It was Rick Joyner who repeated these words; I had heard them before, perhaps from him, I don’t know.  These come to mind this morning as I read Scripture, so my thought is to reflect upon them for awhile. 

Stand up.

What triggered my thinking, and hence this journal entry, are the words of Paul in Ephesians chapter 6.  While there are more, I cite these first.  

“Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness” (6:11-14).

The picture, obviously, is of a person engaged in a mighty battle; but not with men, mind you, but with powerful, Satanic beings arrayed against you.  While some believers might be inclined to cower in fear, even run from the struggle, Paul urges us to take our stand against them, fully adorned with the armor of God–without which we would not be wanting to face such a formidable foe.  

Now I understand that some would take this fight as one against his own person, and that is so; but given what has gone down in history, and is happening now as I write, it is a far greater battle raging for the souls of men.  And that, I think, is what Paul references here.  It is the dark hosts of heaven whose evil schemes are intended to not only keep me from God, but destroy those who are in Christ.  Which is where we come in.  In this war for the control of humanity, in which we are prime targets–we who hold the keys to the kingdom of liberty and salvation for us, we are told to stand.   

And not stationary, mind you.  Whereas our armor is primarily protective in nature, yet we wield the most powerful weapon of all:  the sword of the Spirit, the word of God.  Failure to wield it, and wielding it, use it, is in large part why we find ourselves under such a siege.  So it is, we are not only to stand, as it were stationary, but stand in the face of the battle of ages, fighting the good fight.  

So it is we are to stand in the struggle–and it is a struggle. Christian are naive to think otherwise.  

In all this we are to stand in faith.  Paul writes in Romans 11:20, speaking in reference t the Jews, “Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear.”

As Christians, the only footing we have is faith. Faith is the singular link between God and men.  It is the only thing that pleases God–faith, and all that springs from it.  It is so vital that Paul writes in another place, “Whatsoever that is not of faith is sin.”  I tell you the truth, no man shall have a chance against the Satanic onslaught against him if he is not standing firm in his faith.  In fact, we become easy prey when we let up on it.  Paul, listing the various pieces of armor, cites the shield of faith.  I know of a certainty that when it is let down, or forgotten altogether, the fiery darts come, they hit you, and they are extremely painful, even deadly.  To stand we must be in faith, and this continually.  

We are to stand in grace.  

Paul writes, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:1-2).

It is said here that we do stand in grace; by grace we have been saved, through faith; we have peace with God through Christ, who has introduced us to this wonderful place.  Honestly, we could not stand any other way.  If we think otherwise, we will most certainly fall.  We stand by faith in the grace of God.  The place of safety, our refuge. 

Look up.

So we are to stand up. Next, we are to look up.  

Paul, in Colossians 3:1-2,

“Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.”  

Of course, these things that are on earth are temporary, they will all pass away.  Even our bodies, they will grow old, deteriorate, and eventually die.  But the things above, the things unseen, they are eternal.  

It is written of Moses that he endured, as seeing Him who is invisible (see Hebrews 11).  How, pray tell, do you see what can’t be seen?  The eyes of faith.  

In another place we are instructed to fix our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12).  

And yet in another we hear Paul saying that the mind is set on the flesh is death, whereas the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.  

All throughout Scripture we are enjoined to be looking heavenward.  So it is that in addition to standing up, we are to look up.  

Be happy.  

“There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:25-28).

Contrary to common thought, Christianity is not a cake walk.  Prior to saying these things our Lord said, “you will be hated by all because of My name.”  Our hope is not in this life; Jesus gives us hope, yes; but “hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he sees?”  Hopes are easily dashed in this life.  In all of it however, we have reason to rejoice.  

Paul says, “Rejoice in the Lord always.  Again I say, rejoice.”  Happiness is a hallmark of the Christian.  I say this in faith, believing in God, as I seem to be the least happy of all that I know.  And why I do not know.  Yet I write this because it is true whether or not I conform to it.  I do in my mind.  I do in my heart.  Yet my demeanor is much lacking.  

It is written that if “in this life only we have hope, we are of all men most to be pitied” (cf., 1 Corinthians 15).  We mislead people if we tell them that all will be peachy-keen if they accept Christ.  No, it is likely that things may not go so well.  Whereas before Christ you had one enemy, a good one, the best one:  God; now, you have that array of evil beings in the heavenly places set against you–and most times in the form of human beings!  

Which is why we can be happy, as because God is for us, who can be against us?  The armies of Satan are a joke compared to the One who is in us.  And we have the brightest of futures, eternal and in the heavens!  At home in the presence of God forever.  The God who is our exceeding joy is the One with whom we get to be for ages upon ages with no end.  What petty things our afflictions are in this life! Why should they let us down?  

Repeatedly, David’s refrain in the Psalms is, “Praise the Lord!”  “Let those who seek the Lord be glad!” Over and over and over he writes such things.  

So it is that we can be happy.  We must be happy.  In truth, we are happy–I am happy.  

Stand up–get off your duff and not only stand up, but engage the battle.  

Look up–it is God who is not only for you, but is He who fights your battles.  With your eyes on Him, yours is life and peace.  

Be happy–you have every reason to rejoice, and not one to be sad.  

These three are God’s prescription for those of us who, in our day, not only see our way of life being threatened, but whose responsibility it is to further the kingdom of God–His righteousness, His peace, and His joy.  It is our job to stand up for truth and justice, exposing the deeds of darkness, all the while rejoicing while we do it. 

It was Graham Cooke who said something to the effect that if you want the presence of God, look up all the ‘one-anothers’ in the Bible, and do them,  and you will have the presence of God.

What inspires my thinking this morning are the words of Paul in Galatians chapter 5.  There he writes,

“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love” (verse 6).  

And then, 

“For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (verse 13).  

I shall never forget first setting foot in our new church home, Mt. Hope Church.   It was culture-shock.  We had come from a small church whose primary focus was fellowship–relationships, that is; a close-knit community where our fellow believers pretty much constituted our lives.  Mt. Hope  was a very large place by comparison, and after pastor Dave Williams finished the sermon, the place emptied out within minutes.   We were left scratching our heads, wondering where everyone went!

Mt. Hope at the time was entirely outward in focus; evangelistic, you might say.  There were big events, organized outreaches, and church plants.  There was an ‘altar call’ after every Sunday service; and many people came forward to receive Christ. There were, however, virtually no relationships.  Though thousands came forward, the church did not grow in numbers.

In an attempt to find out why people would come and then go–they would come in the front door, so to speak, and then leave by the back door, pastor Williams called a commission.  In short order it was determined that there was a need for personal relationships.  It wasn’t until about ten years later that through the leadership of executive pastor Kevin Berry, this began to become a reality.  

Mt. Hope has been, for many years now, in the process of a cultural change; and it has been slow going.  Presently, there is a focus both on the inward and the outward, and that is a good thing.  God’s church, to be the church of His design, is to be both.  

Jesus, you see, not only gave us The Great Commission, but The New Commandment also.  We are to go into all the world and preach the gospel, making disciples; at the same time we are, as Paul emphasizes in Galatians, to use our freedom in Christ to serve one another.  Our faith is to be seen in our service.  

In my reading these things I am encouraged in this.  Faith works through love; it does not work any other way.  Without love, faith is invalid, worthless.  “Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (James).  Love for God, the writer of Hebrews tells us, is demonstrated by our ministry to the saints.  

The church, by definition, cannot be effective in one way or the other; no, it must be both inward and outward.  What have we to export if we do not have it ourselves? Inasmuch as what we do speaks of who we are, so it is that what the church does tells who she is.  Your outer kingdom, pastor Williams says, is determined by your inner kingdom.  Evangelism is done by the evangelized.  

As I said, I am by Paul’s words encouraged.  In recent days we have been hearing about having a heart for the lost, and we all made the commitment to be as was Phillip in Acts 8.  And this is and has been my prayer, to have God’s heart for the unsaved.  Yet at the same time we are commanded by Jesus to be loving one another, and here by Paul to be demonstrating that love through service to one another.  Again, it is both, inward and outward.  This is the church as Jesus would have it.  

“The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” (Psalm 118:22-23).

Isn’t this just like the Lord, who takes what is forsaken and does a wonderful thing with it?  For not many of us were “wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God chose, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God” (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).  

Our pastor, Kevin Berry recently told his story, how as a young man he was weak and subject to seizures.  He wondered why he was was the way he was, and what would become of his life.  God made him the leader of one of Lansing’s largest churches.

God took me, a manic-depressive suffering from rejection, a twenty-something whose expectation for the future was a mental institution, a man beset with an evil heart, a sexual pervert.  Despite my having consciously rejected Jesus Christ, He did not give up on me, but worked with my denial and wayward thinking.  He brought me to the end of myself and the beginning of Him.  Today I have been with Christ for over 44 years, and have been married to one woman for 47.  I have five children and eleven grandchildren.  I’ve my own business.  What can I say?  “This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.”

I think of Len Hill, the leader of New Directions prison ministry.  He more or less took this work from next to nothing to a ministry that serves close to 2,000 persons in about fifty locations every week.  All on a budget of about $80,000!  Whenever I am with Len I ask him how the ministry is going, and he shares things such as these.  And then he always adds, with much gratitude in his heart, “this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in His sight.” 

This is God, who makes much of little.  Who makes a wilderness into a plush plain.  Who brings forth water from the rock.  Who turns our mourning into dancing.  Who makes the broken person whole.  Who raises the dead, both physically and spiritually.  

God took me, a man who was anti-business and hated to paint, and gave me a painting business.  He took me, anti-marriage, and has given me to be married close to five decades.  

He took my business, with debts over a million dollars and our loans called by the bank, on the brink of bankruptcy, and cleared us of every debt, restored what had been lost, and set us on a course of year-over-year profitability.  

God took Jesus, despised and rejected, a man those at the time considere by men to be smitten by God, made a curse by reason of the cross, and set Him on high above everything else in the universe.  

It is a good thing to be among the lowly; God can work with you.  He gives grace to the humble.  

It is a good thing to be up against the wall, with no where to go; God can work with that.  

It is a good thing to be broken, as then God can fix you.  To be sick, as God can heal you.  To be lonely, as God can set you in a family.  To be poor, so God can make you rich.  To be a sinner and acknowledge that before God, as then He can make you righteous.  There is no need to part the sea if there is no enemy army encroaching upon you.  These are the things God can do that no man can do.  And it is the Lord’s doing, marvelous in our eyes.  

If a person is a believer, he has a story, and every story is along these lines:  “I was blind, but now I see.”  You understand that salvation is of the Lord, it is His business; you are merely the recipient.  What was not now is.  He has made something grand out of your puny little life, and the only way it could have happened is if the Lord did it.  And He did.  And it is a wonderful, marvelous thing.  

As Christians, we march to a different drum.  Or at least we should be.  Ours is not the kingdom of the world; instead, it is the kingdom of God. 

We’ve a different King. 

In the world of men there is all manner of political posturing, accusations, lies, distortions of the truth, and a lot of big money to move people into positions of power so they rule can rule over the masses of lesser power.  Once there most all look to them for good and blame them for their bad.  So called public servants, most are there out of greed and the lust for power.  

We, as informed Christians, understand they are there because God put them there, and there is One who is the King of King’s and Lord of lords. Or, in our day we might say, the President of presidents. 

In New Testament times this got people killed.  Worldly leaders don’t like sharing power.  They like being worshipped.  We however, worship only one Leader, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Who knows but maybe it will get us killed too. 

We live by different rules. 

There are the governments of the world, and then there is God’s government.  These are often diametrically opposite each other.  While we in America enjoy the best of all governmental systems, still it can be miles from what God would have.  

The world’s system has bazillions of laws and ordinances which control just about every facet of daily life.  In some countries it is pure bondage.  In ours there are so many laws that we all inevitably break some every day.  

In God’s government there are but two:  you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.  And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.  Everything else stems from these two. 

Our reason for being is different. 

In America there is what is called the American dream.  You graduate from High School, go to college, find a spouse, buy a house, have kids, retire at 65, play golf or travel, then you die.  It is all about getting ahead, having nice things, and being happy.  

Jesus however, said sell all you have and that people will hate you if try and live righteously.  That Christians partake of the good things of modern day United States is a plus.  Or, maybe it isn’t.  

What I mean to say is that we live for something other than accumulating things, for being happy.  While I want to be happy (who doesn’t), I would rather be serving the King of kings and let that take me where it will.  Ours is a kingdom purpose.  If we believe God’s ways are best, and that what Jesus Christ says is absolutely true, then that is our purpose, to not only live that way, but further it.  I note that multitudes of others are trying to shove the world’s ways down everyone else’s throats; Christians however have something to offer that is so good it just needs to be told.  

We view the world a different way. 

Christians, at least those who read and understand the Bible, view things from God’s perspective and not man’s.  That is to say, spiritually.  They see men as spiritual beings, not just flesh and blood.  The see the world as the stage on which the war between good and evil plays out.  They recognize evil when they see it.  They know there are masses of unseen spiritual forces, both of the good kind and the bad kind.  They see through people and things because they are spiritually discerning.  Most of all, they view the world and the people in it through the eyes of love.

Our future is entirely different. 

Those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, in His death, burial, resurrection, and living rule, have the hope of eternal life.  They know that this life is not all there is; that there is a world beyond to which the Bible and others testify.  They understand death to be door to eternal life spent with God. 

People of the world have death to look forward to, a death that is final.  All die, for sure; but not all go to heaven.  

In what can only be deemed the great perversion of Scripture, many have come to believe that if they simply lead a good life they will enter through the pearly gates.  They believe that if their good outweighs their bad, they have it made.  But it does not work that way.  The Bible teaches that all our ‘righteousness’–our good deeds–are as filthy rags.  No matter how good they are, they are unacceptable to God as tickets to eternal life.  It is only the righteousness of the Lord Himself, conferred upon His believing children, that merits entry into that eternal kingdom of the Lord and Savior.  

And then, of course, are those who accept as fact that there is nothing beyond this life.  I held to this belief once.  You live and you die, and the worms eat you.  There is nothing past now.  So you do as you please as there are no consequences to your good or your evil.  

We speak a different language. 

Words mean something, and to the Christian, God’s words mean everything.  Yes, we utter such things as “Praise God,” and “Hallelujah,”  but there is more than these alone.  When we speak of life, we understand it to mean as from God, coming at the very moment of conception.  When we use the word “love,” we know that it has nothing to do with self-gratification and warm fuzzies; instead we believe it to be a life laid down for others.  When we say we have hope, it means far more than baseless expectations built on fanciful notions; it is planted and grows tall upon the promises of God.  

The things we value are different.  

For the Christian, what matters most are God and His word.  These rank supreme among the things that we esteem important.  From these come love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Ours is not a race to accumulate as much as we can in this life; it is, rather, the pursuit of God and His will for our lives.  What pleases God is what we’re after, not what pleases men.  

The Bible says that we believers are “a peculiar people, a chosen generation, a holy nation” (1 Peter 2:9).  To those outwardly we may look the same as others, yet inwardly, and by the manner of lives we lead, we are of a completely different sort than the rest of the world.  We march to a different drumbeat, that of God’s not man’s.

For those of us looking for a better day, the responsibility does not rest with the pastor or the church, but with me.  Revival—a renewal of spirit that breathes life into people, institutions, and communities—begins with me.

First of all, I must be right with God.  I think many of us Christians think we are right with God, but I’m convinced we should take another look.  Paul exhorts the believers in Corinth, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! (2 Corinthians 13:5). Maybe we have prayed the prayer and we go to church; maybe we read our Bibles and set aside time for prayer.  Yet perhaps we’ve misplaced our trust, taken license with our freedoms, or mistreated our spouse.  Being right with God requires a continual turning away from ourselves and misdirected priorities, and redirecting our focus to the God who calls Himself Jealous.  It is called repentance, and was never intended to be something you do once and you’re good to go; no, it was always to be an ongoing attitude and regular practice.

Closely associated is confession.  God gives grace to the humble, and it requires a certain measure of humility to own up to thoughts, words, attitudes, and actions that do not please God.  Here, “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  It has always amazed me that if I’ll come to grips with what I know to be sin, God will take care of the others that I know nothing about.  Pretty good deal.

So I must get and stay right with God.

Next I must focus on my relationships, and by this I mean keep my heart clear of criticism, judgement, and resentment.  It is one thing to get offended, it is another to forgive the offender.  But forgive I must; otherwise I forfeit my forgiveness from God.  It is a sad thing to see marriages break up, churches split, and friendships unravel, all because we allow ourselves to harbor attitudes that tend to separate us rather than unite us.  If we learn anything at all from the Judeo-Christian Scripture, it is to love God and love one another—that is the whole thing summed up, and if we err here we err everywhere.  It is a hard thing to separate our relationship with God and our relationship with others; in fact, in the sight of God, they are pretty much one and the same thing.

Finally, there is the ordering of the life.  The Bible calls it a walk.  I walk with God.  I’m to walk worthy of my calling.  I get the impression that Christianity is more intentional  than I  think.  There are decisions to be made, disciplines to cultivate.  I’m to be holy just as God is holy.  Impossible?  Maybe—but that is the charge.  Ordering my life indicates priorities and practice.  My priorities should put God first, others second, and myself last.  My practices include all those things enjoined upon me in the New Testament.  I say practice because that is what it is; hardly will I ever master anything, but I’m to work at it nevertheless.  An ordering of the life means I direct it in the way of God’s truth, constantly making adjustments along the way so as to keep me heading in the right direction.

I believe the earnest Christian wants to see the world around him impacted by God and His kingdom.  He wants to see people saved and set free. He wants others to come alive and experience the goodness of God.  We call it revival, and we’ve heard of it changing everything—people and nations.  Well, it begins somewhere, and it may as well begin with me.  And it will, if I simply live the way that God has ordained I do.  My little life—as author and speaker Don Feder would put it—will then be like a pebble thrown into the sea, with its rippling effect extending out, God knows how far.

“My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1; Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34).

Only recently have I prayed to God about the cross, that it, being the central feature of the Christian faith, would become more clear to me as to its meaning. In these words I have my answer.  

Having read of the horrors of Roman crucifixion, one is aghast at what the Son of God suffered.  It brings tears to the eyes, heaviness to the heart, and a stillness to the soul when hearing of the slow, painful process of death upon a cross.  I suppose I could find the detailed explanation and post it here, but I will not, because what is heard in these words, among the last our Savior uttered, is key to understanding the real suffering of our Savior.  

Others underwent the same punishment, you see.  In fact, on that very day there were two others, both deserving.  Both experienced, far as I know, the same agony as did Jesus.  We know, however, that for these it was warranted; they were guilty of their crimes, and under Roman law this was the outcome.  

Yet our Lord was innocent.  No crime did He commit; not one sin was He guilty of.  

We heard Jesus say such things as, “Before Abraham was, I am.”  And, “Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”  We read the apostle John, who wrote, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the word was God.   And Paul, writing in Philippians 2,

“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men” (5-7).

What I mean to say is that Jesus was no ordinary man; no, He was the Son of God, even God Himself.  He existed before the world was, and entered the world in the form of man just like me.  “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”  

So it was He who was hung upon the tree, being nailed to the cross.  And yes, the suffering He suffered was of the kind that few human beings have ever been subject to.  But the worst was yet to come.  

Pastor Keith Moore said something to the effect that what Christ suffered physically was a picnic compared to what He suffered spiritually.  

You see, to fully pay the penalty for our sin Jesus had to undergo precisely what you and I would have to suffer, and that is being banished from God forever.  And whereas it was impossible for Jesus to be separated from His Father forever, He was cut off from Him upon the cross.  Hence the cry, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

I do not think for a moment that Jesus was here simply quoting Scripture so as to fulfill it.  I don’t think this was a mumbled utterance, or merely a whisper.  No, but a loud cry, close to a scream, with every cell in His battered body contributing their last burst of energy.  Indeed, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one whom Jesus only did what He saw Him doing, and only said what He heard Him saying; the one with whom Jesus was in constant fellowship–and had been from all eternity, the Father forsook Jesus, turning away His face from Him, rejecting Him.  He had become sin, and sin is a loathsome thing to God; the two, God and sin, cannot coexist.  

I do not know if Jesus knew this was coming.  He knew the cross was before Him; He knew what He had come to do; and He knew what was on the other side of it.  It was for the joy set before Him that He endured the cross, and despised its shame.  But the Father forsaking Him?

I would think Jesus knew it was coming.  He prayed that if it were possible, He would take the cup away from Him.  “But not as I will, but as You will, O God.”  Yet He has never been without the absolute closeness of fellowship with the Father.  “I and the Father are One.”  

There have been a few times when, perhaps it was an attack of the devil, or a brief lapse of faith, I have felt, albeit momentarily, separated from God.  Though not true, for maybe a split second I felt it.  Such a feeling is unbearable.  It is the most horrific feeling that could ever be felt. Even the thought I cannot bear to think.  

And I recall how awful it was to be without God before Jesus came into my life.  That too was pure agony; I was a dead man and I knew it.  The future for me was hell apart from God.  

Even if Jesus knew it was coming, that it was the ultimate price He had to pay, and even if it was to be only momentary, still, in all time and eternity there was not a more painful price to pay than for Him to be separated from the Father.  

Paul, who loved his countrymen the Jews so much the more than we do ours, wrote, “For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.”  He was saying what was the heart of Jesus as He went toward the unthinkable.  Jesus became accursed.  And this for love.  

It is written that, “For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:7-8).  And this, the death of the cross.  

In what I am saying I do not in any way diminish the physical suffering Jesus endured.  But what I am after is understanding what He ultimately faced there hung upon the cross.  There, the Father poured out upon Him the full measure of the wrath designed for us; there, the Son of God was, like all those who do not know God will be, separated from the Father.  This, I think, is the epitome of the work.  “It is finished,” He said.  “Perfectly perfect.”  “Not only have I suffered the fate of all men, death, but the destiny of all who were doomed to eternity apart from God.  I have done this because I had to suffer the full measure of what they would suffer.  I had to experience being separated from the Father in order to pay the full penalty of sin for all mankind.”  

“Of course, it was impossible for death to hold me; it pleased the Father to crush Me, putting Me to grief.  As the result of the anguish My soul He saw it and was satisfied; I never stopped trusting Him.  Into hell I descended, like all men would, and even there I declared His faithfulness to the spirits in prison.  Even there I stole the keys of death and hell from My adversary.  And then He snatched Me up; He reunited Me with Himself.  I came back into My body which was instantly changed.  The stone was rolled away and I came out, eager to see My brethren again.  

“So it is My friend, I suffered the fate due you.  You, apart from me, would have been forever forsaken by God; but no more.  I was, for you.  Imagine, God separated from God!  You can’t.  But that I was, that I was.  And it was for you, it was for all men.”

I finish for today, feeling as though I have more or less intellectually surveyed the meaning of the Psalmist’s words, uttered by Jesus upon the cross.  Maybe, just maybe, I have touched upon it in my soul, in the depths of my heart, in my innermost being.  May it go from my head to my heart; may it sink down deep into my spirit.  May what Christ suffered for me become the be-all and end-all of everything I know and am.  Just as it is written,

“For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).

“And He has said to me, and His declaration still stands, My grace is enough for you, for power is moment by moment coming to its full energy and complete operation in the sphere of weakness. Therefore, most gladly will I the rather boast in my weaknesses in order that the power of the Christ [like the Shekinah Glory in the Holy of Holies of the Tent of Meeting] may take up its residence in me [working within me and giving me help]. Wherefore I am well content in weaknesses, in insults, in necessities, in persecutions, and in circumstances under which I am subject to extreme pressure on behalf of Christ, for when I am weak, then I am filled with ability and power” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10 Wuest).

What God said to Paul he says to me as well, “My grace is sufficient for you” – or, a Wuest renders it, “enough.”  Meaning, it is all I need no matter my needs, my circumstances, my challenges in life.  

Paul was given, by God, a “thorn in the flesh,” a “messenger of Satan.”  This, to say the least, is very much surprising. God would do that? Apparently.  But we must hear the reason:  “to keep me from exalting myself.”  Meaning, God, in giving Paul such grandiose revelations, also so loved him that He, in knowing what such spiritual experiences can do to a man, brought him down to earth by means of some sort of affliction; probably a bodily one.  Paul in turn, praying it would go away, basically received a “No” answer.  Instead, he was to rely upon the grace of God.  

I believe I am led here this morning, to the grace of God, that is, as I too am dealing with an affliction–another one.  There seems to be no let up.  So I went a looking at the grace of God, what it is, and how I too might be relying upon it.  

I learned what I suspected already, that sickness and disease are not from God but from Satan (though God, as in this case, uses both for His own purposes, not always relieving us of our troubles, at least when we want).  Vincent writes, “Satan is conceived in the New Testament as the originator of bodily evil. Thus, in the gospel narrative, demoniac possession is often accompanied with some form of disease” (see Luke 13:16; Acts 10:38, and 1 Corinthians 5:5).  

David, for example, wrote, “Before I was afflicted I went astray; but now I keep Your word.”  

The source of, and reason for, affliction is not the point, however.  Perhaps this should be said before going further:  “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him from them all.”  This, then, is the real point.  

Out from what then comes the deliverance?  God’s grace.  

Grace, as Vine would define it, is that “friendly disposition from which (a) kindly act proceeds, (it is) graciousness, loving-kindness, (and) goodwill generally; in this respect there is stress on its freeness and universality, its spontaneous character, as in the case of God’s redemptive mercy, and the pleasure or joy He designs for the recipient.”

From my limited knowledge of Scripture and the meaning of both Hebrew and Greek words, I cannot but think of how this word, grace (Greek, charis), and the Old Testament Hebrew word translated loving-kindness (chesed), are nearly one and the same.  The latter means, simply, kindness, which is, according to Webster, “that temper or disposition which delights in contributing to the happiness of others, which is exercised cheerfully in gratifying their wishes, supplying their wants or alleviating their distresses.”  

Sure sounds like grace to me.  

It is by grace we are saved.  It is not from ourselves, but of God.  

In this respect it is indeed God’s love demonstrated to us in a demonstrable way; He has chosen to be favorable to us in saving us, entirely apart from anything we may have or have not done.  

Yet there is another dimension not yet mentioned.  Strong’s defines grace in part as “the divine influence upon the heart, and its evidence in the life.”  So it is by God influencing our hearts and minds that we come to Christ.  It is an inside job.  

All of which we are to rely upon; God’s favorable disposition toward us, which, I might add, is a fact of New Testament Scripture.  Plus, His workings on this inside of us.  He is in us both “to will and to do.”   To want to do a thing, a godly thing, and then have the ability to do it.  

Put in perspective, in the context of a thorn in the flesh any of us might have, God’s grace being enough for us means that the fact of His favorable disposition toward us, His love for us, and His presence in us, no matter how we feel or what we may be going through, knowing these things about Him is sufficient for us, and ought enable us to move forward in confidence.  God is for us, so who or what can be against us?  If God has allowed a thing, even sent a thing, it is for our good.

Does this means we accept evil?  Acquiesce to sickness and disease?  No!  It means we are to rely upon God’s grace.  Do we fight these?  On all fronts.  Do we pray God remove them, manifest His healing power and virtue?  Yes. Otherwise, Christ was scourged for no good reason–and we know that is not true.  

Relying upon God’s grace means we do not rely on ourselves or others.  It is not what we do, but what He has done.  I think grace always relates to that realm of possibilities that lie way beyond ourselves.  Yet those possibilities, God’s, become ours through faith, and manifestly become ours by reason of His favor.  

It is vital that a man remain fixated on God’s heart and mind toward him.  If we believe anything about God, we must of necessity believe that He is good.  All the time, in every circumstance.  His view of us is a fact, a verifiable and unchanging truth.  We are loved, and the way this shows up is in His kindness toward us.  This is grace. 

It is enough; that is to say, it is sufficient, all we need.  

There was another lesson Paul was learning in his situation:  God’s power is made perfect in our weakness.  This too is grace.  

It is a wise man who understands his frailty; and no matter how spiritual he is, he does not boast in this, but in his weakness.  Understanding and acknowledging your weakness is key to experiencing God’s power.  Seems the weaker we are, the greater God’s power at work in and through us.  Thus Paul writes, “I am well content with weaknesses; I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”  

Who among us goes about boasting of our weaknesses?  Not many I know of; but the great apostle did.  

Receiving and experiencing God’s grace begins with our sense of need for it.  Pity the man who has no need.  I think this may well be the reason so many experience hardships in life.  It is the goodness of God leading them to repentance.  No man will go to God for salvation if he feels he has no need for salvation.   Nor will he appeal to God for His grace if he has no use for it.  So it is we can thank God we have needs, we can go to Him with these needs.  There is such a thing as the “throne of grace.”  Oh, let me forever dwell there–each and every moment of every day!  

It is in confessing our sin that we are forgiven.  It is in acknowledging our weakness that God’s power is able to get to work in us.  It is when we understand our need, that we are positioned to receive His wonderful grace.  

It is enough for us.  Sufficient.  All we need for each and every moment.  

P. S.  I just have to add this advice from Matthew Henry’s commentary:

“Prayer is a salve for every sore, a remedy for every malady; and when we are afflicted with thorns in the flesh, we should give ourselves to prayer. If an answer be not given to the first prayer, nor to the second, we are to continue praying. Troubles are sent to teach us to pray; and are continued, to teach us to continue instant in prayer. Though God accepts the prayer of faith, yet he does not always give what is asked for: as he sometimes grants in wrath, so he sometimes denies in love. When God does not take away our troubles and temptations, yet, if he gives grace enough for us, we have no reason to complain. Grace signifies the goodwill of God towards us, and that is enough to enlighten and enliven us, sufficient to strengthen and comfort in all afflictions and distresses. His strength is made perfect in our weakness. Thus his grace is manifested and magnified. When we are weak in ourselves, then we are strong in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; when we feel that we are weak in ourselves, then we go to Christ, receive strength from him, and enjoy most the supplies of Divine strength and grace.”

“Let them shout for joy and rejoice, who favor my vindication; and let them say continually, ‘The Lord be magnified, Who delights in the prosperity of His servant’” (Psalms 35:27 NASB).

The word is shalom— the Lord delights in the the shalom of His servant.  Most of us understand this particular word as meaning “peace,” and that it does; however, it is much, much broader than that.  It is translated  by multiple different words (though peace or a variant is used over 150 times) and has the overall sense of completeness, soundness, welfare, and peace.  It might well be rendered, “Welfare” (ESV) or, “Well-being” (NIV).  A more comprehensive look at it would be as follows:

Completeness (in number)

Safety, soundness (in body)

Welfare, health, prosperity

Peace, quiet, tranquility, contentment

Peace, friendship

of human relationships

with God, especially in covenant relationship

Peace (from war)

Peace (as an adjective)

—not a bad list, and things I think most folks would want present in their lives, things people pursue all the time although in all the wrong places.

The thing to pick up here is that God delights, not in these things in and of themselves, but when they characterize the life of one of His children.  In other words, it pleases God that His son or daughter possess these qualities.  That is, when you or I are safe and sound, when we’re healthy and prosperous, when we are at peace with God and men, when there is an absence of conflict, this delights God.

I could summarize it this way:  when I am happy, God is happy.

The apostle John conveys this selfsame message when he writes,  “Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers” (3 John 1:2).

It is noteworthy the words “His servant.”  The thing is, I don’t believe God is so pleased when the ungodly prosper, because if you read and understand the Scripture, you will find that, for the most part, the achieve prosperity in all the wrong ways, or with the wrong motives — or, they use what they have for the wrong things.  Non-Christians prosper, for sure, and there are reasons for this; but if I read this right (and I believe I do), then His delight is aroused when it is His servant that experiences the well-being.  I note too:  it is His servant — that is, a man or a woman who serves Him.  This by definition would disqualify the person who professes to believe in God and His Son, Jesus, but who does nothing to demonstrate that faith.  I do think it is God’s heart for that person to prosper, but servanthood—as least as it is seen here in Psalm 35—is the prerequisite.

What else I pick up here is God’s heart.  He is certainly not stingy, and I don’t believe for a moment that He takes pleasure in  a child of His suffering conflict , sickness, and poverty.  I don’t see that anywhere.  I mean, though Jesus “was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor, that we through His poverty might become rich.”  And He doesn’t withhold things from us.  Just one Psalm back we read, “O fear the Lord, you His saints; for to those who fear Him there is no want.  The young lions do lack and suffer hunger;  but they who seek the Lord shall not e in want of any good thing” (34:9-10).  And in the all-too-familiar Psalm, Psalm 23:  “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. . .”  God’s heart is shalom, and it so pleases Him when His children possess it.

The Greek equivalent to shalom is eirene, and it means essentially the same thing.  Thus, when Jesus greets the brothers holed up behind locked doors and says, “Peace by with you,” He is not only imparting an overall sense of assuring calm, but those qualities that can be best described as well-being.

God is concerned for our welfare, and He is quite happy when we have it.  This is good news, that we’ve a God like this.  It is okay to feel good.  It is okay to enjoy the good things of God; He delights in that.  But let’s make sure we believe this about Him, and let’s be sure to posture ourselves rightly by taking on the attitude of a servant.