October 22, 2009
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Letter 9 on assurance and fighting for joy in contending for the Gospel
I'm continuing to write on assurance and fighting for joy. I would recommend you read the previous letters in this series (you can find the links here).
My dear co-laborer in Christ Jesus for the Gospel,I know some of us have continued marching around the wall of Jericho in prayer to bring down false gospels in our midst. We have prayed, we have spoken and written of the sufficiency of Christ. Amen. Is His Gospel not beautiful because He is Beautiful? And we have prayed for God to continue to raise up co-laborers with us and is He not doing so? Amen. Have we not praised and thanked Him when we have seen Him moving in the hearts of men and women to burden them over the state of the Church? And have we have not seen some bricks falling from that wall? Amen. Yet now once again, I feel the evil one has come again to fortify, to build up that wall of Jericho. Let us never forget he continues to send wolves among us to deceive, to steal, kill and destroy. We have been warned of this in the Scripture. Evil teachers and deceivers will continue to come into our midst but we must continue in what we have heard and have been assured of. We must remain rooted and grounded in the Scripture, in the simplicity that is Christ, lest we waver and be blown away by every wind of false doctrine. Is the wind not blowing hard once more? Is not the storm raging? (Did it ever stop? Forgive me, Lord, when I let down my guard.)
We can talk about the Jericho wall crumbling, but we must also talk about building up the wall of truth. We pray that strongholds be torn down, but then we pray that truth would arise. When Nehemiah came to seek the welfare of Jerusalem, he was opposed. The work of building was opposed from within and without. One of the enemy's favorite weapons is discouragement, is it not? You know I sometimes (more than sometimes
) become distressed and discouraged when I have seen progress only to see someone come in and steal away a few of our bricks. I've written about my struggles with discouragement most recently here, here, here, here and here. False teachers and false gospels abound. I sometimes feel that the work we have done by His grace was all in vain. Of course, we know as we uphold His glorious Gospel and the name of our Lord, our labor in Him is never in vain.(Before I move on, I will share something I read in II Samuel a couple days ago. I was rereading that wonderful passage in II Samuel about God's grace to David and David's rejoicing in God and His salvation. But as I read, I looked back and noticed verses 10 and 11:
And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house.O, do you not long for the day when we will be planted and disturbed no more by wolves and false teachers in our midst? Are they not violent men in regard to the Gospel, enemies of the Gospel? O, that one Day will come, my friend, but until then let us be strong that in the grace that is in Jesus Christ and fight the good fight of faith and seek to uphold the glorious Gospel: the Gospel, the whole Gospel and nothing but the Gospel, so help us God!)
Let us take heart. Lord Sabaoth must win the battle, yet we have a race to run today, a charge to keep. As we read through the whole Bible, we see that God's Word was continually undermined, and as we look through Church history. Beginning right in the garden. And especially in the New Testament where we find warnings that false teachers and prophets will come and deceive. We are told to guard the Gospel and contend for the faith, so we really should not be surprised at these things, should we? If there were not opposition, why would God have commanded us to guard and contend for the Gospel, why would we need to be told to wage a good warfare? Yet, I confess sometimes I admit I have let down my guard and then find myself ambushed! And then I am tempted to despair. Sometimes it seems no matter how many oppose the Gospel, even when one may move on, or be granted repentance (praise God!), another comes to take his place...Yet let us look unto Jesus! He is still in on the throne, is He not? He is our only hope! His arm is not shortened that it cannot save! God is watching over His Church, is He not? The gates of hell will not prevail for His is the Kingdom, the power and the glory, now and forever...
You know how I so love Jesus and His Gospel, oh, is it not His Gospel so simple, is He not so wonderful (is that not why some stumble over Him and God's way of salvation by grace through faith – for it seems too simple?). You know it breaks my heart when the Gospel is undermined or twisted or contorted in any way. Should we not be distressed when we see idolatry in our midst as Paul was at Athens, should not our spirits be grieved? Do we not care? I know how it also distresses you that even many pastors in the Church are being blinded to the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ. They have gone and exchanged the Gospel for a lie. Legalism, licentiousness, a return to the bondage of the law, cold orthodoxy without the fiery power of the Spirit, the half-baked gospel of justification apart from sanctification, entertainment, moralism, Jesus as a good teacher but not Son of God, Jesus as our homeboy or boyfriend, the prosperity gospel and so forth (did I miss any?). Where is the glory of God in any of that teaching? O, does it not grieve you, is not your heart stirred when you find all these things! Where, O where, my friend, do we find Christ and Him crucified preached? Where Christ is made known through the foolishness of preaching? How can they believe if they do not hear? How can they hear if someone is not sent? What did the early church do in the book of Acts? Look there, my friend. No, I know you already know it. They preached Christ. They had no other message. There is no other message. There is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.
As I see these things, you know I am often tempted to become anxious and worried.
Whitefield spoke of importunity as our opportunity. Is that not what we see in the persistent widow did in Luke 18. Is this situation not an opportunity for us to pray to the Lord of the harvest, to the Chief Shepherd?
Along with prayer, however, I am now beginning to understand that one of our greatest weapons to combat the enemy is praise and rejoicing. We see that in the Old Testament in the story of Jehoshaphat. Israel went out to battle, but they went praising the Lord; they launched a praise assault. Must we not do the same? Is not the joy of the Lord our strength?
As I have been reflecting on joy over the past week, you know I ended up in Philippians 4. How could I not? And last night Paul's words began to convict me:
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.O, my friend, I was not feeling like rejoicing. I confess to you I was not rejoicing and it is still hard for me to rejoice today. Yet rejoicing is not a feeling, is it? Yet how can I rejoice when the Gospel is obscured? How can I rejoice when the Gospel is veiled? Yet God tells me to rejoice, He commands it. And yet, not merely rejoice – but to rejoice in Him. That's the key. Is not our being able to rejoice in the Lord always the fruit of the Gospel itself? What I mean by that is this: Does not the new life we have received from Him through the Spirit allow us to rejoice in all situations? Is it not His desire for us to have His joy and that His joy might remain in us and that we might have fullness of joy? Is that not what eternal life is? To know Him: to know that we are His and He is ours and we can be sure of His care and steadfast love to us, no matter what is happening around us. To know He is our Father and we never need worry, that we are safe in His arms – to be like the Psalmist in 131. To just sit there and bask in His love for us and our sonship and to rejoice in Him and sing before Him even while chained in prison. To know His peace in the storm. To know pleasures forevermore. Is such joy not the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Is that not why Jesus came for us? That we might know the Father and Jesus Christ whom He sent and have intimate communion and loving fellowship with Him. His blood has brought us near! Near! To have that blessed assurance! That love that will never let us go! Should we not know deep within our hearts (and not just with our minds) that He loves the Church and loves the Gospel even more than we do? Should we not have the confidence that our Anchor holds in the veil and absolutely nothing can separate us from His love for us in Christ Jesus? Do we not have the certain hope He is sovereign over all things, even over false teachers and their false gospels? No, we do not understand these things, but yet we can rejoice in Him always, can we not? Is He not still King of kings and Lord of lords? Does anything happen to His children that is outside the counsel of His will? No. We saw that at Calvary. God Himself ordained His only begotten Son, the Prince of glory, to be crucified.
Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. Acts 2:22-23.according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God!
No, I confess to you I do not understand what our Lord is doing now as He allows false teachers and false gospels in our midst! His thoughts and His ways are higher than ours. We are not His counselors! His judgments are unsearchable, His ways past finding out! He does all things well, does He not? Can we not say that these false teachers and false gospel are also according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God!
I am weeping even now as I write. What I see in the Church at large sickens me. I am burdened, yet I can have Christ's joy and peace in believing so I can abound in hope by the power of His Holy Spirit because I am sure, nothing doubting, that He is still seated on the throne even when it seems His throne is being usurped. I know Him. And because I know Him I know He will keep that which I have committed to Him against that Day and I know He will preserve not only me but His whole Church for His heavenly Kingdom. My co-laborer in Him, if we can remember no other thing, let us remember this: HE REIGNS! Forever and ever and ever. His Kingdom will have no end. His is the Kingdom, the power and the glory now and forever! Oh, no, we cannot rejoice that these things are happening in His Church. We cannot rejoice that these things are happening to His glorious Gospel. These things should move us and grieve us and burden us. But let us do this: Rejoice in Him...Rejoice in Him always! He reigns! He never changes! His love, mercy and grace for His Church is everlasting! Oh, how He loves us! O for grace to rejoice in Him now. I have been burdened. I am burdened.
Last night I had to fight for joy, to fight to see Him in the midst. I went to the words of the Psalmist (86): Rejoice (KJV) or gladden the soul of Your servant, and I was able to begin to rejoice in Him again. I must go again and ask Him now to do that once more. O, how can I possibly work up joy when I see the current state of the Church and as I see the current state of Xanga/Revelife? I cannot. O, how I need Him to rejoice my soul. Will He not do this for me? My heart is breaking again. You know the burden He has given me, the deep concern I have for the Church, my holy ambition to go where He is not truly named and the call to do the work of an evangelist. The Lord who has called me must help me rejoice now so I might fulfill my ministry with joy. To look ahead to the joy set before us! Isn't that what Paul was writing to Timothy in that first chapter of his second letter? Was not Timothy becoming fearful and shrinking back rather than standing firm? O, how we need to go back to how God called us to Himself and to remember His particular calling on our lives. My hands are hanging down and my knees are feeble. I am trusting He will strengthen me and would you also do so by your prayers and letters as you have so often? O, yes, we look for the day of His coming, for the Day of II Sam. 7:10, yet do we not look for the days of refreshing to come soon? Let us not fail to continue to pray for God to move among us and revive His Church. We have felt His Spirit coming and causing us to tremble, yet let us not be satisfied until the whole Church is shaken so we might be awakened and arise with light and fire and glory! By His grace may we remain steadfast, immovable and always abounding in His work and He will help us to rejoice in Him.
Thank you for bearing my burden here, my friend.
Now, let us turn once again to Philippians 4, to God's word, so we might look away from the enemies of the Gospel (from what we see), so we might consider Jesus (whom we have not seen and yet we believe in!):
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand...Rejoice in the Lord always. Again...Rejoice. Oooo...that salt in the wound I wrote about previously. But then look: Here's the hope we have, here's why we can rejoice: The Lord is at hand.
(I had actually intended to write on this passage in a more general sense, and I still hope to get to that. But today i share with you my burden for the Gospel today. I have to. I hope it will serve as a reminder you how we can rejoice in Him no matter what. So take this as an example, yet I do know you know no matter what storm comes your way, you can rejoice in Him in the same way.)
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand...He is at hand. Is he not? Do we not believe He is at hand today? No matter how dark things may get in the Church, no matter how hidden the Gospel might be, is He not always at hand and always in our midst? Has He promised never to leave us or forsake us? Has He left us orphans? Does His Spirit not abide with us forever? Does He not care about His Gospel? Does He not care about the renown of His Name? Does He not love those He has chosen? Will He not keep us all for the praise of His glorious grace?
O, yes, my friend, He IS at hand. So let us rejoice in Him. He is good and faithful and true! Even though some days in the battle, it is hard to see Him. Let us look to Him who is invisible so we might persevere and keep fighting the good fight of faith. Let us go back into the field and persevere in planting seed, even though we may not see fruit on the vine. Let us continue to battle, even though we may face defeat like Israel did in Judges 20. Let us continue to run with endurance the race marked out for us, even though the race is far from over. O, the laborers in the harvest are in need of patience and perseverance today, are we not? He will help us do so. One way we can abide in Him and be strong in His grace to fulfill our ministry is to use this weapon of rejoicing – His means of grace to us.
Let's continue on in Philippians 4...
6 Be anxious for nothing but by everything w/ thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.Be anxious for nothing. I looked up nothing in Strong's concordance. Nothing means nobody, no one, nothing. That about covers it, doesn't it? To be anxious for no thing, nada, zilch...
O, may we then not be anxious, but let our requests be made known to God...with thanksgiving. Thanking Him! How can we thank Him? How can we praise Him? Let's keep reading:
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.Paul tells us whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Is not God Himself all those things we read of there: true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, praise-worthy? (I think I first considered this after I heard George Grant speak of this at a conference.) As we think on God, as we consider Jesus, will not His peace be with us? Is He not the Prince of peace? And as we think of God will we not be following Paul's command here? No, I'm not talking about bogus positive thinking. I'm talking about girding up the loins of our mind with the truth of Scripture: the truth about God. Girding our waists with truth. As we consider Him, how can we not rejoice and be able to remain steadfast, immovable and always abounding in our work in Him? And can we not also trust His Spirit to write these truths even deeper on our hearts? It is only as we remain rooted and grounded in the truth, we will not sink in the raging storms all around us.
My friend, let us now consider Him together, let us think on Him, let us gaze on Him, let us fix our eyes on Him, so we might contend for the Gospel with abundant joy!
Here a just a few things which His Spirit has brought to mind (some I've already mentioned previously). Please remind me of even more! Let us never fail to encourage one another as the Scripture commands us to do!
He has already won the battle: death is swallowed up in victory!
His is the Kingdom, the power and the glory now and forever.
He is sovereign over all things.
He is ruling now on the throne.
His arm is not shortened that it cannot save.
His plan will not be thwarted.
His Word is not chained.
His Word will go forth and not return void.
He is working all things for His glory.
He is working all things so that Christ might be preeminent.
He is working all things for the furtherance of His Gospel.
He is working all things for the good of those who love Him and are the called according to His purpose.
He is building His Church and the gates of hell will not prevail.
He has told us to be vigilant and on guard against the wiles of the devil.
He is the Lord of the harvest.
He has told us tares will grow with the wheat.
He is sovereign over the tares which are growing up with the wheat.
He is the chief Shepherd.
He has told us that false shepherds will come into our midst.
He is sovereign over the false shepherds who are in our midst.
He has given His lambs eternal life and none of them will perish.
He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world.By His grace and for His glory may He keep us rejoicing in Him as we contend for the Gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe,
Karen
Related posts:
Posts about the gospel and revival and Xanga/Revelife:
- Forgive us for allowing natural brute beasts in our midst!
- Can anything good come out of Xanga?
- Naphtali News: musing on this ocean of Xanga/Revelife
- praying for Revelife (and your own blog)
Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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