ResponsiveReiding

As I was reading today: A Thought from Joshua 11

June 12th, 2019

“So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses. And Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war.” ESV Jos 11:23.

One of the most difficult aspects of the Christian life to wrap our heads around is: How much has changed, and how much hasn’t? We read passages like 2 Cor. 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” and we say to ourselves, “ALL things new? I still have so much of the old hanging on!” And confusion over this state can lead to times of near despair. You are not alone.

Fortunately, portions like the book of Joshua are meant – by means of their graphic descriptions of the invasion and conquering of the Canaan – to give us pictures of the Christian struggle as well.

So here, we have a pretty categorical statement: “Joshua took the whole land.” And if that’s all we read we think “wow! That’s it! It’s all done!” But in truth they were very, very far from “done” in terms of all God had called them to. Yes, they had entered the land. Yes, they had come to a place of dominance over the whole territory. Yes, they had rest from the necessary first invasion wars. But then we remember that the verse right before this one noted they had not been able to expel all of the Anakim – like those in Ashdod, Gaza and Gath; The very place where later, a descendant of the Anakim, Goliath of Gath would arise to challenge God’s armies. Nor have we read yet: Joshua 13:1 “Now Joshua was old and advanced in years, and the Lord said to him, “You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to possess.”

Well which is it? Had they taken the whole land, or was there “yet very much land to possess”? Yes! It is an issue of what has been called “the already, but not yet” principle.

The idea here isn’t that the territory was entirely free of Canaanites, or that every inch of land was fully occupied. Rather, the whole was under Israel’s control. This is the same with the Believer and indwelling sin. Christ has won all of the territory of “self” for us. We now live in it so to speak – but not all sins are gone. Not every area of life is fully subdued as it ought to be and one day will be. But by God’s grace, we have entered the land and the decisive victory has been – even though there is massive work to be done.

Don’t be discouraged or downhearted Christian – if you are Christ’s – all things are indeed new – but not as new as they one day will be. Keep at the work. Keep battling sin. Keep looking to and trusting Christ , for one day, unlike the Israelites, you WILL be fully conformed to the image of Christ. Already new, justified, but not yet glorified. But you WILL be! By God’s good grace.
As I was reading today: A thought from Matthew 17

June 11th, 2019

24 When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?” 25 He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?” 26 And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. 27 However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.” English Standard Version Mt 17:24–27.

There is a really striking balance in Jesus here. When it came to truth, especially the truth of the Gospel or about God, Jesus didn’t hesitate to offend anyone or everyone. He was no shrinking violet.

But when it was not such a matter, here, in what is nothing more than a social custom, Jesus is concerned not to give any needless offense.

This is greatly instructive to us. For we are ever needing to be clear which hills are those to die upon, and which are not so grave.

It also gives us occasion to be reminded that in the whole of the New Testament, neither Christ nor His Disciples are ever recorded as having been offended or taking offense themselves. And they were most certainly ill-treated. The tendency to take offense at everything it seems is found only in their opposers.

I wonder at how easily, I, we, in this generation make so much of offenses. Perceived or real ones. We imagine ourselves wounded at almost every turn. Something conspicuously absent both in our Lord and those who suffered with Him. Perhaps the ease of our circumstances, the “rights” upon which our society prides itself, the general acceptance we have as Christians – which opens us to precious little true persecution – has made us imagine the world (and people in general) owe us some level of courtesy and regard. Our skins grow exceedingly thin. Every bump is considered battery. Every slight, real sin. But this is not the Biblical model. Like Jesus, we are to be more concerned with not giving unnecessary offense to others, than whether or not they may offend us.

We, are about to inherit eternity. And will we wrangle with one another over momentary sensitivities?

Father forgive me for this being all too often true in my own life.
As I was reading today: Thoughts from Joshua 1

June 10th, 2019
5 No one will be able to resist you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not abandon you or leave you alone. 6 Be strong and brave! You must lead these people in the conquest of this land that I solemnly promised their ancestors I would hand over to them. 7 Make sure you are very strong and brave! Carefully obey all the law my servant Moses charged you to keep! Do not swerve from it to the right or to the left, so that you may be successful in all you do… 9 I repeat, be strong and brave! Don’t be afraid and don’t panic, for I, the Lord your God, am with you in all you do.” 10 Joshua instructed the leaders of the people:…16 They told Joshua, “We will do everything you say. We will go wherever you send us.
17 Just as we obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. But may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses!
18 4Any man who rebels against what you say and does not obey all your commands will be executed. But be strong and brave!”

Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible (Biblical Studies Press, 2005), Jos 1:5–18.

The news media thrives on generating fear – It is how they keep viewers glued. Politicians thrive on generating fear- It is how they garner attention and votes. Drug companies thrive on generating fear – It is how they increase sales. Every Activist group thrives on generating fear about some threat, loss or coming woe – It is how they make money and gain power.

Fear is the way of the World. But it is not the way of the Kingdom of Christ.

In this passage, Isreal is in a time of great transition. And so it is a society ripe for fear mongering. What will we eat when the manna stops? Will Joshua lead us like Moses did? How well armed are our enemies? Can we really defeat them all? How long wit it take? Do we have enough soldiers? Do we have the right strategies? The territory is unfamiliar. We are not warring people but a wondering one. What if we fail?

And for Christians facing onslaughts by the World, our own flesh and the Enemy can find us running in fear as well. Will the government persecute us? WIll my sins overtake me? Will Satan deceive me? Will the Culture overwhelm me or make a pariah of me?

And God’s counsel remains the same for us as we seek to conquer the territory of our inward sins as it did for Joshua – “Be strong and brave!”
1. Be strong and brave because we are called to lead. We are called by God to demonstrate to the World what it means to follow Christ above everyone and everything else. He has called us to this day – and because He has called us to it, He will equip us for it. But we must guard our hearts and remain brave in the face of whatever opposition – internal or external confronts us. Have confidence in God’s call to make you like Jesus.
2. Be strong and be brave in hearing and adhering to God’s Word. When we are single-minded in pursuing the goal of being conformed to the image of Christ, and do not swerve to the right or the left for any other life governing goal in life – He is with us. Be strong and brave in commitment to His Word above all else.
3. Be strong and be brave, don’t be afraid and don’t panic: “for I, the Lord your God, am with you in all you do.” We are not alone! Fighting indwelling sin is must more frightening than anything the Wolrd can throw at us – but He has promised to be with us every step of the way. And if He be with us, and for us – who or what can be against us?
4. Be strong and be brave for the sake of other Believers. One of the most neglected ministries we have toward our fellow Christians is to bolster and increase their faith and courage, and never to undermine it. It does not mean we ignore hard truths. It DOES mean we are required to examine those truths in light of God’s Word, power, love, purposes and promises.
“For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged” ESV 1 Co 14:31.

God is still on His throne, and we are His beloved in Christ.
As I was reading today: A Thought from Matthew 15

June 6th, 2019

Matthew 15:32–33 (ESV) — 32 Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” 33 And the disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?”

This is commonly referred to a Jesus feeding the 4,000. It comes pretty close on the heels of His feeding the 5,000 a short time before. And in it, I see my own faithlessness mirrored in the disciples.

How much like me these men are.

They had been in this position once before. Not long before either. And yet they repeat what they did the first time – they sputter to themselves about what they cannot do. One would have thought they would turn to Jesus once again first instead. But no. Like me they went through the ritual of personal helplessness first rather than running to Christ first. They rehearsed and bemoaned their lack, when the very Fountain of all life stood before them.

Oh Father, help me to seek your face before I get into a dither about what I can’t do. Seeing every situation, make my first thought to run to you.
As I was reading today: Matthew 7

June 5th, 2019

Matthew 7:7–8 (ESV) — 7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

We are all familiar with this passage. But unfortunately, it seems most often to be applied with the idea that if I want something from God, I must simply dun Him for it in prayer until I receive it. But I do not believe that is what Jesus is really after here. The context is the key.

I cannot help but think this admonition refers especially to coming to know our Father so as to have Him hallowed in our own hearts and minds…etc.. In other words – its main application is in encouraging us to trust that the petitions taught to us in the prayer of 6:9-13 – will indeed be ours if we set ourselves unswervingly upon them.

But why ask (and keep on asking), seek (and keep on seeking), knock (and keep on knocking)? Why the perpetuation of these three? Because we tend to think that God’s graces come to us as a once-for-all bestowment, rather than a continual supply which must be continually looked for in ongoing dependence upon Him.

So for instance, one cannot just ask and seek and knock for deliverance from some sin – thinking all the while that someday (in this life), we’ll just have absolute freedom from that temptation and not have to face it any longer. This is not the reality of the Christian life. I must ask continually, because I will face the same challenge continually. I must seek Him continually because each day brings distractions from Him. I must knock continually because sin closes up my heart and mind and spiritual eyes and ears continually. I must rely on His grace continually that I might experience the ongoing supply of that grace.

We want once-for-all solutions. But the once-for-all, is realizing that He is the once-for-all source and fountain – which must nevertheless be appealed to and relied upon constantly.

This dynamic remains the reality regarding every grace from God we desire. Victory over sin, and the receipt and manifestation of every fruit of the Spirit. No one has a “gift” of longsuffering. We can only be sustained in it.

Keep seeking Him Christian. Ask for His name to be hallowed, His kingdom to come and His will to be done in this earth as it is in Heaven. Keep looking to Him and Him alone for your daily bread, the forgiveness of sins, a forgiving heart and deliverance from the Devil’s schemes. For it all and always rest in Him and Him alone. What a great and glorious God we serve.
As I was reading today: Matthew 2

June 4th, 2019

Matthew 2:19–22 (ESV) — 19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee.

I like the habitual and the familiar. I like formulas. Uniformity. Especially in life, I like to know how things work. I like the predictable. But life isn’t always like that, and this is also true in our life with Christ.

If you are anything like me, you may want to have God and His ways kind of figured out too. In each situation, God will do X, and I can live in the comfort that “this is how it works.” Except when it doesn’t. And a good case in point is from this interesting part of the narrative of the early life of Jesus.

We all know the basic facts of this part of the account. When the Wise men from the East appeared seeking the one who was born “King of the Jews” they went first to King Herod. Herod, who never missing an opportunity to suspect that others wanted his power and position, tried to trick the Wise men into coming back to tell him who and where this newborn King was. But God warned them in a dream. And hightailing it out of town by another route, Herod’s plan to eliminate his possible opponent was foiled. So he tried again. This time more brutally. He had all the boys under the age of 2 born within a certain region killed, figuring he’d eliminate all possible contenders. He was wrong.

Once again, God stepped in and warned Joseph by an angel in a dream to take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt. And they remained there until once again – by angelic direction – Joseph was told he should return to Israel. That is, until he heard that Herod’s son now sat in his father’s former throne. At this point Joseph was scared. And the plan was modified.

Now I went through all that to say this: The first warning to flee came from an angel without anything prior on Joseph’s part. But this warning appears to come on the heels of Joseph’s concern over Herod’s son now being in power.

Here’s the point: Though there are times when God intervenes without our being aware of the danger ourselves, there are also times when our concerns are the trip wire to God’s intervention. I would guess that Joseph’s concern was probably expressed in prayer, and that the angel was sent in response. The point being, we cannot reduce our walk with Him to formulaic expectations. Our walk with God is dynamic, fluid, and meant to be lived out – not mechanically, but in a living way. Sometimes God just acts. Sometimes He acts in direct response to prayer. Because He acts sovereignly at times is no reason to neglect prayer, and because He responds to prayer is no reason to doubt His watchful care at all times. Both are realities we wondrously live in the light of.

He is a good God, but a living one – one who acts and interacts with us in real time. Trust Him, and seek Him. We need to do both.
Romans 8 – A Prayer

May 23rd, 2019

For well over a decade now I’ve been a member of the Fellowship of Independent Reformed Evangelicals (F.I.R.E.). FIRE is a wonderful, international association of like minded Churches and individuals. And this week I had the pleasure of attending our latest international conference held at Providence Church in Rowlett TX. It was an unusually sweet time with old friends and many new ones.

The theme this year was Romans 8 and the slate of speakers each took a portion of that majestic passage until the whole was covered. We were truly blessed.

I was given the privilege of offering the closing prayer. Sometimes as it happens, my thoughts organize themselves in verse. In this case, attempting to summarize the key points emphasized by the speakers and the chapter – I composed the following as my prayer. I pray it will be a blessing to you.

What then shall we say Dear Lord

For all that we have heard

As each approached the sacred desk

To break to us your Word?

The riches of our Christ and King

Of condemnation gone

The Spirit, and our life in Christ

Christ’s true new day has dawned

The law of sin and death undone

In Christ sent in the flesh

You Father, sent your Only Son

To grant true life afresh

And by the Spirit’s residence

To grant a Heav’nly mind

Abolishing hostility

Our hearts to yours to bind

And how the power of canceled sin

You grant to each you’ve bought

No more a debtor to its bonds

This victory you have wrought

You dealt to fear its fatal blow

Placed “Abba!” on our lips

And made us fellow heirs with Christ

With all His glorious gifts

Redeeming all our sufferings

Transforming every groan

Into hymns of sweetest praise

Tho in inexpressible moans

Your precious Spirit intercedes

When we’re too faint to cry

Divine and Triune pleading

Your own transcendent sigh

Loving, yea predestinating

First called then justified

Not failing in the smallest thing

Til we are glorified

You who did not spare your Son

What won’t you give us free?

For all in Him you’ve given us

Oh, give us eyes to see!

And add to all, inseparably

You bind us fast in love

Our names engraven on His hands

Til home at last above

The weak made more than conquerers

The wicked made anew

Declared as saints in Christ alone

Dear Lord – all praise to you.
The Fear of The Lord Part 2

May 12th, 2019
The Fear of the Lord Pt. 2

Reid A Ferguson

Psalm 139; Deuteronomy 10:12–13; Proverbs 2:1–5

AUDIO FOR THIS SERMON CAN BE FOUND HERE

Last time we began to look at this topic of “The Fear of The Lord.” A phrase found all through the Scriptures and given significant emphasis in places like: ‌Deuteronomy 10:12–13

Deuteronomy 10:12–13 ESV / “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?”

At first blush, fearing God seems counterintuitive to loving Him and being loved by Him.

But as we began to see, there is no disparity between the reverential awe that is brought on by contemplating God in His greatness, attributes, nature and acts, and loving Him. In fact, the more we see Him as He really is, the more awed we are at Him AND, the more we come to love Him. Because what is revealed about Him makes Him the most lovable of all objects and beings in the universe.

But we cannot get to that place without looking beyond the glory of His immensity, genius and power in Creation – to the glory of His self-revelation in His Word, and His acts.

So you’ll recall that we are following this outline:

The Fear of the Lord:

1 – Why Should I Care?

2 – What it isn’t.

3 – What it is.

4 – How it is obtained.

5 – What are its benefits?

We dealt with #1, #2 & #3 last time, and suggesting a boiled down definition of “the fear of the Lord” to 2 words: Reverential Awe.

Then moving on to #4 we began to explore how a reverential awe is birthed in us when we rightly explore how it is obtained.

Gaining the Fear of The Lord
1. Creation
2. The Word
3. His Acts
All 3 of which confront us with God’s nature such that a speechless, reverential awe is all we are left with. One which then ought to fill our hearts and minds so as to govern all of life.

And as I mentioned last time, Scripture informs us this fear of the Lord must be intentionally sought. It does not come automatically.

This becomes very clear in Proverbs 2:1-5

Proverbs 2:1–5 ESV / My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

So here is where see how God’s Word is that 2nd means of encountering and fostering the fear of the Lord.

Note this text: Receiving God’s Word, storing up His commands, being attentive to His wisdom, turning our hearts to understanding, calling out (i.e. -praying for discernment and understanding), seeking it like precious metal and hidden treasure. THEN – you will understand how to fear the Lord. You will gain knowledge of Him that brings the soul into reverential awe.

It is clear then that we need more revelation than Creation can give us.

As Paul tells us, a certain amount can be known about God in Creation: Romans 1:19-20, says we can grasp something of His genius, rationality, power and transcendence in how Creation manifests immensity, timelessness, symmetry and order and its design to bless and sustain human life.

But what we cannot know from creation is our relationship to Him, the nature of sin and redemption and His plan of salvation. For these we need some special revelation – a revelation which we receive above all in His Word.

His Word explains Creation and the God behind it. And so some Biblical passages especially lend themselves to fostering this reverential awe in unique ways.

One thinks of Daniel 4 for instance and the testimony of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar after his recovery from the madness God visited with to humble him: Daniel 4:34-35

Daniel 4:34–35 ESV / At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

This is a profound revelation of God’s sovereign rule over mankind and the affairs of mankind. Not so as to obliterate human responsibility, but so as to demonstrate how God still works and rules within this sphere to bring about His sovereign plan even while man acts out of his own fallen will.

In fact, an prominent feature of New Testament preaching from the Day of Pentecost on was to point to God’s active rule over human affairs, even as humanity acts according to its will, and the Enemy of our souls does as well: But God rules over all.

Or think of Isa. 40 or Acts 17 where we not only read of God creating all things but of his active role in the affairs of men.

But there is one passage which in appealing to 3 attributes of God stands out as a particularly useful means of creating the right and reverential awe of God – and it is the 139th Psalm.

It is laid out in this wonderful pattern:
1. vss. 1-6 / God’s Omniscience.
2. vss. 7-12 / God’s Omnipresence.
3. vss. 13-16 / God’s Omnipotence.
4. vss. 17-24 / 3 Applications.
1. vss. 1-6 / God’s Omniscience.
If you are not familiar with it, OMNISCIENCE is just a fancy word for saying God knows EVERYTHING.

And the text bears out the nature of this “everything” by bringing it down to a very personal level.

And we need to grasp the contrast here: The God who we looked at last time, who spoke this vast universe into existence in all of its unfathomable immensity, complexity and wonder – and who continues to operate and sustain it all – is the same God who knows us individually on an unimaginably intimate and minute scale.

Something God Himself testifies to regarding EVERY single creature in Job 38-41.

So what does David, a single man say about how God “knows” him?
1. Ps. 139:1
English Standard Version Psalm 139 / O Lord, you have searched me and known me!

Listen to this. David testifies that this God of creation doesn’t just know OF David – but KNOWS David – and has even “searched” him. Scrutinized him. Examined him. And just how extensively will be brought out as we go.
1. Ps. 139:2a
English Standard Version Psalm 139 / You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

One would think such a massive God would have no time or inclination to note such things but here is the testimony. He knows every time I sit down and every time I get up. The most mundane, repetitive and ordinary of things. Nothing, nothing – escapes His all-seeing eye and notice.
1. Ps. 139:2b
English Standard Version Psalm 139 / you discern my thoughts from afar.

Imagine this! How he drills down even deeper. Now some interpret this phrase to mean that God, being far off in Heaven, still detects even our thoughts.

But I tend to consider this as Spurgeon did when he wrote: “Before it is my own it is foreknown and comprehended by thee. Though as yet I be not myself cognizant of the shape my thought is assuming, yet thou perceivest its nature, its source, its drift, its result.”

God knows our every thought even before it is fully formed in our own minds. And He is aware of us all on this level – everyone of us, all at once.
1. Psalm 139:3a
English Standard Version Psalm 139 / 3 You search out my path and my lying down,

You search out where in life I am going, and even where and how I take my rest.
1. Psalm 139:3b
English Standard Version Psalm 139 / and are acquainted with all my ways.

He knows every foible, every quirk, every tendency and reasoning, feeling, action and reaction. ALL our ways.
1. Psalm 139:4
English Standard Version Psalm 139 / Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
You know everything I say. More! Everything I WILL say even before I say it.
1. Psalm 139:5
English Standard Version Psalm 139 / You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.

And every step I take is guided by your providence, in all my progress, all my digressions, all my future and all my past. You have your hand on me personally.

And when David considers all of this he can only gasp out: Psalm 139:6

English Standard Version Psalm 139 / Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.

To even imagine this level of God’s personal knowledge of just me as one lone human being is so overwhelming, I can’t really grasp it. It is too far above my capacity to really take in sufficiently. It is way over my head.

And beloved- this is God’s knowledge of you too! And it ought to fill us with just as much awe and wonder.

Nothing is hidden from His gaze. As Hebrews 4:13 reminds us –

Hebrews 4:13 ESV / And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

And so will anyone dare to imagine they can approach this God with clean hands? Without His intimate knowledge of every foul thought, every empty and filthy imagination, every doubt, bad attitude and preoccupation with the worthless things of this world? Every inward inclination toward abuse, anger, greed, prejudice, selfishness, impurity, pride, faithlessness, jealousy and autonomy from His Lordship – He knows them all in their most wretched depths.

And yet in Christ He accepts us and loves us and receives us as His own.

And not at arm’s length, but as the father of the prodigal son in Luke 15 – falling on our necks, weeping over us and preparing a glad feast in our honor when we return to Him in repentance and seeking forgiveness.

What a glorious God!

And how I wish we had time this morning to unpack the other 2 portions here in the same detail. But let me just skim them quickly so we do not lose them altogether.
1. vss. 7-12 / God’s Omnipresence.
Yes, our God is Omniscient, but He is also Omnipresent – always with us in every place we go.

Ps. 139:7-12

Psalm 139:7–12 ESV / Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.

Now we are struck with a conundrum aren’t we? I don’t know about you but when I stop to consider such a God as this, I want to hide my face from Him. Like Adam and Eve in their sin, I don’t want to be found out in my guilt and sinfulness. I want to seek some way of covering myself from that all penetrating gaze: But it can’t be done.

Once again, as Spurgeon notes: When David asks: “where shall I go from your Spirit?”

“No answer comes. From the sight of God he cannot be hidden, but that is not all—from the immediate, actual, constant presence of God he cannot be withdrawn. This makes it dreadful to sin, for we commit treason at the very foot of his throne. His mind is in our mind, himself within ourselves. His Spirit is over our spirit; our presence is ever in his presence.”

And isn’t this both, glorious and disturbing. Disturbing in that we cannot hide anything of our weakness, failings and sins from Him – but glorious in that nothing can ever befall His own that He is not right here with us. In every sorrow, grief, struggle and fear, we have a God who is never far off, never distant, but with us every step of the way. The very thing Jesus needed to remind His disciples of when He was preparing to leave them physically: Matthew 28:18-20

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV / And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Our Omnisicent – all-seeing, all-knowing God, our every present God, who is also Omnipotent – our all-powerful God.
1. vss. 13-16 / God’s Omnipotence
Once again time will not allow a full treatment here but look
again at how the Holy Spirit through David puts the spotlight on this attribute of God by focusing it on the personal.

Oh how it ought to fill each one of us with awe to know that we have been personally crafted by the hand of this God to be who we are.

Psalm 139:13-16

Psalm 139:13–16 ESV / For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

What a wonder – what a miracle, what a display of infinite wisdom and power is the creation of the human being in body, soul and spirit.

18th century theologian Andrew Fuller noted in this passage: “The human frame is so admirably constructed, so delicately combined, and so much in danger of being dissolved by innumerable causes, that the more we think of it, the more we tremble, and wonder at our own continued existence.”

How then does David apply this tour of God’s omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence to his own life?

3 ways.

English Standard Version Psalm 139 / How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.
1. vss. 17-18 Application 1. I can trust you with my weakness. Sleep. We are never more vulnerable and helpless than when asleep. Utterly defenseless. But because God thinks on us immeasurably – because we are the object of His deep scrutiny and consideration – we need fear nothing else.
Psalm 139:19-22

Psalm 139:19–22 ESV / Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me! They speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies take your name in vain. Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies.
1. vss. 19-22 Application 2. BUT! I can trust you with my trials. Your enemies become my enemies. Be they human opposition, sin, or adverse Circumstances. I can call on the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present one to stand up in my defense.
Psalm 139:23-24

Psalm 139:23–24 ESV / Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
1. vss. 23-24 Application 3. I can trust you with my sanctification.
Since you know me, since you rule over me, since you are near me so as to know my most inner being: Work in me to make me like Jesus. I can trust you not just to detect, but todetect and deal with all my sin. Lead me after yourself.

David’s direction to us? Such considerations produce humility, and the desire to follow after our great and wonderful God.

And are the considerations of God’s awesome nature in His all-knowing, everywhere-and always present and all-powerful glory not fitting considerations as we come to the table this morning?

Think about this as you come today – if you are His:

1 – He knows our sin. All of it. The full extent of it beyond anything we are aware of. And still He loves us in His limitless grace.

2 – He has the power to deal with our sin in its totality. As to its guilt and defilement in the Cross, its remaining power by His indwelling Spirit, and its very presence in the resurrection.

3 – He is present with us. In the person of His Spirit. “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Philippians 2:13

Philippians 2:13 ESV / for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

He knows our sin better than we.

But His power is such that all sin is met in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ – so that the worst of all sinners may be fully cleansed, forgiven and justified before Him.

And He so joins Himself to us as to always be with us, at all times, in all things. Never forsaking the trophies of His grace.
My Annual Mother’s Day Poem

May 12th, 2019

Mother’s Day – 2019

With Apologies to Edgar Allen Poe and his Raven

Once upon a midnight dreary, Mother dear, both weak and weary

Paced while waiting on the hospital floor

When pains of childbirth finally caught her, she brought forth her first born daughter

And smiling at this face she now adored

In maternity’s love fueled haze thought to herself

I think we’ll have one more.

Thus in an August later, after, a son was born with love and laughter

Now the tribe once three had become four

And how she loved their family unit, the perfect four, none could impugn it

And yet a longing nagged her at her core

The joyous haze once more descended induced again the thought:

I think we’ll have one more.

Tis here the story, true but crazy, takes its twist, still true – if hazy

Adding to the tribe with just one more

Another son! I came so speedy, so what my eyes were small and beady?

Wouldn’t I be welcomed at the door?

It took no time to set a tone eliciting the plaintiff cry to come:

So quoth my mother dearest: “never more!”

My goodness Ray, what have we done? In birthing this, this – other son?

All knew that she was rattled to the core

An obstreperous, weird little creep, their sole relief – when I would sleep

She sought the face of God and did implore

Forgive my past ill-thought conception and the haste-filled prayers –

I never should have thought it: Just one more

As time would pass, tho nearly feral, and courting daily new-found peril

Straining all her patience, and then more

She weathered each new strange condition, embarrassing and odd position

Yes, still my mother loved this one she bore

But inside her sainted heart she muttered in the deeps of dark

I swear, I swear, I swear it: Never more

A decade plus was then well spent, in pondering how to repent

Enduring spawn that rattled Hades’ door

Two normal kids, and then there’s me, ‘tis truly all a mystery

What sins could she be suff’ring all this for?

Tis then she hatched the plan to try and set it all to rights

And shocking all with news: Ah, just one more

And so in time, there came another, tho I swear from another mother

Like Seth to stand in place of Abel’s store

A tweaky, twerpy little child, but with a countenance so mild

Can anything be more a total bore?

My fiendish labor’s work undoing, with nauseating, cutesy cooing

I rue the day my Mother said: One more.

But such is grace, and a mother’s love, it MUST come down from God above

To guide and pray and nurture our small four

And never, ever losing hope, though number three was a colossal dope

She sought the Lord through many trials sore

And finishing her duty in the last of us to come could cry –

Oh thank you! I promise! And you can quote me: Never more!
The Fear of The Lord Part 1

April 29th, 2019
The Fear of The Lord Pt. 1

Reid A Ferguson

Audio for this Sermon can be found HERE

Another topic which was suggested to me by several people was addressing “The Fear of The Lord.”

The phrase is found all through the Scriptures. And so you ask yourself what this is all about? And how does it fit with the Gospel and passages like: 1 John 4:18 ?

1 John 4:18 ESV / There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

We’re Christians. We’re joined to God in Jesus Christ who has died for our sins. How does living in God’s love and acceptance square with notions of fearing God? What gives?

These are good and right questions. And I hope to give us some light on it from God’s Word. And I am going to follow this outline:

The Fear of the Lord: 1 – Why Should I Care? 2 – What it isn’t. 3 – What it is. 4 – How it is obtained. 5 – What are its benefits?

1- The Fear of the Lord: Why Should I Care?

There are a number of good reasons for spending time on this topic.

1st off is the frequency with which it’s mentioned in the Scripture.

The phrase “fear of the Lord” itself is used more than 30 times. When you add to that other similar phrases like fearing God or God-fearing and the like – you have well over 100 instances.

So it is a theme that pervades Scripture – both the Old and New Testaments.

The Holy Spirit didn’t inspire that many mentions by accident.

2nd, The nature of some of those references catch our attention.

Proverbs 1.7 for instance reminds us how the fear of the Lord is the very beginning of true wisdom.

Proverbs 1:7 ESV / The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Wisdom we are aware, is the skill of walking rightly with God in life.

Then we confront a passage like Deut. 10.12-13

Deuteronomy 10:12–13 ESV / “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?”

We are met with the emphasis God Himself places upon this idea when addressing His people.

This is the supreme thing the Lord requires of His people – to fear Him.

To fear Him – which in some way also encompasses walking in His ways, loving Him, serving Him with all our hearts and souls and keeping or treasuring His commandments and statutes.

That is a pretty powerful call.

When it is all said and done, what does God require of His people most?

To fear Him. This needs to be understood.

Or consider Peter’s summary after telling the saints that the will of God is that we should silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. Which he then exhorts us to do by living as free people, not using our freedom as an excuse for sin, but living as servants of God – and so 1 Peter 2:17

1 Peter 2:17 ESV / “Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.”

Peter asserts the normal Christian life includes the fear of the Lord.

These are just a few of the compelling passages that require us to reckon with the fear of the Lord.

3rd, we read in several places that the absence of the fear of the Lord is the defining feature of the lost.

Romans 3:9-18 uses it as the summary description of all outside of Christ.

Romans 3:9–18 ESV / “What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

In Genesis, when Abraham was excusing his lie about Sarah being his 1/2 sister to Abimelech – he said the reason he lied was: Gen. 20.11

Genesis 20:11 ESV / Abraham said, “I did it because I thought, ‘There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’

Abraham’s reasoning was clear – people with no fear of God are people who would live without accountability for their actions, and thus do whatever they want.

While he was wrong about Abimelech in this case, he was right in principle.

When there is no sense of accountability among people, all restraint disappears. And where there is no sense of ultimate accountability, we lose even the most basic morality; indeed, we have no basis FOR morality itself. After all, who is to say anything is truly right or truly wrong, except in each individual’s eyes? And if there is no ultimate accountability to anyone or anything above ourselves – then who cares what we do?

So why should we care about this issue of the fear of the Lord?

Because Scripture addresses it so often.

Because Scripture places such emphasis upon it.

Because a lack of the fear of the Lord is the signal mark of those who are Godless and lost.

2 – The Fear of the Lord: What it ISN’T.

Before we venture too far, let me take just a few minutes to take some errant notions of the fear of the Lord off of our plates. For sadly, we can develop ideas of this concept from less than reliable sources.

1 – The Biblical fear of the Lord is not the slavish fear of the pagan. That is what drives ritualism and the idea that we need to keep God happy through a complex system of rules, regulations, rites and ceremonies.

It flatly ignores Scripture like Matt. 9.13

Matthew 9:13 ESV / Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Or Hosea 6.6

Hosea 6:6 ESV / For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

It treats the God of the Bible like the false gods of idol worshippers.

2 – The Biblical fear of the Lord is not walking with God like He is perpetually testy and irritable. Tiptoeing around an infinite minefield where He is liable to explode at any moment or is constantly cantankerous and easily upset.

The fruit of the Spirit – the inherent disposition of God is JOY! In His presence is fullness of joy David proclaims.

God’s natural disposition is beautifully outlined for us in Gal. 5 – Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. This is His very nature.

We do not serve the God of the Perpetually Provoked. The approach to His throne is not paved with celestial eggshells.

3 – The Biblical fear of the Lord is not like living with one who is irrational.

Yes, there are times when His wisdom and understanding so outstrip our highest abilities that we are left confused – but that is not because He is capricious or irrational. His decisions are all wise and fully in keeping with perfect wisdom and holiness: Even when we do not understand.

4 – The Biblical fear of the Lord is not owing to His being petty or punitive.

Just, yes. But justice which also offers grace to all in the preaching of the Gospel.

Love, as His Word reminds us, covers a multitude of sins. When we fall, He does not kick or abuse His own, but seeks us out like He did Adam even though we are so ready to hide ourselves.

His desire is always that we would run to Him in our failures and sins, so that we might find mercy. Heb. 4.15-16

Hebrews 4:15–16 ESV / For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

When do I need mercy most? When I’ve sinned. That is my time of need!

And where do I find that sympathy and mercy? Drawing near to His throne in faith.

The fear of the Lord is not a slavish fear rooted in trying to appease an intractable, irritable, cranky, unappeasable, irrational, petty or punitive God.

These are all wicked distortions which put us off from the true fear of the Lord and it’s blessings.

3 – The Fear of The Lord: What it is.

Let me do my best to give you 2 definitions. 1, is somewhat comprehensive, and the other is shorthand for it.

And I am going to draw this first and foremost from where the Bible itself begins – with God’s self- revelation.

1 – The Fear of the Lord is: A right perception of God that produces a heart and mind governed by a fitting response to the revelation of God in His Creation and Word regarding His; Nature; Position; Word and Acts.

A RIGHT perception of God – Understanding Him as He really is…

A perception so overwhelming, it evokes a response that matches the revelation of Him we receive in Creation and His Word…

As we fully come to grips with His Nature, His Position – or I might say His rights – His Word and His Acts.

We’ll unpack these as we go.

But if we want a handier, briefer definition – we could possibly boil it to down to this:

2 – The Fear of the Lord is: Reverential Awe.

Reverential awe.

A sense of Him which brings us to revere Him, but to stand in a pure awe, inspired by His greatness, goodness, transcendence and glory.

Which leads us then to the big question – how do we get there?

4 – The Fear of The Lord: How it is obtained

The obvious question is: If the Bible places such importance on this issue – how do I get there?

I don’t know about you, but I do not – without thought and effort – walk around all day in the reverential fear and awe of God.

We tend to think of Him in a far more detached way.

For some that may be more of an experience of intimacy or closeness – which is right and good as well. But we can get overly familiar too – in the sense that familiarity can breed contempt.

But awed? Amazed? Stunned? Overwhelmed? Drawn out of ourselves in wonder? Feeling the need to bow low in reverence?

How little those concepts enter into even into our worship of God, let alone our daily thoughts and experience of Him.

This comes home to us in our day when so much of modern – so-called – worship music can be categorized by the phrase “Jesus is my boyfriend.” Sentimentalism devoid of anything like what might inspire awe in the heart and mind.

Who today writes lyrics like Walter Chalmers Smith?:

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise.

Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might;
Thy justice like mountains high soaring above
Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.

To all life Thou givest, to both great and small;
In all life Thou livest, the true life of all;
We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
And wither and perish, but nought changeth Thee.

So what can be done here? How can we recapture this rightful and necessary aspect of the Christian life?

I believe the Bible gives us 3 primary ways to do this: Only one of which we’ll be able to touch in this morning. But here are the 3.

a. Creation b. The Word c. His Acts

All 3 confront us with God’s nature such that a speechless, reverential awe is all we are left with. One which then ought to fill our hearts and minds so as to govern all of life.

But an awe which must be intentionally pursued.

Why? Because as Romans reminds us – since the Fall, the human condition is one which suppresses the knowledge of God.

Paul gives this concept to us in 4 key phrases:

English Standard Version Chapter 1/ who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

English Standard Version Chapter 1 / For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him

English Standard Version Chapter 1 / because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever!

English Standard Version Chapter 1 / And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God

We come into the world suppressing the truth about God through our unrighteousness – especially in ignoring our own consciences.

Being made in His image to reflect Him – when we sin, we obscure that image.

We fail to give Him His proper honor as God or live in thankfulness for the life, world and station as His image-bearers He has given us.

We then turn God into something we prefer honoring, serving our own desires above serving Him.

And in the end we simply do not acknowledge Him for who and what He is – and the absolute rights He has over us as His creation.

This being the universal tendency of our fallen nature – we need to fight against it so that He holds the right place in us once more.

This requires exposing ourselves to Him in the fullness of His revelation as much as we can. For such is our fallenness that we do not retain the consciousness of His glory even after repeated experiences of it.

We are just like the Israelites who saw miraculous plagues God used to deliver them from the Egyptians; marched through the Red Sea on dry ground; were led by a pillar of fire by night and cloud in the day; ate manna every day; and standing in the sight of Mt. Sinai where there were thunderings, lightnings and angelic trumpets blasting – still coaxed Aaron to make a golden calf for them: Because a small, movable, tangible god pleases us more, stretches us little and scares us not at all.

But Scripture calls us back to ponder a God of such glory, grandeur, immensity, power and unrestrainable freedom – that it makes the soul tremble.

And it does this by its very opening line: Genesis 1:1

Genesis 1:1 ESV / In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
1. Creation is the first way we begin to catch an awe inspiring glimpse of our God. And how often we forget it.
Have you ever been asked, or asked yourself what the most important verse in the Bible is?

The answer is simple and incontrovertible: Genesis 1.1

Genesis 1:1 ESV / In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Why would I say that is the most important verse in all the Bible? Because apart from it, the rest of the Bible makes no sense whatever. And all of its claims, including those of Jesus, the incarnation, His death and resurrection have no context.

If this is not God’s world, created by Him for His purposes then mankind means nothing, the Fall means nothing, the promise of redemption means nothing, salvation means nothing, morality and justice mean nothing, and eternal life means nothing. All are just happenstance events in an eternal, impersonal universe which always was, and will be, and which has no rhyme or reason to it.

Take away Genesis 1.1 – and you take away all notions of truth and reality. We can construct whatever reality our randomly assembled synapses burp up, and no one can tell us differently. And life can only mean whatever we imagine it to mean. Then it’s gone.

This is why in fact so many wish to have it just that way, and why Christians must always fight for the truth of the first revelation: That God created the heavens and the earth.

Give this up – and you give up all reality as God reveals it.

Seek to plumb its depths, and you begin to confront an awe that begins to restore the soul in a most magnificent way.

Here, is where reverential awe – where the fear of the Lord begins. Just where the Bible begins. And that is no accident.

It is interesting to note that the single most used means of self-identification of Old Testament saints was: They served the God who made the heavens and the earth. This differentiated them from all other people and religious groups.

The very thing Paul bring his hearers back to on Mars Hill in Acts 17.

What is Gen. 1:1 begging us to do? To consider the magnitude of the universe. The complexity and impossibility of life. The wonder of a world made for human habitation. The variety, beauty and splendor of the flora and fauna which surrounds us. The provision for enjoyable human life in the cycle of rains and multiplicity of grains, fruits, vegetables. The improbability of the delicate mix of cosmic conditions needed to sustain life here.

The reality of our living on a ball of dirt twirling at 1000 mph, while hurtling through space at around 66,000 mph in an elliptical orbit around a star which itself (with us) us is moving at over 480,000 mph, to make its 225 million year trip of 1 galactic rotation. All of this within a galaxy which itself is moving through the universe at somewhere near 1.3 million mph.

And our galaxy, the Milky Way is moving at this rate of speed through a sea of more than 100 billion other galaxies.

Now, when you say: God created the heavens and the earth – you are saying something!

Who is this God? WHAT is this God? That he could merely by desiring it make all of this come to be? And administrate it!

Who or what is this God who not only brought all of this into existence, but who sustains it and who could walk on every atom of it like each were a planet of their own – and simultaneously at that?

VIDEO

And this beloved is the God we pray to. The God who made us.

No wonder David must exclaim: Psalm 144:3

Psalm 144:3 ESV / O Lord, what is man that you regard him, or the son of man that you think of him?

Or Job to cry out: Job 7.17

Job 7:17 ESV / What is man, that you make so much of him, and that you set your heart on him,

This is the God we sin against. This is the God we accuse of not ordering our lives rightly. This is the God whose name we take in vain. This is the God who we think is not big enough to meet our problem or needs. This is the God we ignore most of the time. This is the God we find it too difficult to get out of bed to worship. This is the God whose Word we neglect to read. This is the God who we question when we see injustice, experience hardship or don’t get our own way. This is the God we blame for not intervening in our affairs just the way we want.

Indeed, this is the God who made mankind alone in His image. The God who took on human flesh to redeem us from our pitiful, hateful wicked rebellion against His rights as God and in the face of His love, holiness, justice and glory. The God who loved so that He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believed in Him might have ever lasting life. The God who has promised Heaven for those who trust Him, and Hell for those who persist in their rebellion against Him in refusing to believe in His Son. The God who makes a new heavens and a new earth. The God who died on Calvary’s cross for sinners.

The God whom Job said – when getting a view of this very creation in His day: Job 42:1-6

Job 42:1–6 ESV / Then Job answered the Lord and said: “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.’ I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

This is the God who says to you – come unto me all you who are weak and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

The God who said: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Christian – take heart. This is your God.

You need to recover the big-ness the majesty and power of this God. Especially in times of trial and temptation.

This God is bigger than your weaknesses. Bigger than your physical ailments or disabilities – no matter how severe. Bigger than American politics, climate change, terrorism or global economics. He is bigger than your past, your future and every aspect of your present. Bigger than your depression. Bigger than your cancer. Bigger than your marriage. Bigger than your eyesight, your hearing, your arthritis, your erring children, your loneliness, your boss, your retirement or any situation you find yourself in today or may face in the future. And above all – He is bigger than your guilt and shame and sin.

When I am facing my darkest hours – I need a God who is so far above all these things so that these things themselves are dwarfed by comparison, and my heart can be brought to rest in the midst of it.

It is my habit in those seasons to seek out books, Scriptures, sermons and music that focuses my soul back on a big, BIG God in whom I can trust.

This is the heritage of every Believer. But oh how easily these things can eclipse our vision of Him if we do not purposely strive to recover it.

And Unbeliever today. This is the God we call you to bow the knee to. To give up your foolish rebellion against and yield to. To acknowledge His right of supremacy over your life and see and believe.

Come and be reconciled to Him today. This great and awesome God – personally calls to you to become His child. To have your sins forgiven on the basis of Jesus’ substitutionary death on the Cross.

To become your Lord and King.

To give you new life in Jesus Christ.