Knowing and being known by God

by Rosie Moore.

“O Lord, you have searched me and known me… (Ps 139:1)
Search me, O God, and know my heart!
    Try me and know my thoughts

And see if there be any grievous way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Ps 139:23-24)

This is the first part in a two-part series on Psalm 139.

The Psalms exemplify the kind of personal relationship that the true and living God wants his people to have with him. God doesn’t listen to us through a speaker system or watch us perform on a screen. It’s as if God listens to us via a stethoscope and uses a CT scan to explore the deepest crevices of our hearts. As the Lord said to Samuel the prophet, “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Sam 16:7).

The Lord was referring to the unassuming shepherd boy, David, who later became Israel’s greatest king and the writer of Psalm 139.

Lord you have known me.

The Lord searches our hearts and exposes what’s really there. He wants his image-bearers to enjoy an intimate, authentic relationship with Him by faith in Jesus Christ. No secrets, no duplicity, no hiding our sins behind flimsy fig leaves. No matter where a believer goes, we can never be far from God’s comforting and convicting presence– His Holy Spirit.

Psalm 139 is one of my favourites, because it reminds me that the greatest privilege and purpose of life is knowing and being known by God, warts and all. This Psalm also gives us a framework for how to respond to crucial cultural issues like, “What does it mean to be human” and “What makes a human life valuable?”  David’s Psalm offers believers assurance but also accountability for how we live our lives.

Let’s ask the Lord to search our own hearts as we read Psalm 139:

O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
² You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
    you discern my thoughts from afar.
³ You search out my path and my lying down
    and are acquainted with all my ways.
⁴ Even before a word is on my tongue,
    behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
⁵ You hem me in, behind and before,
    and lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
    it is high; I cannot attain it.

⁷ Where shall I go from your Spirit?
    Or where shall I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
    If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
⁹ If I take the wings of the morning
    and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand shall lead me,
    and your right hand shall hold me.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
    and the light about me be night,”
¹² even the darkness is not dark to you;
    the night is bright as the day,
    for darkness is as light with you.

¹³ For you formed my inward parts;
    you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
    my soul knows it very well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
    the days that were formed for me,
    when as yet there was none of them.

¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
    I awake, and I am still with you.

¹⁹ Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
    O men of blood, depart from me!
²⁰ They speak against you with malicious intent;
    your enemies take your name in vain.
²¹ Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
    And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
²² I hate them with complete hatred;
    I count them my enemies.

²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart!
          ²⁴ And see if there be any grievous way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting!

God searches me (Ps 139:1-6).

David knows that the Creator God is everywhere and inescapable (Ps 139:7-12). No human can hide from His searching gaze. He is infinite and personal, which is both comforting and frightening.

The writer to the Hebrews says something similar: “And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Heb 4:13).

No one likes to be naked and exposed, literally or figuratively. Some of us don’t like people to know us completely because we are afraid that they will discover something unpleasant, even wicked about us. We’ve been shocked at what we’ve seen lurking in our thought life and the filth that gushes out of our mouth in an unguarded moment.

Sometimes we don’t let people see who we really are, lest they judge or reject us. We feel unseen and unheard by those closest to us, so we pretend that all is well. Often, we disguise the hidden sins that are enslaving us, which we know we have no power to overcome.

But David describes a personal, infinite God who is present everywhere at the same time, a God who knows everything about us, even our anxious thoughts (Ps 139:23-24), darkest fantasies and habits of life (Ps 139:2-3; 11-12), even the motives behind our words (Ps 139:4). God is familiar with of all our ways (Ps 139:3). He knows everything about us, including the bits we’d prefer to keep hidden.

But it’s precisely this reality that ultimately leads David to invite the Lord to test and expose his heart—the seedbed of all sinful thoughts, words and deeds (Ps 139:23-24). Why would David want exposure?

Search me, O God!

Instead of avoiding a divine biopsy, David wants to be known by God, even if it exposes a malignant tumour that must be removed before it proves fatal (Ps 139:23-24). God’s thoughts and opinions are precious to him (Ps 139:17-18). He treasures the intimate relationship he has with the Lord, no matter what sin and frailty is exposed by His searchlight (Ps 139: 13-18).

No doubt King David had learned a painful lesson from his own ‘secret’ adultery and murder of Bathsheba’s husband. He had thought he would get away with his love affair, but God saw what he had done. The Lord sent Nathan the prophet to confront him in his duplicity, saying, “You are that man!” (2 Sam 12:7).

It cut David to the heart to realise that he had done evil in God’s sight (Ps 51:4) and his subsequent plea for mercy and forgiveness is recorded for us in Psalm 51:

“Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.”

David’s restoration was what drove him to seek a life of candour and integrity. He didn’t want to run or hide from God anymore. He actually wanted the Lord to find him out and arrest him before his sin could cause even greater damage. He wanted to know and be known by God, thoroughly and completely.

Likewise, for Christ followers, Psalm 139:23-24 reminds us that exposure is the only path to repentance and forgiveness. And it’s how we are freed from the destructive power of sin in our lives, to continue on God’s ‘everlasting way’.

We must not fool ourselves—Sin will always entangle us in its deceptive web. It will weigh us down and spoil our relationship with God (Heb 12:1). David knew the danger of sin that the writer of Hebrews later confirmed:

“Without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Heb 12:14).

Hatred of God’s enemies.

That’s why David’s imprecatory prayers (Ps 139:19-22) are not embarrassing verses that we should be tempted to skip when we read this Psalm. Even Christ and Paul quoted some of the imprecatory Psalms, which call down divine curses and express hatred for God’s enemies (John 15:25= Ps 69:4; John 2:17=Ps 69:9; Ps 69:22-23=Rom 11:9-10).

These imprecatory prayers of David assume the truth taught throughout Scripture that evil people can reach a point of such extreme, persistent hard-heartedness and contempt towards God, that the time of redemption is past and their judgment is inevitable.

Moreover, in these Psalms, David spoke as God’s inspired and anointed king. David foreshadowed Christ the Messiah, who has authority to pronounce final judgment on all God’s enemies, and will do so in the end (Rev 19:1; 11-21). Since the Lord is perfectly holy and all-knowing, his justice will always be proportionate and appropriate. There will be no leakage or collateral damage, as is the case when we take revenge.

David is not being self-righteous in these verses. He has seen how truly evil sin is, including his own, and is expressing moral repugnance, not personal vengeance against God’s enemies. Moreover, he is acutely aware of his own blind spots and need for repentance, as we also should be (Ps 139:23-24). After all, we are all God’s enemies until reconciled to God by Christ (Rom 5:10)

Where shall I go from your Spirit?

When I forget that God is the omniscient (all knowing), omnipresent (all present) and omnipotent (all powerful) Creator of the universe, I tend to make Him small in my mind. I try to do things in my own strength. I don’t consult with Him when I have an important decision to make. It is always because I have forgotten his eternal attributes and exaggerated my own.

Likewise, when I forget the Holy Spirit—the Helper who is with us forever (John 14:16) and who “helps us in our weakness” (Rom 8:26-27), I start seeing God as aloof from my struggles. I am left feeling hopeless and overwhelmed by challenges too big for me to handle. I feel no peace, just turmoil.

But even though David never saw Jesus in the flesh or the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, he prayed, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” (Ps 139:7)

It is remarkable how David knew and trusted the personal God who was active in his past, present and future, the God beyond time and space (Ps 139:13-16). And this understanding of God both as Creator and providential ruler gave David great consolation, confidence and courage. He was utterly convinced of God’s protective hand and leading light in his life (Ps 139:10-12).

How much more should we cherish the Lord’s presence, power and purpose as we look back on the cross and look forward to the moving of the Holy Spirit in our world and in future generations? Three thousand years since David died, Christ has not left us alone as orphans. Wherever we find ourselves, the risen Lord has made his home with us by His Spirit (John 14:23).

And so, let’s ask ourselves, “Where can I go from his Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” Of course the answer to these rhetorical questions is the same– Nowhere!! The Lord knows us warts and all, and yet he still loves and accepts us. He is there to help us when we’re struggling in ways that we have not even dared to admit to anyone else.

The Prince of Peace is beside us wherever we are, settling our troubled hearts (John 15:27; 16:33). Each new day, the Helper is directing us to Christ and reminding us of all that He has taught us in His Word (John 15:26). The Spirit of truth is always stirring our hearts, convicting us of sin and giving us the power to overcome (John 16:8; 13).

Instead of fear and slavery to sin, Christ has given us the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”. And the Holy Spirit will hold us fast until we see Christ face to face.

Psalm 139 reminds us that God accepts and loves his children despite knowing everything about us. Is it not the greatest privilege in the world to know and be known by God? Imagine living each day as if it were true.

Join us next week as we focus on Psalm 139:14-16 in “Fearfully and wonderfully made.”

The Great Divide

Part 4 of The Second Coming series, by Rosie Moore.

Jesus gives us a glimpse of his full majesty and mission in the last eschatological parable recorded by Matthew. In the parable of the sheep and the goats, we see that Christ’s return will be in stark contrast to the humble scene of his birth in Bethlehem, ‘while shepherds watched their flocks by night’. The second coming will usher in the final judgment, when Christ the King will separate the nations of the world, like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. The parable is about the great divide between two contrasting groups, the boundary between life and death.

Final judgment is the ultimate goal of history, when the Lord’s majesty, justice and mercy will be on full display.

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left ³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (Matt 25:31-46)

Three aspects of the final judgment struck me most in this parable:

1. Only two identities will separate humanity.
2. The mark of Christ’s sheep is their love for one another.
3. Judgment day is the only rational basis for justice in this world.

1. Only two identities

If you’re a city dweller, you may be confused about Christ’s analogy of sheep and goats. Sheep and goats look similar, but being raised as a farm girl, I can assure you that they are very different animals!

Sheep have wool and goats have hair. Sheep tails point down and goat tails point up. Sheep are grazers, while goats are browsers that tend to eat everything in sight. Sheep have a strong flocking instinct and follow their shepherd, while goats are more independent.

In Jesus’ time, shepherds allowed their sheep and goats to graze together in the day, but at night they would divide them into two separate groups, as their coats provided different levels of protection against the cold. In case you’re wondering, there’s nothing inherently good or bad about sheep and goats. They’re all delightful creatures, doing exactly what God made them to do. But Jesus used them as a useful picture of two different animals with distinct characteristics and destinies.

Jesus tells his disciples that on the final day, there will be a great divide of humanity unlike anything the world has seen. He will separate the nations on the basis of two identities—Sheep and goats, the righteous and the unrighteous. There is nothing fluid about these identities. They are binary.

Nor will the Lord ask on that day, “What would you prefer to identify as today—a sheep or a goat?” Since sheep and goats are separate species, we cannot choose or alter our identity on that day. Since they have different DNA, a sheep can never become a goat, and vice versa.

Moreover, the destinies of the sheep and goats are also in stark contrast: The blessed and the cursed. Those who are invited to come into God’s kingdom and those who are told to depart. Those who inherit an eternal kingdom prepared for them since the world’s creation, and those who go to eternal punishment. The sheep on the right hand of the King (a position of honour and privilege) and the goats on the left. Outcomes are based entirely on whether people are sheep are goats.

Some argue that this parable is about believers’ rewards or doing good works to escape judgment, but it is difficult to see how this is possible. There is no hybrid identity or destiny in this parable. So if we care about what Jesus is saying, it’s crucial to define our terms. Who do the “sheep” represent?

Scripture consistently identifies God’s redeemed people as his sheep. For example, believers often say together the words of David,

“Know that the Lord, he is God!
    It is he who made us, and we are his;
    we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture (Ps 100:3).

In John 10, Jesus identified Himself as the good shepherd promised by the prophet Ezekiel—the one who would rescue his flock and judge between people (Ezek 34:22, 23). Jesus claimed to be God’s Shepherd who knows his sheep and calls them each by name, who leads them out and gives them abundant life (John 10:3, 10). He lays down his life for his sheep (John 10:11, 14).

Jesus himself said that He is gathering his sheep from every nation into one flock and one sheepfold (John 10:16). These are the sheep from every nation who will inherit Christ’s future kingdom (Matt 25:34-36).

And so, the ‘sheep’ in Christ’s parable can only be those who know His voice and follow him as their own Shepherd (John 10:4). The sheep are those who enter the safety of the sheep pen via the door, who is Christ himself (John 10:9, 12-13). They do not find some alternative way to climb in.

“I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:9). And so, it is only by repentance and faith in Christ that we become His sheep– Jews and Gentiles alike (Matt 4:17; Acts 20:21).

Isn’t it amazing to think that Christ knows his sheep from every nation on earth, through every generation of history? He will not have to be introduced to his people. He will call out each one by name on the final day of judgment. And God’s sheep will follow their Shepherd all the way into the new creation—a kingdom of justice and righteousness. There, they will find eternal shelter in His presence:

“They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore, the sun shall not strike them nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Rev 7:16-17)

2. The mark of Christ’s sheep.

Care and compassion for spiritual siblings are spontaneous instincts of Christ’s sheep, as irrepressible as huddling in a flock, grazing on grass or drinking from a stream. On the other hand, carelessness and callousness reveal the heart of a hypocrite.

It’s evident from the parable that Christ is not judging the nations on the basis of their charity, but on the basis of their identity (Matt 25:33). Since Scripture cannot contradict itself, we can be sure that we are always saved by grace, through faith in Christ, not by our works. Nothing changes on the day of judgment (Eph 2:8-9, Rom 11:6).

But the King’s response in Matthew 25:40 and 45 are striking statements about the distinctive DNA of Christ’s people. True disciples will be known for their intuitive, unselfconscious charity towards their brothers and sisters in Christ– “the least of these brothers and sisters of mine”. And we need not guess what Christ meant, because He defined his ‘brothers and sisters’ in the spiritual sense (Matthew 12:46-50.)

So, in this parable, Jesus is not describing a generic compassion for all in need (which is also a good thing), but is highlighting the special kind of love that flows naturally out of his followers when they see their spiritual family in need– whether hungry, thirsty, unclothed, sick or in prison. We need only think of the many persecuted Christians around the world, as well as those close to us who are facing troubles, to know that ministries of mercy and compassion are really needed in Christ’s Church. It’s what identifies us as God’s people.

Remarkably, Christ identifies so deeply with the Church—his body—that whatever was done by the sheep, or omitted by the goats, was done to Him too. This bond is illustrated by Christ’s High Priestly prayer where he asks his Father to create unity and love amongst his present and future followers (John 17:11, 21, 23, 26).

Therefore, we can be sure that our Shepherd shares in the suffering and persecution of his Church today, the body for whom He died. It also stands to reason that Christ is greatly offended when believers hurt, lie and slander one another.

But when we minister to a fellow Christian who is grieving or needy, we are not performing some sort of ritual for Christ, nor earning brownie points for the day of judgment. Notice the genuine surprise of both the sheep and the goats at Christ’s verdict. They weren’t even aware of what they were doing when they acted or failed to act for his sake (Matt 25:37-39; 44).

This brotherly and sisterly love will always be the distinctive mark of a sheep waiting expectantly for Christ’s kingdom, because down-to-earth charity is the fruit of true faith (James 2:14-24).

“We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.” (1 John 3:14).

3. The only basis for justice.

What’s clear from the parable of the sheep and the goats is that Final Judgment will be both a fearful and wonderful thing, as God will do what is right in the end, and all the world will know that it is just. Justice is a buzzword today, but the Bible tells us that God will establish perfect justice on earth.

Deep down in our hearts, most people long for justice to be done. The idea that there might be no judgment at all—that people might get away with gross evil, abuse, tyranny, corruption, theft, oppression, rape, child trafficking, genocide, violence, greed and murder —is sickening.

Every human cry for justice is based on the fact that we’re made in God’s image and we instinctively know the difference between right and wrong. The Lord’s judgment is a pledge that the Creator hears our cries for justice and will not ignore any injustice or sin. He will overthrow evil and put all things right. His throne is established on justice.

Seven hundred years before Christ’s parable, Isaiah prophesied that one day the righteous Messiah would establish justice on earth:

^“And he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
    or decide by what he hears with his ears;
 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
    with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
    with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked (Isaiah 11:1-4)

A few decades after the Lord’s death and resurrection, the Apostle John saw this apocalyptic vision of Christ the Judge:

“I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. ¹² His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. ¹³ He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. ¹⁴ The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. ¹⁵ Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. ¹⁶ On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:11-16).

If we believe that history has no goal or purpose– that we are just the product of time and chance; that the fittest should survive and the weak should not; that there’s no final day of reckoning– then there cannot be a rational basis for applying justice in this world. There’s not even a logical foundation for right and wrong.

But Christ’s parable assures us that the day of reckoning is coming for all of us. We will either face judgment as a sheep, because Christ has absorbed the demands of justice on our behalf. Or we will face judgment as a goat, because we’ve not taken shelter in the Shepherd.

Christ’s redeemed people need not fear that day. It is a day of mercy, hope and blessing for his sheep. We are called his eternal heirs and siblings, not because we are better than others, but simply because Christ has absorbed God’s judgment in place of those who have placed their trust in Him. At the Reckoning, the sheep will be glorifying God because of His grace, nothing else.

The Good Shepherd has taken the punishment we deserve by laying down his life for his sheep. Isn’t it only natural that we would do the same for our brothers and sisters, as we wait for him to return?

This is the last devotion in a series on “The Second Coming”. If you’d like to read the previous three in this series, just click on the links below.

How to wait for Jesus

Part 4 of “The Second Coming” series. By Rosie Moore.

The key question asked in Matthew 24 and 25 is this: How do we wait for Jesus?

I’m much better at doing than waiting! Actually, one of my distinct childhood memories is waiting for my parents to arrive at the end of term to fetch me from boarding school and take me home. Sometimes they were late and I’d sit at my dormitory window longing and praying for their car to drive around the circle. It was hardly a traumatic experience, but it did reveal my impatient nature early on!

But when we look at Christ’s parables of the Ten Virgins and the Bags of gold, we see that believers are not expected to wait for Christ’s return like passengers standing idly at the taxi rank, or fiddling on our cellphones while waiting for an Uber. Christians are supposed to wait as stewards or trustees who know that they will give account to the Lord for their lives.

According to Jesus, His return at the end of the age will cause an irreversible division between people: One will be ready, while one will not (Matt 24:40-41). The wise bridesmaids will usher in the bridegroom with brightly lit lamps, while the foolish will scramble for oil in vain (Matt 25:1-13). Faithful servants will be working conscientiously in their Master’s household, while the wicked and lazy are abusing their positions (Matt 24:46, 49-51).

In Matthew 24 and 25, Jesus answers the key question of how to wait, using pictures and stories:

“Wait as those who don’t want to be surprised or shocked by your Master’s return (Matt 24:36-39). Wait as wise servants who are ready and expectant at all times, ‘because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you don’t expect him’ (Matt 24:42-44). Wait as those who know that your Master will be delayed a long time.” (Matt 25:13)

“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions” (Matt 24:45-47).

So how do believers wait for Jesus? Jesus told us to wait as stewards who must give account for our service. This is the point of the parable of the bags of gold, which we will focus on today.

The parable of the gold.

The parable of the gold bags builds on two previous stories Jesus told—the absentee house owner and the Ten Virgins (Matt 24:45-51; 25:1-13). It’s important to place it in this context.

Last week, in “The Midnight Cry”, we saw that the only way to prepare for Christ’s future return is to accept His gospel invitation now, by faith. The folly of the five virgins was not merely that they were forgetful or negligent. They were foolish because they expected to be admitted to the wedding banquet while utterly unprepared to meet Christ as their Bridegroom. They did not know Christ or the holiness that only the Bridegroom can impart (Matt 25:12). And so, without ‘oil’ in their lamps, they were gatecrashers in God’s kingdom.

No small fortune.

The parable of the bags of gold (also known as the talents) rests on three assumptions already established in the parable of the ten virgins: The Lord’s return will be 1) after a long time, 2) at an unexpected time, and 3) only those who know Christ personally will be prepared to meet Him on that day.

The parable is about three slaves commissioned by their Master to invest some of his huge fortune while he is away. Because it’s usually called the parable of the talents, I often pictured ‘talents’ as human gifts, like a little toolkit of personal strengths or spiritual gifts that God has given to each person. While this is true, it misses the meaning of the Greek word ‘talenton’ in the parable.

A single talenton was a measure of money worth about six thousand denarii, roughly twenty years of wages, or around one million US dollars in today’s terms! A single ‘talenton’ of gold was the most valuable measure of all, worth many millions of dollars. And so, for an average South African, a single talenton would be worth more than a lifetime’s earnings. Imagine a room full of gold bars!

So, when the Master entrusted his slaves with five, two and one ‘talents’, he didn’t just toss them a few coins to invest on the Jerusalem Stock Exchange! They were commissioned to invest a massive fortune belonging to the Master, “each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey” and “returned after a long time” (Matt 25:15; 19).

Once we understand the value of the talenton, it’s clear that the property owner demonstrated shocking benevolence towards his slaves, giving them liberal latitude and responsibility when he “entrusted his wealth to them.” He expected them to step up to the plate; to actively buy and build businesses, farms, bakeries, mills, wells and fishing boats.

Although slavery in the first century was very different to the African slave trade, this liberal stewardship given to a slave would have stunned Jesus’s hearers. These three slaves were expected to use their discretion and skill to build buildings; to be enterprising and strategic in their planning, and to employ people in the name of the Master, over a long period of time. They were not commanded to wait passively for their Master to return.

When we think of what this stewardship implied, let’s remember that in those days, there was no online trading from the comfort of high-rise offices, no robots like Blackrock’s “Aladdin” to compute failsafe investment algorithms! They were expected to take calculated risks and work diligently, as they invested millions and millions of their Master’s wealth.

Moreover, each slave was individually responsible to multiply and improve his Master’s assets until the settling of accounts. Like the ten virgins, accounts were not settled as a collective.

This is how the slaves responded to their Master’s commission and this is how the Master responded when he settled accounts with them:

Settling accounts

“The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. ¹⁷ So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. ¹⁸ But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

¹⁹ “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. ²⁰ The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

²¹ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

²² “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

²³ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

²⁴ “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵ So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

²⁶ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷ Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

²⁸ “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. ²⁹ For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. ³⁰ And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (Matt 25:16-30)

From this parable, there are at least two practical implications of what it means to wait for Christ’s return.

1. Improve our Master’s assets.

Don Carson points out that there is no sin in the quiet pride of the first two slaves. They simply know that they’ve worked hard and invested wisely with what was “entrusted” to them” by doubling their capital (Matt 25:20, 22). There is nothing narcissistic about knowing that they have increased their Master’s assets.

The first two slaves recognise that the Lord assigned them their place in the world “each according to their ability”. They take no credit, nor feel shame, for their initial loan, because it was the Master’s wealth to distribute as he pleased. They understand that they are stewards, not owners of what God has given them.

And so, as faithful stewards, we’ll joyfully embrace our role as Christ’s slaves. Our job is not to create a name or legacy for ourselves, but for Him and His kingdom. We have the freedom to be industrious and creative wherever God has placed us, so there is dignity and individuality in this role.

As faithful stewards, we recognize and improve whatever the Lord has put into our hands by his providence — Time, education, money, gifts and skills, mentors, good health, living in a country where we still have religious freedoms; being raised in a Christian family; having a local church where we can serve and support others; owning a home or business. We are alert and put all this to work for His kingdom.

This parable opens our eyes to the vast bag of treasure God has placed in our hands to steward. Do you long for him to say, “Well done, my good and faithful slave? Come and share in your Master’s happiness!”

2. Work as if it matters.

The foolish virgins failed because they thought their part in the Groom’s return was unimportant, so they made no provision for it.  But the wicked, lazy slave failed, not because he had one talenton, but because he thought his part was too hard and unfair. His disdain and resentment towards God is palpable, so that even what he had was taken from him.

It’s ironic that the lazy slave refused to serve his Master, who was stunningly generous towards him in the first place. This was Christ’s accusation of the Pharisees, but there are still many ministers of the gospel and pretenders today who are lazy and disinterested in their commission.

Instead of working for the Master’s eye, they exploit and mislead people for their own ends, building their own kingdoms of wood, hay and stubble, living as if they’ll never account to Christ for their work. They treat their stewardship with contempt and live like God is a cruel taskmaster.

But the ‘waiting’ of a faithful steward means ‘working’ as if it matters. The first slave was alert and “went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more.” Instead of taking his commission casually, he was a gutsy entrepreneur for his Master. His accountability and loyalty drove him to action.

Our work matters, because the way we serve God today prepares us for eternity. Work takes many shapes and forms in this world, but when Christ returns, He will set up a fruitful Kingdom on the new earth, filled with diligent, responsible, joyful, persevering, creative workers! (Revelation 22:1-21)

It will be labour minus the fatigue, frustrations, jealousies, failures, bankruptcies, redundancies, discouragements and negative cash flow of much of our work, marred by sin. And every precious person we have led into the Kingdom will be there to share it with us.

When the Lord returns and the accounts are finally settled, faithful stewards will be given more responsibilities and will share in our Master’s happiness. What an inconceivable reward for our labours!

“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.” (Revelation 22:12)

The Midnight Cry

Part 3 of series “The Second Coming”, by Rosie Moore

“The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.” (Matthew 25:5-6; 13)

Jesus is coming back! We know this is true. If Jesus’s prophesies and parables in Matthew 24 and 25 are accurate pictures, His return will be sudden, swift and spectacular. Jesus’s appearing will be unexpected and unmistakable and His judgment will be final and inescapable. No last minute bargaining will be entertained on that day. 

Jesus said that His return will be like the flood in Noah’s time; like a thief breaking into a house at night; like a returning house owner; like lightning illuminating the sky. That’s why the Lord instructs his followers to be spiritually prepared for his coming, “Therefore keep watch, for you do not know the day or the hour” (Matt 24:42; 25:13).

Jesus’s three parables in Matthew 25 clarify what it means to be ready for His return and how to live until He comes: The wise and foolish virgins with their lamps; the landowner who loaned money to his servants according to their abilities; and the separation of the sheep and the Goats are challenging parables. They challenge our beliefs and behaviour as we anticipate and prepare for Christ’s return. Every generation of believers should be spiritually prepared to usher Him in as King.

Although there is debate about the meaning of details, it’s impossible to miss the essence of these eschatological parables: There will come a day when the door to God’s kingdom will shut. No one can buy or borrow spiritual preparation at the last minute, because every person is responsible for his or her own spiritual condition. In this sense, faith in Christ is a matter of individual, not collective, responsibility.

Let’s hone in on the first of these parables today.

The Ten Virgins/ Bridesmaids

This parable sounds strange to our 21^st century ears, but when we understand a 1^st century Jewish wedding, its meaning becomes clearer and richer. Customary weddings were by no means instant or casual affairs. Don Carson gives us helpful cultural context to the parable:

“Normally the bridegroom with some close friends left his home to go to the bride’s home, where there were various ceremonies, followed by a procession through the streets—after nightfall—to his home. The ten virgins may be bridesmaids who have been assisting the bride; and they expect to meet the groom as he comes from the bride’s house…Everyone in the procession was expected to carry his or her own torch. Those without a torch would be assumed to be party crashers or even brigands. The festivities, which might last several days, would formally get underway at the groom’s house.”

One can just imagine the air bristling with expectation, anticipation and preparation for the Groom’s arrival. The marriage definitely didn’t just start on the wedding day– unlike couples today who waltz off to Home Affairs and find a marriage officer to marry them! The anticipation of a Jewish union began on the day that a father would arrange a bride for his son and then pay a pre-determined “bride price” on her behalf.

The son (the bridegroom) would return to his father’s house to make arrangements and prepare a home for his wife, while the bride prepared and consecrated herself in anticipation for the groom’s return to her house. Then the bride and groom shared a final glass of wine together before parting ways one last time.

Suddenly, at an unexpected moment, even in the middle of the night, the groom would return to take his bride to the wedding feast. The lamps were supposed to be lit and the groom was ushered in. Oil was the means by which they did their job of welcoming the groom and leading the way to the wedding ceremony.

After the wedding feast, the groom would take his bride to the home that he had prepared for her and the marriage would be consummated.

And so, there was a considerable delay between the paying of the bride price and the time of the wedding feast. This explains why Jesus says, “the bridegroom was a long time in coming” (Matt 25:5). The fact that we’re still waiting for Christ two millenia later is no surprise to Jesus, as he told us so.

Here’s the Bridegroom!

I find it beautiful that Jesus chooses to set the stage for his return against the backdrop of this intimate picture of marriage and the joyful signal of his appearance. It gives us a glimpse of the intimate love relationship that God has forged with his people and their anticipation of his return. What a privilege to watch and prepare for the Groom in our own lifetime!

But we need “oil in our lamp” to do our job. In these days of Loadshedding, it might be more apt to charge our LED torch before the darkness of Stage 4 sets in! Once the electricity goes off, it’s futile to plug it into the dead socket.

The metaphor of the bridegroom wasn’t an arbitrary one. On many occasions during his ministry, Jesus pictured himself as the Bridegroom who will return to take his people to the home that He has prepared for them. (John 3:27-30; Matt 9:15; Mark 2:19-20; John 14:2-3).

Of course, people today are encouraged to self- identify as anything they like, but Christ’s self-identification as the Groom was particularly controversial. It riled the Jewish religious leaders, who knew full well that Jesus was identifying as Yahweh.

Throughout the Old Testament, God pictured himself as the Bridegroom of his people Israel (Isaiah 54:4-6, 62:4-5; Hosea 2:19), and like any loving husband, God has always jealously guarded the exclusive devotion of his people– his bride (Deut 6:14-15).

In the New Testament, Jesus’s claim to be the Bridegroom is fleshed out by the Apostle Paul, who describes the Church as Christ’s Bride, for whom He laid down his life in order to sanctify her and present her “in splendour, without spot or wrinkle, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Eph 5:25-32).

This helps us understand why Christ mentioned ten virgins as the supporting roles in his parable. Most commentators agree that they represent those who profess to be part of God’s kingdom, his Bride. But there are foolish and wise virgins in Christ’s story. The wise ones took oil along with their lamps, while the foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. At the sound of the midnight cry and the returning bridegroom,

“All the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

⁹ “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

¹⁰ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

¹¹ “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’

¹² “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ (Matt 25:7-12)

Once the midnight cry comes, it will be too late to cross over from being a foolish virgin to a wise virgin. In other words, no matter how long the delay seems, there will be a certain day when the door to the kingdom will finally be shut (Matt 25:10-12). The time to be wise is now.

Spot the difference.

The foolish and wise virgins had a lot in common. They all professed to be virgins. They all “took their lamps”. They all professed faith to “meet the bridegroom”. And yet the foolish took lamps but no oil, while the wise did both (Matt 25:3-4). This was the only difference.

The Puritan, Thomas Shepard (1605-1649), preached for four years on this one parable! You can read his sermon notes here. Shepard described the wise as having been born again, filled with the Holy Spirit and the power of grace. In contrast, he described foolish virgins as “refined hypocrites in the visible church” when Christ returns, like the pretenders discussed in Hebrews 6:4-6,

“It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵ who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age ⁶ and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.”

The story of the Ten bridesmaids is an exciting and motivating parable, but it’s also meant to be a sober warning.

An incentive to prepare.

This parable is exciting, because it points to the perfect love story that spans from Genesis to Revelation. It reminds us how God the Father has sent his Son to secure his treasured Bride, the Church, for himself. He paid an exorbitant price for his Bride— the life of his own Son (1 Cor 6:20). This is the ultimate dowry or lobola for those who are in relationship with Christ by faith. It gives us a powerful incentive to persevere in faith.

What’s more, this parable reminds believers that our names are on the guest list at the great marriage feast between God and his people. We are called out to meet the Bridegroom one day (Rev 19:7-8; 1 Thess 4:16), to go with Him to the home that He has prepared for those who love him (John 14:2-3). What a privilege to be bound to our Groom in an unbreakable covenant relationship!

This covenant relationship is a powerful motivation. It is because of this ‘marriage’ that Peter urges believers to be holy, watchful and awake as we await Christ’s coming. Being holy and obedient is integral to how the Bride makes herself ready for Christ’s return:

^“Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. ¹⁴ As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. ¹⁵ But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ¹⁶ for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:13-16).

A sober warning.

But this parable is not only exciting and motivating. It is a sobering snapshot of the return of Christ the King. The midnight cry will elicit a cry of joy in some, but a cry of mourning and anguish in others (Matt 24:30; Matt 25:6; 11).

Jesus warns us that when he returns, there will be many participants in a church or Bible study setting, enjoying the fellowship and benefits of God’s people while tasting God’s goodness. They look like they belong to the bridal party, but are in reality, “foolish virgins,” who do not have a relationship with the Bridegroom at all.

Jesus identifies why the foolish will be spiritually unprepared: It is because they do not know him personally (Matt 25:12). They do not have their own relationship with Jesus. No friend, pastor or family member can stand in as a proxy for this relationship with Christ, just as no one can take a spouse’s place in a marriage.

It’s easy to walk and talk like a Christian, but the question that Jesus asks in verse 12 is not if we called Him “Lord, Lord” in our lifetime, but if we know Him and He knows us.

And so, the uncertain date of Christ’s final appearing is not a reason to be complacent or to skeptical. Rather, it’s an urgent incentive to accept Christ’s invitation to the wedding feast now, while the door is still open (Matt 22:1-14).

After all, for over two thousand years, the gospel invitation has been going out into the streets, to both the “good and the bad” (Matt 22:9-10). Until the day the door is shut, God’s wedding hall has infinite capacity for guests.

Waiting is not enough.

But waiting passively is not enough to keep our lamp alight.

Christ’s delayed return is not an excuse for a believer to sit around and speculate, quit our job, or become disillusioned with the world. Rather, it is a powerful incentive to live out each day as if it were our last, whilst also living as if our whole life stretched ahead of us. Our readiness as Christ’s Bride includes preparing the next generation for their service to the King.

We hold tightly to our Bridegroom, who is holding fast to us. We charge our lamps by living holy lives that look different from the world around us. We draw our fuel from the oil of the Holy Spirit and a deep affection for Christ. That’s how we will be wise.

Prayer.

Lord, we know that your delay means we are still living in times of mercy, patience and grace, when many more will enter your kingdom. We long to be part of that work! Make us faithful and wise servants who invite others to your banquet, so that your wedding hall may be filled with guests before the door finally shuts. May affection for Jesus fuel our lamps, so that we will light the path to the Bridegroom. Give us daily grace and light from your Spirit, so that our lamps will always shine brightly with joy, peace, gentleness, faith, hope, love, perseverance and eager expectancy for the return of our Lord Jesus.

Amen.

As In the Days of Noah

Part 2 of Series: The Second Coming, by Rosie Moore

Jesus told us what we need to know about his return. His pictures help us see that it will be sudden and visible; spectacular, triumphant and inescapable. Jesus said that it will be like lightning, like a thief in the night, like the Flood in the days of Noah. These apocalyptic images are not literal, but they give us a hint of what the Second Coming will be like.

^“For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” (Matt 24:27).

 ^“As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.  For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;  and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man” (Matt 24:37-39).

It’s sometimes useful to look at history to gain perspective of our own times.

The Second Coming (1919)

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand…

(The Second Coming, by W.B Yeats- 1865-1939)

These are lines from William Butler Yeats’ poem, “The Second Coming” which he wrote in 1919, soon after the end of the First World War. This was known as “The Great War” because it was the biggest war yet, and “The War to End All Wars” because it was so horrific that everyone hoped it would be the last war ever. It resulted in about 20 million deaths.

The poem was also written shortly after the Easter Rising in Ireland, a rebellion that was brutally suppressed, and the Russian Revolution of 1917 which overthrew the long rule of the Czars and ushered in a period of lingering chaos in Russia. No wonder Yeats expressed his sense that the world he knew was spiralling into chaos and coming to an end.

Sadly, the year that Yeats died marked the beginning of World War 2, which wiped out a further 75 million people in another “blood-dimmed tide”. Josef Stalin’s communist regime killed a further 10.5 million Russians in the Gulag, the Great Purge and the Ukrainian Famine.

Mao Zedang outdid both Hitler and Stalin with his “Great Leap Forward” economic policy, which ironically led to the deaths of 45 million Chinese people, mostly through starvation. When we look at human history, it does seem true that “the best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passionate intensity.” All of this took place in just the 20^th century.

But here we are in 2022, still seeing things falling apart. In every sphere of individual, family, political, moral and social life, “the falcon cannot hear the falconer.”

Things fall apart.

As we look forwards to the technology revolution, we may fear that the “gyre” is widening, as humanity spins further and further away from its source—the Creator God himself. Like Yeats, we may be thinking, “Surely the centre cannot hold and the Second Coming is at hand!”

But Yeats did not write The Second Coming from a biblical worldview. Although his words resonate with us and express the birth pains of a fallen world, his poem describes historical cycles and an apocalypse very different from the Christian vision of the end of the world.

The Bible does not give us a date or time for the Second Coming of Christ, but it does tell us that at an unknown but certain moment in the future, Jesus Christ will appear in full majesty to judge the world, overthrow evil and establish God’s kingdom promised in the Old and New Testament. This Kingdom will never end and will be the home of righteousness (2 Peter 3:12-13).

The Bible also teaches that the historical Coming of Jesus between 1BC and AD33 was a preview of the glorious Parousia (appearing or arrival) of the Messiah. The Second Coming is the ultimate climax of history. Thus, human history is linear, not cyclical.

And so, however much things seem to be falling apart now, God has given us four certain promises for the future:

1. Jesus will return in glory.
2. Death will be finally conquered.
3. The entire cosmos will be restored to its rightful condition.
4. Christ will overthrow evil and establish perfect justice.

When will this happen?

In Matthew 24, Christ gives us a vision of the future through multifocal lenses.

Although He concentrates on events that would soon take place in the disciples’ own lifetimes, like the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem in 70AD, Christ also gives a panorama of the whole era known as the ‘last days’—the era between Christ’s ascension and his return. Then He zooms in on His triumphant return, known in the Old Testament as the great “Day of the Lord”.

Christ was answering his disciples’ questions: “When will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?” (Matt 24:3)

Like us, the first century disciples wanted signs and certainty, but when we seek certainty, we often become susceptible to being deceived. That is why Jesus starts his prophesies about the future with this warning,

Watch out that no one deceives you!

“Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁵ For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. ⁶ You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁷ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of birth pains” (Matt 24:4-8)

²³ At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. ²⁴ For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵ See, I have told you ahead of time.” (Matt 24:23-25).

Like the disciples, we too must hear Jesus’s warning not to be gullible, fearful or speculative about the future. Speculation can be a deceptive diversion from the work that we’ve given to do as Christ’s stewards on earth (Matt 24:45-47).

Frightening world events should not alarm or control us, because Jesus told us “ahead of time” to expect them (Matt 24:25).  What’s more, Christ says that they are the beginning of birth pains, not necessarily the final contractions before the restored creation is birthed.

And did you notice that Jesus specifically didn’t give us a timeline of events leading up to his Second coming? Instead, he spoke in apocalyptic language and focused on the need for Christians to live now in the light of the future reality. He specifically told us,

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father (Matt 24:36).

Christ’s point throughout chapter 24 is that we must be ready at all times for His return, resisting our cravings for signs and dates that not even He or the angels are privy to.

Many of the events that Jesus foretold in Matthew 24 were indeed fulfilled in AD 68-70, when Jerusalem was besieged and destroyed. More than a million Jews were murdered or died of starvation, and women and children were taken as slaves. It was a devastating judgment on Jerusalem. Emperor Titus put an idol on the site of the burned temple just as Jesus had foretold (Matt 24:15-22).

Moreover, as Jesus prophesied, his followers were persecuted in their lifetimes (Matt 24:9-10). They were killed because they worshipped Jesus and not Caesar, refusing to place the Lord alongside the gods of Rome.

Because many layers of Christ’s prophecies have already been fulfilled, and are being fulfilled in our own lifetimes, we can trust what He said about the future too. Jesus answered his disciples’ questions by giving them some signs to look out for:

Less love, more wickedness.

Leading up to Christ’s return, we can be sure that wickedness will increase and the love of most will grow cold (Matt 24:12).

With false teaching and loose morals comes a particularly destructive disease—the loss of true love for God and others. Therefore, people will increasingly love only themselves and hate what is good.

Consequently, people will become more abusive, boastful, prideful, ungrateful, slanderous, treacherous, hedonistic, conceited, brutal and lacking in self restraint. Paul confirms this increase in wickedness and self-obsession in his letter to Timothy (2 Tim 3:1-4).  Our narcissistic culture is no surprise to the Lord.

More deceit and lies.

False prophets and false saviours will persist, deceiving even believers, “if that were possible” (Matt 24:24). Only a solid foundation in God’s Word will prepare us to discern the distortions of false messages that abound throughout the last days. There will be an intolerance for sound doctrine (2 Tim 4:3).

There will be an increase in knowledge, yet people will be “always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth” (2 Tim 3:7). Our culture is a testimony to this craving for information, but disdain for the truth.

More turmoil and persecution.

Christ says that wars, famines, persecution and natural disasters will continue to rock our world until He returns. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom (Matt 24:6-7). “You will be hated by all nations because of me.” (Matt 24:9).

Luke’s record adds diseases (Luke 21:11), promiscuity (Luke 17:28-29) and prosperity (Luke 17:28) as further signs of creation’s intensifying birth pains.

“Such things must happen, but the end is still to come” (Matt 24:6).

The triumph of the gospel.

But even while evil persists and increases, we can be absolutely sure that “the gospel of the kingdom will continue to be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matt 24:14). “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Matt 24:35).

This wonderful promise is also a wonderful mission of mercy, which is still ours today. We are gospel witnesses to the nations until Christ returns in glory! From God’s perspective, there is nothing hopeless or out of control about our world. That is why Christ says to his followers, “See to it that you are not alarmed” (Matt 24:6).

While the Lord is gathering a people for himself, His kingdom will keep growing, like a stubborn plant persistently pushing its way through the hard and thorny earth.

This is the gospel work that all Christ followers are to be busy with, as God’s “faithful and wise servants” (Matt 24:45). We are to “stay awake” because we do not know when our Lord will come” (Matt 24:42).

Jesus paints a beautiful picture of an attentive servant– a joyful believer, alert to opportunities to love and serve people. It’s this kind of service that marks the future kingdom.

As in the days of Noah.

Peter reflects Christ’s picture of people living their normal lives, scoffing at the idea that Christ will ever return in judgment, just as they scoffed at Noah building the Ark when there wasn’t a drop of rain. They insist that, “everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” (2 Peter 3:3-4).

But as in the days of Noah, there will be no room for bargaining and last-minute pleas when Christ returns. His appearing will be the decisive end of the world as we know it.

“At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory (Matt 24:30-31)

Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.  Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left (Matt 24:40-41).

If Christ’s return is as unexpected and inescapable as the worldwide Flood, we have an infinitely greater Ark to take refuge in than the ship that Noah built. Our Ark is the Lord Jesus himself (1 Peter 3:20-21; Heb 11:7; Gen 7:17).

Prayer

Lord, we don’t know exactly when you will return, but we trust that you will come back. We don’t know exactly how you will appear and gather your people from the four winds of the earth, but we trust that you will send your angels to accomplish what is humanly impossible. We trust that the gospel will continue to flourish in people’s lives and fill the earth until you return. Help us not to be alarmed by the rise in evil, but rather to focus on being gospel witnesses and living like the day is already here. Give us strength to be faithful and wise servants of your righteous kingdom, taking care of whatever you have put in front of us. In Jesus’s name, Amen.

Listen to this beautiful hymn, “I cannot tell”. It was one of our wedding hymns!

“But this I know, the skies will thrill with rapture….

A Watertight Guarantee

Series: The Second Coming.

Part 1: A Watertight Guarantee, by Rosie Moore.

Sometime last year I bought a shiny new iron, but I’m sad to report that it’s already broken! Actually, broken appliances are a recurring theme in our house, as I always go for the cheapest one in the shop. You know the sayings, “You get what you pay for,” and “Penny wise-pound foolish!” That’s me, always looking for a bargain!

But the most irritating thing about a bargain is the small print. When you look closely at the box, you realize that the guarantee is only valid for one year and I’m always a month outside the warranty period. But come to think of it, most securities that the world offers are pretty flimsy and peppered with loopholes—Insurance, medical aid, investments, the weather report, Covid vaccines. They never quite deliver as expected.

In contrast, the real, bodily ascension of Christ in around 33AD, in full sight of credible witnesses, is a guarantee without loopholes. It is a watertight pledge that Christ will return to earth to take his people to our eternal home—a home where He rules as uncontested King, where there will be no sin, no sorrow, no sickness and no death.

Luke describes Christ’s glorious ascension:

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. ¹⁰ And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, ¹¹ and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:8-11; Luke 24:50-53).

Ascension Day.

When we celebrated Ascension day on 26^th May 2022, Christians remembered one of Jesus’s crucial works of redemption. The Ascension confirms that Christ’s work on the cross is done and it also anticipates the Second Coming as the pinnacle of redemption. Old Testament believers understood this as the great “Day of the Lord.”

There are no doubts, no time prescriptions, no conditions, no ifs and buts, no limitations and no indemnification clauses in the promise that the angels gave in verse 11! Jesus himself promised to return and take us to the home that He has prepared for us (John 14:1-3). So, if Christ is not a liar nor a lunatic, He is the King who will come back in the same way that He ascended into heaven. He guaranteed it!

We affirm the significance of the Ascension every time we say the Apostles’ Creed, “He ascended into heaven, He is seated at the right hand of the Father, and He will come to judge the living and the dead.”

“But why”, you may ask, “did Jesus not just slip away quietly like he did many other times? Why this spectacular departure?” Let’s look at why the Ascension matters.

1. Climactic coronation.

Christ’s Ascension into heaven is the climax of everything that Jesus announced about God’s Kingdom coming to earth (Luke 4:17-21, 43; 8:1). In many ways, the Ascension is Christ’s coronation as King. In full view of his disciples, Jesus literally ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father. The Bible tells us what this means:

The seated Christ indicates that He has finished his work of atonement and is now taking His place as ruler of the Church and the cosmic King of the universe, “far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come” (Eph 1:21-22).

Tim Keller explains that the Ascension is like an outline of what is happening in the spiritual realm, “It is a new enthronement for Jesus, ushering in a new relationship with us and with the whole world… Jesus was tracing out physically what was happening cosmically and spiritually.”

Notice the impact of this final miracle on the disciples who witnessed it. Instantly they worshipped Jesus, not as a man or a friend, but as their King, praising God as they waited for the promised Holy Spirit (Luke 24:52-53).

As doubtful, blind and fearful as the disciples had been, the Ascension marked a turning point. It triggered the unleashing of the Holy Spirit and convinced the disciples to align themselves with the true King of the universe, above the Jewish authorities and the Emperor of Rome. The Lord Jesus, who had burst out of the tomb just 40 days beforehand, had given them a sure guarantee of his return as King.

Hearing the angels’ promise and seeing their glorified Saviour’s body rise into the sky gave the disciples confidence to be Christ’s witnesses to the ends of the earth, even though it cost them their lives. No wonder they gazed into the heavens in amazement! Clearly, this was no hallucination or out-of-body experience. Luke the physician records it as historical fact.

The impact on the eyewitnesses was revolutionary and transformational. A short while later we see Peter (the cowardly denier of Christ) proclaiming the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ as inseparable chapters in the gospel story (Acts 2:22-36). Peter does not leave out the ascension, but views it as proof that Christ is God’s long awaited King, in David’s line!

This is Peter’s bold conclusion on the Day of Pentecost:

“For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
³⁵     until I make your enemies your footstool.”’

³⁶ Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” (Acts 2:34-36).

Moreover, in his letters, the down-to-earth fisherman is utterly convinced that the ascended Christ is God’s promised King who will wind up human history and restore the new heavens and new earth:

“ For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.  (2 Peter 1:16).

¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.¹¹ Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives ¹² as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. ¹³ But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. (2 Peter 3:10-13)

Everything that Peter believed about the Second Coming and the new creation was firmly rooted in, and guaranteed by, the Ascension of Christ, which he personally witnessed.

If it weren’t for the Ascension of Christ, the wheels of Christianity would have surely fallen off shortly after 33AD. Jesus would have been just another wannabe messiah who was taken down by the power of Rome. But because the momentous event witnessed by the disciples was true, nothing could stop the the gospel spreading like wildfire.

2. Unleashing the Holy Spirit.

Here’s what I love most in Luke’s account: “Why do you stand here looking up into the sky?!” (Acts 1:11). It’s such a common sense question for such a surreal setting! The two angels order the disciples to get their heads out the clouds and back to earth, “Now’s no time for standing around and staring into space. It’s time to get on with your King’s mission!”

As soon as Christ leaves earth and ascends to heaven, the Holy Spirit launches the Gospel into Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and all the earth, just as Jesus promised. Jesus’s departure ushers in the age of the Spirit (Acts 1:8). And when the Holy Spirit is unleashed, Jesus is no longer limited by time and place as He was in his earthly body. That’s exactly what we see on the day of Pentecost and throughout the book of Acts.

Jesus promised that the gospel will continue to be preached in the power of the Holy Spirit, “throughout the world, as a testimony to all nations” (Matt 24:14). And so, because of the Holy Spirit, Jesus will be with every generation of the church until the harvest is gathered in and the great commission is complete (Matt 28:20).

After the Ascension, the Holy Spirit transformed these disciples from cowards into courageous men. Faith overcame their fear, as they grounded their entire lives on the fact that Christ was the cosmic king who would return. If we are believers, we too are Spirit-filled witnesses, “to preach repentance and forgiveness of sins in his name to all nations”, until our King returns (Luke 24:47-48). What a blessing to have a mission beyond ourselves!

Actually, without Christ’s Ascension, Christians would have no purpose beyond ourselves in this world. We would be aimless wanderers on this planet. But because Jesus has ascended to his heavenly throne, his followers are part of a Kingdom much bigger than ourselves or our nation states (Acts 1:9). That is what the disciples saw as they looked up into the sky. Christ has given every believer a mission. We are the royal priesthood of believers.

3. Our great guarantee.

No matter how much death and disease, turbulence, hatred and division we are experiencing in our world right now, Christ’s Ascension is a watertight guarantee. Not only has Christ pledged that He will return in glory to take his people home, but even now, his Ascension secures us a heavenly High Priest who always has the ear of God.

And because Christ ascended to heaven, we have the Holy Spirit as a pledge of our Saviour’s presence that defies all barriers of space and time. It was Christ the ascended King that Stephen glimpsed when he, filled with the Holy Spirit, faced his executioners:

“But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶ And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God (Acts 7:55-56).”

Stephen saw Jesus standing, not sitting!

So too, for every believer, the ascended Jesus is an active Mediator who pleads our case before God and prays for us when we face troubles in this world (John 17:20; 24; 26). He defends us against Satan’s accusations when we sin and He reassures us of God’s unfailing love for us (1 John 2:1; Rom 8:34).

“Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to intercede for them (Heb 7:25).

That is the watertight guarantee of Christ’s ascension.

Prayer

Lord, make your ascension real for us, so we may see you as our King and active Advocate in heaven. Thank you that you have pledged to return to gather your people from the four corners of the earth and take us to our eternal home. We long eagerly and expectantly for that wonderful day of redemption! Thank you that our enemies are also your enemies, and that you will put all those enemies under your feet before you return. May your Spirit assure us of your strength, love and presence at all times, especially when our hearts are troubled. Amen.

Join us for the next few weeks as we look at “The Second Coming of Christ.” The devotions will be rooted in Matthew 24-25 and Luke 12.

Part 1: A Watertight Guarantee.

Part 2: As in the days of Noah (Matt 24:36-44)

Part 3: The Midnight Cry (Matt 25:1-24)

Part 4: The Sheep and the Goats (Matt 25:31-46)

Part 5: Prepared for the Second Coming (Luke 12)

Seeing the goodness of God.

Series: Contentment. Part

In the last three devotions, we’ve been looking at the value of cultivating contentment in our lives. In the first devotion, “Godliness with contentment is great gain”, I wrote:

“As hard as it is to see, we are often frustrated and dissatisfied with life because fundamentally we don’t trust how God is taking care of us. We depend too much on outward things for our joy and peace.

 But at the core of a discontented heart is unbelief and rebellion against God’s rule in my life, which includes what I have, who I am, and the high and low points of my life. We will only be contented people if we recognize and confess the sin of discontentment, replacing it with a deep trust in God’s goodness and sufficiency.”

In this final devotion on contentment, I will be focusing on how to replace discontentment with a deep trust in God’s goodness and sufficiency.

Training our eyes.

I’ve often noticed that my heart grows discontented when I become too accustomed to the goodness of God and start taking it for granted:

I no longer notice the bright moon above the front door greeting me when I arrive home at night.

I ignore the little birds chirping on my window sill in the morning.

I don’t see God’s provision in the delicious food in front of me or his kindness in the smile on our Golden Retriever’s face.

I’m distracted when I hear another story of God’s redemptive work in someone’s life.

Discontent creeps in quietly when our spiritual eyes are dull to the goodness of God all around us. It’s as though we are wearing blinders. Sometimes our eyes are unable to see and appreciate the goodness of God, because we are too distracted to see the powerful evidence of Him right in front of us.

Today we will use Psalm 145 to train our eyes to see five demonstrations of God’s goodness. It is a wonderful Psalm of praise that David sung to remind himself of a time when all people will join together in recognizing and worshipping the Lord of Lords.

Psalm 145

I will exalt you, my God the King;
I will praise your name for ever and ever.
² Every day I will praise you
and extol your name for ever and ever.

³ Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom.
⁴ One generation commends your works to another;
they tell of your mighty acts.
⁵ They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty—
and I will meditate on your wonderful works.
⁶ They tell of the power of your awesome works—
and I will proclaim your great deeds.
⁷ They celebrate your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

⁸ The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in love.

⁹ The Lord is good to all;
he has compassion on all he has made.
¹⁰ All your works praise you, Lord;
your faithful people extol you.
¹¹ They tell of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might,
¹² so that all people may know of your mighty acts
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
¹³ Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures through all generations.

The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises
and faithful in all he does.
¹⁴ The Lord upholds all who fall
and lifts up all who are bowed down.
¹⁵ The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food at the proper time.
¹⁶ You open your hand
and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

¹⁷ The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and faithful in all he does.
¹⁸ The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
¹⁹ He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
he hears their cry and saves them.
²⁰ The Lord watches over all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.

²¹ My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord.
Let every creature praise his holy name
for ever and ever.

1. Seeing the creativity of God.

This Psalm is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. This in itself is a wonderful testimony to the creativity and order of God, who has created human beings in his own image to create beautiful art, music and poetry. As God speaks to us through language, so too David creates a God-honouring poem with words, ink and papyrus. Three thousand years later, we are still praising God through David’s poem.

2. Seeing the majesty of the King! (Ps 145:1-2; 13)

A foolproof way to cure spiritual myopia is to lift our eyes to the exalted King in heaven. David piled praises on God, declaring His greatness and worthiness. It is ungrateful and dishonouring to withhold our praise from the legitimate King of the universe.

Jesus Christ is God’s installed King! The nations are his inheritance and the very ends of the earth are his possession (Ps 2:6; 8). It is only the Lord Jesus who is worthy to be praised and worshipped in this way, not ourselves or any other power on this earth. Yet paradoxically, Jesus is also the King who is near to his people, the gentle and lowly King who rode through Jerusalem on a donkey (Matt 21:5).

Do we see Christ as the Warrior King who must reign in heaven until he has put all his enemies under his feet?(1 Cor 15:25) Do we see Him as the righteous King who will soon ride out of heaven with his army of angels? His return to earth will signal the end of all false powers and He will be recognized by all as “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS! (Rev 19:16)

Lest we get blinded by the power plays of politicians and the Prince of this world, we’d better train our eyes on the everlasting King that Daniel foretold:

“And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom,

That all the peoples, nations and men of every language

Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion

Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one

Which will not be destroyed. (Daniel 7:14)

3. Seeing God’s generational acts of redemption! (Ps 145:4)

David looked to God’s great redemption acts which spanned generations: “One generation shall praise your works to another.”

To see God’s wonderful saving works more clearly, why not ask an older person to inspire you with memories of how Christ redeemed them and to recall the victories that Christ has given them over sin, Satan and the world?

Let’s ask our children and grandchildren, or the teens and children in our church to tell us of the fresh and new acts of grace that God is doing in their lives. Let’s never become insular, bored or stale about declaring God’s redemptive works to one another!

Spurgeon directs our eyes to see each generation as an essential chapter in God’s book of redemptive history:

“The generations shall herein unite: together they shall make up an extraordinary history. Each generation shall contribute its chapter, and all the generations together shall compose a volume of matchless character.”

4. Seeing His wonderful provision! (Ps 145:6-7; 15-16)

If we don’t want to become blind to the goodness of God, we must talk to one another often about His mighty works of redemption!

Do we see God as the Creator who opens his hand to satisfy the desires of every living thing? (Ps 145:16) Do we see Him as the source of all our daily needs? (Ps 145:15-16) Do we see God’s abundant goodness on earth?

David had eyes to see the beautiful care and tender mercies that God pours into all that He does and makes. All of creation is in David’s view, not just his own life. As Jesus would later say, “God also cares for the birds and the grass of the field” (Matt 6:26-30). He cares for all His creation.

If our Creator’s generous provision no longer thrills us, is it possible that we’ve been spending too much time distracted by screens and devices? Spending more time in nature will open our eyes to see how awesomely God has created all things out of nothing and how He upholds all things by his power.

This BBC video of a little puffer fish reminded me this week of God’s wonderful works of creation, most of which we will never see with our own eyes.

5. Seeing God’s kindness and justice (Ps 145:8-9; 13; 17-21)

David looked to YHWH’s own description of Himself in Exodus to describe God’s character:

“The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished” (Ex 34:6).

David saw God’s kindness and justice (or righteousness) as the basis for his assurance that “the Lord is near to all those who call on Him in truth” (Ps 145:18). Because of God’s kindness and justice, David could be confident that His God always watches over those who love him and that He will judge the wicked (Ps 145:20). God’s kindness and his justice are two facets of his goodness.

There is no greater demonstration of God’s kindness and justice than Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for sinners like you and me (Rom 3:26). “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).

But do we always see that the Lord is good to “all that He has made?” David saw that God is not partial or stingy in handing out his compassion and kindness. He is a gracious, promise-keeping God (Ps 145:13). He is the same God whom Peter describes a thousand years later: “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

David saw that God’s kindness is especially evident to those who fall and fail, yet keep looking up and putting their trust in Him (Ps 145:14).

Prayer

Father, give us eyes to see your goodness. Take off the blinders of our sinful desires, discontent and grumbling. Show us your creativity. Show us your majesty as King and the beauty of your everlasting Kingdom. Show us your mighty acts of redemption that span across generations. Give us eyes to see your wonderful provision, compassion and kindness to all that you have made. Train our eyes not to doubt or be distracted from your goodness. Give us eyes to see our struggles, sins and sorrows in the light of your goodness, grace and glory. Give us an enduring vision of your goodness so that we will rest in contentment in any and every situation. Amen.

My youngest daughter sent me this song about the goodness of God in all of creation.

I know that my Redeemer lives!

Series: Contentment, part 3. by Rosie moore.

“The wisdom of God moves us from demanding from God what we think we deserve to thanking God for all that we’ve received that we do not deserve” (Nancy Guthrie, on Job). I think this is the believer’s key to contentment, especially in the eye of the storm.

How easy it must have been for Job to curse God and blame Him for all his calamities! Yet, through all his pain and confusion, Job continued to struggle with his God for thirty-seven chapters until the Lord revealed himself to Job in the final five. The more Job understood about who God is in his basic character, the more he could accept what God gave or took away—even though he didn’t understand it.

In the eye of the storm.

Job is the story about a real man who probably lived between the time of Abraham and Moses. But Job is much more than the story of an individual who suffered unjustly and triumphed over adversity. Job gives believers in every century a blueprint for trust and contentment in the eye of the worst storm imaginable. His testimony of hope in his Redeemer lives on forever.

The book of Job encapsulates all our deepest dreads. Are you at all familiar with those negative thoughts that grow into a worst-case scenario in your imagination? Psychologists call it ‘catastrophizing’. For instance, your child’s nosebleed must mean leukemia. Or news of a pandemic turns into the death of you and your whole family. Or a blue tick on Whatsapp means lifelong rejection! The difference is that Job actually experienced several worst-case-catastrophes all at once.

But in the middle of Job’s desperate anguish, as he struggled to find the Lord in his pain, and while responding to his ignorant friends’ simplistic accusations, Job was able to speak assuredly of restoration and resurrection life. Come hell or high water, Job knew what he knew about God’s redemption.

When I was chronically ill a few years ago, Job gave me the words of hope I needed to persevere and remain steadfast in my struggle, even though I didn’t know I would ever recover. Job’s words were,

“I know that my Redeemer lives!”

When his anguish was greatest, Job declared, almost defiantly,

“I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand on the earth
²⁶ And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;
²⁷ I myself will see him
with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!” (Job 19:25-27)

Job continued to put his hope in God’s redemption even if he died in the process: “Though he slay me, yet I will hope in Him” (Job 13:15).

We know that Satan had a destructive purpose in Job’s suffering, namely to destroy Job’s trust in the Lord he loved so much. But God also had a purpose in allowing Satan to harm Job—to grow Job’s trust in the Lord he loved so much. It was God’s good purpose that triumphed in Job’s life.

But if anyone had cause to complain against God; to abandon his faith and call himself an atheist; to grumble and be discontent with his lot, it was Job.

Cause for complaint.

Job was afflicted with terrible sores from head to foot and his skin had blackened with decay (Job 7:5; 30:30). Stripped bare of his family, possessions, honour and health, Job had almost given up hope of God answering his cries for vindication (Job 19:1-24). He even felt that God had turned on him and was punishing him.

Don’t we often think that we are to blame and that God is angry with us when we are in great pain?

Job wasn’t stoical about his suffering. In fact, it’s difficult to be unmoved by the chapters in which he expresses his pain to God. He feels truly God-forsaken:

“And now my life ebbs away;
days of suffering grip me.
¹⁷ Night pierces my bones;
my gnawing pains never rest.
¹⁸ In his great power God becomes like clothing to me;
he binds me like the neck of my garment.
¹⁹ He throws me into the mud,
and I am reduced to dust and ashes.

²⁰ “I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer;
I stand up, but you merely look at me.
(Job 30:16-23).

Moreover, Job’s misery was amplified by windbag friends, who falsely condemned him, offering simplistic and callous explanations of how Job had brought calamity upon himself. These “miserable comforters” built their arguments on false assumptions and half truths about why people experience troubles. Their bad theology led to dangerous conclusions which hurt more than helped Job.

Miserable comforters.

Eliphaz asks Job: “What innocent person ever perished? (Job 4:7). Is not your wickedness great and are not your sins endless?” (Job 22:5)

Bildad asks him: “Does God pervert justice?” (Job 8:3) “The lamp of the wicked is snuffed out… disaster is ready for him when he falls (Job 18:5; 12).

Zophar asks: “Surely God recognizes deceitful men, and when he sees evil, does he not take note? (Job 11:11) The mirth of the wicked is brief, the joy of the godless lasts but a moment” (Job 20:5).

The accusations came thick and fast. By the time they’d finished gaslighting Job, they’d almost snuffed out whatever glimmer of hope was left in him.

A righteous man.

But although Job never claimed to be sinless, he knew in his heart of hearts that his sin hadn’t caused his present trouble (Job 27:5-6). It’s gratifying when God Himself vindicates Job and rebukes his friends, “You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has” (Job 42:8). Job was not being punished by God for his sin.

In fact, Job had been a righteous judge, helping widows, the blind, the lame and the needy. All his life he’d protected the vulnerable and been compassionate (Job 29:25). Not only did the community respect Job, but the Lord himself judged him as “blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil” (Job 1:1; Job 2:3).

Despite groundless speculation about Job’s pride or unconscious sin, I have scoured the book and found no hint of hidden sin in his life. Scripture consistently portrays Job as a faithful and righteous man in the same category as Noah and Daniel (Ezek 14:14). Moreover, his integrity held up even when he suffered without cause.

In the New Testament, James praises Job as a steadfast man who persevered throughout his ordeal: ^“As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about” (James 5:11).

And so, without any apparent reason, Job lost everything. To make matters worse, he was totally oblivious to what was happening in the spiritual realm (Job 1:12). Even as he sat in the ashes with a bitter wife pouring salt on his wounds and goading him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!” Job responded with trust, “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:9-10). Even under pressure, Job refused to “sin with his lips.”

Through the entire book, Job didn’t understand the cause of his suffering. He longed to stand up in court and prove his innocence to God (Job 31:35-37). He wanted answers, just as we want answers and reassurances when we are in the eye of the storm.

Questions, questions, questions.

Like Job, we often operate on the assumption that what we need most from God is relief from suffering and answers to our questions… NOW! We feel that we can’t be content until all the loose ends are resolved and we have been restored. Our contentment is conditional.

Job is restored in his lifetime, but through most of the book, Job is waiting for God’s answers and explanations which never come. However, we know that his confusion, struggles and longings were ultimately answered thousands of years later in the Lord Jesus:

1. Job asks, “How can I bring my case before God and ask Him why?” (Job 9:32-3)

Today, we know the answer: ^“For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim 2:5). Because we trust in Jesus, we can approach God confidently and are invited to cast all our cares on Him, because He loves us.

2. As Job’s life is ebbing away, he asks about the worst-case scenario, “What happens when I die?” (Job 14:14)

Today, we have the words of Christ to stand on, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)

3. After Job’s friends accuse him of sin and wickedness, Job asks, “Who can defend me? Who will argue my case with God?” (Job 16:19-21)

Today, we have the perfect Advocate to save us completely, not only from human accusations, or from Satan’s fiery darts, or the accusations of our emotions, but also from God’s final judgment against our real rebellion and sin. If we are in Christ, we know that God is not punishing us when we suffer, because Christ has taken all the punishment that we deserve.

“For Christ entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence… Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.(Heb 9:24; 7:24-25).

4. Job asks, “Why even try to be good if the wicked seem to prosper?” (Job 21:7-15).

Today, we have Christ’s eternal perspective: “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? (Matt 16:26).

Ultimately, the reason why a Christian can be content today is not because we are always protected from harm. It’s because we know that we will live beyond dust and ashes and God’s love will never leave us.

Because of Christ, we will never be God-forsaken, no matter how loudly our emotions are screaming that we are (Matt 2:46). Jesus says that our greatest reason to rejoice today is because our names are written in heaven, for all eternity (Luke 10:20). Our souls are safe with him.

Clarity in the eye of the storm.

When we are forced to face our worst fears head-on, and we struggle with God like Job did, we come to see the glory and character of the Lord in the eye of the storm. It’s at this point that our own ideas of what He should be doing in the world and in our lives seem oddly out of place.

Job’s moment of clarity comes when God answers him out of the storm, and Job responds in awe, trust and repentance. It took 42 chapters to get there!

“I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
³ You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.

⁴ “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.’
⁵ My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
⁶ Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:26)

Of course, Job isn’t an easy book to read. Who doesn’t prefer the calm days to the raging storms of life? But I’m glad that God chose to record Job’s life story before any other book in His Word, because Job reminds us that the same God who has lovingly ordered Creation, has also ordered our seasons and circumstances. He is the same Lord that provides for our contentment in any and every situation.

If our contentment always depends on desperately fleeing storms in search of sanctuary, we will never be content in either place, because we have no control over the beginning or ending of the seasons that God has appointed for us.

Contentment comes when we stop fighting to escape the storm, stop yearning for the good old days or a future of ease. Contentment is learned by those who struggle with God and know that their Redeemer lives, now and always.

Christ assures us of his glorious return to earth, which Job had the eyes of faith to foresee. Job imagined his Redeemer-God in glorious flesh standing in victory on a renewed earth! (Job 19:25-27)

Praise God that Christ our Redeemer will stand upon this earth one day, when “the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command” (1 Thess 4:16). Ultimately, it is the Second Coming which gives us the perspective to be content now, even in the eye of the storm.

“So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power” (1 Cor 15:42-43).

Prayer

Lord, thank you for opening Job’s eyes to see a day when his Saviour would resurrect his dead body into a new body fit for the new heaven and new earth. He longed to gaze upon his Redeemer standing on this earth and making his home with his redeemed people. Just as you did with Job, reveal your character and love to us. Turn our eyes to this same reality so that we will keep trusting and wrestling with you, even in the eye of the storm. Amen.

Sing along to this beautiful song about Job.

Sources on Contentment and Job.

Nancy Guthrie, The Wisdom of God: Seeing Jesus in the Psalms and Wisdom books. Crossway, 2012.

Ash, Christopher, Out of the Storm: Grappling with God in the book of Job. IVP, 2004.

Lydia Brownback, Contentment—A Godly Woman’s Adornment. Crossway, 2008.

Jones, Robert, Contentment—Joy that Lasts. P&R Publishing, 2019.

Hill, Megan, Contentment—Seeing God’s Goodness. P&R Publishing, 2018.

Burroughs, Jeremiah, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment (1648). Banner of Truth Trust, reprinted, 2000 .

Ash, Christopher, Discovering the Joy of a Clear Conscience. Intervarsity Press, 2012.

Kruger, Melissa, The Envy of Eve: Finding Contentment in a Covetous World. Christian Focus Publications, 2012.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me

Series: Contentment.

By Rosie Moore.

How often have you given yourself a pep talk ending with Paul’s words, “I can do all things through Him who gives me strength?” I know I have, especially when I’m running on a steep incline, with a rasping sound in my throat and my legs wobbling like jelly!

Surprisingly, Paul pens these words of victory as an old, battle-worn apostle languishing in a Roman prison cell. He is talking about a lasting kind of contentment that doesn’t disappear in the face of deprivation, loss, suffering, persecution and insecurity. Paul is not saying that he can do anything that he sets his mind to. He is saying that by Christ’s strength, he can be peaceful in adversity and humble in prosperity. Surely this is one of the greatest challenges of the Christian life!

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. ¹² I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. ¹³ I can do all things through him who strengthens me (Phil 4:11-13 ESV).

I have learned the secret of contentment.

What I love about Scripture is its real life biographies. Paul, like all of us, wasn’t born contented. He had to learn to be content.

Many years ago, out of sheer desperation, I bought a cute sounding book called The Contented Little Baby. Written by a know-it-all expert on childrearing, its pages were stuffed with a host of feeding, sleeping, bathing and playing routines that I was supposed to be teaching my four babies, but quite obviously wasn’t.

Far from being contented, my brood spent a high percentage of their days yelling their heads off and grabbing each other’s toys, and to this day I still can’t be sure what restored the peace and what triggered World War 3. Mysteriously, they are now very contented little adults, but that’s only by the grace of God, not my parenting skills!

By the end of reading that book, the only secret I learned was that I was incapable of raising a single contented baby. The author’s advice felt more like boot camp than baby care! But in some respects the book was dead accurate— We are not born content! We learn contentment through training, which is sometimes painful and counter-intuitive. Likewise, I learned the secret of being a mother under pressure, through hands-on experience, not by following a formula.

Paul’s contentment was independent of his personality type and didn’t descend upon him like a dove on the Damascus road. He learned contentment by having a relationship with Christ through the pressures of life. This is good news for us, because it means that we too can learn the secret of true contentment if we stick close to Jesus in any and every situation.

Paul affirms confidently, “I can do all this through Christ who strengthens me.” It’s not as if God wants us to grope about in the winter of our discontent. He wants us to learn to be content by Christ’s strength. On our own, contentment will always remain elusive.

Can you think of any good reason why you and I should not also grasp the truth of contentment and live it out practically, in both abundance and adversity? (Phil 4:12)

The key to contentment.

Knowing Christ is the key to contentment, because it is Jesus who shed his blood to rescue us from the helpless condition of sin, which includes our habitual discontentment.

If we follow Christ, it is He who gives meaning to every step of our life journey. We can be content with what we have, because Christ will never leave us or forsake us (Heb 13:5-6). His grace is always sufficient. That is why Paul’s heart cry in Philippians 3:10 comes first: “I want to know Christ!”

Paul learned to be content in abundance and adversity, finding lasting joy in knowing Christ and pouring out his energy to serve and obey him (Phil 3:12-13). That’s where our true contentment will come from, regardless of our circumstances.

Learning contentment.

It’s interesting that Paul uses two words for ‘learn’ in this text:

The first ‘learn’ implies learning by practice, as opposed to intellectual knowledge. It’s the same word used in Hebrews to describe Christ’s experiential learning: “Jesus learned obedience from what he suffered” (Heb 5:8).

We too can learn to withstand Satan and trials, but only if we trust and obey our heavenly Father moment-by-moment, like Jesus did. Contentment requires deliberate commitment, especially when we find ourselves in the furnace of suffering.

The second ‘learn’ is a more unusual verb which refers to an initiation into a mystery society in first century Greco-Roman culture. There is something mysteriously contradictory about learning to be content when trouble opposes our happiness. Lasting contentment is only possible when we have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus and realize what He suffered on our behalf, when our minds are re-calibrated by gospel truths instead of our circumstances.

And so, we may know every verse and formula about contentment in our heads, but it’s only when we practice our knowledge of Christ and prioritize his kingdom that we learn the secret of contentment.

Well fed or hungry, in plenty or in want.

Paul’s expansive claim of contentment is extraordinary, given his life story.

Some people like to think of contentment as a Buddha, sitting smug and stoical, detached from life, his chubby face empty of ambition and drive. Or perhaps ‘contentment’ is the happy stare of a retiree or millionaire, absorbing an endless stream of little pleasures and treasures from the comfort of their deckchair!

But these images are far removed from Paul’s contented life. He was the proverbial “Man in the Arena” of Theodore Roosevelt’s poem.

Man in the Arena.

Paul’s contentment wasn’t theoretical because he didn’t sit on the sidelines of the Christian life. He knew that even God’s faithful children are not exempt from the common distresses of life and he learned to lean on the Lord Jesus in any and every situation:

Financially, Paul had been well off and needy in his life (Phil 4:11-12), experiencing real hunger, thirst, cold and nakedness (2 Tim 4:13; 21; 2 Cor 11:27), as well as abundant wealth.

Yet he encouraged other believers with full assurance, “My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19).

Physically, Paul bore on his body the marks of Christ (Gal 6:17). Five times the Apostle was beaten with whips and three times with rods. He was shipwrecked, mobbed and stoned so badly that he was left for dead (Acts 14:19; 2 Cor 11:23-29). Severe physical illness often thwarted his ministry plans and he described his body as a fragile clay jar, wasting away (Gal 4:13-14; 2 Cor 4:7-8.). One can hardly imagine Paul’s physical state by the time he wrote this letter in 61AD.

But through all of this, Paul spurred on the Macedonian believers, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near” (Phil 4:4-5).

Emotionally, Paul was haunted by regrets of a past as a murderer and persecutor of Christians (1 Tim 1:12-17). Numerous times he was neglected, deserted and undermined by fellow believers (Phil 4:15; Acts 15:38; 2 Tim 1:15; 4:10).

Yet, in his distress, Paul trained himself to press on towards the goal of Christ: “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.” In the midst of his anxieties, Paul learned to dwell on the good rather than his troubles: “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Phil 3:13-14; 4:5).

Spiritually, Paul was stripped of the benefits of being a respected Pharisee, expelled from his place of worship and treated as an outcast by his own people, who plotted to take his life (Acts 13:45, 50; Acts 17:5-7, Acts 18:6, Acts 20:3).

But through all this rejection and humiliation, Paul didn’t avoid preaching the gospel to his fellow Jews. He continued to pray with a thankful heart, allowing the peace of God which transcends understanding, to guard his heart and mind in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:7). Although he lost much for the sake of Christ, he remained grateful and gracious to others (Phil 4:10-18).

None of these hardships robbed Paul of his contentment, as he rested in Christ as his refuge and provider. Even when he was severely flogged and thrown in prison, he spent the night “praying and singing hymns to God” (Acts 16:25).

I’m sure this wasn’t the Apostle’s instinctive response to pain and exhaustion, but he had developed a habit of praying with thanksgiving and rejoicing when he felt like complaining (Phil 4:4, 6). Over years, Paul had learned the secret of contentment in any and every situation.

The paradox of contentment.

True contentment is learned in the arena of life, not in Bible college or in the pages of a book. Paul’s secret was that he found meaning in his adversity and considered it a privilege to share in the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings (Phil 3:8-10). Paul’s response is a mysterious paradox if ever there was one!

In his own words, Paul describes the incongruous joy of knowing Christ in and through his suffering: “dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed;  sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything” (2 Corinthians 6:9-10).

Likewise, in the life of every Christian, the secret to lasting contentment lies in our deep union with the Lord Jesus who ultimately works all things for our good and turns every tragedy into triumph, every grief into growth and every offense into an opportunity for the gospel. True contentment is learned by trusting and obeying Christ in the arena of life.

And so, we can say confidently, with Paul: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Prayer.

Father, shift our perspective to see everything as a loss compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus as our Lord. Help us to trust you rather than avoiding hard things which we know you want us to do. Show us if we are hoarding our resources of time, money and love. Keep our lives free from the love of money and help us to be content with whatever you have given us, because you have said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5-6) Amen.

Listen prayerfully to Horatio Spafford’s hymn, “When peace like a river…”. It directs our hearts to the gospel and how God teaches us contentment in any and every circumstance. Spafford’s words are the authentic cries of his own heart, since he’d recently lost his entire fortune in a fire and his four daughters in a storm at sea. Only his wife survived.

Godliness with contentment is great gain

Series: Contentment

By Rosie Moore

“Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it” (1 Tim 6:5)

Why do we only rest in peace? Why don’t we live in peace too?

I don’t know who said this, but it’s a good observation. It’s easy to blame our circumstances and other people for the lack of peace in our lives, but sometimes the underlying cause is the undiagnosed sin of discontentment.

This is what Elizabeth Elliot, the widow of murdered missionary Jim Elliot, wrote on the subject of a peaceful heart. I have pasted this quote above my desk so I can read it often.

“Restlessness and impatience change nothing except our peace and joy. Peace does not dwell in outward things, but in the heart prepared to wait trustfully and quietly on him who has all things safely in His hands.”

As hard as it is to admit, I am often frustrated and dissatisfied with life because fundamentally I don’t trust how God is taking care of me. I depend too much on outward things for my joy and peace.

At the core of a discontented heart is unbelief and rebellion against God’s rule in my life, which includes what I have, who I am, and the high and low points of my life.

A call to godliness and contentment.

And so, in convincing Timothy of the value of godliness and contentment, Paul rests his case on the basic assumption that we are utterly dependent on God for everything we receive:

“Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. ⁹ Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 

 ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. ¹¹ But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight of the faith. (1 Timothy 6:6-12)

Paul warns the young pastor to stay away from greedy people who want to make money from preaching and end up wandering far from the faith, “pierced with many griefs.” He describes the dangers and snares of a love for money. But it’s interesting that Paul identifies godliness with contentment as the antidote to all these things (1 Tim 6:6). Why does Paul choose to couple these two characteristics together?

Paul Mathole explains the link between godliness and contentment:

“A heart oriented towards God is one that rests in Him. With a view of our place in God’s eternity, it rests content in our present circumstances, even when they are tough.”

This made me think of Job, the first man who embodied godliness with contentment. Job had children, wealth, servants and livestock in abundance. Then, in a single day all these good things vanished. But despite all the calamities that befell him, Job’s first response to his situation was God-oriented:

Job fell to the ground in worship, saying,

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; May the name of the Lord be praised.”

 God clearly approved of Job’s godly response: “In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing” (Job1:20-22).  Job kept a clear conscience in all his suffering, because he worked out his struggles with God.

1 Timothy 6:6 expresses the simple but profound truth that God-oriented contentment is the key to spiritual growth and lasting joy. We should honour the LORD and centre our desires on Him, content with whatever He is doing in our lives.

Contentment is no small matter for a Christian, but we will only be contented people if we recognize and confess the sin of discontentment in our hearts, replacing it with a deep trust in God’s goodness and sufficiency. Sadly, discontent is often our default position.

Fruit of a poisoned tree.

Although Paul focuses on money in this text, discontent usually manifests in four areas: Money, work, our bodies and relationships. Once it takes hold, a discontented spirit poisons our lives and relationships from the inside out:

Because of a discontented heart, we become intoxicated by abundance and depressed by lack. Forever hurtling on a rollercoaster of fluctuating emotions, our joy and peace are triggered by comparisons and circumstances beyond our control. It’s not long before we break God’s tenth commandment—Do not covet.

And so, out of nowhere, a discontented spirit can lead us to feel bitter, jealous, greedy, anxious, frustrated, despondent, insecure, indignant, distracted, offended, sulky, disappointed, impatient or moody. Out of discontent we may feel we deserve more money, a better job, a healthier body and more supportive relatives.

When our hearts are discontented, we behave like puppets, controlled by the strings of prosperity and poverty; praise and criticism; success and failure; strength and weakness. No wonder a discontented heart breeds the many sins listed in the text, including conceit, envy, strife, malicious talk and evil suspicions (1 Tim 6:4-5).

Fuelled by discontent, we may begin to feel restless with our own life, coveting the accomplishments of old school friends and strangers on the internet. When we walk into a beautiful home that isn’t ours or notice the accolades earned by another, we feel no joy. Instead, we feel empty and inferior, wanting what other people have. We enter the dangerous territory of grumbling, grasping and ingratitude.

What I’ve sometimes discovered lurking beneath my own insecurities is a fundamental belief that I need something different from what God has given me. I think, “If only … then I would be content.” But if I probe deeper, I see that I’m just doubtful about how God is ordering my life.

The problem with discontentment is that it’s not just a neutral emotion. Because it’s invisible and encouraged by our culture, we often don’t recognize it as a poisoned tree that bears rotten fruit. Discontentment needs to be regularly identified and uprooted if we hope to live a joyful life of perseverance in the faith.

Solomon used a striking image when he wrote: “A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot.” (Prov 14:30).

Envy is the fruit of a poisoned tree. The tree is discontentment.

The lasting rewards of contentment.

Conversely, Paul says that the discipline of contentment will bring us “great gain” in the Christian life. Contentment is an enduring happiness that doesn’t depend on what happens. Its rewards are lasting rather than fluctuating.

In The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment (1648), Jeremiah Burroughs identifies the benefits of nurturing contentment in the Christian life. Here are just three of the lasting fruits of contentment that Borroughs describes:

1. Contentment prepares us to worship God, publicly and privately. It is only a contented heart that can honestly acknowledge God alone as sovereign, and us as his humble creatures who owe Him our very selves. A contented heart will see that the LORD is God who does all things well. He is our Father who never leaves or forsakes his children.
2. Contentment opens our eyes to God’s grace and allows others to see God’s glory in us. Grumbling, complaining, worrying and demanding come naturally to human beings, so contentment is a great testimony of God’s supernatural work in our lives. A calm, secure and cheerful Christian is a great witness, especially in adverse circumstances.
3. Contentment frees us from many sins, including envy, greed and bitterness, replacing them with peace, gratitude and a willingness to serve others. Contentment safeguards us against an array of grievances and grumblings. Those who are focused on their circumstances will always obsess about what’s wrong; the things we lack; the things others have, and the things we wish were different. But a contented heart focuses on Christ and is confident in the Lord’s goodness.

The secret of contentment

But contentment doesn’t descend on us automatically like a dove when we become Christians. Paul says that contentment is a secret to be learned through the ups and downs of life (Phil 4:11-13). As Christians, we are engaged in a constant struggle against the sin of discontentment. That’s why, directly after Paul instructs Timothy to pursue godliness with contentment, he concludes, “Fight the good fight of the faith” (1 Tim 6:12).

If we do not fight the good fight, our hearts will default to discontent. As sinners, we are bent on ingratitude and idolatry, because by nature we neither glorify the LORD as God nor give thanks to him (Rom 1:21-23). We also live in a covetous culture which invites us to crave what God has not given us to enjoy.

So unless we learn the secret of contentment, we will live as functional atheists, wondering where God is and why we are not seeing Him perform in the ways we see fit.

Contentment is a secret that every Christ follower must learn through the school of life and God’s Word, which directs our hearts and minds back to full trust in the LORD. We also have Christ’s example and His strength to help us nurture godliness with contentment. Best of all, we’ve been given the Holy Spirit to enable us to expose and uproot the poisoned tree of discontentment. That is why Paul can conclude one of the greatest texts on God-centred contentment with these words of victory: “I can do all things through Him who gives me strength” (Phil 4:13).

Join us for the next few weeks as we ask God’s Word to train our hearts and minds in the secret of contentment.

Prayer

Father, give us eyes to see the seeds of discontentment in our own hearts. Show us the sinful source of our grumbling and worrying, while giving us the will to submit our desires to you. Help us to trust afresh in your finished work on the cross and ongoing work in our lives, so we will be filled with peace, joy and gratitude in every circumstance. Help us to humbly receive all things from your loving hand, not just the comfortable things. Teach us to wait trustfully and quietly on you, because you have all things safely in your hands. Amen.

Good reads.

I have found the following books useful in helping to nurture contentment in my own heart and to prepare to write these devotions. You can get most of them on Kindle, Takealot or Loot.

Lydia Brownback, Contentment—A Godly Woman’s Adornment. Crossway, 2008.

Jones, Robert, Contentment—Joy that Lasts. P&R Publishing, 2019.

Hill, Megan, Contentment—Seeing God’s Goodness. P&R Publishing, 2018.

Burroughs, Jeremiah, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment (1648). Banner of Truth Trust, reprinted, 2000 .

Ash, Christopher, Discovering the Joy of a Clear Conscience. Intervarsity Press, 2012.

Kruger, Melissa, The Envy of Eve: Finding Contentment in a Covetous World. Christian Focus Publications, 2012.