Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, “My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.” (Isaiah 46:10)
The word “sovereignty” (like the word “trinity”) does not occur in the Bible. We use it to refer to this truth: God is in ultimate control of the world from the largest international intrigue to the smallest bird-fall in the forest. Here is how the Bible puts it: “I am God and there is no other. . . . My counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all my purpose” (Isaiah 46:10). “God does according to his will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth and none can stay his hand or say to him, ‘What are you doing?’” (Daniel 4:35). “But he is unchangeable and who can turn him? What he desires, that he does. For he will complete what he appoints for me” (Job 23:13, 14). “Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases” (Psalm 115:3). One reason this doctrine is so precious to believers is that we know that God’s great desire is to show mercy and kindness to those who trust him (Ephesians 2:7; Psalm 37:3–7; Proverbs 29:25). God’s sovereignty means that this design for us cannot be frustrated. Nothing, absolutely nothing, befalls those who “love God and are called according to his purpose” but what is for our deepest and highest good (Psalm 84:11). Therefore, the mercy and the sovereignty of God are the twin pillars of our life. They are the hope of our future, the energy of our service, the center of our theology, the bond of our marriage, the best medicine in all our sickness, the remedy of all our discouragements. And when we come to die (whether sooner or later), these two truths will stand by our beds and with infinitely strong and infinitely tender hands lift us up to God.
00Philip Holderhttp://www.hoperoadnazarene.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/hrn-logo-520x140-1.pngPhilip Holder2016-03-19 08:28:102016-03-19 08:28:10TWO INFINITELY STRONG AND TENDER TRUTHS
I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. (Revelation 5:4)
Have you ever thought of your prayers as the aroma of heaven? Holy Week has drawn me again to read Revelation 4 and 5. Here is a glimpse of life in heaven. In Revelation 5, we see God almighty on the throne with a scroll in his hand. The scroll had seven seals. They all had to be pulled off before the scroll could be opened. At first, John wept that there was no one worthy to open the scroll and look into it (5:4). But then the elder in heaven says, “Weep not! The Lion of Judah has conquered so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals” (5:5). By dying on the cross, Jesus had earned the right to open the remainder of redemptive history and lead his people victoriously through it. In the next verse, the Lion is pictured as a Lamb, “standing as one slain”
(5:6). Isn’t this a beautiful image of Jesus’s victory on the cross? It is as sure as though a lion had devoured the foe — but the way he achieved the victory was by letting the foe slay him like a lamb! So now the Lamb is worthy to take the scroll of redemptive history from God’s hand and open it. This is such a kingly act that the twenty-four elders of heaven (God’s worship council, as it were) fall down before the Lamb in adoration. And do you know what the golden bowls of incense are? Verse 8 says they are “the prayers of the saints.” Does not this mean that our prayers are the aroma of heaven, sweet smelling before the throne of God and before the Lamb?
I am strengthened and encouraged to pray all the more often and all the more vigorously when I think that my prayers are being assembled and stored up in heaven and offered to Christ repeatedly in heavenly acts of worship. Let’s all bless and honor and adore Christ here below with our prayers, and then doubly rejoice that the worship council of heaven offers them again to Christ as sweet smelling incense before the Lamb who was slain.
00Philip Holderhttp://www.hoperoadnazarene.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/hrn-logo-520x140-1.pngPhilip Holder2016-03-17 00:50:072016-03-17 00:50:07LET US ADORE THE LAMB
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:6–7)
Why is anxiety about the future a form of pride? God’s answer would sound something like this: I — the Lord, your Maker — I am he who comforts you, who promises to take care of you; and those who threaten you are mere men who die. So your fear must mean that you do not trust me — and even though you are not sure that your own resources will take care of you, yet you opt for fragile self-reliance, rather than faith in my future grace. So all your trembling — weak as it is — reveals pride. The remedy? Turn from self-reliance to God-reliance, and put your faith in the all-sufficient power of future grace. We see anxiety as a form of pride in 1 Peter 5:6–7. Notice the grammatical connection between the verses. “Humble yourselves . . . under the mighty hand of God . . . [verse 7] casting all your anxieties on him.” Verse 7 is not a new sentence. It’s a subordinate clause. “Humble yourselves . . . [by] casting all your anxieties on him.” This means that casting your anxieties on God is a way of humbling yourself under God’s mighty hand. It’s like saying, “Eat politely . . . chewing with
your mouth shut.” “Drive carefully . . . keeping your eyes open.” One way to be humble is to cast all your anxieties on God. Which means that one hindrance to casting your anxieties on God is pride. Which means that undue worry is a form of pride. Now why is casting our anxieties on the Lord the opposite of pride? Because pride does not like to admit that it has any anxieties. And if pride has to admit it, it still does not like to admit that the remedy might be trusting someone else who is wiser and stronger. In other words, pride is a form of unbelief and does not like to trust in God’s future grace. Faith admits the need for help. Pride won’t. Faith banks on God to give help. Pride won’t. Faith casts anxieties on God. Pride won’t. Therefore the way to battle the unbelief of pride is to admit freely that you have anxieties, and to cherish the promise of future grace in the words, “He cares for you.”
00Philip Holderhttp://www.hoperoadnazarene.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/hrn-logo-520x140-1.pngPhilip Holder2016-03-16 06:51:052016-03-16 06:51:05GOD CARES FOR YOU
TWO INFINITELY STRONG AND TENDER TRUTHS
/in Steadfast HopeDeclaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, “My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.” (Isaiah 46:10)
The word “sovereignty” (like the word “trinity”) does not occur in the Bible. We use it to refer to this truth: God is in ultimate control of the world from the largest international intrigue to the smallest bird-fall in the forest. Here is how the Bible puts it: “I am God and there is no other. . . . My counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all my purpose” (Isaiah 46:10). “God does according to his will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth and none can stay his hand or say to him, ‘What are you doing?’” (Daniel 4:35). “But he is unchangeable and who can turn him? What he desires, that he does. For he will complete what he appoints for me” (Job 23:13, 14). “Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases” (Psalm 115:3). One reason this doctrine is so precious to believers is that we know that God’s great desire is to show mercy and kindness to those who trust him (Ephesians 2:7; Psalm 37:3–7; Proverbs 29:25). God’s sovereignty means that this design for us cannot be frustrated. Nothing, absolutely nothing, befalls those who “love God and are called according to his purpose” but what is for our deepest and highest good (Psalm 84:11). Therefore, the mercy and the sovereignty of God are the twin pillars of our life. They are the hope of our future, the energy of our service, the center of our theology, the bond of our marriage, the best medicine in all our sickness, the remedy of all our discouragements. And when we come to die (whether sooner or later), these two truths will stand by our beds and with infinitely strong and infinitely tender hands lift us up to God.
LET US ADORE THE LAMB
/in Steadfast HopeI began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. (Revelation 5:4)
Have you ever thought of your prayers as the aroma of heaven? Holy Week has drawn me again to read Revelation 4 and 5. Here is a glimpse of life in heaven. In Revelation 5, we see God almighty on the throne with a scroll in his hand. The scroll had seven seals. They all had to be pulled off before the scroll could be opened. At first, John wept that there was no one worthy to open the scroll and look into it (5:4). But then the elder in heaven says, “Weep not! The Lion of Judah has conquered so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals” (5:5). By dying on the cross, Jesus had earned the right to open the remainder of redemptive history and lead his people victoriously through it. In the next verse, the Lion is pictured as a Lamb, “standing as one slain”
(5:6). Isn’t this a beautiful image of Jesus’s victory on the cross? It is as sure as though a lion had devoured the foe — but the way he achieved the victory was by letting the foe slay him like a lamb! So now the Lamb is worthy to take the scroll of redemptive history from God’s hand and open it. This is such a kingly act that the twenty-four elders of heaven (God’s worship council, as it were) fall down before the Lamb in adoration. And do you know what the golden bowls of incense are? Verse 8 says they are “the prayers of the saints.” Does not this mean that our prayers are the aroma of heaven, sweet smelling before the throne of God and before the Lamb?
I am strengthened and encouraged to pray all the more often and all the more vigorously when I think that my prayers are being assembled and stored up in heaven and offered to Christ repeatedly in heavenly acts of worship. Let’s all bless and honor and adore Christ here below with our prayers, and then doubly rejoice that the worship council of heaven offers them again to Christ as sweet smelling incense before the Lamb who was slain.
GOD CARES FOR YOU
/in Steadfast Hope“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:6–7)
Why is anxiety about the future a form of pride? God’s answer would sound something like this: I — the Lord, your Maker — I am he who comforts you, who promises to take care of you; and those who threaten you are mere men who die. So your fear must mean that you do not trust me — and even though you are not sure that your own resources will take care of you, yet you opt for fragile self-reliance, rather than faith in my future grace. So all your trembling — weak as it is — reveals pride. The remedy? Turn from self-reliance to God-reliance, and put your faith in the all-sufficient power of future grace. We see anxiety as a form of pride in 1 Peter 5:6–7. Notice the grammatical connection between the verses. “Humble yourselves . . . under the mighty hand of God . . . [verse 7] casting all your anxieties on him.” Verse 7 is not a new sentence. It’s a subordinate clause. “Humble yourselves . . . [by] casting all your anxieties on him.” This means that casting your anxieties on God is a way of humbling yourself under God’s mighty hand. It’s like saying, “Eat politely . . . chewing with
your mouth shut.” “Drive carefully . . . keeping your eyes open.” One way to be humble is to cast all your anxieties on God. Which means that one hindrance to casting your anxieties on God is pride. Which means that undue worry is a form of pride. Now why is casting our anxieties on the Lord the opposite of pride? Because pride does not like to admit that it has any anxieties. And if pride has to admit it, it still does not like to admit that the remedy might be trusting someone else who is wiser and stronger. In other words, pride is a form of unbelief and does not like to trust in God’s future grace. Faith admits the need for help. Pride won’t. Faith banks on God to give help. Pride won’t. Faith casts anxieties on God. Pride won’t. Therefore the way to battle the unbelief of pride is to admit freely that you have anxieties, and to cherish the promise of future grace in the words, “He cares for you.”