He Abides Faithful

“If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” (2Ti 2:13 AV)

 Does Jesus perform graces towards those who show no faith?  Certainly.  He sends rain on the just and the unjust.  He gives life to the just and the unjust.  The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin to bring them unto Christ.  The grace of God is not reserved only for those willing to trust.  The fact any of us are alive is a testimony to the enduring grace and faithfulness of God.  Paul is encouraging his young protegee there may come times when he is not the preacher he should be.  Perhaps his faith is tested to a level in which he falters.  Or, perhaps the preacher is confronted with some new twist on a doctrine that he has never heard before.  Perhaps he is discouraged and begins to doubt God’s willingness to meet his spiritual needs.  Whatever the cause, there are times the saint loses a little bit of confidence in the LORD.  Praise be to God that in those times, He remains who He always has been and He still loves us and cares for us.  No matter where we are in life, the LORD is always faithful.  Even in those times of deep questioning or discouragement, the LORD does not give up on us.  He never does!

Have you ever stopped to ask why the LORD puts up with any of us?  We are so far from what we should be.  We are so far from the perfection that is in Christ.  When it comes to exercising faith, we are children, tossed too and fro.  We cannot seem to trust Him for anything.  Why does He take the time and exercise patience toward any of us?  But He does.  More than we will ever realize.  What an encouraging thought.  Having raised three sons, I can tell you a parent has this special love and care for his children as it is described above.  We do not always base our grace and kindness on the faith our child puts in us.  As a matter of fact, most of the time our charity and kindness do not.  We supply their need because we love them regardless of the faith they happen to put in us.  Faith does help.  The more faith the more grace.  But lack of faith does not automatically turn off the spigot of grace.  We go off to work to earn a paycheck to put food in their tummies and clothes on their backs.  We pay the mortgage so they don’t have to survive in the cold.  We carry insurance so if anything were to happen, we can care for them.  We provide their education.  We correct them when they need it.  It matters less than they discern that they may not be the son or daughter they should be.  We still provide because we love.

The same is true of God.  This does not give us permission or a reason to be faithless.  We should not be presumptuous.  We should not expect the grace of God when we knowingly abuse it.  This is not to what Paul is referring.  He is referring to our human weaknesses.  He is encouraging the saint that even though he may not be all that God asks Him to be, the LORD is not going to turn His back on him and forget all His compassions.  He cannot.  That would be to deny who and what He is.  God is a loving and compassionate God.  He is full com mercies and they fail not.  Even when we fail, He abides faithful.  He is always there.  He is always loving His saints with love beyond our understanding.  He loves us as a perfect Father and not as humanly fathers do.  His love is always in full commitment.  No matter what, we can rest assured that He will be there for us even in those times we are not there for Him.  What a truly loving and merciful God we have!

Keeping That Good Thing

“That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.” (2Ti 1:14 AV)

 

If we stay in the immediate context, the ‘good thing’ is the form of sound words found in the preceding verse.  The ‘good thing’ is seen as a singular object rather than pieces of a larger whole.  The sound words are the doctrine Timothy has been endowed with by his grandmother, mother, and now Paul.  What we want to seriously ponder is first, the possibility of a genuine saint falling away from the doctrine that he or she has learned, and the means by which he or she keeps it. To ‘keep’ here could mean to use it in ministry.  However, I think Paul is telling Timothy he needed to do both.  He needed to keep the doctrine his grandmother, mother, and preacher handed down to him so that he could reach others and help them to grow in Christ.  But he also needs to keep that good thing for his own walk.  That good thing is kept by the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  The old nature loves to combat the new.  The Holy Spirit teaches and guides.  It is by His influence we hold fast to that which is good.

One might be astounded to hear some walk away from that which they once knew to be the truth.  They learned well.  They even taught in our Sunday Schools or preached in our pulpits.  Then something happened.  Somewhere along the way they picked up a new doctrine or were pressured by others to abandon what they have been taught for something they think is more reasonable.  Some are very smart and very well studied regarding the things of God.  They learned correctly.  They worked hard for grades or recognition.  In the process, they neglected the more practical things of a Christian walk and because of a non-existent devotional life and a greatly neglected prayer life, God is no longer real to them.  Therefore, they abandon all they have been taught.  There are still others who based truth on how they reasoned through it or what they feel about it.  Once that changed, no matter how true the faith was, it becomes weakened and may eventually dissolve altogether.  The point is, that genuinely saved saints can lose what they have been taught.  They can turn their back on it and throw it all away.  There are others, like the saints at Galatia, who changed the very doctrine of salvation because they lacked revelation from Paul.  Some crept in while Paul was away and taught faith plus works for salvation.  The church was rather young at that point and there was no written New Testament as yet, so confusion arose.  The Galatians were ready to give up on salvation by faith alone.  They were ready to be circumcised for salvation.  That is until Paul expounded on the understanding of salvation more perfectly.

The Holy Spirit is the key.  He gets very little attention.  Rightly so.  He is supposed to point to Christ and draw no attention to Himself. But He is no less God than the Father and the Son.  The Holy Spirit works with our whole person; body, soul, and spirit; to mature us into Christlikeness.  It is the Spirit that teaches is the word of God.  It is the Spirit who brings all things to our remembrance.  It is also the Spirit that connects the dots as we reason unto me complicated truth.  Perhaps we should acknowledge Him as we should in the process of growing our faith.  Maybe when we learn something, we can thank Him in prayer.  Maybe upon hearing a verse, it impresses our hearts such as this devotion, we can thank the Spirit for speaking to our hearts.  When we begin to slip from the truth, maybe asking the Holy Spirit to shore up our doubts will keep that which is temporarily compromised from being lost altogether.  If the truth is known, those that fall away do so because they have not yielded to, or depended on, the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  If we are going to remain faithful to that which we have been taught, then the Holy Spirit must be that power by which we remain faithful.

Valuable Child, Worthless King

“Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.” (Ec 4:13 AV)

 

This is an astounding verse.  A child is better than a king.  Let us remember a king has a world of experience and wisdom which the poor child does not.  Or, at the least, he has a whole different set of influences from which he drew knowledge and wisdom.  A king would, by necessity, have far more intelligence than a poor child.  But here is the kicker.  The foolish king is worse because he stopped learning.  He would no longer be admonished.  The king stopped being teachable.  Another consideration is the age comparison.  That is what really struck me.  The king, who is obviously much older than the child, is not worth as much as a child who will be corrected.  A wealthy king who has obviously had success, or he wouldn’t be a king, is not worth as much as a poor child.  One would be taught.  The other, not.

I find as people get older, they become harder to influence.  Preach to a youth rally and the altar is full.  Not so much to the seasoned saints.  There comes a time when change becomes more difficult.  We have learned that we know quite a bit compared to our younger generations.  This gives us a false sense that there is not much left to learn.  The more senior adult can also get to the point we adjust to the falsehoods we want to believe.  We have gotten comfortable with our maturity level and have learned to live with it.  Pride is another problem.  When we were younger, we were learning from others who were older and wiser.  Now, the king must take admonition from those who are of less status than he, and sometimes, from those younger and less experienced.  This requires humility, of which the king has lost all.  He will not listen to anyone. Those older and more experienced tend to lose their ability to be self-critical.  We understand our limitations and we are ok with them.  When someone tries to correct our errors, we tend to take them more personally.  We view it as a statement of worth.  Those correcting seem to be seeing us with less value than we see ourselves.  The poor child, on the other hand, has nothing to lose.  He listens and follows wise advice because he only has one direction to go.  There is also a relationship between being poor and being wise here.  Those of means tend to pass over criticism because they have been successful.  Those who are struggling tend to listen a bit better.

The application is obvious.  The saint can never get to the point that he does not learn.  He or she must never think there comes a time when there is little to be learned.  In fact, the older I get the more I realize how much I do not know.  I thought I knew a lot.  But what I don’t know far exceeds what I do know.  That is not the problem, though.  It is an admonition.  Our problem is being told that we are wrong and we need to adjust what we thought was right.  That is a hard pill to swallow.  But a pill that needs to be swallowed nonetheless.  If we are worth anything to God, teachability and humility are high on the list of must-haves.  It reminds me of a line from The Christmas Carol as the ghost of Christmas present and Scrooge are watching the Cratchetts enjoy their holiday meal.  Scrooge pities Tiny Tim and makes an off-hand remark regarding him.  The Ghost says, “In the sight of heaven, it could be you and your millions are worth less than this poor beggar’s child.”  How true that is if we do not walk in humility and teachability before the God of heaven.

A Surrendered Child's Request

“Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.” (Ps 25:4-5 AV)

 

What a prayer!  This is the saint’s prayer rolled up into one sentence.  Those who desire to walk with God more intimately pray this prayer often.  We want to be obedient.  We want to please the LORD in all things.  This passage is not difficult to understand.  It is pretty straightforward.  The writer completely and wholly surrendered his life to the Lordship of his God and is desperately seeking His hand upon his life.  This verse reminds me of a father/child relationship.  It reminds me of a child who notices his father aptly performing some skill and desires to learn the same.  He sits.  He listens.  He mimics.  He will willingly place himself under the corrective hand of his father so that one day, he can do what his father does.  Rather than debate or chaff against his father’s instruction, he listens with a ready ear and does exactly what his father instructs.  I am simply struck by the spirit and attitude of the writer.  There is no reservation.  There is no conditional surrender.  It is all laid out here.  The writer waits on the LORD to show him exactly how to live and will not hesitate to strive to that end.

There are several reasons why a child might willingly submit to his father’s influence and guidance.  The first was mentioned above.  He sees an example worth emulating.  He sees his father as a hero.  He sees his father and all that he is as something to be copied.  This is one of the highest of all motives.  We see our heavenly Father and desire to be like Him.  We want that Christlikeness because we see the pure pleasure in it.  There is another reason.  Sometimes, a child desires to be just like his father because he knows it will please his father.  If his father is talented in music, he will practice and learn that one day, father and son can play together.  He knows his father is pleased when he becomes just like him.  This is the highest of all motives.  We should wait on the LORD to teach and guide us because we know it pleases Him.  Like a father who experiences pure joy from showing his child what he knows, the LORD has pure pleasure in the filial relationship He has with His children.  Perhaps an effective motive that is all too common is failure.  We fail in that which our fathers require of us and we want to do better.  We understand the consequences of failure and because our dads know what is best, we listen so that we don’t get stung again.  Our Father doesn’t want to see us get hurt.  He pleads with His children to allow Him to teach and guide us.  So, after the sting of failure has passed, we sit quietly, listening to His word and yielding to the ministry of His Spirit.

What has happened?  We used to be like this.  When we were infants in Christ we soaked everything up.  We listened.  We applied.  We learned.  We accepted correction.  Then somewhere along the line, we got sophisticated.  We got a bit smarter and we think we can figure things out on our own.  The writer above is a full-grown adult.  He has several successes under his belt.  Many enemies have fallen at his feet and he has subdued a kingdom.  Yet, here he is, sounding like a child still in his adolescence.  He knows he has much work to do.  He knows the whole scope of what it means to be godly, he still has a long way to go.  He is a man of faith.  But the things he had to trust for were almost givens.  What was he supposed to do with a giant?  He really didn’t have a choice.  What was he supposed to do with a father-in-law that wanted him dead?  All he could do is run and trust.  When painted into a corner by a pagan king, there weren’t too many options.  But what the king sat on his throne and the world was his oyster, dependence on God wasn’t so pressing.  This is the man who wrote the above verse.  He never allowed his experience or wisdom to give him a false sense of security.  David sought the LORD for instruction, guidance, and strength.  He did this as a little child would no matter the current maturity level he had attained.  He remained a child before God to appear as a man before his nation.

The Joy Set Before

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb 12:2 AV)

 

Not enough is said of the glory and pleasures of heaven compared to the troubles we have in this life.  Of all those who had trouble in this life, there is no equal to our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ.  Sure, there have been plenty who have died horrible deaths of torture and pain.  But no creature has ever had to endure the wrath of God the Father for the entire sin debt of humanity.  Note here in particular that Jesus is the author and finisher.  This means, He is the one who thought up the means of redemption and also the one to accomplish it.  What a thought!  To think of the means of satisfying the wrath of God and those means where Himself only shows the depth of love He has for every individual.  Our phrase for consideration this morning is underlined above.  What was one of His exercises that brought to conclusion our redemption?  The joy that was set before Him.  He knew His sacrifice would result in millions of souls repenting and coming to Him.  He saw the joy of a populated heaven bought with His own blood.  He saw the pleasure His obedience would bring to the Father.  He saw ahead of time the results of His submission.  This joy is what kept Him on that cross.

Trials of faith or our walk of obedience do not come easy.  There are troubles associated with both.  There is the anxiety that naturally comes with trust.  There is persecution that comes with obedience.  There are losses along the way.  There are hardships that we must weather.  Many times, we wish we could throw in the towel.  Sometimes, we wish there was any way out.  What we have done is put out eyes in the wrong place.  Maybe we cannot see the joy of what will result from our endurance.  Perhaps we cannot see the fruit which comes from such a heavy price.  One object we can fix our attention upon is the LORD Jesus.  Note also that this gaze is not a one-time gaze.  It is a continuing process or action.  Looking, not look.  Our eyes cannot gaze upon the trouble around us.  They must be fixed on our example.  Our preoccupation cannot be on that which is causing us unrest.  We are to be preoccupied with the One who endured the greatest of all trouble.  We cannot be overwhelmed by that which has come upon us if we are fixed on our Savior who endured the worst.  This looking is not merely reading about His life and ministry.  This looking involves communication.  Prayer.  Looking unto Jesus means we follow His example while relying on His strength.  What a pity it is when we ignore the greatest source of strength for our troubles – the LORD Jesus Christ.

If we did not have the joy of eternity to look forward to, this life would be unbearable.  Without any hope of a perfect future, our present troubles would conquer us.  Jesus saw very easily what we struggle to realize.  He came from heaven.  He knew that to which He was going.  He was very familiar.  He created it.  The splendors were of His creation.  He left His Father above.  He knew what He was going to do.  We know.  We know by the eyes of faith.  We can see it.  It may be slightly obscured, but we see it.  We hear Paul and John tell us of the splendor of what awaits.  Most notably, the presence of our Father and our Savior.  We see it.  Joy unspeakable and full of glory.  The weight we bear may be heavy.  At times it brings us to our knees.  Sometimes, it is so overwhelming that we don’t think we can go another inch.  But just over the portal of temporality is our everlasting joy.  Our job?  To run our race well without giving up or quitting.  To look unto Jesus as our example and motivation.  To always look unto Jesus.  To never take our eyes off of Him.  To seek His face in prayer and ask Him to strengthen us as we take up our cross and follow Him.  There He is!  Can you see Him?  There He is, sitting upon His throne more brightly than any created illumine.  There He is, sitting upon His throne with His eyes cast on us, offering intercessions to the Father that we might cross the finish line to the praise and glory of His name!

Prayer and Propagation

“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” (1Ti 2:1-4 AV)

 

Note here that prayer for those in authority and the salvation of souls are related.  There is a relation between praying for our leaders and peace.  Which, putting them all together, if we pray for our leaders that they might be saved and they might be peaceable to believers, the result just might be that more souls are saved.  The power of prayer is often forgotten.  The necessity of prayer is definitely forgotten.  If we just understood what prayer could do, perhaps we would engage in it more often.  This relationship between prayer and the salvation of souls struck me rather powerfully this morning.  When our leaders are contrary to the cause of Christ, our first inclination is to resist.  We picket, preach, and protest.  That which we should do first is often neglected.  We do not think to pray.  There are enormous pressures on leaders.  I know.  I am one.  And if the pressure I feel is any indication of what our leaders endure, their pressure has to be insurmountable.  I pastor a very small church.  The pressure on me is a bit overwhelming at times.  I cannot even begin to imagine what it must be to lead a nation of over 300 million.  Our leaders need our prayers.  The pressure to do evil must be overwhelming.  To stand for godly principles must be near to impossible.  Prayer for our leadership can only benefit the cause of Christ.  Prayer can do no harm to the will of the Father.

Prayer is the missing ingredient in the pursuit of powerful Christian living.  The church is stagnant because its knees are smooth.  The church that makes an impact in its world is the church with calloused knees.  The souls of mankind go unreached because our vision goes no further than our front doors.  As our prayer life goes, so too does our vision.  If our prayers are non-existent, then so too will our concern for the souls of others.  Our minds are no further than our roofs.  Our spirits do not travel any further than a few feet in front.  Prayer goes beyond what can be seen.  Prayer is an extension of ones being into the infinite.  We converse with a God who is above all and in all.  We pour out our hearts for that which we have little hope to effect.  We place it at the feet of the One who can do all things.  Thus, our desire and vision go far beyond what we see and can influence.  This is why prayer is so important.  The more we pray the more we can see the impossible as possible.  The more we pray, the more we can see our leaders turning to Christ.  The more we pray specifically for those in authority, the more we believe they just may honor the right of self-determination and right of conscience.  The more we pray the more we can see the possibility they will enact legislation or rule in cases that overturn immoral laws.  The more we pray, the more of a possible revival of our sin-sick nation becomes possible.  One thing is for sure, the less we pray the far less likely revival becomes a reality.

The first of four things for which the child of God should pray every day is the coming of God’s kingdom and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.  This will on earth includes the conversion of the lost souls of mankind.  God desires all souls to come to Him.  He does not desire the damnation of anyone. Unfortunately, God gives each soul a will to accept or deny Christ.  But His heart is that all souls would come to Him.  Part of that process includes prayer.  Not just prayer in general, but prayer for all those in authority.  Politics should not matter.  Party affiliation should not be a consideration.  Whether someone supports ungodliness or is a devout believer should not dictate whether we pray for an individual in authority.  Even if they have mistreated the saints, they are still entitled to prayers.  God tells us through Paul to pray for all those in authority.  From Caesar to Pilate to Herod, they all need prayer.  Even those who ordered the death of Christ.  Even the emperor who cast Paul into prison.  They all need prayer.  Who knows, maybe if we pray as we should, the baptismal waters will stir as they once did.

The Maturity of Restraint

“Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.” (Ps 19:13 AV)

 

Let’s be honest.  There are those things which seem to hand on, even though we have paid a heavy price for them.  These presumptuous sins will not let go.  They are stubborn.  We cry out to God for forgiveness and relief.  God wants us to be free of them more than we do.  We know that if we do not respond to God’s correction, these things will lead us down the road of destruction.  There is a solution.  There are answers for stubborn self-will.  Above, we see two of those means.  The first is to ask and accept God’s restraining hand.  To keep back means to restrain.  This restraint means there is a loss of liberty.  We simply cannot go or do what we want to do.  Some options are no longer available.  This does not happen willingly.  Thus the nature of restraint.  Asking for restraint is a very grown-up thing to do.  The second piece of the puzzle is an understanding of one’s condition.  David asks the LORD to address a sin that seems to dominate him.  This takes maturity also.  To admit one has a problem that he or she cannot control takes a very mature person.  By the way, we all have these issues.  There isn’t a soul alive who doesn’t battle a stubborn sin or two.  So, if you are wondering if admitting the obvious somehow makes you a weak person, the weak person is actually the person who ignores the stubborn sin and will not seek help.  There has to be a desire to be free from it and an acknowledgment of the power it has.  Otherwise, the degree of captivity to it only gets worse.

When we stop and think about exactly what David is asking, he is seeking God to interrupt his life by any means possible to make his presumptuous sins inconvenient.  He is asking the LORD to restrain him from them.  We don’t know what these sins are.  We do not know the nature of them.  What we do know is they have an overwhelming power over him to the point he could not resist.  What David is seeking is a major interruption to his life that would cause him to have to work at falling for these sins.  We do not like our liberty restrained.  We do not like choices being taken away.  But the mature person realizes there are some areas of life where that is exactly what they need.  They need the LORD to provide the means where a choice to fail is not even possible.

No matter the sin, there is always a way out.  There are always steps the saint can take to be free of them or it.  It begins with a coming to the end of oneself.  It starts with realizing just how much dominion a particular sin has.  It starts with a good hard look in the mirror.  It takes honesty and a willingness to admit one’s weakness and failure.  However, it cannot stop there.  This may make us feel better, but it does not remove the inclination to reject that sin.  Our confession and self-abatement may pacify our guilt, but it does not remove the temptation.  The next step is to seek God’s face on the matter.  Victory over sin is impossible without the exercise of prayer.  One must be in constant prayer.  Especially when temptation rears its ugly head.  The next step above is to seek God’s restraints.  These restraints are often out of our control.  They are often the removal, by force, of those things that make falling to these sins much more difficult.  Paul was a bit too confident and self-reliant.  God gave him bad eyesight so he had to rely on others for his ministry.  There are ways to slay the dragon.  We just have to want it bad enough that we are willing to ask God for His restraints, accept them, and not seek a work-a-around to fulfill our lusts.  These times are times to grow up.  It is time to put our big boy pants on and fight.  It is time to tell the devil to get lost.  It is a time to accept the boundaries God has for us so that sin will not dominate the heart and life.