiritually as to not merit reproach.

Learn this.

1. 
   
   
   God is totally in control of our falls and the pain we endure (vs1-2).
2. 
   
   
   God will have us worship Him broken heartedly (vs24).
3. 
   
   
   God is good to sinners (vs25).

First, God is in control of all things, even our falls, and the pain procured It is written, “He moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah” (vs1). The evil is in us that must be chastened out, and we DO things that bring about great falls. That failure wasn't isolated; it was the result of many little failures adding up.

God makes us learn that we are sinners, and He keeps us worshiping Him on His terms as nothings. He humbles pride, “and those that walk in pride He is able to abase” (Dan 4:37).

Secondly, God will have us worship broken heartedly. David said, “nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing” (vs24). He will have us mercifully saved and not meritoriously delivered. He will have us abased in self, so that He will heartily be praised and nothing else. He is jealous of His glory and has declared that all things would honor the Son, that praise and thanks would become us, and we'd worship in reverence and fear. Hebrews 12 says, “let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire” (Heb 12:28-29). The Most High is in awe in the assembly of the saints. He is feared in His majesty, praised in His dealings, and bowed to in His providences. I have been ministered to by a quote from Jeremiah Burroughs, “Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God's wise and fatherly disposal in every condition." He is worshiped in everything because His love and wisdom demand it. He is who we love, and the reward is sweet.

Thirdly, God is GOOD to all who look to Him, “so the Lord heeded the prayers for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel” (vs25). He gave the mighty men great deeds, even as He gives grace to David to shine again.

This man's PRIDE brought him low, and now mercy will exalt him again. David was a great, great man upon the earth, and yet he obtained God freely, undeservedly, and obtained mercy amidst horrid wickedness's and deeds. He should embolden you and I to great acts of love because we are so freely received and given power. We can improve, grow, and be more pure for Christ. It is God who works in us, freely, powerfully, and simply by BELIEVING His love.

His mighty men, finally, are examples to us. “These things were done” scripture says, “by the three mighty men” (2 Sam 23:17). Be thrilled and possessed by the Lord's might. Be strong in grace. Know and believe God is on your side, to receive you again, falls and all. Know to love those who love you, and honor Christ for everything.

Know God's love is real, and live upon it, faults and all.

“Greater Than I Can Bear” (Gen 4:13)

“And Cain said to the LORD, 'My punishment is greater than I can bear!” (Gen 4:13)

You can bear your punishment by the forgiveness and grace of Christ; He carries it for you,and you rest, instead of labor (Matt 11:28) .

Cain didn't see what you and I see today, that God is gracious (Gen 4:6-8). He killed Abel because he was accepted of God, and Cain wasn't. He didn't see the way of acceptance is by the blood of Another, so that we can have grace. God, the giver of life, gives us ETERNAL LIFE, paying for it Himself, and giving it FREELY to any and every sinner that asks. He is not ungracious. Our Lord, standing before those who would eventually turn away from Him said uncompromisingly, even as He wept over perishing sinners in other places, saying, “My Father gives you the true bread from heaven”; it is for you (John 6:32).

He is the God that came to Adam and Eve as they were hiding out and promised them life eternal, though misery must be borne (Gen 3:10). And, the same God would have FORGIVEN and given all manner of grace to Cain both before and after his fall, if he'd only asked and looked to God instead of despising Him.

God gave Cain a mark to spare his life, warning that others shouldn't do to Cain what he'd done to Abel, his brother (vs15). This should have revealed the justness, mercy, and trustworthiness of God, whereby he should have pleaded mercy, rather than be satisfied out of His presence - “And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden” (vs16-17).

You and I have sinned, like Cain, but we may be forgiven, like Abel, and spend our persecuted days honoring Him who loves us. He heals our wounds, and He is bringing us to heaven by death's door (Gen 3:19-21).

Don't miss grace thinking your life is TOO miserable or things are not fair, as if God isn't right. Seek relief from the God who gives you the pain. He'll give it (Rom 10:13).

“Sick of Love” (Song 5:2-8)

“I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him, that I am sick of love”.

The Son of God leaves, so that we may seek Him in His great value.  He means so much to us, that when He is gone, and we’re AWARE of His absence, we seek Him lovingly, which His elect see and hear. 

We are not useful in the high times alone, but even in the deep, we are BLESSED of God to hear and be heard, even though our strength is small.  In our times we weakness, we still speak by faith, and those appointed to salvation are brought to Christ by our faith, even in the “down times”, saying (Song 5:9; Song 6:1).

Don’t think that Christ is gone to stay; think He’s gone to teach me a lesson, to make me love Him more.

We failed when He spoke, refusing to open to Him - “I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul FAILED when he spoke: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer“ (vs6). We thought ourselves SELF-sufficient and OK without Him, so He leaves us, makes us SEE our great need, and then He gives us hope as we seek Him (vs3?)- “My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him” (vs4). 

He is gone, but not forever. He is angry with us rightfully and has departed, but He will hear our cry, He will lift up the humbled, and He teaches us BY His absence to SEEK Him when He’s near - “I sleep, but my heart wakes: it is the voice of my beloved that knocks, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night“ (vs2).   His loving embrace teaches joy, and His refusal to embrace teaches us that joy is in Him only (Eccl 3:5). The Lord is PRECIOUS and the Most Import Thing.

Do not fail, when He says “Open to me”, and do not go without seeking Him. Don’t say, “I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them (vs3)”.  When He comes in thoughts and deeds in the gospel, when He moves upon the heart and mind, then let Him in - “Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night“ (vs2). He has GOODNESS’ for you and only your highest joy in mind.  When He is gone, do not say, “It’s OK. He will return one day”, but seek Him immediately, lest your time without Him lead to sin - “I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock” (vs5).

When He hurts you by the messengers, and strips you of your proud self-sufficiency, then He has done good - “The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me” (vs7).  Now, make known your love for Him, even when you don’t have the highest joy (vs10-16). Preach peace, even when your peace is small, and tell the world the Lord Jesus is most important to you, that you need Him above all else.  

Many people love a happy religion, but God has a seeking religion, too, because we don’t stop, until we get Him. He DRAWS us to Himself, opening the door of our heart by mercy and causing us to turn unto Him - “My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him. I rose up to open to my beloved” (vs4-5a).  All obedience is the FRUIT of Christ’s grace, so we need Him to obey, and without Him MOVING us powerfully, we sin and get misery as the result.

The gospel is for sinners and saints who’ve gone astray.  Return to your Beloved and declare how precious He is.

Wrath Came Not (2 Chron 32:25-26)

“But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem.  Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah”

What a blessing to know that past sin, though horrible and proud, can be redeemed, even from earthly afflictions.  Hezekiah was proud after God healed him, and that’s horrible, that we’d vaunt ourselves by mercy received!  Yet God, because He loves us, will not allow our pride to reign, so He afflicts us, shows His displeasure, and threatens chastisement and pain.  He will humble the pride, and when it is humbled, when the sinner repents and the saint returns, the Lord is gracious to say, “I’ve seen your prayer, I’ve heard your voice” (Is 38:5).

This GRACE in God is our hope, because trusting in the character of God makes us sleep in peace, knowing that He is GRACIOUS, forgives sin, and pities the humble.  If we’d kept in our way, He would have brought His threatened wrath on us, and the pain would be sure, even as God chastens kings to teach us His fear.  Yet, He awakened us, and we obey His calling, fleeing from self-righteousness and self-service, form pride of knowledge into good works.  We seek the glory of Christ, now, and He is not ashamed to show Himself merciful, causing the affliction to come to the next generation, rather than upon us, delaying it, so long as humble hearts abide (2 Kings 20:18-19).

I think it is good that we hope in God for YESTER YEAR’S sins.  They are painful and repercussions fill the mind: how will this afflict me later, how will He pay me back?  It is good to be obedient and hopeful that He paid you in Christ.  He’s given your repentance now, and His honor is your mission.

The fear of the Lord is in Hezekiah now, whereas before, though saved, he walked in pride.  Now, God gets all glory, the people are nothing, and the Lord’s mercy rules the day, rather than man’s pride.  There is Light brighter than humans praising themselves for God‘s works; it is the Light of the  Giver of life, the lover of men, the sanctifier of His church, and the character of God unveiled!

Jesus is our Master, and we will live for Him in repentance and faith, seeking His honor in places of past failure, living that people know He is great, and giving ourselves to God in the gospel.  This RESPONSE of “Thank you, Lord“, is the reasonable response of His church:
1.  It is pleasing to you and me to obey God, more than to anger Him by sin.
2.  God’s glory is safe.  We don’t want wrath, and it is right to honor God.  He deserves the praise, because He forgives the depraved and vile.  “He is worthy” is the song in heaven and now (Rev 5:12).

The gospel is hopeful, not slavishly fearful.  Don’t be afraid.  Believe the debt is paid and you’re on mercy now, obeying, repenting continually, and being freshly reminded that He is great.  He forgives, He is in control of your future, and the hand of God is the best hand for tomorrow.

“Not Carried Away Captive Into Babylon” (Jer 40:7)

“Now when all the captains of the forces which were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed unto him men, and women, and children, and of the poor of the land of them that were not carried away captive to Babylon” (vs7).

God will save the poor. We can be sinners, rebellious saints, frustrated, and proud, and He will save us, if we come to Him. But, if we rebel, argue with God, and declare Him unjust in afflicting us, seeking help other than faith in Christ, we’ll be damned forever.

The way is DIFFICULT for sure, impossible with men, but God does all that it takes to save the HELPLESS. This doesn’t require anything but faith: do you and I believe what God has promised (eternal life), God is able to do without your help and strength? If so, then you and I shall be saved by God who saves sinners, helps the feeble, and does good to people who should be damned.

Jeremiah despised God’s counsel and yet obtained more mercy and grace: we are similar. We squander mercy, murmur when life is hard, and complain, even calling God a liar, when He is perfect and just.  Jeremiah said, “Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuses to be healed? Will you be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail“ (Jer 15:18)? … What pity and patience God shows in restoring us. He told Jeremiah, “I will make you unto this people a fenced brazen wall: and they shall fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you: for I am with you to save you and to deliver you, says the Lord”  (Jer 15:19-20).  This pity and FAIRNESS/justice in God draws us to Himself, as we see that He is right: He hasn’t asked more than He gives, the reward is so worth the time of pain down here, and the SALVATION is from hell eternal - “And [Nebudchadnezzar, God’s instrument of pain] burnt the house of the Lord, and the king‘s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every GREAT man‘s house burnt he with fire“ (2 Kings 24:9).

Don’t be discouraged that you’re afflicted; know the afflicted are those whom He saves, even as only the poor remained in the land when terror came. God’s word says, “Blessed is the man whom you chasten, O Lord, and teaches him out of your law, that you may give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be dug for the wicked” (Ps 94:12-13), and again, “The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked” (Ps 58:10-11), and again, “the four and twenty elders”, God’s elect, “and the four beasts”, those who lead them in worship, the preachers of Christ, “fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia”, as the smoke of the wicked eternally ascends from hell (Rev 19:3-4).

We have GREAT reward coming, so it is WORTH following God here. He is MERCIFUL, gracious, generous, pitiful, compassionate, and good.  He does only right, and He will save ALL that call upon Him, not by works of righteousness that we’ve done (merit), but by love and compassion that He gives.

A Welcome Home Sermon (Ruth 1)

“Wept” 

“And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, God, return each to her mother’s house: the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead, and with me.  The Lord grant you that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept” (vs8-9).

They both wept, but only one obtained mercy to continue.  If God is not with us, then we will GIVE UP on Christ for the world’s pleasure and ease.  It is written, “Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God”, so that unbelief and ease go hand in hand, so that unless God MAKES us come to Christ, we will flee (Ps 55:19).

It is God that shuts every door, except Christ Jesus, and opens to us the way of life, even as God shows us the BEAUTY of Jesus, so we can believe.  The reason that you and I love Him is because God has shown Himself to be beautiful in redemption and removing our sins.  Like Jonathan Edwards, we HATE God naturally, until the Spirit makes us see BEAUTY in the God we despise (John 6:63). Then, we TRUST ourselves to Him, desiring to be saved, so that His people are WILLING to endure ANY hardship for Christ.  We believe.

Orpah, as her name signifies, was a gazelle, fleeing from Christ the Lord, when she could - “And they lifted up their voice and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth cleaved unto her. And she said, Behold, your sister in law is gone back unto her people and unto her gods“ (Ruth 1:14-15). Ruth, as her name declares, is the “friend’ of God and His people. She CLEAVED unto the Lord and could not be turned away.  Which one are you? - “And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave you, or to return from following after you: for where you go, I will go; and where you lodge, I will lodge: your people shall be my people, and your God my God (Ruth 1:16).

Do you and I have any hope but Christ? If so, then we shall die in our sins. If not, then we shall find bread in God’s house, as promised - “Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing” (Ps 92:13-14). God’s goodness is enough to meet our needs. Don’t be foolish and say, “It is hard, so I will leave God”. Say, “It is HARD, so I will flee to God” (Ruth 1:1). He will meet your every need, proving that you only need Jesus, food, and raiment, as He has promised, and you will be content, or filled to the brim - “And having food and raiment, we will be therewith contented” (1 Tim 6:8).

The world says, “Less of Christ and more of me”, but God’s elect learn, like Naomi, that this is bitter - “I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty… the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me” (Ruth 1:21). We need LESS of Christ AND the world mingled, but we don’t ever need less of Jesus. The more FOCUSED our life is on Christ and doing His will, the more happy (truly) and experientially blessed we are. We get everything by GIVING UP everything for Him, and getting MORE by His hand.

Trust Him to be your sufficiency, not husband, wife, children, or “future plans of having these”, and you shall see God’s beauty and be FREE of slavery to things.

Be thankful in the good times, and in hard times, draw near. Get more of Christ, and you won’t have cause to vomit Him out.  Naomi may have thought things were good in Moab for a time, that their compromise was subtle and wise, but she lost EVERYTHING in compromise and disobedience, even as you and I do - “And Elimelech, Naomi‘s husband died; and she was left, and her two sons. And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years. And Mahlon and Chilion died also, both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband“ (Ruth 1:3-5). We gain nothing by disobedience, by drawing away from God, our responsibilities, and His people. Too many FLEE God’s house when times are tough, but BLESS the Most High that He destroys our works and efforts, shuts the door to hope anywhere else, and REVEALS to us that there is bread: God’s BLESSING is in the same place that we may have been famished, the place where preachers stumble, saints err, and we may not hear for a season. God’s house is the place that you must be, and He brings us back to be an example of what not to do, and to be saved - “Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the Lord had visited his people in giving them bread“ (Ruth 1:6). And, bless God, we come back to blessing with blessing, even as Naomi came back with Ruth, one of God’s elect, whom she found in Moab, amidst her sin.

“Go to Nineveh” (Jonah 1:1-4)

“Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.”

We must do what God says, if we will have peace. His commands are BINDING, and they are for our good, because He blesses us in this way and none other.

Jonah thought that he’d have peace by casting himself into the sea, he thought God would meet him in death, and all problems would be over. He didn’t know that God had prepared a great fish, and he’d spend three days and nights - a picture of Christ suffering God’s wrath - in the heart of the whale, suffering for his sin - “And said, I cried by reason of my affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and you heard my voice” (Jonah 2:2). Before he got out the fish, he said, “I will pay that that I have vowed”, or, I will do what God says. Then, upon confessing that “salvation is of the Lord”, Jonah was spat out on the dry ground of no condemnation to preach unto Nineveh the preaching that God commanded (Jonah 2:9-3:3). So, Jonah couldn’t escape the command, and we can’t either. We can’t be happy or saved, unless we strictly obey what Jesus says.

Somehow, it comes into our carnal mind that salvation by grace means that I can do my own thing, and my heart breaks for Christians and false-professors who hold this lie in unrighteousness. We CAN’T be happy, because God CHASTENS whom He loves, and He cannot bless us in a way that is contrary to Himself. If He says, “Go and do”… “go to Nineveh, that great city and cry against it”, then we must go and speak His word.

Leave the consequences with God, but know that you have a better life and better reward by obedience, than by sin. Matthew 5:12 says, “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad“, in the here and now, “for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you“, so that God gives us joy as we are hated by men and ridiculed, which we cannot get cowering and choosing sin (Matt 5:12).

God sets before us BLESSINGS and curses, so that we may CHOOSE the good and hate the evil (Deut 30:15-18). Be wise, plan wisely, and prepare yourself for FUTURE good by doing God’s will now.

How often have you and I awoken from sin only to say, “It profited me not”, and “why did I do that? How foolish was I”? Let this word of Christ STOP you and me from sin before we commit it. Let us RETURN to the Lord by the Lamb’s blood to do His will now, obtaining fresh mercy from God to obey. We can obey by the grace that He gives, and we will certainly get the reward, as promised. It is not wrong to seek reward, so long as we seek it from God His way. He commands OBEDIENCE to be the apex of Christianity, that from a willing heart we do His will by the forgiveness that we’ve received. We are not only justified by faith, but we’re born from above, so that we love God and obey by the power He gives.

We labor now for rewards soon to come.

The Visitation (John Knox)

"Lord, in trouble have they visited you, they poured out a prayer when your chastening was upon them." (Is 26:16)

The visitation whereof our prophet speaketh, is only proper to the sons of God, who in the time when God taketh from them the pleasures of the world, or showeth his angry countenance unto them, have their recourse unto him, and confessing their former negligence, with troubled hearts cry for his mercy. This visitation is not proper to all afflicted, but appertaineth only to God’s children; for the reprobate can never have access to God’s mercy in time of their tribulation, and that, because they abuse, as well his long patience, as the manifold benefits they receive from his hands. For as the same prophet heretofore saith, “Let the wicked obtain mercy, yet shall he never learn wisdom; but in the land of righteousness (that is, where the true knowledge of God aboundeth,) he will do wickedly;” which is a crime above all others abominable. For to what end is it, that God erecteth his throne among us, but that we should fear him? Why doth He reveal his holy will unto us, but that we should obey it? Why doth He deliver us from trouble, but that we should be witnesses unto the world, that he is gracious and merciful? Now, when men hearing their duty, and knowing what God requires of them, do malapertly fight against all equity and justice, what I pray you do they else, but make manifest war against God; yea, when they have received from God such deliverance, that they cannot deny, but that God himself hath in his great mercy visited them; and yet they continue wicked even as before? What deserve they, but effectually to be given over unto a reprobate sense, that headlong they may run to ruin both of body and soul. It is almost incredible, that man should be so enraged against God, that neither his plagues, nor yet his mercy showed, should move them to repentance, but because the Scriptures bear witness of the one and the other. Let us cease to marvel, and let us firmly believe, that such things as have been, are even presently before our eyes, although many, blinded by affection, cannot see them.

Ahab (as in the book of Kings it is written) received many notable benefits of the hand of God, who did visit him in diverse sorts; sometimes by his plagues, sometimes by his word, and sometimes by his merciful deliverance. He made him king, and for the idolatry used by him and his wife, He plagued all Israel by famine. He revealed to him his will and true religion, by the prophet Elijah; he gave to him sundry deliverances; but one most special, when proud Benhadad came to besiege Samaria, and was not content to receive Ahab’s gold, silver, sons, daughters, and wives, but also required, that his servants should have whatsoever was delectable in Samaria. True it is, that his elders and people willed him not to hear the proud tyrant. But who made to him the promise of deliverance? and who appointed, and put his army in order? who assured him of victory? The prophet of God only, who assured him, that by the servants of the princes of the provinces, who in number were only two hundred, thirty and two, he should deface that great army, in the which there were two and thirty kings, with all their forces. And as the prophet of God promised, so it came to pass. Victory was obtained, not once only, but twice, and that by the merciful visitation of the Lord.

But how did Ahab visit God again, for his great benefit received? Did he remove his idolatry? did he correct his idolatrous wife Jezebel? No, we find no such thing; but the one and the other we find to have continued, and increased in former impiety. But what was the end hereof? The last visitation of God was, that dogs licked the blood of the one, and did eat the flesh of the other.

In few words, then, we may understand, what difference there is betwixt the visitation of God upon the reprobate, and his visitation upon his chosen. The reprobate are visited, but never truly humbled, nor yet amended. The chosen being visited, they sob, and they cry unto God for mercy; which obtained, they magnify God’s name, and after declare the fruits of repentance. Let us therefore that hear these judgments of our God, call for the assistance of his Holy Spirit, that howsoever it pleaseth him to visit us, that we may stoop under his merciful hands, and unfeignedly cry to him when he correcteth us; and so, shall we know in experience, that our cries and complaints were not in vain.

I Cor 11:30, “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep”.

You, it may be, are not aware of it, but look upon other causes why so many amongst you are sick, and weak, and die immaturely; but I, as the apostle of Jesus Christ, (and so know the mind and will of God), assure you, that this your irreverent and irreligious profanation of this holy ordinance, is one great cause of so many among you being sick, and weak, and dying in unripe age. Some think that the word sleep argues that they were godly, penitent Christians that so died, (for the death of wicked men is hardly called sleeping any where in holy writ), to let us know, that even good people, who yet may be saved, may bring judgments in this life upon themselves, as by the profanation of God’s name in other ordinances, so more especially by their profanation of it in this ordinance of the supper.

M. Poole