No One is Too Far for God to Reach

PRAY OVER THIS

“If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’”

Romans 10:9-13

 

PONDER THIS

While I was a pastor in Florida, I had a group of men I would meet with for prayer. We felt the need for revival in our city. We decided to start by praying for the meanest man in our city. And I said, “How do you get the meanest man saved?” We agreed you begin to pray for him and then you witness to him. After a long time praying, I went by his house and knocked on the door. I presented Jesus Christ to him and asked, “Would you like to be saved?” He said he would, and I led him in the sinner’s prayer. He gave his heart to Christ in the same way a little boy would trust Christ as his personal Savior. I’ve never been able to forget that. The man everybody was afraid of became a follower of Christ. God had softened his heart by prayer. There is no man, no woman, no boy, no girl too difficult for God to save.

Who are some people you believe are very far from God? How often do you pray for them?

Why is it important to trust God’s power to transform hearts over our ability to share or persuade?

PRACTICE THIS

Set a daily reminder to pray for someone you know who is far from God.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

When God Goes Against His Will

But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death. (1 Samuel 2:25)

The sons of Eli the priest would not obey their father when he rebuked them for their sin. There are three implications of this text for our lives.

1) It is possible to sin so long and so grievously that the Lord will not grant repentance.

That is why Paul said that after all our pleading and teaching, “God may perhaps grant them repentance” — not, “will grant them repentance” (2 Timothy 2:25). There is a “too late” in the life of sin. As it says of Esau in Hebrews 12:17, “He found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.” He was forsaken; he could not repent.

This does not mean that those who truly repent even after a whole lifetime of sinning cannot be saved. They certainly can be, and will be! God is staggeringly merciful. Remember the thief on the cross. Jesus said to him, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

2) Sometimes God does not permit a sinning person to do what is right.

“But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death.” Listening to the voice of their father was the right thing to do. But they would not. Why? “For it was the will of the Lord to put them to death.”

The reason given for why they did not obey their father was that God had other purposes for them, and had given them up to sinning and death. This shows that there are times when the will of God’s decree is different from the revealed will of God’s command.

3) Sometimes our prayers for God’s revealed will to be done will not be done because God has decreed something different for holy and wise purposes.

I suppose that Eli prayed for his sons to be changed. That is how he should have prayed. But God had decreed that Hophni and Phinehas not obey, but rather be slain.

When something like this happens (which we do not ordinarily know ahead of time) while we are crying out to God for change, the answer of God is not: “I don’t love you.” Rather the answer is: “I have wise and holy purposes in not overcoming this sin and not granting repentance. You do not see these purposes now. Trust me. I know what I am doing. I love you.”

John Piper 

Bible Study

Matthew 10:32-34

[32] So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, [33] but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

Not Peace, but a Sword

[34] “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

Philippians 2:9-11

[9] Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, [10] so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

1 Peter 1:21

[21] who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Acts 2:24

[24] God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

God Keeps His Promises

PRAY OVER THIS

“Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.” Titus 1:1-2

 

PONDER THIS

No promise is too hard for God to fulfill. None. Do you know how many promises there are in the Word of God? There are more than 30,000 promises in the Bible, and every one of them is yes and amen in the Lord Jesus Christ (see 2 Corinthians 1:20).

I heard once about a dear Christian lady who loved God with all her heart who’d been talking about the Lord, giving a testimony about Him and how sweet it was to trust in Him. And someone taunting her said, “Well, grandmother suppose after you die you find out that you’re not saved after all. You find out that God did not keep His word to you, and you are lost and you slip into Hell. Suppose after you die, you lose your soul.” She said, “If I lose my soul, God will lose more than I lose.” They asked, “How is that?” She said, “I might lose my soul, but God would lose His honor.” God cannot lie. Is there anything too hard for the Lord? There is no promise God cannot keep. If it’s in the Bible and if God has promised it, you can bank on it.

What are some of the promises of God you know from the Bible?

What are some things that make it difficult for you to trust the promises of God?

PRACTICE THIS

Look up some of the promises of God and thank Him for always keeping His promises.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Payout for Patience

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive.” (Genesis 50:20)

The story of Joseph in Genesis 37–50 is a great lesson in why we should have faith in the sovereign, future grace of God.

Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers, which must have tested his patience tremendously. But he is given a good job in Potiphar’s house in Egypt. Then, when he is acting uprightly in the unplanned place of obedience, Potiphar’s wife lies about his integrity and has him thrown into prison — another great trial to his patience.

But again things turn for the better, and the prison keeper gives him responsibility and respect. But just when he thinks he is about to get a reprieve from Pharaoh’s cupbearer, whose dream he interpreted, the cupbearer forgets him for two more years. Another painful trial to his patience.

Finally, the meaning of all these detours and delays becomes clear. Joseph is raised up to be the leader of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh. He ends up saving from starvation the very brothers who sold him into slavery. Joseph says to his long-estranged brothers, “God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. . . . As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive” (Genesis 45:7; 50:20).

What would have been the key to patience for Joseph during all those long years of exile and abuse? The answer is: faith in God’s sovereign, future grace — the sovereign grace of God to turn the unplanned place and the unplanned pace into the happiest ending imaginable.

That’s the key to our patience as well. Do we believe that God is working for us in the strangest and most painful turns of our lives?

John Piper 

Bible Study

Titus 3:7

[7] so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Hebrews 6:18-20

[18] so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. [19] We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, [20] where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

Romans 1:2-5

[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,

2 Timothy 1:9-10

[9] who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, [10] and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,

Drawing Near to God

PRAY OVER THIS

“He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.” Psalm 103:7

 

PONDER THIS

You can know about God, or you can know God. To know about God is to see God’s works. To know God intimately is to know God’s ways. Most people know God on the first level. All they know is the works of God. They know what God does, but they don’t know the ways of God. They don’t know who God is.

God made known His ways to Moses. He made known His acts, or His works, to the children of Israel. Moses knew God in a way the rest of the people didn’t. The rest of the people saw the works of God, but Moses knew the ways of God. We need to look beyond the works of God to see the ways of God. Now that brings about a question. Does God have favorites? No, but He does have intimate relationships with His people. How would you like to be on intimate terms with God? When you know the ways of God, that will bring peace to your troubled soul and stability to your life.

We need to know God intimately. To know God intimately will give you tranquility. It will give you rest when you not only look for Him to work and answer prayers but draw near to Him and know His ways and His heart.

What do you feel more familiar with, God’s works or God’s ways?

When have you determined to know God intimately? How can you do this continually?

PRACTICE THIS

Spend time in prayer and silence to draw near to God and ask Him to help you know Him intimately.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers