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Why Christians Must Walk Humbly before the Lord

By Mike Ratliff — 5 months ago

How do we fight against these attacks and have a focus that is Godly. The answer is that we must wear our armor, use our armor, and pray at all times. Victory over Satan and his hosts in the great spiritual warfare in which we are engaged demands unceasing and diligent commitment to prayer. Prayer is not merely another godly weapon; prayer is the very spiritual air that the soldier of Christ breathes. It is the all-pervasive strategy in which warfare is fought. Jesus urged His disciples to pray always and not to lose heart (Luke 18:1) in the struggle with Satan, it is either pray or faint. In the epistle of Ephesians, Paul begins by lifting us up to the heavenlies, and ends by pulling us down to our knees. Let us look at prayer and why it is the key to both spiritual maturity and stamina.

5 But if you do not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’” 6 Then Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly by telling the man whether you still had another brother?” Genesis 43:5-6 (LSB)
Unforgiveness is poison for the Soul as it ensnares those who refuse to forgive by binding them into the prison of bitterness. This world is not a peaceful, easy, benign place. It is fallen. The world system is the product of Man’s rebellion against God. There is war. There is crime. There is oppression. People wrong other people. They place their wants and desires and perceived needs ahead of the wants and desires of others. The world system is marked by people pursuing their own no matter who gets hurt. The Christian is called to respond to the hurts and wrongs done to them in a vastly different way from the ways of the world.
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.’ 39 But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your garment also. 41 And whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. Matthew 5:38-42 (LSB)
God is in the business of placing each of us in points of contention. These points are decision points which have eternal consequences. We will encounter these points and will have to decide to take the right or left fork in our walk. The right fork is to respond by walking by faith and trust and believing God by responding to the pressure in self-denial. The left fork is to respond by walking by sight and unbelief by responding to the pressure in self-focus.
Ungodly focus is self-focus. All in Christ are enemies of Satan and the world system. He is the enemy of God and attacks each believer and the Church as a whole in an attempt to destroy the faith of believers and rob God of His glory. Believers either walk by faith or walk by sight. Those walking by faith use their armor and prayer to stand firm and not fall away when attacked. However, a believer not doing this has succumbed to the attacks of the enemy to be self-satisfied in their self-sufficency and spiritual arrogance. This is ungodly focus and those who have it are not in the battle at all. They respond to the pressure God puts on them at His points of decision from that focus.
Let us look at a Biblical example of one who had an ungodly focus and how he responded as God put the pressure on.
1 Now the famine was heavy in the land. 2 And it happened when they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, “Go back, buy us a little food.” 3 Judah spoke to him, however, saying, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ 4 If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. 5 But if you do not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’” Genesis 43:1-5 (LSB)
Remember, Jacob’s sons had hated their brother Joseph so much that they kidnapped him to kill him. Instead of killing him, however, they sold him into slavery. They then pretended to find Joseph’s coat covered in blood to make Jacob believe that he had been killed by a wild beast. God had worked to preserve Joseph though. He had given him the ability to interpret dreams and with this he was able to become the Prime Minister of Egypt. In this role he collected grain to store up for a coming 7 year famine. When the famine came, Jacob sent Joseph’s 10 older brothers down to Egypt to buy grain.
When they came to Joseph to buy grain he recognized them, but they did not recognize him. He accused them of being spies. In order to prove they weren’t spies he locked Simeon up in prison as a hostage and told them that the only way they would ever see him again was to return with their youngest brother, Benjamin. They returned to Canaan. Jacob would not let Benjamin go back with them. He seemed more concerned about Benjamin being with him than he did about Simeon in prison or the rest of his family having food in order to live. He would not let Benjamin go with them even when they told him that the only way they could buy more grain was if Benjamin was with them.
Weeks passed and the grain they had bought was used up. The famine was still strong in the land and this family was again out of food. Jacob tells his sons to go back to Egypt to buy grain. However, the brothers tell him that the only way they can do this is if Benjamin goes with them. Jacob has delayed their return. His concern should have been for Simeon, but he delayed making a decision. Now they are out of food again. An ungodly focus delays prudent action. Jacob’s decision seems somewhat irrational to us because it is. However, this is the nature of unbelief.
6 Then Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly by telling the man whether you still had another brother?” 7 But they said, “The man questioned particularly about us and our kin, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ So we told him concerning these things. Could we possibly have known that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” 8 Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, we as well as you and our little ones. 9 I myself will be the guarantee for him; from my hand you may require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then I shall bear the sin before you all my days. 10 For if we had not delayed, surely by now we could have returned twice.” Genesis 43:6-10 (LSB)
Another aspect of an ungodly focus is that it denies personal responsibilities. Jacob is actually upset with his sons for telling the truth about the existence of Benjamin. Remember the name “Jacob” means “Deceiver.” Jacob’s name fit his nature. If he could come up with a way to get food without doing what is right, yet costly, then he will do so. In his irrational reasoning here we see him blaming his predicament on others. However, he is out of food and the only place he can get it is in Egypt and the only way he can get it is to send Benjamin with his sons and he is torn. Why? He is totally self-focused and self-absorbed. He is not concerned about his responsibility, only in not “losing.”
11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the best products of the land in your bags, and bring them down to the man as a present, a little balm and a little honey, aromatic gum and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds. 12 Now take double the money in your hand, and take back in your hand the money that was put back in the mouth of your sacks; perhaps it was a mistake. Genesis 43:11-12 (LSB)
Here we see that an ungodly focus depends on pragmatic solutions. The self-focused Christian does not respond to crisis in prayer and seeking God’s will in it.
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Yesterday and Today and Forevermore

By Joshua Budimlic — 5 months ago

We taste the bitter drink of doubt and fear when we begin to suppose that our God is fickle and changing, given to the whims of emotion as we are. We stumble upon the waves of this world not because our Lord ceases to be who He is, but because we, like Peter, cease to see Him as He is. O, what a mighty bulwark of the mind that our joy, hope, faith, and very salvation rest upon Him who does not change!

Theologian A.W. Pink once observed, “When we complain about the weather, we are, in reality, murmuring against God.” With that in mind, I shall tread lightly when I simply say that I’ve never been well suited to the summer humidity, and I loath winter driving – both of which compose the twin poles of Canadian climate. Thus, I love autumn.

This being the first few days of October, doubtless we have all sensed the changing of seasons this past week. Commuting several hours a day for class through the countryside has impressed upon me that times are indeed changing. The mornings are crisper, the wind is sharper, and the forests are aflame – there is a new tune in the air. The green of summer has ebbed to a close; the countryside is now bathed in hues of gold and amber. Only, this change is by no means restricted to the realm of nature. As Tolkien observed,

The world has changed. I see it in the water. I feel it in the Earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was is lost, for none now live who remember it.

The world itself is changed and ever changing. There is a great movement away from the truth, and from Him who is the fountain of all truth and beauty, the Lord Jesus Christ. However, this trajectory is nothing new. Ever since the Fall, all of humanity has been plunged into a deluge of darkness, a season of sin and sorrow that only seems to be worsening.
Perhaps worse still, men are blind and deaf to their plight. If men have never seen the Light, if the darkness is all they’ve ever known, the dark suddenly seems far less dark to them. For all the change in the world, this reality can be depended upon: “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil” (John 3:19).

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Pleading the Promises

By Stan Gale — 5 months ago

Nehemiah asks God to “remember.” It’s not that God has forgotten or could forget. Rather, Nehemiah is laying out the basis of his plea. He has boldness to ask of God not because he is worthy or deserving or has any reason in himself to request. His confidence rests in the unshakable promises of God and the unchanging God of promise. There is something more to prayer than the bottom line. In a sense, the prayer is in the process.

“[I]f My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways,then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14, NKJV)
Nehemiah still hasn’t gotten to his request of God. We will learn that he is not only grieved by the state of disrepair of the city he loves, but he wants to do something about it. His reflex is to turn to the God of heaven. He will ask God to grant him success in the eyes of the king for the mission of rebuilding he wants to undertake. But he has yet in his prayer to get to the point, although perhaps that is point.
Often in prayer, we cut to the chase, quick to ask that we may receive. We are not very adept at wrestling with God, laying our hearts bare before him, grappling with all the things that weigh upon us and the realities we face. We don’t spend time working through our troubles with God, reminding ourselves of His character and His assurances, magnifying His name.
Nehemiah has been open and honest about the sin of Israel. It is their own fault that Jerusalem is in ruins and the people in exile. God had warned them repeatedly, but they refused to listen. They had been unfaithful. They were covenant breakers. But God’s steadfast love would not be deterred. His purposes in redemption would not be frustrated.
In wrestling with God, Nehemiah lays these truths on the table, not to challenge God but to bring to bear His precious promises.
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8 Words of Warning

By Paul David Tripp — 5 months ago

These words have been recorded and preserved for us by our loving heavenly Father. They have been recorded for us as a defense against sin’s deceit. Just as with the tribes of Gad and Rueben, our sin is never secret or without consequences. It’s wonderful to know that our Lord meets us in our weakness and not only warns us but also empowers us to live inside of his boundaries.

Sin Lies to You
Scripture tells us that sin is deceitful. We are often deceived into believing two lies, as we step outside of God’s boundaries and do what he has forbidden. The first lie is that no one will know. That may be true of the people near us.
You can hide your sin so that those around you are unaware. But our sin is never hidden from the eyes of the Lord. His eyes are always on his children. You and I will never escape to a place where he is unable to see what we are doing. Hidden sin is a delusion. The second lie is that we can sin without consequences. I have sat with many adulterous men, with marriages in shambles, and thought to myself, “Where did you think this story was going? How long did you think you could have a relationship with a woman other than your wife and still have a healthy marriage?” I am amazed, in my own life and in counseling others, at our ability to convince ourselves that things are okay that are not and never will be okay.

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The Storm

By Andrew Kerr — 5 months ago

It is good to remind ourselves, in the middle of fierce storms – when it is frighteningly dark, and it feels like dead of night – that what is true of the world of meteorology is also true in the spiritual realm: monster storms are allowed to do their worst, but the God of Love, so orders His most-wise providence, concerning his child or Church, that destructive winds, that do his bidding, will cease sooner than we think.

This is a record storm!
The pressure is dropping, it’s picking up energy!
Wow! Look at the backwall of the eye – it’s so sharply defined!
A sudden upgrade from Tropical Storm to a Category 2 Hurricane.
This is incredible! From Category 1 to Category 5 in 6 hours!
Now it’s turning North, but it will probably bend South-East!
It is now predicted to make landfall as a Category 4 – but what we really need to watch, as the wind-shear spreads this system out, is the huge storm surge which, we expect, will inundate low-lying ground.
So, get out while you can, or, if not, hunker-down and try to ride it out at home (not in the basement: stay on the second floor!) – please stay safe: this freak-weather-event could take your life if you’re caught!
Then, suddenly it’s here – it actually feels far worse: howling winds, lashing rain, flood-defences overwhelmed, debris in the air, trees uprooted and roofing torn-off – power lines crash down as transformers flash with sparks and the night-sky is lit up.
Then in the eye – quite eerily, a lull: it’s time to catch your breath in a brief respite of calm –
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How to Identify a False Teacher, Part 4

By Robb Brunansky — 5 months ago

False teachers speak the world’s language. They promise bodily pleasure and satisfaction. They promise riches, beauty, and material gain. And they promise that by following their teaching you will win the approval of others and increase your status in this world. False teachers are absorbed in what is transitory and they speak to people whose hearts love the world and its lusts rather than God. They are in it for the money, for the status, for the pleasures they crave, and they promise their hearers that they will enjoy the same by following them and their message.

As history moves closer to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, we should expect a rise in false teachers, false prophets, and false messiahs. Jesus prophesied about the increase of such deceivers in Matthew 24:5, 11, 23, and 24. The Apostle Paul echoed our Lord’s warning in 2 Timothy 3:13, reminding Timothy that imposters will proceed from bad to worse in the last days. Why does the number of false teachers increase as we move closer to the second coming of Christ, and how can believers identify those the New Testament cautions us against following? As we conclude our series on identifying false teachers, I want to consider how one of the final books written in the New Testament helps us understand why false teachers come and how to identify them.
The Apostle John lived longer than any of the Twelve Apostles, with many scholars dating his death near the end of the first century. He composed the letter we call 1 John some time in the 80s. He was writing to a church that had just experienced a significant split, with some in the church departing over the doctrine of Christ. These factious people taught a defective view of the Son of God. While scholars debate the specific nature of their heresy, it seems evident that they did not believe that the Son of God had come in the flesh, which also led them to deny that the Son of God had shed His blood for the forgiveness of the sins of the world. Their false teaching was essentially a denial that Jesus was the Messiah (1 John 2:22). From John’s description of these false teachers and their departure from the church, it seems that some of them wielded significant influence over members of the congregation, so John wrote to equip these believers to mark and avoid such deceptive false brothers. In so doing, John also explained where these false teachers come from.
False teachers, according to 1 John, are a clear sign that we are living in the last hour because false teachers are aligned with the spirit of antichrist. In 1 John 4:3, John says, “And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.” John’s point is that false teachers arise because they are motivated by the same spirit that ultimately will motivate and empower the final antichrist at the end of the age. That spirit is the spirit that works in those who belong to this present world (1 John 4:6). In 1 John 5:19, the Apostle makes clear that the world is under the power of the evil one, the devil himself. The spirit of antichrist, therefore, is the evil one who exalts himself as god and opposes God and His truth. During the last hour, the activity of the spirit of antichrist will increase so that many arise who corrupt the truth about Christ and seek to keep the world in its deceptions and under Satan’s power.
False teachers come as a clear signal to Christians that we are living in the last hour and that Satan is making his final attempt to destroy Christ and His blood-bought people.
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Free Stuff Fridays (Redeemer University)

By Tim Challies — 5 months ago

This giveaway is sponsored by Redeemer University.
In honour of its roots in the Reformed Christian tradition, Redeemer is giving away 10 Reformed books prize packs!
In a world that is noisier than ever, oversaturated with competing messages, it can be difficult for young adults to try and make sense of their way forward. Redeemer University is a place where the next generation can listen for God’s calling, explore a variety of disciplines from a Christian perspective, grow in their faith and prepare for the future.
Located in Hamilton, Ontario, Redeemer is the largest Reformed Christian university in Canada with nearly 1100 students, six undergraduate degree options and 35 majors and streams. The unique and spiritually vibrant academic community is unified by a Reformed commitment to the authority of Scripture and a comprehensive biblical worldview.
Distinct from bible colleges and seminaries, Redeemer offers programs in the social sciences, the humanities, business, the natural sciences and mathematics. At Redeemer, faith is woven through all aspects of learning and life to create a transformative and affordable student experience that prepares students to reflect the love of Jesus Christ in every career and calling.
This Reformed book prize pack contains:

Your choice of 2 notable Reformed titles from this list at 21Five, Redeemer’s bookstore
Creation Regained by Al Wolters, founding Redeemer faculty emeritus
The Cross and Our Calling, a short publication on the academic identity of Redeemer University
1 faith-inspired notebook
3 faith-inspired stickers

To enter, fill out the form below which will automatically subscribe you to an e-newsletter that shares news, stories and announcements from Redeemer University (approx. 3-4 emails per year).
For a bonus entry, you can also agree to receive the 21Five newsletter featuring monthly promotions. 21Five is Redeemer’s Christian bookstore and is Canada’s source for Gospel-centered books and products.
Enter Here!

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Five Surprising Truths About Christlike Joy

By TFL — 5 months ago

Knowing that after His imminent arrest, His disciples would soon scatter in fear, the Son of God prayed for their spiritual preservation, unity, and joy. In his sermon “The Keeping Power of God,” Alistair points out how God’s care for His children supersedes our greatest self-concerns. Not everyone experiences God’s blessings, though! The inexpressible joy of salvation can only be known by the truly penitent who rest entirely on Christ’s atoning work. In this brief excerpt, Alistair considers the uniqueness of the joy that Jesus yearns for His disciples to experience.

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Five Surprising Truths About Christlike Joy

By TFL — 5 months ago

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We Groan for Home: Waiting and Hoping Like Children of God

By Jon Bloom — 5 months ago

I love Romans chapter 8. If you’re a Christian, I imagine you love it too. What Paul so beautifully describes rings with a hope we recognize, a hope that resonates deep within our souls and stirs longing for our far-off homeland, our heavenly one. In Romans 8, we catch glimpses of “the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18). I’m sure this is one reason John Piper says,

I think Romans is the greatest book in the Bible. I think Romans 8 is the greatest chapter in the greatest book in the Bible.

And I especially love the paragraph that spans verses 18–25. I’ve probably quoted from this paragraph in my writings more than from any other section of Romans 8. In these verses, Paul gives a peerless description of our paradoxical experience of hope-filled groaning in a creation still in “bondage to corruption” (Romans 8:21). We wait for “the freedom of the glory” God has promised us as his children, but we do not yet see it (verse 25). Which I’m sure is also one reason John Piper continues,

I won’t argue that [verses 18–25] is the greatest paragraph in the greatest chapter in the greatest book in the Bible, but it comes close.

Yes, it does. And I want to draw your attention to two marvelous parts of this paragraph that make it one of the greatest in the Bible.

Uplifting Pattern

First, notice the peculiar pattern of humiliation followed by exaltation Paul uses. We see it in the following verses:

“The sufferings of this present time” are followed by “the glory that is to be revealed to us” (verse 18).
“The creation . . . subjected to futility” is followed by its obtaining “the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (verses 20–21).
The groaning of the whole creation — and we ourselves — is followed by the completion of our “adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (verses 22–23).

For anyone familiar with Scripture, this peculiar pattern isn’t new. Humiliation followed by exaltation is laced all through the Bible.

We see it in Abraham, who “was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance” and ended up living “in the land of promise, as in a foreign land,” which God later gave to his descendants, just as he had promised (Hebrews 11:8–9).

We see it in Moses, who lived for forty years as a fugitive shepherd in Midian before God called him to deliver his captive people from Egypt.

We see it in David, who was subjected to Saul’s campaign of terror, pursued through the wilderness, before God gave him the kingship of Israel.

“We will not merely see the glory of God; we will be clothed with his glory.”

We especially see it in Jesus, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name” (Philippians 2:6–9).

Why Humiliation Before Exaltation?

But why? Why has God ordained that humiliation should precede exaltation, that suffering should precede glory, that futility should precede freedom, that groaning should precede redemption? Since God has innumerable purposes in everything he does, I’ll venture just one reason — a very significant reason for fallen humans: faith. For

without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)

The reason God subjected the human race and all of creation to futility is because of human pride. But he offers forgiveness, reconciliation, and eternal redemption to all who are willing to humble themselves under his mighty hand through repentance and faith (1 Peter 5:6). As Jesus said, “Whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12).

But mere words of repentance and faith are cheap. True repentance and faith are proven by the fruit they bear (Matthew 3:8; Galatians 5:6). And nothing reveals the humbled, loving, faithful hearts of the redeemed children of God like the bewildering, disorienting, painful experiences of humiliation, suffering, futility, and groaning. Those who have the “the firstfruits of the Spirit” walk through these valleys and groan along with creation, yet they eagerly wait for their full adoption, showing themselves to be God’s true sons and daughters (Romans 8:23). In other words, we are saved by God’s grace alone through faith alone (Ephesians 2:8), but Christlike humility is necessary evidence that our faith is saving faith. Thus, humiliation must precede exaltation.

Free to Be Glorious

This brings us to the second marvelous part of this paragraph: the great promise that this age of groaning will end. Like all our forebears in the faith, those who compose the ever-growing cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1), we greet these future promises “from afar,” and in doing so “make it clear that we are seeking a homeland,” desiring “a better country, that is, a heavenly one,” and therefore God will “not be ashamed to be called [our] God” (Hebrews 11:13–16).

In other words, like our forebears, we groan in hope. “Though our outer self is wasting away,” and “we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling,” we do not lose heart (2 Corinthians 4:16; 5:2). For God has made a promise to us, of which the Spirit bears witness: our bodies will be redeemed, and we will experience in full “the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:16, 21, 23).

Did you catch the wording of that last phrase? We are promised “the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” We will not merely see the glory of God; we will be clothed with his glory! Our new bodies will radiate his glory! We will experience something that, as C.S. Lewis put it, “can hardly be put into words — to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it” (The Weight of Glory, 42).

Just think of it: we will be free. Truly free. Not only will we be free from all the grievous effects of futility; we will be free from every vestige of pride, free from any temptation to be an idolatrous rival to God, free from all vainglorious impulses period. We will be free to be glorious! We will be free to bear and wear the glory of the children of God! And we will dance and sing and rejoice over how God answered Moses’s prayer beyond all that he could ask or think:

Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. (Psalm 90:15)

For the days of our glorious gladness will so outnumber the days of our affliction and the years we saw evil that they will be only distant and shadowy memories that enhance the gladness we experience. We will be free to be God’s glad, glorious children!

This is the hope we have in all our present groaning, and it will be the great reward of our faith.

For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. (Romans 8:24–25)

Yes, Lord, we believe and we will wait. But may this day come soon!