FreeTruth

Yes, the circumstances of the righteous in Psalm 37:1-40 still exist today. Wrongdoers have power and they use it for agendas dripping with evil. Driven by a lust for self, power, money, sex (yes it can be proven that sex of an immoral nature is the real motive behind various contemporary social, political, and even scientific views of our times), and a raging enmity against God (Psalm 37:20), they scheme against God and godliness everyday of their lives.

And often they prosper in their scheming ways (Psalm 37:7). I don't know about you, but it's hard to avoid the impression that political thugs and thieves are sitting in the same dark secret rooms where they've hatched their evil plots, now lighting up a victory cigar while smirking about how they've pulled another fast one on the peons below.

Evil men tend to be smug. In the preceding Psalm we see that the wicked has "no fear of God...[and]flatters himself...that his iniquity cannot be found out...[and] plots trouble while on his bed" (Psalm 36:1-4). This smug scorn of God, God's Law, and God's people continues prevalent today at every level of human society, right up into the halls of the White House, and across the world.

The world lives in open mockery of God, Truth, and Righteousness.

But God always has the last laugh. Indeed, "the Lord laughs at the wicked" (Psalm 37:13). When the kings of the earth "set themselves...and take counsel together against the Lord...saying, 'Let us break their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us,'" (Psalm 2:1-3) this is what happens: "He that sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision" (Psalm 2:4).

The Lord sits enthroned in heaven in open mockery of the thuggery of man. When man defies God's kingdom and seeks to establish one of his own, God simply laughs. He laughs a derisive, scornful, mocking, sovereign last laugh in return.

God laughs at them the way they laugh at us. The only difference is: God is holy and righteous in doing so, while they are simply fools.

And doomed fools at that. A major emphasis of Psalm 37 is the ultimate end of the unrepentant wicked (see Psalm 37:2, 9, 10, 15, 17, 20, 28, 35, 36, 38). They will be cut off and broken. They will perish, fade like grass in a blazing sun, vanish like smoke, simply "be no more".

So what does this mean? It means that when the wicked laughs at God, it leaves God unfazed and unchanged. But when God laughs at the wicked, it leaves the wicked in ruin and rubble.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, please know this: the unrepentant wicked will not long endure. If they insist on laughing at God He will soon have the last laugh. Their machinations and scheming prosperity simply will not last. In the end God wins.

In the shadow of this truth let us keep two things in mind:

1. First, let us pray for the wicked that they would repent before the laugh of God destroys them. So long as they have breath, there is opportunity for them to repent and come to Christ. Pray that God--in His just wrath--will remember mercy. Let us strive that when we think of the wicked fool who laughs at God we will be moved to compassion. For in man's folly is his ruin, unless he humbles himself before heaven's throne.
2. Second, if the wicked refuse to repent, let us simply never lose sight of this fact: our God is in the heavens deriding the arrogance of man. His sovereign plan is advancing toward the Day when the whole universe will hear the righteous, booming, blasting, consuming last laugh of God.

In the end there will be only one King standing.

Labels: Culture War, politics, Sovereignty of God, Trust

First I want to thank Peter for his wonderful post yesterday. It spoke of God's impartial love for sinners. The Living God is no respecter of persons, loving all kinds with equal grace and astonishing mercy.

I had an experience Monday evening that brought this to mind. First of all, for one of the very few times in my whole life I drove off a new car parking lot with a brand new car Monday afternoon. Pretty cool how God provides. Later that day, Gayline and I were itching to take it out for a spin so we decided to drive up to the Jackson Outlet mall to look around. We got there in fine shape with a total of 42miles on my new wheels.

Having done our shopping and then made mention of that little "only 42 miles" detail to Gayline, I started down the drive to exit the mall, and then stopped to pull out onto Route 571, only to have the guy behind me fail to stop when I did. Sure enough he bounced off the back of my five hour old car, leaving a couple of ding marks to show for it.

When I got out I saw that the driver was a 18-ish year old Jewish young man, complete with distinguishing garb. He was mortified, and offered me money on the spot with great sorrow for what he had done. When I sat with Gayline in the car for a moment to think about what I should do, I noticed that I had John Piper's "Quest for Joy" tract in my dash compartment.

How did it get there? Just before I had driven out of my driveway I had to get something out of my other car. When I did, I "happened" to notice the tract, which I thought to pick up, just in case. There you have it: something remembered at the last minute before departure led to something seen at just the right time, led to a Spirit-led moment to pick up that something (the tract) and bring it along, led to timing that put me in that spot and be hit by that young man and be given that opportunity for Christ.

I took the tract, went back to the trembling young man, put my hand on his shoulder,and said: "Tell you what: all I ask from you is that you read this and we'll call it even."

He said, and I quote: "Wow!!"

And that was it. Or was it?

Driving home, Gayline and I reviewed the providence of God in making that whole thing happen. God wanted that young Jewish man, who probably has heard hardly one good thing ever said about Christ or Christians, to have a "wow" moment. Perhaps he will--at least for a few minutes--begin to wonder if maybe not all Christians are "Jew-haters" (pardon the phrase) after all. Maybe for one moment or two he will wonder if Jesus and His followers are really as evil as some of history might seem to suggest. Perhaps for one moment or two, this man might have his heart opened an inch to read, to think, to see Christ as being the Source of all joy that He really is.

I don't know what will come of it, but this I know: my God makes accidents happen on purpose and with purpose. That accident was no accident. God times everything according to His watch. And He is no respecter of persons. Jew, Gentile, drunk, or product of a Christian home: all kinds of us alike need Christ, and all kinds of us alike are loved by Christ.

Heaven will show the outcome. That's all I need to know.
How sweet it is to live such an adventure with such a God..

Labels: Evangelism, Providence, Sovereignty of God

In response to my message on Sunday from Philippians 3:19, 20 in which I called upon the church to have a heart for all those "many whose end is destruction" I received the following three questions via email; questions which were preceded by a tender expression of gratitude for the message and concern for the lost. I think I will take three days to answer them as best I can.

Question 1: How do I properly weep/pray/FEEL for unbelievers without it turning into a prolonged period of joylessness, depression, or despair?
Question 2: What do I do when doubt/unbelief springs forth, regarding God's inherent love and goodness?
Question 3: How do I approach prayer for unbelievers (and prayer in general) knowing that everything has been ordained before I even existed?


Question 1: How do I properly weep/pray/FEEL for unbelievers without it turning into a prolonged period of joylessness, depression, or despair?

Answer 1: First we must get to the place where we do properly weep for the lost. Few of us do and we need to or we will never lay down our lives for them.

Answer 2: There is a sense in which prolonged, indeed ceaseless grief for the lost is in fact what we need to seek from God (see Romans 9:1-3). As there are always those whose end is destruction and as they are falling into a Christless eternity at the rate of hundreds per hour, how can we not be constantly crying?

Answer 3: Paul knew what it was like to be sorrowful, yet always rejoicing (2 Corinthians 6:10). This means that while he wept over the lost and over the griefs of a sin-cursed and sorrow-filled world, he was able to experience simultaneous and surpassing joy in the Lord.

I'm guessing that he did this in the following ways:

1. He trusted absolutely in the sovereignty of God over all things, and the justice of God in all things. Nothing happens (including the end of the wicked) apart from God's plan, and nothing happens in that plan that is anything but perfectly and wholely just. As with Abraham near Sodom we may know that "the Judge of all the earth will do right."
2. Paul knew that in God's amazing love and compassion many, many, many will be saved through our prayers and witness--even many of whom we will not know until we get to heaven. He believed in the "power of the gospel which saves people" (Romans 1:16).
3. Paul believed in an unstoppable gospel, the Word of God that can not be restrained (2 Timothy 2:9). As Isaiah 55:10, 11 make clear God's Word of grace and truth will accomplish all His good and gracious purposes in human lives. This is joy!
4. Paul took note of (and we must too) the actual conversions going on in the world: dozens in our church alone in the past 2-3 years, and according to some reports many tens of thousands every day around the world!
5. I mentioned in passing on Sunday this thought too: there are those who argue that when you take all the biblical promises of revival, of national salvation (at least Israel, Egypt, and Assyria), of the gospel reaching every people group and tribe, and of multitudes which none can number--in the end the saved may well outnumber the unsaved by far. I'm not sure about this, but what I am sure of is that the numbers are going to be staggering which means that the gospel is gloriously powerful and effective, that our prayers and witness are awesomely effective and useful to God, and that we are a part of something that is astonishingly wonderful.

All these truths can not just off-set the tears we shed for the individuals lost, but can give us hope and joy for the many who will be found.

Remember--even Jesus wept over Jerusalem even though everything was going according to plan. Let us weep and weep and weep and weep--but then rejoice and hope and glory and boast and be bold in the gospel. God and His gospel grace and glory will win--and more than we will ever be able to count will live to sing about it!

Amen.

Labels: Election, Evangelism, Hell, Joy, Sovereignty of God

I interrupt my series on embarrassing moments to announce that I have a cold; a full-blown, head-filling, body-aching, strength-sapping, want-to-stay-in-bed type cold. Add this to the twenty year long everyday, every minute, unrelenting headache that I have and there are the makings of a rather uncomfortable couple of days ahead of me.

Mix in with that that there is a lot to do this week. Big stuff is happening in the church this weekend, and there's a ton to attend to. This is all a recipe for stress and self-pity. I know that what I'm facing is nothing, and I do mean nothing, compared to what many of you may be facing. I wouldn't pretend to have it as hard as some of you. That would be insane and insensitive.

My only point is that it's in times like this that just that kind of insanity can hit. I'm facing some stress and discomfort which, given the insanity and insensitivity of my flesh, is sufficient to make me feel sorry for myself and be anxious and bothered about how it's all going to get done. In case you haven't noticed, self-pity is never very sane.

I'm convinced that God gives us head colds, headaches, hang nails, and hassles precisely to remind us that He's in control and we're not. He means us to know that we are weak and dependant on Him. I'm convinced that He messes with our plans, stockpiles our cares, and rearranges our appointment calendars when we're not looking (to insert such things as colds, crises in the family, and whatever else He thinks will get the job done.)

This way we feel really weak, really needy, really desperate for grace from Him. It's the way He's always kept His children praying and trusting and loving only Him. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 comes to mind. God could have taken Paul's stress point away, but He didn't; so Paul had to learn to rely on grace and glory in God all the more.

Here's a question for you: do you believe that God rules over headcolds and headaches? I'm not asking if you believe in some kind of weak "God allows" or "He let's these things happen" view of Divine sovereignty. I'm asking if you have room in your theology for the God who's self-described in Exodus 3:11 as the One who makes the deaf and mute and blind? Check it out and think about it. Does your faith accomodate a God who makes people deaf and mute or afflicted with colds and cancers and crises? Do you have a category for a God who gives and really does take away--as He took away from Job (Job 1:13-22)?

Here's what I believe: I have a head cold because it's part of the eternal plan of God for my life and for my good. I have a headache because at this moment (and for the past 20 years) it's been the very thing God has known that I would need. And I believe that every trial and stress point and burden that have accompanied these afflictions through the years are not merely things permitted; they're things planned.

God does more than permit; He purposes. That's not to say He's the cause for it all (He does not cause sin, and He does use means to accomplish His ends), but it is to say that if it's happening to me right now, even if it's not fun, it's because God knew it was the very best thing that could happen to me right now. It's because God wants me to learn trust and faith and humility and hope and the true sufficiency of grace in all of the hard turns and twists of life.

God afflicts because He wants us to arrive at the faith realization that no matter what we face or lose or suffer, if we have Him we have enough.

So as I process my head cold today, I'll try to do it knowing that there's not a maverick germ in the universe that can step outside God's will. The germ got me, because God loves me and knows what's best. It's as simple as that.

Just a few things to think about as you face your stress points today. I'd not want you to face anything--not even a head cold--without knowing and being able to trust the One Who's in control.

Labels: Dependance on God, Humility, Sovereignty of God