Category: Articles Page 5 of 13

“9) After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10) Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11) Give us this day our daily bread. 12) And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13) And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” (Matt. 6:9-13)

During Jesus Christ’s sermon on the mount in Matt. 6, he instructed the disciples in the proper manner that we should pray. We read a similar account in Luke 11:1-4 at a later time when the disciples request Jesus to teach them to pray. After hearing Jesus pray unto God, the disciples understandably felt very inadequate in their prayers unto God (Luke 11:1). Could you imagine hearing the second person of the Godhead praying to God the Father? The disciples clearly saw their futility in prayer compared to Jesus Christ and requested, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” (Luke 11:1b) The disciples, and certainly us today as well, need instruction and teaching from Jesus for how to better pray unto our Heavenly Father. Jesus is teaching all the disciples of Christ the proper manner of prayer for how we are to communicate with our Heavenly Father in prayer.

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“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Cor. 10:13)

It is a common Christian cliché today to say that “God will never put on you more than you can bear”. This verse in 1 Cor. 10:13 is typically used to support that statement. However, this verse does not teach that God will never put more on you than you can bear. Actually, a studious reading of this text will find that God typically will put on you more than you can bear by yourself. In the midst of those overwhelming situations, God has promised that he will give us a way of escape with grace sufficient to embolden us with God’s strength to be able to bear up under that trial. The same writer of 1 Cor. 10:13, the Apostle Paul felt that God had previously put on him more than he could bear; he had been “pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life” (2 Cor. 1:8). Paul felt pressured beyond his own strength, pressed beyond what he could bear in and of himself. Moses, Job, and Elijah all felt their trials were too much to bear and requested God to take their life. It often takes fierce, apparently overwhelming, trials in our lives for us to be reminded of our own insufficiency and how dependent we truly are upon God for everything. Truly, without Christ we can do nothing (John 15:5). However, praise God in spite of our weakness that we are empowered to still do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Phil. 4:13). When the storms of life are raging, we trust God’s faithfulness and providence to empower us with sustaining strength and grace sufficient during our great times of need.

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How much knowledge of the events on earth – either in the past, present, or future – will God’s children have when they go to heaven? This is a very common question, especially when a loved one passes away. Unfortunately, some people approach this question with more sentimentality than scripture. Your loved ones are not looking down on you from heaven, disappointed when you make poor decisions or cheering you on when good things happen. Their focus in heaven is not sitting as a spectator in the bleachers watching our lives play out on the earth. No, heaven is consumed with the worship and glory of God. While those in heaven are not focused on the events of earth, scripture does indicate that they do have special knowledge of the events of this world, even knowledge of future events on the earth. We will still have memories of our lives from here in this world, and then we will be able to view those events through the perfect perspective and will of God. Scripture does show that we will know our loved ones in heaven, although our relationships will be different there as the entire elect family of God. While we cannot fully comprehend exactly what heaven will be like, we need to make sure to view heaven through the lens of scripture. We hope to consider some verses together that hopefully can provide a more precise view of exactly how much knowledge of earthly events we will have in heaven.

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“11) And the children of Israel heard say, Behold, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh have built an altar over against the land of Canaan, in the borders of Jordan, at the passage of the children of Israel. 12) And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up to war against them.” (Josh. 22:11-12)

In this lesson among the eastern and western tribes of Israel, we see the danger of rumors and imposing false assumptions on those rumors. The people of God get to the brink of war just because they imposed their own assumptions on others’ actions and did not follow the biblical command to verify this information by asking the people directly. Once they actually got around to asking the eastern tribes and getting an explanation, they understood it was a reasonable decision, and the conflict was resolved. All of this conflict was created because they did not ask the people directly and attempt to reconcile the issue before escalation. Unfortunately, even today the world and God’s people are not any different. We assume we know “why” others do something, impose our own false assumptions upon what we heard, and then create conflict based on totally wrong information. What is the remedy for this danger of rumors and false assumptions? Simply follow the scriptural pattern to ask the offending parties directly for an explanation before we assume anything regarding their actions. Our speech needs to minister grace and edification to our hearers, and gossip and unverified rumors need to cease when they reach our ears.  

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“Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.“ (Col. 4:12)

We see here an amazing example of Epaphras, a minister (maybe the pastor) at the church at Colossae, of the tenacity and laboring of his prayers for others. Sometimes we feel like our prayers are not effectual, but actually, the scriptures clearly affirm that the “effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man (and woman) availeth much” (James 5:16). Some of the most significant impact we can have on the kingdom is by laboring in prayer for our fellow kindred in the church. Some older people who are physically limited, in nursing homes or even bedridden, might feel that they might not have anything left to do in the kingdom. Well, there are no physical limitations that prevent anyone from laboring fervently in prayer for the saints. I believe some of the most diligent, devoted, and tenacious “prayer warriors” have been old sisters who can’t even attend church anymore, but they are still laboring in the kingdom in fervent prayers for the church. Notice Epaphras was not laboring for himself but laboring “for you”, for the saints in the Colossian church, in prayer. Our prayers need to be more “selfless” and “others-centered” than selfish and self-centered. Part of the community of the church is other saints bearing one another’s burdens, and we need to pray more diligently “for others” and help bring their burdens to the Lord for healing and relief.

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“And Jesus said unto [Zacchaeus], This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.” (Luke 19:9)

Zacchaeus was arguably public enemy number one in Judea since he was the chief of the publican tax collectors. He was despised as a traitor and probably universally hated in the community. However, we see the genuine repentance displayed by Zacchaeus, not just committing to act honestly going forward but to make full restitution for past offenses and even restore fourfold to everyone he had previously defrauded. As a result of his sincere and radical repentance, Jesus tells him that “salvation is come to his house today”. Salvation and deliverance come to our homes when we humbly repent of our sins and commit to honest service to Jesus Christ in our lives. There is a deliverance when the leaders of our households (especially the fathers) commit to serving Jesus Christ, not just in their lives in general, but commit to making Jesus Christ the Lord of their house as well. We can experience “salvation coming to our house” when we serve Jesus Christ in sincerity and devotion in our homes with our family.

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“And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord.” (2 Kings 19:14)

When facing the blasphemous threat of the king of Assyria, Hezekiah shows us the proper pattern of prayer to spread our troubles before the Lord in prayer. We need to go into the house of the Lord, the church, and spread our cares and concerns to the Lord in prayer. There is no need for us to have pretense before God in prayer, to try to present ourselves better to God or act like we have it all together. We need to be fully open and honest to our God because he knows the thoughts and intents of our hearts anyway. Spread all our cares and concerns before our loving Heavenly Father, and God will answer our prayer and defend his people, as he did with Judah by destroying both the Assyrian army and king Sennacherib as well.

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“O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.” (2 Chron. 20:12)

When facing perilous circumstances and a strong approaching enemy, Jehoshaphat sets a great example for seeking God and how we ought to respond to challenging times in our lives. He acknowledged in a natural, military sense, Judah had no might to defend themselves against this great company of armies. They don’t know what to do, but their eyes are fixed upon Jehovah God for deliverance. There are many times in our lives when we feel helpless and don’t know what we ought to do. During those times of desperation, we need to seek God in prayer, confessing our lack of clarity and not knowing what to do, but affirming our eyes are fixed upon God for deliverance and mercy. When we don’t know what to do, that is the time we need to turn our eyes to God in faith in prayer for deliverance.

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“And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men.” (1 Sam. 22:2)

Where do we go when we are in distress, discontented, and feeling the pressure of debt in this world? We need to flee to the Captain of our salvation, Jesus Christ. In David’s day, there were men who were distressed, discontented, and in debt that sought out the man after God’s own heart, and he became a captain over this little band of 400 men. This world should vex our righteous soul. While we need to learn to be content in whatever state we are in (Phil. 4:11), our soul will never be fully content in this world. This world is full of distress, and we feel the pressure of both financial debt and the debt of our sin. When we feel that pressure, where do we go? Let us flee from the comforts of the city and dwell (even if it’s among the caves) with our Captain who will give us hope in the midst of our distress and discontentment.

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“And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels.” (2 Thess. 1:7)

There were some devout disciples of the Thessalonian church who were enduring “trouble” from the enemies of the gospel. It is very easy in midst of such tribulation and trouble to be anxious, fearful, and to lose any inner peace. The Holy Spirit gives these troubled Christians a hope of “rest”. When will this “rest” come? Our final rest from the trouble of this world will occur at the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to destroy this world and to bring his children into “eternal rest” with God in heaven. We can “rest” together (“rest with us”) here in our lives expectantly looking for Christ’s second coming to usher in our eternal rest with God.

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