Let me read a quote to
you from a newspaper comment;
“No sane man, be he
Democrat or Republican, who is at all informed as to the election in 2020,
believes for a moment that Biden was elected.”
I bet that got a few of
you to perk up your ears. I want to remind you of something Solomon wrote;
Ecclesiastes 1:9
The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is
that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
You see, that newspaper
quote should have had, instead of 2020, 1876, and instead of Biden, Tilden. The
“stolen election” of 1876 is what it was talking about. It is a quote from the
June 18, 1884 New York Times. On the other side there were cartoons in 1876
that said “Tilden or Blood” and tried to instigate a thousands of man “march on
Washington” to install the Democrat Tilden instead of the Republican Hayes who
they claimed the election was stolen for. You see how this political stuff
tends to repeat itself and, in spite of all of your hand-wringing and anger, it
will again. I’m not saying that something isn’t bad and you shouldn’t fight for
election integrity and your right to vote and have your vote counted, only that
it has happened before, a number of times.
You see, many of you
have this false impression about the past, this glorified idealism that people
were holier, more righteous, more Christian, and just better people than they
are today. But Solomon also wrote;
Ecclesiastes
7:10 Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire
wisely concerning this.
Someone asked in the
Baltimore riots over Freddie Gray in 2015 how such a thing could happen, such
lawlessness and disregard for private property and people? I ask what about the
Doctor’s Riot of 1807, The 1812 Baltimore Riots, the Baltimore Bank Riot of
1835, the Know-Nothing Riot of 1856, the Baltimore Election Riots of 1856, 57,
and 59, the Baltimore Railroad Strike of 1877, the Baltimore Riot of 1919 part
of Red Summer, and the riots in 1968 after Martin Luther Kings’ murder? Is
today somehow different? What is that difference? Americans love to protest and
have often done so violently with destruction of property and loss of life.
Man’s sin nature drives
him and her to do all sorts of violent things and always has. But, we glorify
the era during which we think things were just peachy and righteous. That
time never existed. One of my favorite scholarly books on the history of
the American family is entitled The Way We Never Were. The era where Mom
stayed home and cleaned and cooked and Dad went to an office or factory and the
family consisted of Dad, Mom, and children without other relatives, servants,
or farm workers living in the same unit was only in a small short time of history.
You are concerned that everything is falling apart. So were the people in the
era when Dad left the farm to go to work for wages in a factory or office and
so were the people in the era when Social Security came into being and
grandparents were shuffled off to a nursing home to live and die apart from the
family. You should read some of the sermons from those days.
You worry, You fret. Sometimes
you feel helpless. The world events and particularly events in this country are
swirling around you like a whirlpool threatening to drag you in so you think or
maybe you are just angry and want to lash out. You feel weak and perhaps alone
as no one is as angry as you are, it appears.
But, where is your
faith? Remember what Jesus said to Paul when Paul asked to be relieved of his
physical problems, possibly near blindness as a result of his encounter with
the Risen Saviour on the road to Damascus.
2Corinthians 12:7 And
lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the
revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan
to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 8 For
this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 9 And
he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee:
for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore
will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon
me. 10 Therefore
I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions,
in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
And again;
Hebrews 13:5 Let
your conversation be without covetousness; and
be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never
leave thee, nor forsake thee. 6 So
that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear
what man shall do unto me.
It is understandable that you are concerned, even afraid
or anxious, over the events you read about every day, several times a day, that
your ancestors sometimes only vaguely knew about sometimes long after the fact
as they did not have the internet or TV and radio.
But Paul has said;
2Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power,
and of love, and of a sound mind.
And you have more personal concerns. I think of the
women who have had the heartbreak of a miscarriage. They even named the baby
who never saw the light of day. It crushed them to lose the child and even if
they had other children after there is a part of their heart that is always
reserved for the little one that passed away, that God took home to be with Him
for reasons we just don’t understand now.
The Bible is the revelation of God’s ministry of
reconciling mankind to Himself. There is a scene in 1Kings chapter 14 that
strikes a sad chord.
The wife of the evil Jeroboam brought her sick child
to a prophet of God. She even disguised herself so as not to influence what he
would say for the bad. She wanted her baby to live, did she not? But, it was
not God’s will.
1Kings 14:17 And
Jeroboam's wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah: and when she
came to the threshold of the door, the child died; 18 And
they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the
LORD, which he spake by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet.
Some women have wanted so badly to have their own
child but could not. The Bible suggests that this is also God’s will.
Jacob makes the angry declaration that God had
withheld pregnancy from Rachel. In fact, we know from reading the Book of Job
that God is control of all things like this from conception to miscarriages, to
a happy birth as in the case of Hannah.
1Samuel 1:27 For this child I prayed; and the LORD
hath given me my petition which I asked of him:
God has permitted us and even blessed us with all
sorts of medical enlightenment, tools to assist in these things. We work very
hard to make new life possible inasmuch as we may have our part in the matter
under God’s either perfect or His permissive will. It is not wrong to use
medical technology to have a child as much of the time God does use human
endeavor to accomplish a purpose.
In other words, the song, “Praise the Lord and Pass
the Ammunition,” the big hit song not long after Pearl Harbor based on Pastor
Forgy’s statement on the USS New Orleans during the attack, was not a sign of a
lack of faith. It simply shows that God is going to do something through you
but you must act. So, helping a woman have a child is within God’s will.
In all of these worries and concerns we must remember;
My grace is sufficient for thee: for my
strength is made perfect in weakness.
And;
I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Again, we have to face life as it is dealt to us and
do what we can to ameliorate our suffering. All of God’s people will eventually
die if He does not call us out as the Church before our time comes. Even great
men of God doing God’s will almost flawlessly had to face sickness and death.
2Kings 13:14a Now Elisha was
fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of
Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face…
They had to face the pain of old age as the
aforementioned prophet, Ahijah.
1Kings 14:4 And Jeroboam's wife did so,
and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah.
But Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age.
And truthfully, whether you are old or young the time
of your departure is near.
John 7:6 Then Jesus said unto
them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready.
Job 7:1 Is there not an appointed time to
man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling?
Your time is always near. But, we have this promise.
John 10:28 And
I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never
perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
But always remember while you are here;
My grace is sufficient for thee: for my
strength is made perfect in weakness.
I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Some of us when we were young had to face tough
realities that affected us more profoundly than others, even in our own
families. I spent most of the first thirteen years of my life in Somerset
County, Maryland, on the Eastern Shore. It was an idyllic time for me,
wandering the Manokin River bank and the woods of our farm with my Belgian
Shepherd named Rinnie for Rin Tin Tin, the TV hero dog. It was perfect except
for one or two things. My parents were godlike to me. Everything they said was
as it were from Mount Sinai. I thought of them as infallible. But, they argued
constantly and seemed to hate each other. One day listening to one of their
arguments I realized to my great disappointment that that they were just
people. That disappointment became an abiding anger, a rage, and rebellion.
But my little brother had it much worse. He was abused
by a cousin from Baltimore who often came down to stay at our grandparents’
farm. I’m not talking about just bullying either so just leave it there. You
can imagine. The abuse was crushing and unfair but the culture in which we
lived didn’t talk about such abuse. His telling my parents what had happened
did nothing. Humiliation, embarrassment, and family dynamics prevented them
from doing much of anything and that was often the way it was back then. You
just didn’t talk too much about things like that.
God was merciful to my brother. He received Christ as
His Saviour and told me recently that he had put it all “under the blood”. I
don’t know how true that is but I do know he does not want it to be a factor in
his life fifty years later.
Psalm 27:10
When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.
You see, when we are faced with things we did not
cause or ask for, terrible things, things that no one seems to understand or
take seriously that grieve our souls we have this;
My grace is sufficient for thee: for my
strength is made perfect in weakness.
I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
In the Bible we see all sorts of examples of the
problems which we deal with in type in our lives. There is Adam’s rebellion
against God at his wife’s encouragement. There is the jealousy of Cain over
God’s acceptance of Abel’s sacrifice. There is Abram having to leave everything
he knew in a cosmopolitan city to a place he did not know hundreds of miles
away. There is the maltreatment of Joseph by his brothers, sickness, despair,
starvation, war, and misery all through the Old Testament. There is persecution
of those who trust Christ as their Saviour in the New Testament. And there are
many, many other situations that we can find some similarity to our own
circumstances in.
Let’s forget politics for a moment. Just bear with me
on this. I read a story about a young woman who tells her tale of human
trafficking across the United States and Mexico. Flor Turcio, from the age of 9
spent over two decades being abused then trafficked, escaping, and nearly being
killed. But all through it she knew that God was with her and survived her
ordeal relying on just that fact.
My grace is sufficient for thee: for my
strength is made perfect in weakness.
I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
https://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/story/human-trafficking-survivor-shares-her-story/
There was a country song once, The Little Girl, by
John Michael Montgomery. The lyrics went like this;
Her parents never took the young girl to church.
Never spoke of his name never read her his word.
Two non believers walking lost in this world
took their baby with them what a sad little girl.....
Her daddy drank all day and mommy did drugs.
never wanted to play or give kisses & hugs.
She'd watched the tv and sit there on the couch
while her mom feel asleep and her daddy went out
And the drinking and the fighting
just got worse every nite.
Behind their couch she'd be hiding
oh what a sad little life..
And like it always does the bad just got worse.
with every slap and every curse
Until her daddy in a drunk rage one nite
Used a gun on her mom and then took his life
And some ppl from the city took the girl far away
To a new Mom and a new Dad
Kisses & Hugs every day!
Her first day at Sunday school
The teacher walked in
and a small little girl stared at a picture of him....
She said I know that man
there on that cross I don't know his name
but i know hes got arms
cause he was there in my old house
held me close to his side....
as i hid there behind our couch the nite my parents died......”
http://www.lyricsdepot.com/john-michael-montgomery/the-little-girl.html
I know that the story is probably fiction although we
can imagine it taking place in reality thousands of times with children not
seeing or feeling who was protecting them and many, many more children not
being delivered from that horrible situation. But it teaches us an important
concept, reminds us of an important thing to understand and accept.
My grace is sufficient for thee: for my
strength is made perfect in weakness.
I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Richard Wurmbrand aka Nicolai Ionescu, was a Roman
Evangelical Lutheran priest in Romania. A descendant of Jews, he rescued Jews
during WW2. But the communist, atheist government of Romania after the war imprisoned
him and tortured him for fourteen years until he was ransomed for $10,000 in
1964. He authored the book Tortured for Christ.
According to an
internet source, Wurmbrand was released from his first imprisonment in 1956,
after eight and a half years. Although he was warned not to preach, he resumed
his work in the underground church. He was arrested again in 1959 and sentenced
to 25 years. During his imprisonment, he was beaten and tortured. Physical
torture included mutilation, burning and being locked in a large frozen icebox.
His body bore the scars of physical torture for the rest of his life. For
example, he later recounted having the soles of his feet beaten until the flesh
was torn off, then the next day beaten again to the bone, claiming there were
not words to describe that pain.
He knew what Paul knew,
don’t you think? Do you know what sustained him in such agonizing conditions?
My grace is sufficient for thee: for my
strength is made perfect in weakness.
I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Now, back to politics. We have a duty as a Americans.
It is not only a duty to the Constitution that has lasted longer than any other
country’s founding document as being in force. It is a duty to our children,
grandchildren, and great grandchildren to resist the evil, corrupt tide of
Marxist-Leninism wherever it raises its ugly head. Marxism has been a factor in
our culture here since at least the depression of 1873, a depression that would
end Reconstruction’s efforts at racial equality and justice, and last until the
end of the century. Marxism is the operating principle behind many movements in
this country for the last hundred and fifty years. We must fight this
incredibly vile political process tooth and nail.
These are things we must do. We must vote and we must
resist, as Americans, to try to stop the leftist’s desire for us to slide into being
Venezuela.
But, we must understand one of the foundations of our
faith.
1John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children,
and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that
is in the world.
While you are reading the news and laying awake at
night and shouting at the television when you watch TV. While you are
supporting a candidate or candidates. While you are thinking of what you
personally can do to make things better, not go back to some fictional olden
days when things were perfect, a time that never existed, or at least hasn’t
since before Adam and Eve’s fall, please also remember this. Keep it in your
mind. Write it over your door if you need to. When you lay awake in the wee
hours of the morning let it run through your head over and over.
My grace is sufficient for thee: for my
strength is made perfect in weakness.
I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
When the doctor gives you bad news. When your body
fails you. When you just wish you could feel good again one more time. When you
aren’t sure if you can even get out of bed and maybe don’t even have the will
to do so. When life appears to be fleeing away and there seems to be no end to
the pain, the uncertainty, the regrets, the doubts, the anguish, the
gut-wrenching helplessness and sorrow keep this in mind. Put it on your
nightstand or over your bed. Let it sustain you through the darkness.
My grace is sufficient
for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
I
will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
When you are praying for your children. When you are
worried for their health, their safety, or praying for a change of heart to
turn them back to Christ or simply to Christ in the first place. When every
late night phone call frightens you. When you see disaster in their future and
helplessly watch their lives unfold in slow motion like a car crash that you
have no ability to stop. When someone you love dearly is suffering and their
pain fills your heart and mind. And maybe when loss or grief or just experiencing
the missing of someone like Jonathan missed David.
1Samuel 20:18 Then Jonathan said to David,
To morrow is the new moon: and thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will
be empty.
Make yourself remember. Make yourself be aware. Christ is with you. You might feel defeated
but He can never be.
My grace is
sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
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