Hope for Discouraged Christians

Berean Baptist on July 25, 2015

And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. (Matthew 19:29)

This passage in Matthew is most helpful for discouraged Christians. Jesus knew the exact time to give His disciples encouragement because there were many negative overtones to His teachings. It was necessary for Him to deal with the sinful nature of men and to issue warnings of the wrath to come; and indeed we find much of the Bible is concerned with the destruction of the flesh, the downfall of the world’s systems, and the final punishment in hell for all that do not receive Christ as Saviour. It is also necessary for us to deal with these doctrines because a person must know of his sinful condition and the consequences of it before he can repent of his sins and trust Christ. After this information is given, we must further instruct those that believe concerning the hardships of living the Christian life. Unsuspecting new converts can be shattered unless they know it is not unusual to experience pain and suffering because of their faith. This is an inevitable result of following Christ. As Jesus said, the world will hate us because it hated Him. You can see from this that much of the Bible’s teachings must be negative because we live in a fallen, sinful world.

With so many negatives, is there anything positive? The disciples wondered this as they were being trained because they were graphically living out the negative aspects of following Christ. When Jesus perceived the weight of their present problems was becoming extremely burdensome, He broke through the negatives in scriptures such as Matthew 19:28-29. This is the promise of a glorious future in which He will come to sit on the throne of David and will rule the world in perfect peace and righteousness. This is a wonderful prospect which is far more than they could expect. Just to live in a holy kingdom without pain, suffering, hunger, and the constant attacks of Satan is more than they could ask. These factors alone are great encouragement.

However, in this scripture, Jesus steps beyond His personal ruling authority to let His disciples know they will also have their part ruling in the Kingdom. This is what they hoped for all along even though they did not fully understand what it would take to occupy their places of authority. They would become great in the Kingdom by first becoming the lowly servants of others. But still, without this full understanding, these verses came when they surely needed encouragement. They were on their way to Jerusalem for the last days of Jesus’ life when it would seem discouragement was all that was in store.

One of the great truths of this passage is to teach us not to always focus on our present circumstances. When our thoughts are too much on the present, they spoil the ability the future has to give us hope when needed. Christ taught the disciples in this place to look beyond their current hardships to their glorious future. The coming Kingdom would prove that everything they gave up for Him would be more than equally compensated; it would be exponentially increased with eternal rather than temporal value.

This is the same hope we are to look forward to in this promise made by Christ. These disciples are typical of all disciples—it will be worth it all for all of us. Never doubt the reality of His precious future promises. It will make all the difference in the world of how you are able face life’s challenges.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

The Kingdom Is Coming!

Berean Baptist on July 13, 2015

Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets.  [43]  Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me. (Psalms 18:42-43)

 

In the 18th Psalm, the Holy Spirit widened the application of David’s words to give us a picture of the resurrection of Christ. The language is that of a soldier, a commander that was a man of war and had seen his fair share of conflicts with the enemy. The Holy Spirit used David’s experience to depict a cosmic battle that took place as God beat back the forces of evil that would have prevented the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

However, the Psalmist does not stop with the resurrection. David could not have known the extent of his prophecy, or perhaps that he was even writing prophecy, yet his words fit with the great prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel who speak of the Second Coming and the glorious kingdom that Christ will establish on earth.

In reviewing this Psalm, I was particularly impressed with the latter half that speaks of the defeat of all Christ’s enemies and the complete subjugation of all nations beneath His authority. Verses 42 and 43 are explicit: “Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets. Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me.” The New Testament reiterates this theme in passages such as Philippians 2:9-11 and 1 Corinthians 15:24-25.

There is much evidence in scripture about the coming kingdom, simply too much for us to allegorize the texts in order to explain them away. When God created the world, He reigned supreme and all creatures were under His dominion. When Adam sinned, he attempted to throw off the yoke of God, and the punishment for disobedience was a curse put on the earth. God did not intend for the curse to last forever. He determined it would be lifted in such a way that He would receive the highest exaltation and His greatest glory. His ability to restore this fallen world to its pre-fallen state will cause none to mistake His sovereign power again. Christ will be glorified forever.

It is most interesting that the promise of future restoration always flows through David. If this promise is not literal, David looks like a fool for his unfounded faith and apparent wild expectations. And yet, there are more spiritual gymnastics performed to cut out the literal restoration of the Davidic throne than there are to destroy any other doctrine of scripture. It seems to me we would as well dismiss a literal heaven as to deny the reestablishment of David’s throne.

I believe we should look for a kingdom and a temple and a throne where Jesus will rule all nations with a rod of iron. “Thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me.” Present conditions seem to belie this future reality. But as surely as God with fury and vengeance overcame the powers of darkness to raise Jesus from the dead, He will subdue all enemies under His feet. Let God be true and every man a liar (Romans 3:3-4). King Jesus shall reign!

Pastor V. Mark Smith