Psalm 31:1-5, Jeremiah 23:16-24, Romans 8:12-17, Matthew 7:15-21.
A). THE LORD MY ROCK.
Psalm 31:1-5.
PSALM 31:1. This Psalm begins with the LORD, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a Psalm of trust, a Psalm of faith. We need not wallow in our distress when we have the LORD upon our side.
We must never be ashamed to call the LORD, ‘Our Father.’ When we make our prayers to the Father in the name of His beloved and only-begotten Son, (and in keeping with His will and purpose in our lives, petitioning for needs, not greed) then we will find the Father disposed to answer us favourably.
And our appeal is not based in our own righteousness (as if we could ever be worthy in and of ourselves to make our approach to God) but in ‘the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ’ (cf. Romans 3:22). It is, “in YOUR righteousness deliver me.” Or, for Christians, “His” (i.e. Jesus’) righteousness.
PSALM 31:2. The LORD has already bowed His ear to our low estate through the incarnation. Whatever our trouble now, we may pray confidently, knowing that when He delivers it will be at the exact right time.
We seek our refuge in the LORD Himself. When we feel weak and helpless, we depend upon His strength and protection. He is the strong foundation for our faith. When we abide in Him we are in a secure and eternal safe room. Our salvation is sure and will not fail.
PSALM 31:3. The Psalmist might ask the LORD to be “a strong rock and a house of defence” (as in Psalm 31:2), because that is the relationship which he already has with the LORD. Hitherto, and in such a way, has the LORD been wont to help us: “Thou art my Rock and my fortress.”
The appeal is not to our faith, as if it was enough to trust in our own ability to trust; but objectively, “for thy name’s sake.” This is not just adding ‘in Jesus’ name’ to random prayers, but specifically applying to the name and the glory of God. We pray to the Father through Jesus the Son, but so praying we submit to His will, and seek the glory of His name.
“Lead me” as a soldier, “guide me” as a pilgrim. “Lead me” by your Providence, “guide me” by your Word.
PSALM 31:4. The Psalmist was in a trap. Boxed in. Depressed.
We have all been there. I have been stuck down a pot-hole. Somebody else knows what it is like to feel all alone, abandoned. Others are slandered.
With this verse we see the desperation of the Psalmist. But his faith in the LORD stands firm: “for thou art my strength.” His strength does not come from his faith, but from the object of His faith, even the LORD to whom he has been making his appeal.
PSALM 31:5. David is confident that the LORD will deliver him out of this difficulty. So he commits his life into the hand of the LORD.
Jesus took the same words upon His lips in the moment of death (cf. Luke 23:46).
Similarly Stephen, the first Christian martyr, ‘called upon God, saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit’ (cf. Acts 7:59).
So whether in life, or in death, we commit our spirits unto the LORD, in the sure knowledge of Christ’s redemption.
B). FALSE PROPHETS.
Jeremiah 23:16-24.
Some prophets in Jerusalem were speaking a vision of their own imagination, and not from the mouth of the LORD. They were telling those who despise the LORD, “The LORD has said, Ye shall have peace… No evil shall befall you” (JEREMIAH 23:16-17; cf. Jeremiah 8:11).
JEREMIAH 23:18 may sound like a rhetorical question, but we know the answer. Supremely, the One who has “stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard His word” is Jesus (cf. John 1:18; John 8:38). Not these false prophets!
The LORD’s testimony is, “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied” (JEREMIAH 23:21-22). They have no mission, no message, and no access to God! If they had a message from God, then they would have been calling the people back from “their evil way, and from the evil of their doing” (JEREMIAH 23:22b).
JEREMIAH 23:23-24. We are alerted to the fact that the presence of the LORD is inescapable. Whereas this is a comfort to believers (cf. Psalm 139), it is ominous for those who are about to fall under the judgment of God (cf. Amos 9:2-4). There is no hiding place from the LORD who fills heaven and earth!
C). DRAWN INTO THE FAMILY OF GOD.
Romans 8:12-17.
1. The mortification of sin (Romans 8:12-14).
Paul has just commented that “if Christ is in you the body is dead on account of sin” (Romans 8:10). And that “the Spirit of Him who raised up Jesus from the dead will also quicken (revivify, make alive) your mortal bodies by His Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11).
On account of this we have an obligation - a debt of gratitude - “not to live according to the flesh” but (by inference) according to the Spirit (Romans 8:12). This is a process known as ‘the mortification of sin in our bodies.’ This is a “putting to death” of sin - a handing it over to be executed (Romans 8:13).
Jesus was handed over into the hands of evil men, and crucified (Luke 24:7), and we are instructed to ‘take up the cross daily and follow Him’ (Luke 9:23). The execution of our fleshly nature has taken place (Galatians 5:24), but it is the responsibility of each of us to go on mortifying the misdeeds of the body. It is a life choice (Deuteronomy 30:19).
The only way to put our sins to death is through the empowering of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:13), and by His leading (Romans 8:14). However, if we really are Christians, then the Holy Spirit has already taken up residence within us (Romans 8:9). This is a powerful resource, which we are obliged to tap into.
The idea of being “led by the Spirit” (Romans 8:14) is a yielding to His guidance. It may or may not include the idea of being ‘driven’ (Matthew 4:1; cf. Mark 1:12), but could be as tender an operation as removing the speck from your brother’s eye (Matthew 7:4). As the Holy Spirit enlightens us in relation to the sins which we commit, so He persuades us to deal with them - and our submission to His control is, in the final analysis, voluntary.
One of the proofs of our interest in this matter is a holy abhorrence toward sin, especially within ourselves. As we deal with this (Romans 8:13) we enter into the fullness that Jesus promises (John 10:10). It is only those who are led by the Spirit of God who are thus manifested to be “the sons of God” (Romans 8:14).
2. The witness of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:15-17).
Not everybody receives Jesus, nor believes in His name (John 1:11-12). Our inclusion in the family of God is on account of our faith (Galatians 3:26). So - although Paul said elsewhere, quoting the Greek poets, ‘we are all His offspring’ (Acts 17:28) - it is not the so-called and somewhat overstated ‘universal Fatherhood of God’ that the Apostle is speaking about here.
As children of God we have been translated from an area of bondage to fear (Galatians 4:3), into the freedom of a loving relationship with God (Romans 8:15). In Roman times to be ‘adopted’ was to be brought into the father’s family to inherit his estate and perpetuate his name. We have, on this analogy, been hand-picked to bear the Father’s name and reproduce His character in our lives - not on account of any worthiness on our own part, but out of His love (1 John 3:1).
We have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry: “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15). This is a combination of the Aramaic and Greek words for ‘father’ and is a formula used by Jesus Himself when addressing God (Mark 14:36). The Cross stands between us and Gethsemane, and now we are enabled to address God in the same intimate manner (Galatians 4:6).
When we are thus enabled to pray, it is the Spirit Himself “bearing witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Romans 8:16). This is the Holy Spirit’s ministry of inward assurance, whereby He has poured out the love of God in our hearts (Romans 5:5). The Holy Spirit gives us assurance of both God’s love, and our son-ship.
Paul also affirms that if we are the children of God then we are also heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17). The Holy Spirit is the first fruits of our inheritance (Romans 8:23), the down-payment (Ephesians 1:13-14). Our inheritance is not only what God has to offer, but God Himself (1 John 3:2).
Jesus prayed that those whom the Father has given to Him will be with Him where He is, and behold His glory (John 17:24). The path to glory was not without its sufferings for Jesus (Luke 24:26). But if indeed we suffer with Him, we shall also be glorified together with Him (Romans 8:17).
D). WOLVES IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING.
Matthew 7:15-21.
Jesus warns against false teachers (MATTHEW 7:15). They are wolves in sheep’s clothing. They are like the false prophets of Old Testament days, who preached ‘peace, peace’ when there was no peace (Jeremiah 6:14).
Jesus warns us that there will be false prophets in the last days (Matthew 24:11; Matthew 24:24). These are the days in which we live. These false teachers lurk around our doors, and the doors of our churches (cf. 2 John 1:10).
The false teachers are not always obvious: they may wear clerical collars - or not; or have strings of initials after their names - or pride themselves on the fact that they do not. They may seem to subscribe to the right creeds, carry their Bibles, be civil and polite and all: but changing the analogy from wolves to trees, Jesus twice tells us that we will “know them by their fruits” (MATTHEW 7:16; MATTHEW 7:20).
But what are these fruits? Elsewhere, Jesus equates fruitfulness with Christ-likeness (cf. John 15:5). The branch is attached to Jesus, the true Vine, and brings forth much fruit in the exercise of His grace and the performance of good works. A true minister must surely possess and demonstrate ‘the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance’ (Galatians 5:22-23). A true minister, too, must be judged by his teaching. Jesus repeats the analogy in Matthew 12:33-34 and adds ‘by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned’ (Matthew 12:37).
In the end false teachers, unless they repent, will be with those who are finally rejected in MATTHEW 7:21.
May the Lord help as we walk in His way, and may He keep us ever alert to the dangers of all that is false.
