Lesson 7 - Psalm 46, He Just Is

As I write this we are searching for employment. Agonizingly slow describes the process well. Long periods of waiting, hoping, expecting, followed by brief moments of intense emotions up and down, left, right and even directions not yet defined.

To be clear, God Himself is caring for us day by day by day. Using sweet, generous people in our lives and unexpected circumstances, he provides our daily bread. We have not “trouble” as it were, but yet there lies such a need for a refuge and strength.

46:1 God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.

GOD – It rightly starts with God and we should too. Not to be called upon for flashes of need, but steadily, faithfully trusted over time. This God, our God knows and our God cares. He is ABLE and He is WILLING.

IS – we have found Him to be these things, we are finding Him to be these things and we will find Him to be these things.  GOD IS our refuge and strength.

OUR – personal, approachable, relational, intimate.

REFUGE – a shelter, a place of safety, a place for weary travelers to rest and gain their footing again.

AND STRENGTH – that is not all, for when we are weak, when we have nothing left, GOD IS our refuge AND our STRENGTH.  In our weakness HIS strength is made perfect, and is already perfect, and is shown PERFECT.

A VERY PRESENT HELP IN TROUBLE – right now, not later, right where you are, right where I am, not when all is good again, God is a very PRESENT help in troubles of all sorts.

2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

THEREFORE – all that precedes this word makes an impenetrable case, and all that comes after it matters not…WE WILL NOT FEAR.

Simply stated, take it to the bank; write it in stone; we will NOT fear BECAUSE GOD IS …

Lamentations 3:22-23

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

Exactly because God Himself is our refuge and strength, and we have counted on Him before and He has never left us stranded, because of His great faithfulness and His unending mercies, we will not fear.  This is a deep seated rest from fear.

Figuratively or literally, when earth gives way, like in earthquakes all around the globe or with volcanoes where parts of the world explode with fury, when mountains fall into the sea like the coastlines in the Western US in the rainy season, there is calamity.  When the waters foam with power of Hurricanes or Tsunamis, there is chaos.  If you are trusting in the world and all it has to offer, you will be rightly shaken when these things occur.  If you are looking for peace or freedom and escape from disasters in this world, you will be filled with fear.

But, if your treasures are in Heaven, and not of this world, if you seek God and the peace that passes all understanding, then you join together with the Psalmist, and with believers all over the land, and when the world’s troubles come to you, you and all of us together trust and hope in the Lord AND do NOT fear … because GOD IS …

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.

God is in the midst of this royal, Holy city. This is a place of beauty, a place of joy, a place of rest, a place of Grace.  For as the world and all that is in it roars and foams and falls, God’s gentle, merciful streams and rivers of Grace flow over us and into us, giving strength and hope for the journey ahead.  In Revelation we see that there will be a new Jerusalem, a new city and God will be there, where we see His favor, goodness, life nourishing power, brightness, beauty, we see and are in the very presence of God.   This is what that passage says –

Revelation 22:1-2

¹Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ²down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. ³No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. ⁴They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

God is in the midst of her, central to the whole, providing all of the growth, nourishment and life needed so that she will not be moved.  Make no mistake, if God is in the midst of something or, better yet, someone like you or me, then that thing or that person is secure – period.

And God Himself will help when the morning dawns.  The morning, dawn, early, a critical time, the day starting out, a decision point – what will the day bring – and God is right there – “a very present help”

6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.

One of my favorite verses of all. Uproar around the world – bombings beyond explanation, moral compasses askew, new types of war, terrorism, upheaval, revolution, all out anarchy. The rulers of these lands rant and rave over what they will do, what power they have, little realizing that were it not for our God they would have no power or ability at all. Whether boasting and manipulating in Iran, stubbornness and stupidity and ego over nuclear weapons in Korea, or the ongoing tragedy day by day in Afghanistan, and certainly even here in the US, uprising, rebellion, protest and upheaval – uncertainty about our future political leadership, the economy and uncertainty about our future.

The nations rage, kingdoms totter, yes, and they will even more so as the time for His return approaches.  But yet, even thought it all happens, we take heart, with hope and joy, knowing that in the same way that He created all things –

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Whether natural disaster or political, man made warring and tumult, when God utters His voice, the earth melts – HE IS IN CONTROL. 

7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

A statement again that the Lord is with us, He is our fortress, our shield, our rock – a refuge from the storms and a stronghold that can not be overcome.

8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.

9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.

Come and see – an invitation!  He alone is sovereign.  Kingdoms are established and torn down, dynasties are built and uprooted, and authorities receive power and wither when stripped of that same power.

Hairs are all numbered, sparrows don’t even fall without Him knowing, all of our days are established before you were – all at the Holy Hand of God, and this God loves us and wants us to know Him

He loves us, in ultimate ways that we do not fully understand, ways which we do not deserve, merciful, tender, forgiving love. He showed us so clearly in Romans 5:8 –

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

There is the Gospel, right there in Romans 5. God the Father sent God the Son to save sinners like you and like me. If we believe with our hearts and confess with our mouths we will be saved. You may have heard this before, and grown up with it simply assumed your whole life, but I am here to ask again today – do you BELIEVE IT?

And then the Psalm continues

10 “Be still, and know that I am God.

One of the most quoted, remembered, cherished verses in all of Christianity.

To those of us who BELIEVE, this is a call, a command, a hope, a promise, from the only One able to give such a promise – Be still – stop hurrying, stop worrying, stop thinking wrong, stop lamenting about hardships or concerns – be still and know, yes know, be certain, with hope, with faith, with joy, that He is God, that it matters, that it makes a difference, that you will be different!

I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”

Whether we acknowledge it or not God will be exalted – this is not wishy washy, this is not unsure, this is not a possibility – it is absolutely true.  It does occur, is occurring and will continue to occur for all of eternity. 

Make no mistake - every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of the Father!  God will be exalted!

11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

The promise again stated for emphasis – He is with us, God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble. 

Martin Luther, the great theologian and instigator of the Protestant movement when he pegged his 95 theses on the door at Wittenburg, said whenever he heard any discouraging news at all, he would say “come let us sing the forty-sixth Psalm”!

As I wrap up this lesson I know we all have moments of doubt and fear.  We wonder if God hears us, if He will answer, if we can trust Him. 

But, we are here to say YOU CAN TRUST HIM, He does hear, He does answer and GOD IS a very present help in trouble.

Lesson 6 - Hebrews 13:7, Encouragement From Those Gone Before Us

Thanks be to God for the many thousands of lives of flawed saints who have gone before us.

God intends for us to peer into the past at saints who lived before us to learn lessons, receive encouragement and be strengthened, through their imperfect lives and ministries.

Hebrews 13:7 tells us

“Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.”

Whether through the great hymns and the stories behind them, writings about soldiers of the faith or most certainly through the Holy Scriptures, God is using what has been written to empower what is to be done.

Psalm 102:18 says

“Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the LORD”

And further in Romans 15:4

“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

People we hear and read about can inspire us in two ways – they were flawed like me, and like you, but those flaws give us great hope that God may just use someone like us in spite of who we think we are and what we have done.

And UNLIKE me, they were great, or better said, they did great things for the Lord.  And, perhaps, their greatness may encourage me and you, by His Spirit and for His Glory, to do greater things than we may ever think possible!

I know you read the Scriptures – do you ever meditate on what some of the flawed yet great characters were like?  It is fascinating – they were ordinary, ill prepared and often unwilling vessels until God really got hold of them - Abraham, Moses, David or Paul are all great examples of this. 

Or, do you ever read biographies of pillars of our faith, these saints from days of old, people like William Tyndale, Andrew Fuller, William Carey, John Newton or William Wilberforce?

Perhaps God is using this short lesson together to urge us, to encourage us, to CHALLENGE us to learn from and then grow through the life of a saint from days gone by, and in so doing, bring Himself glory and us great riches!

Take for example, this short excerpt from John Piper's "Life as a Vapor" on the life of David Brainerd who was a 

"Missionary to the American Indians in New York, New Jersey, and eastern Pennsylvania. Born in Connecticut in 1718, he died of tuberculosis at the age of twenty-nine in 1747. Jonathan Edwards preached the funeral sermon and published the diary which David had kept."

By almost every standard known to modern missionary boards, David Brainerd would have been rejected as a missionary candidate. He was tubercular — died of that disease at twenty-nine — and from his youth was frail and sickly. He never finished college, being expelled from Yale for criticizing a professor and for his interest and attendance in meetings of the "New Lights," a religious organization. He was prone to be melancholy and despondent. Yet this young man, who would have been considered a real risk by any present-day mission board, became a missionary to the American Indians and, in the most real sense, "the pioneer of modern missionary work." Brainerd began his ministry with the Indians in April, 1743, at Kannameek, New York, then ministered in Crossweeksung and Cranberry (near Newark), New Jersey. These were the areas of his greatest successes. Brainerd's first journey to the Forks of the Delaware to reach that ferocious tribe resulted in a miracle of God that preserved his life and revered him among the Indians as a "Prophet of God." Encamped at the outskirts of the Indian settlement, Brainerd planned to enter the Indian community the next morning to preach to them the Gospel of Christ. Unknown to him, his every move was being watched by warriors who had been sent out to kill him. F.W. Boreham recorded the incident: But when the braves drew closer to Brainerd's tent, they saw the paleface on his knees. And as he prayed, suddenly a rattlesnake slipped to his side, lifted up its ugly head to strike, flicked its forked tongue almost in his face, and then without any apparent reason, glided swiftly away into the brushwood. "The Great Spirit is with the paleface!" the Indians said; and thus they accorded him a prophet's welcome.

Now, once in awhile motivated, perhaps you do have aspirations of doing great things for God.  But, then doubt creeps in and you lose strength.  If that has happened to you, maybe you can relate to this - sometimes, when I dare to think or even dream of ways to serve my God – ways that are so big and great and awesome that it makes me tremble - that’s when practical thinking takes over – sometimes through a well intentioned brother or sister - a little voice of doubt telling me all the reasons why I can not do something significant for God.

Yet, if we will just submit to Him and not to our own strength, call on Him and not some wavering human courage, trust HIM and not ourselves, then just may be He will answer as He did to this great servant of the Lord.

John Paton felt this tug by God to step out of his comfort zone and do something great for Him.  By the Holy Spirit, he was given the yearning and the passion and the courage to go to un-reached tribes of the South Sea Islands in 1856.  For him, his “little voice” was in fact another Christian brother who tried to discourage him from going.  He found out important information about this people group and felt compelled to tell his friend.  And so with a sincere intention, he proceeded to inform John Paton that the people group to whom he was going were cannibals, and he said “you will be eaten by these cannibals!”

To this very sensible, practical warning, John Paton, filled by the Spirit, trusting in the Lord and not in himself, realizing his life was God’s life and not his own, responded by saying –

“Friend, your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms;  I confess to you, that if I can but live and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by cannibals or by worms;  and in the Great Day my resurrection body will arise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer.”

If stories of this type of holy abandon inspire you and you want to continue to see how God has worked in the lives of past saints, may I suggest checking out the internet (Amazon is a great source!) or a bookstore, or just search online under Christian Biographies. You can also find resources at www.desiringgod.org if you search on biographies.

And then, moved to action by the inspirational example of those who have gone before us, let us together pray to live dangerous lives – lives that will drastically change the landscape – lives that will do immeasurably more than we can even ask or imagine – so that our great God may receive glory for what He has done and what He is still yet to do in us!

Lesson 5 - Romans 8, What Difference Will It Make?

From the first lesson, if you recall, the Key Verse I used was from none other than Romans 7!

Romans 7:24-25  24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Then in the next lesson we saw GROANING WITH CREATION – Romans 8:22-23  22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. 23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.

And now, this third and final lesson in this study of Romans 8, I asked you to reflect and meditate on verse 32 – He who did not spare …

Like last time, I want to simply show the whole passage of 9 verses at the end of Romans 8 and then we will comment a bit on each -

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.  35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written:

 
      “ For Your sake we are killed all day long;
       We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Let’s begin with verse 31

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

What are “these things” to which he refers? Does this two part question really need an answer?

Well, when you go back and read it in context, it seems clear. After all these things he has written up to this point in Romans 8, he asks "what then shall we say?" Obviously people can be physically, emotionally, even spiritually against us, so what does he mean?  Simply, based on all he has written, and all he knows, that NO ONE can be against us; no one WHO MATTERS anyway!

Interesting?  Do we believe that?  If God is for us, NO ONE WHO MATTERS can be against us in any MEANINGFUL way.

 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

He gave up His Son for us – does anything else even come close?  And so why would He withhold anything else that is good for us?  He would not and does not - period. We who believe already absolutely know this truth to be so. Those of you who do not yet believe, even you can count on this truth.

 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

THE GOSPEL, summed up in just a couple of verses.  Sinners, elected by God, justified by God, forgiven by God, without condemnation because Christ died, rose and reigns at the Father's right hand. 

And as if dying for us, and rising again, was not enough - get this point - Jesus INTERCEDES FOR US! That's right, Jesus, Savior, King, Lord of all Creation, very God of very God, the Son, is interceding for you and for me, even now. It almost takes my breath away to consider this.

By the way, in our last lesson we also saw that the other Person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, intercedes for us with words, groanings, which cannot be uttered, in perfect conformity with the will of God the Father. 

Jesus AND the Holy Spirit interceding for us - truly who can stand against us?

 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written:

      “ For Your sake we are killed all day long;
       We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

Tribulation – ups and downs of life.  Distress – major events that hit us.  Persecution – for the sake of Jesus.  Famine – periods of drought.  Nakedness – periods of little or nothing.  Peril – real danger.  Sword – even injury or death.

Can any of this at all every separate us from the love of Christ? In one of the most glorious statements of God’s assurance that once we are His, there is NOTHING to ever separate us from His love, Paul concludes this chapter 8 -

37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You see, he wants to be clear and make this point. If you are rescued from eternal damnation by Jesus Christ there is NOTHING anymore that can separate you. You were saved, you are being saved and you will be saved forever. He is yours and you are His. None of this "life on earth" stuff can get in the way and any that does just DOES NOT matter.

Don't miss this - this truth is why people, soldiers of the faith, like the Apostles or Luther or Calvin or Spurgeon or Bonhoeffer or Carey or Jim Elliott or countless others have given themselves over to Him completely, and been willing to die for the cause of His Glory and the Gospel. It is why we an let ourselves go completely turned over to Him as well.

And so, my question for all of us is this - What difference will it make?

500 or so years before Jesus lived, there was a prophet who beheld the Lord’s Glory and in him it made a real difference. In Isaiah 6 when the Lord asked “who will go for us” his answer was “Here am I, send me”.

Is the Lord asking you, after hearing and seeing His truth, His glory, through prompting and intercession by His Spirit and His Son, is the Lord asking you – “who will go for us?”  What is your answer?

Right now, as we study here, throughout the community of faith all around the world during the week there are brothers and sisters giving up themselves for Jesus because they know that nothing will every separate them, and He is worthy of our service. They are meeting, growing, sharing, encouraging, equipping and serving in the name of Jesus.

I know of one couple who was lukewarm.  They attended church, went to Sunday school and even once in awhile volunteered for something, but there was no passion.  Then the Lord got hold of them.  They realized there was more to it, and that it wasn’t about their comfort or convenience or even their growth – it is about God.  Powered by the Spirit they started soaring and the Lord was pleased.  He began to grow their talents and bless with abundance.

You see, that is what happens.  And God gives us stern warnings for leaving our talents unused. Remember the servant in Matthew who, instead of employing the talents given, put them in the ground to protect them. He was called out by His Master and the talents were taken away.

CAUTION – we need to use what the Lord have given us.

Further, Matthew 10 tells us the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Pray to the Lord for more workers.

You see, it is not about the work, but it is about the workers, and about our hearts. It is not about clenching to things that do not matter, but instead clinging to Him who matters most. As Jim Elliott told us "he is no fool to give up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose".

I’ll close with one more story – this one about a young man I know and for him these glorious truths have made and are making an eternal difference.

PB was in a Christian high school, rolling along, living a sheltered life and having a pretty good time. He was a believer, but not very engaged. But that started changing. He was regularly attending church and Sunday school, and over time the real, deep, convicting, life changing truths of scripture starting penetrating his heart.

Convinced that God had more for him than sports and friends, he asked to transfer to a school with more diversity. In this place, most any belief existed, and people said so openly! He prayed fervently, saying to God "here I am, use me". And our God heard his prayer.

In a matter of weeks, PB saw a ministry opportunity open up. He started making connections with faculty and arranging for space. Then he simply started inviting students to come by, after classes, to share time together. During that time they laughed, played games and also shared real truth from the Bible.

Over the next two years, hundreds of students attended these meetings, By the grace of God some even came to believe! Further, PB was so encouraged and empowered by the amazing power of God displayed in such an unlikely place, that he launched into his college career with momentum that still carries him in ministry to this very day.

You see, PB understood, that once he had been touched by God through Jesus Christ, and then powered by His Spirit, that nothing could stop him from being fruitful for the Lord.

And so, my closing question to you is the same one we started with some time ago – now that we have studied together – in this case Romans 8 – and seen that there is no condemnation, that we can live by the Spirit, that we are God’s children and heirs with Christ, that the sufferings of today are nothing compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us, that we have not yet seen our final HOPE, that the Spirit and Jesus are interceding for us, that God has chosen us, justified us and glorified us, and will glorify us fully in heaven, that He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all will freely give us all other things, and that NOTHING, NOTHING, NOTHING shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Now that we have seen these glorious truths –

What difference will it make IN YOU?