Salvation is of the Lord [Jonah, Pt.5]

Salvation is of the Lord

In the end, when we have done all that we could (which is really probably less than we imagine) we must come to the same conclusion that Jonah did as he prayed from the belly of the fish, “Salvation is of the Lord!” That is, if we are to be delivered, it will not ultimately be by our own intelligence or strength. This applies to situations both temporal and spiritual. It is especially true of our salvation from sin. Jonah is a remarkable picture of that.

Aware of his own rebellion, informed by the Word of God, and sensing the impending doom of his choices, Jonah looks with the only hope that he can muster to the symbol of God’s covenant faithfulness, the Temple. As an Israelite this is a pretty big deal. Jeroboam I had separated them from Jerusalem and the Temple when he lead the northern kingdom away from Judah. He had established sites of worship using golden calves to maintain that separation. But in the Old Testament economy, the Temple, the dwelling place of God’s covenant Presence, was the only place to go. Being a “man of God,” Jonah knew that much and in his prayer that is exactly where his mind went.

Jonah 2:4 Then I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight; Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.’

When it comes to man’s salvation from sin this is a great picture of what it is like. Though we do not like to admit it, we are in much the same place as Jonah with regard to what we can do for ourselves in this situation.  Romans 3:10-12 tells us, “As it is written: ‘THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NO, NOT ONE;  11  THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS; THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS AFTER GOD.  12  THEY HAVE ALL TURNED ASIDE; THEY HAVE TOGETHER BECOME UNPROFITABLE; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, NO, NOT ONE.’ “ We also see that God asks through Jeremiah, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil” (Jeremiah 13:23).  We are helpless and hopeless unless and until the Lord intervenes in our situation.

Ephesians 2:1-3 And you who were dead in trespasses and sins,  2  in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,  3  among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

We are born in sin and bound to walk with the world under the power of the devil. The evidence of this is that we live to fulfill our personal desires. We are therefore, “by nature children of wrath,” as are all in the world who have not felt God’s converting grace…

Ephesians 2:4-9 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,  5  even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),  6  and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,  7  that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  8  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,  9  not of works, lest anyone should boast.

It is God who makes the dead alive. It is God who comes to us in our need and rescues us from our hopeless situation. It is the demonstration of His great mercy and love. After all, we are rebels, just like Jonah. We are rejecting God in everything that we do. We are running from His presence. We deserve His judgment. If He was to send us all to hell, it would only be right. That is what makes His grace so amazing! He saves men not because we are good, but because He is good. He does not aid us in our own ability, but overcomes our rebellion and makes us alive when we are dead in sin.

Men do not like to believe this because our pride is such that we want some credit for the deliverance of ourselves. This is just another proof of our selfish depravity. We need to be like Jonah in one other important way. We need to acknowledge our sin and our helplessness and look to the sign of God’s Covenant faithfulness and mercy. For us today that is the Cross of Jesus Christ. It was there that the Lord made the ultimate sacrifice for sin. The fulfillment of the promises that He had made beginning with the curse of the serpent in Genesis 3:15.

Galatians 3:7-9 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.  8  And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.”  9  So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.

As we understand our helplessness and look to the Lord’s gracious supply of mercy in the Cross of Jesus Christ, He makes us alive. He forgives us of our sin and fills our hearts with the desire to serve Him rather that self. By His grace, He imparts to us the very faith to believe the promises that He has made to redeem sinners. I encourage you today to look to Him and acknowledge your own inability. To seek His rescue instead of trying to save yourself. To trust in His ability and faithfulness instead of your own.

Audio of this sermon is available by clicking on the link below.

Salvation is of the Lord!

In Christ!

Kevin Hoffman

God is in Control [Jonah, Pt. 2]

God Is In Control

Does God Care? Is He able to overcome evil in the world? Does He limit His intervention because He does not want to infringe on human free will? These are questions that many ask about God and His interaction with the world. Evil, both moral and physical (i.e. calamity), are a regular part of our existence. Many believe that the existence of evil proves that either God is not there, or that He is either not loving enough or not powerful enough to deal with it. As we look at Jonah’s story we see that God is at work in the life of His prophet. He is there. He is interacting with evil, both moral and natural. He is acting contrary to Jonah’s will, which is to run from His command.

You know the story, God commands Jonah, His prophet, to go and preach to the Assyrians in Nineveh. Jonah can’t even stomach the thought because these are the enemies of his people and the greatest and most aggressive nation in the region. So God says “Go!” and Jonah says, “No!” Does that leave the Lord in a bind? Is He now helpless until Jonah decides of his own accord to change his behavior? Should God start working plan B?

Jonah 1:4-7 But the LORD sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up.  5  Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep.  6  So the captain came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”  7  And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.

Here we see that God takes some extreme measures to stick with the plan that He has. Jonah is dead set against it (quite literally as we see in Jonah 1:12). From the wind to the roll of the dice, God sovereignly brings about His intended purpose. He brings Jonah to account with the sailors and forces his hand. Still obstinate, Jonah tries to end it by sacrificing himself but God is one step ahead of him.

Jonah 1:17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Knowing what he would do, the Lord had already prepared the final circumstance that was needed to change the mind of His prophet. And maybe you are saying, “That is an extreme example. Certainly God would never go to that length to work in my life. I have never been that disobedient.” And I would tell you that we are all disobedient and self seeking on some level. The reason that most of us feel that we have never disobeyed to the degree that Jonah did is because we, like he did, manage to diffuse the command of God in our conscience because we interpret it through our own cultural and personal grids. God has command us to preach repentance to our enemies and we can refuse and seek our own comfort without bating an eye because that is what most people in our culture who call themselves do. And God brings chastening into our lives if we truly belong to Him (Hebrews 12:7-8).  1 Peter 4:12-13 “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you;  13  but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.”

Believe it or not we all need correction. James 1:2-4 “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,  3  knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  4  But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” It is what God uses to conform us to the image of His Son. It is also what He uses to call to account those who reject His will. All circumstances from the wind to the roll of the dice are under His control. If you are serving Him He will bring the appropriate circumstances, tailor made for you, into your life to help you grow. If you are in rebellion, He will bring those circumstances and they will either break your stubborn will or become a testimony against you when you stand before Him on the last day.

God does care. He cares so much that He is active in the smallest details of your life.

God can overcome evil. He does it everyday by using calamity for good purposes, to mature and develop our faith. He even uses moral evil. He is not the author of moral evil because evil is really rebellion against His will and purpose. God cannot do evil in that sense, it would be impossible. But even when men do evil, He still uses it in His sovereignty for producing good results (Acts 2:23-24, Romans 8:28, Genesis 50:20).

Finally, Human free will does not limit God in His actions. The Scriptures clearly set God’s sovereign action and man’s moral accountability side by side. We may not be able to reconcile that in our minds, but God is able to act in a sovereign capacity, exercising control over the smallest details and yet allowing man to act freely. (Acts 2:23-24, Acts 4:27-29). However, at times He overrides our freedom and acts to change our will as He did in the case of Jonah. Left to our free will we would all be like him, running from the command of God. We should be thankful that He works in us to change our will (Philippians 2:13).

When it is all said and done, God is here and is working, even in the pain and suffering of life. He is able to make what is horrible in this life work out for good in an eternal sense. Romans 8:18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” So let us bow to the sovereign Hand of God and look for His purpose in our suffering. Is it our own rebellion? It is our need to be conformed to the Image of His Son? Is He using us for the benefit of someone else who needs to see us trust Him even when life is most difficult? He has a reason and a purpose that He is working out.  The big question is, Do you trust him?

You can listen to this sermon by clicking on the link below. I would love to discuss it with you if you want to make a comment.

God is in Control

In Christ!

Kevin

Freedom and Truth

FREEEEEEEEDOM!   The cry of the human heart. We all love to watch Braveheart and feel the quest for personal freedom in our own breast when we hear William Wallace cry out. It is part and parcel of our nation and the sole basis of many a patriot’s call to action. What is freedom? How do we get it? Where does it come from? 

Freedom is really a relative term. We are all free in some sense and bound in another. Can there be such a thing as total freedom? Freedom carries with it obligation, the need to act a certain way in order to preserve that freedom, the need to preserve the freedom of others so that my freedom will not be infringed. But this is political freedom.

As we consider the idea of FREEDOM today, on the 4th of July, let us consider what true freedom is. Our country, as great as it is, is just a country. It may be a symbol of freedom to many in the world, but it is also a symbol of vice and corruption to many others. This is because we, even as Americans, do not understand what freedom is. Freedom is not being able to do whatever I want. That is a huge error. Freedom is being free to act as God has created me to act, according to TRUTH, which is His Word. In John 8, Jesus is talking to the Jews at the Feast of Tabernacles. This is much like our 4th of July; a celebration of their deliverance as they lived in tents in the wilderness following their emancipation from Egypt. The feast is coupled with the ingathering of their fall crops in order to tie their prosperity to God’s deliverance. Jesus is teaching at this feast and telling the Jews that He is the source of the water that gives life, that He is from heaven, that His words are the words of God and that ultimately He is God Himself. The Jews reject Him completely saying that He is a Samaritan (the ultimate derogatory remark for a Jew) and that He is demon possessed.

As they celebrate their independence (while under foreign domination by Rome) they scoff at Jesus and His words. They reject the true Deliverer while celebrating their deliverance!  Jesus tells them: John 8:31 “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  32  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  33  They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”  34  Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.  35  And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.  36  Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” 

The Jews of Jesus’ day, much like the rest of us have a wrong idea of what freedom is. We think in terms of political freedom or personal freedom. The Apostle Paul tells the Romans that this is not the way Christians are to live, Romans 6:19 “I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.  20  For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.  21  What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.  22  But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.  23  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Autonomy (i.e. self-rule) is not freedom, it is bondage to desire, culture and sin. Autonomy is what true freedom is free from! True freedom is freedom from sin’s power and penalty. This is only had through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Once we are free from the performance trap of other religions and the pull of sin that comes from our fallen nature we are FREE to serve God with our whole heart, with body, soul and mind. This is where and only where, true freedom can be experienced. This was the desire of the pilgrim’s that first came to the American continent, to be a “City on a Hill” for the Gospel. Certainly they sought the freedom to worship God according to their conscience. This came from a wholehearted commitment to the Gospel.

Celebrate your freedom today! But remember as you watch the fireworks and listen to the National Anthem that the freedom that you have, political or spiritual, is a gift of the God of Heaven. Thank Him for it and use it to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth! Ahhhh TRUTH, that is another matter altogether. We will talk about that next time!

You can hear audio of this message by clicking on the link below.

Freedom and Truth – John 8:31-36

In Christ!
Kevin