Because They Believed

23 And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, "By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?"

24 Jesus answered them, "I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things.

25 The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?" And they discussed it among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?'

26 But if we say, 'From man,' we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet."

27 So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And he said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. - Matthew 21:23-27

28 "What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work in the vineyard today.'

29 And he answered, 'I will not,' but afterward he changed his mind and went.

30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, 'I go, sir,' but did not go.

31 Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.

32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him. - Matthew 21:28-32

Do you believe that the Son, the Christ, has the power to save? 

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,

2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,

3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh

4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,

5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,

6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, - Romans 1:1-6

We are called for His name sake to share Him with the lost world.

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith." - Romans 1:16-17

So you see, without belief there is no salvation.

We begin as sinners, in need of forgiveness.

You must become aware of your sin.

You must become aware that it is hopeless for you and you will be forever separated from God because of sin.

But God who is rich in mercy made a way for you to be justified, redeemed, and forgiven. 

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins

2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-

3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,

5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved-

6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. - Ephesians 2:1-10

God Works Through Good Resolves

To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power. (2 Thessalonians 1:11)

Seeking the power of God to fulfill our good resolves does not mean that we don’t really resolve, or that we don’t really use willpower.

The engagement of God’s power never takes the place of the engagement of our will! The power of God in sanctification never makes us passive! The power of God engages itself beneath or behind and within our will, not in place of our will.

The evidence of God’s power in our lives is not the absence of our willing, but the strength of our willing, the joy of our willing.

Anyone who says, “Well, I believe in the sovereignty of God and so I will just sit back and do nothing” does not really believe in the sovereignty of God. For why would someone who believes in God’s sovereignty so blatantly disobey him?

When you sit back to do nothing, you are not doing nothing. You are actively engaging your will in a decision to sit back. And if that is the way you handle sin or temptation in your life, it is blatant disobedience, because we are commanded to wage a good warfare (1 Timothy 1:18) and resist the devil (James 4:7) and strive for holiness (Hebrews 12:14) and put to death the sinful acts of the body (Romans 8:13).

Second Thessalonians 1:11 says that it is by the power of God that we will fulfill our good resolves and our works of faith. But this does not nullify the meaning of the word “resolve” and the word “work.” Part of the whole process of walking worthy of God’s call is the active engagement of our will in resolving to do righteousness.

If you have lingering sin in your life, or if you keep neglecting some good deed just because you have been waiting around to be saved without a fight, you are compounding your disobedience. God will never appear with power in your will in any other way than through your exercise of that will; that is, through your good resolves — your good intentions and plans and purposes.

So, people who believe in the sovereignty of God must not fear to engage their wills in the struggle for holiness. “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able” (Luke 13:24). Only strive in the faith that in and through your striving God is at work to will and to do his good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).

John Piper 

Do you have cancer? Or have a friend who does?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

What if you had an appointment with the doctor and found out that you had cancer? Maybe you have heard this news or heard it on behalf of a loved one. I want to tell you some things cancer cannot do. Cancer cannot shatter hope. Cancer cannot corrode faith. Cancer cannot eat away peace. Cancer cannot place a limit on eternal life. Cancer cannot quench the Spirit of God and cancer cannot lessen the power of the resurrection. That’s how limited cancer is!

ACTION POINT:

Is there someone in your life that is suffering from cancer? Give them the Good News that you’ve read today. And pray that they will know the Savior.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Arm Yourself with Promises

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8)

When Paul says to put to death the deeds of the body “by the Spirit” (Romans 8:13), I take him to mean that we should use the one weapon in the Spirit’s armor that is used to kill; namely, the sword, “which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17).

So, when the body is about to be led into a sinful action by some fear or craving, we are to take the sword of the Spirit and kill that fear and that craving. In my experience, that means mainly severing the root of sin’s promise by the power of a superior promise.

For example, when I begin to crave some illicit sexual pleasure, the sword-swing that has often severed the root of this promised pleasure is, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). I recall the pleasures I have tasted of seeing God more clearly from an undefiled conscience; and I recall the brevity and superficiality and oppressive aftertaste of sin’s pleasures, and with that, God has killed the conquering power of sin.

Having promises at hand that suit the temptation of the hour is one key to successful warfare against sin.

But there are times when we don’t have a perfectly suited word from God in our minds. And there is no time to look through the Bible for a tailor-made promise. So, we all need to have a small arsenal of general promises ready to use whenever fear or craving threaten to lead us astray.

Here are four of my most oft-used promises in fighting against sin:

Isaiah 41:10, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Philippians 4:19, “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

And the promise implicit in Philippians 3:8, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

And, of course, Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

Be constantly adding to your arsenal of promises. But never lose sight of the chosen few that God has blessed in your life. Do both. Be ever-ready with the old. And every morning look for a new one to take with you through the day.

John Piper 

Is God doing something you don't understand?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

I read about a farmer who had a big brush pile of debris he was going to burn. He noticed a little bird had built a nest in that brush pile, so he destroyed the nest. When he came back days later, he found the bird rebuilding the nest. The farmer destroyed the nest again. But the bird built again, and again the farmer destroyed it. Finally, the little bird gave up. I can just imagine that little bird going home and saying to his family, “I just don’t know why all our good plans of building a home are not working.” Well, there was an unseen hand doing something the bird may have thought was bad, but was really good.

ACTION POINT:

Read Romans 8:28. Notice the verse is not saying that all things are good. All things are not good. There are some terrible things in this world. The point is that God is good!

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Where Our Comfort Comes From

He [Pilate] entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.” (John 19:9–11)

Pilate’s authority to crucify Jesus did not intimidate Jesus. Why not?

Not because Pilate was lying. Not because he didn’t have authority to crucify Jesus. He did.

Rather, this authority did not intimidate Jesus because it was derivative. Jesus said, “It was given to you from above.” Which means it is really authoritative. Not less. But more.

So, how is this not intimidating? Pilate not only has authority to kill Jesus. But he has God-given authority to kill him.

This does not intimidate Jesus because Pilate’s authority over Jesus is subordinate to God’s authority over Pilate. Jesus gets his comfort at this moment not because Pilate’s will is powerless, but because Pilate’s will is guided. Not because Jesus isn’t in the hands of Pilate’s fear, but because Pilate is in the hands of Jesus’s Father.

Which means that our comfort comes not from the powerlessness of our enemies, but from our Father’s sovereign rule over their power.

This is the point of Romans 8:35–37. Tribulation and distress and persecution and famine and nakedness and danger and sword cannot separate us from Christ because “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

Pilate (and all Jesus’s adversaries — and ours) meant it for evil. But God meant it for good (Genesis 50:20). All Jesus’s enemies gathered together with their God-given authority “to do whatever [God’s] hand and [God’s] plan had predestined to take place” (Acts 4:28). They sinned. But through their sinning God saved.

Therefore, do not be intimidated by your adversaries who can only kill the body (Matthew 10:28). Not only because this is all they can do (Luke 12:4), but also because it is done under the watchful hand of your Father.

“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Luke 12:6–7)

Pilate has authority. Herod has authority. Soldiers have authority. Satan has authority. But none is independent. All their authority is derivative. All of it is subordinate to God’s will. Fear not. You are precious to your sovereign Father. Far more precious than the unforgotten birds.

John Piper 

God's Providence

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Wait on the Lord, and keep His way, and He shall exalt thee to inherit the land.” Psalm 37:34

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT: 

We talk about providence, but what is providence?

Providence means to see ahead of time and to make provision. This is what God does. He sees events before they ever get here and moves everything toward the goal that He has in mind.

Now there is a lot of evil in the world, so don’t get the idea that everything that happens is God’s will. Rape is not God’s will. Murder is not God’s will. Racial hatred is not God’s will. Adultery is not God’s will. Sodomy is not God’s will.

Man has a will and man has an evil heart. And in God’s grand design, He gave man a free will. Even when man does evil, where God does not rule, God overrules.

ACTION POINT:

Read Psalm 37. Find a brother or sister in the Lord and discuss the presence of evil in this world and the providence of God in the lives of His children.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers