Mary's Hope

 "My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior."   This is the beginning of Mary offering her praise to God as He confirms her status as an unwed mother as divine.  "Here is a rich offering of praise from Mary.  It is remarkable for its theology and use of the Old Testament.  She was a young girl, perhaps about thirteen years old who, like all the people of her day, had no personal copy of the Scriptures.  Her familiarity with the Word of God... was settled in her heart and was readily on her mind when she opened her mouth in worshipful praise.  What a benediction it would be for the church today if the young could be so biblically literate and devout."  

What a breath of fresh air are John MacArthur's words in his commentary on Luke.  The beautiful picture he reveals from God's word about Mary far exceed what the Catholic church falsely proclaims about her.  And as I read the chapter from his commentary on Luke 1:46-55, I was filled with excitement and respect for this precious young woman and her faith.  I was also filled with shame for my own continued lack of faith and trust in my Lord.  But thus is the status of the ongoing growth of the Christian life: shame, repentance and revival.  That is the essence of the study of the Word of God.  And while I'm saddened at the slowness of my own progress, I'm thrilled at God's continued patience with me.  And how joyous is the delight of new revelation of the truth of His divine Word.

He goes on to say in this chapter that praise is central to worshiping God.  And that true worship is defined by our Lord to be in "spirit and in truth". (John 4:23-24)  What are the prerequisites to worship?  First, Dr. MacArthur says, a true worshipper must be controlled and empowered by the Holy Spirit.  Next, the thoughts must be focused on God.  Next, it requires repentance.  Lastly, it requires humbly accepting His will no matter what the circumstances. 

He says, "Mary is an example to all believers of faith, humility, and submission to Gods' will...Mary's praise is the expression of her faith in God, her love for Him, and her deep understanding of Scripture."  What a great way to begin a new year!  To walk in continued faith in God, not proudly as though we have anything to do with it, but humbly like Mary who found herself in a miraculous and scary position at such a young age.  As I think back on 2020 and all the rhetoric thrown out at every direction ie. conspiracy theories, criticism from Republicans and Democrats and all in between, it's sickening.  And the sickest of all are we as Christians who find ourselves in the midst of these discussions instead of against it all with the Power of the Most High God, whom we say we worship.   

The Word of God is just that!  It is the Word of the Creator and Sustainer of all things.  What in this world should we fear?  And what are we proclaiming to a non-believing world, in the midst of these weird times, about hope.  What should the word "hope" be for believers:  "Helping Others Pursue Eternity".  We have a message to share.  And we must remember "in this world 'we' will have trouble but take heart, 'Jesus' has overcome the world."  "My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior."

God's Government Will Stand

 Matthew Poole was a great writer of the seventeenth century.  He lived from 1624 to 1679.  I have come to love his commentary of the Scriptures.  I love his insight and wording of explanations.  The following post is his explanation of Judges 2:16, which I began discussing in the last post, "Nevertheless".   I feel this short explanation speaks volumes of the kind of government we desire to be under.  And it's such a logical and exemplary standard, I wanted to share it as we approach this most controversial and convoluted election we will be facing in 24 days.  What a government this would be!!

And by the way, Mr. Poole uses the 1611 translation of the KJV.  But the commentary translates the old English to the English we use today.  Judges 2:16, "Nevertheless, the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them."  He writes: "The Lord raises them up, by inward inspiration and excitation of their minds and hearts and by outward designation, testified by some heroical and extraordinary action."  And the following is the practical and moral description of these men, God's judges.  They were "supreme magistrates, whose office it was, under God, and by His particular direction, to govern the commonwealth of Israel by God's laws, and to protect and save them from their enemies; to preserve and purge religion; to maintain the liberties of the people against all oppressors."  All I can say (because I am not gifted with words) is WOW!  

WOW!  "Under God.  God's laws.  Protect and save from their enemies.  Preserve and purge religion.  Maintain liberties of the people against all oppressors".  What's not to love about that kind of leadership?  This must be our daily prayer.  And most especially, this must be the "self-government" of each individual as well!  We, as believers, through Jesus Christ, must govern ourselves, if we are to hope for and seek a better way of life for our country!  That is where we can begin and that is where we must start.

And how did God's people of that time respond?  Verse 17 says, "And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them; they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obey the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so."  

"Rise up O men of God, have done with lesser things.  Give heart and soul and mind and strength, to serve the King of Kings."  Have done with lesser things!  God's government does and will stand!

Nevertheless

 In the book of Judges, we see once again, as in all the former history of Israel, a pattern of "forsaking the LORD, their God".  Joshua had led well and the people were blessed by God's favor as they followed the godly leadership of His servant Joshua.

Joshua exhorts the people to "fear and serve God in sincerity and truth and put away other gods".  (A great topic for a post another time!)  But Joshua dies and while the people served for a time, Judges 2:10 tells us "another generation arose who did not know the LORD nor yet the work He had done for Israel".  They continually provoked God to anger and found themselves God less.  They would no longer stand against their enemies with success.  They become "greatly distressed".  (v. 15)

Oh, my, what a picture of our own nation!  And not just now in 2020!  It's been going this way for many years.  But listen to this amazing mercy and love of God toward His people in the midst of turmoil, "Nevertheless"!  I so love this translation's rendition of this word.  My NASB says, "then" which is a time word.  But "nevertheless" is a word of mercy!  Dictionary meaning: even so, yet though, in spite of that, be that as it may, regardless and the list goes on.  While God's hand went against this stubborn people (and  that is not just Israel, but a picture of the human race in its entirety), "nevertheless, the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them".

What could be written is "because of His great love and by His mercy, He had compassion on them and provided, yet again, a way out of their great distress".  This is our God, Who does not change.  His mercies, Jeremiah says in Lamentations, "are new every morning".  I'll stop there and continue in my next post.

Random

 "Will I ever feel contented like I'm good enough to be.  All the things in my mind that I invented.  Will I ever feel like I deserve the happiness I seek.  Or will I always be tormented.  Is it wicked to wish for something more?  For a glory or a guarantee?  Will my heart sound like a whisper or a roar?  And will I ever see...what you see in me?"  [Song: "Indigo" by Roan Yellowthorn]

I identify with those words.  Well, an identity that was me before I came to understand the gospel.  The cry of the human heart is real.  And while I don't want to minimize the cry of the heart of this young lady, she's definitely not alone in this search for meaning.  And while she may feel alone, she is surrounded by a world that longs for this same hope, happiness, and guarantee.

Before I learned the truth about humanity and God, that unquenchable longing for identity, for validity became for me a goal that kept running from me, an illusive desire completely out of my reach.  One day I cried out and a process began that is only explainable as supernatural.  I began reading the Bible, a book I never desired to read and "behold, all things became new"!   And for over forty years, the process, called sanctification has been more meaningful than anything else and yet it colors everything else.  

Christ is our contentment, happiness, glory, and yes, a guarantee.  He whispers and He roars.  And I have heard Him through His word use both means to speak.  In fact, all believers do.  Hosea writes in 11:10, He will roar like a lion.  And when He roars, His children shall come trembling..."  In 1 Kings 19, "And behold the LORD passed by , and a great strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD , but the LORD was not in the wind.  And after the wind, an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.  And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire.  After the fire, the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out stood at the entrance of the cave.

"And will I ever see what you see in me?"  Who she was writing about in this line, I'm not sure.  But using the same words, when Christ saves a person, what God sees in me and everyone else who have put their trust in Him, is the love He showed us.  The love of His putting Himself in our place and taking the punishment for sin.  And now, as long as there is a "now", offering us the hope in His name to understand the meaning of life and the freedom from sin and rescue from torment forever.

Was it random that I came upon this song?  No, nothing is ever "random".  It's tied up orderly in the Sovereignty of God, every detail.  And now what is our responsibility to this?

In One Day

"...I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day."  "The spiritual meaning discovers the Messiah the chief Corner-stone, the gospel church founded thereon, guided by the perfect wisdom and preserved by never-erring Providence, and blest with the pardon of all her sins, taken away in one day, by the meritorious death of her Redeemer." writes Matthew Poole.

Amazing and life-changing words!  To just say "wow" shows the lack of vocabulary of this barely novice writer.  Our entire universe was created in six days.  Not because of God's need to take that long, but because that is the order in which He desired to create.  Man plunged the entire human race into a desolate state by just one act.  And Jesus resolved that act in just one moment of one day for all people in all time.  As the book of Zechariah 3:9 says, "in one day."  You may say, "so what?"

So, what Jesus did "in one day" was to restore the order lost by removing the sins of God's people.  The church, "the whole church" says Poole, "in gospel days, when Christ, the chief Cornerstone, shall have purged away sin, and established his church."  And as verse ten goes on to enlighten us, "In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbor under the vine and under the fig tree."  Mr. Poole's explanation of "shall ye call every man his neighbor" is beautiful: "invite with love, and peace, such as becomes neighbors, who are partakers of the same grace of God, and blessings of a Redeemer."  And for the remainder of that verse which describes the shade and fruit, he writes, "to feast or refresh themselves under the pleasing shadow, and with the sweet, delicious fruit of the vine and fig tree, of both which there were ever greatest store, and of choicest taste, when the people of God, the Jews, did obey, worship, and fear the Lord, and long for the Messiah, and loved each other."

That is what the church is suppose to be about.  I'm not talking about church in the broad sense but the true church of the Living God; the people of God that love and live His word.  No, not perfectly, but with a bent on perfection and desire to continually throw off everything that hinders and look more and more like the LORD of Life who pardoned their sin and began a transformation process in them.  Come to Christ!  All you who are weak and heavy, come to Him Who pardons, forgives, loves and cares for you like no one ever will!  He will do that for you in one moment of "one day".

Desired Clusters

"Woe is me!  for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape gleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the first ripe fruit."  (Micah 7:1)  The prophet, Micah, is, in the last chapter of his book, bemoaning the loss of godly men. However, as he meditates on the known goodness of His God, he has hope.  Much like Jeremiah in chapter three of Lamentations, he remembers, therefore he has hope.  And like all true prophets of God, when they take advantage of time spent with God, know that hope is certain.  God's word, above everything, is all anyone can ever hope to expect to be their fulfillment and peace and thus their hope.

Hope is what keeps our faith and foundation secure while we live on this uncertain earth.  And at a time like a pandemic, when we are not able to meet together with others of like mind, it is of the utmost importance to stay in the Word.  There is nothing new under the sun and the Word of God is a resource of encouragement of how godly men of the past rested under adverse circumstances.  The prophet, Micah, was a man just like us, living in a time of confusion, fear, and ungodliness.  As he comes to the end of his prophecy, he cries, "woe is me."  Why?  His hope is shaken.  The godly men are scarce.  He has little camaraderie.

Sounds familiar as our churches cannot meet.  But we do have technology!  I have bemoaned it (technology) much.  But God has used it to encourage us in so many ways during this uncertain time.  And as Micah bemoans the lack of men to which he can talk, we may not be able to meet, but we can talk.  Email, texts, phone, you tube, and livestream have been a great encouragement to me.  Micah had none of that and his complaint is heartbreaking.

Israel and Judah should have been a fruitful vine, full of clusters, yet they were barren.  There was no cluster to eat.  Micah longed for the delight of discourse with godly men.  It's a godly man's encouragement in the pains of life.  Matthew Poole writes in his explanation of Micah's "woe": "Such good converse would as much delight, refresh, and encourage me, as a fair cluster of grapes doth a thirsty and hungry person, but there is not one such cluster."  No desired cluster of discourse for Micah's woe.  He does, however, rest in God's promises by the end of the chapter.

We, above many, have rest as well.  Yes, let us praise God for the times we live, in which we can enjoy the benefits of technology.  But remember, it is the Word of God that is the root of any encouragement.  God is the source of all good things, and it's Him, from which all our encouragement will ever make us the resolute and godly people we must be to be used as lights in this darkness.  And this, above all things, is our work.  This is, indeed, our fulfilling rest.

Seek God and Live

"Hear this word..."  What a light in the darkness is this Word of God.  What a cure for what ails us.  How does one see the light in the darkness and the cure for our hurts?   "Seek Me that you may live." In chapter five of Amos, this statement is repeated three times. "Seeking God is being in tune to everything that we see in His Word", Matthew Poole commentates, "The law is sweet, pleasing and safe for all."

Ask about it.  Repent of despising it.  Obey it in all things for the future.  Inquire diligently what promises God has made and wait for them.  Believe, obey, repent; for this is to seek the LORD.

Who is He? (v. 8)  He is the One Who made the stars, with all the constellations, and not only made them but guides and manages them.  He turns the greatest adversity into the greatest prosperity, yet change prosperity to adversity.   He renews strength in you to spoil your spoilers (defeat enemies). "
In verse 14, it tells us to "seek good and not evil".  We must cry out as undone, dispirited and hopeless men.  Are we there yet?  God is patient not wanting any to perish.  Let us bask in His patience and listen to His Word.  Seek God and live.  He is the cure.  And our need is great!