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Through the Word in 2020 – #66 July 2 / A Nugget of Gold in the Rubble

July 2nd, 2020

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.

Slogging through 1 Chronicles can be a chore. Verse after verse of hard to pronounce names that we have no other reference to. It all seems a little pointless. And yet, God has seen to it to have it written down for us. And then, sifting though it all, we suddenly stumble on some gold that’s been buried there. Gold we do not get unless we dig for it. Digging for gold in difficult passages is part of seeking God in every part of His Word. I’m Reid Ferguson, and we’ll look at one of those nuggets today on Through the Word in 2020.

Philippians 1:19–2:11; Psalm 107; Luke 4:14–30; and 1 Chronicles 7:14–9:34. Those are the sections before us today. And the person I’d like to note for a moment comes up in vs. 31 of 1 Chronicles 9 – Mattithiah. His name comes up 8 times in Scripture – most often in lists. We know very little about him beyond the mention of him in today’s text. But if you run over the mention too quickly, you’ll miss something precious.

Mattithiah, the text says, was one of the Levites. And as one of the exiles who came back to Jerusalem in the first wave of those returning from Babylon, he entered back into service. Now the Temple had been destroyed in the seige some 70 years earlier. But it appears the Levites erected something like the old wilderness Tabernacle to carry out the worship ordinances until a new temple could be built.

Mattithiah had his part in that. The text says that he “was entrusted with making the flat cakes.” Those cakes were part of the daily sacrifices to be offered before the Lord as prescribed back in Leviticus 6.

And what is the point of all this?

This man’s job in serving God was simply to bake the bread of the offerings. But it is important. Look at the careful wording. It does not simply mention his baking the bread – it says he was “entrusted” to bake the bread.

The smallest service among God’s people is a sacred trust. And oh, that each of us would take whatever we contribute to the service of God’s people that way – as a sacred trust. That we would carry out whatever task we might be “entrusted” with as a holy responsibility – and not just busy work.

That we would understand the importance God places upon each of us bringing our service before Him. That we would grasp the seriousness with which we ought to approach any task that contributes to the body of Believers and the worship of God before the World.

The Father takes it seriously enough, to inscribe this otherwise unknown and obscure character in the eternal pages of holy writ. He takes no less notice of your efforts.

Heavenly Father, may I be one you can entrust with such things. With anything. May I never consider anything done in your name trivial, tedious or easily neglected – if in even the smallest way it contributes to the right worship of your name in the earth. And may you find me faithful in it.

Something to consider today Christian.

God bless. And God willing, we’ll be back tomorrow.
Through the Word in 2020 #65 – July 1 / The Power of The Gospel

July 1st, 2020

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.

How powerful is the Gospel? The short, often misunderstood passage of Philippians 1:12-18 gives us a real glimpse. Never underestimate the simple proclamation that Christ has been crucified for sinners. Even in the hands of the enemies of the Cross, the Gospel cannot be de-fanged.

More on that today on Through the Word in 2020. I’m your host, Reid Ferguson.

Along with the passage already noted, our reading today includes 1 Chronicles 5:23–7:13 and Luke 3:23–4:13. But as already noted I want us to think a bit on Paul’s statement in vs. 18: “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.”

Note first that the power of the Gospel is not dependent upon the character of the one who delivers it – but upon the God whose unfailing promise is bound up in it. It is true – Jesus saves sinners, whether a righteous man gives the Gospel, or a most far-gone profligate does. The power rests in the Gospel itself.

But note, this passage is not condoning those who preach the Gospel falsely or out of evil motives. That is sometimes the way this passage is read. But that isn’t really Paul’s point.

Yes, Paul can delight that the Gospel gets preached regardless, but this is in no way an endorsement of such misuse. Nor that we should ignore those who claim to be servants of Christ who nevertheless preach the Gospel, but whose lives openly contradict it. So we read in Titus 1:16 –

They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.

Such are to be exposed and soundly rebuked.

Because God CAN use cancer to bring one to himself, is not a tacit endorsement that therefore all cancer is good and is to be celebrated. Such confusion leads to all manner of falsehoods and poor judgments. This passage does not teach that we should simply ignore wicked men in their wickedness because the Gospel somehow still gets preached.

If that’s so, then what IS this passage about?

Those “preaching” the Gospel out of envy and rivalry here are not pretend gospelers, not charlatans, but those who in the process of persecuting Paul must articulate what it is in his message they object to. They are either Jewish persecutors trying to divert people away from the Gospel, or Gentile persecutors, trying to bring people back to their false gods. In the process, they must declare that Paul preaches a salvation by Christ alone through faith alone. They must point out he preaches a Christ crucified for sins – and these things in opposition to their own views. These are not pretenders, they are persecutors.

And so great is our God, He can use both the persecutors and the pretenders in getting the message of this glorious Gospel preached.

Take heart Christian – one way or another – the Gospel WILL prevail.

It isn’t the message bearer, nor the intent of the messenger’s heart and mind that give the Gospel its power. Its power is its own.

Romans 1:16

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

What a comfort then to us in our sometimes very feeble attempts at sharing the Gospel of the saving grace of Jesus Christ. The effectiveness of the message is not dependent upon us – the message itself – by the agency of the Holy Spirit – is sufficient to save the lost.

Sow the Word. And let the Lord bring forth the harvest.

God bless. And God willing, we’ll be back tomorrow.
Through the Word in 2020 #64 – June 30 / Praying, like Jabez, but not praying his prayer

June 30th, 2020

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.

Luke 3:1–22; Philippians 1:3–11; Psalm 106; 1 Chronicles 3:1–5:22 form our reading list today. Tucked away in the midst of these chapters in Chronicles with its long lists of people we do not and cannot know – about whom we know no more than their being listed there – is this simple reminder: When people call upon the Lord, He hears. And He answers. He is ever willing to meet us if we will but seek Him. That today on Through the Word in 2020 – I’m Reid Ferguson.

First, is 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 and the prayer of a man named Jabez.

A few years ago a book was written which laid great stress on praying what Jabez prayed. I think that is a mistake. I once heard someone ask Alistair Begg if he prayed the prayer of Jabez. He quipped: “No. I don’t pray the prayer of Jabez because Jesus didn’t pray the prayer of Jabez.”

What really makes this short account remarkable is that in this sea of unknown people – when people seek God and pray, He hears. No matter how obscure we may be. Our God hears us.

This is reiterated and expanded upon later – in Chapter 5. It bears the account of the tribes of Reuben, Gad and 1/2 the tribe of Manasseh as they were pursuing the conquest of the land God had promised them. What is in vs. 20 is both so simple and so profound. A powerful impetus to pray. Note these four things.

1 Chronicles 5:20

And when they prevailed over them, the Hagrites and all who were with them were given into their hands, for they cried out to God in the battle, and he granted their urgent plea because they trusted in him.

a. They were in battle. Christians face battles. Of all kinds. We ought not to be surprised at this. We have been given the task of challenging our indwelling sins – and they will not go quickly nor quietly. We have a real and angry enemy of our souls who will lie at all times, and ruthlessly seeks our utter destruction. And, then this world around us which seeks to soak into us and sink us. To draw us away by its enticements. To make us forgetful of God and His great mercy, grace and goodness. To make its fleeting riches of greater value than eternity.

b. It is in battle the men of Israel cried out – to God! Note that they did not just cry out. Many simply wail due to their distresses. Others have learned to cry out to God – to seek His help and favor. They have learned there is a God who loves them and cares for them and delights to be called upon in the day of trouble. As these did, so may we.

c. He granted their urgent plea. He does not turn a deaf ear to those about His business. He is never indifferent to our plight. And He takes note of the urgency of our needs. His timing is always perfect. He is never ever late. Though we often would prefer Him to be early. He answers only precisely, and when it is perfect in the eyes of His infinite wisdom and unfailing love.

d. Because they trusted in Him. Their cry was not out of mere desperation, but in the knowledge He could be trusted. Faith is central to seeing the hand of God move on our behalf. He rushes to the aid of those who trust Him. He delights to be trusted above all things – for it is the foundation of loving intimacy. Would you please God today? Trust Him. And watch Him answer.

This entrance to the Father in prayer is part of what Jesus purchased for us in His blood on the Cross.

Don’t neglect this great gift.

Consider that afresh today.

God willing, we’ll be back tomorrow.
Through the Word in 2020 #63 – June 29 / Another Look at the Humbleness of God

June 29th, 2020

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.

Out of all the attributes of God, the one which continues to amaze me most, is the one I’ve heard the least about throughout my years: His Humility. Along with 2 Kings 25-1 Chronicles 2, Ephesians 6:21-Philippians 1:2 – we have this amazing display of God’s humility in the life of Jesus in Luke 2:39-52. That’s our topic today on Through the Word in 2020. I’m Reid Ferguson.

We’ve touched on this topic before, but our text in Luke 2 brings it to the forefront once again.

We in circles rooted in Reformed Theology love to draw from the likes of Jonathan Edwards when he tells us that ultimately – everything God does, He does for His own glory. To some, that sounds egotistical. Like God arranges the universe so that He can be sure He gets a cosmic pat on the back from all He does. The truth is far different than that.

God does all He does for His own glory because that is also the most blessed, gracious and loving thing He can do for His creatures. Since He Himself is the very fountain of all good – He cannot bless us in any higher way than to expose us to His own greatness an goodness – to His glory. In Him, in whom there is no sin – His self-disclosure is the highest act of selflessness He can perform. Rather than selfishly hiding Himself from us – He reveals Himself to us. And in the ultimate way – in Jesus’ incarnation, death on our behalf and resurrection.

If Colossians 2:9 is true, and it must be, how can He give us anything more? “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.”

So when we come to this passage in Luke 2, we are met with an indescribably humble Savior. And it is in His humility that we encounter something of the glory of God we could not know any other way.

Think on it for a moment. When vs. 51 says Jesus went down with His mother and Father and was “submissive to them” – the specter is positively stunning.

How humble our God is.

Given the circumstances, the realities of His incarnation, the Lord of glory, the One who created the womb that had given Him birth; The One who at that very moment was sustaining the lives of His own earthly parents; The infinitely holy and perfect God – found it reasonable to remain submissive to His merely human inferiors.

Now were Mary and Joseph miraculously perfect parents? We would have no Biblical reason to believe so. And yet He willingly submitted Himself to them. The one who at that moment was upholding all things by the word of His power – was submitted to these middle-eastern, Jewish youngsters in the backwater of civilization.

And for us, wives find it unimaginable to be submitted to their husbands. Children find it unbearable to be submitted to their parents. Men find it unreasonable to be submitted to ecclesiastical or even civil authorities. We chafe at submission of any kind.

Maybe we suffer from some sort of pride, ego and individual sense of place and entitlement that never crossed the mind of the Living God.

Heavenly Father, give us the Spirit of Christ. Who though God in human flesh, didn’t grasp after His divinity, but humbled Himself. May we find such ease in all your sovereign arrangements and appointments in life. May we sweetly and easily submit to You and those you may put in authority over us in any sphere. Submit to you, who loves us beyond our wildest imaginations.

Let that soak into your soul today.

God willing, we’ll be back tomorrow.
Through the Word in 2020 #62 – June 26 / A Friday Prayer

June 26th, 2020

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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.

Once again I am faced with having to choose from several passages that each call for attention. Given Ephesians 6:10-20, Luke 2:8-38, 2 Kings 23:31-24:20 and Psalm 105, I will settle oh so briefly on Psalm 105, and that, just 1 verse out of that Psalm, vs. 4: “Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His presence continually.’

I’m Reid Ferguson, and that’s our focus today on Through the Word in 2020.

“Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His presence continually.” What a wonderful admonition that is.

I don’t know about you, I can only speak for myself. But it is so easy to go through my day, even making sure I spend some time reading the Word and a time of prayer, but to do so in such a way that my soul is never really quieted before the Throne. Do it all, but never having a sense of having entered His presence. Of my soul’s having truly sought Him, and not just His truth or answers to my petitions.

Now the Lord so gracious, so patient, so kind. He waits for us to step aside, even for a few moments, to just be in His presence. And doesn’t it speak volumes that He has to include an exhortation to seek His presence in His Word – when it is the thing which will bless us most and do us the most good?

So let me be brief today and just pray with you to that end.

Heavenly Father, the volumes that need to be written on this one thought. How destitute we are of joy, comfort, peace, understanding, righteousness, instruction and strength – because we do not seek your presence continually.

Because we go back and forth. We imagine that we go in and out of your presence.

But it is not so.

You are with us always. We do not leave your presence, we merely ignore it. Oh horror of horrors! Please forgive us. Forgive us for uttering one syllable as though you are not hearing in the room with us. Forgive us for the way we speak to others. For the ways we think – as though you are not privy to every thought.

For pursuing some sort of abstract “strength” in our weak moments, instead of simply seeking your presence – for there, for YOU, are our strength. Strength isn’t some “thing” disconnected from you.

Forgive us for what we let our eyes see and our ears hear. All because we are not living in the seeking – the act of recognizing your presence with us. May that never again be true from this day forward.

May we seek your presence at all times and in all places. What of your presence we can have now, especially in the sanctum of the prayer closet and the fellowship of your people in gathered worship. And seeking to be in your full, unveiled presence in the resurrection.

For your promise is, you will be found by those who seek you.

In Jesus’ name we ask it.

God bless – and God willing, we’ll be back Monday.
Through the Word in 2020 – #61 June 25 / A Tale of 3 Kings

June 25th, 2020

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.

No two people are exactly the same. Put in identical or near identical circumstances, they can act and respond in very different ways. Even opposite ways. Such is the case with King Josiah in
2 Kings 22:3-23:30 – when compared with the king we looked at yesterday – Hezekiah. Both knew the impending judgment of God on Judah for its sins. One chose to cruise the last mile since judgment wouldn’t happen in his lifetime. The other, chose to do all he could to right matters, even though it wouldn’t change the ultimate outcome. More on that today on Through the Word in 2020.

Along with our reading in 2 Kings today, we have Luke 2:1-7 and Ephesians 6:5-9. And what is striking, is that as we consider King Hezekiah and King Josiah, we also catch a powerful preview of King Jesus.

Hezekiah you’ll recall, heard that God’s judgment would be poured out on Judah because of its sin. And his response was: “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?”

Several generations later, young Josiah takes the throne, and through the influence of some godly mentors, comes to rediscover the Word of God. It had been in the Temple the whole time, but had been buried and forgotten. He’s stunned. He looks at the condition of his nation, and concludes that “the wrath of the Lord…is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

Josiah is deeply moved and begins to inquire about what ought to be done. He’s told by the prophetess Huldah that God’s coming wrath cannot be averted. But because of his penitent heart – he won’t see it. Rather than just throwing up his hands and saying “que, sera sera, – whatever will be will be” like Hezekiah, he embarks on the most extensive national campaign to restore the right worship of God to be found in Scripture. The account is remarkable.

Enter King Jesus. Who knows full well the wrath of God destined to be poured out on the human race for our rebellion against God. Who knows it cannot be averted. Who knows that He will have to subject Himself both to the darkest wickedness of man, and to the just wrath of God, but nevertheless, gives His very life to rescue untold numbers in the meantime. This, by His own substitutionary death on that Cross.

Some imagine today we can rescue Western Civilization. I personally think that is impossible. I could be wrong. But all earthly civilizations are destined to fall under God’s wrath. All we need to do is look around, and I think we could conclude with Josiah that “the wrath of the Lord…is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

But that is no call to pull a Hezekiah. It is to take up the call like Josiah did as a foreshadowing of Christ. It is to pour all we can into preaching the Gospel to the lost, putting away sin, and building up one another in Christ now. Who knows how long our good God will relent? And just because that final wrath may not come in our generation, is no reason to let up. Let us be about revival. Personal revival first. Then in the whole Church. And see what great things our God can do before that great and final day.

Think on that today Beloved. And perhaps follow Josiah’s example of renewing a personal covenant with God as in 23:3. Great things may yet be done in the name of Christ.

I’m Reid Ferguson. And God willing, we’ll be back tomorrow.
Through the Word in 2020 #60 – June 24 / Leaving an Inheritance

June 24th, 2020

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.

Thought about what you might be leaving behind for others as an inheritance? The older I get, the more it runs though my mind. And the truth is, we always leave one. It may not be money. It may not be land. It may not be family heirlooms, a stock portfolio or an estate. But we will leave those behind us with something. They will carry the memory of us – for better or worse. We will leave that deposit with them. It was something King Hezekiah, as good of a man as he was – never considered well. Maybe we can do better. I’m Reid Ferguson, and we’ll talk about that today on Through the Word in 2020.

All 3 of our readings today touch on the impact each generation has on the other – older to younger, and younger to older. Ephesians 5:22-6:4; Luke 1:57-80 and 2 Kings 20:1-22:2 . And there is a most interesting and important observation regarding King Hezekiah in 2 Kings.

As I mentioned above, Hezekiah was a good King. By that I mean that Scripture says he “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.” He brought massive social reforms to Judah, and especially sought to bring the nation back to its moorings in serving God. He ruled for nearly 30 years.

Then Hezekiah got sick. So sick the prophet Isaiah visited him and told him to get his house in order because he was going to die. The King pleaded with God who in turn added 15 more years to his life. A season in which he made a couple of grave errors. God’s favor toward him seemed to produce a certain laxness, a sense perhaps that he could do no wrong. After all, didn’t God supernaturally give him 15 more years? He was indestructible until that time was up – right?

First, he fathered another son during this hiatus. A man who would prove to have nothing of his father’s godliness and would go on arguably to be Judah’s most vile king. Second, in his hubris, he openly bragged to foreign powers about all he had – how wealthy and secure the kingdom was. In the end, leaving him vulnerable. So much so that once again Isaiah approached and told him because of his foolishness, the very powers he bragged to were one day going to destroy the kingdom. His response to that news?

2 Kings 20:19 ESV

Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?”

Did you catch that? As long as there would be peace and security in his days, the prospect of the future meant nothing. The inheritance he left to his son, to his nation, was the legacy of careless indifference regarding the future, as long as today was OK.

And I wonder how many of us give serious enough thought to what inheritance in this regard we will leave those behind us? Will they have inherited from us indifference over their future – especially their eternal future? Or will they instead witness how we prepared for eternity – regardless of the peace and security and comfort of the present?

What will you leave behind for your children and grandchildren? A legacy of seeking, loving and serving Christ and His Kingdom? Of living now with your eye on eternity? Or how temporal, immediate comfort and ease and interests ultimately won the day?

Make no mistake, you WILL leave them something. Whether you die penniless or a multi-millionaire.

Will you leave them the legacy of the redeemed?

That’s worth thinking about today.

God willing, we’ll be back tomorrow.
Through the Word in 2020 – #59 June 23 / The Spirit-filled Life

June 23rd, 2020

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.

How do we distinguish one thing from another? Contrast. Smooth versus rough. Light versus dark. Loud versus soft. In tune versus off key. The list is endless. And it is as true in spiritual matters as it is in the physical universe. In Ephesians 5 the Apostle Paul brings out a powerful contrast to enable us to distinguish between what the Spirit-filled life is, and what it isn’t. That’s our focus today on Through the Word in 2020. I’m your host, Reid Ferguson.

Luke 1:39-56; 2 Kings 18:13-19:37 and Ephesians 5:1-21 round out today’s reading. And while I cannot spend the time here, do take the time on your own to see how what we see in Ephesians accords with the account of Mary in Luke 1.

The Spirit-filled life. Growing up in the Pentecostal tradition of Protestant Christianity, I was raised with a certain understanding of what the “Spirit-filled” Christian was supposed to look like. The emphasis was upon manifesting the gifts of the Spirit as per 1 Corinthians 12 – and through the lens of the events on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2. And there is much there to be considered for sure.

But when we come to Ephesians 5, there are dynamics introduced into this discussion which are often neglected. And it is opened up to us by way of contrast.

That contrast is located in vs. 18: “Do not get drunk with wine…but be filled with the Spirit.”

The features of being drunk with wine don’t need a lot of explanation, so Paul doesn’t bother to detail them. Loss of proper inhibition. Skewed perceptions. Loss of emotional control. Poor reasoning. Blurred vision. Slurred speech.

When Paul pits drunkeness over against being filled with the Spirit – he is arguing that being Spirit-filled produces the opposite effects. Sharper thinking not less rationality; more self-control, not less. Clearer vision and sounder speech. If that’s not so, then we need to ask if our experience really is one of being Spirit-filled – or something else.

That’s the negative part of the contrast – what about the positive? What does the Spirit filled life look like?

1. A perpetual attitude of praise. 5:19

addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,

2. A perpetual attitude of thankfulness. 5:20

giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

3. A perpetual attitude of humility. 5:21a – “submitting to one another.”

4. A perpetual attitude of reverence for Christ . Concern for His Person, His reputation, place in our hearts, minds and in the cosmos, and His purposes. 5:21b – “out of reverence for Christ.”

It is in contrasting these 2 that we grasp what the Spirit-filled life really looks like. And it is why we need to be praying for the Spirit continually, and not just for a one time experience. In fact, we could read verse 18 to say: “be being filled with the Spirit.” Be about it – always.

The Puritan John Owen wrote: “We are taught in an especial manner to pray that God would give his Holy Spirit unto us…Our Saviour, enjoining an importunity in our supplications…and giving us encouragement that we shall succeed in our requests…makes the subject-matter of them to be the Holy Spirit: [As Jesus taught] “Your heavenly Father shall give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him,”…nor doth God bestow any good thing on us but by his Spirit. Hence, the promise of bestowing the Spirit is accompanied with a prescription of duty unto us, that we should ask…or pray for him…He…is the great subject-matter of all our prayers. And that signal promise of our blessed Saviour, to send him as a comforter, to abide with us for ever, is a directory for the prayers of the church in all generations.”

Let that soak in today Christian.

God willing, we’ll be back tomorrow.
Through the Word in 2020 – June 22 / Reminding Ourselves

June 22nd, 2020

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.

Out of sight, out of mind – so the saying goes. And nowhere is that more true than it is in our apprehension of God and His goodness as a constant, living reality to our souls. So it is in Psalm 103, David finds a need to remind himself of who and what God is and has done, in order to restore an ongoing, inward atmosphere of worship. A sort of spiritual string around the finger of his soul. More on that in a minute in Through the Word in 2020. I’m Reid Ferguson.

Our 4 readings to day are: Luke 1:26–38; Ephesians 4:17–32; Psalm 103; 2 Kings 17:1–18:12. As I already noted, it is Psalm 103

I’d like to fix our minds on for these few minutes we have together.

As I woke this morning and went to prayer, I was aware of a number of very weighty and pressing concerns on my mind. And I knew I needed more strength than my own to manage them. How grateful I was then to come to this Psalm as part of today’s reading.

That Prince of the Victorian preachers – as he is called – Charles Spurgeon once wrote: “It is no idle occupation…to get alone, and in your own hearts to magnify the Lord; to make him great to your mind, to your affections; great in your memory, great in your expectations. It is one of the grandest exercises of the renewed nature. You need not, at such a time, think of the deep questions of Scripture, and may leave the abstruse doctrines to wiser heads, if you will; but if your very soul is bent on making God great to your own apprehension, you will be spending time in one of the most profitable ways possible to a child of God. Depend upon it, there are countless holy influences which flow from the habitual maintenance of great thoughts of God, as there are incalculable mischiefs which flow from our small thoughts of him. The root of false theology is belittling God; and the essence of true divinity is greatening God, magnifying him, and enlarging our conceptions of his majesty and his glory to the utmost degree.”

That is the business David is about in this Psalm. And I would commend it to you today, especially if you are feeling in any way confused, overwhelmed, exhausted or sorrowful.

Let’s rehearse David’s catalog of 12 of God’s benefits in this passage.

1 – (3) There is no species of sin beyond the power of His forgiveness. None. We have forgiveness, not just of individual sins, but of our very sinfulness.

2 – (3) There is no species of suffering brought on by sin, that is beyond His mercy, power and willingness to heal.

The word for diseases here is only used 5 times in the OT – and is always attached to the griefs the Lords lays upon people in punishment for sins.

3 – (4) The promise of resurrection.

4 – (4) The reality of God’s steadfast – not vacillating – love and mercy.

5 – (5) His desire to give us only those things which are a true blessing to us, and not decay to our souls.

6 – (6) The promise of a day of complete justice.

7 – (7) His self-revelation.

8 – (8) His imperturbable nature. He isn’t cranky or easily ticked-off.

9 – (10) Dealing with us according to grace and mercy because His justice is satisfied in Christ.

10 – (13) His compassion on our weakness. He expects us to live as redeemed, but not as perfected yet.

11 – (17) Everlasting love.

12 – (19) Divine superintendency over all which concerns us.

Remind yourself today of His great benefits. Let them lift your soul up again and breathe freshness into you.

This is your God Christian. And He has not left you lacking in any way.

God bless. And God willing, we’ll be back tomorrow.
Through the Word in 2020 – June 19 / The Anatomy of an Extraordinary Prayer

June 19th, 2020

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.

“Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” I learned to sing it, and in some measure to believe it from very early in life. But there are some things we cannot know in the deepest sense, until something else is in place. Theologian W.G.T. Shedd compared the way most of us know God’s love to a blind man’s knowledge of color. He has the vocabulary. He can know all the physics and mechanics of it. But to really see it, is something else altogether. And so it is with the love of God. That’s our focus today on Through the Word in 2020. I’m Reid Ferguson.

2 Kings 15:13-16:20; Luke 1:1-25 and Ephesians 3:14-4:16 make up our reading list today. But it is Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians in 3:14-21 that just stuns me afresh.

Pay close attention to the words “so that”, “that” and “that you”: as we cover it. Maybe underline them in your Bible. Those are purpose words. They show us that this prayer is not some abstract wish for a mere better understanding of God’s love – but for a transformative revelation of it that can only be wrought by the Holy Spirit and all that for some profound ends.

Look at it just nakedly first:

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, i.e. this is why I pray as I do – and to whom I do – 16 that:

(A) according to the riches of his glory he may grant you

(B) to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that

(C) Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you,

(D) being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have

(E) strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the

(F) breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to

(G) know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you

(H) may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

1. The first thing needed is a supernatural bestowal, of the Spirit’s strengthening power…

2. Power, on a level which is no less than commensurate with the limitless, inscrutable riches of God’s personal, divine glory…

And these are the 4 things he intends to come out of that supernatural work by the Spirit:

3. So that Christ may have His full inhabiting of our hearts – through our believing Him – really, truly, fully, to the highest degree. For all of our failure is ultimately a failure to believe Him. And most particularly – to believe the greatness of His love…

4. So that we come to the place that our full conviction of His love for us forms the absolute root from which we draw all of our nourishment, and the foundation upon which we stand in all things and under all circumstances…

5. So that we may begin to comprehend still more – the height, depth, length and breadth of His love – to KNOW the love of Christ that in fact surpasses all human knowledge…

6. So that at last we might be filled with all the fullness of God.

Supernatural strength in regard to Christ dwelling in our hearts. Strength to live in it – to retain it in our hearts and minds as static, present reality. We float in and out of consciousness of this truth. We know it theologically and intellectually, but not as a constant, living reality shaping the whole of our being. We have momentary experiences of what God desires to grant us a remaining, perpetual, experiential knowledge of.

And that is my prayer for you today as well.

God willing, we’ll be back Monday.