David’s Great Escapes

This Sunday we return to I Samuel as we cover chapter 19 in which the Lord repeatedly delivers David from attempts on his life by jealous king Saul. David writes about one of these incidents in Psalm 59 in which he not only remembers the deliverance from Saul, but also points to Christ. We face powerful enemies and big problems in the world. Just as the LORD protects His anointed king David, He protects and cares for us.

Understanding Our Nation’s Financial Crisis

Our nation is facing what the Economist magazine calls the most serious financial crisis since the great depression. Housing prices have crashed (especially in Southern California). Thousands of homes are in foreclosure. The foreclosures have brought the entire financial system to a near meltdown. The stock market has lost trillions of dollars in value. The economy appears to be headed towards a deep recession (or worse) which will affect all of us (through unemployment, etc.).

A major cause of our nation’s economic crisis is the violation of key biblical principles. There are also important spiritual lessons which we should learn in times like these.

Finally, times of trouble bring great spiritual opportunities for God’s people. We may have new opportunities to show love for one another. As the idols of the world are collapsing, we will have opportunity to point them to the living God.

The Sad Consequences of Unbelief

Jude 5-19 - Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties. But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed. Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever. It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage.

But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.” These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit.

The Called Contend for the Truth

Jude 1-4 - Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ: May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you. Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. 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.

Satisfaction for the Thirsty

Spurgeon called Isaiah 55 a chapter of gospel invitation. He preached from this passage at least eighteen times.

Isaiah 55 pleads with the lost to abandon their worthless idols. The Lord offers abundant pardon and rich kingdom blessings to those who turn to Him.

Isaiah 55 also speaks to believers who sometimes waste their time and money seeking to find joy and satisfaction in worldly things instead of finding their fulfillment in Christ.

Isaiah 55 also points to Christ who offers Himself as our spiritual food and drink.

Liberty and Love

Are you strong?

Last week Paul began his discussion of the issues over which Christians differ by encouraging all of us to accept one another without judging in these difficult matters.

In this week’s text Paul focuses upon those who consider themselves strong - because they believe they have liberty to do things in which the weak cannot participate without violating his conscience.
Rather than looking down on the weak, the strong should forego the use of his freedom for the sake of those who don’t enjoy the same sense of freedom.
In so doing he is living out the gospel by imitating Christ who gave up His rights for us.