For the audio Podcast of this and every episode, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE
If you’d like to join us in our journey reading all the way through the Bible this year, drop me a line at reid.ferguson@gmail.com, and I’ll be glad to email back a copy of the reading plan we are using.
I appreciate people who have a clear sense of what they are about. Who know who they are, what they are here for and where they are going. But to be truthful, there aren’t a lot of them. And even among them, it seems those realities are only conceived of in terms of the here and now. Not with an eye on eternity. And life without reference to eternity is exceedingly short sighted. Though it inevitably leads to Hell.
The Apostle Peter used to be that way. It’s what made him so impetuous. A slave to his passionate responses to the moment. But he changed. After Pentecost and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit – his focus completely changed. Today we have 4 passages before us: Luke 23:50–24:12; Psalm 126 and Jeremiah 32–34. But it is the redirected passion of Peter that calls for my attention today in 2 Peter 1:3–21.
I’m Reid Ferguson. And you are listening to Through the Word in 2020.
Living life now with a clear eye on eternity is the only way to live the Christian life. Peter captures it well when considering what he is writing to the saints in this letter. He is aware that he will not live much longer. And so he commits himself to reminding them of the Gospel truths upon which they are already established. And, he intends to make them easy to remember after he is gone.
It begs the question – if you knew you were going to die soon, what would you strive to make memorable to those you love?
For Peter, that is summed up in 11 things in this passage – which can then be distilled into just a few.
It is a master class in practical theology.
1. (1) Every Christian has A FAITH of Equal Standing with the Apostles
No apostle has a faith of higher standing than any saint, and no saint a faith of lower standing than any apostle.
That’s because Christ is all of our righteousness.
2. (2) Multiplying Grace & Peace is only found in the (increasing) knowledge of the person and work of Jesus
A. Who Christ is.
B. What He has done.
C. What He is doing now.
D. Why he does what He does.
3. (3) We possess Divinely Granted Promises sufficient for life and godliness – thru the knowledge of Christ
4. (3) We are Called to His own Glory & Excellence
5. (4) Thru these promises we are partakers of the divine nature
6. (5-7) Because these first 5 things are true, we are to be Supplementing our Faith – building on it, not stagnating
7. (8) Increasing in these prevents us from being Ineffective & Unfruitful in the faith
8. (9) We need warned lest we have a Forgetful Lack of these essentials
9. (10) We must be engaged in Diligent Pursuit of confirming our election – not just resting upon it
10. (11) This is all preparatory to fully Entering The Kingdom
11. (16) There are no Myths what we’ve been taught in the Bible. It is breathed out by God and holds all authority for us
All of which we could summarize in this, that Peter was exercised on these points:
Know God.
Know Christ Jesus.
Know who you are in Christ Jesus.
Grow in it.
In these, you too will be able to live a life now, aimed at the known eternity of the fulfilled promises of Jesus Christ.
For the audio Podcast of this and every episode, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE
If you’d like to join us in our journey reading all the way through the Bible this year, drop me a line at reid.ferguson@gmail.com, and I’ll be glad to email back a copy of the reading plan we are using.
Eschatology is the theologian’s word for the study of last things. Theologians, like other scientists love their big words. Ever try to read a medicine package?
Classically, eschatology covers all the Bible has to say regarding what happens from the moment of death, through the intervening time before Christ’s return, His return, the resurrection from the dead, final judgment and the new heavens and the new earth. All of it reminding us that He has had a plan for the end of the ages all along. His plan for humanity wasn’t cemented into a perpetual Eden. He was aiming at more from the beginning.
And one problem that creeps up in our study of God’s Word, is how we can take what God does at one point in time, and assume that is the way it is supposed to be for all time. A case in point is that of Adam and Eve. We forget that Adam was not God’s endgame that simply went wrong. Romans 5:14 reminds us, Adam, was a type, a precursor or prototype of the One who was to come – Jesus, The Son of God incarnate.
And as is true of all such types and shadows, there are similarities to the one the type was pointing to, and contrasts. So along with our readings today in 1 Peter 5:12–2 Peter 1:2 and Jeremiah 29–31 there are some stunning contrasts between the first Adam in the Garden, and the Last Adam Jesus on the cross in Luke 23:26–49.
We’ll look at just 3 of those contrasts today on Through the Word in 2020. I’m Reid Ferguson.
As the old hymn goes:
Could we with ink, the oceans fill
And were the skies, of parchment made
Were every stalk, on earth a quill
And every man, a scribe by trade
To write the love, of God above
Would drain the oceans dry
Nor could the scroll, contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky
Let me note just 3 stupendous contrasts, and let your heart soak them in today.
1. When Adam sinned, he hid himself from God. Red with his own guilt – he tried to avoid the face of God.
In contrast, Jesus went TO God, when laden with our guilt. “Father forgive them” He cried. And then, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” The unfathomably brave Jesus, facing the wrath of God, red with our guilt – unflinching that we might go free.
2. Adam tried to cover himself so as not to be exposed. He sewed those flimsy, foolish fig leaves together as though they somehow could cover up the cataclysmic change which had come as the result of his disobedience.
On our behalf, Jesus was stripped naked and exposed to the world. Sin was not to be covered – even though it was not His own sin, but ours. Everything had to be out in the open. The shame that sin is and the heinous results of it had to be laid bare. He was shamed in our place. So the Word says “everyone one who believes in Him will not be put to shame.”
Oh blessed Jesus!
3. Adam pointed the finger at his wife as the reason for his fall. Then, at the God who gave him his wife.
Jesus instead took the whole of our guilt upon Himself, that His Bride might be covered. He refused to separate Himself from us even when it meant His death. Owning us as His bride regardless the cost. He hid us behind Himself while the just fury of God’s own holiness hurled it fiercest condemnation upon Him.
To write the love of God above, would drain more than the oceans dry; it would deplete the whole of creation in all of its vastness.
For the audio Podcast of this and every episode, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE
If you’d like to join us in our journey reading all the way through the Bible this year, drop me a line at reid.ferguson@gmail.com, and I’ll be glad to email back a copy of the reading plan we are using.
If you are keeping up with our reading schedule, you know we have 4 wonderful portions before us today. Wonderful not in the sense that they are pleasant, but in that they display the sovereign hand of God. He is orchestrating the events of Jesus’ death; Babylon’s conquests over all the nations, not just Israel; the providential care of His people and preparation for the Believer’s suffering.
But as I began yesterday, so I want to return to 1 Peter 4 and to the announcement that “the end of all things is at hand.”
I’m Reid Ferguson and that’s our focus today on Through the Word in 2020.
As we noted yesterday, when Peter says in 4:1 that the end of all things is at hand, he then says “therefore.” His point is that given the truth of the statement, we are to respond to it in a certain way.
Now it should be obvious by the text that our response is not first and foremost panic. Self-control is his first admonition. Because the end of all things is no more out of the hand of our sovereign God than anything else in all the universe. The end is nearing because God is judging. But those who are His in Christ need not fear that judgment, because ours has been comprehended in the sufferings of Christ. So don’t panic, but be self-controlled.
And he adds to self-control, be sober-minded.
The word means to be vigilant, but circumspect. Not intoxicated by fear or anything else but well balanced, clear and in full possession of one’s senses.
Now these are good in and of themselves, but when you read the sentence as a whole, it takes on amazing new dimensions. The call is to be self-controlled and sober-minded – “for the sake of your prayers.” And the point is this: A sound prayer life is founded upon sober thinking about matters. And that will translate into a prayer life that is focused upon the purposes and plans of God, in the midst of the crumbling chaos around us.
In other words, it will be prayer still centered in seeking the restoration of the glory of God’s name in the universe above all other priorities.
Prayer for the return of Jesus for only in His return, only in His Kingdom coming can this world be set right. Nothing short of the 2nd advent can address the evil of this present age. No election. No political turn. No economic shift. No social program. Christ coming and ruling. And until then, His Kingdom through His Spirit in the hearts and minds of Believers.
Prayer for His will to be done in all the matters we face – irrespective of our own personal preferences or short-sighted wisdom.
Prayer that our souls will be satisfied daily with a full portion of The Bread of Life Himself. And to never settle for satisfaction with anything less than Christ and Christ alone.
Prayer for the forgiveness of our own sins, and that we will be filled with the same forgiveness toward those who sin against us – that we desire from Him.
And prayer that we will not be led astray by the lies, diversions, and deceptions of the Enemy of our souls, but rather led by the light of God’s Word, and the illumination of His Spirit.
Prayers, supplications, intercessions and thanksgivings for all people, including those in political power – no matter what their party or affiliation – that we may lead peaceful and quiet lives, godly and dignified in every way.
It takes great self-control and sober-mindedness to keep on this track. And it is the Divine way to face the end of all things – even as it is right at hand.
For the audio Podcast of this and every episode, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE
If you’d like to join us in our journey reading all the way through the Bible this year, drop me a line at reid.ferguson@gmail.com, and I’ll be glad to email back a copy of the reading plan we are using.
The European folk tale of Henny Penny or Chicken Little brought the phrase “the sky is falling” into popular use. In all versions, a real event, in most an acorn dropping on a hen’s head, starts the whole thing rolling. The hen, concludes that since something fell randomly out of the sky and hit her – then the sky must be falling. And the story proceeds with her spreading the news with its accompanying panic as far and wide as possible.
The moral of the story – depending upon which version is either to have courage in the face of the unknown, or not to believe everything we are told, no matter how sincere the source. Both good lessons. Both only partial, even as her story was. Her experience was real. Her interpretation of the event was gravely in error.
But what are we to do when the Bible itself tells us “the end of all things is at hand”, as it does in today’s reading of 1 Peter 4? Fortunately, the same passage supplies that answer.
I’m Reid Ferguson and that’s our topic today on Through the Word in 2020.
1 Peter 4; Luke 23:6–17 and Jeremiah 21:11–25:14 round our our reading today. And all 3 address cataclysmic events. The end of all things in 1 Peter; the God ordained destruction of Jerusalem in Jeremiah; and rapidly approaching end of Jesus’ earthly ministry in Luke 23.
The Disciples would view Jesus’ death as the shattering of all they anticipated in the Messiah. Until His resurrection. The Jews would view Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion as the end of Jerusalem. Until Cyrus sent them back 70 years later. And in 1 Peter 4 we’re told the end of all things is at hand – yet goes on in Ch. 5 to remind us that Christ will bring Believers into His eternal glory yet.
But what are we to do in the face of a world that is in fact coming apart at the seams? The real events happening now – especially in the United States – seem to portend the end of all things, at least as far as prognosticators on each side of our upcoming Presidential election will tell you; if the other side wins.
In truth, the REAL, the eternal end is at hand – no matter which side wins.
I’m not Henny Penny nor the son of Henny Penny, but I can read today’s text. And most happily, it not only reads: “the end of all thing is at hand”, it adds the all important word: “Therefore.” Therefore. Here’s the plan of action for Believers.
1. Be self-controlled. Self-control is one of the gifts of the Spirit. And if you “lose it” every time you think about what life will be like if your side loses – then you need to be about the business of being filled with the Spirit and mastered by His influence once again.
2. Be sober-minded. This, along with self-controlled, for the sake of your prayers. And because this is so important, I’ll expand on that tomorrow.
3. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly. Don’t let the present crises divide you from any others who place their eternal hope in Christ and Christ alone.
4. Keep serving the Body of Christ with whatever gifts God has given you. Don’t be distracted from it by any present or coming distress.
5. Don’t be shocked by the fiery trials to come. God knows. And remains on His throne.
6. Rejoice that as Christians, we get to experience the same groaning with this present lost world Jesus did. That is a high privilege.
7. Keep entrusting your soul to your faithful Creator while doing good.
Now that is a sober plan.
God willing, we’ll be back tomorrow for one more look.
For the audio Podcast of this and every episode, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE
If you’d like to join us in our journey reading all the way through the Bible this year, drop me a line at reid.ferguson@gmail.com, and I’ll be glad to email back a copy of the reading plan we are using.
Ever heard of George Fuechsel? Probably not. Popularly, he is credited with coining the phrase: Garbage in, Garbage out. Around 1958 or 1959 while teaching at class at IBM. We’ve all heard it.
As the age of the computer was beginning, it was quickly learned that you only get good data out, if you put good data in. In fact, the first time the term – which is so common to us today – was ever used in print was in the Times Daily of Hammond, Indiana – Nov. 10, 1957. Before anyone ever heard George say it.
But Scripture addressed that very same issue when it comes to our hearts and minds millennia before the Times Daily or George Fueschel.
I’m Reid Ferguson, and this is Through the Word in 2020.
In Luke 6:45, Jesus emphatically stated that out of the abundance of the heart, a person speaks. Lots of stuff comes out of us – especially in our communications with others. And it is worth the Christian’s effort from time to time to survey what’s been coming out of us. It may be a great indicator of what we’ve been taking in. And 1 Peter 2 demonstrates that dynamic.
vs. 1 sets it up: Put away all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander. Now those things don’t exist in a vacuum. They are demonstrations of our inward corruption. But like cancers, they can be fed. And when fed, they grow more noticeable and are expressed more readily. The more you think on or repeat those thoughts or put them into action, the more frequent and natural they become. The more prevalent they will show themselves to be. So if we are used to caving into wickedness, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and – oh yeah – especially discourse about politics and other things with slander – guess what? That is what we’ll talk about most too. If we take in a diet comprised of those things – well – garbage in, garbage out.
So it is vs. 2 gives us the contrast and the cure. Instead of feeding our souls on stuff like recorded in vs. 1 – “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk.” It is by that that we grow up into salvation. Not by drinking in the garbage stream of the World’s information sewer line.
Have you tasted the goodness of God? Then train your appetite to desire more and more of Him. And begin to go after it like newborns do their mother’s milk.
Milk in the Scripture is often a picture of God’s blessings. It’s why Canaan is referred to as the land of “milk & honey.” In 1 Cor. 3:2 Paul likens the Gospel to milk – it is the single, most basic life giving provision of God. In Heb. 5:12 milk is the “basic principles of the oracles of God.” And in 5:13 it is that upon which we as babes find perfect sustenance as we grow to take in the stronger “bread” of the Word which is not just the good news about Christ, but more of Christ Himself. That then also becomes our meat in due season.
Christ at the beginning. Christ as we grow. And Christ the fullness of God for us. This is John’s point in 1 John 2 where he writes to “little children”, young men” and “fathers.” We all grow in and by Christ. That never changes at any stage of life.
Let your hearts taste Him often and your souls be drawn out after Him. Let the taste of His sweetness spoil you for everything else.
Oh Father – feed us upon Christ every step of the way. Holy Spirit, break Him to us today as our daily portion – and let us be filled with Him!
For the audio Podcast of this and every episode, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE
If you’d like to join us in our journey reading all the way through the Bible this year, drop me a line at reid.ferguson@gmail.com, and I’ll be glad to email back a copy of the reading plan we are using.
I’ve heard it said that there are 3 crucial things to consider when it comes to real estate: Location, Location and Location. And there is a similar adage – no less true – when it comes to reading, understanding and interpreting the Bible: Context, Context and Context. The countless distortions of Scripture due to taking verses out of their context are just that – countless. And the value of reading things in their contexts is truly inestimable.
We’ll look at one important example of that today on through the Word in 2020. Reading 1 Peter 1:13-25, Jeremiah 8:18-12:17 and then Luke 22:35-46, we’ll see an often overlooked crucial dynamic for the Christian life in the words of Jesus.
I’m Reid Ferguson.
A conversation just last week reminded me of a favorite example of taking a verse out of context. There was a very popular worship song a number of years ago which was very upbeat and sung as a joyous refrain regarding God’s army gaining victory. The lyrics went:
They rush on the city, they run on the wall Great is the army that carries out His word
They rush on the city, they run on the wall Great is the army that carries out His word
The Lord utters His voice before His army
The Lord utters His voice before His army
Blow the trumpet in Zion, Zion Sound the alarm in My Holy mountain!
Blow the trumpet in Zion, Zion sound the alarm!
The words were taken from Joel 2. But “God’s Army” there was the plague of locusts God was sending upon Jerusalem because of their continued disobedience. It is not a happy song of God’s people gaining victory but of God’s judgment.
Can you spell – oops?
And it is context that also sheds great light on Jesus’ words to His Disciples in Luke 22:40 – “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
In context, that was more than just some isolated word of good advice. It was more like: “This is how I am going to be praying right now, so as to overcome temptation. So take note. Watch. Observe. This activity is not to be taken lightly. It is stepping on to the front line of the battlefield in confronting sin.”
When we see Jesus praying here, we cannot help but note that such prayer will be hard prayer, pleading and life or death prayer. Temptation is not overcome on a whim – it takes all you have, and that, only as God gives grace. This is absolutely crucial. Prayer to overcome temptation is massively important and consuming.
And what is the temptation He is referring to here? It is the fountainhead of all temptation: To pursue our preferences and desires, over the Father’s. Every temptation ultimately comes down to that. And perhaps it is this very scene the Writer to the Hebrews has in mind when he says: “In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.”
Here, Jesus’ agony in submitting to the Father was such that His sweat became like great drops of blood. Now the text relates that in this moment, an angel from heaven appeared to strengthen Jesus. Because of it, I am greatly encouraged to think that when we seek to serve God so earnestly and agonizingly in fighting sin, that the heavenly host are dispatched for us as well as heirs of grace. And at the very least – which in all reality is infinitely more – as our Savior prayed in this regard for Himself, so He who prayed so and overcame that night, is even now at the right hand of God interceding for all of His.
For the audio Podcast of this and every episode, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE
If you’d like to join us in our journey reading all the way through the Bible this year, drop me a line at reid.ferguson@gmail.com, and I’ll be glad to email back a copy of the reading plan we are using.
The sacrificial death of Jesus on the Cross for sinners, is the most climactic moment in human history. At the very moment when man was committing his most heinous crime – murdering the very Son of God – God was providing in that Son the means whereby humankind’s most heinous sins could be forgiven. It truly staggers the mind.
I’ve little doubt it will take all eternity for us to search out all the depths and implications of the Cross. But one aspect stands out especially in our reading today in Luke 22:14-30. It is significant that Jesus died on the Passover.
More on that as we consider our Luke passage as well as Jeremiah 2-5:13 and James 5:13-1 Peter 1:2. I’m Reid Ferguson, and this is Through the Word in 2020.
It is a curious thing to me that Jesus died at the Passover, rather than on the Day of Atonement. Some day, I hope to be able to unpack the reasons behind that more fully. To me, the Day of Atonement makes more sense. But to the all-wise God, Passover was more fitting. And in considering that fact, at least one glorious aspect of Jesus’ death gets spotlighted in a profound way. It’s wrapped up in the idea that The Lord’s Supper is typified in and built around the theme of – deliverance.
The death of Jesus Christ on the Cross not only addressed the matter of our guilt before God. Though that too is of supreme importance. But it also signaled the nature of the Believer’s deliverance. Even as the first Passover was all about deliverance.
In fact, the types and shadows go back even further. In Genesis 14 when Melchizedek met Abraham after his victory over the kings who had raided Sodom, they share a meal foreshadowing the Passover of Exodus 11. Why? Because there had been a great deliverance wrought – freeing Lot and his fellow citizens from capture.
Then we come to the 1st. Passover in Exodus 11. And there, the spotlight is on Israel’s deliverance from the slavery of Egypt.
It is on the anniversary of that deliverance that Jesus institutes The Lord’s Supper. Which calls us then to pick up on that deliverance theme in considering His dying as our Passover Lamb. As the One whose blood protected all who Believe even as the wrath of God was being poured out once again. On Christ.
And what is the nature of the Believer’s deliverance? At least 4 come immediately to mind.
1. Rom. 7:21-8:1 / Believers in Christ Jesus are delivered from the law of sin and death. We have been delivered from the dynamic of “sin and you will die” to “Believe and you will live.” And hence there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ by faith.
2. Col. 1:11-13 says that Jesus has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His Dear Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
3. 1 Thess. 1:9-10 tells us that when we turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from Heaven, whom He raised from the dead – this Jesus is the One who delivers us from the wrath to come. From God’s own final judgment on all sin.
4. Lastly, Heb. 2:14-15 reports that all those in Christ are delivered from the fear of death. Death cannot hurt us any more. It can only be the means to bring us to our full reward in Christ.
Ponder those today Believer. Delivered from the law of sin and death.
I was never a Boy Scout. My older brother was. I always thought the uniform and the mess kit and the other stuff was really cool. Not being much of a “belonger” myself, I nevertheless saw the attraction of a group taking on a certain identity and being bound by common bonds. And they had that really cool motto: “Be Prepared.”
In the 1908 “Scouting for Boys” handbook, Lieutenant General Baden-Powell, founder of the Scout Movement expounded that motto by saying it meant in full: “Be Prepared in Mind by having disciplined yourself to be obedient to every order, and also by having thought out beforehand any accident or situation that might occur, so that you know the right thing to do at the right moment, and are willing to do it.”
I have no idea if Baden-Powell consciously took his ideas from Biblical principles. But all 4 of our passages for today – Isaiah 66–Jeremiah 1; Psalm 121; James 5:1–6 and Luke 22:3–13 share something of the preparedness theme.
We’ll talk about that today on Through the Word in 2020. I’m Reid Ferguson.
When God called Jeremiah to be a prophet, He prepared him for the fact that he would face plenty of opposition. He’d be warning God’s people of impending judgment in the face of the amazing revival they were in the midst of. Psalm 121 is one of 15 Psalms carrying the title “A Song of Ascents.” These were Psalms recited especially in preparing the hearts of the worshiper in going up to the Temple at Feast times. James 5 is crafted to prepare the Christian heart and mind to meet God in the final day. And these all reflect the heart of Jesus as He was preparing Himself and His disciples not just for the Passover, but for His betrayal and impending murder.
Like Jeremiah in his day, Christians today need to be prepared. We should not be shocked that we will face not just indifference to our testimony and calling men and women to faith in and fidelity to Jesus Christ as Lord – but outright opposition. We have no “right” to be unopposed or even persecuted in God’s economy.
And how we need to actually prepare our own hearts and minds for genuine and fruitful worship each week. Merely stumbling into Church without any forethought or preparation in terms of purposefully honoring Christ as Lord publicly – and with rejoicing and thanksgiving – turns worship into a mere spectator sport. It neither honors Him rightly, nor truly feeds or encourages our own souls or those we worship with.
And then, when is the last time we gave serious thought to being prepared to face our God in death or Christ’s return. Are you ready Christian? What will you say should He ask why you should enter into the glory of Christ? Is your heart settled that it is because the righteousness of Christ has become yours by faith, and your sins have been fully atoned for in His blood?
I pray your heart is so prepared to meet Him in joy.
And then look again at our Savior. Still preparing. Still seeing to all the details of the moment, even while His own suffering is at hand. Fully aware that His passion is about to commence, He demonstrates how service to God is not curtailed in the least. He will eat with them. Wash their feet. Teach them still. And He and the Father had already prepared to send the Spirit to them when the time was right. How He modeled His trust in the Father by being unhurried, fretful or dismayed. Though He knows the Cross is just before Him.
He, was prepared.
He had made Himself ready.
And He has made full preparation for you and me in His Word, His Spirit, His Church and His promises.
If we look to Him and Him alone, we are truly prepared for anything.
As we come here this morning, my heart is burdened in that I am – both personally and in regard to you all – mindful of the turbulent, troubling, and disturbing time in which we find ourselves. As a nation, and as The Church.
The current complexities and debates surrounding Covid-19 and how it’s to be understood, managed and responded to;
Violence erupting all over the nation and not least of all here in Rochester itself;
Racial tensions at an all time high;
The dreadfully contentious Presidential election just before us, with last week’s spectacle;
Corruption and what appears to be ineptitude in every part of government: National, State and local;
Leaders acting like spoiled children;
Mixed signals from experts and agencies;
Morally failing leaders in Christian circles;
What Al Mohler often refers to as the moral insanity which has gripped our culture;
The truly unpredictable future of the way of life most of us grew up with and assumed would be passed on to those behind us;
Economic instability;
None of these even yet touching on the personal trials, tribulations and challenges each of us faces today.
And all these tensions can even foment divisions among Believers.
The internet is rife with Christians sniping at other Christians over every conceivable difference – destroying the genuine unity we are called to promote and work for.
Where is Christ in the midst of all this chaos?
How are Christians to think and respond to such a chaotic point in time?
And my goal this morning is not to try and formulate a “Christian” perspective or answer to each of the individual things we are facing right now.
It is to back us up for a moment, to gain some perspective. To view all of this through a quite different lens than mere, personal perception. To speak to us not as American citizens, but as Christians, as God’s people living in this present America as we await Christ’s return.
And hopefully to remind you all that God’s people in all the generations before us have faced wickedness, insanity, upheaval, disaster, national and even global chaos before.
That God has always had His people.
That He has been with His people in these places before.
That He will be with us as each of these unfold in our generation.
And that our hope and stability cannot be found in political parties, platforms or personages; nor in movements, legislation, judges, revolutions or even absolute unanimity on every point.
And I hope to do so by taking us back to a time when God’s people were under great judgment by God. And how the faithful among His people found their stability and means to live rightly and confidently before Him, in the midst of social, political, religious, moral and military chaos.
Back to the time of Daniel.
Who was Daniel and what was his situation?
Daniel was part of the Jewish nobility taken captive to Babylon in the siege of 605 B.C by Nebuchadnezzar. He is there with 3 close friends, as well as huge numbers of other Jewish people.
Now this downfall of Jerusalem was many years in the making.
They had endured a parade of yoyo leadership. Good kings followed by wicked kings followed by good kings – on and on.
But there had come a tipping point.
After the reign of a very good King, Hezekiah, who for the most part was a godly and powerful reformer in turning his nation back to God from idolatry and all sorts of sins – came his son Manasseh.
Scripture testifies that it was Manasseh’s sin that broke the proverbial camel’s back.
2 Kings 21:1-7
2 Kings 21:1–7 ESV
Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. For he rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem will I put my name.” And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. And he burned his son as an offering and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. And the carved image of Asherah that he had made he set in the house of which the Lord said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever.
After him, the King who led the best and most complete reforms in Israel arose – Josiah. But God had had enough. And even after all his reforms, we read: 2 Ki 23:26–27
2 Kings 23:26–27 ESV
Still the Lord did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. And the Lord said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.”
But there’s one more note on that. For the truth is, leaders never sin alone. They have a populace which goes along with their sin. And so it was in this case. Je 16:10–13
Jeremiah 16:10–13 ESV
“And when you tell this people all these words, and they say to you, ‘Why has the Lord pronounced all this great evil against us? What is our iniquity? What is the sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’ then you shall say to them: ‘Because your fathers have forsaken me, declares the Lord, and have gone after other gods and have served and worshiped them, and have forsaken me and have not kept my law, and because you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, every one of you follows his stubborn, evil will, refusing to listen to me. Therefore I will hurl you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.’
The people had become a people who held no law above themselves – even the Law of God. Instead, “every one of you follows his stubborn, evil will, refusing to listen to me.”
The plague of personal, human autonomy.
Sounds a bit like today doesn’t it?
Well this is what brought Daniel and his 3 compatriots along with the rest of the exiles into Babylon.
About 3 years into this captivity, the very pagan, brutal and despotic Nebuchadnezzar had a disturbing dream.
He was so distressed by it – he demanded that his counselors not only interpret the dream for him – but actually tell him what the dream was. If not, they would all be killed. Daniel and his 3 friends would be among those killed.
At this point Daniel asks for some time from the king to meet the demands.
And then Daniel & his 3 friends begin to pray to God for mercy to avert this slaughter, and as a result Daniel is made aware of the dream and its interpretation.
Daniel then tells the King his dream is about four world empires (Babylon being the 1st) which are to come. All four will at last be brought to extinction by the advent of another kingdom which is not man-made. That kingdom will last forever.
And all through the book there is a display of remarkable wisdom, nuance and instruction in the way Daniel and his companions responded to this extremely hostile environment into which they were thrust.
There is a passel of them we can’t unpack today. They would make a great study on your own. If you want that list – email me.
How Daniel manages this – and don’t miss this – this is the key point: How Daniel does this is uncovered for us in the prayer recorded for us as he was seeking God in the chaos. The key insights of which we get in here in ch. 2.
It all has to do with the all governing vision of God he had. That he saw and understood God and His ways. That his own thinking was so mastered by this vision of God – that he could be steadied and confident in the face of absolute, chaotic uncertainty.
Not a vision of God in the supernatural sense. The unshakable knowledge of the God of the Bible he has been exposed to in the Scriptures.
So we read: Daniel 2:17-18
Daniel 2:17–18 ESV
Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
And when this prayer is answered, Daniel prays today’s text. This fabulous lesson of seeking Christ in the Chaos. IN a true emergency of life and death.
It is, if you will, a sort of 7 step circle, for it ends where it begins. And its insights could not be more useful for us today in the present chaos of our time and place.
One thought before we unpack the prayer.
You will note how Daniel asked his friends to seek mercy from God in this mystery – in the unknown – in the midst of their chaos.
As Daniel will pray again in Ch. 9 after he understands from Jeremiah’s prophecies that the 70 years is nearly up – although he was probably between 15-17 when captured – note how he owns the sin of his nation as his own: Daniel 9:5-15
Daniel 9:5–15 ESV
we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing upon us a great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem. As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. Therefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice. And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
He recognizes that the chaos they find themselves in the middle of – is because of sin.
And that they need mercy for their sin.
And that it is ALL their sin. There is no finger-pointing or saying “but that was all before I was born!” It was their national sinfulness that brought them to such a place.
A massive consideration for our own situation today. One we need to unpack another time.
But oh what a God of mercy He is!
So how does Daniel pray in the chaos?
How can we pray best in the chaos? By praying to the same God revealed in Daniel’s prayer.
1. Worship – He begins with worship.
“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might.
God is ALWAYS worthy of praise. No matter what the circumstances.
Christians in the midst of chaos must never abandon worship. Must never stop reminding themselves that they are God’s and we are His and that He remains on His throne.
When this escapes our minds, we can’t help but be thrown by what is going on around us.
We desperately need to remind ourselves that He remains worthy of our praise over and over and over.
When we stop seeing and worshiping a God greater than our situation – we are at a loss to address the world with anything substantive.
We’ll panic like those around us, and fall back upon desperate, human measures to deal with what is at its base – a spiritual problem.
Daniel’s God is unchanged and worthy to be blessed in the midst of the chaos.
2. Ascription – He recalls key attributes of His God.
“to whom belong wisdom and might.”
This 2-fold ascription is absolutely necessary to a right mind in a world gone mad.
Our God is wise in ALL He allows and brings His people through. Even when our own sin is directly tied to our trials.
And God still has all the power to meet the circumstances. He is mighty.
To the naked eye, Daniel’s circumstance was absolutely beyond the reach of any conceivable answer.
But when they prayed and sought God for mercy, an answer came from the God who remains powerful in the face of the impossible.
Beloved this as true today for you and me in the midst of today’s madness.
Our God remains wise in having brought us to this hour, and He is mighty to work in it the fullness of His plan.
Remind yourself often passages like Proverbs 21:30
Proverbs 21:30 ESV
No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel
can avail against the Lord.
OUR plans, OUR desires, OUR thoughts of how things ought to go might go to ashes – but His cannot and will not.
Daniel entered into worship and ascribed to God the wisdom and power that belongs to Him even in Daniel’s present chaos.
3. Seasons – God appoints and controls the seasons of life in which we live.
“He changes times and seasons”
Kingdoms rise, and kingdoms fall.
Cultures rise and cultures fall.
Ideologies come and gain prominence for a time and then morph or disappear.
Experts divide human history into a number of epochs:
Pre-history – before writing systems.
The Stone Age with about 8 divisions like Paleolithic, Mesolithic etc..
Ancient History.
The Middle Ages.
Modern History and so on.
And God is God in all of them. Over all of them. Moving in all of them.
So much so that Paul on Mars Hill can say to his hearers then and to us now: Acts 17:26-27
Acts 17:26–27 ESV
And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,
You and I live in this place at this time – in this Nation, State, City and especially at this moment in history with all of its strangeness and complexity specifically to facilitate our seeking out God to know and find Him.
He knows you and knows what is most ideal to drive you to seek Him.
This chaos isn’t random, it is in His hand to make you despair of this world so that you will find your hope and security in Christ and Christ alone.
Daniel had come to realize that his new experience of God was directly tied to his own exile, captivity, probable mutilation, forced service to a pagan King and the 70 year season of Israel’s judgment.
Who knows but that we too – as the Church might be living in the midst of God’s dealing with America for her sins? But that He is the one who changes the times and the seasons, that He is behind the shifts in epochs of human history – is without question.
And so we can trust Him as those who have gone before us did in their seasons.
As Ecclesiastes 7:10 says:
Ecclesiastes 7:10 ESV
Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”
For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.
We lack the wisdom of knowing how God is the God of history – even our present history – when we imagine the mythical “good old days.”
You and I never lived at a better time than right now to seek the face of God.
Worship, Ascription, Seasons and…
4. Leaders – God appoints all those who come into political and governmental leadership.
“He removes kings and sets up kings”
Now we need to make no mistake here – so let me jump to the most direct application I can: No matter who wins this coming Nov. 3 – It is God who installs or removes leaders.
We campaign and dialog and vote and all of that – which is all right and good and well – but the ultimate outcome has to do more with God carrying out His ultimate plans and purposes than with our short-sighted, immediate understanding and agendas.
Whether that be for more general blessing, or in judgment. And I am in no position say which that is given either of the candidates. I just know God is at work. He never abdicates His position as ruling in the affairs of men in this regard.
As Paul reminds his readers regarding the governing authorities of his day: “there is NO authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted BY God.” (Rom. 13:1 – Emphases mine).
And while we cannot unpack all of the complexities of how we today might interact with our own government, the basic principle here is both powerful and necessary for us to grasp.
On its face, Daniel’s statement needs no qualification.
He knew it well from Israel’s history. The people set up their kings – good and bad, but for Daniel, God was at work. He’s the one who removes and sets them up.
As you read your Bible, especially the Old Testament prophets, take note at how often God addresses the leadership not only of Israel but of many pagan nations.
Cyrus of Persia is called “God’s anointed.”
In Isaiah 10 – Assyria and its king Sennacherib are “the rod” of God’s own anger, though they haven’t a clue that’s so.
In 1 Kings 11, God anoints wicked Jeroboam King over Israel in its civil war against Judah.
In 2 Kings 9 Jehu – another wicked man is set apart by God to rule.
Jeremiah says that Nebuchadnezzer is the means whereby God Himself will fight against Judah in judgment.
And after his humbling Nebuchadnezzar declares: “the most high rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of men.”
Jesus will tell Pilot that even Pilot’s authority came from God.
This is vital for us to grasp as we are in the midst of this confusing, rancorous, wildly chaotic Presidential election.
Whatever the outcome, God is at work. And we can trust Him in it.
Worship, Ascription, Seasons, Leaders…
5. Knowledge – We are never left without full counsel for what we are to be about.
“He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding”
Wisdom, God’s wisdom Proverbs 1:3 tells us is for the purpose of instruction in righteousness first of all.
God gives us wisdom and knowledge in accordance with how to be about seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, irrespective of what is going on around us.
His chief concern is not wisdom for the voting booth, investments and the like – but in living righteously before Him in the weirdness of the days in which we find ourselves.
Our problem is, we are more interested in straightening out the culture, the political system and societal ills, than we are in growing in the likeness of Christ.
We have the Word of God so as to be taught in the truth as it is in Christ: reproved of our sin, corrected from our sinful errors, trained in walking righteously – defined as being equipped for every good work.
So as Daniel is working through navigating the totally foreign world of pagan captivity – his concern is how to serve God well there – not how to fix “there.”
And may it be so for us.
He gives wisdom. He gives knowledge. For what we need. For what we were designed for. For His ends and purposes.
I don’t assume He will give me the wisdom to understand Covid-19 and all of its ramifications – but I DO expect wisdom on how to be sure I am honoring Him in the strain the current situation brings into my life.
How to keep trusting Him. Resting in Him. Committing the outcome to Him. Worshiping Him. Serving Him. Rejoicing in Him. Growing in Him.
And avoiding contentiousness, resentment, foolishness, carelessness, fretfulness, comfort sins, enmity, strife, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions and “whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine.” (1 Tim. 1:10)
The wisdom to place our priority on the spiritual, when the chaos of the day tries to drag us kicking and screaming into the arena of the temporal every second of the day.
Maybe you’re not as tempted to get all wrapped up in the current political madness as I am – to want to rise up and shout back at every idiotic post and news broadcast.
But He has made us for better things. Higher things.
Daniel got wisdom to: Avoid defiling himself with the King’s meat. How to approach his handler when the decree to execute the wise men came down. And above all – to seek God in the face of the impossible.
Worship, Ascription, Seasons, Leaders, Knowledge…
6. Illumination – Light for a reality that transcends the World.
“He reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him”
John says that Jesus is the true light, which gives light to everyone.
As we understand Him, His mission, His teaching, His plans and His purposes – He gives us light into deep and hidden things.
He knows what is in the darkness – and if you would really see clearly what is going in in the frenzy of this current moment – you must see it in the light of Him.
Light dwells with Him alone.
How do we explain the current state of affairs? Only as we understand a world in rebellion against God.
Psalm 2:1-3
Psalm 2:1–3 ESV
Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
“Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”
The word “rage” here includes being in tumult and commotion.
Rest of heart and soul and mind can’t be present while people continue to refuse the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Beloved, don’t look for sanity from this world given this state of men’s hearts. We know what is at the root of the chaos. We know it is the darkness of soul that is the result of rejecting God in Jesus Christ. And we know our response to it all is to plead for the Gospel to have greater and greater effect until the Day Jesus returns.
And we know 2 Timothy 3:12-13
2 Timothy 3:12–13 ESV
Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
So what are we to do? Here is light: 2 Timothy 3:14-15
2 Timothy 3:14–15 ESV
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
Now I want to be clear here – as Daniel closes his prayer he says: Daniel 2:23
Daniel 2:23 ESV
To you, O God of my fathers,
I give thanks and praise,
for you have given me wisdom and might,
and have now made known to me what we asked of you,
for you have made known to us the king’s matter.”
Don’t misread his point.
His rejoicing isn’t in just understanding the King’s dream. It is in understanding what the King’s dream meant.
For in the unfolding of the dream, Daniel comes to understand that God had already set out how there would be these four world empires which would come on the scene – the first of which they were in right then.
And then, regarding that last empire: Daniel 2:44
Daniel 2:44 ESV
And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever,
Daniel understood that God was the God of all history – of all governments – of all world empires – and how it would all end in the conquering Kingdom of Christ.
The very same light you and I carry into this absolutely insane hour in which we live.
That Kingdom which was set up when Christ came shall never be destroyed. It shall never pass to some other people – i.e. it will never fall or be conquered. In fact, it will see the destruction of all the kingdoms of the earth.
The Kingdom which Jesus said even the gates of Hell cannot overcome.
The Kingdom to which everyone born again by the Spirit of Christ belongs.
And so, as Daniel will spend the rest of his life in captivity, and in the chaos of Babylon itself being conquered; of stranger and more wicked kings to serve under; and dangers like the lion’s den or his 3 friends going into the fiery furnace – he worships.
7. Worship
He comes full circle. His God is all wise and all powerful.
His God rules the times and the seasons of human history.
His God is the one who determines who will be in governmental authority at any given time.
His God gives him wisdom and knowledge to live uprightly even in captivity, serving a most pagan King.
His God gives him the light of truth in a dark and deceived world. In the very heart of darkness itself with no Temple, and no access to God appointed worship.
He knows where it is all going and how it will end.
And all these are ours too as we find ourselves in the whirlwind of the chaos of our day.
And so, for all those who are Christ’s, we come to the table that demonstrates so graphically these very truths in power.
We do what Jesus called us to in the face of the chaos that took Him to the Cross.
With these simple words as He bid us to take the bread and the cup in remembrance of Him.
He died in the vortex of human chaos – but in the perfect plan of the Father as the substitute sacrifice for our sins.
And He bids us remember that reality – until He comes. We do this as Scripture says to “proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”
Since He is the Lord of history – He will consummate it all when He returns. And we trust Him as the Lord of all times and places – to bring it to pass.
By faith in Him coming again at the right time, even as Romans 5:6 says: “at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”
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If you’d like to join us in our journey reading all the way through the Bible this year, drop me a line at reid.ferguson@gmail.com, and I’ll be glad to email back a copy of the reading plan we are using.
The Bible has a lot to say about God’s glory, about His name or His reputation. And in reading through chapters 46-49 In Isaiah, we read this remarkable portion in Isa 48:9-11Isaiah 48:9–11 ESV“For my name’s sake I defer my anger; for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.
God takes His glory seriously. It seems only fitting that we do too. But what does that really mean? We’ll try to scratch the surface of that a bit today on Through the Word in 2020. I’m Reid Ferguson.
Along with our Isaiah passage this morning, we also have Luke 21:1–9 and James 2 to consider. But it is the Isaiah passage just cited that I’d like to highlight today. For the glorifying of God appears to be a topic of some confusion.
To some, it appears as though God has an ego problem. After all, He announces that the reason why He has been so patient in dealing with Israel’s sins is that He’s done so for His own sake, lest His name should be profaned. But ego isn’t the issue in any of this at all.
If God had a big ego, when you turned over a leaf it would have a little label on it “Designed by God.” He’d plaster images of Himself all over or in our day, certainly have a reality TV show. No, He is so humble that many claim they cannot perceive Him even in the display of His genius and power in Creation. Though in truth, they are denying the obvious.
The reason why God is so jealous for His name is because as the source of all good, and because He can bestow no higher good upon His creatures than Himself – love demands He be seen, grasped and rejoiced in for who and what He is. And this then dictates what it really means to “glorify” God.
Quite simply God is most glorified, where He is most revealed.
Glory is not something added to Him – it is the outshining of His being. When He speaks here of keeping Israel for His own name’s sake or glory, He is not saying “so I’ll look good”. He is saying, “I AM faithful. That is my nature. And I am determined to reveal that about myself. I will not go back on my promises or let them fall to the ground. I will be glorified (revealed) that all may know Me and trust Me for who and what I am.”
God doesn’t need a public relations team to make Him look good. He just needs to be seen as He is. And as we read in Hebrews 1:3, He is seen best in Jesus Christ. Because He is the “radiance of the glory of God, and the exact imprint of His nature.” And why 2 Cor. 4:6 tells us that the knowledge of the glory of God is found in the face of Jesus Christ.
Jesus revealed the Father fully. That is how He can say in John 17 that He had glorified the Father on earth. In doing all the Father’s will – He made the Father known. All of which finds its absolute apex in the Cross. When not just the faithfulness of God is seen in the fulfillment of His promise of redemption, but His holiness is seen in judging sin, His mercy in the atonement made in Jesus’ blood, and His grace in requiring it to be proclaimed to the world.
Glorify Him today Christian – make Him known. Declare His goodness and glory in the cross of Christ.
I’ll be away until next Thursday. Until then, keep reading!
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