A message like the one I have prepared for today, is one that is born from a realization of the presence of life's tragedies, and the feelings which they bring, and how we should respond. We all go thru these types of tragedies, we all have those times where it seems the world is crushing down on us. Whether it be unexpected sickness or tragedy, or an untimely death of a loved one.
Today's message is born out of the fires of death. I stand here speaking today, covering this pulpit for David, who is away because of the sickness of a loved one. And for me, in recent months, it seems that unexpected, premature death has come more frequently to those in my life's circle.
Well, to be clear, I guess when we say "premature death" we speak from our human perspective, for the timing of death is only unexpected to us, but not to our heavenly Father.
But that life circle also includes this church group, where we've seen death hit us directly with the loss of loved ones from this small group. Then there is the untimely passing of those far off but connected, like Rachel Wrue not too long ago. But more directly related to my message today, is one such death that hit close to home for me.
Back in the mid-1990s, we attended a small church on Long Island, NY. While the time frame of our time there only spanned about four years, the influence of that time on my life was high and lasted much longer.
The teachings of the pastor there went a long way in shaping the father, husband, and Christian man that I was slowly becoming at the time. He was a soft spoken, humble man of God, with a love for others that was evident to those who met him.
He was only four years older than I, so we hit it off well, and I was welcomed into the inner circle of the church leadership. I became highly involved in the working of the church as a whole, including print and audio side of the ministry.
I could tell you story after story of his involvement and love for my small family at the time. He loved reading deep Reformed theological works like I, we both loved music, and his extreme love for chess flowed over into him helping teach my oldest son Jonathan, only age seven at the time, to enjoy the game, even to play and occasionally win against those much older than he.
Within a short amount of time. I was acknowledged as one who might be apt to teach, and on various occasions, I was given the opportunity to fill the pulpit—something I had never done prior. We were greatly saddened to move away from the involvement there, but have stayed in some contact with many of the people these last twenty-five plus years through social media and the like.
Not too many years after we left, he ceased being the pastor there, and moved into other areas of life, and we occasionally chatted online about various things from time to time. In Sept of this past year, I received a message from him through Facebook Messenger, telling me this:
Hi Jeff,
I hope all is well with you and your family. In April, I was diagnosed with Parkinson's but in August I was shocked with a diagnosis of cancer. It is "Sarcomatoid Carcinoma." It is a rare and aggressive cancer with a not good prognosis.
My prayer request is that I would glorify God through it; being a light to my grandchildren and bear whatever it is that God has for me.
Thank you, Peter
Almost exactly five months later, on February 19th of this year, I received another Messenger update from him. It simply said:
Entering hospice
God bless you, Jeff
And then, around March 9th, I discovered he had passed away on March 5th. So, when it came time to prepare a message quickly in time for today, I felt it worth pulling out the one and only printed messages I still had on hand from this former pastor of mine. A message I have kept on hand all of these years, which, though typed out, does also have small hand written annotations and corrections throughout.
So, the foundation, well actually, the bulk of today's message, is directly lifted from this decades old message from my former pastoral mentor of sorts, with some edits made to update bits and pieces that are not of relevance to us today.
It is not a new message; it is not some deep, fringe teaching that reveals some new perspective on Scripture. It is a topic we are all surely aware of, but maybe we can look at it from a new perspective to gain a greater fullness, or maybe just a reminder, which is always needed. So, let's get into this.
The topic is surrounding the understanding of the providence of Yahweh. When we stop to ponder the providence of God, may we hopefully learn to respond to these things in a manner similar to Moses when he declared:
'O Lord GOD, you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours? (Deu 3:24 ESV)
While most Christians would at least pay lip-service to the idea of the doctrine of the providence of God, it is a doctrine that gets much more detailed attention by those of us within the Reformed faith. One of the founding confessional statements of the Reformation, the Westminster Confession of Faith, lays it out like this in chapter five:
God, the great Creator of all things, does uphold, direct, dispose and govern all creatures, actions and things, from the greatest even to the least by His most wise and holy Providence, according to his infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of His own will, to the praise and glory of His wisdom, power, justice, goodness and mercy.
Sadly, this doctrine, while many Christians may give it lip-service on a surface level, when you get into discussing it to this depth, it is rarely fully understood in the fashion presented in these types of historical church documents. It was the Puritan Tomas Watson who stated that the Scripture is the "spiritual paradise" and that the:
"book of Psalms are not only for delight, but usefulness; they are like the pomegranate tree which is not only for savor, but fruit; or like those trees of the sanctuary [in Ezek. 47:12] both for food and medicine."
He also said "Psalms are enriched with variety, and suited to every Christian's estate and condition. They are a spiritual panoply [armor] and store-house" where, if we find our heart to be dead, we can fetch fire; if we are weak in grace, we may fetch armor; if we are ready to faint, there are "cordials" lying by of which we might partake.
In the portion of scripture's "tree of life" known as Psalm 46, we have a song written for those descendants of Aaron, the sons of Korah, who were priests that had composed and sang songs of praise to Yahweh. We find this section opening with:
To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A Song. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. (Psa 46:1 ESV)
This particular song was to be sung in a higher range, possible falsetto voice, as defined when it says Alamoth, or as commentators Jamieson, Fausset & Brown put it, this term most "probably denotes the treble, or part sung by female voices."
Commentator Matthew Henry believes this song to have been written in commemoration of David's military victories around the year 970 BC, outlined for us in 2 Samuel 8. This is where David defeated the Philistines and took the land along the coastline of Israel and then expanded Israel's boundaries by defeating several other surrounding nations, encompassing more of the land promised to Israel by God than had ever been occupied—more so than even Joshua.
The Psalm is divided into three sections, each section ending with the rest phrase of Selah. The first sections celebrates the mercies and the bold triumph of faith in God while in the midst of extremely adverse circumstances. In the second portion, thanksgiving is sung for the great things God has done to deliver His people and destroy their enemies.
It is the third part that is our main focus at this time. Let's read it again:
Come, behold the works of the LORD, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah (Psa 46:8-11 ESV)
Here we find Yahweh's promises, much to our great comfort and peace, that He will promote His own glory in every providence and where, through faith, we can expect safety and protection in every providence, which is where we will concentrate our attention today.
We know it is important to keep Scripture in context, meaning, knowing the cultural context and the application to those who were the original listeners. However, even though these words were spoken to a people corporately about national events, I don't think it would be an abuse to apply the words here to us in modern life as believers.
After all, we, too, can "behold the works of the Lord" as he destroys the spiritual strongholds in our individual lives to bring peace to us. Likewise, we can exalt the Lord in our lives, and rely on him as our fortress in times of need. But it is verse ten that we will focus on:
Be still, and know that I am God. (Psa 46:10 ESV)
Sadly, but not surprisingly, this verse has seen it's fair share of abuse by Christians over the years. Some try to interpret its application as a sort of eastern meditation technique approach, where you get alone in your prayer closet, get quiet and relax, and try to get some kind of thoughtless state going.
At that point, they say you just wait for some kind of inner divine type voice to somehow manifest itself to you, as some sort of way to open a doorway to hear from Yahweh or receive revelation. This is not what Scripture is saying here.
When we let Scripture interpret Scripture, we find that the Hebrew word here for being still is found forty-five times in forty-three verses in the Hebrew scriptures. We'll not examine them all, but will look at enough of them to get a sense for what is being said here. The Hebrew word here is raphah:
Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you." (Deu 31:6 ESV)
It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed." (Deu 31:8 ESV)
No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. (Jos 1:5 ESV)
And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal, saying, "Do not relax your hand from your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the hill country are gathered against us." (Jos 10:6 ESV)
So Joshua said to the people of Israel, "How long will you put off going in to take possession of the land, which the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you? (Jos 18:3 ESV)
God has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?" Then their anger against him subsided when he said this. (Jdg 8:3 ESV)
The elders of Jabesh said to him, "Give us seven days' respite that we may send messengers through all the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will give ourselves up to you." (1Sa 11:3 ESV)
When Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, heard that Abner had died at Hebron, his courage failed, and all Israel was dismayed. (2Sa 4:1 ESV)
Seems interesting, doesn't it? The same Hebrew word is translated as leave, put off, relax, subside, respite, and in our verse, still. What we need to notice through them all, is that the common quality in all of these English word translations, the context is that they show a quality of a loss of, or a putting away of, our own strength and confidence in our own means and resources, so that the Lord's work may be seen.
The psalmist could have used a different Hebrew word if he really wanted to have the phrase mean that we should be "silent" before God in terms of being "quiet." Such is the meaning on Zech 2:13 where the prophet says:
Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling. (Zec 2:13 ESV)
Or, in Habakkuk 2:20 where we read:
But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him." (Hab 2:20 ESV)
In these verses, we are confronted by the holiness of God directly, and silence is the most appropriate response by sinners such as us. But that isn't the intent when the writers of the Hebrew scriptures when they used the word raphah as in Psalm 46:10.
As we've seen, the word indicates that we must humbly submit to Yahweh in His providence. We are to weaken our reliance on our own resources, to remove reliance on our own strength, on our own way, and to adopt the way of Christ as taught to us in His Word. To understand how this word is used more fully, we have to examine a few more concepts.
We need to have a better understanding of time, eternity, the providence of God and our own sinful nature in relation to all of the circumstances which the hand of God brings our way. We all have circumstances in our lives. None of us live without circumstances. It is so much a part of us, that one famous Spanish philosopher defined the self as:
I am I plus my circumstance. — José Ortega y Gasset
A circumstance is always present. The circumstance might be in the nature of the crisis we're going thru at the time, which is often God's usual method of causing us to stop and "remember him," or the circumstance may merely be what we call the events of "everyday living."
You know, the typical stuff, the interruptions at work, the demanding child or spouse, the mounting work you have to so, the unexpected bills that come that can't be easily paid, the close relatives that cause turmoil, things like that. You get a promotion, you come into money, or you have a baby. Whether we determine that such occurrences are good or bad, they are still the "events" that stand out during a day.
Aside from these types of events, how about the minutiae of the day? How about the moment-by-moment flow in which we live? Filled with the unplanned happenings bringing the color to our life, making up our circumstances. Situations happen. Phones ring. People come over. Schedules are broken. Plans go undone. Things get lost. Cars break down. Unexpected bills appear. Times passes.
The big question is: How do you and I react and behave during these constantly changing circumstance of our lives? How do we receive what God, in his providence, brings into our lives, moment by moment, day after day? How do we respond?
Think of all of these various and changing circumstances as a whirlwind, a giant storm where you are in the center; you are in the eye of the storm, the place where there is a certain stillness. Unfortunately, we rarely experience our life like that. We typically experience life as if we are part of the whirlwind itself.
Instead of living apart from the whirlwind experiences, we allow ourselves to get caught up them, reacting to them according to the behavioral patterns of our old man nature that continues trying to hang around our neck and drag us down.
We tend to live our lives either ruled by our dead past lens, or find ourselves dreaming of a non-existent future that is invariably colored by the same old man vision we're familiar with our whole life.
What we don't tend to do is to live with a focus on the present moment which is the only reality that can exist for us. In the present moment of the circumstances, right now, our entire past exists as a memory—both in our minds as "thoughts" and in our body as habitual behavior. When the Spirit opens our heart, as He did to Lydia. When the Spirit of Christ indwells us, we are given a great opportunity, as well as a command to:
…present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Rom 12:1-2 ESV)
It is only through such a systematic transformation of our mind, as well as a sacrificial use of our bodies—a process the Bible calls "sanctification"—that we will be enabled to respond biblically to our circumstances, and remain at the center of the whirlwind with Jesus.
Our thoughts, and our behavior, which if you think about it, behavior is just our thoughts put into action; these must gradually become more like Christ's in this process of sanctification. We begin to live our lives like Jesus. We begin to "forget what lies behind us" and we focus on the "author and finisher of our faith" here in the present moment.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith… (Heb 12:1-2a ESV)
By faith, we are to appropriate the precepts and promises of the Word of God in order to shape the behavior which is called for in each circumstance we find ourselves in.
When the next circumstance hits, I can either react to it through sinful, habitual, past, old man type behavior, or, having previously prepared myself through the means of grace, I can act in a godly way, being "still"—that is, weak, feeble and frail, putting away my own strength and behavior, and "knowing God" in the situation.
In one scenario, I proceed according to what "seems right" to me, falling back to something that has seemed to have gotten me what I wanted—peace and quiet, or the upper hand, or vengeance, or just the feeling of winning or being right. I argue, I manipulate, demand, flirt, or retreat into silence.
In the other scenario, the fruit of self-control, cultivated by the proper use of the means of Grace, shows forth, while my own sinful way—the way of the old man—is not allowed to dominate and control me. It is counted as dead, and the Holy Spirit controls my response and my communications is, instead, edifying.
It gives grace to the hearer and meets his need for spiritual nourishment. My tongue gives life rather than death. This all happens in the moment. It cannot be rehearsed or thought out. It can't be forced in my own strength.
It's like martial arts, the response to an attack has to be "natural" and instantaneous; the fruit of many hours of practice. A sort of spiritual life muscle memory that just happens by grace.
Without the baggage of sinful responses from the past, or the carnal visions of the future that we concoct to escape the needs and challenges of the moment, we are left to meet God in the only time frame that's left: the present. Unlike us, God is not bound by the stream of time which He created. He dwells in eternity and chooses to act in time to accomplish His purposes.
Our lives become more focused on what is happening in our present time, right NOW…the NOW in front of us throughout each day, and as we respond to the moment of our circumstances biblically, we get to "know" God better and better. It cannot be any other way. Biblical action IS present-time action. It is never action rooted in a sinful past or gazing into a carnal future.
The providence of God, the circumstances of our lives, is something we, as Christians, are uniquely privileged to see. Any person can see God's creation—whether they acknowledge it as such or not. Paul tells us in Romans that a man is able to ascribe the universe to God as His creation, but that he suppresses the knowledge in order to escape submission to his creator and, instead, worships idols.
But to see all things, all affairs in the universe as being governed by God; to see providence for what it truly is, is a blessing bestowed only to God's people. It is with this fuller appreciation of His providence, that we can be brought closer to Him in the present, as we encounter our circumstances in life. We live in an acknowledgment that it is the Lord who directs our steps, and not ourselves. Let's us say with Jeremiah:
I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps. (Jer 10:23 ESV)
We experience the various circumstances in this life. One day we're normal, the next, some circumstance has disrupted that normality. Only to God is given the might, choice and determination. As I was preparing this message, I "by chance" ran across this meme that crossed my path perfectly timed for this message. [slide]
The truth is, we are indeed just one circumstance from a potentially radical change in our lives. The question is of course, how are we going to react to the circumstance?
By His personal guidance of all affairs, He instructs us in patience, corrects our sinful affections, subjugates us to self-denial, arouses us from our natural sluggishness, brings down our pride, and as Calvin put it, "shatters the cunning of the pious."
Consider patience for instance: what is it really? Self-observation teaches me that patience is really the behavior associated with taking the point of view that—I am privileged to discover, each day, more of God's plan for me as that plan unfolds bit by bit for me.
Life for us is like a tapestry, where we at best, can only see a small portion of the back, while God see the entire work from the front side and in complete form. The darker threads are just as needful to the whole complete picture as the golden threads are. Impatience is me stating that the back of the tapestry is not to my liking, and not like I would do it.
Impatience is stating that God is making a mistake. Impatience is blindness to God's love for me. Impatience is rebellion to His will and puts our will above His. It is my attempt to reject God's plan to purge the sinful slime from my life and refine me like gold through fiery trials. It is the opposite of being still and knowing that He is God.
Or consider the act of "being holy." What exactly are "my" plans for being faithful to God? Attending church once or twice a week? Prayer service? Daily Bible reading? Morning devotions? Family devotions? Podcasts or conferences with speakers who deliver so much spiritual meat to my table that I haven't the time to properly digest it and become transformed by it, so it only serves to increase my condemnation?
Are these and other man-made actions just "my" plan to become more holy, "my" way of achieving sanctification? Or does the Lord not unfold before me each day those "works" He has already prepared that I should walk in? Does He not unfold His plan by which He intends to cleanse me?
Are these and other man-made actions just "my" plan to become more holy, "my" way of achieving sanctification? Or does the Lord not unfold before me each day those "works" He has already prepared that I should walk in? Does He not unfold His plan by which He intends to cleanse me?
Eighteenth century Theologian Thomas Boston had this to say about those seeking to walk with God:
Whoever would walk with God must be due observers of the Word and Providence of God, for by these in a special manner he manifests himself to his people. In the one we see what he says; in the other what he does.
These are the two books that every student of holiness ought to be much conversant in. They are both written with the one hand and they should be carefully read by those who would have not only the name of religion but the thing.
They should be studied together if we would profit by either, for being taken together they give light one to the other; and as it is our duty to read the Word, so also it is our duty to observe the work of God. (The Wise Observation of Providences Illustrated and Enforced, Thomas Boston)
Note he says that if we're going to walk with God, we must not only observe or obey His Word, but His providence as well. He said that God reveals Himself in both ways to His people so that we can see what He says—in His Word—and what He does—in His providence.
He said that observing the Word and His providence are the two books that every student of holiness ought to be much conversant in, for studied together they give light to one another. Being "still" so that we might "know God" requires submission to providence, having our steps and thoughts guided by his Word. Augustine said that:
Because we do not know all things which God, in the best possible order does concerning us, we act solely in good will according to the Law; but in other things, we are acted upon according to the Law because His providence is an unchangeable law. (Augustine)
In so acting "according to the Law" we will begin to walk in those good works which Paul told the Ephesian church were already prepared for us. We don't have to create them, but merely see them as the Lord brings them to us—whether they be interpreted by us as calamity, or as charity.
We just have to "walk in them"… we don't have to make them up. In following along with God's plan, then, we will, moment by moment, perform and prove—that is establish—the will of God as he promised in Romans 12:1-2 as read a moment ago.
It is this walk that is the very condition of holiness, activity and peace in our lives. It is, as French theologian Adolphe Menod said:
…the constant abandonment to the will of God alone, manifested inwardly by the testimony of the Spirit [and] outwardly by the declarations of the Word and signs of providence.
It is a concept echoed elsewhere in Scripture by the phrase "wait upon the Lord." For us, it is to be struck dumb and to cease striving on our own; emptying our vessels of our own strength so that the Lord can fill them with His strength, girding us up to walk with Him.
Let's look at a few examples from Scripture of this kind of walking in providence. Of course, we first go to one that I am sure most everyone thinks of, the story of Joseph. Hated by his brothers, sold into slavery in an attempt to get rid of him, and declared dead to the father who loved him, his circumstances were less than desirable.
Suffering in prison, and all of the struggles that he went thru while enslaved is enough to put anyone into the fierceness of the whirlwind of circumstances, but Joseph remained faithful and actually persevered in the face of adversity. And in the end, he attributed his whole journey to the right reasons and source, when he said to his brothers:
…God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. (Gen 45:7-8 ESV)
And how about the story in second Samuel of David and Shimei? In chapter fifteen, Absolom, David's son, begins a four-year campaign to supplant David on the throne. He is acclaimed King and David flees Jerusalem with only a few supporters. In the course of these events, we are told that David is cursed by Shimei, one of Saul's relatives. Such a curse is a crime in their time, as we are told in Exodus:
You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people. (Exo 22:28 ESV)
Shimei is embittered by the great loss his family has suffered and sees David as occupying what he considers his family's rightful possession. But David does not permit his men to punish Saul's distant relatives for cursing him. Instead, he interprets the cursing as that it may be God speaking to him through Shimei.
Although David was without guilt in the matter of which he was being accused, his conscience reminded him, through this providence, of the many other sins of which he indeed was guilty of and which did deserve diving chastisement.
Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, "Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head." But the king said, "What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the LORD has said to him, 'Curse David,' who then shall say, 'Why have you done so?'"
And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, "Behold, my own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite! Leave him alone, and let him curse, for the LORD has told him to. It may be that the LORD will look on the wrong done to me, and that the LORD will repay me with good for his cursing today."
So David and his men went on the road, while Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went and threw stones at him and flung dust. (2Sa 16:9-13 ESV)
So, even with the whirlwind of persecutions swirling about him, David kept his eyes focused on the providence of His God in all of it, seeking to find the divine purpose of these things in his life.
And of course, of all of the stories of those facing a whirlwind of great adversity in Scripture, we cannot help but mention Job. We are told:
Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and there came a messenger to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."
While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you."
While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."
While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you." (Job 1:13-19 ESV)
The whirlwind of circumstance strikes Job hard, over and over again, wave after wave of disastrous events, and yet, in the end, Job stays in the calmness of the eye of the storm, saying:
Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. (Job 1:20-22 ESV)
Likewise, when our focus is on God's hand, ie His providence; then our natural inclination towards anger or impatience or other sinful activity in response to adverse circumstances, will be subdued. In the same way, Godward focus during victory puts glory in its rightful place—on God—and we avoid the kind of "pumping fist" behavior so commonly seen among celebrated athletes today.
The question remains then: HOW do we begin to respond biblically to providence? How does the power of the "old man" become diminished and the "new man" begin to dominate in our life? I believe the key to that lies in Romans 12:1-2 as mentioned a couple times previously.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Rom 12:1-2 ESV)
We must present our bodies as a "living sacrifice"—a continual offering up of our bodies to be used as the Lord sees fit. But that is not going to happen unless you and I "renew" our minds, is it? Our transformation into the image of Christ, according to these two verses, depends on such renewal.
Note that this renewal is contrasted with "conformity to the world," and note that as we become transformed, our very lives "prove" or display God's will for us in the process of a lived life. His plan for our life is revealed to us and we walk in the works He has prepared for us.
While this is truly exciting stuff, it is also a struggle as Paul tells us in his cry of Romans 7:
For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Rom 7:22-24 ESV)
It's a struggle to live our lives biblically in the present and meet providence with a greeting. We will continually fail, repent and start again. It's frustrating and sometimes we want to give up, but that's only because we forget what Paul also said in the next few verses:
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. (Rom 7:25-8:2 ESV)
In our struggle with the flesh, God has given us resources to use, so that as we give ourselves to His resources, as we put on our spiritual armor, we might gain more and more victories over sin in our lives. He has given us His word to read, study and meditate upon, that we might know how to live a holy life which seeks chiefly to glorify God and enjoy Him in all our works and recreations.
He has given us the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper by which we enter into covenant with Him for blessings and to receive nourishment, strength and increase of faith. He has given us fellowship one with another that we might daily encourage one another in the faith we share, and help each other stay on the narrow road.
He has given us prayer, by which we might commune with Him and act as co-regents in managing the affairs of this world and by which we might release our anxieties and attain peace of mind and heart. Do we take advantage of these resources He has provided?
I know I fail miserably more than not. On most any given day, I can see when I fail, putting forth sinful responses to circumstances instead of the more proper biblical response. It is tough, and we all must struggle to apply what resources we have to the daily circumstances we face.
We must not fail to daily drink of the milk of the Word, give ourselves to meditation and prayer, and in fellowship, focus on how we might better meet the needs of the brothers and sisters of Christ around us.
The gift of our struggles should alter our perspective so that we are forced to focus on these issues. American anthropologist and writer Carlos Casteneda wrote that death was truly his "ally" as a pagan, and the presence of death on our shoulders reminds us of a fact that is common to us all: we are not promised any tomorrows.
Each of us is a vapor, as James puts it, which appears for a little time and then vanishes away. (4:13a):
Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." (Jas 4:13-15 ESV)
Or, as the Psalmists puts it:
Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah (Psa 39:5 ESV)
Remember how short my time is! For what vanity you have created all the children of man! What man can live and never see death? Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah (Psa 89:47-48 ESV)
Job goes on to say:
My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle and come to their end without hope. (Job 7:6 ESV)
"My days are swifter than a runner; they flee away; they see no good. (Job 9:25 ESV)
"Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble. He comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues not. (Job 14:1-2 ESV)
Peter was no less detailed about our life:
"All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls (1Pe 1:24 ESV)
We are here but for a brief moment in time. Scripture tells us to concentrate on today—the here and now—for the evils of the day are sufficient to deal with right NOW! We're told to "redeem the time" by showing forth God's glory and honor in everything we do.
Instead, in our struggle with the flesh, we procrastinate, disobey, bite and devour one another, returning to the vomit of our past to justify our present disobedience or dream of the future carved out of vain desires of the flesh. We are a miserable lot, but thanks be to God for the cross and the work of His Son.
He knows our weaknesses for He was likewise tempted in the way of man. He knows we need the occasional crisis to remind us of these truths. Some really stubborn ones, like me, need a crisis that is ongoing, almost permanent. A reminder of His power each and every day.
For those who do not know this Savior, they are to be most pitied. Not only are they a vapor, a mere spark, but they have no help or hope in this life or the one to come. How can death be their ally when they have the divine promise of eternal punishment to come?
Does your soul cry to be delivered from the endless and vain cycle of sin in your life? Are you tired of trying to fill your emptiness with the vanities of sex, TV, drink, gambling or other such pursuits? Or, maybe you're smarter and have found a way to ease your conscience by pious attending to religious duties but still find yourself lacking when it comes to love for the Lord Jesus demonstrated by a wiliness to keep His commands?
I pray that you take stock of your life NOW, this present moment, this moment when, by God's Providence, you have heard this message, and you have been warned to flee His wrath and come to the Savior that your soul might at last find refreshment.
Of course, these are not easy things to put into action. But, what the great mathematician and Christian Pascal said of composition, is even more true concerning such matters: the difficulty is to make a good beginning. Will you begin TODAY, NOW, to give yourself to God's means of grace?
Will you cease to put off prayer and study of His Word? Will you begin to join in fellowship when circumstances permit? Or will you continue to go your own way…the broader, easier way of destruction?
Like you, brethren, I need to begin anew, daily. Let's encourage one another whenever we see each other. Let's bring into conversation our mutual needs to grow in this area of holiness. Let's read God's hand and His Word and speak of it to each other as long as the day is called Today.
Amen.