What does Acts 17:25 really mean?

" nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things;"

Acts 17:25(NASB)

Thoughts on Today's Verse

It was during his second missionary journey, while staying in the city of Athens, that Paul taught certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers about the gospel of God and His great salvation – which is through faith in the death, burial, and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

On his arrival at Athens, Paul's spirit was provoked within his breast, when he saw that the city had been given over to the worship of idols and false deities. Some of the Athenian citizens dismissed Paul's teaching as babbling, pseudo-intellectual nonsense, while others were interested in what he had to say and asked him to explain this new doctrine to them – which they had overheard him teaching to Jewish and Gentile believers.

The men of Athens spent their time doing nothing more than hearing, or telling each other some new theory or ideology. They considered themselves to be intellectually superior to other people and highly knowledgeable. They would spend their days in endless debates, fruitless discussions, and futile arguments.

Nevertheless, Paul was brought to the Areopagus where debates were held, and asked to explain his new teaching. Paul made two wise moves. First, he acknowledged their desire to learn and pitched his debate at their intellectual level. He acknowledged their thirst for knowledge and understanding, and commended them on their great religious fervour – and THEN began teaching the truth from that point.

Secondly, he started to teach these pagans from the very beginning. He began his discussion of salvation by rehearsing the creation account and introducing God as the one and only true God Who created the world and everything in it. Although Athens was overflowing with an abundance of false deities, Paul sought to correct their thinking by pointing them to the one, true and living God of all creation.

Paul began to explain to these pagan intellectuals, that the God Who made the world and everything in it, is the true and living Lord of heaven and earth. He explained that such a great God does not dwell in temples which are made by men – such as the many pagan temples that lined the streets of their city.

He pointed out that the God of heaven and earth does not dwell in places that are constructed by man, nor is He served by human hands. The pagan deities that the Athenians worshipped, needed human beings to build their temples and bring them things, whereas the great God of the universe needs nothing from men – since He Himself gives life and breath to all people and all things.

There is no correct way to introduce the gospel of grace to unbelievers, but there does need to be willingness to tell others about Jesus and bring God's message of salvation to the lost – and many missionaries have found that a good starting point is to give others a correct understanding of the God of creation Who made heaven and earth and everything in it, and of man whom God created in His own image, but who sinned and needs to be redeemed from sin and death and hell.

May we, who have been saved by grace through faith, make ourselves available to the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit so that lost sinners may be given the opportunity to hear the gospel and believe, through our ministry – for how shall they hear if no one is willing to tell them?

My Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for the example of the apostle Paul who spent his life teaching the good news so that men would hear the truth of the gospel of grace and be saved. Give me a heart for the lost and help me to meet the people with whom I come in contact, at their point of need. May I present the gospel to them clearly and without hesitation, with love and compassion. Raise up more men and women who will share the good news of the gospel in every nation and city so that many will hear and believe that Jesus died for their sins, that He rose again, and that by faith in Him, their sins are forgiven and eternal life is their portion. In Jesus' name, AMEN.

To know Jesus is the beginning of wisdom!

Ted

 

MARCH 29 The Delay of Unanswered Prayers

I called him, but he gave no answer. Song of Songs 5:6

Prayer sometimes lingers, like a petitioner at the gate, until the King comes with the blessings that she seeks. The Lord, when He has given great faith, has been known to test it by long delays. He has allowed His servants’ voices to echo in their ears as if the heavens were brass. They have knocked at the golden gate, but it has remained immovable, as though it were rusted upon its hinges. Like Jeremiah, they have cried, “You have wrapped yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through.”1 In this manner true saints have continued to wait patiently without a reply, not because their prayers were not strong, nor because they were unaccepted, but because it so pleased Him who is a Sovereign and who gives according to His own pleasure. If it pleases Him to test our patience, shall He not do as He wishes with His children? Beggars must not be choosers either as to time, place, or form. But we must be careful not to take delays in prayer for denials. God’s postdated checks will be punctually honored; we must not allow Satan to shake our confidence in the God of truth by pointing to our unanswered prayers. Unanswered petitions are not unheard. God keeps a file for our prayers—they are not blown away by the wind; they are treasured in the King's archives. This is a registry in the court of heaven in which every prayer is recorded. Struggling believer, your Lord has as it were a tear-bottle in which the costly drops of your sacred grief are put away, and a book in which your holy groanings are numbered. By-and-by your case shall prevail. Can you not be content to wait a little? Will the Lord’s time not be better than yours? By-and-by He will comfortably appear, to your soul’s joy, and will cause you to put away the sackcloth and ashes of long waiting and put on the scarlet and fine linen of full fruition.

Lamentations 3:44 Because of Jesus, Ted Alistair Begg Ministries

The Incense Of Your Praise

 

MARCH 28 The Incense of Your Praise

As a pleasing aroma I will accept you. Ezekiel 20:41

The merits of our great Redeemer are as a pleasing aroma to the Most High. Whether we speak of the active or passive righteousness of Christ, there is an equal fragrance. There was a pleasing aroma in His active life by which He honored the law of God and made every precept to glitter like a precious jewel in the pure setting of His own person. Such, too, was His passive obedience, when He endured with unmurmuring submission hunger and thirst, cold and nakedness, and at the end sweat as it were great drops of blood in Gethsemane. He gave His back to the smiters and His cheeks to them that plucked out the hair and was fastened to the cruel wood, that He might suffer the wrath of God in our behalf. These two things are sweet before the Most High; and for the sake of His doing and His dying, His substitutionary sufferings and His vicarious obedience, the Lord our God accepts us. What a preciousness there must be in Him to overcome our lack of preciousness! What a pleasing aroma to put away our nasty odor! What a cleansing power in His blood to take away sin such as ours! And what glory in His righteousness to make such unacceptable creatures to be accepted in the Beloved! Consider, believer, how sure and unchanging is our acceptance, since it is in Him! Take care that you never doubt your acceptance in Jesus. You cannot be accepted without Christ; but when you have received His merit, you cannot be unaccepted. Despite all your doubts and fears and sins, Jehovah’s gracious eye never looks upon you in anger; though He sees sin in you, in yourself, yet when He looks at you through Christ, He sees no sin. You are always accepted in Christ, are always blessed and dear to the Father’s heart. Therefore lift up a song, and as you see the smoking incense of the Savior’s merit coming up this evening before the sapphire throne, let the incense of your praise go up also. May you and yours be blessed, Ted

Four Reasons Studying Doctrine Matters

 March 22, 2022

Only when we come to know God will we come to love Him. In his sermon “The Apostles’ Teaching,” Alistair Begg reminds us that Christian doctrine is fundamentally important for every believer. He turns to Bruce Milne’s modern classic, Know the Truth, to consider four reasons why:

One of the books that has become a very important book to us as a church family—and not least of all amongst our church leadership—is a book that has been written by a Scotsman, as it turns out, Dr. Bruce Milne, and the book is entitled Know the Truth. And for those of you—some in the men’s Bible studies have gone through this book—for those of you who, like them, are aware of the book, you will perhaps recall that his introduction is quite striking. Because he opens up all that follows in the book by asking the question “Why … is the study of doctrine so vital?”1 Why would anybody take all this time to write a book entitled Know the Truth that was full of Christian doctrine, the teaching of the Bible?

And he answers that with four simple answers, which he doesn’t expound in any way. And they’re these, for those of you who haven’t read the book.

He said the reason that it is so vital is, first of all, because “every Christian is a theologian.”2 “Every Christian is a theologian,” in the sense that theology is the science of God, or theology is the knowledge of God which emerges from an acquaintance with God, brought about by the work of the Holy Spirit and instructed by the pages of Holy Scripture. So it is impossible to be a believer—to be a Christian—without being someone who has a knowledge of God and who recognizes that that knowledge of God is something which is to be deepening all the time. And it is to be deepened as a result of the study of Christian doctrine. That’s the first reason that it’s so vital.

It is in getting to know my Bible that I get to know Jesus.

“Secondly,” he says, it is vital because “getting doctrine right is the key to getting everything else right.”3 If we want to know how we should worship, then the answer will be found in a knowledge of the Bible—in understanding Christian doctrine. If we want to understand how to be good witnesses, the answer is to be found in a knowledge of the Scriptures. How to conduct myself at work, how to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, how to nurture Christian relationships—the answer to all of these questions emerges from a study of the Bible.

In the course of the last few days, I’ve had all kinds of encounters with different people, none more lovely than the one which came about in encountering a lady who, along with her husband, had come to something that I was participating in in the last few days. And the lady wanted me to know two things. And she put them in this order: “Number one,” she said, “I’d like you to know that I have read the Bible through for the first time in all my life. It has taken me two years and three months. And number two, I am four and a half months pregnant.”

Now, if you want to know who she is, you need to go around and find somebody who is four and a half months pregnant. But the wonderful thing about it was, here is somebody who professed faith in Jesus Christ. Nobody laid a rod to her back, nobody said, “This is what you must do,” nobody press-ganged her into it. But over a period of some twenty-seven months, she set about the task of getting to know the Bible. And I can guarantee you that it is that knowledge which yields the opportunity to get everything else right in our lives. Not simply that a head knowledge, in and of itself, is sufficient, because the Bible says that what is going on up here cerebrally must also be translating to the very essence of our lives—to our hearts—viscerally. But nevertheless, we cannot get anything right until we get the doctrine right.

“Thirdly,” he says, “the study of doctrine is an expression of loving the Lord with our minds.”4 Remember, Jesus says—in response to the Pharisees’ question “Which is the greatest commandment?”—he says, “You will love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.” (See Matt. 22:36–37; Mark 12:28–30.) What does it mean to love God with all your mind? How can a person love God with all their mind? The answer is, in getting serious about the Bible, in getting serious about God’s truth, in getting serious about a knowledge of God.

And “fourthly,” he says, “doctrine is vital because it is impossible finally to separate Christ from the truths which Scripture reveals concerning him.”5 In other words, our knowledge of Jesus is a knowledge which is gained through the Word of God. It is not a knowledge of Jesus that happens, as it were, over in some rarefied experience in a corner, but it is in getting to know my Bible that I get to know Jesus.

Read, watch, or listen to the sermon “The Apostles’ Teaching.”

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1. Bruce Milne, Know the Truth: A Handbook of Christian Belief (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1982), 11. ↩︎

2. Milne, Know the Truth, 11. ↩︎

3. Milne, 11. ↩︎

4. Milne, 12. ↩︎

5. Milne, 12. ↩︎

It is extremely important to study the word so that "you are not deceived by every wind of doctrine."

See you next blog,

Ted

Grace Through Faith

 Grace Thru Faith - STUDY

Finished Work

When Jesus cried “it is Finished” on the cross, He meant – it is Finished. ALL the punishment and pain for ALL sin and ALL power of sin : finished : completed. This was indeed a cry of victory that shook the very foundations of hell to its core. This truth has remained unchanged since that pivotal time in eternity’s history. This reality is forever engraved on the heart of God in heaven’s council chambers. God does not change, and He recognises Christ’s work of the cross as finished. He accepts forever the forever finished work of Calvary’s Cross – forever and forever, AMEN.

No Condemnation

Paul reminds us that there is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. Nothing can be said, done or thought, for which Christ hasn’t paid full restitution. Those that believe on Him are accepted because of this forever-finished Work. He accepts forever the forever finished work of Calvary’s Cross – forever and forever. Our acceptance by God has no conditions. Our acceptance by God is unconditional. Nothing in heaven or earth, hell or the universe can alter this truth. It is finished.

No Conditions

He accepts forever, the forever finished work of Calvary’s Cross forever and forever. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, and the verse continues… who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Rom.8:1  Many have made this verse conditional – counter to God’s proclaimed Word. Ahhh, they say… if you are not walking in the Spirit, then this does not apply. Hmmm, they say… no condemnation! but only for those walking in the spirit. Rubbish! poppycock! What nonsense! Read the word. Study to show yourself approved. 2Timothy2:15. There follows a dissertation of a carnal Christian compared with the spiritual man.. and throughout his epistles, Paul rehearses this truth – that we have two options.

Two Options

First a carnal Christian life:– born again but walking in the realm of the flesh and second a spiritual Christian life:– born again and walking in the sphere of the spirit. Read about the carnal believers of Corinth, 1 Corinthians 3.1, who ‘left their first love, just like the Ephesian believers in Revelation 2:4. Indeed, Paul here prescribes the remedy to the carnal life versus the spiritual life. But there is no question throughout all the epistles that we can lose our acceptance.. for God’s Word tells us that we are accepted in the Beloved.. and accepted in the Beloved means accepted in the Beloved !.

One Truth

To lose God’s acceptance would render Christ’s finished word a sham. Jesus said: this is My blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. And where remission of sins has taken place.. there is no more offering for sin. Why are we told this in Hebrews chapter 10? Because it is finished. It is finished – forever and forever AMEN.

See you next blog!

Ted

The Son Of Man

 

MARCH 25 The Son of Man

The Son of Man. John 3:13

How constantly our Master used the title, The Son of Man! If He had chosen, He might always have spoken of Himself as the Son of God, the Everlasting Father, the Wonderful Counselor, the Prince of Peace; but behold the lowliness of Jesus! He prefers to call Himself the Son of Man. Let us learn a lesson of humility from our Savior; let us never court great titles nor proud degrees. There is here, however, a far sweeter thought. Jesus loved mankind so much that He delighted to honor it; and since it is a high honor, and indeed the greatest dignity of mankind, that Jesus is the Son of Man, He is willing to display this name, that He may, as it were, hang royal stars upon the breast of mankind and display the love of God to Abraham's seed. Son of Man whenever He said this, He shed a halo around the head of Adam's children. Yet there is perhaps a more precious thought still. Jesus Christ called Himself the Son of Man to express His oneness and sympathy with His people. In this way He reminds us that He is the one whom we may approach without fear. As a man, we may take to Him all our griefs and troubles, for He knows them by experience. In that He Himself has suffered as The Son of Man, He is able to rescue and comfort us. We bless You, Lord Jesus, for using such a title to remind us and assure us that You are a brother. This is for us a token of Your grace, Your humility, Your love. Oh see how Jesus trusts Himself Unto our childish love, As though by His free ways with us Our earnestness to prove! His sacred name a common word On earth He loves to hear; There is no majesty in Him Which love may not come near. See you next blog! Ted

When Sorrow Comes How Do I Praise Him?

 

MARCH 24 Rejoicing in Sorrow

In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit. Luke 10:21

The Savior was “a man of sorrows,”1 but every thoughtful mind has discovered the fact that down deep in His innermost soul He carried an inexhaustible treasury of refined and heavenly joy. Of all the human race, there was never a man who had a deeper, purer, or more abiding peace than our Lord Jesus Christ. “He was anointed with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”2 His vast benevolence must, from the very nature of things, have afforded Him the deepest possible delight, for benevolence is joy. There were a few remarkable seasons when this joy manifested itself. “In that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit, and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth … .”3 Christ had His songs, even in the darkness; even though His face was marred, and His countenance had lost the luster of earthly happiness, yet sometimes it was illumined with a matchless splendor of unparalleled satisfaction as He thought upon the recompense of the reward and in the midst of the congregation sang His praise unto God. In this, the Lord Jesus is a blessed picture of His church on earth. At this hour the church expects to walk in sympathy with her Lord along a thorny road; through much tribulation she is making her way to the crown. To bear the cross is her office, and to be scorned and counted an alien by her mother’s children is her lot; and yet the church has a deep well of joy, of which none can drink but her own children. There are stores of wine and oil and corn hidden in the midst of our Jerusalem, upon which the saints of God are continuously sustained and nurtured. And sometimes, as in our Savior’s case, we have our seasons of intense delight, for “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God.”4 Even though we are exiles, we rejoice in our King; yes, in Him we exceedingly rejoice, while in His name we set up our banners.

Isaiah 53:3 Psalm 45:7 Luke 10:21 Psalm 46:4

See you next blog! Ted

What does James 4:17 Really Mean

 Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.

James 4:17(NASB)

Verse Thoughts

The Word of God is not only our plumb-line for truth but also should be our handbook for life and living. All Scripture has been written for our learning, but the New Testament epistles give specific guidance and instruction on living the Christian life in this Church dispensation.

God has given us all we need for life and godliness, and we have been given the holy Scriptures which provide clear teaching on how to walk in spirit and truth and why we should abide in Christ and He in us.

We have the indwelling Holy Spirit to lead us in the way we should go, Who has promised to lead and guide in all things... and we have Christ's assurance that His grace is sufficient for every eventuality we may face – for when we are weak in our own abilities, we have His precious promise that His strength will enable us to stand fast in the evil day.

The instructions earlier in the epistle of James, cover a wide range of topics that enable the believer to live a life that is honouring to the Lord. It helps us to deal with trials and temptations in a godly manner. It warns of the futility of doubting God's Word and reminds us of the beautiful fruit that comes from a spirit of patience and grace.

He warns against conceiving sin in our heart and the devastation that can be caused by an unguarded tongue. He exposes the dangers of allowing partiality to influence our judgement about other people, and teaches on faith and works, justification and sanctification, and the dangers of an unstable mind. And James also teaches about the effects of true and false wisdom – the cause of covetousness and its righteous cure.

And here in this verse, the apostle simply explains to his readers the consequences of knowing what is godly and honourable in the sight of the Lord, and yet refusing to carry it out... therefore, he warns, to the one who knows the right thing to do yet does not do it, to him it is sin.

The man or woman who has become a child of God by faith, may not be under the law of Moses, but we are most certainly under the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, and James teaches that to know what is good but to do what is evil – whether in thought, word, or deed, dishonours the Lord Who bought us with His precious blood and blemishes our testimony for Christ.

As children of God, our motive and attitude should be to live for Christ every moment of the day – to present our lives as a living sacrifice to Him, to trust His Word and walk in utter dependence on Him, moment by moment, and for His greater glory.

Living the Christian life as God intended and instructed, should be the main aim of the Christian, and failure to do so is identified by James as a sin which should be confessed to the Lord and addressed in our life if we are to remain in holy fellowship with the Father and grow in grace, to His honour and glory.

My Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for this truth in the book of James that when I know what is righteous and yet do not do it, I am committing a sin in Your eyes. Forgive me for the times when I have known that something is evil but done it anyway, when I have avoided doing what is right, or when I have turned a blind eye to some need or necessity. I pray that from this day forward, I would not only know what is right but be ready and willing to carry it out, through Your sufficient strength and for Your greater glory. This I ask in Jesus' name, AMEN.

This very important!!! Please read it...

Ted

What is Man?

 

MARCH 21 What is Man?

Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loose the cords of Orion? Job 38:31

If we are inclined to boast of our abilities, the grandeur of nature will quickly show us how puny we are. We cannot move the least of all the twinkling stars or quench so much as one of the sunbeams of the morning. We speak of power, but the heavens laugh us to scorn. When the stars shine forth in spring-like joy, we cannot restrain their influences; and when Orion reigns above, and the year is bound in winter’s chains, we cannot relax the icy grip. The seasons arrive by divine appointment, and it is impossible for men to change the cycle. Lord, what is man? In the spiritual, as in the natural, world, man’s power is limited on all hands. When the Holy Spirit sheds abroad His delights in the soul, none can disturb; all the cunning and malice of men are unable to prevent the genial, quickening power of the Comforter. When He deigns to visit a church and revive it, the most inveterate enemies cannot resist the good work; they may ridicule it, but they can no more restrain it than they can push back the spring when the Pleiades rule the hour. God wills it, and so it must be. On the other hand, if the Lord in sovereignty, or in justice, binds up a man so that his soul is in bondage, who can give him liberty? He alone can remove the winter of spiritual death from an individual or a people. He looses the bands of Orion, and none but He. What a blessing it is that He can do it. O that He would perform the wonder tonight. Lord, end my winter, and let my spring begin. I cannot with all my longings raise my soul out of her death and dullness, but all things are possible with You. I need heavenly influences, the clear shinings of Your love, the beams of Your grace, the light of Your countenance—these are as summer suns to me. I suffer greatly from sin and temptation; these are my terrible wintry signs. Lord, work wonders in me, and for me. Amen.

None but the Hungry Heart

 None but the Hungry Heart 

Risen Fare

He humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna" (Deut. 8:3).

The wilderness wanderers were maintained by manna, but those in Canaan flourished on "the old corn of the land." The carnal Christian exists on the milk of the Word, while the hungry-hearted believer feeds and matures on the meat of the Word.

"The old corn of Canaan typifies what the risen and ascended Lord ministers directly to us now by the Holy Spirit. Those who appropriate their position in Christ feed no longer merely on the manna, which represents Christ as supporting our life while we yet know Him not' as regards any intimate fellowship.

"If positional truth, rather than the duties of attainment, were taught first to the saints, much more satisfactory results would follow the ministry of many Christian workers. We should note most carefully that Israel was brought into Canaan, all uncircumcised and unworthy as they were, before they were asked to take the circumcised, separated position as the people of God, or enter upon their warfare.

"So we, as believers, have been already brought by Jesus Christ our Head, in His death and resurrection, into the heavenly places,' and to us have been given all things that pertain unto life and godliness' (2 Pet. 1:3). And it is always on the ground of where we already are, and what we already are, and what we already have, that the Holy Spirit shows us our blessed privileges and responsibilities of the calling wherewith we are called.'" -W.R.N.

"And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land" (Joshua 5:12).

Bible verses: Deuteronomy 8:3 2 Peter 1:3 Joshua 5:12

Miles Sanford

 

MARCH 20 The Love of a Husband

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church. Ephesians 5:25

What a golden example Christ gives to His disciples! Few masters could venture to say, “if you would practice my teaching, imitate my life.” But as the life of Jesus is the exact transcript of perfect virtue, He can point to Himself as the paragon of holiness, as well as the teacher of it. The Christian should take nothing less than Christ for his model. Under no circumstances should we be content unless we reflect the grace that was in Him.  As a husband, the Christian is to look upon the portrait of Christ Jesus, and he is to paint according to that copy. The true Christian is to be such a husband as Christ was to His church. The love of a husband is special. The Lord Jesus cherishes for the church a peculiar affection, which is set upon her above the rest of mankind: “I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world.”[1] The elect church is the favorite of heaven, the treasure of Christ, the crown of His head, the bracelet of His arm, the breastplate of His heart, the very center and core of His love. A husband should love his wife with a constant love, for in this way Jesus loves His church. He does not vary in His affection. He may change in His display of affection, but the affection itself is still the same. A husband should love his wife with an enduring love, for nothing shall “separate us from the love of … Christ.”[2] A true husband loves his wife with a hearty love, fervent and intense. It is not mere lip service. What more could Christ have done in proof of His love than He has done? Jesus has a delighted love toward His spouse: He prizes her affection and delights in her with sweet satisfaction. Believer, you wonder at Jesus’ love; you admire it—are you imitating it? In your domestic relationships, is the rule and measure of your love “even as Christ loved the church”?

John 17:9 Romans 8:39

 

The Depths of Sin and the Hope of Forgiveness

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March 17, 2022

As he begins his plea to God in Psalm 130, the psalmist describes himself in a metaphorical location: “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!” To the Hebrew writers and readers of the Psalms, “the depths” was a way of speaking about the sea, and the sea was a dangerous place. When they talked about the depths, they were talking about drowning.

The deepest pit we will ever find ourselves in is the pit of our own sin.

Many of us identify with this psalm because that is where we find ourselves: drowning in life’s hardships and temptations. Our world is broken, and difficulty is hardwired into it. We will all find ourselves in the depths at one time or another. It is in those times when we truly understand why the psalmist cries out,

  O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
  to the voice of my pleas for mercy! (Ps. 130:1–2).

This is not a casual call; it’s a call of emergency. And it is a call that God answers.

The Kindness of God

While we are always in desperate need of God’s mercy, we do not often recognize it. We like to go on with our lives pretending to be self-sufficient. To shake us from our stupor, God may, in His kindness, bring us to the depths (Heb. 12:5–11). Why? Because it is in the depths that we recognize the need we have always had and cry out to our Father in heaven.

We see this happen in the life of Jonah when he runs from God. In His kindness, God seizes Jonah’s attention by literally casting him into the sea and into the belly of the great fish (Jonah 1:15, 17). And it is from the belly of that fish that Jonah turns back to God and cries out for the mercy he had always needed (Jonah 2).

The great Puritan theologian John Owen testified that God worked this way in his life. He wrote, “I had but very little, if any, experimental acquaintance with access to God through Christ; until the Lord was pleased to visit me with sore affliction, whereby I was brought to the mouth of the grave, and under which my soul was oppressed with horror and darkness.” Through this experience in the depths—and an encounter with Psalm 130—Owen received “instruction, peace, and comfort, in drawing near to God.”1

The Depths of Sin

The depths in which the psalmist finds himself are not merely those created by difficult circumstances. No, he finds himself in the depths of his own sin: “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?” (Ps. 130:3).

There are many circumstances in life that may bring us to the depths, but the deepest pit we will ever find ourselves in is the pit of our own transgressions. This pit is so deep and so dark that there is absolutely no chance we can get ourselves out of it. We cannot simply wait for the problem to pass; time will not heal this wound. The psalmist understands that his sins are utterly reprehensible and that there is no hiding them from the eternal, sovereign Lord.

God is holy, He is all knowing, and He weighs our actions. He knows the things we say in secret. He knows the covetous desires of our hearts. He knows our every impure thought. If He kept count of our sins and held them against us, we would have no hope of standing. We could enter no plea before the bar of God’s judgment apart from “guilty as charged.”

The Hope of Forgiveness

We cannot help our sinful state—but we can ask for help. Once the psalmist understood how hopeless he was on his own, he could attest that his only hope was in God, because “with [God] there is forgiveness” (Ps. 130:4). Though we are guilty in the depths of sin, God, being rich in mercy, offers the way out through forgiveness.

This divine forgiveness is magnificent because it is not a glib glossing over of sin. God does not merely shrug His shoulders in indifference and say, “It’s fine.” No, He has paid for our forgiveness with the blood of His Son (1 Cor. 6:20), and it is the greatest gift He could have given us (Eph. 2:7–8). If we are to grasp how much God cares about dealing with sin, we must stand and look at the cross of Jesus Christ. The God who is holy and just put His own Son to death in order to execute His judgment on sin and express the immensity of His love for sinners (Rom. 5:8).

If we are to grasp how much God cares about dealing with sin, we must stand and look at the cross of Jesus Christ.

This is who God is and who He has always been. He is, by His own testimony, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Ex. 34:6–7). He is holy and just, but still He offers incomparable mercy and forgiveness.

And to whom does He offer such incredible gifts? As the old hymn puts it, “All the fitness He requireth is to feel your need of Him.”2 Do you feel your need of Him? It is this sense of need that will draw you to Christ for salvation and for sanctification. And it is this sense of need that will lead you daily to the shelter of His mercy. You will find yourself at times in depths, drowning in life’s hardships and temptations. But praise be to God! For “with him is plentiful redemption” (Ps. 130:7).

Work with Your Whole Heart

 

TRUTH FOR LIFE PROGRAM ALISTAIR BEGG DEVOTIONAL C.H. SPURGEON DEVOTIONAL ONE-YEAR READING PLAN         MARCH 15 Work with Your Whole Heart . . . he did with all his heart, and prospered. 2 Chronicles 31:21

This is no unusual occurrence; it is the general rule of the moral universe that the prosperous are those who do their work with all their hearts, while others are almost certain to fail when they go about their business halfheartedly. God does not give harvests to lazy men except harvests of thistles, nor is He pleased to send wealth to those who will not dig in the field to find its hidden treasure. It is universally confessed that if a man would prosper, he must be diligent in business. It is the same in the matter of faith as it is in other things. If you would prosper in your work for Jesus, let it be heart work, and let it be done with all your heart. Put as much force, energy, heartiness, and earnestness into faith as ever you do into business, for it deserves far more. The Holy Spirit helps our weaknesses, but He does not encourage our laziness; He loves active believers. Who are the most useful men in the Christian church? The men who do what they undertake for God with all their hearts. Who are the most successful Sunday school teachers? The most talented? No. The most zealous; those whose hearts are on fire—they are the ones who see their Lord riding forth prosperously in the majesty of His salvation. Wholeheartedness shows itself in perseverance; there may be failure at first, but the earnest worker will say, “It is the Lord’s work, and it must be done; my Lord has called me to do it, and in His strength I will accomplish it.” Christian, are you serving your Master with all your heart? Remember the earnestness of Jesus! Think what heart-work was His! He could say, "Zeal for Your house has consumed me.” When He sweat great drops of blood, it was no light burden He had to carry upon those blessed shoulders; and when He poured out His heart, it was no weak effort He was making for the salvation of His people. Was Jesus in earnest, and we are lukewarm?