The next level of increasing one's grip on the Scriptures is represented by the finger labeled "Read."  Hearing the Word is beneficial, and commended, yet greater exposure to the truth requires reading the Bible.  

In Deuteronomy 17, Moses predicts that when Israel enters the land, the people will want a king over them (vv. 14, 15).  After warning them of dangerous tendencies for a king (vv. 16, 17), he gives a portrait of the ideal king they should select, characterized by obedience to God's will, learned from reading the law.  "Now it shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests.  It shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes," (vv. 18, 19).

Notice the two results of reading the Word:  reverence and obedience.  Reverence (fearing the LORD) stems from an awareness of the holiness of the living God.  Consistently reading the Scriptures should come from a heart in love with its Author, as well as recognition of His unique revealing of truth.  It is His holy Word because He is holy.  Further, it is His Holy Spirit Who inspired its writers, sovereignly protected its inerrant transmission, and providentially protected its dissemination that humanity may know His nature.  

Obedience flows from the loving heart, cherishing the truth of the holy One.  Among the kings of the O.T., David is generally considered the preeminent example of a reverential and obedient monarch.  Frankly, I am more impressed with Josiah.  In II Kings 22 and 23 are recorded his qualities of character and godly intensity unparalleled among the kings of Israel.  First, he heard the Word (22:10) and tore his clothes in abject horror and repentance (v. 11).  Verse 15 alludes to the fact that he went further, and read it for himself.  In 23:1-3 he called all the people to enter into a renewed covenant to obey the book of the law.  Verses 1-23 in chapter 23 recount the astonishing thoroughness of King Josiah's destruction of idolatrous practices and structures instituted by previous kings who led the people astray.  To read the account is to be appalled at how deeply Israel had delved into Satanic worship.  

Our land, too, is in great need of such restoration, a returning to Christian reverence for the Bible, preaching of the pure Word, and the spiritual awakening only the Lord God can accomplish, according to His sovereign will.

Wielding the Word (Ephesians 6:17)

     Back in the 1950's, when Dawson Trotman founded The Navigators, he came up with the Hand diagram.  Each finger represents a means of getting a grip on the Word, progressing from the little finger's weakest strength to the opposing thumb's greatest ability to grasp the Scriptures.

    The little finger is labeled "Hear."  Romans 10:17 serves as a biblical basis: "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." NASB  

If our lives are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12:2), then we must hear the Word continually, for God has ordained that His Word is our primary tool for changing thought and behavior (sanctification). (John 17:17).  As we are exposed to the Word through hearing, the blessed Holy Spirit uses His truth to speak conviction, encouragement, confirmation, and challenge to our hearts.  We are confronted by the standard of absolute truth, and how we respond determines whether we grow, stagnate, or decline.  

One of the main avenues the Lord has provided for hearing His Word is through its declaration when His body, the church, assembles.  Although faithful attendance in a Bible-believing church has been forsaken by many, to do so violates Scripture and weakens our walk with the Lord (Hebrews 10:25).  

As with each of the five elements for gaining a strong grip on the Word, the attitude of hearing is as important as the activity.  Crucial to the act of hearing is the attitude of heeding.  Exposure to the Word through listening is foundational, but an undistracted heart eager to obey what is heard is indispensable (James 1:22).  

May our Lord Jesus grant us ears to hear, and hearts to obey, as we give our full and undivided attention to His Word today.  

"each individual among you...is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband."  Ephesians 5:33

June 1, 2020, Sweet Wife and I will celebrate 40 years of marriage.  The Lord is certainly good!  He  graced me with a loving helpmeet who has faithfully ministered to my needs and those of our children, to His glory.  Through the highs and lows of pastorates, the joys and challenges of parenting, and the eventual loss of parents, she has graciously prayed for my ministry, the salvation of our children, and the strength to bear life's losses.  Her worth is far above jewels, and I am immeasurably blessed. 

"For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ," (Jude 4).

Jude has written but a few sentences before he changes direction.  Wanting to rejoice with his believing readers in their common salvation, the Holy Spirit directs him to, instead, urge them to vigorously defend and hold to the historic faith that some teachers are actually attacking. 

Jude characterizes these false brethren in five ways:
(1) "certain persons have crept in unnoticed"
"Crept" implies stealth.  With appearance, speech, and behavior that deceives, the false teacher slips into position of leadership.  Often this is accomplished by a "winning" personality, saying the right things, and going through the accepted motions.  Observe that Jude says that these persons have become influential so adroitly as to be "unnoticed."  In the early years of the church, fellowships were made up of spiritually immature believers, whose senses were not trained in godliness, with few copies of the Scriptures being written and circulated.  Consequently, potential teachers were not vetted, to ascertain what they believed, why they believed it, and what they would teach concerning the major doctrines of the faith.  The challenge, then, is undoing the influence a religious unbeliever has, once he has assumed a position of leadership in the local assembly.  Too many churches are compromised in such a situation because personal popularity becomes more important than doctrinal truth.

(2) "long beforehand marked out for this condemnation"
From eternity past, the One Who sees the end from the beginning exercised His holy sovereignty by setting His heart upon some who would experience no condemnation (Rom. 8:1), and passed by those who would.  Even as there are gradations in heavenly rewards, based on faithfulness in the use of divine resources, so there are degrees of punishment in the condemnation of hell.  In James 3:1, James warns, "Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter judgment."  What is true for believing teachers (the stricter standard to which the Lord holds them) holds equally for the religious unbeliever who dares to assume the title and recognition of a teacher, (Matt. 7:15).  His/her condemnation will be the greater for betraying the trust of the hearers, leading them astray, with eternal consequences. 

(3) "ungodly persons"
Jude focuses on the character of these apostates, these false teachers.  Despite their use of religious language as a cover, their special garments to impress the masses, and their respected positions of esteemed importance, their nature is unchanged and their hearts are desperately sick (Jer. 17:9). 
As a general principle, our motives and actions are tied to our nature.  An unchanged person's nature will bear fruit (Gal. 5:19-21) of impure motives and selfish actions.  The inward lack of reverence for God revealed itself in the false teachers' infiltrating the assemblies and taking advantage of the people (vv. 15, 16, 18, 19).  Whether financially, emotionally, or spiritually, this practice persists today, with wolves in sheep's clothing gaining great wealth playing on the emotions of God's people.

(4)  "who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness"
Jude touches on a widespread doctrinal error committed by such teachers whose heart has not been redeemed: talking of grace, but using it as a covering for sin.  Paul speaks to this issue in Romans 6:15, "What then?  Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?  May it never be!" 
Using grace as a covering and excuse for a sinful lifestyle often describes the lie lived by the false teacher.  "Licentiousness" involves gross immorality and unchecked sin that characterizes the apostate's irreverent flaunting of God's undeserved and unearned favor.  He treats grace as a get-out-of-jail-free card, whereas the genuine believer knows grace as a life-long motivation for holiness.

(5) "deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ"
Apostate false teachers are religious unbelievers.  Therefore, however pious their appearance, and however spiritual their words, inwardly they serve primarily themselves and, by extension, Satan. 
Thus, as the Lord Jesus stated, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and Mammon," (Matt. 6:24).  With a deceitful and wicked heart (Jer. 17:9), the religious unbeliever is unwilling and unable to submit to the Lordship and sovereignty of the Lord Jesus, since such worship is impossible apart from the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

This is a very needed word for the church, then as well as now, for the greatest blight on the purity of the  church is the religious unbeliever.  The greatest need, then, is discernment, if we are to recognize, expose, and discipline such infiltrators.  Our God-given tools for increasing discernment are prayer and the Word.  As we delve deeply into the Scriptures, grounded in the truth, we will be better equipped to recognize error.  Prayer for the salvation of such teachers should also be followed by pleading for a spiritual awakening across our land, purifying the visible church and cleansing the entire body of Christ.

Assurances for the Sheep

"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them; and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand."  (John 10:27--29)

It is winter, and the Lord Jesus is walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon, crowded around by unbelieving Jews who incessantly questioned His claims and teaching.  Their demands for Him to declare plainly if He is the Anointed One, the Christ, are not made sincerely, but stem from unbelief (v. 25).  Importantly, the Lord Jesus cites the hidden reason for their stubborn unacceptance of Him: "...you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep." (v. 26)
I say hidden because the truth of God's election of certain individuals to salvation is revealed only by the Holy Spirit of God to the believing soul whom He has quickened.  Such grace is an inner verification to the believer's spirit, granting the assurance of eternal security in the Lord Jesus' sacrificial atonement. 
In this 10th chapter of John our Lord speaks of seven characteristics of His sheep (elect ones) that serve as wonderful assurances to the redeemed that they do, indeed, belong to the Good Shepherd.
(1.) SENSITIVE  "My sheep hear My voice" 
Our Lord is teaching here what the apostle Paul echoes in Rom. 8:16, "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God."  By contrast, "a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised," (I Cor. 2:14).  Thus, the Savior distinguishes between those who are lost and those who are saved by the sensitivity to His promptings.  Through prayer, the Scriptures, preaching of the Word, and witness of those around us, the Holy Spirit speaks to our heart, assuring us that we are His. 
(2.) KNOWN "I know them" 
Although it is true that God is omniscient (all-knowing), to say "I know them" implies more than awareness.  The Old Testament records the use of "know" in the most intimate of terms.  Gen. 4:1 records that Adam "had relations" with his wife, Eve (NASB).  The King James Version states that he "knew" her and she bare Cain.  The picture portrayed by our Lord Jesus, then, is one of an intimate, highly personal involvement with His elect.  He loves His sheep, His elect, with the depth of commitment and delight that a godly husband has for his godly wife, but perfectly. 
To the non-elect, however, the Lord Jesus states, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness," (Matt. 7:23).  In the day of judgment there will be those who call Him 'Lord,' and present miraculous deeds as 'proof' of their salvation, yet the deciding issue is whether or not He knew them, (vv. 21, 22).  Salvation in the final analysis is not a matter of our declarations, but of His sovereign initiative.
(3.) OBEDIENT  "they follow Me" 
As in the natural order of things, sheep belonging to a shepherd recognize his voice and follow his lead (v. 4), so in the spiritual realm, the elect not only hear His word but prove to be doers of His word, as well (James 1:22). 
Knowledge is really not a substitute for obedience.  In the upper room the Lord Jesus promised blessing for obedience: "If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them," (John 13:17).  He, then, immediately contrasts such blessing for His own with the disobedience of Judas Iscariot, whom He states, "...lifted up his heel against me," (v. 18; cf. Psalm 41:9).  Regardless how religious a lifestyle the unbeliever practices, he/she is still a rebel at heart (Jer. 17:9), and cannot please God (Rom. 8:8). 
Since to obey is better than sacrifice (I Sam. 15:22), the obedience of the child of God is to be motivated by love (I John 4:19), rather than reward. 
(4.) CONFIDENT "I give eternal life to them"
To rest in confident assurance, declaring to be true what the Lord has said is so, is not empty presumption.  To know the faithful witness of the blessed Holy Spirit that I am Jesus' child, engraving His ownership upon my heart through the use of His Word and seal (Eph. 4:30), realizing full well that His eternal life is a gift I neither earned nor deserved, is to glorify Him in His saving grace. 
Such biblical assurance has no equal for sustaining us through suffering.  Paul confidently declared, "For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day," (II Tim. 1:12).  We are to know in Whom we have believed, with confident gratitude for the eternal life He has given so freely.
(5.) INSEPARABLE  "they shall never perish"
The biblical meaning of death is separation.  Physical death involves separation of the spirit and soul from the body.  Spiritual death is also separation: the spirit is separated from God, in hell.  Christians are said to be "asleep" (I Thess. 4:13) or have "fallen asleep" (v. 15) or "fall asleep in Jesus," (v. 14), when they die, physically.  In stark contrast, the unsaved are said to perish, meaning to be damned forever. 
For the redeemed elect, there will never be a separation from the everlasting love shown toward them in Christ's salvation.  At the moment of physical death, the Christian, being absent from the body is at home with the Lord (II Cor. 5:8).  And nothing can separate us from His love, ever (Rom. 8:35--39).
(6.) SECURE  "no one shall snatch them out of My hand; ...no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand." 
The triune Godhead is pictured in Scripture as sovereignly and inseparably involved in the salvation of the elect.  In eternity past, the Father set His heart upon the elect ones (Eph. 1:4).  He also built a fence about them, as it were (v. 5), (the concept within "predestined").  In the fulness of time (Gal. 4:4) the Lord Jesus came in order to accomplish atonement for those whom the Father had chosen, becoming sin on their behalf (II Cor. 5:21).  He shed His sinless blood as He endured the cross, experienced death in the tomb for three days and three nights (Mt. 12:40), and defeated death's sting by rising from the dead (I Cor. 15:20).  Sent by the Father and Son, the blessed Holy Spirit then applies the blood-bought salvation to the elect by quickening them from spiritual death by His power and presence (Rom. 8:11). 
No one, then, who has experienced such a salvation can do anything to undo it.  No sin is so heinous that Satan can use it to snatch us from the eternal grip of the Father and Son.  Our fellowship can be broken (I John 1:9), but the relationship established at salvation cannot be broken, ever (Rom. 8:1).
(7.)  GIVEN  "My Father, who has given them to Me"
High mystery, this.  The Lord Jesus speaks of a revealing within the triunity of the Godhead, the Son being given by the Father the ones for whom He was to lay down His life (John 10:11, 15, 17).  His was to be a substitutionary atonement, as He would die in the place of those whom the Father had given Him. 
There is great comfort in verse 16 of this 10th chapter of John.  The Lord Jesus states that the elect who lived at the time of His sacrificial death were not the only sheep in the Good Shepherd's fold.  The "other sheep" would include all the elect of all time, constituting the completed body of Christ, the ones whom He "did purchase for God with His blood from every tribe and tongue and people and nation," (Rev. 5:9).  Worthy is the Lamb to be praised both now and forever!

An Evangelistic Outline

The following is a biblical presentation of four non-negotiable truths designed to alert the unsaved with the serious consequences of dying without Christ.

1. LIFE IS SHORT.  James 4:13  "You do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.  You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away." 

As people we have the innate capacity to think, "That happens to other people, not to me," when we hear of accidents, catastrophes, and the like.  Even a close brush with death doesn't faze some people.  Still, as He sees fit, this truth can be used by the Holy Spirit to awaken a passive soul out of his self-deception, reminding him that he is not invincible.

2. DEATH IS CERTAIN.  Hebrews 9:27  "...it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment." 

After the sermon, a lady spoke to the pastor as she was leaving: "That's all you preachers do is preach about death... I'm sick and tired of gloomy, morbid sermons on death."  The pastor responded, "Okay, I'll make you a deal: you promise not to die, and I'll stop preaching about death." 

3. HELL IS REAL.  Revelation 20:14, 15  "Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.  This is the second death, the lake of fire.  And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." 

Denied by many, downplayed by others, the Bible still unflinchingly records the reality of hell without end.  The Lord Jesus Himself spoke more often about hell than He did about heaven.  Its unending torment forms the ominous backdrop that highlights what's at stake to die without salvation in Christ. 

4. ETERNITY IS FOREVER.  II Thessalonians 1:7b--9  "...the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God, to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.  These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power." 

The enormity of hell's horrific and tragic torment is magnified beyond imagination by the fact that it never stops.  No relief.  No respite.  Non-reversible.  No words can adequately convey the reality of hell and its never-ending excruciating pain. 

These points emphasize the blackness against which the brilliance of the gospel's message gleams like a diamond.  The darkness of sin must be presented in its fullness before the light of the good news will be welcomed. 

Ephesians 5:20

"giving thanks for all things"

A popular teaching related to gratitude is that Christians are to give thanks in all things, but not for all things.  This distinction seems to be an attempt to "get God off the hook," lest He get blamed for all that is terrible in the world.

In this verse, the Holy Spirit inspired the apostle Paul to move beyond in all things, to for all things.  In so doing He bids us also widen the scope of our gratitude to be all-inclusive.  Admittedly, the implications can be daunting, particularly when it comes to giving thanks for the horrific, the tragic, and the evil that permeates the world system. 

How are we to obey this biblical admonition?

First, we must completely embrace the truth that God is sovereign.  For some believers, this is almost painful to acknowledge.  Although it is affirmed and assumed throughout Scripture (Psalm 103:19; Dan. 4:35; Isaiah 43:13; Job 42:1, 6;  Acts 13:48; Rom. 9:15, 16;  Eph. 1:5; among many others), many struggle with this attribute of the living God.

Other Christians will acknowledge that His sovereignty is Scriptural, and thereby accept it as true, but do so reluctantly.  "I know He is sovereign, but..."  Then come qualifiers such as, "He has chosen to limit Himself," or "He is a Gentleman, and will not violate our free will."  Such sentiments reflect a distrust of His character, impugn His Name as infinite goodness, and imply an arrogance by which we the creature deign to judge the Creator. 

To move beyond these man-centered expressions of fear, doubt, and unbelief, and come to fully embrace the Bible's unashamed declaration that God is GOD, is to submissively rejoice that the supreme Sovereign of the universe controls all things, seen and unseen.  This is the foundation for gratitude without boundaries.

Secondly, as a corollary to the first, we must continually recall that God is omniscient.  Isaiah records God's words:  "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts,"  (55:8, 9). 

The writer of Hebrews put it this way:  "And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do,"  (4:13).   There is absolutely  nothing, then, that catches God by surprise.  Nothing could possibly happen, however seemingly trivial, that escapes His notice.  However forgotten we may feel, however abandoned we seem to be, the Lord's absolute awareness can fortify our prayer of gratitude.

A third attribute of the God we are to take seriously relates to His character:  He is good.  In the face of so much evil in the world, especially in situations of senseless tragedy and injustice, the world shakes its fist toward heaven and asserts that either there is no God, or He is certainly not a good one. 

The Christian is not immune to such feelings of doubting His goodness, but must take Scripture as the truth, rather than emotions.  David declares in Psalm 25:8, "Good and upright is the LORD;"  and in Psalm 100:5, the psalmist states, "For the LORD is good;  His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations."  Nahum 1:7 adds, "The LORD is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble, And He knows those who take refuge in Him."   

What then?  To live a life of ongoing gratitude, one that brings glory to the true and living God, we continually submit to His sovereign rule and reign, assured that He knows, confident that He cares. 

II Corinthians 5:7

"We walk by faith, not by sight."

From the moment of salvation, when the believer's spirit is brought to life, there is immediately produced a transformation of perspective.  Simply put, the Christian has a different world view than the lost person.  A facet of the gift of salvation in Christ is the ability to apprehend the spiritual implications of  circumstance and situations of life. 

The god of this world has blinded the spiritual discernment of the unsaved, clouding them in spiritual darkness, producing lives lived in idolatry and demon worship.  Without spiritual comprehension provided by the Holy Spirit through His blessed Word, the unchanged individual assumes that his five senses are all that's available or needed to live life.  Paul affirms, "a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised."  (I Cor. 2:14) 

In stark contrast, the regenerated person has the omniscient Spirit of the living God residing within, speaking comfort, conviction, peace and guidance to his spirit.  His presence adds a dimension of discernment that the unsaved do not have.  The believer, then, is able to see "behind the scenes" of life's situations, detecting the ongoing schemes and strategies of the evil one and his minions.

The blessed Holy Spirit's tools for teaching this life of faith and discernment are the Bible and prayer.  That Christian is most faithful and discerning whose mind is saturated with Scripture, and whose prayerful fellowship with the Father is least interrupted. 

These truths are not new, nor unknown, yet how many believers take God seriously enough to hide His Word in their heart, who consistently put on the armor provided by our loving Lord (Ephesians 6:10 ff.), and pray without ceasing?  The state of the church in our day speaks volumes in answer.  May He grant grace to His remnant to walk by deeper and deeper faith in these trying times!

Psalm 42:5

"Why are you in despair, O my soul? 
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence.

The psalmist is talking to himself, admonishing his own soul to change perspective.  For he had the same decision each of us has:  stare at circumstances, or gaze at God.  The one leads to ongoing disappointment, while the other produces promised peace (Isaiah 26:3). 

This peace leads to assured confidence of hope.  Unlike the "hope" of common conversations ("I hope the game won't be rained out"; "With so many people attending, I hope we can find a parking place"), biblical hope is grounded in the immutable character of the living God. 

Thus, Scriptural hope transcends disappointments, disturbances, and situational despair.  With our hearts fixed on the sovereign Lord of every aspect of our lives, we can choose to praise Him for the help of His presence!

NOTE:  May we follow the example of the psalmist, and encourage ourselves in the faith through admonitions and reminders of God's unchanging goodness.  Someone has well said, "The most important sermon you will ever hear is the one you preach to yourself." 

ELECTION

HOLY TRINITY,
All praise to Thee for electing me to salvation,
         by foreknowledge of God the Father,
         through sanctification of the Spirit,
         unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus;
I adore the wonders of Thy condescending love,
   marvel at the true believer's high privilege
                               within whom all heaven comes to dwell,
                                abiding in God and God in him;
I believe it, help me experience it to the full.
Continue to teach me that Christ's righteousness
      satisfies justice and evidences Thy love;
Help me to make use of it by faith as the ground of my peace
      and of Thy favor and acceptance,
      so that I may live always near the cross.
It is not feeling the Spirit that proves my saved state;
      but the truth of what Christ did perfectly for me;
All holiness in Him is by faith made mine,
      as if I had done it;
Therefore I see the use of His righteousness,
      for satisfaction to divine justice and making me righteous.
It is not inner sensation that makes Christ's death mine
      for that may be delusion, being without the Word,
      but His death apprehended by faith,
      and so testified by Word and Spirit.
I bless Thee for these live exercises of faith,
     for the righteousness that is mine in Jesus,
     for grace to resign my will to Thee;
I rejoice to think that all things are at Thy disposal,
     and I love to leave them there.
Then prayer turns wholly to praise,
     and all I can do is to adore and love Thee.
I want not the favor of man to lean upon,
     for I know that Thy electing grace is infinitely better.


             -- The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions

Praise His Name, He Never Changes

"I, the LORD, do not change."  (Malachi 3:6)

The faith by which we are to walk is grounded in the character of the One who changed us.  Our faith rests primarily in the truth that He never changes.  His immutability is the bedrock upon which our confidence and assurance of salvation are built. 
 
His constancy is the over-arching attribute which encompasses them all.  For, could we depend in faith upon a god whose character vacillates? What would become of all His promises, His declarations and determinations if He could change at any moment?  How could we live in joyful, confident expectation if the god we served might keep His word? 

Yet, there are multiplied millions of professing (and genuine, as well) believers who assert and teach that it is possible to lose one's salvation.  It is contended that the Christian can commit sin so heinous as to forfeit the salvation he once experienced and enjoyed. 
The implications of such a position are staggering:  (a) the character of the immutable God is impugned, casting doubt upon His precious and magnificent promises related to eternal security; (b) the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ is maligned, considered insufficient to completely cover the believer's sins for eternity; (c) the ministry of the blessed Holy Spirit is demeaned, implying that His sealing, sanctifying, and securing work can, at the last, be overcome by sin. 
(d) Such a perspective also shifts the basis for salvation from grace to works(!)  The question immediately comes:  How many good works are necessary to keep one saved, if, indeed, salvation can be lost? 
No, salvation is from the LORD (Jonah 2:9), first to last, and He CANNOT be thwarted. 
The one whom the Father sets His heart upon from all eternity in election, whose sin is atoned for by the Son, and regenerated by the Holy Spirit will persevere in the faith to the end of his days. 






 

Pray On!

Charles Haddon Spurgeon wrote:
"Never give up praying, even when Satan suggests that prayer is in vain.  Pray in his teeth!  "Pray without ceasing," (I Thess. 5:17).  If the heavens are brass and your prayer only echoes above your head, pray on! 
If month after month your prayer appears to have miscarried, if you have had no answer, continue to draw close to the Lord. 
Do not abandon the mercy seat for any reason.  If it is a good thing that you have been asking for, and if you are sure it is according to the divine will, wait, tarry, pray, weep, plead, wrestle, and agonize until you get what you are praying for.

If your heart is cold, do not wait until your heart warms.  Pray your soul into heat with the help of the ever-blessed Holy Spirit, who helps our weakness, who intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words (Rom. 8:26).

Never cease prayer for any reason.  If the philosopher tells you that every event is fixed and that prayer cannot possibly change anything, go on praying. 
If you cannot reply to every difficulty that man suggests, resolve to be obedient to the divine will.
"Pray without ceasing."  Never, never, never renounce the habit of prayer or your confidence in its power."

Psalm 116:15

"Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His godly ones."

Scotland in the late 1600's was a place of intense persecution for those who stayed true to the truth that the Lord Jesus is the Head of His church, regardless of the claims of an earthly king on his throne. 

Jock Purves, in his excellent work, "Fair Sunshine" chronicles the stories of 13 Covenanters, believers who overcame the enemy by "the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death," (Rev. 12:11).  The following is the account of one of the godly ones whose death was precious in the sight of the Lord.

"John Brown was the very close friend of both Richard Cameron, the Lion of the Covenant, and Alexander Peden, 'Puir Auld Sandy', the Prophet of the Covenant.  When Brown fell, Peden referred to him as 'a clear shining light, the greatest Christian I ever conversed with.'  In 1682, he had performed the marriage ceremony of Brown to Isabel Weir, and after the simple Puritan ceremony had said to Isabel, 'Ye have a good man to be your husband, but ye will not enjoy him long; prize his company, and keep linen by you to be his winding sheet, for ye will need it when ye are not looking for it, and it will be a bloody one.'  A Covenanting wedding!  The Covenanter's deepest joys ever carried the shadow of the Cross.

John Brown of Priesthill was poor.  Till the day he died he never owned much more than twenty sheep and a cow.  His small crofting cottage is now no more.  On every side stretch miles upon miles of melancholy moorlands with the heather creeping lovingly around his memorial stone. 

By all accounts he was rarely gifted, and carried a brilliant intellect yielded to Christ.  He had his own rustic school of theology, and his classes were attended by youths from miles around.  Three of these class members sealed their testimonies with their blood, and their leader had oftentimes to flee.  An impediment in his speech had made him give up the thought of being a Covenanting minister, but here was his own Bible School where he taught youth to resist unto blood, striving against sin.  In the summer time they held their classes in the sheepfold, and in the winter they sat around the peat fire in the kitchen.  We rightly look upon John Brown of Priesthill as being one of our first founders of Bible Classes and Sunday Schools.
 
The year 1685 was a terrible year in a terrible era.  The Killing Time reeked reddest then.  Long is the roll of the names of the martyrs - the lashed to the hooks, the burned by the match, the redhot iron branded, the starved to death, the bone mangled and crushed, the earclipped, the banished, the wounded and torn by bullet and knife. 

Claverhouse, chief tool of the king's plan to eradicate the Covenanters, led three troops of horse to Priesthill in May of that year, ransacking Brown's cottage and finding so-called treasonable papers.  Brown was questioned.  His stammering disappeared, and he answered every question so solidly and distinctly that Claverhouse asked his base guides if ever they had heard him preach.  'No, no,' they said, 'he was never a preacher.'
'Well,' said he, 'if he has never preached, much has he prayed in his time.  Go to your prayers,' he shouted, 'for you shall immediately die.'  The peasant went to his knees and began to pray, but three times Claverhouse interrupted him, and then completely stopped him as John Brown interceded, asking God to spare a remnant. 
'I gave you leave to pray,' he bawled, 'and you begin to preach!'  The Covenanter turned on his knees, 'Sir,' he said, 'you know neither the nature of preaching nor praying that calls this preaching,' and, looking to God, finished his last prayer. 

Isabel Brown was standing by with her child in her arms, and another child of John Brown's first wife by her side.  He came to her saying, 'Now, Isabel, the day is come that I told you would come when I spoke to you first of marrying me.'  She said, 'Indeed, John, I can willingly part with you.'  'That is all I desire,' he replied.  'I have no more to do but to die.  I have been in happy case to meet with death for many years.'  He kissed her and his children, saying that he wished Blood-bought and gospel-promised blessings to be multiplied upon them, and Claverhouse roughly broke in, ordering six dragoons to shoot him.

As he stood before them, their hearts were moved;  they lowered their muskets and refused to fire.  But the killer of many unbelted his pistol, and hastily walking up to John Brown, placed it to his head, and blew his brains out, scattering them upon the ground. 
Looking at his ghastly work with a sardonic smile, he turned to Isabel saying, 'What do you think of your fine husband now?', and through her sad tears she bravely answered, 'I ever thought much good of him, and more than ever now.'

'It were but justice to lay you beside him,' he returned.  Said she, 'If you were permitted, I doubt not but your cruelty would go to that length.  But then, how will ye answer to God for this morning's work?' 
Arrogantly, he blustered, 'To man I can be answerable.  And as for God, I shall take Him into my own hand!'  He then mounted his horse and haughtily rode off at the head of his troops.  He later confessed that if he gave himself liberty to think of it, he could never forget John Brown's prayer.

Isabel Brown set her child upon the ground, gathered up her husband's brains, tied up his head, straightened his body, and covering it with a plaid, sat down and wept.  Thus was she found by widow Jean Brown, whose own husband and two sons had been slain in the same great cause. 

Thus it was that Isabel offered up the priceless jewel of her life, John Brown her husband.  He went swiftly to company he had often longed for, where he would be much at home.  She lived on in brave, godly, covenanting widowhood, bringing up her children, succouring the godly, and comforting the mourner with the comfort with which she herself was comforted by God."


 

Luke 23:50-54

"And behold, a man named Joseph, who was a member of the Council, a good and righteous man (he had not consented to their plan and action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God; this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 
And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain.  And it was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin."

Time was of the essence.  Someone had to act!  If no one intervened, the Lord Jesus' body would be flung onto the garbage heap in the valley of Hinnom.  Such a thought was simply too much for Joseph of Arimathea.

Described as a "good and righteous man...waiting for the kingdom of God," Joseph had the boldness to oppose the plan and action of the Sanhedrin, which carried the risk of disgrace and even death.  And he was willing to be identified with the "cursed" One who had changed his life.

He had come to faith we know not when.  As one of the religious leaders, surely he had been present when conversations with Jesus took place.  He watched and listened, observing the uniqueness of the young Rabbi from Nazareth.  Maybe he came to embrace Him as he sensed the authentic purity of His person, reflected in His powerful words and deeds.  Perhaps it was the way He died that sealed it.  Whatever the means, he was granted saving grace and faith by the Father. 

In the urgency of his spontaneous boldness, Joseph defiled himself (as far as the other leaders were concerned) in approaching Pilate to ask for the Savior's body.  The intensity of his love ignored such superstition, in order to care for his Lord.  He also risked arrest by identifying with the followers of Christ, but "perfect love casts out fear," and he pressed on. 

In his compassionate generosity of offering the use of his family vault, Joseph actually fulfilled biblical prophecy (Isaiah 53:9).  Even the Lord Jesus' burial was sovereignly supervised by the living God to validate His Son as Messiah. 

There is much encouragement in the bold initiative of Joseph's actions.  A thousand rationalizations could have kept him from openly identifying with the crucified Teacher, yet he swept them all aside and provided the venue for his Lord's resurrection.  May we be equally usable, and used by our risen Lord.

Acts 13:42-49

"And as Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people kept begging that these things might be spoken to them the next Sabbath.  Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and of the God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, were urging them to continue in the grace of God," (vs. 42, 43).
This is the Word desired.  Following a sermon by Paul in which he rehearsed an abbreviated history of God's dealings with Israel, the people wanted to hear more.  We're not given their motive for this desire; no doubt some were curious without thought of commitment, while others were genuinely impacted by the truth.  For the opposing Jews, the seven intervening days would be time to rouse those willing to attack both the messengers and the message.

"And the next Sabbath nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of God," (v. 44).  The Word draws.  Reminiscent of the Lord Jesus' ministry, when the common people heard Him gladly, the purity and authority of God's truth was winsome, drawing multitudes to hear it proclaimed. 
Our Lord's parable of the soils (Luke 8) reminds us of the difference there can be between initial response and authentic results.  The Lord Himself knew better than to trust men, for He knew what was in their hearts (John 2:24, 25).  Hence, the presence of large crowds must be seen in perspective:  many are called, few chosen.

"But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming," (v. 45).  The Word divides.  The gospel truth, spoken in the power of the Holy Spirit, always confronts and forces a decision: either rejection or acceptance.  The Lord Jesus declared, "he who is not with Me is against Me..." (Matthew 12:30a). 
These Jews decided to reject Messiah, His message, and His messengers.  Incensed by the popular reception from the Gentiles (whom they considered to be dogs), as well as the proselytes (Gentiles who converted to Judaism), these legalistic religionists actually spoke evil of the very God they claimed to adore in the course of their vehement objections to Paul's preaching.

"And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, 'It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; since you repudiate it, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.  For thus the Lord has commanded us, 'I HAVE PLACED YOU AS A LIGHT TO THE GENTILES, THAT YOU SHOULD BRING SALVATION TO THE END OF THE EARTH.' " (vs. 46, 47).
This is the Word determined.  Rather than being thwarted by the frantic efforts of the unbelieving Jews to discredit their message of truth, Paul and Barnabas became all the more determined and bold in their delivery.   As Proverbs 28:1 states, "...the righteous are bold as a lion."  Such a stance in the face of fierce opposition speaks strongly to the Holy Spirit's anointing that was upon the two men. 
Note: see the human responsibility aspect of salvation here.  In repudiating the word of God spoken by these servants of the living God, the Jews judged themselves unworthy of eternal life.  Their damnation was deserved in the light of such privileged exposure to God's truth, their unbelief the root of their judgment. 
By quoting Isaiah 49:6, Paul was employing a messianic passage that describes the heart of God's commitment to non-Jews.  Although the Jews considered salvation for the Gentiles unthinkable, God was revealing His determined will through Paul's declarations.

"And when the Gentiles heard this, the began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord;  and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed," (v. 48).  This is the Word pre-determined.  Luke would have us understand that salvation is a sovereignly-initiated work of grace which the living God orchestrated before the foundation of the world.  Paul speaks of our salvation as being "according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity," (II Timothy 1:9).  Paul tells the Ephesian believers that God the Father "chose us in Him (the Lord Jesus) before the foundation of the world..." (Eph. 1:4).  Thus, the "had been appointed" (or ordained) speaks of eternity past as its origin. 
Someone has wisely warned that we are not to invert the order of the verse:  as many as believed, were appointed to eternal life.  No, God does not see who will be saved and then decide they are elect.  Such a view is counter to Scriptures quoted here, as well as the biblical picture of man's complete and total spiritual helplessness.  Were it not for God's gracious initiative in predestinating the elect from eternity past, no one would be saved at all (Romans 3:10-12). 

"And the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region," (v. 49).  This is the Word disseminated.  With the salvation of great numbers of Gentiles, testimonies as to the change the Lord Jesus makes in one's life spread rapidly and widely.  That aspect of Christ's great commission "even to the remotest part of the earth" (Acts 1:8) was being carried out through the apostles' obedience. 

An important concluding thought:  from beginning to end of this episode of evangelism in the early church, the central focus is the word of God.  Paul and Barnabas did not lecture on the psychological basis of conversion, or societal ills, or the politically adverse landscape related to Roman oppression. 
Rather, the tremendous life-changing impact altering the lives of hundreds, if not thousands of people stemmed from the word of God anointed by the Spirit of God according to the gracious will of the living God. 

Hebrews 4:12

"For the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

As is His Word, so is He.  God's Word is living because He lives.  Just as surely as we know, love, and serve the living God, so we are assured that His Word lives, as well. 
Consistent with continual activity by the one true God, so His Word is likewise active.  Though sin in its many manifestations dulls our senses to discern His movements, nonetheless He is ever active in His sovereign interactions with His creation. 

There is nothing He does not see (Hebrews 4:13), nothing which would surprise Him, nothing which could "catch Him off guard," since He sees the end from the beginning with absolute awareness, (Jeremiah 23:23, 24).  Morever, the living God "sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart," (I Samuel 16:7).

It is this spiritual scrutiny, this revealing of our heart, that confirms the uniqueness of the Word of God.  Because the heart is more deceitful than all else (Jeremiah 17:9), no one truly knows his own heart.  It is a work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer to continually reveal his heart to him, primarily through the tool of His blessed book. 

As we present our heart to the Holy Spirit, exposing it to the standards, admonitions, examples, exhortations, and purities of His truth, our very thoughts and intentions undergo spiritual surgery.  His scalpel of Scripture cuts deeply into the diseases of sin and self, and lays open the illnesses which need removal by confession, repentance, and forsaking.  The more thorough our yearning for His knife, the greater the healing, restoration, joy, and usability.   

Hell

The elect only are the ones who accept what the Bible says about it, who catch a glimpse of its horrific reality, feel the force of its implications, and rejoice in relief that it's not their destination.

Underestimating God's Holiness

"But when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out toward the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen nearly upset it.  And the anger of the LORD burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down there for his irreverence; and he died there by the ark of God,"  (II Samuel 6:6,7).

What seems on the surface to be a capricious outburst of unjust anger on God's part is actually justified wrath in the face of disobedience to His plainly-stated requirements for acceptable worship. 

* The Requirements. 

In Numbers 3:30, 31; 4:15; and 7:9, the Old Testament law specified that the ark of God was to be carried by the sons of Kohath.  Additionally, Exodus 25:12-15 clearly recorded the LORD's instructions through Moses for the means of transporting the sacred ark: "You shall cast four gold rings for it and fasten them on its four feet, and two rings shall be on one side of it and two rings on the other side of it.  You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.  You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry the ark with them.  The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark;  they shall not be removed from it." 
Thus are given the living God's specific and crystal clear commands concerning moving the ark which represented His ineffable Name.

*  The Requirements Unknown.

Having captured the ark of God, the Philistines decided after seven months (I Samuel 6:1) that they had had enough.  Throughout the land mice had brought plague, and tumors had broken out on the entire populace, producing an outcry for relief.  Their pagan priests and diviners advised returning the ark with a guilt offering of their own concoction (6:5).  Moreover, the means they counseled for its transportation was a new cart (vv. 7,8), hitched to two milch cows on which there had never been a yoke.  The people heeded this advice (vv. 10, 11), and the ark was led back to Beth-shemesh, where the people there rejoiced at the sight of its return.

* The Requirements Ignored.

Having become established as king over Israel (II Samuel 5:12), David determined that it was time for the ark of God to be returned to Jerusalem, the City of David.  He gathered thirty thousand of Israel's chosen men together, to transport the sacred ark.  "They placed the ark of God on a new cart that they might bring it from the house of Abinadab which was on the hill; and Ahio was walking ahead of the ark," (6:3,4). 

Did King David not know the passages in Numbers and Exodus related to moving the ark?  Of all things, he is adopting the same mode as the enemies of the Lord:  a new cart(!)  Where is the spiritual leadership from the "man after God's own heart"? 

* Consequences of Man-Made Worship

In this situation, David's failure to conscientiously follow God's worship mandate cost a man his life.  David's anger (6:8) was likely directed at himself for carelessly underestimating the holiness of the living God.  In his zeal to get the ark back in its proper location, he failed to take into account the supreme holiness of God's Name. 

This account is a needed reminder and warning for our man-centered society and lackadaisical churches.  Any attempts to worship the sovereign God of heaven and earth apart from the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ are rejected.  God must be worshipped in Spirit and in truth (John 4:24), acceptable only through access granted by the Lord Jesus (John 14:6).  Any and all attempts to approach Him by humanly-devised methods and means are idolatry, and an abomination. 
May He grant grace for the acceptance of this truth.
 
















 

Who Has Our Trust?

  "Stop regarding man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils;  For why should he be esteemed?"  (Isaiah 2:22)

In context, Isaiah is picturing and prophesying richly-deserved judgment upon Judah.  A number of elements in the second chapter fitly describe what was experienced during the Babylonian captivity, but the overall intensity better portrays the future tribulation known as the Time of Jacob's Trouble (Jeremiah 30:7; Matthew 24; Revelation 6--19).
"In that day men will cast away to the moles and the bats Their idols of silver and their idols of gold, Which they made for themselves to worship, In order to go into the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs Before the terror of the LORD and the splendor of His majesty," (vv. 20, 21; cf. Rev. 6:12, 15, 16). 

In such a time of unprecedented trauma, chaos, and terror, peace will be promised by the Antichrist, and his confident assurances will lead many to place faith in him.  Verse 22 is Isaiah's admonition to stop depending on people, however trustworthy and capable they may seem, and trust only in the living God. 

We continually struggle with faith in the seen versus faith in the unseen.  Our senses constantly scream that what we can see, hear, taste, touch and smell are reality, and the unseen realm of spirituality is (a) non-existent, (b) unscientific, (c) undependable at best, (d) an indication of insanity at worst.  The world system assures us that man is the measure by which the universe should be perceived, and what we do not understand shouldn't concern. 

Yet in times of difficulty, loss, death, despair, fear and heartbreak, times when we're overwhelmed by life's enigmas, faith in man won't do.  Even faith in faith will disappoint, for faith is only as valid as the object in which it is placed.  Thus, only faith in the living triune God of the Scriptures, the sovereign King of the universe, will sustain us through tribulation. 

The Father assures His own, "Do not fear, for I am with you;  Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand," (Isaiah 41:10).  The Son, the Lord Jesus Christ invites, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS," (Matthew 11:28, 29). 
The third Person of the Trinity, the blessed Holy Spirit, provides unspeakable comfort for all who belong to the Lord Jesus, even as the Savior promised, "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you," (John 14:16, 17).


Father,
Grant grace that we who have been changed by the Lord Jesus would lean less and less on man and be deepened in our dependence upon You. 
In the Lord Jesus' Name,
Amen.

The Word of the living GOD

"Is not My word like a fire?" declares the LORD, "and like a hammer which shatters a rock?"  Jeremiah 23:29

In stark contrast to the dreams of false prophets, devised out of deceitful hearts, for the purpose of making God's people forget His name, the living God Himself likens His truth to (a) fire and to (b) a hammer. 

(a)  Fire consumes. 
       In I Kings 18, the authenticity of Elijah's commission as a prophet and the veracity of his message from God were on the line.  The prophets of Baal outnumbered him 450 to 1, and the hearts of the undiscerning people had been swayed to spiritual adultery.  Elijah proposed settling the issue by a contest: "Now let them give us two oxen; and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it up, and place it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other ox, and lay it on the wood, and I will not put a fire under it.  Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD, and the God who answers by fire, He is God," (vv. 23, 24). 
All morning, through the noon hour, even to the time of the evening sacrifice, the false prophets leaped about the altar, cut themselves with swords and lances until covered with blood, all the while yelling for their god to answer by fire.  The Bible says, "but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention," (v. 29). 
Elijah then models obedience to the living God's worship requirements by erecting the altar in His Name (v. 32), at the proper time (the evening sacrifice)(v. 36), and with prayer that glorified Him as God:  "O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel, and that I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word.  Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that You, O LORD, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again," (vv. 36, 37). 
At the command of the LORD, "the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench." (v. 38) 
What the physical fire did in this narrative, the word of the living God does, spiritually, where it is proclaimed in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Speculations are destroyed, lofty things raised up against the knowledge of God, consumed by His invincible word which accomplishes what He desires, succeeding in the matter for which He sends it.
At the judgment seat of Christ, consuming fire will be used in the determining of rewards: "Each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work.  If any man's work which he has built upon it remains, he shall receive a reward.  If any man's work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire," (I Corinthians 3:13-15).     
(b)  Fire also purifies.  As it is that our hearts are "more deceitful than all else, and desperately sick" (Jeremiah 17:9), we are in continual need of the Word's purifying work on our hearts.  John Rippon's familiar hymn, "How Firm a Foundation" applies:

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine. 









The Word is the tool of His grace by which His purifying work is accomplished.  Through hearing, reading, studying, memorizing, meditating upon, and obeying the Word, our impure motives are revealed, our secret sins surface for confession, hypocrisy unheeded is no longer ignored, the grieving and quenching of the Holy Spirit is taken seriously, and the desire to please our Lord becomes preeminent.

As a hammer, the Lord's Word shatters.  Why?
It is His Word.  The Word of the living God is all-powerful because He is omnipotent.  As Jeremiah records God's question, "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?"  The prophet humbly affirmed, "Ah Lord GOD!  Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm!  Nothing is too difficult for You!" (Jer. 32:27, 17)
Isaiah also quotes the living God as He asserts, "My word which goes forth from My mouth shall not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it," (Isaiah 55:11).
 
As someone has well said, hard words produce soft hearts.  Conversely, soft words produce hard hearts.  Meaning?  The undiluted Word, the unvarnished truth, proclaimed in the power of the Holy Spirit, confronts the heart, pierces the soul (Hebrews 4:12), and makes one willing in the day of His power.  As Paul commanded his protege' Timothy, "Preach the word... reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction," (II Timothy 4:2).  Sound doctrine, strongly delivered, makes for softened hearts.
However, the deceitful heart is hardened when the truth is compromised, when pleasing to the tickled ears of the hearers, who will then eschew the truth and turn to myths (vv. 3,4).

In these days where false prophets abound, where the church has become worldly and the world has become so churchy that there's little difference between the two, and when a God-sent spiritual awakening is our only hope, pray the Lord of the harvest to raise up godly, Spirit-unctioned preachers who preach the shattering Word in its purity and power!