Confessions and Church order

A quick post to recommend this book - 'The Confessions and the Church order of the Protestant Reformed Churches'.

Not the shortest or perhaps catchiest title, but it does what it says on the tin. Very user friendly and readable, even for those unaccustomed to the language of the King James version.

It contains various creeds and both the Belgic Confession of Faith and the Heidelberg catechism and references in full scripture to reinforce each point/answer. (I say full as the whole verse is given, not just a reference - which saves you having to leaf through your bible to check every one).

Its only £9 a copy and well worth it!

You can buy it here.

1 Kings 17: 1 -7 (part 3)

Here is the third and final part of the study on Elijah at the brook Cherith.

Read the verses here: 1 Kings 17: 1 - 7

Here are the first 2 parts to the study - Part 1 and Part 2

Faith from the Father


Hoeksema (I think) said of faith that ‘our faith was merely us clinging to His faith’. Dr Martyn Lloyd Jones phrased it slightly differently – in the context of our faith he commented that it was “not my grasp of Him but His mighty grasp of me!” He has control, He is sovereign and He is faithful in all.

All His promises will come to pass regardless of our personal faith in Him or even our actions, what God wills happens. We have seen this as we have studied the Exodus and Moses. Moses griped, 'not me Lord?' He made excuses and tried to avoid responsibility, but God’s will was fulfilled. Jonah too. He ran away! But was ultimately delivered to do God’s will.
Time and again in scripture we read of men of God doubting and avoiding God’s direction and we wonder why? Men like Elijah are rare, we don’t hear of his failings and his flaws so much. Moses ducked and dived, Noah got drunk, David was David, even the Apostle Peter was a prejudiced hothead. In Acts we hear about the Apostles arguing and going their separate ways. They were after all just sinful men and as prone as we are to sinful traits, temptations and behaviour.
But here is Elijah – a picture of faith and obedience. But he was still just a man. It stillappears though so very strong. Why?

Elijah clung tighter than most to the Lord’s promises and directions. He felt fear, anxiety, hunger, heat, pain, discomfort (this fear and anxiety is reflected in 1 Kings 19:10 where he says “they seek to take my life away”). He was tempted and attacked by Satan – but his faith stayed strong, he applied his faith in God’s service.

Dr Lloyd Jones used an analogy to explain faith like this: a man and a baby possess strength. The man is stronger, but both possess some element of strength. Yet a baby using every ounce of its strength is stronger than the man who uses none of his at all.

Using and applying one’s faith is what makes the difference. Having faith and keeping it wrapped up and hidden renders it powerless. Straining with every sinew of the faith we do have in His service will affect others.

What helped him to stay so faithful? He was prayerful. He spoke to God, communicated with him. Not going through the motions, but active, live prayer.
I will use an analogy of a boxer to illustrate how faith develops. A boxer has 3 main areas of training – fitness, coaching/padwork, sparring. In the Christian context we can consider this as prayer (our fitness/stamina), padwork and coaching in his word by the Holy Spirit and sparring in witnessing and testifying to the Lord Jesus.

• Fitness (or prayer) - to develop fully this requires time and quality. No corners can be cut. An unfit fighter cannot last the distance. An unpraying Christian has no stamina for the spiritual fight. Elijah was fit – his prayer life and coaching supreme.

• The coaching/Holy Spirit’s guidance – the coach first teaches simple combinations, 2, 4, 6 punch combinations, then parrying, bobbing and weaving and so on. As the fighter’s knowledge and skill increases he becomes more dangerous to his foe with an understanding of the nuances how to fight. A Christian coached in the Word is a well equipped fighter. The coach will gradually and surely impart his knowledge to the fighter, but only as he sees fit.

• Sparring – witnessing and testifying. A fighter doesn’t enter the ring cold. He is well versed and hardened from sparring. He learns how to take blows and continue fighting, sometimes when badly hurt. But it is here that his fitness and his coaching comes through, helping him through the fight. Without testifying to the Lord Jesus a Christian cannot and will not become battle hardened and when he does he runs the risk of getting badly winded, or his spiritual eyes blacked.

As time goes on the understanding and the relationship between the fighter and coach develops too, they are more familiar with each other, the coach knows the fighter's strengths and weaknesses, the fighter may even express lack of confidence in one area. There may even be times when the fighter needs disciplining and reminding of who has control and who taught him what he knows. In this respect Elijah was a world beater, his communication and daily devotions to God would put most to shame. Great also fighters apply themselves, they don’t sit around waiting for the coach to just ‘make them great’. His Sovereignty, our responsibility.

It must be stressed that faith is not a power we possess in ourselves or can generate. Many can view faith like a willpower – ‘if I really, really believe my faith will make this happen’... GOD makes things happen, not our faith. Many think faith is like that TV programme 'Deal or no deal'. That in some way their hope, they're relying on the faith they have in fate will provide for them. Our faith should be that God is right and just and that He has things well in order, that He will always make good on His promises. Our faith itself cannot generate or 'do' anything in itself, it is not like 'the force' in the Star Wars films. This is not to say that faith does not have a powerful impact in our lives, but the power is of God's hand.

Gifts of grace Elijah had in the brook and the ravens’ provision God increases it as He wills. We can ‘work’ at our faith in what we do, and God will bless sincere devotion and obedience. But as with saving faith which justifies, it is a gift of grace. Our responsibility is to do the things which will increase our ‘fitness’ for gracious faith to be increased. We must turn up for training ready to sweat.
Elijah knew (had faith) that God would provide and protect him, but the fears and discomforts remained. Peter Jeffrey tells a story about when he was open air preaching saying if he died that night, he knew where he would be going. Then a heart attack! But he commented in hospital that he was sure of his place in heaven had he passed. He was in discomfort and pain and the experience was surely distressing and frightening, but his faith never left him.

God has promised us over and over again in His word that we are His. Elijah did God’s will regardless of his fears, because it was God’s will. Fear is borne of Satan, he wants us to be distracted and to prevent us from doing the Lord’s work, but we should remember:

Romans 8: 39 “nothing shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus”
John 10: 28 – 30 “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one.
Our faith must be that Jesus Christ is our Saviour and that in Him lies the only way we can be justified. In our repentance and His atoning sacrifice we are freed from the bondage of sin and consequently fear too.

He has promised to do this and will always stay perfectly faithful to His promises.

We can cling to His faith and pray that ours increases. We can do as Elijah did, we can be bold and confident, even if our knees knock and our lip quivers, because we “can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” Phil 4: 13
We can trust him for our eternal salvation, we can trust him to feed, clothe and house us, we can trust him to put the right words in our mouths and a truer more loyal friend there cannot be. Fall on him in faith, pray and read His promises in this His God breathed infallible word.

We should be as Elijah, we should listen and obey the Lord and if need be suffer discomfort and trials to do his will. The blessings which come from serving him far outweigh any worldly comforts. When we profess the Lord Jesus Christ and our love and service of the Lord God Almighty, he smiles on us, blesses us and sates our every thirst and hunger.

Serve him, love him and your faith will be increased.

1 Kings 17: 1 -7 (part 2)

This is the second part to my notes on 1 Kings 17. For the first instalment look here.

You can read verses 1 to 7 here.

Food for the prayful – verses 3 to 7

Elijah is obedient. We had seen how he has trusted in the Lord and witnessed in a hostile culture, one that had grown alien to God. This obedience had taken him to the throne room of an evil Godless monarchy.

 Here in v.3 God moves him on with a new directive. He is to go and hide out in the desert – this in itself was a step of faith on Elijah's part. He was from Tishbe near Cherith and would have known the land well most likely. But heading out into a drying desert when he himself had issued a drought forecast of undefined length must've caused him some concern, nevertheless he goes.

It seems he has no way of supporting himself when he goes, but throws himself utterly on God's provision. We all know that God provides for us in everything, but we like to think we have control over such things; to do such a thing is testimony to how closely Elijah was walking with God. God assures him in v4 of his provision.

 V.5 to 7. Elijah stays at Cherith and the brook continues to flow. Months pass and Elijah remains sustained by God's hand. The drought itself lasted 31/2 years; a significant proportion of this was surely spent in that wadi by the brook. The ravens brought food, the brook provided water and the Lord provided spiritual comfort, support and company for Elijah.

 Elijah had been concealed here for his protection – Ahab had sent men out to look for him, probably continually. It was far easier to blame Elijah for the curse of the drought than to admit that it was his and the nation's sin that had brought God's judgement on them. In Ch18: 10 Obadiah admitted to Elijah that "there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent to seek you".

 But Ahab and his men were barking up the wrong tree in blaming Elijah, as only God can cause it to rain. Man can no more make it rain than they can make their own heart beat. Jeremiah 14: 22 tells us "Are there any among the vanities of the gentiles that can cause rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Art not thou he, O Lord our God? Therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things."

God provides all for Elijah – shelter, food, water, safety, faith and assurance. But again, Elijah was a man, a sinful man. Satan would have many, many times sought to distract, discourage and tempt Elijah. Sewing seeds of doubt and fear. What if the brook dries up? What if I'm found? What if the ravens don't come? Or someone follows them? I'm fed up of being here! Hurry up Lord! I've been good Lord, I've done what you wanted... why punish me?

 But God provides all. Peter Jeffrey in a sermon I heard some time ago said somrthing like this – "how can we trust God for our eternal salvation, but not for our bread and jam?" We trust God with the biggest things in our lives not least our eternal salvation, but leave him out of all the small things. He is all sufficient. Elijah was filled and provided for because he pursued God in all things, he hungered after God's presence – see Matthew 5: 6 for confirmation of this.

Elijah stayed put. This he knew, he wasn't to move until God told him to. Just as Moses didn't move until the pillar of cloud moved. When the cloud stopped so did he. When it moved, day or night, so did Moses. We should do likewise – in our prayers we should continually look for His guidance in all things. When we pray specifically he will specifically guide. But if we move without him, we move alone.

 No new directive will be given until we have been obedient fully to his last instruction, we don't move when we think the job is done.

 V7 the prompt to move comes. The brook dries up. This was not solely to just get Elijah going but ensured that Elijah didn't rely on the gifts, but that he relied solely on God. We can also see in v8 that 'the word of the Lord came to him' prompting him on to Zarephath. What a relief! Out of that prison cell that the brook had become... but was the grass greener?

 Elijah was sustained in body and spirit by grace. And through faith and prayerful obedience he was able to walk closely with the Lord. We have the same offer of sustinence! John 6: 35 "and Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life, he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst"

 We need never fear for our bodily sustenance when the Lord has promised to feed our souls. Elijah's was obedient and prayerful and he knew what it meant to be fully cared for by the Lord God of Israel, the same God who has promised us that he "will never leave thee nor forsake thee" Hebrews 13:5

The third and final part will come shortly.

1 Kings 17: 1 – 7, Elijah at Cherith

1 Kings 17: 1 -7

Elijah and Ahab, the brook at Cherith

There are 3 parts to this post and I'll post them separately, one post for each of the following points.

1. The faithful obedience
2. Food for the prayerful
3. Faith from the Father

Context

• Ahab King of Israel, Phoenician wife Jezebel supporter of 100s of prophets of Baal. She would slaughter many men of God.
• Prior to Ahab there had been many kings descending from David. In ch.16 we see Baasha, Elah, Zimri and Omri had all done "evil in God's eyes" (Ch15:34, 16: 7, 19, 25, and 30). They had also (v.13) "provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols."
• Judgement was coming. They were sinful, worshiped idols and mocked God.
   

The faithful obedience – verses 1 and 2
Text suggests Elijah 'popped up from nowhere', but consider his situation. A faithful, prayerful man of God in a land filled with sin and idolatry. Indeed the Lord had given them over to their sins. Elijah had clearly felt the call to speak out against their sin.
Verse 1 – Elijah's witness and statement. He testifies to the living God of Israel. Baal had replaced God, God had been declared dead even (just as science has declared God dead once again in our day – science is just the new Baal in this respect). In walks Elijah, to the throne room! He makes his proclamation doubtless to incredulity, scorn and resentment – who does he think he is?!?! (Picture that today?)
Prior to this proclamation Elijah's preparation would have been deeply prayerful and also filled with anxieties, fears and doubts. He was a man, a sinner like you and me, maybe even not as brave! He was a man, not a robot. A lot of his time would've been spent in prayerful consideration.
AW Pink on Elijah's prayerful preparation – "Prayer in private was the source of his power in public: he could stand unabashed in the presence of the wicked monarch because he had knelt in humility before God"

But Elijah trusts in the Lord and in v2 we read that 'the word of the Lord came to him' at just the right time. If we too are prayerful, obedient and trust the Lord to do so he will do this for us when we testify of our love for Christ Jesus.
Psalm 81:10 tells us "open thy mouth wide and I will fill it" if we're hungry for the word of God, he will feed us and at the right time the words will be put in our mouths by Him. This is why studying your bible and memorising verses is so important. We can at the right time recall infallible words and instructions from our fallible, sinful lips. It avoids conjecture and gives us a biblical basis for our words.
Elijah's faith wasn't perfect however. God's is. As a fallible man he will have worried unnecessarily. God had things in hand – he must have wondered what they would do to him, would they lock him up? Kill him? Laugh at him and ignore him? All of the great men of the bible felt doubt and fear, Noah, Moses, David and here I am sure so did Elijah, the Apostles too. We can empathise a little I'm sure – creeping anxiety that we later look back on and shake our heads saying 'I should've trusted him more!"

Part 2 coming soon!

Jesus is trust in us.

I did a new bible study/sermon last week and the following was part of it - I cut it out completely though as it didn't fit the text in question at all. I've posted it here instead as a 'blog' as I've neglected entering anything for quite a while now. So see what you make of it... as ever all comments are welcomed!

"We often ask people ‘don’t you trust me?’ or if we don't ask it we certainly resent the thought that someone isn't trusting in us. I've done it and I'm sure you have too.

We feel so hurt when we detect any faltering or wavering in their faith in us. But we’re self confessed sinners! We’re riddled with sin and lies and ‘no good thing’. We don’t deserve to be trusted! If we got what we deserved no one would ever believe a word that fell from our lips. The blackness of our state cannot afford us any trust. But, as children of God we can trust him. As a sinless righteous Saviour, Jesus IS trust, He IS faith.

When we have Christ we have him in us, in our hearts and He is what is trustworthy in us.

Galatians 2: 20 tell us “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

If we wait on him, if we trust in Him and if the life we live in the flesh is by faith in the Son of God there is a growing trustworthy element that is not of us, but in us.

We’re still sinners, still black and putrid, but the light of life that should shine from us – people should see that in us shouldn’t they? They should be able to detect it glowing within every Christian heart.

Some people may despise it, others may be drawn to it, but that light is utterly trustworthy.

So as we wait on the Lord and we consider his steadfastness, his faithfulness and immutability we can do so in confidence and fully assured faith of never being failed. We should remember that Christ liveth in us and that he has promised that he will never leave us nor forsake us."

I have yet to figure out how to upload or attach audio files here so instead of adding audio of the 2 studies/sermons I did on 1 Kings 17 I'll edit and summarise the notes into essay form and post them here shortly.

In the meantime I'm working on a couple of studies on Psalm 40: 1 -3, then later hopefully the whole Psalm.