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READ:

Psalm 68:5

⁵ A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation!

EXHORTATION:

These words declare the infinite mercy and tender compassion of our gracious God. Though God is all powerful and great in His glory, He does not despise those who are poor and needy. Though He reigns in heaven in His holy habitation, He does not forsake His children who are afflicted and abused by cruel and wicked men in this unjust world. With pity He will attend to His suffering children, and be their help and defence. The fatherless, the widows, the persecuted – all will find Him to be their solace. To all those who trust Him, He proves Himself to be an all-sufficient God. He glories in that He is the Father of the fatherless. He magnifies Himself as the Defender of the helpless.

Scripture bears consistent testimony to the prayers of the helpless and their resultant deliverance. “… the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless... LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear: to judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress” (Psalm 10:14, 17, 18). Psalm 146:9 declares, “The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow”.

God not only declares Himself to be the Defender of the afflicted, He also urges His people to do the same. The LORD spoke to Israel through Moses, “For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward: He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 10:17-19). He even commanded the possessors of agricultural land to leave behind grains and fruits for the poor (cf. Deuteronomy 24:17-22). It must also be mentioned that Christians had been sharply rebuked for negligence of the poor in the church: “If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?” (James 2:15-16). Let us unite with our God in relieving those who are in great need. “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27).

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16). In the immediate context, Paul elaborated on his indebtedness to preach the Gospel to the Greeks and the barbarians, to the wise and the unwise. He also wrote about his longing to be in Rome to preach the Gospel there. Though the Gospel was then unpopular in those areas of the world, as it is today, Paul was not ashamed of it. 

To the wise of this world, the Gospel was foolishness, yet it was Paul’s joyous passion to preach it (cf. 1 Cor 1:23). He preached it with unashamed boldness. Paul was not embarrassed to suffer for the Gospel (2 Tim 1:8, 12; cf. 1 Cor 4:10-13; 9:12b).

The Gospel’s unpopularity has compelled many preachers to compromise its content and delivery. They try to make the Gospel inoffensive. However, such a Gospel is not the “gospel of God” (1:1) or the “gospel of Christ” (1:16; cf. 1:9), but the gospel of man, which cannot save sinners. Unlike many modern preachers, Paul was undeterred in proclaiming the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

In the rest of Romans 1:16, Paul explains to his readers the crucial truths about the Gospel – “for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” The word “for” introduces the reason why he was not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, and the reason he gave was: “it is the power of God unto salvation” (v. 16b). The word “power” comes from the Greek word dunamis, from which we get the English word “dynamite”. It refers to the power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature. The power inherent in the Gospel is “the power of God”. 

Through the Gospel, God’s infinite power works to save sinners from the bondage of sin. The Gospel is the means by which God exerts His omnipotent power to quicken souls dead in trespasses and sins. It is God’s efficacious (or mighty) plan by which His power goes forth to save sinners who once may have resisted the Gospel. (Read Paul’s words in 1 Cor 1:18, 24-25).

The phrase, “it is the power of God”, implies that the Gospel is God’s plan, not man’s device. Furthermore, nothing can make the Gospel void from saving God’s elect. The phrase, “it is the power of God unto salvation”, guarantees that the Gospel has the power to grant complete deliverance from sin and hell. 

Salvation is offered to everyone who believes in the Gospel of Christ: “to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (v. 16c). Salvation is bestowed freely and fully on all who receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ by faith. The phrase, “to the Jew first, and also to the Greek”, indicates that the Gospel came to the Jews before the Greeks, through Christ (Matt. 10:5-7) and through the apostles (Acts 3:26). The Gospel is not an exclusive message for either the Jews or the Gentiles; it is to be preached everywhere, that people from every nation and tribe may believe and be saved. Praise God that the Gospel has reached us and granted us salvation. And now, may it spread to others for their salvation, through each one of us who has already believed in the Gospel.

All Ways Lead to God

(A recent reflection from Bro. Seraph McGregor, a Bible teacher at GBI, India. Serving alongside him is his wife, Ribka, who supports the students’ well-being and prepares their meals.)

I grew up in a very pluralistic context, where people would talk much about religious harmony and unity in diversity. A commonly propagated notion was that all religions are but different paths that lead to the same God. At school, a teacher who would lead the morning prayers often taught us the same thing, citing the example of the structure of a particular temple, which has four entrances and this, according to him, could be equated to different religions; no matter which one of the four entrances you choose, you would enter into the same temple. Similarly, he said that there is but one God. No matter which religion you follow, it will ultimately lead you to Him. As a school-going boy, I admired this concept of pluralism. But when I became a Christian, I knew that I could not accept what I had been taught in school.

All Ways Lead to God

Pope Francis recently remarked, “All religions are paths to God.” Christians around the world are upset about it. But as I ponder the issue, I think I can agree with my music teacher and the Pope, but not in the sense that you are probably thinking right now. I am convinced biblically that you will have to meet God, no matter what way or religion you pursue. We are told in the sacred Scriptures: “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). 

The Bible clearly tells us that when we die, we will have to face judgment. But who is going to judge us? Acts 17:31 says that it is Christ who will judge the world - “… he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained”. Jesus said that the Father has committed the judgment to Christ, the Son of man. God has appointed Christ to be the Saviour of all who trust in Him, and the Judge of all who reject Him. Yes, He will judge the living and the dead, those who believe and those who do not. Revelation 20:11–15 declares, “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it... And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

Regardless of the way one has chosen to walk on, he shall one day find God at the end of that way as the Judge of all men! So, as the prophet Amos said, “…prepare to meet thy God, O Israel” (Amos 4:12)! 

The Blessed Way

But does the Lord Jesus disagree with what is being said here? Did He not say, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6)? Yes, He did, and that makes the whole difference. Jesus said no one comes to the Father, but by Him. 

Those who have come to appear before God through the blessed Way, Jesus, would find God to be their gracious heavenly Father and shall be received into His gracious and blissful presence. He shall be their God, and they shall be His people who were otherwise His enemies. Christ – and Christ alone – has made peace between us and God, and brought about the reconciliation of all things through His atoning death on the cross and His resurrection. This is the very message that we are called to preach: that Christ – and Christ alone – is the Author of our reconciliation with God. 

It is through Christ that we have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry out, “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15)! It is to them who believe in Jesus that He has given the “power to become the sons of God” (John 1:12). It is through the only begotten Son of God alone that we can truly become the children of God.

READ:

Proverbs 15:23

²³ A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!

EXHORTATION:

This saying is set in the context of having wise counsellors. There is great profitability in listening to men who can provide wise advice about matters of life, including both spiritual and mundane matters.

God wants His people to cultivate wise speech. It is unquestionably God’s will concerning us that we be wise in speech to exhort and edify one another. In His Word, God has expressed His great expectation concerning our communication with one another – “The lips of the righteous feed many” (Proverbs 10:21). Also, “the tongue of the wise is health” (Proverbs 12:18), i.e. wherever wise speech is maintained, the affairs of life will be healthy. Moreover, “A wholesome tongue is a tree of life” (Proverbs 15:4); thus when the tongue is guided by the Spirit of God and by the words of Holy Scripture, it will elicit wise thoughts that nourish the hearers.

In every Christian home, godly conversation must always be maintained. Parents are expected to be wise teachers of their children at home. They must teach their children God’s truth (Deuteronomy 6:6- 7; 11:19). Furthermore, children are warned against swearing against the parents. “Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness” (Proverbs 20:20).

The Christian’s duty to exhibit gracious, wholesome speech is repeatedly exhorted in the epistles of Paul. In Ephesians 4:29, he admonished, “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” By the same token, he said in Colossians 4:6, “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” The provider of an apt answer will indeed have great joy. His own conscience will rejoice that his words have been helpful; on top of that, the gratefulness of the hearer will also be a reason for his joy.

We should be careful not only about the content and manner of our speech, but also about the timeliness of our speech. “A word … in due season, how good is it!” Our words should befit the situation. A piece of advice, given at the right moment and in the most suitable manner, will be very profitable to the hearers. So before we speak, let us examine whether our words are truthful, edifying, gracious and appropriate.

Sermon Text: Psalm 91:1–6
Speaker: Pastor Prabhudas Koshy
Date: 6th October 2024

READ:

Ecclesiastes 3:1

¹ To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.

EXHORTATION:

God is in control of time and events. He has purposed what and how things should be as time moves relentlessly on. Every event has a definite place in God-directed history. There is a “season” (an appointed period) and a “time” (a predetermined occurrence) for all that take place under the sun. Man must humbly submit to God’s immaculate providence.

Times of life cannot be fully known to us. Whether we can bring any of our labours to fruition or not, is unknown to us. We cannot on our own achieve permanence or fulfilment of anything we pursue. Hence our efforts and endeavours are not forever. We must know that all our abilities and labour cannot change the seasons set by God. We are directed and controlled by His providential appointments of events and seasons. Man cannot be the ultimate decider of his destiny. He must align his thoughts and actions with God who is in control of time and events.

Verses that follow further demonstrate this truth. “A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace” (vv. 2-8).

This is a poem on 14 sets of opposites, each of which happens in its due, appointed time. Our lives in this world will experience a mixture of joy and sorrow, harmony and conflict, life and death. No permanent state of affairs exists in this world. Sudden changes of circumstances (especially when things turn for the worse) are a source of people’s frustration. But giving in to disappointment and rage will not help us. We must learn to live amidst the changing scenes of life by trusting in God’s unchanging goodness. We must patiently wait upon God by focusing on what we ought to do according to His will, knowing full well that God will accomplish His good pleasure concerning us in His own perfect time. For it is written, “He hath made every thing beautiful in his time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11a).

READ:

Ecclesiastes 1:2

² Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

EXHORTATION:

In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon speaks as ‘the Preacher’, not as the king of Israel. He uses the vast experience of his life as a wise, wealthy and powerful king to teach his listeners valuable lessons about life. The Spirit of God, in His infinite wisdom, uses Solomon’s failures and sinful ways to grant us object lessons about the tragedy of pursuing carnal pleasures. Ultimately, the lesson is that a life lived apart from God is vanity.

The word “vanity” (hebel) is used five times in this one verse. Four of those occurrences are in a twofold repetition of a Hebrew superlative construction, “vanity of vanities”. The Hebrew word for “vanity” can mean “vapour”, “breath”, “emptiness” or that which is “futile”, “fleeting”, “transitory”, etc. Throughout the book of Ecclesiastes, the word “vanity” appears about 38 times. It refers to something without real substance, value, permanence, significance or meaning. Generally, it appears to imply that which is both transitory and futile. It emphasises how swiftly earthly things pass away, and how little they offer while one is in possession of them. The concept is given greater stress by the repeated use of the superlative, “vanity of vanities”.

Solomon states most emphatically that “all is vanity”. He said this not in reference to the physical universe, but to all the activities of earthly life. This he explained in the next verse with a rhetorical question: “What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?” (v. 3). Solomon is not a complete pessimist; he is only driving home the point that people gain no ultimate advantage or profit from all their toil. Human effort to obtain satisfaction apart from God only produces a sense of vanity at the end. There is no discernible advantage to our struggle and toil in life when we look at life merely in terms of earthly values.

Whether he considers his wealth, his works, his wisdom or his kingship, Solomon comes to the same sad conclusion – all is “vanity and vexation of spirit” (1:14; 2:11). The Bible repeatedly reminds us that life without God is meaningless and full of vexation. So Solomon advises all his readers at the end of this book, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” (12:13). The vanity and vexation of this life should lead us to the reality of the abundant life that God provides through Christ and His truth.

READ:

Psalm 23:6b

^6b And I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

EXHORTATION:

David was a man who always desired to be “in the house of the LORD”. In the house of the LORD, he rejoiced in the goodness and mercies of the LORD. Worship, songs, testimonies, meditation of His Word, prayers, and all suchlike activities in the LORD’s house granted him the greatest joy he had experienced in this world. In Psalm 5:7, he uttered, “But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.”

In his psalms, David often spoke about his desire for the LORD’s house. He prayed in Psalm 26:8, “LORD, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth”. In Psalm 27:4, he wrote, “One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.” His pious heart could not find a greater, nobler, sweeter experience than hearing the praise, honour and glory of God in the place of worship. No wonder the psalmist exclaimed, “How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God” (Psalm 84:1-2).

David counted being “in the house of the LORD” as the most blessed experience of a man’s life. So he wrote in Psalm 65:4, “Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.” In the same vein, he said in Psalm 84:4, “Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah.” He also said in the same psalm, “For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness” (v. 10).

It was David’s irrepressible desire to rejoice in all the activities that were being done in the LORD’s house in worship of His name. Being with God’s people in His house to think of the LORD’s goodness and mercy and to serve Him was his heart’s most cherished ambitions. The desire for the LORD’s house was so great that he wanted to dwell there for ever. It is obvious that nothing would fully satisfy his longing heart except heaven, where he would dwell for ever with the LORD.

READ:

Psalms 23:6a

^6a Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:

EXHORTATION:

This saying of David teems with perfect confidence. What blessed assurance he enjoyed as a child of God! David understood that the LORD, being his Shepherd, would guide him all through his life by providing His divine “goodness and mercy” to attend to his ways. Having experienced the LORD’s “goodness and mercy” up till now, David boldly stated that they should also be his experience for the rest of his life.

Every true believer can possess the same conviction as expressed by David here. The LORD’s special providence accompanies every child of God all the days of his life. It is no delusion to claim that the good providence of the LORD is every believer’s inheritance.

The LORD is good and merciful in all His dealings with His people. Even when He deals with their waywardness, it is His goodness that chastises them to bring them back to His righteous paths. In Psalm 145:9, David said, “The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works”. In Psalm 65:11, he wrote, “Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness.” So he exhorted all God’s people, saying, “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him” (Psalm 34:8).

Concerning the mercy of the LORD, David has said repeatedly that “His mercy endureth for ever”. Streams of God’s mercy flow ceaselessly from God’s throne towards His people. In Psalm 86:5, David testified, “For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.” David also said in Psalm 100:5, “For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.”

Do not the calamities and misfortunes that happen to believers disprove David’s claim that “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life”? David himself was subject to innumerable afflictions. Yet, through it all, he was sustained by the LORD’s “goodness and mercy”.

Believers’ afflictions are not indicative of the lack of God’s “goodness and mercy”. God may have allowed those dark experiences to serve as a means of chastisement or purification process in believers’ lives. At the same time, He will sustain them with His “goodness and mercy”, and help them to emerge from their trials with greater confidence in God.

READ:

Psalm 23:2

² He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

EXHORTATION:

The LORD is depicted in Psalm 23 as the Shepherd of His people. Like the shepherd who leads the flock to green pastures and still waters, the LORD leads His people gently to all that nourish and refresh their souls. He is their ever-willing, never-failing Shepherd. He not only knows their needs, but also adequately and appropriately provides for them. This is why the psalmist assuredly said, “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1).

The psalmist’s delight in the personal attention that he received from the LORD, his Shepherd, is very evident throughout this psalm. The continual use of the personal pronouns “I”, “me” and “my” in this psalm denotes the joy of the psalmist in the personal relationship he enjoyed with the LORD. He was constantly under the loving care of his Shepherd.

The first picture of the shepherd making his sheep “to lie down in green pastures” is indicative of the contentment and repose that the LORD provides for His people. The Hebrew words for “green pastures” can mean “pastures of young grass”. The Hebrew word translated “green” (deshe) refers to new shoots of grass, which the sheep love to feed on. Sheep which are fully fed will lie down on the grass in contentment. Likewise, the LORD’s people who are fed by Him shall always enjoy calm contentment in their souls.

The second picture of the shepherd leading the sheep “beside the still waters” is yet another description of the LORD’s tender care for His people. Normally, the sheep is wary of rapid torrents. The rushing water and its noise frighten the sheep; so it would shrink from drinking of it. Only from quiet bodies of water will the sheep feel comfortable to drink. Thus, the shepherd will have to find some quiet and gentle flowing stream for the sheep to quench its thirst. He pays attention to the sufficient and suitable supply for the needs of the sheep.

The LORD will take care of all His children with a perfect supply for their needs. The supply of His grace will provide for all their needs, both spiritual and material. But are we grateful to the LORD for His gracious provisions and leading? Should we not exalt Him with our testimonies of His goodness, as David did in this psalm?

READ:

Psalm 3:8

⁸ Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah.

EXHORTATION:

David knew that his deliverance from those who sought to destroy him was entirely in the hand of the LORD. Neither he nor his friends had the power to deliver him from his enemies. Though he saw no scope of deliverance by his or his friend’s efforts, he was confident about the LORD’s power and wisdom to save him from all his troubles.

God’s people have repeatedly been warned that nothing that they put their trust in – except the LORD – shall have the power to deliver them. For instance, Psalm 33:17 teaches His people that “An horse is a vain thing for safety”. Proverbs 21:31 reminds them, “The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD.” Psalm 147:10 also instructs them that the LORD “delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man.” Israel’s great victories over their powerful enemies did not come by their military strength, but by the LORD’s providential interventions. The LORD delivered Israel from Pharaoh’s powerful Egyptian army by opening a path through the Red Sea. He miraculously brought down the wall of Jericho to give victory to Israel, that they may possess it as their promised land. Often, God saved His people by His quiet, unseen yet devastating actions against their enemies.

Even David, when he went against the Philistine giant, Goliath, announced to him, “And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hands” (1 Samuel 17:47). Hence in Psalm 20:7, David also confessed, “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.”

The deliverance and protection of His people stem wholly from the LORD alone. Psalm 37:39-40 reiterates this very assuring truth when it declares, “But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble. And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.” The LORD should always be trusted and praised for saving us from all our distresses. Psalm 68:20 declares, “He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto GOD the Lord belong the issues from death.” Let us not fear our adversaries or adversities, for God will give us wisdom and strength to lead us safely at all times for His own glory.