Persecution: Your Suffering Will Not Be Noble - Paul Washer

Man In His Best State Is But A Vapor

Lord, make me to know my end, And what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am. Psalm 39:4

No one will escape those final moments when while young, middle aged, or elderly these bodies of ours begin to lose the capacity to function correctly and support life. Whether it is heart problems, digestive problems, cancers, accidents, or even mental disorders, these frail bodies of our will someday soon give way. Maybe even today you are seeing these tendencies with your own health.

Now some may ask why be so morbid, and why bring our minds to such things? The answer is the same reason David cried out to be cognizant of his end and to know the measure of his days. It is to remember that we are frail, that our days are as a handbreadth, that we are nothing before God, and that man in his best state is but a vapor.

There is a grace that comes in knowing our end. Though we do not know the details, to be reminded that our end in this life will be death, and that it could come in a variety of ways and at any time, does not hinder us but calls us out of our slumber. David called to God and asked him to remind him of his end because of the sin in his life. He was seeking wisdom in order that he would not fall that way again, and one of the means of grace that David knew would help him was if God would keep before his mind the limited nature of his days.

This grace of knowing our end can come in many ways. There are the simple little reminders we have such as reading a book in which someone is suffering from an illness and in the end it takes their life, or in more serious ways such as a close family member or friend who is struggling in the same way. But many times the Lord’s own hand will plague us and make our beauties melt away like a moth, as we are consumed by the blow of His hands to wake us from our fantasies which was what was happening to David at this point. The reminders are all around us, life is fleeting, temporary, troubled, and quite simply a vapor, and as His Children, the Lord wants us mindful of that fact so we will not squander it.

If we live life with any other understanding than that we walk about like a shadows which will quickly fade, then we live in a make believe world of our creating. And the result will be that we lose sight of the significant and begin to busy ourselves in vain, trying to heap up for ourselves temporal desires and riches not even knowing who it will be that will gather them.

Ultimately, the only way to combat this vanity is to know the truth of our frailty. According to the measure that we have a grasp upon this, we will have a correlative measure of focus upon living our lives for what ultimately matters. We will be wise to the fact that our time is limited, we will give God the praise for the time we do have and trust Him with the few days we have left. When we are tempted with sin, we will be reminded of the utter foolishness of it, as we know we will soon be on our deathbed and will want our consciences clear. We will also desire to redeem the time for the days are evil, and live all of our moments with the desire to see God Glorified.

This will transform even the most common minutes of our day. It can make scripture our daily companion as we seek its eternal riches, and make prayer an unceasing endeavor as we seek the gracious God who controls and knows the number of our days. It compels us even today to go in to the highways and byways and tell others to come in, since tomorrow is promised to no one. It helps us to realize that all is to be done for the glory of God and not just these privileges we consider sacred. Fathers are to dance with their daughters, mothers to hold their sons close, Husbands honor your wives, wives cherish your husbands. Turn off the TV, say no to some additional unnecessary task. Stop chasing after self-glory and honor for all glory is God’s. And since sin has been the cause of all our vain moments, this knowledge will turn our hope to the Lord who is able to deliver us from our transgressions, and to keep us from being the reproach of the foolish.

Doug

Do You Know the Time?

This is me preaching to the camera in my garage again for whatever it is worth. :-) This video is looking at Romans 13:11-12.

Through Many Tribulations

After reading this…

Christians Crucified by Terrorists in Iraq

The following verse came to mind...

They [Paul and Barnabas] returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, [where they had been persecuted] strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” Acts: 14:21-22

Along with this quote by John Calvin...

“God doth oftentimes spare the wicked, and doth fat them with prosperity, [Yet] he is more sharp and hard toward his Children. For besides common molestations, they are oppressed peculiarly with many discommodities, and the Lord doth humble them with such exercises, keeping their flesh under correction lest it wax wanton; he awaketh them, lest they lie sleeping upon earth. Unto these are added the reproaches and slanders of the wicked; for they must be, as it were, the offscourings of the world. Their simpleness is laughed at; but they are most stung by wicked mocks and scoffs, principally against God. Last of all, the lust of the wicked breaketh out into open violence; so that they have need to strive with many tribulations, and it cannot be but that all their life shall be envied and unquiet amidst so many enemies. But this is the best comfort, and which is sufficient enough to confirm their minds, that his way (though it be hard and sharp) leadeth unto the kingdom of heaven, for we gather by this that the miseries of the godly are more happy than be all the doting dainties of delights of the world.” –John Calvin-

We must strive against wickedness by proclaiming the truth of Christ, and we must do it expecting ultimate victory. But when it seems that the enemy’s stronghold on this world only seem to be getting stronger and we are beaten and bruised, we must praise the Lord that it is us who are being bruised and under the Lordship of Christ, and not the ones involved in the prevailing wickedness. For it is only by his grace that we have been brought under his banner, and His banner over us is Love.

Let the persecutions and any other kinds of troubles that war against your faith prick your heart and bruise your soul, by the grace of God you are being led into His kingdom. You must not flee from them, by neglecting your Christian duty to proclaim Christ Crucified, resurrected, and coming back to judge the living and the dead. And as the world looks on and sees us dying to the things of this world, the Lord will use it to bring spiritual birth to all those appointed to eternal life. Then we will be able to cry out with Paul, “So then death is working in us, but life in you” (2 Cor.4:12).

Do not let the death of these martyrs be in vain. Praise God for their faithfulness, and may He use it to wake us of any spiritual slumber from which we suffer. Then, when we see them in glory, we can say, death was working in you, but God used it to work life in us.

For the Glory of God,

Doug

Are You A Good Soldier?

You therefore must endure suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with civilian affairs, that he may please Him who enlisted him as a soldier. (2Tim 2:3-4)

Jehovah-Nissi. The Lord My Banner

(Exodus, xvii.15)

By whom was David taught
To aim the deadly blow,
When he Goliath fought,
And laid the Gittite low?
Nor sword nor spear the stripling took,
But chose a pebble from the brook.

Twas Israel's God and King
Who sent him to the fight;
Who gave him strength to sling,
And skill to aim aright.
Ye feeble saints, your strength endures,
Because young David's God is yours.

Who order'd Gideon forth,
To storm the invaders' camp.
With arms of little worth,
A pitcher and a lamp?
The trumpets made his coming known
And all the host was overthrown.

Oh! I have seen the day,
When with a single word,
God helping me to say,
"My trust is in the Lord,"
My soul hath quell'd a thousand foes
Fearless of all that could oppose.

But unbelief, self-will,
Self-righteousness, and pride,
How often do they steal
My weapon from my side!
Yet David's Lord, and Gideon's friend,
Will help his servant to the end.

-William Cowper-

Break Up Your Fallow Ground!

Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. Hosea 10:12

"The man of fallow life is contented with himself and the fruit he once bore. He does not want to be disturbed. He smiles in tolerant superiority at revivals, fastings, self-searching, and all the travail of fruit bearing and the anguish of advance. The spirit of adventure is dead within him. He is steady, “faithful,” always in his accustomed place (like the old field), conservative, and something of a landmark in the little church. But he is fruitless."

-A.W. Tozer-

Marching Orders

It is not difficult to look around this world and think, what can I do? I try to proclaim Christ’s message yet my efforts seem so small. With major organizations and most of the universities of this country producing theory after theory and book after book suppressing the truth of Christianity. Radio and TV spending millions of dollars to produce quickly paced emotionally charged stories and programs that glamorize pre-martial, extra-marital, and homosexual sex. Not to mention teaching our children that the name of the Lord is merely a word that is to be used in vain to curse someone or make a joke. With all of this and the struggling nature of many small churches, we may start to wonder what can be accomplished, but before you begin to doubt, remember these promises that God made to the Israelites which still apply to God’s children…

You are to cross over the Jordan today, and go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified. Deut. 9:1

No man shall be able to stand against you; the Lord your God will put the dread of you and the fear of you upon all the land where you tread, just as He has said to you. Deut. 11:25

It is true that today we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers, but the wrestling is no less real, and the promises are no less true. But lest you despair and think you are not godly enough for God to fight for you, or lest you become proud and think that the Lord owes this to you because of your godliness, remember it is only by His grace that his Children will prevail and only by His Justice to His enemies will fail…

It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God drives them out from before you… Deut. 9:5

For… He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face. Deut. 7:10

Take the truth of Christ to the world and remember, if the Lord is with you, who can be against you. He holds the hearts of kings in His hand. Stand strong in the faith ‘being careful to observe the commandments of the Lord’ (Deut. 8:1). Teach them diligently to your children, and talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up (Deut. 6:7). For against the Church the gates of hell will not prevail.

-Doug Eaton-

Strive Against Spiritual Sluggishness

And while he [Lot] lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. Gen. 19:16

Here we find Lot in the final moments before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The warnings had been clear, and Lot had not doubted the truthfulness of those warnings. Yet in the final moments before the destruction, as Lot is told to escape with his life, he lingers as if unable to move. Calvin says this regarding Lot's lingering, “His tardiness is truly wonderful [astounding], since, though he was certainly persuaded that the angels did not threaten in vain, he could yet be moved, by no force of words until he is dragged by their hands out of the city.”

What caused him to linger? Matthew Poole estimates that, “He lingered, either though lothness to part with all his estate, or to lose his sons-in-law; or through astonishment and distraction of mind, which made him both listless and impotent.” Whatever it was, Lot was powerless to move on his own, and this seems to be the experience of us all from time to time when the Lord, through his Word, has told us to move. Whether it is sin with which we hate to part, or God’s leading in a new direction, many times we are sluggish.

God has told us to press on in His word, to be conformed to his image, and to do all He has commanded us. The thunderous warnings of the destruction of everything contrary have rung in our ears as He has told us to flee the wrath to come. Along with the thundering of destruction that push us from behind, we have the beauty of Christ, the True Image of God, before us, compelling us to come, yet so often we sit lifeless.

As Matthew Henry so aptly put it, “Thus many that are under some convictions about the misery of their spiritual state, and the necessity of a change, yet defer that needful work, and foolishly linger.” But praise God Lot’s story does not end there, and neither does ours, for God was merciful to him as the angels grabbed him by the hand and brought him out of the city to safety.

Are there areas in your life which hinder your growth in the things of the Lord? Do you know the Lord has called you to remedy a certain aspect of your life, yet you sit idle, making no progress in spiritual things? If so, be prepared, for if you are a true child of God who is unmoved even though you have heard His word, He will use other means to get you to move. Whatever inordinate loves keep you motionless may be forcefully removed, forcing you to make steps onward in your journey to the Celestial City. Calvin makes the point clear when he says,

“For so it is often necessary for us to be forcibly drawn away from scenes which we do not willingly leave. If riches, or honors, or any other things of the that kind, prove an obstacle to anyone, to render him less free and disengaged from the service of God, when it happens that he is abridged [cut off] of his fortune, or reduced to a lower rank, let him know that the Lord has laid hold of his hand; because words and exhortations had not sufficiently profited him.”

Let us never forget that even the more forceful means the Lord uses to speed us along to be conformed to the image of Christ is done in mercy, for it would have been no injustice had He left us in our impotent state to partake in the destruction that we refused to flee. Has the Lord been calling you to surrender some sin? Has he been prompting you by His Holy Spirit, to live a life more in service to Him than the worldly pleasure you now serve? Or is he simply calling you to spend more time in prayerful study of His Word, which is so often neglected. Whatever it may be, we all have enough sluggishness in us that we should, with all earnestness, strive against it. And may the words of this devotion be the means God uses to move you on, for if mere words are not enough, in His mercy, He will lay his hands upon His child.

-Doug Eaton-

This Is Not Our Resting-Place

This life is full of trials, full of troubles, and full of changes. Sin within, and Satan and the world without, will keep a Christian from rest, until he comes to rest in the bosom of Christ. The life of a Christian is a race--and what rest have those who are still a-running their race? The life of a Christian is a warfare--and what rest have those who are still engaged in a constant warfare? The life of a Christian is the life of a pilgrim--and what rest has a pilgrim, who is still a-traveling from place to place? The fears, the snares, the cares, the changes, etc., which attend believers in this world, are such that will keep them from taking up their rest here. A Christian hears that word always sounding in his ears, "Arise, for this is not your resting-place, because it is polluted." Micah 2:10. A man may as well expect to find heaven in hell--as expect to find rest in this world! Rest is a jewel very desirable on earth; but we shall not wear it in our bosoms until we come to heaven.

(Thomas Brooks, "A String of Pearls" 1657) Grace Gems

Majestic Beams of Holiness

"Oh, that I might live to see that day when professors shall not walk in vain show; when they shall please themselves no more with a name to live, being spiritually dead; when they shall no more (as many of them now are) be a company of frothy, vain, and unserious persons, but the majestic beams of holiness shining from their heavenly and serious conversation shall awe the world, and command reverence from all who are about them; when they shall warm the hearts of those who come nigh them, so that men shall say, 'God is truly in these men!'"

JOHN FLAVEL

Death in Us, But Life in You

2Co 4:12 So then death worketh in us, but life in you.

As Christians, we are moved by God’s Spirit to live differently from the world. “Because we believe, we speak the truth.” Some who hear will respond, yet many who are perishing have been blinded. This blindness causes them to hate the light because it exposes their darkness, and the result is persecution.

Christ said that “in this world we will have trouble,” but even though the outward man is perishing the inward man is being renewed day by day. When we face struggles, pain, heartache with hope, not stopping our vigilant march for the truth, people will notice.

Whether your troubles result from direct persecution from the world, which can result in loss of jobs, loss of reputation, and even loss of life, or if your troubles are somewhat different such as illness, financial, family problems, or any other kinds of weakness we know that our hope is not in these things. And as these earthen vessels begin to decay the wonderful treasure that lies inside, which is the Spirit of God and the truth, begins to shine all the brighter. Others will look upon us and see that death does work in our bodies, reminding them that they too are earthen vessels which are decaying, but they have no treasure that will last.

When they look upon us and wonder why we hope, why we praise, why we are not stopped in our mission, they will realize that something is different. This is because the death that is working in us manifests the life that Christ has given us, which can result in giving life to those around.

God seems to do His greatest work through the weakest of his children. Do not be distressed though troubles abound and we are hard pressed on every side, for even if we are cast down we cannot be destroyed. Though worms may destroy or bodies, in our flesh we shall see God.

Our bodies will pass one way or another. Through the working of the Spirit in your heart, spend it for the Lord by being servants to those who are lost. Don’t be concerned if you are tired and worn; be concerned if you are not. The enemy seeks to put out the light, where we seek to let it shine, and there will be trouble. To paraphrase Rich Mullins, some day we will wash up on the other side of the Jordan River all battered and worn, and Jesus will scoop us up in His arms and say, He bore my death in his body, and brought life to the world. Well done good and faithful servant, enter into rest today.

God's truth we manifest
The truth that has prevailed
Yet some will not attest
For to them it’s been veiled

Yet we who clearly see
The Truth in all its might
His Spirit is the key
For it’s He who gives us light.

Earthen though we are
This treasure we contain
His Spirit in this jar
His knowledge we attain

Struck down, though we be
We will not be destroyed
We have this Guarantee
His Word will not be void.

-Doug Eaton-