“I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for He will speak peace unto His people, and to His saints, but let them not turn again to folly. 9. Surely His salvation is near them that fear Him; but glory may dwell in our land.”
The psalmist pleaded for revival in verses 6-7, then in ensuing verses he gave some idea of what revival would be. As I read these verses I thought that we could use these ideas in our churches to have revival. First, he wrote that he was listening for the voice of God in the matter of revival. It occurred to me that we need to listen for the Lord’s voice in planning for revival. This would call for prayer on the part of members of the church. God will speak to our hearts if we really want to see what His will is. Second, the message from the Lord would be “peace unto His people, and to His saints.” The Lord’s message to us will always end in peace if we really understand His will. The interesting thing is that when God gave “His people and His saints” peace, they should not “turn again to folly.” If you have really read about the nations of Israel and Judah, you know that folly pretty much describes what they did. They worshiped the false gods of the Canaanites. In their actions they did not reflect the lives of God’s “saints.” If revival accomplishes anything it will bring change to the membership of the church. We are not strangers to “folly,” with our church feuds and splits. (Please forgive my negativity, but we need this message if we want revival.) Third, the psalmist wrote the Lord really wants revival for those “who fear Him.” This does not mean that revival would make us afraid of God. It means that we would be careful to seek His will, and because we know that He is the source of revival in our churches. Proverbs 14: 26-27 speaks to this issue: “In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence and His children shall have a place of refuge. 27. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.” If we want our churches to come alive, we will honor the presence of God in our midst and in His will for us. This would call for confession and repentance. When we go to our knees is prayer, we are already having revival. Look for “This Is Revival II” tomorrow. Bro. Joe
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“Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee? 7. Show us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us they salvation.”
I have preached on this text numerous times. When I read it this morning in my morning Bible reading, I felt led to share it again. The request is for revival from God. What is revival? In this case it was a request on behalf of Israel, that they experience God afresh and anew in their national life. In Jesus, this could be a request for a renewed vigor of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The question is do we want to be revived, to be changed and to live closer to the Lord? God’s answer is in the affirmative, but are we ready for it when He sends it? Only you can answer that question for yourself. God is willing to revive us. Will He find us ready for it? God is always ready to revive us, and we just need to receive it when He offers it. God wants us to have receptive hearts. The Day of Pentecost is an example of this receptive spirit. The people had been at prayer and when the Holy Spirit began to communicate the word God, the Christian people were ready to receive and the waiting world was ready to receive the word. If we asked the Lord to revive us; would we be willing to receive it? Would we welcome the world if they began to respond to us as it did at Pentecost? It is interesting that when Peter began to preach the great “Pentecostal sermon” three thousand people came to Christ. The day started with approximately 120 members in that church and when the day ended there were over 3,000 members. This was not a church growth emphasis; it was real honest to goodness revival. The request was for God to send revival and that “thy people may rejoice in thee.” When our spirits have been revived, the result will be the joy of God. I have never experienced revival in my life that was not accompanied with rejoicing. The weary world needs to see the joy of the Lord in His people. Too often, they hear about our disagreements and our complaints. They need to see the joy of the Lord at work in our daily lives. They need to see the joy of the Lord at work in our churches. Think of what a difference it would make in our churches if we were literally inviting people to rejoice with us. When the Spirit truly revives us, there will be joy in the camp. Let the Spirit revive you! If you want it, He will send it! Bro. Joe “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. 8. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to be only, but unto all them also that love His appearing.”
In a sense, this text is Paul’s epitaph, especially verse 7. Paul knew that he was about to be martyred and he left this message as a comfort and charge for Timothy, and ultimately for all of us. I want to focus on verse 7 as a reminder, and charge to us. Paul wrote that he had “fought a good fight.” Indeed, he fought a good fight in establishing the Christian faith. In 2 Corinthians 10:3-4, he wrote about his weapons for warfare: “For though we walk in the flesh, we war after the flesh: 4/ for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.” His weapons were prayer, scripture and the Holy Spirit’s power. He wrote about weapons of warfare in Ephesians 6:10-18. (Look it up and read it.) We are in a spiritual battle and we need to use everything that God has put at our disposal to fight the battles that we will face. Maintain faith in Christ on a daily basis, and fight in the love of Christ. Paul wrote that he had “finished the course.” He fought the spiritual battle until he could fight no more. He did not say that what he fought for and taught from his conversion until his final imprisonment was finished. But consider this: As it turned out Paul wrote at least a third of the New Testament. The words that he wrote are preached from pulpits around the world. He finished his course, but he did not lose his influence. He did not lose his witness. What an example he leaves for us in these trying days. We should “keep on keeping on” until we cannot fight no more. Do not let Satan keep you from finishing your course. Fight on! Finally, Paul wrote, “I have kept the faith.” What did Paul mean by “the faith”? Basically, it was faith in Jesus Christ. Paul always kept faith in Christ as the centerpiece of all that he taught and wrote. Jesus Christ is the reason that we can be saved, and he is the reason that we witness to the world. False teachers were always attempting to replace Christ with religion. This is still true today. We should not relinquish our faith in Christ to those who have replaced Christ as the centerpiece of their faith. Let it be said of you that you “fought a good fight,” that you “finished the course” and that you “kept the faith.” Bro. Joe “If a man therefore, purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.”
“These” at the beginning of the text refers to works of iniquity. If we seek to be useful servants of Christ we must be aware of Satan’s tricks. His aim is to ruin our witness and to humiliate us. Useful service is the result of being an “instrument (vessel) unto honor.” This means that a useful servant of Christ is trustworthy, and is likely to do good works of ministry. It also means that when this servant meets the temptation to “aim low” he resists and “aims high.” When we encounter the temptation to “aim low” we should recognize this as a ploy of Satan and “aim high.” The useful servant of Christ is “sanctified.” According to the Greek word translated “sanctified,” the useful servant of Christ is “set apart” or “made holy.” Remember that it is not his or her holiness but Christ’s imputed holiness. The useful servant of Christ is different from the world. He, or she, is aware of Satan’s ploys and doesn’t fall for them. But when this servant errs, he confesses and seeks Christ’s forgiveness. The useful servant of Christ is aware of his humanness and does not commit the sin of self righteousness. (This is a sin that Jesus reprimanded several times in the gospels.) The useful servant of Christ is “prepared unto every good work.” This is also translated as “prepared to do every good work.” (NIV) This quality is apparent in Christ’s parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:20-37. In the parable, the priest and Levite “went by on the other side.” They just ignored the man’s needs. The “Good Samaritan” recognized the man's desperate plight and stopped to help him. This is an example of what it means to be “prepared to do every good work.” Jesus told those who heard the parable that they should “go and do likewise.” This text is good advice if we want to be useful servants of Christ. We need to be aware of Satan’s attempts to sidetrack us with his foolish tricks. Don’t let him trick you! Bro. Joe “My flesh and my heart fails: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever.”
This is a psalm from Asaph that is fit for the ages. Verse 6 contains a message that I know I need, a message that the world sorely needs. Here is what I found in the verse: Asaph wrote, “My flesh and my heart fails.” This is an admission by Asaph that his strength alone was not enough. Surely you can identify with this statement as well as I. When it comes to living in this world, even the strongest person is weak. Look at your life and see if you are trying to make it on your own strength. We need to take Proverbs 3:5-6 to heart: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding. 6. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path." Asaph continued: “But God is the strength of my heart.” We need to take God’s strength “to heart.” The prophet Habakkuk spoke to this issue when he knew that he would face a day of trouble: “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines, the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat, the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls. 18. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. 19. The Lord God is my strength, and He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and He will make me to walk upon my high places…" That is the spirit of Asaph, who depended on the strength of the Lord. We need to catch the spirit of Paul in Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Asaph continued: “And (He shall) be my portion forever.” The Hebrew word “helek,” that is translated “portion," refers to his lot in life. It is interesting that one of the definitions of “helek” is “allotment.” This means that whatever Asaph’s lot in life, the strength of the Lord will always be enough. I paraphrased this: “The Lord will always be sufficient no matter what I face in life.” The strength of the Lord is not just adequate to see us through good and bad days; it is sufficient and is really all that we need. What this means that we should face all of life in faith. This is easy to write, but it is not always easy to remember. Let’s just take it to heart. Wasn’t this little verse loaded? Yield your strength to the strength of the Lord. We are to do the best we can with what we have, with the understanding that this is not enough. We need to ultimately depend on the strength of the Lord. Bro. Joe “God has spoken one; twice have I found this; that power belongs unto God. 12. Also unto you, O Lord, belongs mercy: for thou renderest to every man according to his work.”
God repeatedly spoke to David, and He told what He was to David, and what He is to us. God is our strength. The Hebrew that is translated as “power” can also be translated as “strength.” We make a mistake when we lean upon our own strength. Isn’t it wonderful that God does not want to keep His power and strength to Himself? He operates in our lives according to the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised that His followers would be filled with the Holy Spirit, and that the Holy Spirit would work in their lives. He also operates in our lives. We just need to lean on God’s strength as we meet the challenges of life. God is our mercy. Notice that mercy and love belong to God, and through our Savior and His Spirit, He shares it with us. (Thank God that He does!!!) Jesus is the supreme example of God’s love and mercy. In love, Jesus gave His life on the cross to save us from sin. He wants you to know that Jesus loves you and is sharing his mercy with you. Aren’t we glad that God is the God of mercy? I do not even want to think about a world without God’s love and mercy. Frankly, it is downright unthinkable. The good news is that God is, or can be, your mercy. Ask Him for it in the name of Jesus. God is our rewarder. David wrote: “…For you rendered to every man according to His work.” (“Man” is used in a generic sense for all genders.) “Render” can also be translated as “reward.” Our works are important, but what is important is the source of our work. In John 6:28-29, those who were with Him asked Jesus: “What must we do that we might work the works of God?” Jesus answer is important for our own understanding: “This is the work of God that you believe on Him whom He has sent.” Any work that you do for the Lord that He will reward begins with your faith, your belief, in Jesus Christ. Serve the Lord in faith in Jesus Christ, and whatever the service is, it will be rewarded. Make God your strength, your mercy and your rewarder. Bro. Joe (My computer tells me that “rewarder” is not a noun. Let us say that I just invented a new noun. ( lol) "At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed. 2. But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 3. So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of His grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders."
What I want to call attention to in this text is the word "so." It is a little adverb that speaks volumes. It carries the meaning of the bigger word "consequently." It can also mean "as a result of." Now catch the meaning of "so" in the text. Paul and Barnabas encountered great opposition to the gospel message. One would have thought that the Jews would have received it gladly, but they did not. They stirred up the Gentiles, who were probably considering embracing Judaism, and "poisoned their minds against the brothers." This is where "so" comes in. One would have thought that Paul and Barnabas would have just given up and stopped trying to teach about Jesus. But what we read here is that as a result of the opposition that they encountered, they stayed on there for a considerable time and spoke "boldly for the Lord." What does this "so" message mean to us? First, it means that when we encounter opposition, which we do increasingly today, we are not to give up and move on, rather we are to "hunker down" and keep preaching and teaching the good news of Jesus Christ. If the message about Jesus was that important to Paul and Barnabas, it should be that important for us. Second, it does not mean that just because a group of people oppose the gospel that they are right. These Jews were wrong in their opposition to the gospel, just as people who oppose the gospel today are wrong. If we are presenting a message about our politics or our own ideas, then they might be right. But if we are presenting the good news about Jesus Christ, they are wrong. Just because people disagree with what we have to say about Jesus does not mean that we have been naughty and need to have our hands slapped. Indeed, we are doing what Jesus told us to do. Third, it means that we should not use opposition to the gospel as an excuse for not obeying Jesus and spreading HIs word to the world. We might say, "Well, if they feel that way about it, we just won't tell them about it." Then we huff and puff and stomp off. This is not what Paul and Barnabas did. As a result of the opposition Paul and Barnabas hung in there and preached the word. This is what we are to do. There were times that the apostles "shook the dust off their feet" and moved on, but that was God's decision and not theirs. We need to "stay with it" until God tells us to move on. "So" what does this say to us. It tells us that we need to follow the lead of Paul and Barnabas and let nothing stand in the way of telling others about Jesus. Bro. Joe The Lord speaking to Ananias after Paul's conversion: "15. But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings and the children of Israel. 16. For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake."
Old Testament prophets had mentioned that the Lord would reach out to the Gentiles. When Christ came, He broadened the scope of God's concern by going into Samaria and into Gentile country. Though the Jews did not wish to share this glory with Gentiles, it was inevitable that it would happen. How was Jesus going to reach the Gentiles? One would think that He would find a fine, upstanding Gentile, convert him and send him to his own people. This is not what God did. He found the meanest Jew that He could find, converted him and sent him to witness and minister to Gentiles. Saul of Tarsus had wreaked havoc on the Christian church. His aim was to stamp out this movement before it infected the whole world. He made a fateful decision to go to Damascus, arrest Christians and send them bound by chains to Jerusalem to be tried for heresy. On the way to Damascus, the Lord Jesus Himself stopped Saul, and converted him. Just that quickly, a hater of the Christian faith became a follower of the Christian faith, and became one of its most eloquent defenders. From chapter 11 until the end of the Book of Acts, the book becomes a chronicle of Paul's work among the Gentiles. In the end, he wrote one-third of the books of the New Testament, and much of our Christian doctrine is based on his letters to churches and individuals. Only God could accomplish something like this. Why am I writing this? I want to point out that God knew what he was talking about when He inspired Isaiah to write that, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are my ways your ways." (This is not a direct quote. Let's just call it a "Beauchamp" translation.) We should not expect God to do as we would do, or as we would want Him to do. God does things that only He can do, and uses people that only He can use to carry out His purposes. Some of my high school friends were amazed when I became a preacher. Frankly, I was a little amazed myself, though God had been dealing with me since I was twelve years old. I humbly submit that this was God's choice for my life. As you read this, you might wonder if God can use you to aid in carrying out His purposes. Indeed, He can use you. If He could use Paul and if He can use me, He can certainly use you. Listen for God's voice in your life and let HIm lead you to what He wants you to do. Think about it. Selah Bro. Joe “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (CSB)
Have you ever sung this hymn: “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so, little ones to Him belong, they are weak but He is strong. Yes Jesus loves me, yes Jesus loves me, yes Jesus loves me, for the Bible tells me so.” When you sang that hymn as a youngster, you had no idea of the profundity and the eternality of that love. Romans 8:38-39 gives us the full scope of the love that God, through Christ, has for us. I want to point out some things about this profound love for you to ponder today. First, the tone of Romans 8:38-39 tells us that Christ’s love for us is inescapable. You might disdain the whole idea about Jesus, being saved, going to church and all of that, but you can’t escape the fact that Jesus loves you. You can make fun of it, make light of it, preach against it, etc. but you can’t escape the fact that Jesus loves you. He loves you because the Bible tells us so, but beyond that He loves you because you are in this world, and He loves the people of the world. If you are running from that love– stop it. Running won’t do you any good. Jesus doesn't always agree with us, but He loves us anyway. Second, the love of Christ for us is personal: “Jesus loves me." His love for you won’t mean anything to you until you take it personally.. I have discovered in my own life that no matter what I am going through, Christ's love is present, and helping me to keep going. We might think that because Jesus loves us, He would never let us go through difficult times, but that’s just not the way life works. It is comforting to know when things are hard, that Jesus loves me. He is not indifferent about anything in my life. When I feel close to Him, He loves me. When I feel that there is some distance between us, He still loves me. Reach out and take that personal love that Jesus has for you. Third, Christ’s love for us is sacrificial. We need to let this truth burn into our souls: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” We need to stop and meditate deeply about what this means. Among other things, it means that our salvation was dearer to Jesus than His own life. He said, “Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” This is exactly the kind of love that He has for us. Let’s just pause here and praise Him for His sacrificial love. Without it we would be hopelessly lost in sin. Jesus loves you. Rejoice!! Bro. Joe “Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.”
This verse comes almost to the close of 2 Corinthians. Paul had written a, sometimes, scathing letter. He closed the letter with a positive reminder of how they should behave. It is also a good message for us. First, he wrote that they should “be perfect.” That scares us because we think that it means we must be sinless. You and I both know of the impossibility of that request. The Greek word can be translated as “mature.” In other words, stop acting like children. This is a call for us to mature in our faith in order to show Christ to the world. Second, he wrote that he wished for them to “be of good comfort.” This could be translated to “be encouraged’. This is a message that we should take to heart. The Christian life is a great way to live, but we can become discouraged in our penchant to sin. Christ invites us to come unto Him when life gets hard, and living the mature Christian life seems impossible. We do not need to be comfortable in our sins, but we should be comforted and encouraged in our walk with Christ. Just the fact of being saved should give us encouragement. Lift up your eyes and rejoice in Christ’s love for you. Third, he wrote for them to “be of one mind” and to “live in peace.” I think that you will agree that to live in peace, we will have to be of one mind. This is a theme that is used throughout the Bible for the people of God. We should be at peace with each other. The opposite of living in peace is to be at war. Probably our greatest need is to be at peace within ourselves. When we are at peace within our minds and hearts, we are more apt to be at peace with others. There are some people who make living at peace a real challenge. However we need to meet the challenge. When we let negative people get to us and make us negative, we are the losers for it. Fourth, he reminded them that “the God of love and peace shall be with you.” This peace with God happens when we are maturing in our faith, when we are encouraged and when we are of one mind and living in peace. The promise is that God will be with us. As Christians we have the Holy Spirit living within us, and He should be the catalyst for us to be mature, be encouraged and be of one mind. Let the Holy Spirit do this in your life. Bro. Joe |
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