“Mount up with wings as eagles”

         Yesterday I lamented the sad spectacle of people who got so discouraged that they “quit.” They “gave up” and no longer made the effort to fulfill the purposes for which God created them. It's one thing to realize that you are without strength and it's something completely different if you don't avail yourself of the strength which God gives you. We all must go “from strength to strength” in the Lord. The most significant point is that our strength comes from the Lord. ^“Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee. . . . They go from strength to strength [in the Lord].” Psalm 84:5-7

          That's why the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians chapter 12 said that he was thankful for his weakness “so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” That's why God told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 12:9

          After reading the scriptures that I sent to you yesterday, one of our students at Christ's College in Taipei wrote to me yesterday, “. . . It has been really encouraging during hardship in my life at this current time. I feel God is speaking to me in person and it really strengthens my heart. . . .” Aye! We do indeed experience God “in person” when He speaks to us through His word! How thankful we should be! “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” Romans 8:16 ESV And the Holy Spirit of God also “bears witness” in our hearts to the truth of the Word of God that we are reading. “When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth. . . “ John 16:13

           Here again God is speaking through His servant, “We are troubled on every side, yet not overwhelmed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.” 2 Cor. 4:8-9

           Our strength comes from the Lord: ^“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31 They are restored and renewed by the power of God. And the meaning in the original Hebrew language is even stronger than in English. Waiting patiently on the Lord we are changing or exchanging the strength we already have in ourselves for a better strength in God. “Implied is a condition of weakness or lack of strength. What strength is possessed by those who wait upon the Lord will be exchanged for strength that is real indeed. Instead of stumbling they will grow stronger and stronger.” Edward J. Young, the Book of Isaiah, Vol. 3, pp. 68-69

          ^“Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” Psalm 27:14

The Bondage of Fear and the Courage Jesus gives

The Bondage of Fear and the Courage Jesus gives

        A sudden realization of potential danger or a plan to avoid danger is one of the ways God warns us to be prudent and avoid dangerous situations. “The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.” Proverbs 22:3 ESV Many times in scripture we see people of God avoiding danger when they could do so and still continue the ministry or mission God had given them. Paul, for example, escaped those who sought to kill him by being let down from the city walls in a large basket. Acts 9:23-25

          Jesus Himself knew that He was perfectly safe in the protection of God until “His hour was come” that God had before ordained should occur, but He, too, avoided danger and didn’t deliberately incite unnecessary hostility. Early in His ministry in Judea “the Jews sought the more to kill him,” John 5:18 so Jesus went to Galilee to minister for the next year and a half. He returned to Jerusalem during the three festivals where His attendance was required by the Mosaic Law. But notice how He even avoided undue attention. John 7:1-2 “After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.” So Jesus needed to go to Jerusalem but read the opening verses of John 7: He told His brethren to go without Him and later in the week He went up alone or with a few of His disciples.

        But He had important lessons to teach the people so He quietly went to the Temple area and taught. Jesus never avoided danger when the Father had a mission for Him to accomplish (including the cleansing of the Temple at the beginning of His ministry and again towards the end). It was not fear that motivated Him, but prudence and wisdom. Towards the end of His ministry, Jesus told His disciples that “the hour has come” and went to Jerusalem knowing full well that the Jewish leaders intended to kill Him. So He never shrank back from the mission He had come to do, offering Himself as the atonement for sin by His death on the cross.

        Fear and self-control: Courage in the midst of danger. So we prudently seek to avoid danger, but when we must face it, we look to the Lord for courage to meet the test. Sometimes in life danger cannot be avoided. And then God gives the courage to face that danger. A sudden emotion of fear when you realize you are in a dangerous or potentially dangerous situation awakens an alertness and is a gift from God to help
protect us. But you immediately control that fear and it subsides as you look to the Lord for courage–and He gives it to you. In fact He has given us a promise to do just that in Psalm 27:14 “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” So you look to the Lord for protection, wisdom, and strength, and use the courage He has already given you. Then He promises to “strengthen your heart” as you continue to wait or depend on Him.

       “Be not afraid of sudden fear. . . . For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.” Proverbs 3:25-26 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7 This is a wonderful verse, but an important part of it is often missed in translation. The Greek word translated “a sound mind” is sophronismos (Strong’s 4995) which means “discipline or self- control” in English. ESV translates it “self-control.” NAS, “discipline,” and NIV, “self-discipline.” The contrast is to “the spirit of fear.” Instead of being fearful, we can control ourselves in the power of the Holy Spirit and not panic, even when the danger is considerable. Courage instead of panic or fear. You control yourself and your emotions even though you might have a sudden urge to panic. Self-control or selfdiscipline is one of the most important parts of the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. Galatians 5:22-23

         Self-control “signifies entire command of the passions and desires; a self-control which holds the rein over these.” Vincent   The New Testament takes a common Greek virtue, that of self-control, and “transformed it into a condition yet higher still, in which a man does not command himself, which is well, but, which is better still, is commanded by God.” Trench So it is God who is strengthening your heart and gave you the promise that He would “not allow” you to be tested beyond your ability in His strength to endure.
1 Cor. 10:13

       And Jesus gave you the authority to tell your heart, “Let not your heart be . . . afraid.” John 14:27
Fear is bondage and there are all sorts of fears. Are you afraid of sickness and pain? Are you afraid that you will lose your job or that God will not provide? Are you afraid of bodily harm? Are you afraid of failure or persecution or tribulation? Are you afraid of what the future might bring? Jesus can deliver us from all those fears. He can “deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Hebrews
2:15 ”If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” “If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:36,31-32

        Sin deceives and enslaves. “They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity–for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.” 2 Peter 2:19 NIV So submit to God and be free from slavery to sin, self, Satan–and fear.

          Anxiety and Fear.  Worry or anxiety takes away your joy and your peace. So God has given us
abundant reason to choose His joy and His peace instead of our fears and worries and anxieties. Worry accomplishes absolutely nothing except to destroy your joy and peace. Scripture is so clear on this: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 NAS

       Jesus put both worry and fear together and contrasted it with His peace when He told the disciples, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27 And in the Sermon on the Mount He talked about the futility of worry. Instead we should concentrate on today and see how the Lord provides each day. Look at the
birds of the air and the flowers of the field, how God cares for them. So “fear not, Little Flock,” He said in another place; you are of more value than many birds and flowers.

         What are we then to do with our fears and worries if we don’t want to be burdened with them? Give them to the Lord for safekeeping and He will handle them. “Roll your burdens on the Lord.” “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee.” Psalm 55:22 “Cast all your care (or worry) on Him for He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7

      Freedom from Fear does not mean Freedom from Suffering and Sorrow “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me . . ., they stumbled and fell.” Psalm 27:1-2 So we have no reason to fear. But as fallen, sinful people we share in the sufferings of this present sin-cursed world. And that’s a very large subject in itself, but “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. . . . The creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but
by the will of the One who subjected it, in hope [or, expectation] that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” Romans 8:18-25 NIV

      So let’s take the eternal perspective and anticipate with joy the future. “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and
momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NIV
                                                                                     –Pastor Burnside

Grace Sufficient for Every Trial and Suffering: 2 Cor. Ch. 12

        One of the most remarkable truths of scripture is that instead of making life easier for us by supernaturally removing the causes of our discomfort and difficulties, God instead gives us more grace and strength to enable us to go through the painful, difficult stages of life and painful experiences that are part of living as fallen creatures in this fallen world. After all, this world is not our home; we’re on our journey home and God is preparing us for the place that He has already prepared for us in heaven. We would much prefer that God remove "the thorn in the flesh" or take away "our cross" from us but God in His wisdom, says "No." And He seldom explains why, but we see the end result as He makes us more like Christ and floods us with His supernatural peace.

Do you remember the old hymn, "He Giveth More Grace."
"He giveth more grace when the burden grows greater;
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase.
To added affliction He addeth His mercy;
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.His love has no limit; His grace has no measure;
His pow’r has no boundary known unto men.
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus,
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again!"

         God sent a "thorn in the flesh," to Paul, "a messenger of Satan to buffet me." And he tells us why: to humble him. He said it twice, "to keep me from becoming conceited." 2 Cor. 12:7
The word in Greek is huperairomai literally meaning "to raise oneself over" another person, to become arrogant or to glorify yourself instead of God. "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." James 4:6

        Do you need more strength, more grace to help in time of need? Scripture tells us how to get it: "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Heb. 4:16 ESV  Go to God in prayer and go with confidence, but if you expect to get an answer, you’d better go humbly and realize who you are and who God is and then you can’t be proud. That’s what the verse says that I quoted in James, "But He gives more grace." And then it says that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. James 4:6

        Recognize that you are a created being, a finite creature who has no life in himself but is totally dependent upon God. Take your place as a finite person before our infinite, eternal omnipotent Creator. It’s a matter of simple logic: 1 Cor. 4:7 ESV "For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?"

        God did not take away Paul’s cross or his "thorn in the flesh," but He did give him grace and strength to "live with it" and be victorious in that struggle. He flooded his soul with the "peace of God which passes understanding."

       And God’s answer to Paul echoes down through the centuries to us to sustain us as well. "Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."  12 Cor. 12:8-10 ESV

       Our problem is not that we feel inadequate to face the problems of living in this fallen world, our problem is that we are inadequate and totally dependent upon God for our strength and abilities, but He is sufficient. His grace is sufficient for us. "Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God." 2 Cor. 3:5 ESV "But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us." 2 Cor. 4:7 ESV

        So then we can say with the apostles, "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh." 2 Cor. 4:8-11 ESV

        Our lives should be a living demonstration that the risen Christ lives within us: "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:19-20 ESV That’s grace. And it’s sufficient for us. Depend on Christ, not on yourself. Glorify Him, not yourself.



　
　

　
　

Suffering for Christ--2 Corinthians chapter 11

As we go into chapter 11, Paul "boasts" a lot, but he's "boasting" that Christ is working through Him.  So the glory is to God, not to Paul.  Paul disliked talking about himself; he wanted to talk about Jesus.  The Corinthians were in danger of making shipwreck of their lives.  And he must warn them.  You, too, occasionally face those dramatic moments in life when you must warn someone--and how to warn a not-receptive person takes wisdom from God and direction from Him as to the timing and the circumstances.  I could tell you some stories some time about how God used Minnie in that way.  Dramatic moments, directed and empowered by God, but eventually saving the person from a great mistake and bringing glory to God in the process.  She took the initiative and made the attempt to help the person only when she felt strong conviction to do so--and she did so gently and with great wisdom and insight that seems to me to have come from God.

        Paul told the Corinthians, "But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ."  2 Cor. 11:3 ESV  Notice the comparison to the Garden of Eden and the key words, "led astray."  Satan was cunning and so were the devil's representatives in Corinth in the 1st century and in America today.  Just as Satan appeared to Eve in a friendly, beautiful way, false teachers apprear friendly and attractive, but they contradict the Word of God and are distracted from the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus and commitment to Him.

        When Jesus confronted Paul on the Damascus Road and brought him to faith in Christ, the Lord said to His servant Ananias, "This man is my chosen vessel. . . .  I will show him what great things he must suffer for my name." Acts 9:16
         And in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 Paul details some of that suffering for Christ.  The list is so amazing that we know the only way any human being could have endured all that Paul suffered was through the special sustaining strengthening from the Lord.  Listen to Paul:  2 Cor. "Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.  Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?" 2 Cor. 11:24-29

        Paul was joyful in the Lord and content to accept whatever came to him from the good hand of our God.  He did not "lose heart" in the midst of his great sufferings.  But he was concerned that people who loved him might be dismayed and discouraged  by his troubles.  So he wrote to the Ephesians, "So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory." Eph. 3:13  As difficult as all those hardships were, God's grace was even greater for it was indeed the grace of God which carried him through those so-difficult experiences.  Christ showed Himself in all of Paul's sufferings and in the next chapter we'll see how they taught him to rely completely on Christ's strength.  "When I am weak, then

He is strong in my life."

        Paul had already written, "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;  Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."  2 Cor. 4:7-9

        One of the ways that Paul authenticated his apostleship was to show the many ways and times that he had suffered for Christ.  And yet at the end of it all when he was ready for his "departure" to be with the Lord, he wrote, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us." Romans 8:18 ESV

The cross comes first and then the glory of the resurrection.  First the crucifixion on Good Friday,  then Easter Sunday.  "Take up your cross and follow Me," Jesus told us.

                                                                                                                                                                      --Pastor Burnside

A Time for Rejoicing and Trusting

Christmas is a time for rejoicing and it's also a time for trusting our Lord to work out His purposes in our lives. "Trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah." Psalm 62:8 Place your confidence in Him for He is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

He who left heaven's glory to be born as a baby at Christmas time and then redeemed us by dying for us has promised, "Lo, I am with you always." Mt.28:20 To trust Him is to cast yourself on His goodness, His power, His promises, His faithfulness, and His providence. If we cast ourselves on Him by trusting in Him, it is easier for us to "cast our burdens on the Lord and He will sustain you." And this way God will lift us above our fears and discouragements.

"Trust in Him at all times"--during times of rejoicing and prosperity as well as times of adversity. "NOW is a time, not for overgrieving, murmuring, sinking, desponding, but for trusting." Cast your anchor on the Lord. I remember my wife telling me again last Christmas, "What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee." Psalm 56:3

Remember when one of the kings of Israel prayed, "O our God . . . we have no power. . . . We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you." And the response was, "This is what the Lord says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged. . . . For the battle is not yours, but God's.'" And God told him what to do while he was trusting in the Lord to bless his actions and to act on his behalf: ". . . Stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you. . . . Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you." 2 Chronicles 20:12-17 NIV

"Trust in Him at all times and pour out your heart before Him." "Pour out all your trouble before Me" and I will sustain you through the deep waters; they shall not overflow you. "You cannot please Him better than when your heart relies wholly upon Him."
--Adapted from Spurgeon, Treasury of David, II, 59