William Cowper 1731-1800
In conversation with a dear and well-meaning friend I had expressed my thanks to God for a particularly good providence. As soon as the words were out of my mouth my friend quickly informed me that we shouldn’t say something was a “good providence” because, God is good all the time and all the time, God is good. Now, that saying is also true, of course it is! God is good all the time, because that is His nature. But it was a horse of a different theological color and my friend clearly did not understand my words.
Now, allow me to explain, when a Christian remarks that a providence is either, “good” or “bad” they are not thereby passing judgment on God’s actions as if some of His providences were good or right, while others were, bad or wicked, heaven forbid!
If someone were to tell you they had suffered a “hard providence” it doesn’t mean that God had a hard time in bringing a particular providence to pass. The Bible asks, “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” (Genesis 18:14) and the expected answer is, “No, of course not”! For us, on the other hand, some things we experience are exceedingly hard things, like illness and disease. They can be hard to grasp and harder to endure unless faith in Christ is our companion.
What do we mean in using words like good, bad, heavy, pleasant, etc., to qualify the word providence? In using a phrase like “hard providence” or “good providence” the Christian is expressing their own experience of God’s providences. They are not reflecting upon God’s moral character or ability. The phrases are intended to be reflective of our own struggle or joy, not God’s.
What my friend was commenting on is also true and is non-negotiable Christian truth, just misapplied. For believers no matter how we experience life, all events and circumstances are given to us from the hand of Divine love (Romans 8:28-39). However, the dispensation of God’s actions or His providences to us will be good or bad, hard or easy, kind or afflicting as we perceive and experience them in real time.
Thus, our Lord Jesus wept at the grave of a friend, and sweated as it were great drops of blood in the garden, and cried from the cross, “My God, My God why have you forsaken Me?” All this to make Him a merciful and faithful High Priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses. Jesus experienced good and bad providence for me and all those who trust in Him. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me” Ps. 23:4
So, friends it is theologically and Biblically permissible to speak of God’s hard, difficult, heavy, kind, good, or loving providences as the need arises. Saints throughout the ages have used this kind of language to describe God’s providence towards them and we would be the poorer for not having read William Cowper’s verses,
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense but trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning Providence He hides a smiling face.
I hope you see the connection with what is happening today. This article was not intended as a random recollection of a conversation from years ago, nor is it about semantics or striving for idiomatic accuracy in theological parlance.
Friends, we are experiencing a day of “hard providences.” That means you and I will see and perhaps experience hard things more than usual. But the honor of God requires me to tell you, this doesn’t mean that God has forgotten to be good, or that He can’t stop evil in its tracks. “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Mt. 19:26).
The fact that there is sunshine every morning is all the evidence that faith needs to recall that God is on His throne doing what is right and good to a world that has lost its way. Now that is a good providence!
Perhaps these few verses from the prophet Jeremiah will put all this in perspective best …
“He has filled me with bitterness; he has sated me with wormwood. He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD.” Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. – Lamentations 3:15-26 ESV
Good Providences?
William Cowper 1731-1800
In conversation with a dear and well-meaning friend I had expressed my thanks to God for a particularly good providence. As soon as the words were out of my mouth my friend quickly informed me that we shouldn’t say something was a “good providence” because, God is good all the time and all the time, God is good. Now, that saying is also true, of course it is! God is good all the time, because that is His nature. But it was a horse of a different theological color and my friend clearly did not understand my words.
Now, allow me to explain, when a Christian remarks that a providence is either, “good” or “bad” they are not thereby passing judgment on God’s actions as if some of His providences were good or right, while others were, bad or wicked, heaven forbid!
If someone were to tell you they had suffered a “hard providence” it doesn’t mean that God had a hard time in bringing a particular providence to pass. The Bible asks, “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” (Genesis 18:14) and the expected answer is, “No, of course not”! For us, on the other hand, some things we experience are exceedingly hard things, like illness and disease. They can be hard to grasp and harder to endure unless faith in Christ is our companion.
What do we mean in using words like good, bad, heavy, pleasant, etc., to qualify the word providence? In using a phrase like “hard providence” or “good providence” the Christian is expressing their own experience of God’s providences. They are not reflecting upon God’s moral character or ability. The phrases are intended to be reflective of our own struggle or joy, not God’s.
What my friend was commenting on is also true and is non-negotiable Christian truth, just misapplied. For believers no matter how we experience life, all events and circumstances are given to us from the hand of Divine love (Romans 8:28-39). However, the dispensation of God’s actions or His providences to us will be good or bad, hard or easy, kind or afflicting as we perceive and experience them in real time.
Thus, our Lord Jesus wept at the grave of a friend, and sweated as it were great drops of blood in the garden, and cried from the cross, “My God, My God why have you forsaken Me?” All this to make Him a merciful and faithful High Priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses. Jesus experienced good and bad providence for me and all those who trust in Him. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me” Ps. 23:4
So, friends it is theologically and Biblically permissible to speak of God’s hard, difficult, heavy, kind, good, or loving providences as the need arises. Saints throughout the ages have used this kind of language to describe God’s providence towards them and we would be the poorer for not having read William Cowper’s verses,
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense but trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning Providence He hides a smiling face.
I hope you see the connection with what is happening today. This article was not intended as a random recollection of a conversation from years ago, nor is it about semantics or striving for idiomatic accuracy in theological parlance.
Friends, we are experiencing a day of “hard providences.” That means you and I will see and perhaps experience hard things more than usual. But the honor of God requires me to tell you, this doesn’t mean that God has forgotten to be good, or that He can’t stop evil in its tracks. “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Mt. 19:26).
The fact that there is sunshine every morning is all the evidence that faith needs to recall that God is on His throne doing what is right and good to a world that has lost its way. Now that is a good providence!
Perhaps these few verses from the prophet Jeremiah will put all this in perspective best …
“He has filled me with bitterness; he has sated me with wormwood. He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD.” Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. – Lamentations 3:15-26 ESV
SRPC Responding to a COVID-19 National Emergency
Beloved Congregation:
On Monday (3/16/20) our country’s President gave new national guidelines for responding to the current COVID-19 virus threat. The guidelines tell the country to avoid social gatherings in groups of more than 10 people for the next 15 days to aid in slowing the spread of the corona virus. This is a temporary measure intended for the safety of all residents.
Your SRPC Elders see the 15 day guideline as extending to our congregation’s weekly gatherings. This means that for now we are cancelling all our church’s weekly meetings, including the Lord’s Day services, until 4/5/20.
The Next 15 Days at Shawnee RPC
Your Elders are complying with the recommendations on the grounds that we want to do our part to slow the COVID-19 virus. Our Kansas City Alliance of Reformed Churches has canceled the 3/29/20 evening worship service as well.
Especially during this time the SRPC Elders urge all of us to,
As our Lord Jesus tells us, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Mt 4:4). We need the encouragement and supply of strength from God and one way we plan to bring encouragement to you is to have Lord’s Day morning and evening worship services live streamed for all to join.
You can find SRPC Worship links for our live streamed services and also previously recorded services on our website at, www.shawneerpc.org. The live streaming will be at the regular times 11 AM and 6 PM on the Lord’s Day. We ask that you join with us at those times as you may be able and to let others know of our services too.
As God’s dear children we want to respond to every event in life on the principles of God’s word (Eph 5:1). In instances such as these we need to avoid the extremes of surrendering to a mentality of fear or rushing ahead in foolish ignorance (2 Tim 1:7; Pr 27:12). Like Daniel of old, God calls us to a walk of obedience and love no matter what the circumstance or day in history we are living (Daniel 6:10). At SRPC we are,
We will continue to monitor the situation and update the congregation as needed. We plan to communicate through telephone and email, or in person as need arises. Our elders will contact members in shepherding groups to ensure needs are being met [IF you or someone you have been in contact with during since last week has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus please make your shepherding elder aware. Elders will not share the names of those contracting the illness or testing positive for COVID-19 without consent]. Thank you!
Your Servants for Jesus Sake,
The SRPC Session
Click link to CDC Website ->
Love, true love …
1 Corinthians 13 contains the Bible’s well known description of how love behaves. There the apostle of Christ shows us the demands of love toward God and all mankind. This is especially true of those who are given God’s gift of a circumcised heart (Deuteronomy 30:6). A circumcised heart is one that is renewed in the image of God. A heart given the grace of true love results from our being made alive in Christ, a heart which invariably manifests love. It is a joy to recognize that, “… the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5).
Chapter 13 bears an important message for Christians as we walk in a world darkened by sin. However, as we look at passages like 1 Corinthians 13 they can become for us a list of do’s and don’ts without giving any regard to the disposition of our hearts. Paul warns in verses 1-3 that it is possible to give all that we own to a charity and become martyrs to the cause of Christ and still not have love. It is possible then to avoid impatience, envy, pride, rudeness and such behavior and yet not have love. It is possible to do acts which appear as loving and yet not be loving. In this light it is helpful to observe that Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 13 are not a definition of love so much as a description of love’s behavior and that it is possible to act lovingly and yet not have the love of God.
So, what is love? Seems to me that whenever I ask for a definition of love the word suddenly gets rather squishy. Admittedly, love is harder to define than describe. The English dictinoary is helpful, but only if I know the kind of love I am seeking to define and there is the problem. As Christians we want to know what God has in mind when we are told to,”… love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5) and to, “… love your neighbor as yourself …” (Leviticus 19:18).
So, Biblically, we can see that, love involves several components and when those components or constituent parts are present within me, love can be said to be present. Based upon the Biblical data I offer a definition of love for those who would like one. God’s gift of love is a right affection and disposition of the heart and mind in relation to God and man in every circumstance.
In this light we can understand Paul’s meaning rightly when he says, “… love is the fulfilment of the law” (Romans 13:10) and Moses when he commands us, “You shall love …” (Deuteronomy 6:5).
Only in Christ can God’s love be seen clearly and perfectly. Jesus is both our Savior and Exemplar!
For further thought, see this helpful devotion from Ligonier TableTalk Magazine
Questions: What About the End Times?
“Then comes …”
1 Corinthians 15:24
Concerning the End –
Five Essentials That Every Christian Should Know
There, that isn’t so difficult to comprehend, 1) Christ will return, 2) then a general resurrection occurs, 3) Christ judges all men, 4) Christ sentences the wicked, and 5) Christ rewards the righteous. The church has historically considered these five truths as essential teaching. You’ll find them incorporated into the historic creeds, confessions, and catechisms. Now these are given in the Bible so we can be prepared and know what we are to expect. Remember that Jesus has called us His friends, “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you” (Jn. 15:14-15).
Because considering The End can be an unsettling matter to consider, we remind ourselves what our Lord Jesus Christ has purchased by His death on the cross. The Westminster Shorter Catechism rehearses a summary of these gospel benefits in questions 32 through 38. Speaking primarily of justification, adoption, and sanctification, but also mentioned are those several benefits which in this life do either accompany or flow from this gospel grace of Christ. I’ll call special attention here to the blessings of Gospel Rest, Protection, Comfort, & Concern
Rest in Christ – if you are believing in Christ today, you are in the ark of safety already and Christ says to you, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me”
Protection – God’s truth will keep you from being deceived or troubled by impetuous spirits who stir up and vex the church with their prophetic schemes (Mar. 13:21-22; 2 Thess. 1:3-8; Eph. 4:14). There is also a restraining grace provided through the innate knowledge that God will judge the world (Rm 1:18-20).
Comfort now and in the world to come – with the knowledge of Christ’s coming again (1 Thess. 4:18). It is the world that is in danger Christian, not you, for when Christ comes again the entire world will know it (2 Thess 1:7) for King Jesus will summon every person before Him, “and every knee shall bow…” (Rm. 14:11). Christians will be openly acknowledged and acquitted on that day, for “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect” & “Come you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you…” (Rm. 8:33; Mt 25:31-46).
Loving concern for the world – As there will be a day of death for each so there will be a day of judgment for each one (Heb. 9:27). The knowledge that God will judge the world gives us reason to labor for the salvation of God’s elect (2 Ti 2:10) being constrained by the love of Christ (2 Co 5:14).
Christian you and I can LIVE and ABOUND in this framework by the grace of Christ – no matter how disconcerting today’s headlines may be.
Witness of the Christian Church from the Past about, The End >>>>
Read more
A Lesson from the Divine Attributes
“To whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal And compare Me, that we should be alike?” (Isa. 46:5)
We learn from the Bible that God is the All-Seeing, All-Knowing, All-Powerful Being, whose wisdom, knowledge and power have no limit. We call this aspect of knowing God’s attributes, the doctrine of God’s Omni’s.
The Bible supports what our internal being was created to know, “… what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead …” (Rom. 1:19-20)
“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Tim. 1:17)
“The eyes of the LORD are in every place, Keeping watch on the evil and the good.” (Prov. 15:3)
“We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, The One who is and who was and who is to come, Because You have taken Your great power and reigned.” (Rev. 11:17)
“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! “For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?” 35 “Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?” For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.” (Rom. 11:33-36)
There are of course many verses which teach the omni’s of God. We sometimes refer to the omni’s as incommunicable attributes of God. They cannot be in any measure given or shared by creatures. These are Divine attributes alone. Now there is some aspect of knowledge, wisdom and power that are known by God’s created beings. We call these attributes, God’s communicable attributes. However, the “omni” aspect of these attributes is not and cannot be shared. We learn here a lesson and find how practical theology can be.
For instance, sometimes men forget this truth and begin to act or assume as if they had omni-attributes themselves, such as a divine eye, mind, or arm. I have run across some in the church whom I trust are well-meaning brothers, yet, they make the sophomoric mistake of assuming that if they don’t see a work being done, or done as they would do it, that it is not being done at all and belittle or even attempt to mandate that others must follow them (Luke 9:49). There are others who seem to have all wisdom, and say, if a work in the church is not done by their standard of wisdom it must not be done, or at least done right. Still others will tell us that if we simply applied principles of human excellence, the power of God would be sure to follow (Paul has quite a bit to say about this in 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5).
As men we can too often forget that we are just men at best. I find personal comfort in Job’s application of this truth to his otherwise well-meaning friends, “Then Job answered and said: “No doubt you are the people, And wisdom will die with you! But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Indeed, who does not know such things as these? “I am one mocked by his friends, Who called on God, and He answered him, The just and blameless who is ridiculed.” (Job 12:1-4)
Who knew just how practical the Divine Attributes might be?
Counsel to a Friend in Christ – Dredging Up Past Sins
Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. (Prov. 4:26 ESV)
A good deal of pastoral counseling is done in our sermons, other counsel is given in our weekly and daily interactions or in the communion of saints, and quite a bit is still given by letter writing or email as was the case here below. In this note no specifics are mentioned and yet the counsel needed is not uncommon, so I trust it will by God’s good grace be useful to all who read it here –
Dear Friend,
I truly hope and pray you will by the grace of Christ forgive and leave behind past offenses done to you or by you. However, remain alert, because past sins long forgiven can and will from time to time haunt or revisit the soul causing us personal times of blight and trouble robbing us of the peace and rest given by Christ and His Holy Spirit. The old man remaining with us can fall prey to those sins we crucified long ago. The world allures us and our own minds seem to conspire against us. Then physical, emotional, mental, sensual, and many other kinds of internal triggers can send us down a road where those old sins are likely to be revisited and nursed by us. By these kinds of snares the old enemy hopes to lead us into by-path-meadows a place where we think we will find comfort, but rather than ease this is the sure path to doubting castle (Pilgrim’s Progress reference). Once in that place we either wallow in the shame of our past sins or justify and pamper a sense of self-pity for the wrongs done to us. There we can live (miserably) for a long time forgetting that we have the key of promise in God’s word.
Rather than live in that place, make a study of the work of Christ in Romans 6 & 7 – especially chapter 7 and verses 24-25 where His work is on display to your faith. Then on into Romans 8 where “… there is therefore now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” In that good land (chapter 8) you learn that you can live with the sufferings of this present time, because you have in your possession something infinitely more valuable in the hope of the gospel (v18). You know even the secret trials of your heart will work for your good and God’s glory (v28), so “endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:3).
You will find that you can live a lifetime on the promises inferred in these interrogatives, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect?” “It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns?” “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”
Envision by faith, that in all these things we are, “… more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” Friend, be persuaded from God’s word that “…neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor power, nor things present nor things to come, not height nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
A Christ-like humility which daily confesses with Christ, “not my will, but thine be done” is the path for all Christians. If today God’s all-wise providence leads you to a cross or a crown accept what His love brings you. Submission is always in season with God, so wear humility on the outside and inside alike, because the high and lofty One dwells with the humble and contrite in heart. In all of life, in the push and pull of healthy or ill relationships, in the hard providence and in the good, I can think of no safer refuge, no more refreshing retreat than to be in the arms of Almighty Love.
In this way may you find in the land of the living pleasure in the dispensation of God’s ways, day by day.
Every blessing (Eph 1:3),
Greg
“This is My Body Which is Given For You”
“And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying,“This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”” 20 “And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.”
– The Gospel of Luke 22:19-20
What grace under pressure the Son of God exhibits! Try to imagine the love, dedication, and focus required of Jesus to utter these words, “This is My body which is given for you.”
Facing His own death in a matter of hours and with every human emotion under the control of His sinless humanity, Jesus says, “This is My body which is given for you.”
Jesus had desired to be with the disciples (v15) to share a Passover meal in a way no one seemed to understand then and still so few do today. Jesus displayed in a visual lesson His redemptive love, saying, “This is My body which is given for you.”
With that piece of broken bread in His hand Jesus gave thanks to the Father for the death He was about to suffer for us, knowing full well that, “This is My body which is given for you.”
Placing the very emblem of His suffering before the eyes of His disciples, Jesus says, “This is My body which is given for you.”
Do we understand the reality of the picture Jesus drew for us on that night in which He was betrayed? He was about to accomplish a death that would settle the debt of sin charged against His people. And so, He says, “This is My body which is given for you.”
Do we understand the provision made for us when Jesus said, “This is My body which is given for you”?
A provision of righteousness we do not have, a provision of sustaining grace which we daily stand in need of, a provision of nurturing love, a provision of infinite forgiveness, a provision of eternal union and communion. Are you prepared in heart, mind and body this week to hear once again those ancient words of amazing love, “This is My body which is for you”?
Strangers in Danger
OT Israel had been a stranger, a foreigner or sojourner dwelling in Egypt. Driven there by famine Jacob and his sons with their wives and children moved to the land of Pharaohs to stay alive. There in Egypt as immigrants they lived 400 years (Gen 15:13) and Israel learned by sad experience what it was to be taken advantage of as a stranger in a strange land. True, at first they were favored by the Pharaohs that knew Joseph. But slowly the tide changed and the once favored people were subject to bitter bondage and harshly accused and abused. Israel was indeed a stranger in the land of Egypt.
There are many reasons in the providence of God that cause men to immigrate and settle in a new land. If a man or family comes to settle in a new country and can demonstrate they are “honest men … not spies” (Gen. 42:11), God takes special care for them. They are not to be oppressed, mistreated or taken advantage of by the people of the land. Have you ever been on the outside of a community, society, or culture?
Well, while I was never a stranger like the Israelites, I do recall when I was in the sixth grade, my mother took a teaching job in an adjoining school district in the north end of the County. My parents made the decision that it would be best if I, along with my two younger siblings went to school in the same school district. It was going to be a real adventure I was told. But my sixth grade heart said, no way! But, as sixth graders don’t get to call those shots or make those decisions we left all our friends behind and were taken to a school where we didn’t know anyone. We were outsiders to the kids who grew up together and had known each other all their lives. If ever there were foreigners and strangers, surely it was us.
But wait, the story doesn’t end badly. On my first morning at school as I was sitting in the classroom waiting for an omen of bad things to come the rest of the year, pouting I think mom called it. When suddenly strange looking faces raced into the room. The class teacher who had been trying to get me to talk with her turned to a sandy headed boy with a face full of freckles and said, Clayton, go tell Charlie (the janitor/assistant coach) to “turn the basketballs loose in the gym.” Without hesitation Clayton looked at me and said, come on let’s go! We raced to the gym and there over those basketballs Clayton, his twin brother Clinton, Kevin, Gary, Roy, Galen, David, Joe and myself all became fast friends. We had lots of boyish fun those two years, but wonderfully, I don’t recall ever feeling like an outsider after that first, “come on let’s go!”
Instead of an omen of evil, that morning was a harbinger of many blessings to come for as it turned out those two years were by far the best two years of my primary education. Discovering healthy friendships was the best thing ever, mom was right – again.
I know, this was small time in comparison to those Israelites, but the same lesson is learned. Think of the blessing we as individuals or the local church can be to someone who just needs a friendly face and a word of encouragement. Can we imagine the opportunities God sets before us in the lives of strangers? Having trouble? Try imagining this, “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels” (Hebrews 13:2 NKJ).
Panoramic Prayer Topics for the Church – Straight from the Word.
Pray one for another …
“Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God for things agreeable to His will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and a thankful acknowledgement of His mercies.” Westminster Shorter Catechism Q 98
~ Don’t forget to pray this week for one another in the congregation, for our leaders, for friends and neighbors in need. Especially, pray that as Christ shines through our lives those who do not know Christ as Lord and Savior, will see in us and hear from us the glorious truth of Jesus Christ.
“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.” (1 Tim. 2:1-6 ESV)
“First of all” is the language of priority. Paul is concerned for the prayers of the church to be ordered in God glorifying way. Ordered not so much in structure or the way we say our prayer, but in content or what our prayers say. Paul believes this with a degree of intensity and “urges” us to practice what he preaches. So that we understand his intent Paul states, what he is asking of us, who is to be the target of our praying, and why we must pray in this manner before giving the aim of his instruction.
Paul’s urging the church to pray in this fashion may not seem to follow the model prayer of Christ in the gospels. Yet, in a very real manner it does contain all the material within the Lord’s prayer at one level or another. This prayer culminates in God’s glory and the hollowing of His name, it concerns the coming of His kingdom even as we pray for the ruler’s submission to Christ, it seeks the benefit of all with a daily supply of quietness and peace, and the forgiveness of sin in God our Savior and ransom provided only in Christ, it prays against corruption and temptation as we want for ourselves a godly and dignified way of life. It creates a sense of purpose in this world and expectation of eternal life with Christ. This is faithful prayer for a faithful people.
The next time we come to a prayer meeting and think that seeming random prayers concerning the well-being of all kinds of people are not big ticket items on God’s agenda, may this prayer list for the church teach us to look again.
“Being Built Together” – A Present and Ongoing Work of God
Friday, May 3, 2019
Beloved Congregation,
In 2004, Janis and I were travelling west to visit her mother and stopped in the city of Denver, Colorado to see a few sights around the state capitol building. It was then we saw this curious structure then under construction. When I first saw the building it seemed as if the structure had collapsed. Since at the time I was employed by an engineering firm as a mechanical designer, I felt compelled to investigate the pile of steel more closely. Upon that inspection, I saw that the building was not just a pile of steel, it was really quite sound structurally. It was to become a large parking garage constructed to appear somewhat chaotic although it was to be a fully functional building.
Well, there is no accounting for taste I suppose, and some people have more money and time on their hands than others, but beyond a discussion of aesthetics, efficiencies, and laws of physics we can also observe helpful lessons for the church.
Jesus Christ as the Divine Architect of the church commands us to build, as He said, on,“these sayings of mine” (Mt 7:24). “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1Cor. 3:11). Jesus has a master plan in the Bible and anything that is not stamped with His Divine authority is in for a devastating surprise when the storms of eternal judgment come (Mt. 7:28, 29).
Another lesson for the church is that of patience in allowing the Divine plan to unfold in God’s own time. Christians may look around at the church today while it seems to appear in disarray and turmoil. In our sadder moments, we may even be tempted to accuse the Architect of folly. Too often, we can look at the present state of the church as I once looked at that confused pile of steel not realizing that it was destined to become a signature landmark parking garage. Today, as we look at the state of the church don’t hurry to judgement, for we walk by faith and not by sight. Patience!
Because, “… you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Eph. 2:19-3:1).
Soon the Temple of the Lord will appear in all its glory. But until that day, let our building construction continue according to God’s design, trusting the plans God has for us and for His own glory! “… to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Eph. 3:21)
The Briefing – News Analysis by Albert Mohler