"QUOTE" OF THE WEEK

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"Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing, were not the right man on our side, the man of God's own choosing.  Dost ask who that may be?  Christ Jesus, it is he; Lord Sabaoth, his name, from age to age the same, and he must win the battle."  –Martin Luther, A mighty fortress is our God.

EIGHT THINGS TO DO WITH EVIL

1.  Expect evil.  "Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you" (1 Pet. 4:12).

2.  Endure evil.  "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (1 Cor. 13:7; cf. Mark 13:13).

3.  Give thanks for the refining effect of evil that comes against you.  "Give thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 5:20; cf. 1 Thess. 5:18).  "We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance..." (Rom. 5:3-5).

4.  Hate evil.  "Let love be genuine.  Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good"  (Rom. 12:9).

5.  Pray for escape from evil.  "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" (Matt. 6:13).

6.  Expose evil.  "Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them" (Eph. 5:11)

7.  Overcome evil with good.  "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Rom. 12:21).

8. Resist evil.  "Resist the devil and he will flee from you" (Jas. 4:7).

FOUR THINGS NEVER TO DO WITH EVIL

1. Never despair that this evil world is out of God's control.  "[He] works all things according to the counsel of his will" (Eph. 1:11).

2.  Never give in to the sense that because of seemingly random evil, life is absurd and meaningless.  "How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!...For from him and through him and to him are all things.  To him be glory forever" (Rom. 11:33, 36).

3.  Never yield to the thought that God sins or is ever unjust or unrighteous in the way he governs the universe.  "The Lord  is righteous in all his ways" (Ps. 145:17).

4. Never doubt that God is totally for you in Christ.  If you trust him with your life, you are in Christ.  Never doubt that all the evil that befalls you--even if it takes your life--is God's loving, purifying, saving, fatherly discipline.  It is not an expression of his punishment in wrath.  That wrath fell on Jesus Christ our substitute (Gal. 3:13; Rom. 8:3).  Only mercy comes to us from God, not wrath, if we are his children through faith in Jesus.  "The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives" (Heb. 12:6).

When we renounce the designs of the devil and trust the power and wisdom and goodness of God displayed in the humble triumphs of Jesus Christ, we fulfill God's purpose in letting Satan live a little longer.  We glorify the infinitely superior worth of Jesus.  So I invite you to trust him and to stand in awe of how he saves you and defeats Satan in one great sacrifice of love.

Piper, John.  SPECTACULAR SINS:  AND THEIR GLOBAL PURPOSE IN THE GLORY OF CHRIST.  Wheaton:  Crossway Books.  2008.  pp. 50-51.  

"QUOTE" OF THE WEEK

"Never despair that this evil world is out of God's control.  '[He] works all things according to the counsel of his will'"  (Eph. 1:11).

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.  Micah 5:2

The hope for salvation for those in the Old Testament and the hope of salvation for those in the New Testament and the hope of Salvation for us today is Jesus.  It’s always been Jesus and will always be Jesus. 

The way people were saved in the Old Testament is by trusting in the future promises of God and believing in a Messiah to come.  Paul makes this point crystal clear in Romans 4.  He says that Abraham was considered righteous by God through faith alone and so are we.  He was trusting in the future promises of God and believing in a Messiah to come and today we are made right with God by believing in the promises that God has fulfilled and the work that He has accomplished through His Son and by trusting in the Messiah who has come.

For more from Micah, click HERE

"Quote" of the Week

"What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh?  For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.  For what does the Scripture say?  'Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.'"  Romans 4:1-3

SALVATION BELONGS TO THE LORD

One of the main truths we learn about God from the second chapter of Jonah is that Salvation from start to finish is from God.  It is solely a work of His.  At the end of chapter 1, Jonah was in a bad way.  He was on the verge of drowning in the midst of the sea and notice what he says in chapter 2:2.  He says, “I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and He answered me."  He says, “I remembered you and cried out to you and you heard me and reached down to me and rescued me—you saved me.”

This was solely a work of God.  Notice, God did not throw Jonah a life jacket for Him to swim to, nor did He provide him with a boat to row His way out.  Instead, he appointed a fish to swallow Jonah up, and he also commanded the fish to vomit him out on dry land.  Jonah played no part whatsoever in any of that.  His salvation was solely from the Lord.

And not only did God provide the means and do all the work in saving Jonah, but he also gave him the desire to be saved.  Look again at chapter 2:3.  Jonah says,

For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me.

Notice Jonah says, “God, you cast me into the deep." Jonah understands that though the sailors threw him overboard, God is ultimately responsible for him being where he is.  Notice he refers to the waves as “God’s waves.”  He says, “Your waves and your billows passed over me.”  Jonah understands that God is ultimately in control and has led him to this point, which is why he says in chapter 2:9, "Salvation belongs to the Lord."

"Quote" of the Week

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."  Ephesians 2:8-9