Some Thoughts on Our Country

The fortunes of a nation do not rise or fall with the political actions of one man, president or otherwise.  The Bible tells us that righteousness exalts a nation, and that wickedness is shameful to any people.  Americans have abused and misused three centuries of God-given prosperity.  The mercy of His abundance is matched only by the mercy of His patience.  Now our country is surely facing the cold winds of the long-deserved reckoning.  Whatever evil a misguided politician can bring upon us is a drop in the ocean to the moral damage caused by the national behavior.  In a mere forty years we have come to the point of raising a generation that is thoughtlessly throwing away the fabric of society—God’s institution of marriage!  How did we come to such a state?  It’s too late for the nation to cry “God, help us!”  But in His never-failing mercy God will protect His own.     

A Great Puritan Prayer

You are in every situation able to meet my needs and miseries.  

May I live by You, live for You, never be satisfied with my Christian progress but as I resemble Christ.

And may conformity to His principles, temper, and conduct grow hourly in my life.

Let Your unexampled love constrain me into holy obedience,

and render my duty my delight.

Support me by the strength of heaven that I may never turn back, or desire false pleasures that wilt and disappear into nothing.

As I pursue my heavenly journey by Your grace let me be known as a person with no aim but that of a burning desire for You, and the good and salvation of others.

"Drunk" with the Spirit

In Ephesians 5:18, we are exhorted to not get drunk with wine, which has such terrible consequences, but to be filled with the Spirit.  People get drunk to enjoy themselves, to experience the pleasure it offers when the alcohol controls them.  But its consequences, like the ultimate effect of so many worldly pleasures, are self-destructive and harmful.  In this illuminating comparison, Paul intimates that being under the control of the Spirit is both similar and different.  The Christian experiences great joy when the heart is filled with God’s Spirit. The pleasures of the world can never be fully satisfying.  We quickly grow tired of even the best of them.  Eating food is good only up to a point.  Excess makes so many legitimate desires very harmful.  And many of these pleasures can be indulged only at the expense of a guilty conscience.  Unbelievers cannot help but feel condemned in so much that they delight to do.  But there is no danger of excess or guilt in being “drunk” with the Spirit.  We never grow weary of spiritual joys, and we can never desire them too much.  In the things of God we should enlarge our desires as much as we can.  Spiritual delights can satisfy the entire heart.  Our highest joys may be indulged with no fear of a guilty conscience.  What a blessing it is to be commanded to seek our highest enjoyment in things in harmony with conscience!

Satisfied yet Longing for More

Another of the distinguishing signs of true conversion listed by Jonathan Edwards is that the true believer will always want to know more of God and experience more of His transforming grace.  The greater our love grows, the more our desire for Him grows.  The paradox is that although we always want to experience more of God, there is no suggestion here that we what we have attained leaves us unsatisfied.  Worldly pleasures are never satisfying, they only give temporary pleasure.  The pleasure is over as soon as the desire is satisfied, and the basic appetite of human nature for happiness returns empty.  In contrast, each step we take as Christians can be profoudly satisfying, even though we will always have a longing to experience more of God.  The higher our affections are raised, that is, the more our love for God increases, the more our longing for Him grows.  In Philippians 3, Paul wrote that the single most important thing in his life was  to know and enjoy more of Christ every day.  This longing for more of God and holiness is a great distinguishing mark of true conversion. 

Beholding God's Glory

In his Religious Affections, Jonathan Edwards emphasized nothing more strongly than that a saving belief of the gospel arises from the mind being enlightened to behold God's divine glory (2 Corinthians 4:6).  As a result,  genuine Christians will not only have knowledge of God, but they will love Him and have an intense longing to know Him better.  The teachings and divine works revealed in the gospel clearly manifest the glory of God’s moral perfections.  Those who are born again will exult in seeing God’s holiness, and seeing the beauty of holiness is seeing the most important thing in the world, without which all the world is empty.  Unless God’s majesty and divine excellence is revealed to the heart, nothing is seen that is worth seeing, and there is no saving faith without some degree of this knowledge.  Edwards wrote that it is from seeing God’s glory that all gracious affections arise, that is, that a saving response to the gospel message arises from a sight of this glory.

Accepting God's Word

A genuine profession of faith will manifest its sincerity in the person’s attitude toward the Bible.  True conversion will always be accompanied by a new delight in the word of the Lord.  It is very striking in what manner the Bible describes the love of the Christian for God’s word.  It uses terms that convey intense feeling as well as reverence.  Those who are born again will not only acknowledge the Bible as God’s inspired revelation, they will now love and enjoy it  as never before.  They will wholeheartedly accept and rejoice in what it teaches as wisdom from God.  Doctrines that once seemed to be foolish to them now have a great power to motivate and change their hearts.  There is no true saving faith without a spiritual sight of God’s glory that is imparted to a new child of God by means of the word of God (2 Corinthians 4:6).  All the prejudices of the heart against the truth of divine things are removed, so that the new believer is satisfied that the Bible is completely trustworthy.  This is called in scripture “full assurance of faith.”  The gospel is believed on with joy on the basis of its own convincing evidence, not because some particular individual or church accepts it.  The Christian will not merely accept the Bible intellectually, but will cherish it as a priceless treasure.

Evangelical Humiliation

One of the most important evidences of genuine conversion is what Jonathan Edwards called evangelical humiliation.  This is trustworthy proof of salvation because it cannot be easily counterfeited.  What Edwards meant by evangelical humiliation is that those who are truly born again realize they were utterly insufficient to save themselves, and that all of the glory in their salvation belongs to God.  As a result, true Christians will have a disposition to humble themselves and exalt God alone.  This is absolutely essential in conversion.  God’s way of redeeming people through the gospel is designed to produce this humility in the hearts of those who know they are saved by grace alone (Romans 3:27; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31).  Genuine Christians will be characterized by a profound sense of their own sinfulness and a great appreciation of the mercy of God’s forgiveness.  As a result, they will gladly accept reproof from others and will be quick to forgive offenses.  There is reason to question the sincerity of those professing Christians who always bristle when someone points out a fault, or who hold grudges, being unwilling to forgive.

Counterfeit Conversions

In his treatise on Religious Affections, Jonathan Edwards first set forth several things that in themselves do not prove that a person is genuinely converted.  People can display a great deal of confidence regarding their profession of faith, they can impress others with a large amount of knowledge of the Bible, and can display strong emotion in worship and prayer, all of which appears to be very sincere, without having been truly born again.  Every kind of external moral behavior can be easily counterfeited by the devil.  A person can appear to be very zealous for God, can quote large portions of Scripture, can claim to love God, and speak with great assurance, and yet never experienced the saving grace of God.  I have seen many apparently sincere and very zealous people abandon the faith after years of professing to be followers of Christ.   People can be deceived and believe that they are in a saving relationship with Christ while they are still under the wrath of God.  One of Edwards’ primary reasons for writing the Religious Affections was to prevent this great tragedy.  More on the positive side tomorrow.

The Throne of Grace

Our God is a God of mercy.  Mercy is the quality that sees and sympathizes with the misery of others.  God shows His people mercy, not because they merit it in any way, but because He in Himself is merciful.  Our Lord not only has a tender concern for our difficulties, but He can do something about them.  God’s mercy is displayed in the many ways He helps us when we need help.  The Bible encourages us to go to God for mercy.  Hebrews 4:16 calls this “the throne of grace.”  Those who have a deep sense of their own unworthiness, most see the need of mercy, and most admire it.  They realize they are always in some need of help, that they must always depend on God.  They know that all that they have are blessings from God’s mercy, and that He can continue those blessings or take them away at His will.  Every comfort and benefit they enjoy—health, strength, liberty, financial security—are all dipped in the Lord’s mercy.  

God Gives What You Desire

Psalm 37:4 promises that the Lord will give you the desires of your heart if you meet just one condition: if you delight in Him.  This is a sweeping, all-encompassing promise!  How can God trust us not to misuse such a promise?  What will keep us from asking for all kinds of selfish desires?  For things that seem good to us right now, but will ultimately prove harmful?  The one condition is an adequate safeguard.  Delighting in God does something profound in our hearts.  It transforms the central concern of the heart away from self-interest.  God’s glory now becomes the driving passion of life.  Everything else now serves this overarching purpose.  A person who desires God above all things will not ask Him for things that are contrary to His will.  A heart that delights in God will impose its own limits on what is asked of God.  The central desire of such a heart will be righteousness (37:6); and no prayer contrary to this purpose will be allowed.  God delights to answer the prayers and give abundant blessings to those who delight in Him (37:11). 

Edwards' Religious Affections

Jonathan Edward’s treatise On the Religious Affections is one of the greatest gifts God has given to His church through the writings of an uninspired author.  Edwards observed the effects of the revival in New England in the 1740s, called “The Great Awakening,” with mixed emotions.  Over time, he saw that many people who had professed Christ as their Savior, gave up that profession and returned to their former way of life.  This included people who had appeared to genuinely accept the gospel with great feeling and joy.  Edwards studied Scripture to seek to understand this.  The result, was his great book On the Religious Affections.  It is the most insightful writing ever produced on what are the marks of true conversion.  There is nothing more important than discerning between genuine and false professions of faith.  Edward’s treatise is the finest examination of this crucial subject ever written.

God's Counsel

In Psalm 119:24, David says that God’s word is not only his delight, but it functions as his counselors.  Because of the inherent darkness of his understanding and the dominance of self-love, no person is able to rule and govern his life in a way that pleases God.  We need His counsel.  We need God’s word as our rule, and His Spirit as our guide to lead us in the way to true happiness and God’s glory.  The Scriptures are the counsel of God, sent to remedy the miseries of the fall.  The Holy Spirit uses the Bible to counsel us how to come to the Lord for happiness.  What a great mercy it is, that God has given us the Bible to counsel us in every situation of life.  Without His merciful direction, we are all like blind men, groping along in utter darkness.  When people reject the Bible, the Lord abandons them to the counsel of their own hearts.  They need no other means to ruin them, than to be left to to their own darkened understanding (Ephesians 4:17-18).  The true Christian will seek God’s direction in every circumstance of life, humbly submitting to whatever condition He has appointed.  The Lord will never fail to direct and guide those who look to Him in this way. 

Prayer for Wisdom

James 1:5-6 teach us to go directly to God for the wisdom needed to successfully manage adversity.  The context deals with God’s sovereign design in afflictions—with the great blessings suffering can produce in our lives, and how the Christian must respond in order for those blessings to become reality (James 1:2-4).  Prayer is an expression of our dependence upon God as well as an admission of our limitations.  We are instructed to pray to God for the wisdom that will lead us in the right path, and watch for His answer.  One of the ways God gives wisdom is by inclining the heart to one course of action.  So, with confidence we submit our way to Him, ask Him to direct our steps, and then observe the inclination of our hearts.  

Success and Blessing

Our business as Christians in all that we do is to please God.  The goal of our lives should be to “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord” (Colossians 1:10).  God is both the Christian’s greatest good and ultimate purpose.  Therefore, in our every action we must make it our business to have God’s approval.  All the success of our actions depends upon upon His blessing.  It depends upon the Spirit of God dwelling in us, concurrently working with us in all that we do (Philippians 2:12-13).  Therefore, it must be our ambition, whether by life or by death, to do what pleases Him.  Duty is ours, regardless of the consequences; whether our actions are “successful” or not belongs to God.

A Powerful Joy

Thomas Manton wrote some very thoughtful remarks on the joy Christians experience in this life, especially in affliction.  With profound insight, he compared the comfort and encouragement God gives with what the world offers.  The joy of the world is only temporary, and often ends in sorrow.  Getting drunk results in a hangover, if not something more deadly.  But the joys of the Christian “end well,” as Manton put it.  The enjoyments of the world enslave those who use them.  There is no lasting satisfaction in them and often much hurt and danger.  In contrast, the delights of God are pure and have great power to uplift us in the midst of adversity.   

Delight in God's Word

Throughout Psalm 119, David again and again expresses his love for God’s word.  He says that he longs to know it, he delights in it, he desires it above all riches.  Why this desire for God’s word?  1 Peter 2:2 compares the believers need for God’s word with a baby’s need for milk.  Does a baby have to learn to desire the milk that nourishes it?  A baby desires milk, not by instruction, but by instinct.  That desire is a part of its nature.  A true believer has been given a new nature that needs and desires the spiritual milk of God’s word in the same way.  If you are truly “born-again” this must be true of you.  You cannot be a Christian without a longing and desire for the Bible.

Proof of Indwelling Sin

Just as Psalm 119:35 is a remarkable proof of inspiration, so it is also convincing evidence that every person has a sinful nature, with no ability to obey God.  In that verse, David prays that God would make him do what he delights to do.  Why does he need the Lord’s help to do what should be easy to do?  What prevents him from doing what he loves to do?  The apostle Paul wrestled with this same problem in Romans 7.  There he tells us that having a desire to obey God is not enough.  We need God’s power to overcome indwelling sin.  David had to struggle with this same enemy.  He recognized that the desire to do the Lord’s will was not sufficient in itself to overcome the downward pull of his fallen nature.  The uniform teaching of the Bible is explicit: we are completely dependent on God’s enablement to deal with our greatest enemy—our own sinful hearts.

A Remarkable Proof of Inspiration

Psalm 119:35 reads: “Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it.”  There is something very remarkable here.  David prays that God will make him do what he delights in.  We usually do not need someone to force us to do what we love to do.  Delighting in something is motive enough to inspire hard effort.  What we love to do should be easy to do.  To me, this verse in Psalm 119 is one of the most practical proofs of the divine inspiration of the Bible.  It teaches exactly what the apostle Paul taught 1,000 years later in Romans 7:18: that he desires to do what God commands, and yet does not have the power to do so.  David said the same thing.  The desire to obey God is not enough.  We need the power of the Holy Spirit.  Remarkable!

An Extraordinary Choice

Hebrews 11:24-25 records the decision of Moses to forsake the treasures of Egypt.  What are we to learn from this amazing example of self-denial?  One great lesson is that to the godly person, sin is worse than affliction.  We also learn what is the nature of saving faith.  There was nothing done by Moses that is not required of all Christians  Luke 14:33  is just one example of the extraordinary self-denial Jesus demands of all His disciples.  Faith is not only strong confidence in God, it is also such esteem for Christ and the blessings He gives, that all other things lose their value in our eyes.

Paul exemplifies this in Philippians 3:7-10, where he affirms that he was willing to lose everything for the surpassing value of knowing Christ.  It is faith alone that can bring us to the same resolution.  It was faith that enabled Moses to make the choice to forsake Egypt, a choice that echoes down through human history.

Seeking True Riches

True wisdom is of so great a price, that all the treasures of the world cannot purchase it.  But Proverbs 2:4 promises that God will reveal the knowledge of Himself to those who seek Him, if they pursue such knowledge with the effort characteristic of those seeking silver and gold.  The Bible uses such comparisons to convey to us some idea of the priceless value of spiritual things.  Having a strong conviction of their worth is the fruit of faith.  The Christian should love God’s word above all things.  We are very foolish if we measure our happiness by worldly possessions or wealth. God has wisely ordained that in both the natural and spiritual realms, the most valuable treasures are obtained only by diligence and hard work. The Lord’s purpose in this is to make us prize more highly things of greater value.  The profit from God’s word is more valuable than anything we might lose in following Christ.  Whatever else we have, if we are rich in faith we are rich in God’s eyes.

More Valuable Than Riches

Psalm 119:14 is just one of several verses in this great psalm that compares the value of God’s word with the value of all riches.  Verse 14 tells us  that a believer’s delight in God’s word is not less than what all the world’s treasures can give.  That really is an extraordinary comparison.  How does a believing heart experience this delight?  The degree of desire and delight we experience should be according to the value of the object.  We should have the greatest delight in God and spiritual things because they are the most valuable.  One of the primary effects of grace is that it motivates us to choose God for our greatest good.  In every Christian duty we experience delight.  Psalm 19:10 affirms that both the greatest profit and the greatest pleasure are to be found in believing and obeying God’s word.  The profit is compared to the value of gold, and the pleasure is compared to the sweetness of honey.  The word of God will truly enrich a person and make him happy.

Quick to Hear

James 1:19 directs us to “be quick to hear, slow to speak”.  I have often heard that this verse concerns our relationship with other people.  In personal conversation, we should be ready to hear what others have to say, and slow to voice our own opinion.  Reading Thomas Manton’s comments on this verse has given me a new understanding of it.  The context clearly shows that this command relates to our response to the gospel.  The previous verse (James 1:18) teaches that God’s word is the instrument by which we have been born again.  Verse 21, which follows, also concerns our attitude and response to the message of the gospel.  So, we are instructed here to be quick to listen to God’s word and receive it with humility.  We should highly value the privilege of hearing and reading the Bible, and be very slow to raise objections to what it teaches.  We must not be quick to arrogantly contradict it.  Doctrines that are hard for human reason to accept must be accepted nontheless.  The person who humbly responds in this way will experience the great saving power of God’s word.

The Purpose of God's Commands

The controversy with the Pharisees recorded in Matthew 12:1-8 follows Jesus’ great invitation for all who are weary to come to Him for rest.  Christ’s invitation and the opposition of the Pharisees are intimately connected.  Christ offered rest to anyone who would come to Him by faith.  The controversy which followed was about resting on the Sabbath. The disagreement involved the very purpose of God’s commands and ordinances.  The Pharisees considered the act of Christ’s disciples in taking the grain in the field and eating it as a breach of God’s law.  Jesus responded that the purpose of all of God’s commands was to mercifully direct people to what would meet their deepest needs.  The result of the Pharisees misuse of God’s law was to lay heavy burdens on people.    The Christian must always understand that the commands which give direction to life are also assurances of God’s enabling power.  They are not intended to weigh us down, but to lift us up.

Strength to Make Bricks

Jesus said that we will find rest for our souls as we take His yoke upon us.  This is a picture of obeying and serving Him.  Christ’s yoke will be easy and His commands will not be burdensome if we understand their purpose.  We learn about our loving heavenly Father in the very process of serving Him.  God requires nothing of us but what is for our own good.  No duty, such as reading the Bible, praying, etc., is a mere task that we must fulfill in our own strength.  Rather, they are the means appointed by God to accomplish His purposes in us.  Every command is also a promise that God will supply all that we need to do His will.  This is one of the greatest glories of Christianity!  God is not Pharaoh, commanding bricks to be made without the means. The Lord not only gives us the straw, but also the strength to make the bricks.  When we understand the wonderful blessings that come to us by obeying God’s commands, Christ’s yoke will indeed be easy to bear.  I’ll conclude this tomorrow.

Commands and Promises

In Matthew 11:28 Jesus offers rest of soul to those who will come to Him.  Jesus gives us rest by revealing God to us.  In the next verse He tells us how this happens.  To come to Jesus, a person must “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me.”  We experience rest for our souls while taking His yoke upon ourselves, that is while serving and obeying Him.  The promises that encourage and comfort us cannot be separated from commands that must be obeyed.  How can His yoke be easy?  How can God’s commands not be a burden?  (1 John 5:4)  The answer is in the nature of the obedience God requires of us.  In every duty there is a command and a promise.  We must obey the commands and believe the promises.  It is a great mercy that the Lord promises to give us the grace needed to obey every command.  More tomorrow.

Rest for the Soul

God is not Pharaoh; He does not demand that Christians make bricks without straw.  He has not given His commandments to us to weigh us down with impossible demands.  If reading the Bible or hearing it preached leaves us with nothing but a heavy burden, something crucially important is being missed.  In Matthew 11:28 Jesus offers to give spiritual rest to anyone who will come to Him in faith.  What gives the soul rest?  The previous verse tells us that no one can know the Father unless Jesus reveals Him.  Then Jesus invites all to come to Him and learn from Him in order to find rest.  These verses are intimately connected.  We must learn something from Jesus that gives peace and rest to our souls.  Clearly, it is the knowledge of God that only Jesus can reveal.  Nothing else can give true contentment to the human soul.  We must learn to come to God as the all-sufficient source of everything we need.  And only Jesus can reveal God to us in this profound way.  More on this tomorrow.

Free Will

Does the Bible teach that people have “free will?”  That depends on how you define “free will.”  People do indeed have the ability in themselves to freely choose whatever they want.  The problem is that fallen human nature only wants to do what is sinful.  And every person born into this world has a nature corrupted by sin.  So, while people may freely choose what their nature desires, the only thing that nature desires to do is sin.  People do not have the ability in themselves to do what God’s law requires.  By nature, every person is hostile toward God and is not able to obey His laws (Romans 8:7).  In order to experience true freedom a person must be “born again,” they must have a new nature.

Free to Pursue True Happiness

What really infringes on a person’s liberty is whatever prevents them from obtaining their greatest purpose in life, which is to be truly happy.  A life lived in bondage to sin can never enjoy genuine happiness.  Nothing is worse than a condition of slavery to sin.  Titus 3:3 describes unbelievers as “slaves to passions and pleasures.”  When various lusts take the throne of a person’s heart, the entire life becomes disordered.  God has provided the means to break that bondage in Christ.  When people reject Him, they are rejecting the only means that can free them from sin.  They are rejecting the only means that can make them happy; the only means by which people can enjoy what they where created for.  A final thought on “free will” tomorrow. 

Genuine Freedom

Everyone desires freedom.  But what actually is freedom?  Most people think of it as the absence of all restraint on their lives; as being able to do whatever they please.  But doing lawlessly whatever your heart desires is actually the greatest misery that can befall a person.  The world’s concept of liberty could not be more in error.  Freedom is not being able to live as we wish; it is being able live as we should, as God intended.  The fallen human heart is enslaved to sin, and has no power to escape the misery the always accompanies sin.  Glorious liberty can only be found in Christ.  We never have greater freedom than when we are pleasing God. The epistle of James calls the gospel the “law of liberty” because it reveals to us how we can live as we should.  More tomorrow.

God's Word is Enough

In his second letter, Peter refers to his experience of seeing the tranfiguration of the Lord Jesus (2 Peter 1:16-18).  Being an eyewitness of such a glorious event is credible evidence that what Peter writes should be trusted.  Yet the apostle immediately follows this by stating that the written word of God is more trustworthy than any personal experience (2 Peter 1:19).  If this genuine experience of one of Christ’s original apostles does not carry the same weight as Scripture, what is the value of the many questionable experiences we hear of today?  One more point.  Before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead He waited four days so there would be no doubt that Lazarus had died (John 11).  In contrast, modern accounts of those who have been declared legally dead, and then acknowledged as alive, all involve very short time spans, usually an hour at the most. 

Genuine Resurrections?

Jesus’ statement in Luke 16:31 bears directly on the claims of those who say they have died, gone to heaven, and then have been resurrected.  They are indeed claiming that they have been resurrected from the dead.  Jesus said, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.”  Why do people read such accounts?  What benefit do they get?  Those who reject the Gospel are probably seeking some evidence that heaven is real.  Jesus said that those who reject the testimony of God’s word will not be convinced even if someone is genuinely resurrected.  Christians should have no need to seek proof beyond the Bible.  The evidence of Scripture is sufficient for the believing heart.  I will have two more points on this tomorrow. 

Thirty Minutes in Heaven?

There have been a lot of books in recent years written by people who say that they died, went to heaven, and then came back to life.  What is the Christian to think of such experiences?  Is there anything in Scripture to guide us in evaluating these claims?  Jesus made a statement, recorded in Luke 16:31, that bears directly on this subject.  He said, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.”  Our Lord is clearly stating that if people will not believe the testimony of God’s word, they will not believe even if someone is resurrected from the dead.  Why do people read such books?  Will those who reject the Bible be convinced by them?  Think about this; tomorrow I will have more to say on this subject.  

Crude Jokes are not a Laughing Matter

Ephesians 5:4 associates crude joking with moral filthiness. The context of that verse tells us that God will judge those who are immoral with their bodies and impure with their speech.  What does the overwhelming use of dirty humor tell us about our culture?  Ephesians 5:6 warns us not to be deceived, God’s wrath will come upon those who think nothing of using dirty jokes, who have no conscience about the damage such humor produces. Coarse jokes reveal an impure heart.  The heart of a person who laughs at filthy humor is a heart that laughs at the idea that God will judge such behavior.

Replace Crude Jokes with Thanksgiving

Ephesians 5:4 tells us that Christians should have nothing to do with crude joking.  We are to replace crude humor with thanksgiving to God. Praising God for the sweet experiences of His grace must replace laughter at dirty jokes.  That these two things are associated in this verse teaches us something very important.  Why do people use suggestive humor?  What do they get from the modern situation comedies?  They use such humor to enjoy themselves and just have a good time.  What unbelievers employ crude jokes for, Christians will find in giving thanks to God—the greatest enjoyment of life possible!  We thank God because we know that all the good things of life come from His hand.  The Christian does not have to pervert God’s blessings in impure ways to pursue happiness.  More tomorrow. 

Every Good Thing

When God takes away good things from His people, He means it for good.   Psalm 34:10 assures us that “Those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.”  Does God actually mean no good thing?  Psalm 84:11 echoes this magnificent promise, “No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”  If those statements are really true, they are breathtaking!  If it were good for us to have a larger amount of money than we now possess, we would not lack it.  If those who love God do not have something that in itself appears to be good, for them it is not good.  Discerning Christians will value as priceless the spiritual blessings that God gives them through affliction.  They would not exchange these truly good things for the whole world.

Our Greatest Good

Another measure of what is good is the effect something has on our highest goal and our greatest good.  The Christian finds the greatest happiness in the enjoyment of  God.  The joy of the true believer does not consist in an abundance of earthly pleasures or possessions, but in having God’s favor and being near to Him by faith.  Anything that brings us closer to our Lord is good; anything that separates us from Him is evil.  Afflictions do not take anything from us that is essential to our happiness, rather they often help us by driving us closer to God.  The good of our present condition must be determined by its effect on the welfare of our eternal souls.  More tomorrow.

Is Affliction Good?

In Psalm 119:71 David said that he considered affliction good because through it he had learned to follow God’s word. Happiness includes freedom from misery. Yet Scripture pronounces a person blessed (or happy) who suffers much misery in learning to obey the Lord. Whether we look upon adversity as good for us or not depends on what we consider good and evil. How are we to determine this? Good must not be determined by our limited understanding, but by the wisdom of God. Affliction must be viewed from God’s perspective. If a Christian is fully persuaded that the affliction God brings into his life is good, that person is prepared to go through any adversity not only with patience, but with a steady, joyful hope that greatly honors God.
More on this tomorrow.

Faith in Adversity

The first and most important thing faith will do in times of affliction is simply cry out to God (Psalm 61:2).  Going to God in prayer with our troubles is an  acknowledgment that we believe He is genuinely concerned about everything that happens to us.  It reveals from whom we expect to find relief.  In the most overwhelming calamities that may befall a believer, faith still sees in God sufficient resources to meet every need.  Even in the sharpest afflictions, faith will not turn away from the Lord to seek relief in something else.  Faith will be content to wait upon God’s timing.  Steadfast faith in adversity proclaims to the world our unshakable conviction that help can be found only in the Lord.    

An Enlarged Heart

”I will run in the way of Your commandments when You enlarge my heart!” (Psalm 119:32)  Before we can diligently and willingly obey our Lord’s commands, He must first do a work in our hearts.  To keep His word, this blessing of an “enlarged heart” is necessary.  The Lord must change our hearts, increasing our desire to obey Him as well as giving us the power to do so. This verse in Psalm 119 expresses perfectly the thought of Philippians 2:12-13.  We are to “work out” our own salvation, knowing that God is working in our hearts to give us the desire and the ability to obey Him.  It is wonderful to see the amazing harmony of the Bible.  Whether in an Old Testament song celebrating God’s word or a New Testament letter to a specific church, the theology is the same. 

God's Word and Great Peace

Jesus promised His disciples peace of heart (John 14:27).  We experience this peace when by faith our hearts are free from distracting cares and are set upon God.  One result is that we are not troubled by the loss of outward things. Psalm 119:165 says that those who love God’s word have great peace and such security in the faith that nothing can ever turn them away from God.  Loving God’s word has a powerful effect on our hearts. We will not question or doubt the goodness of what God is doing in our lives. In contratst, the pathetic peace that the world gives is very unstable, it rises or falls with changing circumstances. Paul wrote that the peace of God protects our hearts and minds from influences that turn us away from Him. Not only will we be kept from falling away, but God Himself, as the ultimate source of all peace, will be with us (Philippians 4:7,9).  

Self-love

There are many commands in the Bible that exhort us to love God above all things and all other people, even our dearest friends and family members.  There are also innumerable passages that instruct us to love others.  But we find no commands in Scripture that direct us to love ourselves.  The Bible assumes that self-love is an indelible part of our nature.  The only commands dealing with self-love are ones that direct us to restrain and moderate it.  Philippians 2:3 says that we should “do nothing from selfishness.”  The first demand Jesus requires of His disciples is self-denial.  The unrestrained preooccupation with self today is undoubtedly a root cause of much unhappiness.  The modern emphasis on self-esteem is a tragic old error in new language.    

What Jesus Prayed For

John 17 records the last magnificent prayer Jesus offered up to the Father before His death.  Our Lord prayed for His immediate disciples and all those who would come to believe in Him.  He did not pray that His people would have wealth, prosperity, or status.  He could have prayed for those things.  What Jesus did ask of the Father was that His followers be sanctified through the truth.  Why did our Lord specify this blessing? He knows what blessings are most needed by His people; He knows what will be the greatest benefit to us.   Only those who are sanctified can enjoy the full benefits of redemption.  To be sanctified is to be set apart and prepared for some holy use.  Only those who have experienced the powerful sanctifying work of God’s word will be prepared to faithfully serve Him in this world.

Danger of Prosperity

In Psalm 119:67, David wrote that when he enjoyed prosperity he strayed from the path of obedience, but after suffering affliction he kept God’s word.  Here we have the danger of prosperity and the necessity of affliction.  What did suffering do, that prosperity did not, to keep him faithful to God’s word?  When we wander from the truth, the course God takes is often to bring suffering into our lives.  Afflictions change us, making our hearts teachable and dependent on God.  They drive us to make better use of His word.    Although affliction is not pleasant, and can be very grievous, the effect of unbroken prosperity is often far worse.  Although prosperity is good in itself, we are so sinful by nature that it can be a deadly danger to us.  

Christ's Yoke, Our Rest

In Matthew 11:29, Jesus tells us that we will find rest for our souls only when we take His yoke upon us.  A yoke implies both hard work and submission to the direction of another.  The wonderful peace our Lord offers us is discovered in the path of obedience to Him.  God’s commandments direct us to what will give us true happiness.  When we understand this, His commands are not a burden.  God commands nothing but what is for our good.  Many people have a tragically deformed notion of God’s commands, viewing them as nothing more than restrictions of their legitimate pleasures.  

God's Goodness to Us

Most of the addresses to God in Psalm 119 are prayers.  But in verse 65, David takes time to acknowledge the Lord’s goodness to him: “You have dealt well with Your servant.”  Here we have David’s account of God’s providence over the course of his life.  As he considers the many blessings he had received, He says that God had always been good to him.  Even in the many hardships and trials he had experienced, God’s mercy was always in evidence.  The Lord is good to all His servants.  Dear Christian, if you do not believe that God has dealt well with you, you are blind to the innumerable mercies that have paved your way in life.

The Heart to Obey

Thomas Manton wrote that three things powerfully work in a Christian's heart to motivate obedience to God.  All three involve faith on our part. 

1) Paul says that "the love of God controls us."  Knowing God's love motivates the believer's heart as nothing else can (2 Corinthians 5:14).   We understand His love by faith, and return our love to Him by doing what He commands.

2) The power to obey is not is us; it must be given by God's grace, and received by faith.

3) We must know what our obedience accomplishes.  By faith we understand that we were created to glorify God.  In fulfilling the purpose of our creation, we not only honor God by obeying Him, but we enjoy the greatest satisfaction anyone is capable of experiencing in this life. 

The Psychology of the Bible

The human heart is a 400 horsepower muscle-car of desires, willing to run over anything that gets in the way of fulfilling its desires.  Paul wrote that there was a “law” within him that was on the warpath against his purpose to obey God.  Peter identifies this antagonist as our own “fleshly lusts that wage war against the soul” (1 Peter 2:11).  Ever since Sigmund Freud, psychology has offered us all kinds of theories to explain human behavior.  The most accurate assessment of why we do what we do is found in the Bible.  The most penetrating analysis I have ever read on this subject is in Thomas Manton’s book on the Epistle of James.  He wrote it in the 17th century, and I have never read anything more brilliant.  He opened up the meaning of several passages in the Bible with an insight I have rarely encountered.  For more on this important subject, hear my podcast called The Law of the Soul at http://www.michaelstohlmeyer.com  

A Desire Factory

We all run on high-octane desires.  And our tank is never full.  It is always running on empty, always wanting more.  John Piper, whom I regard as the best teacher of this generation, has rightly called the human heart a “desire factory.” Check out his Desiring God website. All of his wonderful sermons, going back over twenty years, are available without cost.  Our desire factory never shuts down, it operates seven days a week. This is the source of sin.  We are not victims of what other people, particularly our parents, have done to us in the past.  Modern psychology is responsible for that incorrect notion.  Our problem is the sin in our hearts right now, not in anything in our past experience.  We are to deal with the past by “forgetting what lies behind” (Philippians 3:13).  Our daily battle is with the indwelling sin that is present with us right now.  We have no greater enemy than our own nature.     

The Law of the soul

The soul of man is mainly made up of desires; like a sponge it is always thirsting, seeking something to fill itself.  In Ephesians 2:3, Paul says that we all were indulging "the desires of the flesh and of the mind."  These desires are the spring of all of our actions.  In Romans 7:23, Paul writes about a "law" within him that is waging war for total domination.  The law of the land is the U.S. constitution.  The law of the human soul is desire.  Desires rule.  Desires carry the biggest stick and are not silent.  Ever since the fall our natural inclinations have been corrupted to oppose God and His law.  I will have more to say on this subject.  

The Difference in Love

There is a difference between the love God has for His people, and the love they have for Him.  God's love is one of bounty, ours is a love of duty.  God is completely free from misery and happy in Himself.  He does not need us.  His love for us is a love that freely gives and pours out upon us blessing after blessing.  In contrast, we are dependent upon Him for everything.  Our love responds to God by looking to Him for all that we need and doing what He requires in willing and cheerful service.

Dangerous Love

In 1 John 2:15-16, John warns us of the danger of loving the world more than God.  It is very remarkable that when John sums up the things of the world that are opposite to love for God, he does not name any objects or specific activities, but names our lusts.  We are so quick to make up lists of objects and activities that we consider sinful.  But the fault lies with “the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh,” and the lust for praise.  The things created by God are not in themselves evil. The fault is in our lusts.  When we desire anything more than God, that desire becomes a source of many dangerous temptations.      

Changing Our Desires

The Lord works in our lives mainly by changing our desires, not by changing our circumstances. If we understood things as God does, we would agree that His way is best for us. Our desires reveal the condition of our hearts.  In the midst of affliction our hearts can easily be deceived into thinking that the only way to contentment is the removal of the affliction.  God does give us relief at times by removing the source of our suffering,  but more often, He works to bless us in a more profound and lasting way.  If God gave you every desirable thing on earth, it would not be enough to satisfy you!  The human heart must have God Himself.  The Lord gives us new desires; He gives us desires for new things.  He gives us Himself.

Commands and Happiness

God created people to pursue true happiness.  Everyone by nature desires happiness.  The Lord has not only created us with this driving passion, He has appointed the means by which it can be attained.  God has given us commands to direct us to what gives Him glory and at the same time makes us happy.  Obedience to God is the only way to satisfy the human heart.  We never come to know ourselves until we consider why we were born into this world.  We will find what we desire most only in enjoying God, and in seeking happiness in Him we safeguard our eternal salvation from the idolatries of the world.   

One Benefit of Prayer

Prayer itself is of great benefit to us, apart from whatever blessings God bestows in answer to our prayers.  David begins many of his psalms in great distress, crying out to God for mercy.  By the end, he is expressing a revived sense of trust in God by pouring out his heart in praise and thanksgiving.  Throughout the course of these psalms (e.g., Psalm 7, 10, 13, 28, 69) we can track the change taking place in David’s heart.  Through the act of prayer we see his fear and distress being transformed to courage and trust.  Sorrow gives way to joy.  The change is often profound, as if someone had come and told David that his troubles were completely gone.   Prayer is ordained by God to be a great relief as well as a source of blessing. 

Commit everything to God

In Psalm 119:26 we see that God answers those who pray to Him, making known all their concerns, hopes, fears, and sorrows.  Why does the Lord desire that we unburden ourselves to Him, telling Him all that is happening to us?  He knows all things.  He knows us better than we know ourselves.  It is not for His benefit, but for ours.  It helps us to believe that God is concerned about our every desire and need.  It is an acknowledgment of His sovereignty, committing everything in our lives to the direction of His providence.  Acquainting the Lord with all our desires in prayer is an act of faith and dependence that pleases Him and blesses us.

Grace Changes People

Grace is God’s unmerited favor. It is God’s working in our lives. Grace changes us. You cannot experience grace in your heart without something happening. Conversion is manifested by change, profound change in thought and behavior. “By their fruits you shall know them.” Grace makes you different from what you were before. Can it be possible that the impact of almighty God on a person in salvation leaves no evidence of its reality? Can it be imagined that the Lord should put His hand to any work, and leave no signature upon that work?

The Authority of God's Word

The word of God, when preached by Christ Himself in person, came upon peoples’ hearts with self-evidencing power: “He taught them as one having authority, and not as the Scribes” (Matthew 7:29).  Those who heard Jesus sensed the divine majesty in His speech, as when the officers were sent to arrest Him: “Never did any man speak like this man” (John 7:46).  The written word of God speaks with the same breathtaking authority to us today.  The voice could add nothing to it, and the writing can take nothing from it.  God will always look with favor on those who “tremble at His word”.  Thomas Manton, Psalm 119         

Faith Gives Glory to God

Romans 4:20 tells us that Abraham gave glory to God by his strong faith.  He trusted God’s promise to him when the fulfillment of that promise appeared all but impossible.  The foundation of Abraham’s God-honoring faith was the conviction that the Lord was able to do whatever He had promised.  Faith worthy of imitation trusts in God’s sufficiency to accomplish things that are altogether impossible to anything but His sufficiency.  Concerning what God has promised, no difficulty that seems to make the fulfillment impossible should have any weight with us.  Strong faith will carry the one who believes above the consideration of all the obstacles that might lie in the way of the fulfillment of God’s word. 

A Quiet Heart

There is a world of difference between stoically enduring affliction by the strength of our own will and being content in sufferings by the grace of God.  It is not enough merely to not murmur in affliction, which is possible by those of a certain personality.  The Christian must seek to glorify God in suffering (1 Peter 4:16).  It is the sincere desire to honor God's name in suffering that brings true quietness of heart.  This is one great mark of the marvelous contentment that is possible only by God's grace.     

Subtracting Desires

Paul tell us that he had learned the secret of being content with a little or with a lot (Philippians 4:11-12).  Those who live for the things of this world know no way to be contented but by adding more possessions to what they already have.  A heart that is ruled by earthly desires seeks contentment in satisfying those desires.  In contrast, the Christian finds contentment, not by adding to what he has, but by subtracting from his desires.  A believer can learn to be content with few earthly possessions and in any circumstances.  Contentment does not come by adding to what you want, but by subtracting from your desires.  Jeremiah Burroughs, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment 

Commands, Promises, and Prayer

We often lose heart in discouragements because we do not look beyond ourselves.  God humbles us with much weakness to move us to pray.  What is hard to human nature is easy to God's Spirit.  God requires such obedience as is above our own strength, but not above the power of His grace.  When He commands anything beyond our ability, it is to bring us to our knees for grace.  Every command is also a promise that God will give the strength required to obey the command.  The Lord will pour out His grace in answer to prayer.  That is the unique dynamic of biblical Christianity.  Thomas Manton, The Epistle of James

The Goal of Pride

The object or goal of pride is not a desire for excellency; a person cannot excessively desire to be excellent.  It is right to pursue qualities that other people will properly esteem.  Pursuing excellence in various fields of human endeavor, trying to achieve something of genuine value is good in God’s eyes.

The object or goal of pride is to be set above other people.  It is a craving to be exalted above others.  Proud people seek happiness in the praise of others.  The proud are always comparing themselves with other people.  The person who is dominated by this craving will not be able to see or appreciate God’s glory.  Pride makes faith impossible (John 5:44).  Proud people do not value those qualities in God that make Him trustworthy.  The proud are never satisfied.

 

A Proud Heart

Carefully consider John 5:41-44, especially verse 44.  Jesus phrases things in such a way that, the more you ponder them, the more meaning you take away.

How could people witness the miracles Jesus performed and still refuse to accept what He said?  The root, the nature, and the result of unbelief are laid bare in John 5.  The problem was not with the message, or with the evidence for the message, but with the hearts of those who heard the message and saw the miracles.   No evidence, no amount of teaching will produce faith in a proud heart.  The desire to find happiness in the praise of other people is deadly to all spiritual desires.

Restoring the Soul

Job said that he treasured God’s word more than the food that he needed to live (Job 23:12).  David preferred to rise at night and praise God rather than sleep (Psalm 119:62).  The point is that we should value spiritual things more than the natural refreshments of this life.  We live in a culture that believes hard work entitles us to a period of recreation.  Inactivity and leisure are thought to be indispensable to restore our capacity for further work.  While our bodies do need rest, it is a great error to think that recreation restores our souls.  Only the word of God can do that (Psalm 19:7).  The productivity of Christians in the past puts us to shame.