The Call of the Lord

After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he left all, rose up, and followed Him. (Luke 5:27-28)

The passage today is short and the content is not difficult to grasp - however the weight of this action stirs us to the deep.

He left all - There was no accounting what he should take or leave, and as an accountant one would surmise it the most natural thing to do.  'Perhaps I should take this or that - maybe the Lord has need of it?'  No man, putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God (Luke 9:62). This is one of those haunting verses which has oft times caused me dismay.  Yet who among us doesn't occasionally look back?  Not so much to consider what we've left behind - as to recall our sinful ways and be reminded of His Grace... Yet in that looking, do we not sometimes trip up?  Remember Lots Wife! (Luke 17:32)

He left all - There is nothing that a man may leave behind which the Lord could not restore many times over.  Remember all that Job lost? Yet was it not all restored to him in two-fold measure?  This is not to speak like the prosperity preachers, but just to put to our remembrance that our Lord knows what we have given up.  And He knows whether it is an idol in our life or not.  Finally let us remember that as a Christian, what this world offers to us is nothing but scraps of waste, compared to what awaits us in heavenly glory!

He...rose up - A man, called by God must arise.  The calling of God is a rising up to the Work. A rising up to a standard higher than before.  And clearly, in order to respond to His call, we must arise and go.  One cannot go if he is seated (vs. 27) 

But what if I fall? Proverbs 24:16a says, "For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again" Arise!  Get up and make it right!  Do the work again you once did!  Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works (Rev. 2:5)  I underlined those words, as they point us to recall that place we were once at. 

He...followed Him - Having left all and arisen there is yet one more thing lacking.  When the Lord bids a man to "Follow Me" He must do it.  And this, one may consider is the greatest of challenges - for to leave all is the negative.  Yet to follow Him is to now count the cost and see it not simply as a change of actions, but a change of heart and motive.  Such a call, when heard, is so compelling, there is no accounting necessary, no waiting around for fleece.  It is tied in to the immediate, "Follow Me"

Lord - If I have been lazy or unresponsive in my responsibilities toward Your call, forgive me and cause me to again arise and follow - no matter the cost or the price to pay - for there is nothing this world offers which is of any standing before You.  Amen

The Victory that overcomes the World!

Oh my heart is grieving right now.  I grieve the loss of 2 individuals, one a believer, and one not, both personal friends.  I also grieve my lack of boldness in the proclamation of the gospel. 

The Scripture says that Death is the last enemy (1 Cor. 15:26).  Death has been swallowed up in victory.  But what of the death of the wicked? How is this a grace?  Is it not so final?!  How can one say death is swallowed up in victory, yet death still swallows up men & women, in apparent indiscriminate form - regardless of belief or lack of such?

Death is indeed gracious to the believer, in that his hope is beyond the grave, in the sight of his Savior, and the acquisition of his new body without sin.  And, as in the case of my believing friend, they suffered great physical pain, especially towards the end, so the suffering being over, is a great grace - though painful to those of us left.

We know that God is good.  Even to His most essential characteristics, He is good - just Google "God is good Bible verses" and more than 50 verses speak of his goodness will show up!  So how, in light of His goodness, is death of the wicked any good thing?  Ezekiel 33:11 states, "Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?"

God desires them to turn to Him and live.  But the fact that they do not, is no slight against the character of God.  Their death however, is a reminder to the living that we are sinners.  The wages of sin is death. (Rom. 6:23) It is a reminder to the living that there is a day when we must give account (Heb. 4:13).  And we need to take it to heart, for our days are not in our own hands.(Psa. 31:15)   We know not the day or hour of our death.  Their death is a sober reminder that while He is patient toward all, not wishing that any perish, (2 Peter 3:9) it is the case that we will die, and we'd best get our house in order beforehand, and keep short accounts with Him!  This is a gracious God!

In Ecclesiastes we read,

"Better to go to the house of mourning

Than to go to the house of feasting,
For that is the end of all men;
And the living will take it to heart.
Sorrow is better than laughter,
For by a sad countenance the heart is made better.
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth." (Ecc. 7:2-4)

The victory over death which Christ won is shown in the resurrection of Christ. Read 1 Corinthians, chapter 15.   To the Believer, this is the great hope, to see our risen Lord, and to be clothed from on high with our new incorruptible bodies.  No longer will we have to groan as Paul did in Rom 7, “Oh wretched man that I am!”

Lord - though it is a grief to us, help us to be sober minded and honor while we live today, for we may indeed have to stand before you tomorrow!  Amen.

Grieved....

Führer Richards - For a Childless America

Don't fall for Planned Parenthood's propaganda...Share the truth.

Posted by Apologia Radio on Tuesday, July 21, 2015

The Presence of God

Oh, how great is Your goodness,
Which You have laid up for those who fear You,
Which You have prepared for those who trust in You
In the presence of the sons of men! (Psalm 31:19)

What a blessing to know the living God whose goodness is not hidden.  Men, in the snare of the devil, may be unable to see it, yet if only they look - what glories they will see!  His goodness are for all to see, since all can see the change in the ways of a man once evil in his deeds and intents of his heart - now made light in the Lord.

You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence
From the plots of man;
You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion
From the strife of tongues. (Psalm 31:20)

David says, "in the secret place of Your presence" Such precious truths! In the presence of the Lord His children are continually safe.  And since no-one can escape the presence of the Omni-present One - The child of God ought never to fear.  Yet we do not feel a presence, or see a presence.  But it is no matter - In His shelter we are, if we are His!

Verses 21 - 24 are David’s response to the newly recognized blessings of God.  The blessings themselves are not new - but like David, seek them out and be reminded.  We are sinful fleshy men and we often forget the simple truth of His Omni-presence or His sovereignty in all things.  So we must often come to the Bible and cogitate His Word.  Meditate on it.  Think about it, in every avenue and place of life.

How does His omnipotence relate to my dealing with a flooding basement?

Or what does the very plan of salvation through the death of Christ on the cross tell me of His disposition toward me? Does it inform me on the basement?

Of course it does!  In everything, and everywhere He has already demonstrated such love toward us that no enemy, whether man or nature, can diminish!

Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints!

For the Lord preserves the faithful,
And fully repays the proud person. (Psalm 31:23)

Be of good courage,

And He shall strengthen your heart,
All you who hope in the Lord. (Psalm 31:24)

My final observation is that in a way, we are more blessed than even David!  Consider how our look is oriented backward to the finished work on the cross, through the apostle’s doctrine delivered through a completed canon.  We have 27 more books of revelation from which to draw blessings and confidences!  David's faith was in the promises of God, but those promises were less clearly revealed.  To be certain his hope was not less sure.  The promises of God are sure to all who trust Him, for they know Him, and He will not disappoint!

Deriving from that, how ought we to consider those matters that to our eyes are not yet fully revealed?  Let us with David in verse 23-4 above Praise the Lord for we have great and many promises, from a true and faithful sovereign who can AND will take care of His own! 

The Word of Authority

"Then He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching

them on the Sabbaths.  And they were astonished at His teaching, for His

word was with authority." (Luke 4:31-32)

 "For his word was with authority" is a challenging statement to us today.  Do I trust His Word as that which has authority over my life?  If not, why not? With rulings from human courts directly contradicting the authority of the Word, and even major church denominations rejecting the authority of it, from Genesis to Revelation, we are seeing a muting of the authority.  It is not wrong to look to men of old for their commentary and wisdom on a given verse - but if we do it to mute the Word itself then, what have we done?!  With wisdom we must handle the Word of Truth (2 Tim. 2:15).  Seek understanding, but do so in reverence - knowing from whom it came (2 Tim 3:14).  His word is powerful, sharp, and it will have his way with us (Heb. 4:12). If we honor Him, we shall be blessed by it.

John Gill makes mention of the Persic translation of this astonishment which puts verse 32a as, "He penetrated them with it"  Further he mentions the miracles & healing as not only a fulfilling of Isaiah 61, but also as a confirmation of his teaching itself.  John Knox points out that the astonishment of the people at Christ's Word here was not them alone, but that even the Demons (vs. 34) were astonished!  When the Word of God is given due course, all bow to its truths.

But the question is, what about the national abandonment of it?  How does the abandonment of the Bible as authoritative by the masses affect us who still lay hold of and claim the Bible as authoritative in our lives?  In one arena, we could claim that it ultimately does not matter, seeing that God is the Author and Sovereign and therefore we are bound to hold the truth.  And while this is true, it cannot be said that it matters not at all. 

It does matter - in that we will be challenged to bend to the masses.  We cannot do so insofar as the truth of His Word bears upon us.  So there is the rub.  We who hold the Word of God in highest regard will be challenged on our position regularly, and be pressured to compromise.  As public opinion goes increasingly against the Word, we will be subject not only to pressure, but eventually to outright persecution.

Brethren - Let us not lose hope, but remember that if the world persecuted our Lord, it will persecute us.  Recall that in the earlier verse in Luke's' gospel chapter 4 his own people, that is to say, the place where he had been brought up - Nazareth, tried to cast him over a cliff!  Consider what we read in John 's gospel, "Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you." (John 15:20)  Later in John 16:33, we read, "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." 

Paul writing to Timothy in 2 Tim. 3 describes such difficult times, and that is the very context where Timothy is exhorted to "continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."   Paul then goes on to speak of the very Word like this, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."

Let us resolve therefore to hold fast the living truth, the Word of God, which is able to make us wise unto salvation, for His glory - Amen!