Do we get it yet?...

1 John 2:15-16

¹⁵ Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. ¹⁷ And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.


Revelation 19:1-5

Heaven Exults over Babylon

1 After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God! 2 For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.” 3 Again they said, “Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever and ever!” 4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying, “Amen! Alleluia!” 5 Then a voice came from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!”

As it was in the days...

Luke 17:26-30

26 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will also be in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day that the Son of Man is revealed.

And likewise, we today eat, drink, marry, buy, sell, plant, build...so it will it be in the day that the Son of Man is revealed.

2 Peter 3:10-13

10 But the Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise; and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Psalm 10:1-11

A Psalm of confidence in God's triumph over evil.

1 Why do you stand afar off, O LORD?
Why do You hide in times of trouble?
{Have we as Christians not asked that over and over the last several decades, as we have seen both the church and our country "going down the tubes"?}

2 The wicked in his pride, persecutes the poor;
{We see that daily.}
Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.
{I pray for their salvation first and being "caught in the plots which they have devised" second. Bernie Madoff is a good example of being caught in his own greedy plot.}

3 For the wicked boasts of his heart's desire;
He blesses the greedy and renouces the LORD.
{ Renouncing the LORD is the current national pastime.}

4 The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God;
God is in none of his thoughts.
{"The fool has said in his heart, there is no God." Psalm 14:1, Psalm 53:1}

5 His [the wicked] ways are always propering;
{At least for the time being.}
Your [God's] judgments are far above, out of his [the wicked's] sight;
As for all his enemies, he sneers at them.
{He certainly does!}

6 He [the wicked] has said in his heart, "I shall not be moved;
I shall never be in adversity."
{Talk about delusional!}

7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and oppression;
Under his tongue is trouble and iniquity.
{All we ever hear today is filthy language, cheating and trying to get ahead of the other guy.}

8 He [the wicked] sits in the lurking places in the villages;
In the secret places he murders the innocent;
{Abortion.}
His eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless.
{TV/Internet scams of all kinds.}

9 He lies in wait secretly, as a lion in his den;
{New senator in the old lion's seat, PTL.}
He lies in wait to catch the poor;
He catches the poor when he draws him into his net.
{Fanny Mae, Freddy Mac.)

10 So he crouches, he lies low,
That the helpless may fall by his strength.
{"Bailouts" that make matters worse.}


11 He [the wicked] has said in his heart,
"God has forgotten;
He hides His face;
He will never see."
{Na na na na na na...}

Next ~~ Psalm 10:12-18

We live in uncertain times...

That was a comment I heard from a radio commenter this morning. As believers we know that we always live in uncertain times...

But even from the world's point of view, we should see that we always live in uncertain times...

1760s-1770s ~ the American Revolution
1790s ~ the French Revolution
1800-1815 ~ Napoleonic era
1820s & 1830s ~ restlessness in Europe following the French Revolution
1848 ~ Europe convulsed with revolution
1860 ~ American Civil War
1870s ~ Louis Napoleon's delusions of grandeur ~ Franco-Prussian war ~ Bismarck & the unification of Germany
1880s-1910s ~ Tensions between Germany - France - Austro-Hungary - England
1914 ~ World War One
1920s ~ illusion of less uncertain times...
1930s ~ worldwide economic collapse
1940s ~ World War Two - Korean War
1950s ~ illusion of less uncertain times...
1960s ~ assasination of JFK - "revolutions" on the campuses - Viet Nam
1970s ~ stagflation
1980s ~ continued economic angst - Reagan - Berlin Wall comes down
1990s ~ glastnost - internet - dot com - illusion of less uncertain times...
2000s~ 9/11 & its fallout - almost worldwide economic collapse - likely to happen yet...

What was/is happening in Asia, South America, Africa & the rest of the world...

We always live in uncertain times...we live in a fallen world.

That will change~ Psalm 2

fallen world

Job 21
7 Why do the wicked live and become old,
Yes, become mighty in power?

8 Their descendants are established with them in their sight,
And their offspring before their eyes.

9 Their houses are safe from fear,
Neither is the rod of God upon them.

10 Their bull breeds without failure;
Their cow calves without miscarriage.

11 They send forth their little ones like a flock,
And their children dance.

12 They sing to the tambourine and harp,
And rejoice to the sound of the flute.

13 They spend their days in wealth,
And in a moment go down to the grave.

14 Yet they say to God, ‘Depart from us,
For we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways.

15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him?
And what profit do we have if we pray to Him?’

can you hear God now??

Psalm 94
1 O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongs—
O God, to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth!

2 Rise up, O Judge of the earth;
Render punishment to the proud.

3 LORD, how long will the wicked,
How long will the wicked triumph?

4 They utter speech, and speak insolent things;
All the workers of iniquity boast in themselves.

5 They break in pieces Your people, O LORD,
And afflict Your heritage.

6 They slay the widow and the stranger,
And murder the fatherless.

7 Yet they say, “The LORD does not see,
Nor does the God of Jacob understand.”

8 Understand, you senseless among the people;
And you fools, when will you be wise?

9 He who planted the ear, shall He not hear?
He who formed the eye, shall He not see?

10 He who instructs the nations, shall He not correct,
He who teaches man knowledge?

11 The LORD knows the thoughts of man,
That they are futile.

hard hearts ~~ hard of hearing

Paul is now in Rome and as always he makes contact with the Jewish leaders first. They are unaware of all that has gone on regarding Paul up to this point and they would like to know. So he fills them in.

Acts 28
23 So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening.
24 And some were persuaded by the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved.
25 So when they did not agree among themselves, they departed after Paul had said one word:

"The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers,

26 saying,

'Go to this people and say:

Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand;

And seeing you will see, and not perceive;

27 For the hearts of this people have grown dull.

Their ears are hard of hearing,

And their eyes they have closed,

Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,

Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,

So that I should heal them.'"

28 Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!

29 And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves.

heartbreak and lostness

We believers have a constant heartbreak staring us in the face all the time, as we consider our unsaved loved ones. They have no idea of a heartbreak. They do not know they are lost and they revel in that ignorance ~~ we see that terrible lostness and fall on our faces before the Throne.

We have Paul's anguish in Romans 9:1-3

What about God's heartbreak at the time of Noah?

Genesis 6
5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of men was great in the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6 And the LORD was sorry that He has made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
7 So the LORD said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them."
8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
In verse 22 we learn that...
Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.

Note Noah's OBEDIENCE.

We are told in Genesis 6:3b ...yet his [man's] days shall be one hundred and twenty years.

The witness of Noah and his family building this huge ark (what is that??!), when there had never been any rain on the earth up to that time, must have seemed ludicrous to everyone. We can imagine them shaking or scratching their heads whenever they happened by the ark-in-progress during those one hundred twenty years. But they never bowed the knee to their Creator.

What about Jesus' heartbreak as He looked out over Jerusalem?

Luke 19
41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it
42 saying, if you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.

Matthew 23
37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!
38 See! Your house is left to you desolate;
39 for I say to you, you shall see Me no more, til you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"

The people of that time, like our unsaved loved in this time were not willing to...

Romans 10
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will never be put to shame."

This is the only thing that will make for your peace!

responses to the claims of the gospel

Two posts ago, we looked at some unfortunately usual responses to the gospel. Here are two more which, if they weren't eternally tragic, would actually be funny.

You might want to read Acts 26. It is a great chapter with Paul's defense of the gospel and two responses to it.

Acts 26
24 As he [Paul] thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, "Paul you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!" (talk about 'off the wall'!)
25 But he [Paul] said,"I am not mad noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason."

Acts 26
{Paul to King Agrippa} 27 "King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe."
28 Then Agrippa said to a Paul, "You almost persuade me to become a Christian." (How unutterably sad...)

can you hear me now?? sadly, no...

Believers find that they are irresistably attracted to the Word; it is a bottomless well or the endless expanse of the heavens. It is deep, it is without horizon. We saturate our minds and hearts with it.

Ephesians 5
17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,
19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,
20 giving thanks always in all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Colossians 3
16 Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.
17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

As we do this we create more and more distance between our world view and the way we think and that of unbelievers.

2 Corinthians 4
3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
4 whose mind the god of this age [Satan] has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
5a For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord,...

And yet we, as Paul, yearn to speak to them about the things of God and of salvation through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Hear Paul's broken heart...

Romans 9
1 I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit,
2 that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart.
3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ, for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites,...

How is he received by Athens?

Acts 17
16 Now while Paul waited...at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols.
17 Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue...and the marketplace daily...
18 Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, "What does this babbler want to say?"...
19 And they took him...to the Aeropagus saying, "May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak?"
20 For you are bring strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean.
21 For the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but to either tell or to hear some new thing.

So Paul did just that on Mars Hill in Athens. (Acts 17:22-30)

What was their response?

Acts 17:32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, "We will hear you again on this matter." [But they never did]
33 So Paul departed from among them.

Proverbs 23:7a For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.

Jesus' thoughts on what is in a man's heart: Matthew 15:17-20 and Mark 7:18-23.

And finally, what should be in the hearts of believers?

Philippians 4:
8 And finally brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are noble, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy ~~ meditate on these things.