Psalm 14:1-3 ESV
“The fool says in his
heart, ‘There is no God.’
They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;
there is none who does good.
“The Lord looks down
from heaven on the children of man,
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.
“They have all turned
aside; together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.”
Such is the character of our sinful nature. In our sinful
flesh, we do not acknowledge God for the holy God that he is. We do not honor
him as Lord. We do not give him true praise and the thanksgiving which he so
deserves for who he is, and for all that he has done for us, the people of this
earth.
In our sin nature, our righteousness is as filthy rags to
God. We can’t do good, not as God defines good, because only God is truly good,
and therefore all goodness comes from him (cf. Rom. 3).
In our sin nature we do not seek after God, either. Although
God has revealed himself to all humankind, through his created works, those who
are still living according to the flesh do not seek after God, they do not obey
God, and thus they do what their corrupt hearts tell them to do (cf. Rom. 1).
Psalm 14:4-6 ESV
“Have they no
knowledge, all the evildoers
who eat up my people as they eat bread
and do not call upon the Lord?
“There they are in
great terror,
for God is with the generation of the
righteous.
You would shame the
plans of the poor,
but the Lord is his refuge.”
These evildoers, though, who are they? Are they solely the
people of this world who have not acknowledged Jesus Christ as Savior of their
lives? Or, could they be many who profess faith in Jesus Christ? Could they
even be some people who truly trusted in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of
their lives, but who have since fallen away from that pure devotion to Christ
to follow after the ways of their sinful flesh (examples in Revelation 2-3)?
For, there is a reason there are so many warnings to the church
in the New Testament about not doing evil like they did before they believed in
Jesus, if they did believe in Jesus. There is a reason the church is
continually reminded of what they were saved from, and what they were saved to,
and how they need to forsake particular sins which are weighing them down, and
how they need to live holy lives, pleasing to God (Rom. 12:1-2; Heb. 12).
And, there is a reason that God warns the church throughout
the New Testament that if they make these sins their practice, that they will
not inherit eternal life with God, which they are anticipating receiving from
God. But, instead, they will die in their sins because they will not die to
their sins (Gal. 5:16-21; Eph. 5:3-6; Gal. 6:7-8; Rom. 2:6-8; Rom. 8:1-17).
And, therefore, these persecutors of Christ’s true followers
may well be many who profess faith in Jesus Christ, and perhaps even those who
once walked by faith in Christ, but who then drifted away. They may even be
pastors of churches, or church elders or deacons, or Bible teachers, etc.
For, many who profess faith in Jesus Christ have gone the
way of the world and of business marketing schemes, and thus they are following
man-made religion rather than God, and they are persecuting true Christ
followers.
So, this is an encouragement to those who truly are walking
by faith in Jesus Christ, who are holding fast to the testimony of Christ. God
is with us, and he is our refuge, and he is our strength to help us through
anything that our opposition might throw at us. And, he will see us through to
the very end, and then he will take us home to be with him forever.
And, it is a warning to those who would oppose the Lord’s
true servants and messengers, i.e. his righteous ones, that if they mess with
the Lord’s saints, they are messing with God, for they are opposing God. For,
God will judge them for how they treated his holy ones, and for how they
treated HIM.
Psalm 14:7 ESV
“Oh, that salvation
for Israel would come out of Zion!
When the Lord restores the fortunes of his
people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.”
The salvation that we should be looking for from God,
though, should not be solely to be rescued from our physical enemies, and it
should not be to have him return life to us as normal, either.
For, too much of today’s church has gone the way of the
world, and they have become enemies of God in how they treat God, and in how
they treat some of those who are following the Lord in all sincerity, too. So,
we need to pray for revival!
But, the reality of the situation is that so many who call
themselves Christians have been ignoring God for a long while. They have not
been listening to what he says unless it agrees with how they want to live
their lives. Thus, they are living in sin while claiming God’s grace covers it
all, and some of them are actually teaching that God requires no repentance, no
obedience, and no submission to him as Lord, but that they can still be assured
of heaven for eternity.
The other reality of the situation is, as history has
proven, that revival often comes through hard times, and times of persecution
of the church. When people close their ears to God, and they continue in their
sinful practices, despite his many warnings, and despite his many pleas for
them to repent of their sins and to follow him in obedience, then God
disciplines them in order to correct them, to prune them, and so they will
share in his holiness.
So, if we truly want to see the adulterous and idolatrous
church of today revived spiritually, walking with the Lord in obedience to his
ways, then we have to be willing to have the Lord do what is necessary to bring
his wandering church to her knees in humility and in repentance and in
obedience to his commands.
And, we shouldn’t be looking to have our physical fortunes
restored, but the fortune we should be looking to have restored is in human
lives surrendered to Jesus Christ, following him in his ways, sharing the
gospel of Jesus Christ with the world around them so that many can be saved
before our Lord returns.
We should be seeking things above and not things on this
earth, in other words. We should have our minds set on God’s eternal kingdom,
rather than having our thoughts focused on the kingdoms of men on this earth.
And, don’t look to humans to save us out of the situation we are in, either.
Look to God to deliver people from their slavery to sin so that they can spend eternity
with God in heaven. And, put this global crisis in God’s hands.
And, if you have a lot more free time on your hands because
of this current global crisis, then pray and ask the Lord how He wants you to
spend that time, and be talking with people about Jesus Christ, and share his
gospel with others, and demonstrate the love of God by how you live your lives
for the glory and praise of God. For, this is why we are here, isn’t it?
O Could I Speak the
Matchless Worth
Author: Samuel Medley
(1789)
Tune: ARIEL
O could I speak the matchless worth,
O could I sound the glories forth
Which in my Savior shine,
I'd soar, and touch the heav'nly strings,
and vie with Gabriel while he sings
in notes almost divine,
in notes almost divine.
I'd sing the precious blood he spilt,
my ransom from the dreadful guilt
of sin, and wrath divine:
I'd sing his glorious righteousness,
in which all perfect, heav'nly dress
my soul shall ever shine,
my soul shall ever shine.
I'd sing the characters he bears,
and all the forms of love he wears,
exalted on his throne:
in loftiest songs of sweetest praise,
I would to everlasting days
make all his glories known,
make all his glories known.
Well, the delightful day will come
when my dear Lord will bring me home,
and I shall see his face;
then with my Savior, Brother, Friend,
a blest eternity I'll spend,
triumphant in his grace,
triumphant in his grace.
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