Blessed is he whose help is the God of
Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord
his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—the
Lord, who remains faithful
forever.
(Psalm 146:4-6)
Most independent observers don't expect the economy to
improve any time soon, and the average American doesn't believe either of
the presumed candidates for president will be able to change that.
Regardless of the reported swings in the unemployment figures, the
percentage of working age Americans who have a job has remained steady for
over two years, and Labor Department sources say it's the lowest level of
work force participation in 28 years.
The fact that many Americans don't think either
presidential candidate will be able to fix our economy
means they're no longer hoping for improvement on that front.
In other words, they're losing hope in the government's ability to
provide a good life for its people.
It seems the so-called Protestant Work Ethic that encouraged our
parents and grandparents to live right and work hard as the best way to
achieve prosperity is no longer reliable.
There are untold numbers of right living, hard working middle class
Americans who are finding it increasingly difficult stay even, and as for
getting ahead, forget about it.
You can't blame them. For several years now the truth
about the state of our economy has been strangely missing from the national
discourse. We're so used to
being told things are better than they actually are, we no longer know what
to believe.
The first time I heard the prediction that this
generation of Americans would be the first who could no longer hope for a
better standard of living than that of their parents, I remember thinking
how great an influence a positive expectation has had on our national way of
life, and I wondered how the loss of that expectation would affect us. I
guess we're finding out.
The problem is too many of us have let our past
experience shape our expectation for the future.
Because of that we've come to believe that our standard of living
would always continue on its upward trend.
While for Christians this is true in the spiritual sense, it
contradicts the Bible's teaching where our physical lives are concerned. In
fact we're warned to expect just the opposite.
I'll show you.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an
inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who
through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation
that is ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Peter 1:3-5).
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little
while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have
come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even
though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory
and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you
love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are
filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the
goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls (1 Peter 1:6-9)
Paul said that everything that was written in the past
was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of
the Scriptures we might have hope (Romans 15:4) and Peter's comments
above contain a powerful lesson for us.
We might have to suffer grief in all kinds of trials but we can be
filled with an inexpressible joy because we're receiving the goal of our
faith, the salvation of our soul.
Jesus
said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have
overcome the world” (John 16:33).
He said He knows we don't have much strength but we've kept His word
and haven't denied His name. And
since we've kept His command to endure patiently, He will keep us from the
hour of trial that's coming upon the whole world (Rev. 3:8-10).
There's that word “endure” again.
It's the same one Paul used in Romans 15:4 and it means to
bear our situation bravely and calmly.
We can do this because we can see the future through the lens of
Scripture and it says our destiny will exceed our wildest expectations.
But you have come to
Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have
come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly,
to the church of the firstborn, whose names
are written in heaven (Hebrews 12:22-23).
This is what lies ahead for us, and it doesn't matter
if things get tough for a little while here because there's no power in
Heaven or on Earth that can take that from us. Besides, the Lord has
promised that because we've sought His Kingdom and His righteousness, He'll
see to all our needs in the mean time (Matt. 6:31-33). Therefore,
Paul was justified in saying,
Do not be anxious
about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with
thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which
transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in
Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:6-7).
The reason many Christians are anxious about the next
little while is that they don't have that clear picture of our destiny the
Bible paints for us fixed in their minds.
For the most part we're not nearly as fearful of what we know as we
are of what we don't know and that's why I've been preaching for years about
the absolute necessity of understanding what the Bible says about the End
Times. When the final outcome is
clear in our minds, things that happen along the way are not as scary.
Make no mistake about it. Life on Earth is not going to
get better, it's going to get worse. Even if we see signs that appear to
indicate improvement we're not to be fooled by them like the rest of the
world will be. Remember Paul's
warning, “The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While
people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them
suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape”
(1 Thes. 5:2-3).
Then he said that we who are believers should not be
taken by surprise as this day approaches.
That means we should not be fooled by the appearance of improvement.
We should remain alert and self-controlled, putting on faith as a
breastplate and the hope of salvation as a helmet. God did not appoint us to
suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore we should encourage one another and build each other up (1
Thes 5:4-11).
The Greek word Paul used for self-controlled means to
be calm and collected in spirit.
We can only do that when we know for certain that the things Satan intends
for this world cannot pre-empt the things God intends for us.
For greater is the One who is in us than the one who is in the world
(1 John 4:4).
A breastplate protects the heart, and a helmet protects
the head. A soldier who went
into battle without either one was vulnerable. It took both to fully protect
him. Our heart is the seat of
our faith, and our head is the seat of our knowledge.
Both must be protected because both are essential to our well being.
We live by faith not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7), but
faith comes from hearing the Word of the Lord (Romans 10:17).
God gave us the faith to be saved and then gave us His word to
nurture and strengthen our faith.
Without knowledge our faith can be shaken, and without
faith our knowledge can be discredited. False teachers prey on our lack of
Biblical knowledge with clever attempts to shake our faith, claiming the
Lord's promises of escape from judgment are conditional or even
non-existent. Unbelievers take advantage of our weak faith by trying to
undermine the authority of God's Word, calling it a counterfeit work of man
rather than the inspired Word of God.
It takes both faith and knowledge to fully protect us,
to keep us calm and collected in spirit.
Our faith in God's promises and the knowledge that He really made
them combine to give us the protection we need to stand against our enemies.
This combination is essential to allow us to take the
Lord at His word when He said, “When these things begin to take place,
stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near”
(Luke 21:28). While the
rest of the world is ducking for cover, we're to stand tall with our eye on
the sky, our arms lifted in praise, and our heart filled with joy because
this is the time of fulfillment, the time of receiving the goal of our
faith, the salvation of our souls!
Blessed is he whose hope is in the Lord. You can almost hear the
footsteps of the Messiah. 05-12-12
