A Holy Anointing

 

NOVEMBER 29 A Holy Anointing

Spices for the anointing oil. Exodus 35:8

Much use was made of this anointing oil under the law, and that which it represents is of primary importance under the Gospel. The Holy Spirit, who anoints us for all holy service, is indispensable to us if we would serve the Lord acceptably. Without His help our religious services are just an empty show, and our inward experience is a dead thing. Whenever our ministry is without unction, what miserable stuff it becomes! And the prayers, praises, meditations, and efforts of private Christians are no better. A holy anointing is the soul and life of godly devotion, its absence the most serious of all calamities. To go before the Lord without anointing would be like a common Levite thrusting himself into the priest’s role—his religious services would be sins, not sacrifices. May we never embark upon holy tasks without sacred anointings. They fall upon us from our glorious Head; from His anointing we who are but the skirts of His garments receive a generous unction. Choice spices were mixed with great skill and care to form the anointing oil, to let us see how rich are all the influences of the Holy Spirit. All good things are found in the divine Comforter. Matchless consolation, infallible instruction, immortal quickening, spiritual energy, and divine sanctification are all mixed with other excellencies in the heavenly anointing oil of the Holy Spirit. It imparts a delightful fragrance to the character and person of the one upon whom it is poured. Nothing like it can be found in all the treasures of the wealthy or the secrets of the wise. It is not to be imitated. It only comes from God, and it is freely given, through Jesus Christ, to every waiting soul. Let us seek it, for we may have it, even this very evening. O Lord, anoint Your servants. Because of Jesus, Ted

The Sweetness of Forgiveness

 

NOVEMBER 27 The Sweetness of Forgiveness

The forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace. Ephesians 1:7

Could there be a sweeter word in any language than that word "forgiveness" when it sounds in a guilty sinner's ear, like the joyful notes of liberation to the captive Israelite? Blessed, forever blessed, be the dear star of pardon that shines into the condemned cell and gives the perishing a gleam of hope amid the midnight of despair! Can it be possible that sin, such sin as mine, can be forgiven, forgiven altogether and forever? Hell is my portion as a sinner—there is no possibility of my escaping from it while sin remains upon me. Can the load of guilt be lifted, the crimson stain removed? Can the unbreakable stones of my prison-house ever be loosed from their mortices, or the doors be lifted from their hinges? Jesus tells me that I may still be cleared. Forever blessed be the revelation of atoning love that not only tells me that pardon is possible, but that it is secured to all who trust in Jesus. I have believed in the atoning sacrifice, even Jesus crucified, and therefore my sins are at this moment and forever forgiven by virtue of His substitutionary pains and death. What joy is this! What unimagined bliss to be a perfectly pardoned soul! My soul dedicates all her powers to Him who by His own unpurchased love became my Savior and provided for me redemption through His blood. What riches of grace does free forgiveness exhibit! To forgive at all, to forgive fully, to forgive freely, to forgive forever—here is a panorama of wonders. And when I think of how great my sins were, how dear were the precious drops that cleansed me from them, and how gracious was the method by which pardon was sealed home to me, I am in a maze of wondering, worshiping affection. I bow before the throne that absolves me, I clasp the cross that delivers me, and all my days I give to serve the Incarnate God, through whom I am this night a pardoned soul. Because of Jesus, Ted

Seeking the Best for the Church

 

NOVEMBER 28 Seeking the Best for the Church

He sought the welfare of his people. Esther 10:3

Mordecai was a true patriot, and so when he was promoted to the highest position under Ahasuerus, he used his eminence to promote the prosperity of Israel. In this he was a type of Jesus who, upon His throne of glory, does not seek His own but spends His power for His people. It would be beneficial if every Christian would be a Mordecai to the Church, striving according to his ability for its prosperity. Some are placed in positions of affluence and influence; let them honor their Lord in the high places of the earth and testify for Jesus before great men. Others have what is far better, namely, close fellowship with the King of kings. Let them be sure to pray daily for the weak among the Lord's people, the doubting, the tempted, and the comfortless. It will redound to their honor if they make much intercession for those who are in darkness and dare not draw close to the mercy-seat. Instructed believers may serve their Master greatly if they offer their talents for the general good and impart their wealth of heavenly learning to others by teaching them the things of God. The very least in our churches may seek the welfare of God's people; and such a desire, if they can give no more, will be acceptable. It is at once the most Christlike and the most happy course for a believer to stop living for himself. He who blesses others cannot fail to be blessed himself. On the other hand, to seek our own personal greatness is a wicked and unhappy plan of life; its way will be grievous, and its end will be fatal. Here is the place to ask you, my friend, whether you are to the best of your power seeking the best for the Church in your neighborhood. I trust you are not doing the Church mischief by bitterness and scandal, nor weakening it by your neglect. Friend, unite with the Lord's poor, bear their cross, do them all the good you can, and you will not miss your reward. Because of Jesus, Ted

The Master Builder

 

NOVEMBER 26 The Master Builder

For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. Zechariah 4:10

Small things marked the beginning of the work in the hand of Zerubbabel, but none should despise it, for the Lord had raised up one who would persevere until the work was completed with shouts of joy. The plumb line was in good hands. Here is the comfort of every believer in the Lord Jesus. Let the work of grace be ever so small in its beginnings, the plumb line is in good hands. A master builder greater than Solomon has undertaken to raise the heavenly temple, and He will not fail nor be discouraged till the pinnacle shall be raised. If the plumb line were in the hand of any merely human being, we might fear for the building, but the pleasure of the Lord will prosper in Jesus' hand. The works did not proceed irregularly and without care, for the master's hand carried a good instrument. If the walls had been built in a hurry without proper supervision, they might have been out of line; but the plumb line was used by the chosen overseer. Jesus is always watching the construction of His spiritual temple, to ensure that it is built securely and well. We are for speed, but Jesus is for judgment. He will use the plumb line, and that which is out of line must come down, every stone of it. This explains the failure of many a flattering work, the overthrow of many a glittering profession. It is not for us to judge the Lord's Church, since Jesus has a steady hand and a true eye and can use the plumb line well. Do we not rejoice to see judgment left to Him? The plumb line was in active use—it was in the builder's hand, a sure indication that he meant to bring the work to completion. Lord Jesus, how glad we would be to see You at Your great work. O Zion, the beautiful, your walls are still in ruins! Rise, glorious Builder, and make her desolations to rejoice at Your coming. Because of Jesus, Ted

 

Four Questions Every Christian Parent Should Routinely Ask

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November 22, 2022

Parents ask a lot of questions about their children: Did they get enough to eat today? Are they spending too much time in front of the screen? What type of schooling is best for them? While these sorts of concerns are important, making them the top parenting priority can cause them to be like packing foam—they’ll fill whatever box they’re set in, leaving little to no room for the most important question of all: What kind of spiritual heritage will I leave to my children?

If you have ever followed a Jewish friend or neighbor into their house, you may have noticed something that looks like an ornament on their doorpost, called a mezuzah. It’s a decorative case containing a piece of parchment, and it’s meant to be a constant reminder of the legacy God has commanded His people to instill in their children. It’s there to remind its owner that there is not a car one could buy, not a degree one could confer, not an heirloom one could give to one’s children that could ever take the place of impressing on them the radical importance of the word from God—known as the Shema—that is written inside the mezuzah:

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deut. 6:4–9)

Many Christian parents are familiar with these verses as a mandate for parenting, and they are often read at dedication services for infants. Their message is clear: parents are to provide a spiritual framework of instruction. Without this gift, all other provisions will eventually fail our children. Yet these verses also raise four questions that will help us succeed as we diligently seek God’s presence in our children’s lives.

1) “Have I Known God Myself?”

“These words that I command you today shall be on your heart.”

As Israel stood at the threshold of the promised land, Moses commanded the parents of Israel to use the experiences of God’s redemptive work in their lives to explain faith to their children. In Moses’s day, they were to speak of their liberation from the bondage of Egypt. On the first Passover, parents had painted blood on their doorposts so that their households would be saved from death (Ex. 12:7–13; 26–27). Those parents had experienced the reality of a sacrifice sparing them from God’s wrath, bringing them into His family and under the lordship of His commands.

Children listen with big ears and look with open eyes. They notice the things we say and the things we do. They will soon learn whether the things we say about God are simply notions we are repeating or convictions born out of our own encounter with God’s Word. If we would proclaim God’s redemption that brought us into the family of God through the blood of Christ shed for us, then we must be people who are ourselves redeemed.

Without that experience, we have nothing of eternal value to offer. We can introduce our kids to religion as a system, and we can introduce them to bright ideas on how to put their lives in order so that they will be “moral” people. But unless we have drunk at the fountainhead of the Living Water, we cannot offer them lasting satisfaction. Unless we have eaten of the Bread of Life, we cannot say to them, “Taste and see that the LORD is good!” (Ps. 34:8). And that’s exactly why Moses asks us to consider: Have I myself had an experience of God that is grounded in the truth of His Word?

2) “Does My Life Show a Yearning for God?”

“You … shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”

Children can pick up on the difference between a heartbeat and a hollow routine. They know our hearts, because they hear our words, and out of the abundance of our hearts our mouths speak (Matt. 12:34; Luke 6:45). Children see what we spend our money on, where we spend our time, and who we associate with. They can tell whether “Say your prayers” is simply a nighttime routine or an expression of a yearning to know and love our Creator and Savior.

Unless we have drunk at the fountainhead of the Living Water, we cannot offer our children lasting satisfaction.

Children benefit from seeing parents, whom they admire and model in many other areas of life, giving themselves up in genuine worship of God. If we routinely seek after God from a longing to know Him, then our children might also begin to develop those habits and—more importantly—that desire. When God’s commands spring from our hearts and are readily on our lips when we sit, walk, lie down, and rise, our children will learn that God is the Master of all our ways and that His commands are good. Moses thus urges us to ask: Do my daily actions reveal a heart that yearns for God’s ways?

3) “Am I Willing to Teach My Children Obedience?”

“You shall teach them diligently to your children.”

Much of parenting is about indoctrination. Many of us may recoil at that word. We may choose to use a different word. But it is important to recognize that we do, in fact, indoctrinate our children in all kinds of things. For example, in something as simple as singing, “This is the way we brush our teeth, brush our teeth, brush our teeth,” we are instilling deep within them the necessity and benefit of dental care.

The Christian parent must reject the foolishness that suggests that influencing the choices of our young, malleable children is somehow wrong. Instead, we should recognize that as surely as we need to make our children understand certain physical habits, like dental care or looking both ways before crossing the street, so we should impress upon them the wisdom of God and obedience to His commands. In taking our children to church, studying Scripture as a family, praying together, and more, we are imprinting them with God’s Word and His ways so they may be guided by God’s wisdom throughout their lives.

Our children are not naturally bent toward thinking and talking about God—yet doing so is, of course, vital. How we respond to the difficulties and resistance they may give us is ultimately a question of whether our love for our children is like Christ’s, who is more concerned about them coming to Him than about anything else in life. Our children often will not want to learn about spiritual things any more than they’ll want to learn other responsibilities. And so Moses encourages us to ask: Will I neglect the spiritual training I’m called to provide my children, or will I take up this God-given responsibility and teach them about the loving rule of Christ?

4) “Will I Offer My Children to God?”

“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

Loving God with all our being—heart, soul, and might—is our most fundamental goal, for ourselves and for our children. This pursuit of absolute love for God will lead us to sacrifice other desires that are anything less than this ultimate purpose. Hannah is a wonderful illustration of a woman who took seriously the privilege and responsibility of raising children with the goal of wholehearted love for God. When she prayed for a son, she promised to give that child back to God all the days of his life. And when God gave her a son, she dedicated him to the Lord as she had promised (1 Sam. 1:11, 24).

God has given parents a strong attachment to their children—so strong, in fact, that many parents struggle to let go. They can be unhelpfully worried about them becoming missionaries to far-off, dangerous places or pastors in a difficult occupation that pays little. They struggle to imagine them living lives of simplicity and generosity amid all the world offers. They’re hesitant about them living in a “rough” neighborhood for the sake of the Gospel. They don’t want them to be rejected by friends or neighbors because they love and obey Christ. Such concerns are often understandable—yet over and against them stands the truth, and the promise, that Christ is a better gift to our children than all the “cares and riches and pleasures of life” (Luke 8:14).

Loving God with all our being—heart, soul, and might—is our most fundamental goal, for ourselves and for our children.

It takes a selfless surrender and a vision for wholehearted love of God to say, “God, here he is, my son. Here she is, my daughter. You choose her life for her, because You’re the only one who knows her future, and You’re the one who loves her most.” And so Moses’s words cause us to wonder: Am I prepared to offer my children to God? And have I done so?

Leaving a Lasting Legacy

Children are not a shrine at which we worship. Undoubtedly, they are gifts from the Lord (Ps. 127:3), perhaps among the richest of blessings—but even so, they are given to us in order that we might nurture them “in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). We receive them so that we might prepare them to leave us, to be lights in this fallen world, and to live with their minds set on eternity.

Christian parenting requires boldness in the conviction that in His Word, God has provided a perfect framework for our parenting. It also requires courage to go against cultural currents that would have you believe otherwise. Whether you are changing an infant’s diapers, about to send a young adult out into the world, or watching your kids raise their own kids, the question remains the same: What kind of spiritual heritage will you leave to your children?

The Humbling Doctrine of Election

 

NOVEMBER 25 The Humbling Doctrine of Election

For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” Romans 9:15

In these words the Lord in the plainest manner claims the right to give or to withhold His mercy according to His own sovereign will. As the prerogative of life and death is vested in the monarch, so the Judge of all the earth has a right to spare or condemn the guilty, as may seem best in His sight. Men by their sins have forfeited all claim upon God; they deserve to perish for their sins—and if they all do so, they have no ground for complaint. If the Lord steps in to save any, He may do so if the ends of justice are not thwarted; but if He judges it best to leave the condemned to suffer the righteous sentence, none may call Him to account. All those discourses about the rights of men being placed on the same footing are foolish and impudent and ignorant; worse still are the arguments against discriminating grace, which are just the rebellions of proud human nature against God's rule. When we are brought to see our own utter ruin, and the justice of the divine verdict against sin, we no longer scoff at the truth that the Lord is not bound to save us; we do not murmur if He chooses to save others, as though He were doing us an injury, but feel that if He deigns to look upon us, it will be His own free act of undeserved goodness, for which we will forever bless His name. How will those who are the subjects of divine election sufficiently adore the grace of God? They have no room for boasting, for sovereignty most effectually excludes it. The Lord's will alone is glorified, and the very notion of human merit is cast out to everlasting contempt. There is no more humbling doctrine in Scripture than that of election, none more deserving of gratitude, and consequently none more sanctifying. Believers should not be afraid of it but adoringly rejoice in it. Because of Jesus, Ted

The Danger of a Little Procrastination

 

NOVEMBER 24 The Danger of a Little Procrastination

A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man. Proverbs 24:33-34

The worst of sluggards only ask for a little slumber; they would be indignant if they were accused of complete laziness. A little folding of the hands to rest is all they desire, and they have a host of reasons to show that this indulgence is entirely legitimate. Yet by these "littles" the day runs out, and the time for work is all gone, and the field is overgrown with thorns. It is by little procrastinations that men ruin their souls. They do not intend to delay for years—a few months, they say, will bring the more convenient season—tomorrow they will attend to serious things; but the present hour is so occupied and so unsuitable that they beg to be excused. Like sands from an hourglass, time passes; life is wasted by driblets, and seasons of grace lost by little slumbers. Oh, to be wise, to catch the fleeting hour, to use the passing moments! May the Lord teach us this sacred wisdom, because otherwise a poverty of the worst kind awaits us—eternal poverty that will want even a drop of water and beg for it in vain. Like a robber steadily pursuing his victim, poverty overtakes the lazy, and ruin overthrows the undecided: Each hour brings the dreaded pursuer nearer; he doesn't pause on the way, for he is on his master's business and must not delay. As an armed man enters with authority and power, in similar fashion want will come to the idle, and death to the impenitent, and there will be no escape. O that men would become wise and would diligently seek the Lord Jesus, before the solemn day will dawn when it will be too late to plow and to sow, too late to repent and believe. In harvest, it is useless to lament that the seedtime was neglected. As of now, there is still time for faith and holy decision. May we obtain them tonight. Because of Jesus, Ted

Nearer To God

 

NOVEMBER 23 Nearer to God

Get you up to a high mountain. Isaiah 40:9

Each believer should be thirsting for God, for the living God, and longing to climb the hill of the Lord and see Him face to face. We should not rest content in the mists of the valley when the summit of the mountain beckons us. My soul thirsts to drink deeply of the cup that is reserved for those who reach the mountain's peak and bathe their brows in heaven. How pure are the dews of the hills; how fresh is the mountain air; how abundant is the provision of the dwellers aloft, whose windows look into the New Jerusalem! Many saints are content to live like men in coal mines, who do not see the sun; they eat dust like the serpent when they might taste the food of angels; they are content to wear the miner's garb when they might put on king's robes; tears disfigure their faces when they might anoint them with celestial oil. I am convinced that many a believer pines in a dungeon when he might walk on the palace roof and view the goodly land. Rouse yourself, believer, from your low condition! Discard your laziness, your lethargy, your coldness, or whatever interferes with your sincere and pure love for Christ, your soul's Husband. Make Him the source, the center, and the circumference of your soul's whole range of delight. What fully enchants you to remain in a pit when you may sit on a throne? Do not live in the lowlands of bondage now that mountain liberty is conferred upon you. Do not be satisfied any longer with your tiny attainments, but press forward to things more sublime and heavenly. Aspire to a higher, a nobler, a fuller life. Upward to heaven! Nearer to God! When will Thou come unto me, Lord? As though by His free ways with us Oh come, my Lord most dear! Come near, come nearer, nearer still, I'm blest when Thou art near. Because of Jesus, Ted

Thanksgiving from the Footnotes Matthew 6:13

 

Keep Believing Ministries P. O. Box 257 Elmhurst, IL 60126 Don't forget to support your local church. Stay safe, stay healthy, and stay in touch. We love hearing from you. Happy Thanksgiving! Ray Pritchard Keep Believing Ministries Shawnee, Kansas   Thanksgiving from the Footnotes Matthew 6:13    Let me begin with my text, and then I want to tell you a story.   My text comes from the last line of the Lord’s Prayer, which means everyone should know it by heart:   “For yours is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever. Amen”   Here’s the story.   Some years ago, I did a live TV interview with Jerry Rose on the Total Living Network. I have forgotten what we were discussing or how it came up, but during the interview Jerry mentioned that when he was starting in Christian ministry, he talked one day with an older gentleman who had accomplished great things for the Lord.   When Jerry asked him for advice, the man said he had learned to pray a certain prayer every day.   He found that this prayer centered his soul and kept him on course spiritually. He said he had prayed this prayer over and over again.   When Jerry told that story, I wondered what prayer could have been so powerful.   It’s a prayer many of us have recited time and again.   It’s my text for today:   “Yours is the kingdom  and the power and the glory forever. Amen” (Matthew 6:13).   I want us to think together about that verse and why it is so powerful. But before we do that, I need to say something about my title: “Thanksgiving from the Footnotes.”   When you look up Matthew 6:13 in your Bible, you immediately face a problem. Or a challenge. Or a puzzling question.   This benediction is not in the text of many Bibles.   It is found in the KJV and the NKJV.   If you use the NIV, it’s not there.  If you use the NASB, it’s not there.  If you use the RSV, it’s not there.    And yet we all know these words are part of the Lord’s Prayer.    We know it because these words are always included when we sing the Lord's Prayer.    What’s going on?    If these words are part of the Lord’s Prayer, why aren’t they in the Bible?  If these words aren’t part of the Lord’s Prayer, who made them part of the musical text?   But if you look closer, you’ll find those words in your Bible, even in those modern translations.   They are in the footnotes.   That raises the question, Did Jesus say these words?   Before I answer that question, let me point out that you can find the Lord’s Prayer in two places in the gospels: Matthew 6 and Luke 11.   The benediction is found only in Matthew 6. That leads to a simple conclusion:    Jesus repeated this prayer on different occasions. Sometimes he included the benediction, and sometimes he didn’t.   That’s what I mean by Thanksgiving from the Footnotes.   Everyone agrees the words are both true and biblical.  They form a fitting end to the Lord’s Prayer.   What, then, does this benediction teach us? To answer that question, let’s take each part of it individually.   1. Yours is the Kingdom.   We all want to build our own kingdom, even if we wouldn’t say it that way.  We have our hopes, our dreams, and our plans. When we pray, "Yours is the kingdom," we remind ourselves that only one kingdom matters.   I often pray this way: “Lord, if there needs to be a decision today, let my kingdom go, and let your kingdom come. Let it be your agenda and not mine that moves forward.”   I pray like that because God rules the governments of this world.    That’s the approximate meaning of the phrase “Yours is the kingdom.”    The kingdom belongs to God.  He rules over the affairs of men and nations.    Governments come and go, nations rise and fall, presidents and prime ministers rise to power and suddenly disappear.    I am writing these words shortly after the hotly contested midterm elections in the US. After all was said and done and after all the money was spent, the results weren’t quite what we expected. The red wave never appeared.   In the last few days, I’ve read multiple columns trying to explain (or explain away) the results.   How could they have elected him? Or why didn’t they elect her?   Psalm 75 reminds us that there is a power greater than all that money and all those ads, mail-in ballots, and Get Out the Vote efforts.   “No one from the east or the west     or from the desert can exalt themselves.  It is God who judges:     He brings one down, he exalts another” (Psalm 75:6-7).   Does that mean we shouldn’t care about politics? Of course not.   But there is a God in heaven who rules over the affairs of men. He works out his will while the nations rage. The Lord laughs at our puny efforts to control the course of history.   As I thumbed through my copy of The Great Thoughts by George Seldes, I came upon these words of V. I. Lenin.    Religion is the opium of the people. Religion is a kind of spiritual vodka in which the slaves of capitalism drown their human shape and their claim for any decent life.   For 70 years the communists tried to build a paradise on earth by following Lenin’s words. They thought they could stamp out religion from Russian life.    But today communism is a decaying corpse waiting to be buried in the graveyard of history.  Meanwhile, the church of Jesus Christ is stronger than ever.    That’s not all Lenin said. Listen to this vain boast:   Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.   Lenin’s prophecy failed because his seed bore rotten fruit.    But the church rolls on.  The hammer and sickle has come down.  The Soviet Union is no more.  But the church rolls on.    That church—evangelical and Bible-believing, persecuted, hated, jailed, vilified, maligned, mocked, ridiculed—that church is rolling on today.    Stronger than ever.    Tempered by years of suffering, purified through decades of tribulation, unified through persistent prayer, and held together despite all that Lenin and Stalin and the rest could do.    That church is rolling on.    When you look at a map of the world, remember the lesson: God rules the governments of the world.    2. Yours is the Power.   Power is an aphrodisiac of sorts.   The world flocks to powerful men and women because they know how to get things done. They are the movers and the shakers, they run the show, they make the decisions, they speak and we all listen.   But earthly power is fleeting.   The real power in the universe belongs to the Lord.   So I sometimes pray like this: “Lord, if you need to make me weak so that your power might be on display, please do that.”   I pray like that because God has the power to support his people.    Whatever his children need, our Heavenly Father can supply.   Do they need wisdom?  He is wisdom.    Do they need strength to carry their burdens?  He has an unlimited supply.    Do they need power?  His hands created the universe.    Do they need mercy?  His mercies are new every morning.    Do they need financial help?  He owns the cattle on a thousand hills.    The whole Bible testifies to this great truth. Where God guides, God supplies.    There is no power shortage with God.  He has the power to support his people in all their needs.    3. Yours is the Glory.   Glory is tricky.   Do you remember the “Celebrity Apprentice” TV show?   The theme song began with one word repeated four times: “Money, money, money, money,” which tells you everything you need to know.   The Romans knew a thing or two about glory (check out Rome and see for yourself), and they coined the phrase, Sic Transit Gloria Mundi, which means “Thus passes the glory of the world.”   Fame is fleeting. In the end, everything man builds collapses before his eyes. A friend sent me an email containing these lines from a poem called “Gray’s Elegy” written in a country churchyard in England:   The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power And all that beauty, all that wealth e’er gave Awaits alike the inevitable hour The paths of glory lead but to the grave.   And so I pray, “Lord, nothing I do today will matter unless you make it matter. Be glorified in my life, and if that means my glory should fade, so be it because I am fading away anyway.”    I pray that way because all that God does, he does for his glory.    All that God does for us, all that God does in us, all that God does through us, all that God does with us, he does for his glory.    And what is the glory of God?    It is anything that enhances God’s reputation in the world.    This is a crucial principle to remember when we pray. It’s the key to understanding why some prayers are answered in ways that greatly surprise us.    All his answers are for his glory.  God never answers prayer in any way that does not ultimately bring glory to his name. Sometimes God’s glory is enhanced through a miraculous answer to prayer. Other times God is glorified when his children endure suffering patiently.    Sometimes God allows a teenager to drift away from him despite the prayers of that teenager’s parents. Why? In part because God gives us the power to make wrong choices.   He will not compel people to serve him.    But there is something deeper. God receives greater glory through the repeated prayers of the parents. Others watch as they model consistent faith in the face of a great family difficulty.    God may allow it so that when the teenager finally returns home, they will glorify God for his discipline while he was in “a far country.”   This principle applies to every area of life. Sometimes God is glorified through our prosperity and sometimes through our poverty.    Sometimes his reputation is enhanced when we get the job we prayed for. But he is also glorified when we react in a godly manner even though we lose our job.    In all things God is working to bring glory to himself through the lives of his obedient children.    He will do whatever is best for our ultimate spiritual good.    And in the end, we will discover that whatever was for our spiritual good also brought glory to his name.    There will be good times and bad times, miraculous deliverances and long seasons in the desert, happiness and sadness, popularity, and misunderstanding.   God uses all the experiences of life to bring glory to his name.   Three Takeaway Truths What do these words add to the Lord's Prayer?  First, they point us back to God as the source of all our blessings.   There is a Trinitarian emphasis in this closing benediction that reinforces both halves of the Lord’s Prayer.    We are to pray that God’s name might be “hallowed” for “Yours is the glory.”   Even our “daily bread” is made sacred when we eat it to God’s glory.   We pray, “Your kingdom come,” because we understand that “Yours is the kingdom.”   And it is by the grace of King Jesus that our sins are forgiven.   We pray “Your will be done” because “Yours is the power,” and it is by the power of the Spirit that we are rescued from Satan’s control.    By arranging the prayer this way, Jesus is teaching us one of the fundamental truths of the Christian life:    All our blessings come from God.    No realm of life lies outside the realm of prayer because everything we receive comes as a gift from our loving Heavenly Father.    Second, this benediction reminds us to rest our hopes in God alone and not on our clever schemes. We like to think God is lucky to have us on his side. But that’s wrong, and luck has nothing to do with it.   The Lord’s Prayer teaches us how blessed we are to be on his side.   God could do just fine without us. We couldn’t survive for a moment without his sustaining grace.    Third, these words teach us to praise God always.   When we pray, we are to begin by asking that God’s name be hallowed, and we are to end by praising God for his sovereign rule over the affairs of men. Thus the prayer begins with God and ends with God.    Matthew Henry said,   “Praise is the work and happiness of heaven, and all who go to heaven hereafter must begin their heaven now.”    Praise fits us to receive God’s blessings now and to enter God’s presence later.    It is the highest work of mortal man for it lifts man from the mundane and points him toward the sublime. Praise redirects our vision from the temporary to the eternal.    Psalm 71:14 says, “I will praise your name more and more.”    I was in Dallas doing a series of radio interviews for a book I had written. During a live television interview, the host asked me a question that had nothing to do with my book.   He leaned over to me and asked, “What’s God been teaching you lately?”   That’s not an easy question, but it’s doubly tough when the camera is staring in your face.    After a brief pause, I gave a simple reply:   “I’ve been learning that I’ve still got a lot to learn about God.”   No matter where you are in your spiritual life, you’re still far from knowing God in all his fullness.   Even though I’ve been in the ministry for almost 50 years, there is so much I still don’t know about God.    At this point in my life, I’m more aware of what I don’t know than what I do know.   Some of us have constructed a God of the good times.   When our prayers are answered and life goes our way, we say, “God is good.” Does that mean when the cancer returns that God is no longer good?    If your God is only good during the good times, then your God is not the God of the Bible.   Marlene’s Testimony   When he was a teenager, our oldest son and a few friends survived a terrible crash in our van that sent them to the hospital.   During a Thanksgiving morning worship service, my wife stood and said something like this:   “We are very grateful God spared our son and his friends. Many people have said, ’God was certainly good to you.’ Ray and I believe that with all our hearts. But I want to say that even if our son had died, God would still have been good whether we understood it or not.”   I confess I was unnerved when she said that. But every word was true.   As I have pondered the matter since then, I have concluded that faith is not a feeling based on our circumstances.   True biblical faith chooses to believe that God is who he said he is, and he will do what he said he will do.   As I look at the world around me, many things remain mysterious.    But if there is no God, and if he is not good, then nothing makes sense. I have chosen to believe because I must believe.   I truly have no other choice.   I have learned through my tears that my only confidence is in God and God alone.   This benediction adds crucial balance to the Lord’s Prayer.    It brings together all the great themes in one triumphant climax.  Furthermore, it reminds us of important truths we need to know.   •We pray because we know these things are true. “Yours is . . . Yours is . . . Yours is . . .”   •We pray because we know these things are always true. “Forever.”   •We pray because we know these things are always true, and we should say so. “Amen.”   As we come to Thanksgiving Day 2022, our hearts should overflow with gratitude. We have everything we need, always.   This is the promise of our God.   If you don’t know where to begin, you can always say, “Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.” Let all the people of God say, “Amen!” Happy Thanksgiving!   Gracious Father, When we despair      because of situations that seem out of control,      help us to remember that "yours is the kingdom." When we feel like giving up      in the face of impossible difficulties,      remind us that "yours is the power." And when we become too impressed with ourselves,      teach us again that "yours is the glory." With the people of God across the ages,      we affirm that these things are always true. Amen.

Sit at the Table

 

NOVEMBER 21 Sit at the Table

Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at the table. John 12:2

He is to be envied. It was fine to be Martha and serve, but better to be Lazarus and enjoy. There are times for each purpose, and each is fitting in its season, but none of the trees of the garden yield such clusters as the vine of fellowship. To sit with Jesus, to hear His words, to mark His acts and receive His smiles was such a favor as must have made Lazarus as happy as the angels. When it has been our happy privilege to feast with our Beloved in His banqueting hall, we would not have given half a sigh for all the kingdoms of the world, if so much breath could have bought them. He is to be imitated. It would have been a strange thing if Lazarus had not been at the table where Jesus was, for he had been dead, and Jesus had raised him. For the risen one to be absent when the Lord who gave him life was at his house would have been dreadfully ungrateful. We too were once dead, yes, and like Lazarus bound in the grave of sin. Jesus raised us, and by His life we live. Can we be content to live at a distance from Him? Do we fail to remember Him at His table, where He deigns to feast with His brethren? This is cruel! It behooves us to repent and do as He has bidden us, for His least wish should be law to us. To have lived without constant fellowship with Jesus, who loved him so dearly, would have been disgraceful to Lazarus. Is it then excusable in us whom Jesus has loved with an everlasting love? To have been cold to Him who wept over his lifeless corpse would have shown a lack of feeling in Lazarus. What does it say of us over whom the Savior has not only wept but bled? Come, brethren, who read this portion; let us return to our heavenly Bridegroom and ask for His Spirit, that we may be on terms of closer intimacy with Him and never miss the opportunity to sit at the table with Him. Because of Jesus, Ted

 

8 Bible Verses on Thanksgiving and Gratitude

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November 15, 2022

EPHESIANS 5:20“… giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Commentary from the sermon “How Is Your Thanksgiving?” by Alistair Begg:

“Notice, ‘giving thanks always.’ That’s constant and for everything. That’s comprehensive. … See how Trinitarian this is? See how distinctively Christian this is? The Spirit of God—that’s the third person of the Trinity—is at work in the heart and life of a child of God, stirring us to give thanks always and for everything to God the Father and to do so in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. So Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are engaged in the exercise of making sure that the child of God is a thankful person, thanking God for His providence in our lives.”

PSALM 100:3–5“Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.”

Commentary from the sermon “An Exposition of Psalm 100 — Part Two” by Alistair Begg:

“One of the distinguishing features of the child of God is gratitude—not simply natural gratitude, to which Jonathan Edwards referred, but what he referred to as gracious gratitude; not the gratitude that simply says, ‘Well, it’s a nice day, and we’re glad it’s not raining.’ Man as man is capable of that. Or, ‘The wheels for my car have not fallen off; how thankful I am!’ Anybody can do this. But no, it is an indication of grace when the gratitude of heart extends to the point where the person says, ‘It is God who is due all of the praise, all of the glory, and all of the thankfulness.’ Remember when Paul writes in Romans 1, concerning the suppression of the truth on the part of men and women, he says, ‘Here’s what happened to them: They became foolish. They did not honor him as God or give thanks to him’ (1:21–22, paraphrased). … That is the picture of the population without Christ. They do not honor God; they do not give thanks to Him.”

PSALM 57:9“I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations.”

Commentary from the sermon “I Will Give Thanks” by Alistair Begg:

“Genuine thankfulness saves us from the attitude which says either ‘I don’t deserve this’ or ‘I deserve better than this.’ If I find myself waking in the morning and affirming, ‘I don’t deserve this,’ then I know that I have completely skewed the notion of thankfulness to God. If I find myself driving in my car, saying, ‘I deserve better than this; this is miserable, what I’m getting out of this,’ and so on, then, once again, I have not bowed down before God and understood His provision. You see, our gratitude to God is an acknowledgement of our dependence, and our unwillingness to acknowledge God’s goodness is an ultimate expression of our independence. And that’s why the Bible prompts us again and again, ‘What do you have that you didn’t receive?’ (1 Cor. 4:7, paraphrased). Absolutely nothing.”

COLOSSIANS 1:3–6“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.”

Commentary from the sermon “Reasons for Thanksgiving” by Alistair Begg:

“You’ll notice the little word ‘always’ in verse 3. Paul’s thanksgiving, then, is not merely a temporary feeling of gratitude. Rather, it is marked by constancy. He says, ‘We always thank God,’ and in that he is an example of that which he urges upon others. You go through Paul’s letters, and you will find again and again that he urges upon his readers thanksgiving in their prayers. If you like, a prayer without thanksgiving is like a bird without wings. And Paul again … urges his leadership to thankfulness. Be thankful.

“Learn to be thankful in all circumstances, no matter how bad it is. Learn to be thankful to God. It would be a strange thing if, having urged his readers to that, he himself lived in a denial of it. … He is also in no doubt as to whom the thanks is due. When is he thanking? He’s always thanking. And to whom is he giving thanks? He is not giving thanks ultimately to Epaphras (Col. 1:7). He is not giving thanks to himself. No matter what part he or Epaphras or others may have played in the spiritual pilgrimage of the church of Colossae, Paul knows that God is worthy of all the glory; for He it is who is ultimately responsible for any spiritual advance in His children.”

COLOSSIANS 2:6–7“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”

Commentary from the sermon “Overflowing with Thankfulness — Part One” by Alistair Begg:

“One of the real indications that a person’s life has been touched and changed by Jesus is that they overflow with thankfulness. They’re just thankful! You see, thankfulness is the song of the Christian. Bitterness, complaining, anger, victimization—these are all part of the non-Christian’s wardrobe. And in Jesus, says Paul to these Colossian Christians, you don’t wear that stuff anymore. When you heard God’s grace in all its truth, when you turned to Him in repentance and in faith, He forgave all of your sins, and He came to live inside of you. He indwelt you. You are the dwelling place of God. Therefore, it is now incongruous for those of you who have been united with Jesus to go around wearing the clothes from your olden days.”

COLOSSIANS 3:15–17“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Commentary from the sermon “Life in the Local Church — Part Two” by Alistair Begg:

“It’s an interesting study in Colossians to go through and look at how many times Paul uses the phrase ‘Be thankful’ or ‘thankfulness’ time and time again. It’s not surprising that he does so in relation to peace, because a spirit of thankfulness breeds peace. A spirit of genuine thankfulness for all that I have will make me increasingly happy with what may be entrusted to another. ‘Godliness with contentment is great gain’ (1 Tim. 6:6). If I am thankful in my heart for what God has given me, I won’t be jealous in my heart for what God has given someone else. Not if I’m content. Of course, if I am not content, … then no matter how sweet my words nor how sympathetic my face, in my heart, [the peace of Christ] will not rule.”

1 THESSALONIANS 5:18“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Commentary from the sermon “Thankfulness: A Mark of Grace” by Alistair Begg:

“You will notice the directive which is here in a phrase in verse 18: ‘Give thanks in all circumstances.’ Be thankful people. The children of God should of all people be really thankful. Why? Because they have so much for which to be thankful. That is why it’s not unusual for us to turn to the pages of the Bible and find that it is speaking about thankfulness all over the place. … So for Paul to issue this directive here is not somehow or another to introduce a new element to the Bible, but is simply to add his voice, as it were, to a great chorus that is calling for the spirit of thankfulness amongst those who name the name of Christ.”

PSALM 145:1–3“I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.”

Commentary from the sermon “We Thank You, Lord” by Alistair Begg:

“The Lord is great. He is unlike a mere man whose greatness we can quantify. The human mind and spirit, the psalm says, is unable to fathom the wonder of this aspect of God. Not all the minds of all the centuries can ever lay hold of what this means, that God’s greatness is unsearchable.

“Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise, and His greatness no one can fathom. He is greater than our greatest thought. He is greater in compassion than the most compassionate individual we ever met. He is greater than anything we could ever conceive of His loveliness. He is beyond our ability to encapsulate it.”