Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Lincoln’s Providence

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! (Romans 11:33)

Abraham Lincoln, who was born on this day in 1809, remained skeptical, and at times even cynical, about religion into his forties. So, it is a most striking thing how personal and national suffering drew Lincoln into the reality of God, rather than pushing him away.

In 1862, when Lincoln was 53 years old, his 11-year-old son Willie died. Lincoln’s wife “tried to deal with her grief by searching out New Age mediums.” Lincoln turned to Phineas Gurley, pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington.

Several long talks led to what Gurley described as “a conversion to Christ.” Lincoln confided that he was “driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I have nowhere else to go.”

Similarly, the horrors of the dead and wounded soldiers assaulted him daily. There were fifty hospitals for the wounded in Washington. The rotunda of the Capitol held two thousand cots for wounded soldiers.

Typically, fifty soldiers a day died in these temporary hospitals. All of this drove Lincoln deeper into the providence of God. “We cannot but believe, that He who made the world still governs it.”

His most famous statement about the providence of God in relation to the Civil War was his Second Inaugural Address, given a month before he was assassinated. It is remarkable for not making God a simple supporter for the Union or Confederate cause. God has his own purposes and does not excuse sin on either side.

Fondly do we hope — fervently do we pray — that this mighty scourge of war might speedily pass away. . . .

Yet if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man’s two hundred years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid with another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago so still it must be said, “the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether.”

I pray for all of you who suffer loss and injury and great sorrow that it will awaken for you, as it did for Lincoln, not an empty fatalism, but a deeper reliance on the infinite wisdom and love of God’s inscrutable providence.


John Piper 

The only answer to the world’s question



BIBLE MEDITATION:

Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:24

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

The world wants to know what we should do about the problems of the world. What about overcrowded prisons? Poverty? Rape? Murder? Orphans? The homeless?

Do you know why we never solve the problems? Because we don’t see the real problem.

The sociologist says it is just a cultural lag. The psychologist calls it an emotional disturbance. The philosopher calls it irrational behavior. The communist calls it the human class struggle. The humanist calls it human weakness. The criminologist calls it anti-human conduct. The Bible calls it sin.

And the only answer for sin is Jesus, who executes the will of God, expresses the love of God, and expounds the mind of God.

ACTION POINT:

The problems of our world are beyond solution—apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. God moves in answer to our prayers. Your effectual, fervent prayer “availeth much.” (James 5:16)


LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Monday, February 11, 2019

Courage


1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 
3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.  - Psalms 23

Get a word from the Lord.
My word is courage.
Be a risk taker.
What does it take to be a risk taker?
Live boldly.

1. Know that victory is already won.

1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2 "Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them." - Numbers 13:1-2

2. Follow God's directions.

So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, according to the command of the LORD, all of them men who were heads of the people of Israel. - Numbers 13:3

25 At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land.
26 And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.
27 And they told him, "We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.
28 However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there.
29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan." - Numbers 13:25-29

For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.  - Isaiah 52:12

3. Ignore others opinions.

30 But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, "Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it."
31 Then the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are."
32 So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, "The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height.
33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them." - Numbers 13:30-33

4. Walk in confidence not fear.

5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel.
6 And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes
7 and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, "The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land.
8 If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey.
9 Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them." - Numbers 14:5-9

But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it. - Numbers 14:24

A- Ask God.
S- Base it on scripture not feelings.
K- Know God will use it to grow you and glorify Him.

God is working all around us, pay attention.
Be intentional in your work for the Lord.
You will be victorious in Christ.
The enemy is the master of exaggeration. 
See yourself as God sees you.
You are a mighty warrior in Christ!
He will be with you!

The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent." - Exodus 14:14

Then he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts. - Zechariah 4:6

For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed," says the LORD, who has compassion on you.  - Isaiah 54:10

Thanks Pastor Kevin!



The Best Form of Slavery

He who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a slave of Christ. (1 Corinthians 7:22, my translation)

I would have expected Paul to switch the places of “Lord,” which means Master, and “Christ,” which means Messiah.

He correlates our liberation with Jesus being our Master (“a freedman of the Lord”). And he correlates our new slavery with Jesus being our Messiah (“a slave of Christ”). It seems strange because the Messiah came to liberate his people from their captors; and masters take control of their slaves’ lives.

Why does he say it this way? Why correlate slavery (rather than liberation) with Messiah, and liberation (rather than slavery) with Master?

Suggestion: The switch has two effects on our new liberty and two effects on our new slavery.

On the one hand, in calling us “the liberated of the Lord,” he secures and limits our new liberty:

His lordship is over all other lords; so our liberation is uncontested — absolutely secure.

But, free from all other lords, we are not free from him. Our freedom is mercifully limited. Jesus is our Master.

On the other hand, in calling us the “slaves of Christ,” he loosens and sweetens our slavery:

The Messiah lays claim on his own in order to bring them from the confines of captivity into the open spaces of peace. “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end” (Isaiah 9:7).

And he makes them his own to give them the sweetest joy. “With honey from the rock I would satisfy you” (Psalm 81:16). And that Rock is Christ, the Messiah.

So, Christian, be glad in this: “He who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord” — the Master. “Likewise he who was free when called is a slave of Christ” — the loosening, sweetening Messiah.”


John Piper 

Will you take hold of the best?



BIBLE MEDITATION:

I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength. Psalm 18:1

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Have you ever tried to get a bone away from a dog? It’s not too easy, unless you have something better for him. Try offering a T-bone steak, and that dog will drop his bone like a bad habit.

In the same way, the writer of Hebrews tried to encourage the Jewish Christians, new believers who had a tendency to cling to the old customs of the Old Testament, to leave the dry bones of ceremonies and instead feast upon the delights of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It’s a lesson we all must appropriate in our lives. It can become comfortable for us to hold to our traditions, rather than try something new. But friend, there is no one and nothing that can compare with Jesus.

ACTION POINT:

You may learn to love Jesus better, but you can never love anything better than Jesus. Ask God to begin showing you the delights of a close relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.


LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Sunday, February 10, 2019

How Satan Perverts Knowledge


3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. - 2 Corinthians 11:3-4

12 And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do.
13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.
14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
15 So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. - 2 Corinthians 11:12-15

1 Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! 
2 Who can utter the mighty deeds of the LORD, or declare all his praise? 
3 Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times! 
4 Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people; help me when you save them, 
5 that I may look upon the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory with your inheritance. 
6 Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness. 
7 Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea. 
8 Yet he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make known his mighty power. 
9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry, and he led them through the deep as through a desert. 
10 So he saved them from the hand of the foe and redeemed them from the power of the enemy. 
11 And the waters covered their adversaries; not one of them was left. 
12 Then they believed his words; they sang his praise. 
13 But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel. 
14 But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness, and put God to the test in the desert; 
15 he gave them what they asked, but sent a wasting disease among them. 
16 When men in the camp were jealous of Moses and Aaron, the holy one of the LORD, 
17 the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. 
18 Fire also broke out in their company; the flame burned up the wicked. 
19 They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a metal image. 
20 They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass. 
21 They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, 
22 wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Red Sea. 
23 Therefore he said he would destroy them- had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them. 
24 Then they despised the pleasant land, having no faith in his promise. 
25 They murmured in their tents, and did not obey the voice of the LORD. 
26 Therefore he raised his hand and swore to them that he would make them fall in the wilderness, 
27 and would make their offspring fall among the nations, scattering them among the lands. 
28 Then they yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor, and ate sacrifices offered to the dead; 
29 they provoked the LORD to anger with their deeds, and a plague broke out among them. 
30 Then Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was stayed. 
31 And that was counted to him as righteousness from generation to generation forever. 
32 They angered him at the waters of Meribah, and it went ill with Moses on their account, 
33 for they made his spirit bitter, and he spoke rashly with his lips. 
34 They did not destroy the peoples, as the LORD commanded them, 
35 but they mixed with the nations and learned to do as they did. 
36 They served their idols, which became a snare to them. 
37 They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons; 
38 they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood. 
39 Thus they became unclean by their acts, and played the whore in their deeds. 
40 Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people, and he abhorred his heritage; 
41 he gave them into the hand of the nations, so that those who hated them ruled over them. 
42 Their enemies oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their power. 
43 Many times he delivered them, but they were rebellious in their purposes and were brought low through their iniquity. 
44 Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress, when he heard their cry. 
45 For their sake he remembered his covenant, and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love. 
46 He caused them to be pitied by all those who held them captive. 
47 Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise. 
48 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, "Amen!" Praise the LORD!  - Psalms 106

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,
20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak. - Ephesians 6:10-20

1 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers,
2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?
6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time.
7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.
8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.
9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders,
10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,
12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. - 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12

1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:
2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,
4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. - 2 Timothy 4:1-8

1 This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder,
2 that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles,
3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.
4 They will say, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation."
5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God,
6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.
7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,
12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!
13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. - 2 Peter 3:1-13

Saving Faith Isn’t Easily Satisfied



If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. (Hebrews 11:15–16)

Faith sees the promised future that God offers and “desires” it. “As it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.” Dwell on this for a moment.

There are many people who water down what saving faith is by making it a mere decision with no change of what one desires and seeks. But the point of this text in the great faith chapter in the Bible — Hebrews 11 — is that living and dying by faith means having new desires and seeking new satisfactions.

Verse 14 says that the saints of old (who are being commended for their faith here in Hebrews 11) were seeking a different kind of country than this world offered. And verse 16 says they were desiring something better than what a present earthly existence could offer. “They desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.”

They had been so gripped by God that nothing short of being with God would satisfy.

So, this is true saving faith: seeing the promises of God from afar, and experiencing a change of values so that you desire and seek after and trust in the promises of God above what the world has to offer.


John Piper