Author: Pastor David Page 16 of 22

Walking by Faith Like Abraham

“By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.” (Hebrews 11:8)

Abraham is called to a great act of faith in the Lord. He is commanded to leave and begin a journey to a foreign land but is not given the destination by the Lord beforehand. How did Abraham leave and journey with such uncertainty in his walk of discipleship? “By faith Abraham…obeyed, and he went out, not knowing whither he went.” Rarely in life will we fully see the final destination of the Lord’s will at the beginning of that journey. That’s just fine because our responsibility is simply to walk by faith, just like the example of Abraham.

Prayer: Conformity and Submission to God’s Will

I have spent my last few Sunday morning messages considering different prayers and aspects of prayer. One theme that has really stood out to me throughout those studies and messages is this: one of the chief purposes (if not the main purpose) of prayer is to more fully conform ourselves to submission to the will of God in our lives.

Exposition of John 6

These messages were delivered by Pastor David on the Gospel of Grace Radio Broadcast from August to November 2018. In John 6, after performing two notable miracles, Jesus begins to unapologetically preach the sovereignty of God in salvation. Jesus preached the doctrines of grace and many went away, being offended by their depravity and God’s sovereignty. However, the apostles saw these beautiful truths as the words of eternal life and rejoiced in this message. I trust we can rejoice in these truths of God’s sovereignty in salvation as the words of eternal life.

Mercy Instead of Justice

“For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.” (Romans 9:15-16)

In the midst of this chapter declaring God’s sovereignty in election and salvation, we find this profound exaltation of the mercy and compassion of God. Sometimes we get an idea in our minds that we deserve a lot more than we truly do. The truth is that we don’t deserve anything other than the wrath of God, and anything less or better than that is in God’s holy hand to disperse or withhold, according to his own will. When we consider what we truly deserve, that should make us ever more grateful for what we have been freely given by the Lord.

Jesus Stood Still

“And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he [blind Bartimaeus] cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called…” (Mark 10:48-49)

As Jesus passed through Jericho, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus cried after the Lord to have mercy on him and heal him. Jesus did not answer him at first and those in Jesus’ crowd told Bartimaeus to hold his peace, to be quiet, to which he responded by crying even more. Jesus took note of the tenacity and persistence of Bartimaeus’ petition. Jesus “stood still” and heard the cries of this beggar. Even when our prayers might not seem to be “getting through” to the Lord, we can always know that Jesus “stands still” to take note of the cries of his children.

One Thing From the Lord

“One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4)

King David desired one thing from the Lord, and it was to dwell in the house of the Lord all his life. He desired to view the beauty of the Lord in his house as long as he continued to live on this earth. This makes us wonder, what is the “one thing that we would desire of the Lord”? If we could have one petition to offer up the Lord, what would that one thing be? David placed such a priority on public worship that he desired to have the privilege of dwelling and serving and worshipping in the Lord’s house all the days of his life. I trust we place that same priority on public worship in the house of the Lord as well.

Hearing God’s Voice and Seeing His Shape

“And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.” (John 5:37)

Jesus was speaking to men here in John 5 that had no desire for the true things of God, even though they gave the outward pretense of religion and piety. He tells these men that they had “neither heard [the Father’s] voice at any time, nor seen [the Father’s] shape”. It’s certainly true that the natural man cannot hear God’s voice or see God’s shape, but for the born-again child of God, we can hear the gentle voice of the Lord guiding us in our lives and we can also see the imprints of God’s shape in the world all around us.

The King of the Jews

“And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.” (John 19:19)

Pilate here, like so many events surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, unwittingly declares a great spiritual and doctrinal truth, as he gives Jesus the title of “The King of the Jews”. Jesus was by and large rejected by his own natural kindred, the Jews, during his earthly ministry – “he came unto his own and his own received him not” (John 1:11). However, Jesus was and is the King of not the natural Jews (although some natural Jews are certainly included in the broader Israel of God) but rather Jesus is the only Potentate and King for those spiritual Jews who have received the inward circumcision of the heart and been adopted into God’s chosen family.

The Afterglow of God’s Glory

“And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.” (Exodus 34:29-30)

Moses was given the unique privilege of one of the most intimate experiences with Almighty God in scripture. God manifests his glory to Moses as he passed by with Moses in the clift of the rock. The effect of this experience was that Moses’ face shown, but he was not even aware of this “afterglow” of God’s glory reflected on his countenance. In like manner, when we experience the presence and the glory of God, it should make an effect on our countenance that is noticeable those around us.

The Oil Press of Gethsemane

“And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives…Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here while I go and pray yonder.” (Matt. 26:30,36)

Just hours before his crucifixion for the salvation of God’s people, Jesus went into the garden of Gethsemane to pray unto the Father. Just like so many of the places and events surrounding the death of Jesus Christ, Gethsemane carries profound significance as well. Gethsemane means “oil press”, referring to the olive press that produced olive oil for the Jews, and this garden was located on the mount of Olives. Jesus was pressed and crushed under the weight of our sin to produce the “pure olive oil” that is signifying of our anointed and cleansed standing before God based on Christ’s work. Gethsemane once again points us to the work of Christ in the redemption of his people.

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