Month: May 2020

How can a young person know God’s will? The Bible has the answer! It is found in Romans 12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

The first step in any acceptable service for God is to yield yourself to the Lord. This means to be governed by His Word, to be obedient, and not to be controlled by the world or its ways. The evidence that you have really submitted yourself to God will be seen in what you do with your body. Your body will be absent from worldly places and functions, and it will be found serving God. Your hands will be dedicated to God’s service, and your time will be at His disposal.

Have you actually decided to please God and not yourself? It is astonishing how Christians deceive themselves into thinking they are serving God when it is evident, to others, that they are actually serving their own comfort, convenience, and choices. This Scripture means that we are to ignore self and the world and tum our bodies and  minds over to God, saying, “Lord, here I am. What wilt Thou have me to do?” This is, in fact, our only reasonable and intelligent service. God’s plan for you is far better than any of your own because it has eternal realities in view.

The next step in true service tor God is a sound appraisal of your gifts. Romans 12:3, “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”

This means to have a correct idea of your abilities and your limitations. If you over estimate your gifts, you may undertake what you cannot do, and therefore fail and be discouraged. If you under estimate them, you may be idle when you should be active for the Lord.

There are various ways of determining your gift. You know what your natural abilities are, and these abilities are useful to God when consecrated to His service. Can you talk convincingly? Then you should be able to talk to people of their need of salvation. Can you teach? Then you should be able to teach a Sunday school class.

On every hand the need is evident. If you walk with God, these needs will become burdens on your heart. Souls are perishing for lack of Christ. Lives are being ruined by sin. Your vision of the need is God’s call to you for service.

“But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil” (2 Thessalonians 3:3).

We note that the devil is branded in Scripture as being an evil character. He is called’ the wicked one (1 John 2:13). He is subtle (Genesis 3:1; 2 Corinthians 11:3). He is deceitful (2 Corinthians 11:14; Ephesians 6:11). He is cruel (1 Peter 5:8).

We observe that the devil is the enemy of God and the truth, and, therefore, the great hinderer of every good word and work. He opposes God’s work (Zechariah 3:1; 1 Thessalonians 2:18). He perverts the Scriptures (Matthew 4:6). He hinders the Gospel by snatching away the Word and blinding the minds of the unbelieving (Matthew 13:19; 2 Corinthians 4:4). He ensnares men by pride, dishonesty, and error (1 Timothy 3:7; 1 Timothy 6:9; 2 Timothy 2:24-26).

God keeps His own from the evil one and from all evil. This is the assurance of the Holy Spirit through the apostle in the passage before us, ” … who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.” He keeps from the evil one by His Word as the Holy Spirit operates in and through it. He keeps from the evil one by directing providence to restrain the enemy, or to protect His own, or to overrule the evil intent and acts of the enemy to carry out His own will and purposes. He keeps from the evil one by His own blessed presence and by His mighty power. “The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul” (Psalm 121:7).

We observe further that the Lord’s keeping is assured on the ground of His faithfulness. The apostle has just been saying, ” … for all men have not faith” (2 Thessalonians 3 :2). The reference, of course, is to Christian faith. Some of these unbelievers are unreasonable and wicked; that is, they are perverse and evil minded. Such characters are the instruments of the wicked one and will hinder the truth and people of God all they possibly can. On the other hand, though many will not believe, the Lord is still to be believed. “But the Lord is faithful … “

The Possibilities of Faith

” … If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth” (Mark 9:23).

The Immediateness of Help

” … before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear” (Isaiah 65 :24).

The Unlimited Supply of Grace

“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4: 19).

The Power of Abiding in Jesus Christ

“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7).

The Perfect Peace of Prayer

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

The Abundant Ability of God

“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us” (Ephesians 3 :20).

“And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no” (Deuteronomy 8:2).

Israel was a stubborn, stiffnecked people who were constantly in rebellion against God. They longed for the fish, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic which they ” … did eat in Egypt freely … ” (Numbers 11 :5). Every time they faced a new difficulty, they forgot their former Egyptian slavery and remembered with avidity the smell of Egypt’s onions and garlic.

You might say, “What else can you expect? That was Israel,” but we, in the closing days of the church age, have nothing in ourselves whereof we can boast. When God permits some trial or some difficulty, what are we most apt to do – praise Him or doubt Him? Let each one answer for himself.

Could it be that we have not made a full surrender to God? True, some of the most devout Christians are sometimes led through deep water and fiery trials, but far too many are in difficulties because they have not surrendered completely to God’s will.

We remember a good friend who got into a difficult situation one time and burst out, “Why in the world do these things happen to me? Ever since I became a Christian, it has been this way.”

His remark left the impression that he had made a mistake that his troubles multiplied as soon as he gave his heart to the Lord. It was not so, of course, and he perhaps did not mean it that way, but had there been any unsaved people around, they would probably have decided that the devil was not such a bad taskmaster after all.

The children of Israel acted that way. They had come out of Egypt- but Egypt was still more or less in them. We talk easily of being ” … crucified with Christ … ” (Galatians 2:20), and that is true if we have believed on Him; for as believers, we are identified with him in His death on the cross. lt is also true that we have not always brought our stubbornness and willfulness to His cross for crucifixion. We are still creatures of choice. We choose to have our own way, and thereupon hangs a tale of difficulties in the lives of many Christians.

This matter of an all-out-surrender to the will of God is something of tremendous importance. Moody was an all-out, surrendered man, and we see what the Lord did through him.

YIELD TO HIM

It is not hard to discover our lack of surrender to the whole will of God, for our willfulness or stubbornness manifests itself in so many different ways. The difficulty is in bringing that lack of surrender, that willfulness, that stubbornness to God, saying, “Lord, I am willing to quit the whole business; Lord, I want to make an unreserved consecration; Lord, I surrender all!”

If we did this, we would not be so apt to look back on the children of Israel with contempt because of their wilderness wanderings. We would probably discover that we too are more or less wandering around in today’s wilderness because of lack of all-out surrender to the will of God.

I can look back over the years of wilderness wanderings that preceded my surrender to the Lord. Reverting to the text, ” … remember all the way which the LORD thy God led … to humble … to prove … to know … ” what was in my heart.

Was I a Christian? I wasn’t a heathen. I was like millions of other church Christians who are in the visible church, yet not in the body of Christ as surrendered believers.

Was I stubborn? I’ll say I was! Did the Lord humble me? He did! The Lord brought me to a place of humility where I was willing to chuck into a literal furnace some things that stood between me and full surrender.

Most of the children of Israel never made the all-out surrender to God. Because they did not, their carcasses were left in the wilderness. We repeat, they had come out of Egypt, but Egypt was still more or less in them. Have we, in these closing days of the church age, made the all-out surrender? If not, we should, lest our “carcasses” be left in this present wilderness when ” … the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God …” (1 Thessalonians 4:16). – – by Manford Evans

“(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4).

Discouragement, despair, defeat, and many other similar shattering experiences often occur, not because of what we remember, but because of what we forget. Straight away in this passage we are reminded that we are in a fight; we are battling against the current of the world, the flesh, and the devil. It is no easy course which God has chosen for us. The whole world lieth in the wicked one, and ” … the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Paul writes in Ephesians 6:12, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” If we are to avoid defeat and the disquieting experiences which accompany it, we must ever have in mind that we are at war every day (even on vacation!). ” … the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). There can be no letup. The struggle will go on until Jesus rends the heavens and comes down. Paul, writing to Timothy, says, “Fight the good fight of faith … ” (1 Timothy 6:12).

WEAPONS IN OUR HANDS

However, not only have we a warfare on our hands, but we have weapons in our hands. These weapons are not carnal, but they are mighty. How inspiring is the contrast given to us in these few words, ” … not carnal, but mighty … ” (2 Corinthians 10:4). Not only the natural man, but the carnal Christian also is utterly helpless in such a warfare. The hymn writer wrote these words, The arm of flesh will fail you; Ye dare not trust your own.

Here we are told distinctly that we have weapons which are ” … mighty through God … ” (2 Corinthians 10:4) or “mighty to God.” These weapons are given to us by God; they are used only in His power; and one of them at least, the weapon of prayer, is directed to God. We are not told in this passage what the weapons are, but we are left in no doubt as we read the Scriptures. Two of our most powerful weapons are the weapons of prayer and the Word of God. ” … take … the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6: 17) says the apostle, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit… ” (Ephesians 6: 18). Here are the weapons which are given to us in this tremendous fight; weapons which are not useless because they are carnal, but are mighty through God. When the tempter came to the Lord in the wilderness, and said to Him, ” … If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread,” He replied, ” … It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:3-4). What a clear testimony this is both to the authority and to the strength of the Scriptures! Fellow Christian, we have, or should have, a sword in our hand – it is the Word of God. We may have something in our heart prayer- that is potentially more effective than anything else. ” … The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16).

Why are these weapons so powerful, so that if used in the right way they must always conquer? The answer simply is that they are God-given and ordained. “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4: 12). God Himself prepared the Word and placed the sword in our hand. Prayer, too, is God-given, and is so tremendously powerful when used aright, that it can produce and accomplish more than we ask or even think. It is because prayer is offered in the authoritative Name of the Lord Jesus which is not only sweet and precious to God the Father, but is a Name which is above every name.

He has declared, ” … All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28: 18). Through the power of His blood, which He shed on Calvary’s cross, and the completeness of that victory, He has been exalted highly” … and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11 ).

THREE MIGHTY ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Now let us notice in the context of this passage what the weapons can do. These accomplishments come not only as a challenge to take heed that we are using the weapons aright, but as an inspiration to attempt more for God in the field of evangelism.

First, through God these weapons can pull down strongholds. There are satanic strongholds today which so subject millions of people to bondage that the light of the Gospel does not reach them. These strongholds must fall, even as the walls of Jericho fell.

Second, ” …imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God … ” (2 Corinthians 1 0:5) can be cast down. Think for a moment of the cults, the false religions, and all the man-built schemes of philosophy in which people put their trust today, and flounder in the quick sands of men’s reasoning. However clever man may be, God has given to us weapons which can cast down these imaginations, and bring light and salvation to any soul, for Christ tasted death for every man (Hebrews 2:9).

Third, these weapons are so powerful that they can bring ” … into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). How this is needed among Christians everywhere! Think what would take place if every thought in the minds of believers throughout the world were brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ! Young men would offer their lives for service, there would be no financial or material lack, and pastors would be placing new emphasis on the neglected mission fields.

” … the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty … ” Let us reach out now for the weapons of the Bible and prayer, holding forth the Word of life that we ” … may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain” (Philippians 2: 16).