It is strange how little use we make of the spiritual blessings which God gives us, but it is stranger still how little use we make of God himself. Though he is “our own God,” we apply ourselves but little to him, and ask but little of him. How seldom do we ask counsel at the hands of the Lord! How often do we go about our business, without seeking his guidance! In our troubles how constantly do we strive to bear our burdens ourselves, instead of casting them upon the Lord, that he may sustain us! This is not because we may not, for the Lord seems to say, “I am thine, soul, come and make use of me as thou wilt; thou mayst freely come to my store, and the oftener the more welcome.” It is our own fault if we make not free with the riches of our God. Then, since thou hast such a friend, and he invites thee, draw from him daily. Never want whilst thou hast a God to go to; never fear or faint whilst thou hast God to help thee; go to thy treasure and take whatever thou needest-there is all that thou canst want. Learn the divine skill of making God all things to thee. He can supply thee with all, or, better still, he can be to thee instead of all. Let me urge thee, then, to make use of thy God. Make use of him in prayer. Go to him often, because he is thy God. O, wilt thou fail to use so great a privilege? Fly to him, tell him all thy wants. Use him constantly by faith at all times. If some dark providence has beclouded thee, use thy God as a “sun;” if some strong enemy has beset thee, find in Jehovah a “shield,” for he is a sun and shield to his people. If thou hast lost thy way in the mazes of life, use him as a “guide,” for he will direct thee. Whatever thou art, and wherever thou art, remember God is just what thou wantest, and just where thou wantest, and that he can do all thou wantest.
There are many occasions in our experience when we may very rightly, and with benefit, renew our covenant with God. After recovery from sickness when, like Hezekiah, we have had a new term of years added to our life, we may fitly do it. After any deliverance from trouble, when our joys bud forth anew, let us again visit the foot of the cross, and renew our consecration. Especially, let us do this after any sin which has grieved the Holy Spirit, or brought dishonour upon the cause of God; let us then look to that blood which can make us whiter than snow, and again offer ourselves unto the Lord. We should not only let our troubles confirm our dedication to God, but our prosperity should do the same. If we ever meet with occasions which deserve to be called “crowning mercies” then, surely, if he hath crowned us, we ought also to crown our God; let us bring forth anew all the jewels of the divine regalia which have been stored in the jewel-closet of our heart, and let our God sit upon the throne of our love, arrayed in royal apparel. If we would learn to profit by our prosperity, we should not need so much adversity. If we would gather from a kiss all the good it might confer upon us, we should not so often smart under the rod. Have we lately received some blessing which we little expected? Has the Lord put our feet in a large room? Can we sing of mercies multiplied? Then this is the day to put our hand upon the horns of the altar, and say, “Bind me here, my God; bind me here with cords, even for ever.” Inasmuch as we need the fulfilment of new promises from God, let us offer renewed prayers that our old vows may not be dishonoured. Let us this morning make with him a sure covenant, because of the pains of Jesus which for the last month we have been considering with gratitude.
Romans 10:9,10 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
Write this verse down on a 3×5 card and carry it with you. Throughout the day, pull the card out and try to memorize it. Think about these questions as you meditate on the verse. What does this verse teach me? How does this verse apply to my Life?
We go to Christ for forgiveness, and then too often look to the law for power to fight our sins. Paul thus rebukes us, “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” Take your sins to Christ’s cross, for the old man can only be crucified there: we are crucified with him. The only weapon to fight sin with is the spear which pierced the side of Jesus. To give an illustration-you want to overcome an angry temper, how do you go to work? It is very possible you have never tried the right way of going to Jesus with it. How did I get salvation? I came to Jesus just as I was, and I trusted him to save me. I must kill my angry temper in the same way? It is the only way in which I can ever kill it. I must go to the cross with it, and say to Jesus, “Lord, I trust thee to deliver me from it.” This is the only way to give it a death-blow. Are you covetous? Do you feel the world entangle you? You may struggle against this evil so long as you please, but if it be your besetting sin, you will never be delivered from it in any way but by the blood of Jesus. Take it to Christ. Tell him, “Lord, I have trusted thee, and thy name is Jesus, for thou dost save thy people from their sins; Lord, this is one of my sins; save me from it!” Ordinances are nothing without Christ as a means of mortification. Your prayers, and your repentances, and your tears-the whole of them put together-are worth nothing apart from him. “None but Jesus can do helpless sinners good;” or helpless saints either. You must be conquerors through him who hath loved you, if conquerors at all. Our laurels must grow among his olives in Gethsemane.
1Corinthians 1:18 “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”
Write this verse down on a 3×5 card and carry it with you. Throughout the day, pull the card out and try to memorize it. Think about these questions as you meditate on the verse. What does this verse teach me? How does this verse apply to my Life?
Jesus is in the upper room with his disciples, eating the Passover meal. He knew that this was the end of his time on earth. He tells them that one of them will betray him and deliver him into the hands of his enemies. For the Apostles, this is a hard thing to understand. All but one have the greatest of respect for him as a friend and teacher. It is unimaginable for them to think there is one of them that does not feel this way about Jesus. This thought brought fear to their hearts and minds to imagen that they might be the one. What could make them do such a thing?
One of them looked the same as the rest and pretended to act the same as the rest. Judas knew Jesus was talking about him. What did Judas think at that moment? He was a skilled liar, and we are told that he was a thief. After the fact, they must have found out that funds went a lot farther when an honest person was managing the funds. He played along with the rest. Perhaps he thought someone had told Jesus that someone was betraying him, but he had not been told who it was.
If one can live in such great contact with the Savior, and can still turn the heart from Him. Is it possible that many in churches today look like children of God but are, in fact, children of the devil? Pretending to be what they are not claiming to know the truth that they have never experienced themselves. We can ask questions, but we never know for sure if someone else is saved or not. We must take their word for it. We are as clueless in this matter as the apostles were concerning Judas. The church must be a place of personal examination. It is easy to think someone else needs the message, but the reality is that every sermon is for the person that hears it. God always has something He wants you to get a hold of and implement or improve on in your life. We must examine our hearts and listen for the voice of God instructing us. The only salvation we can be sure of is our own.
Jesus identifies the traitor and sends him out to do what was in his heart. Judas leaves the house, and the rest think that he is going out to do business. Jesus is left with the eleven disciples who had believed. Those who remained were His own dearly loved disciples. Now, he can continue with the last instructions and encouragement that these men need for the next few days.
“Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him.” (John 13:31-32)
Jesus knew that there was not years, months, or days left before the purpose of his coming would be done. There were only hours left before he would be arrested, tried, and crucified. The final events had now been set in motion.
How would he be glorified? He will is glorified because his purpose will be fulfilled. He was speaking of the cross; this is how Jesus was to be glorified. When the sinless God-man died for sinful men.
Jesus glorified the father in the cross by his obedience to His will, by establishing the New Covenant with his blood, by finishing the work that God had sent Him to do, and by the satisfaction of God’s justice.
God glorified Jesusin the miracles at the crucifixion. These include the captors falling back at his arrest, the darkness at midday, the earthquake, the dead rising, the temple curtain tarring top to bottom. Jesus was glorified in the resurrection, ascension, and by taking His place at the right hand of the father.
“… who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrew 12:2)This speaks of all of the glorification to come for Jesus. The brutal beatings, the scourging, the thorns piercing, the burdened walk, the nails driven, and the agonizing hours. What we see as horror, Jesus met with joy. What we see as humiliation Jesus saw as glory. (John 19:16-37) With the cross came the forgiveness of sins, victory over death, new life in Christ, the defeat of Satan. The cross was the glorification of Christ.
Jesus, our Lord, once crucified, dead and buried, now sits upon the throne of glory. The highest place that heaven affords is his by undisputed right. It is sweet to remember that the exaltation of Christ in heaven is a representative exaltation. He is exalted at the Father’s right hand, and though as Jehovah he had eminent glories, in which finite creatures cannot share, yet as the Mediator, the honours which Jesus wears in heaven are the heritage of all the saints. It is delightful to reflect how close is Christ’s union with his people. We are actually one with him; we are members of his body; and his exaltation is our exaltation. He will give us to sit upon his throne, even as he has overcome, and is set down with his Father on his throne; he has a crown, and he gives us crowns too; he has a throne, but he is not content with having a throne to himself, on his right hand there must be his queen, arrayed in “gold of Ophir.” He cannot be glorified without his bride. Look up, believer, to Jesus now; let the eye of your faith behold him with many crowns upon his head; and remember that you will one day be like him, when you shall see him as he is; you shall not be so great as he is, you shall not be so divine, but still you shall, in a measure, share the same honours, and enjoy the same happiness and the same dignity which he possesses. Be content to live unknown for a little while, and to walk your weary way through the fields of poverty, or up the hills of affliction; for by-and-by you shall reign with Christ, for he has “made us kings and priests unto God, and we shall reign for ever and ever.” Oh!, wonderful thought for the children of God! We have Christ for our glorious representative in heaven’s courts now, and soon he will come and receive us to himself, to be with him there, to behold his glory, and to share his joy.
We are living in troubled times. Over the last one hundred years, there have been many tuff times in our nation. It is always hard to deal with, and it can feel like the worst thing ever experienced. The quarantine that we are dealing with now has never been seen before. And it is going to take its toll on our nation in many ways death and pain from the virus, isolation, depression, abuse, governmental changes, national economy, and personal finances. The effects will manifest themselves in many ways as people struggle to cope with the stress of it all. When we add all of these things together as a whole, it may be something that none of us has experienced before. This experience will change us personally and nationally.
How does God want us to deal with this situation? Has he given us specific instructions to live by at this time? While Christ was here on earth, he told his disciples what to expect after his ascension. The times they lived in were not going to be good. He said there would be many different types of troubles, including pestilence.
“And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”
This passage is talking about the Church Age. To make it simple, that is the time between Christ’s ascension and his return. He puts his disciples on alert to the dangers that are about to come their way. They will endure many troubles throughout their life, and they are going to want to escape them. Jesus wanted to prepare and encourage them that they will be able to make it through these times.
The occasion of this instruction came when Jesus said that the temple would be destroyed. The temple at that time was the most magnificent thing that anyone had ever seen, and it was the center of their worship of God. There were gold-covered stones and white marble that looked like snow from a distance. It had taken years to build, and no one ever thought it would be destroyed completely. Jesus said that not one stone would be left on another. So, the disciples wanted to know when this destruction would come; this is what he told them.
Jesus listed things that they should expect to see. False messiahs, wars, threats of war, rumors of wars going to start or going on, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, persecution will come. Betrayal by those from within the church, false prophets and preachers, and some will grow cold in love.
Jesus gave them the information they needed to get ready for the times between that moment and the destruction of the temple. We can look at history and see that everything fits that time period. The disciples asked what they thought was one question, but it was, in fact, two questions. They assumed the destruction of the temple, the end of the world, and Christ’s return was one event. In Jesus’ answer He mingled two events together. It applied to the time leading up to the destruction of the temple and leading up to His return.
He tells them, “All these are the beginning of sorrows.” (Matthew 24:8) This sorrow is like labor pains; this stuff is part of the process of God’s timing coming together. “but the end is not yet.” (Matthew 24:6) These are not signs that Jesus is coming back. He gives those signs farther down in this chapter. We understand that no one knows the time of Christ’s return except God the Father. When someone makes a prediction, we don’t take it seriously because making predictions is foolish and not what we are supposed to be doing. We must be ready for the rapture at any moment, that’s how we are to live our lives. Always prepared to meet Jesus face to face at any moment.
He is telling them that they will have to endure hardship. However, “be not troubled.” (Matthew 24:6) Don’t let yourself fall into panic and anxiety over the matter. Be calm and thoughtful in the situation. How can we do this? By trusting that God is in control. “for all these things must come to pass” (Matthew 24:6). When we see these things happening, we know that God is working out his plan in the world.
Continuing, he reveals that in this time of false messiahs and false prophets, many are going to grow cold in their love for God and love for each other. “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” (Matthew 24:12) Confusion and wickedness will cause them to become worldly, jaded, and skeptical. These are believers growing cold, not turning from the faith. Don’t let the confusion and wickedness affect you. Allow the love of Christ to burn within your soul, the desire for Christ, and those around you.
“But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” (Matthew 24:13) We see that during persecution, some will turn in their friends and family to escape punishment. They will deny the faith. However, some will turn from the faith during hard times. They choose to blame God instead of trusting that he has things in control. A true believer can not walk away from God. They struggle and even stumble, but they will not leave the faith. As believers, when hard times come, we need to get closer to God. We need to double down on our personal Bible study, prayer time.
He finishes with a vision of world evangelism. The gospel is spread throughout the whole world. To every nation, language, culture, and people group. “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” (Matthew 24:14) This goal is the most critical task for us during troubled times. To share the gospel with those who are seeking for truth, and comfort. Trouble times can soften the hearts of the hardest sinners toward the gospel. One of the most effective ways of doing this is by sharing your testimony.
The marrow of Job’s comfort lies in that little word “My”-“My Redeemer,” and in the fact that the Redeemer lives. Oh! to get hold of a living Christ. We must get a property in him before we can enjoy him. What is gold in the mine to me? Men are beggars in Peru, and beg their bread in California. It is gold in my purse which will satisfy my necessities, by purchasing the bread I need. So a Redeemer who does not redeem me, an avenger who will never stand up for my blood, of what avail were such? Rest not content until by faith you can say “Yes, I cast myself upon my living Lord; and he is mine.” It may be you hold him with a feeble hand; you half think it presumption to say, “He lives as my Redeemer;” yet, remember if you have but faith as a grain of mustard seed, that little faith entitles you to say it. But there is also another word here, expressive of Job’s strong confidence, “I know.” To say, “I hope so, I trust so” is comfortable; and there are thousands in the fold of Jesus who hardly ever get much further. But to reach the essence of consolation you must say, “I know.” Ifs, buts, and perhapses, are sure murderers of peace and comfort. Doubts are dreary things in times of sorrow. Like wasps they sting the soul! If I have any suspicion that Christ is not mine, then there is vinegar mingled with the gall of death; but if I know that Jesus lives for me, then darkness is not dark: even the night is light about me. Surely if Job, in those ages before the coming and advent of Christ, could say, “I know,” we should not speak less positively. God forbid that our positiveness should be presumption. Let us see that our evidences are right, lest we build upon an ungrounded hope; and then let us not be satisfied with the mere foundation, for it is from the upper rooms that we get the widest prospect. A living Redeemer, truly mine, is joy unspeakable.
