Notoriously Nathaniel Podcast: Recent Episodes
Nathaniel G. Evans
All scripture can be used to teach, rebuke, correct, and train the believer in righteousness. But not everyone has the time or patience to sit down and read breakdowns of scripture and music on the Internet. But everywhere we go, we have sound in our ears, whether that be music or teaching or YouTube tutorials. It’s more accessible and easier to use. With that in mind, the Notoriously Nathaniel Podcast provides access to my blog content without having to read a single word. I’ll just deliver the message directly to your ears.
Father, I am broken;
pieces of me are old and gold
while others are young and shattered,
yet evermore so bold in control.
The young boy, insecure and afraid,
lashes out in anger and selfishness,
vying for what he believes
he’ll never have.
He wages war against golden
knowledge and wisdom;
truth is abolished
in his tornado of feelings.
He spins and cycles,
ripped and tossed to and fro
by wind and sea and waves.
He languishes in the trough he’s carved out;
he believes himself safe in the depths.
All the while, the man of healed
golden wisdom and knowledge
hauls at the anchor
placed in faulty hope.
Day after day, he loses.
Night after night, he weeps.
Despair overtakes him because
the boy’s hope is in himself.
Yet, light shines over the dark of the expanse,
and the sea is calmed.
Trough and peak draw closer momentarily.
The Son appears; hope comes.
A piece of the boy is hauled up,
removed from the shadowed trench
and set on the highest mountain.
One worry is removed; the anchor lightens.
The Son brings the boy to the man—
“This is My son whom I love;
his hope is now in Me.
Nurture him, and his gold
shall aid you in your fight.”
The Son takes the man by the hand—
“You are My brother;
What is Mine is yours.
Keep up your battle,
for I will be your calm.
My Spirit will be your help.”
~Nathaniel G. Evans
The Difficulty of Coming to GodJacob literally wrestled with God. Abraham experienced years of infertility and nearly sacrificed his son. Moses killed, and then fought God’s command to return to Egypt from the wilderness. Paul was blinded. I don’t know of many situations in scripture where someone came to knowing and following God easily.
“It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:24). Scripture tells us of a rich young ruler who could not bear to give away his riches to the poor to follow Christ, and we are told, “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:24). Luke 9:57-62 tells us of a man who wanted to go back home and bury his father and mother before following Christ, “But Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’”
The Seed Does not Produce EasilyIn Mark 4, Jesus give the Parable of the Sower and explains its meaning to the disciples. Verses 5-6 say, “Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn’t have much soil, and it sprang up right away, since it didn’t have deep soil. When the sun came up, it was scorched, and since it didn’t have a root, it withered.”
Then the explanation in verse 16-17, “And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, immediately they receive it with joy. But they have no root in themselves; they are short-lived. When pressure or persecution comes because of the Word, they immediately stumble.”
It says, in verse 20, “’But the ones sown on good ground are those who hear the Word, welcome it, and produce a crop: 30, 60, and 100 times what was sown.’” I find it interesting that scripture doesn’t say the seed that fell on the good ground was received with joy. It says, in verse 20, “’But the ones sown on good ground are those who hear the Word, welcome it, and produce a crop: 30, 60, and 100 times what was sown.’” I don’t think it’s wrong to receive the Word of God with joy, per se, but I don’t find it consistent with many conversions we know of. Rather, we often find the Word received with trepidation, caution, and an overflowing of grief, but because the Holy Spirit draws us into its overwhelming goodness, we are able to welcome it despite our pain.
Paul writes, “For godly grief produces a repentance not to be regretted and leading to salvation, but worldly grief produces death” (2 Corinthians 7:10). To put it more simply, when people receive the Word of God, it’s a painful thing because we are immediately drawn to know the depths of our infractions against the infinitely perfect God of all creation. Paul writes, “For godly grief produces a repentance not to be regretted and leading to salvation, but worldly grief produces death” (2 Corinthians 7:10). And Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 1:18, “With much wisdom comes much sorrow; as knowledge increases, grief increases.”
Psalm 119:49-50 says, “Remember Your word to Your servant; You have given me hope through it. This is my comfort in my affliction: Your promise has given me life.” I don’t necessarily find knowing my infractions against God to be a joyous occasion. Certainly, I think that the salvation that comes upon us will produce infinite joy, and we will be comforted by God’s promise of rescue, as Psalm 119:49-50 says, “Remember Your word to Your servant; You have given me hope through it. This is my comfort in my affliction: Your promise has given me life.”
My own turning to God was not an easy occurrence. I fought against it for 15 years. I wrestled with God and lived my own way, and yet, after this battle, His infinite joy has claimed me as His own, and I seek to produce a crop 30, 60, or even 100 times more than just myself. But it wasn’t easy.
The Gate is NarrowAnd so we come to the point: a conversion easily won is not a conversion easily held. Jesus explains this clearly to the disciples that the ones who shot up easily in joy, in happiness, did not last long because the second a struggle came up, they turned away. It didn’t even take much: “’they immediately stumble.’”
Mark 4, verses 18-19 give us a bigger picture: “’Others are sown among thorns; these are the ones who hear the Word, but the worries of this age, the seduction of wealth, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful.’”
These people whom the world chokes and stumbles find it easy to come to God because they are not giving up the things that keep them away from God, and this easy conversion makes for a just as easy deconversion. They are looking at the narrow gate and trying to walk the broad path. They want the joy but are unwilling to make the sacrifice.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:13-14, “’Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.’” It is not easy to come to Christ. The gate is narrow and the path just as small.
Coming to Christ is a FightIf you find it easy to come to Christ, it is likely that you are missing something because our very flesh rebels against this cause, and our unclean spirits will aid the flesh until the Holy Spirit takes over the fight for us. But it is a fight, and it is not a fight easily won. I think Jesus is very clear about this. I think all of scripture is very clear about this.
God wants to produce in us His righteousness and character, but these fruits are not ones that come easily; rather, they take all of our self-control, aided by the Holy Spirit, to cast off the flesh and put on His righteousness each day. This is why we work out our salvation with fear and trembling.
The seed can be planted in a day, but the root takes time and difficulty and hardship and nutrients to grow. Acceptance of the seed with no root leads to a spiritual life that is easily choked out, but a deeply installed root in the grace of Christ will lead to a crop that produces multitudes. It is not easy, and it is not always joyous, but a fight with the grief of knowing our depravity will bring you to the full-fledged joy of Christ.
The Places Where Jesus CommandsMultiple times in the New Testament after Jesus performed a miracle, He commanded the one He healed or exorcised, and also the witnesses, to not speak of the work He did. Sometimes, these people listened to Him, and sometimes, they did not.
A non-exhaustive list of these occasions in which Jesus commanded knowledge of His works not be distributed is: Mark 5:21-43, Mark 7:32-26, Mark 8:22-26, Luke 9:20-22, and Mark 1:34. Most of the time when we see this command, it comes to one of three groups of people/beings: the disciples, the people, and demons. And from each group, we typically see a different response.
What Happens When Jesus CommandsWhen Peter exclaims that Jesus is “God’s Messiah” in Luke 9, Jesus commands the disciples not to speak of this to others because, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised on the third day” (Luke 9:22).
“None of the rulers of this age knew this wisdom, for if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” In this case, the disciples held in their knowledge, and we know this because Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2, “None of the rulers of this age knew this wisdom, for if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” The wisdom He speaks of is the gospel, that Jesus Christ is God, and that His sacrifice provided the means for our salvation and sanctification.
…’See that you say nothing to anyone; but go and show yourself to the priest, and offer what Moses prescribed for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.’ Yet he went out and began to proclaim it widely and to spread the news, with the result that Jesus could no longer enter a town openly. But He was out in deserted places, and they would come to Him from everywhere.” When the demons in Mark 1:32-35 were brought out of the people they had possessed, they were kept unable to speak of who Jesus was because of His power over them. Not only did Jesus command them not to, they had no option but to listen.
The final possible response of these people is evidenced in Mark 1:40-45, most particularly in 44-45, which says, “…’See that you say nothing to anyone; but go and show yourself to the priest, and offer what Moses prescribed for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.’ Yet he went out and began to proclaim it widely and to spread the news, with the result that Jesus could no longer enter a town openly. But He was out in deserted places, and they would come to Him from everywhere.”
The Disobedience of the Leper “This leper was disobedient to Christ—perhaps we might think he was naturally and excusably so—but we must never make excuses for doing what Jesus tells us not to do! Our duty is not to judge whether such and such a course will be profitable but to consider whether such and such a course is in accordance with the word of the Lord.” Many sermons will include something akin to praise for the people who “just couldn’t hold in how amazing the works of Jesus were, so they just had to go and tell everyone.” And I was right there with them until I read through the note from Charles Spurgeon in my study Bible: “This leper was disobedient to Christ—perhaps we might think he was naturally and excusably so—but we must never make excuses for doing what Jesus tells us not to do! Our duty is not to judge whether such and such a course will be profitable but to consider whether such and such a course is in accordance with the word of the Lord.”
Perhaps I am the only one who never thought of this scripture in this way, but in case I am not, I feel it necessary to explain why this is the proper viewpoint by which to analyze these situations wherein a healed person or witness would deliberately ignore the orders of God.
First, we do not know why Jesus commanded people to keep silent about these situations unless He deliberately explains them. We may presume and make conjecture, but bar examples like with the disciples when He directly says it is so that He will be crucified at the appropriate time, we do not know for sure.
Second is that we reason with the leper’s humanity; of course, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the leper wanting to tell everyone about what had happened! Naturally, he would want to find every excuse to do so. But we also reason with the fact that Christ gave him an excuse: the law of Moses. He could have taken the appropriate sacrifices before the priests and joyously proclaimed God had healed him in accordance with His covenant with Moses. And this would have stolen no glory from the Lord.
Instead, we find an occasion somewhat in alignment with the way Job speaks to God as he rants about his desire to see God in court, to make a case for himself. The leper believes himself on a level at which he can approach God and say, “I am righteous enough to think my way of doing things is as good as, if not better than, Yours.”
Obedience is the Only AnswerBut the prophet Isaiah is told, “’For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways.’ This is the Lord’s declaration. ‘For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
“’For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways.’ This is the Lord’s declaration. ‘For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isaiah 55:8-9). We are to never take up the act of thinking on our own as if we can make the right decisions. It is not our responsibility to determine if the course of an action is the appropriate one; it is only our responsibility to obey the course of an action that God directs us down to the best of our ability. When we start thinking we know better than God, we start to open up a real deep hole we can’t get out of, and suddenly we are lord, and God is not.
What is the Sword?Many Christians today, and really, in all time, apply the Word of God as a single-edged blade, capable of only cutting in the direction which they slice or thrust it. But scripture is clear that as you wield the righteousness of God against others, so it will be wielded against you.
Psalm 149:6 and 9 says, “Let the exaltation of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands… (9) carrying out the judgment decreed against them. This honor is for all His godly people. Hallelujah!”
Psalm 149:6 and 9 says, “Let the exaltation of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands… (9) carrying out the judgment decreed against them. This honor is for all His godly people. Hallelujah!” We find here an incomplete declaration of the sword that not only pierces the enemy but also the one who wields it. The mention of the sword is true in its double-edged nature, but its use is described only as an employ against the enemy nations, the ones surrounding Israel, the ones Israel would be used by God to bring judgment upon—so long as Israel is obeying God and living righteously as a nation. This fits with the theme of this psalm, and this section of psalms, which are doxologies, AKA the Hallelujah Psalms. They are songs of triumphant praise.
“For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” But Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the Word of God, this double-edged sword, is used just as much against the one who wields it as the one who receives the judgment of God at its edge. “For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
How to Use the SwordThe Word of God is righteous, and it is meant to be used against an unrighteous world, as the Israelites are proclaiming in Psalm 149:6, but it is mostly meant to be used against yourself. Christianity, and the sanctification of salvation, are much more an internal process than an external process. The most essential purpose of the Word is the remaking of the self through the sanctifying work of the Spirit indwelling in order to be made righteous.
This is why the Word judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart; it is to tell us how and where we are wrong and where we ought be changed. It can penetrate the deepest parts of ourselves, the parts we hide and shy away from, the parts we think are not us, the parts that are sin in us and need to be cut out. It can do this in order to cut it away.
Matthew 7:1-2 says, “Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged. For you will be judged by the same standard with which you judge others, and you will be measured by the same measure you use.” And even if you don’t use the Word of God this way intentionally, it will be used that way regardless. In an oft misquoted and mis-contextualized passage, scripture tells us that the way we use the Word of God is the way the Word of God will be used against us. Matthew 7:1-2 says, “Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged. For you will be judged by the same standard with which you judge others, and you will be measured by the same measure you use.”
I could go off on a diatribe about how people use this as an excuse to not tell others they’re wrong, but it will be sufficient to say that this scripture completes the picture of the double-edged sword from Psalm 149:6 and 9. The honor is for the godly people to use scripture to judge the actions of others. This clarification of godly is important: when you use the Word, power, and righteousness of the living God to judge others, you’re going to be judged in the exact same way.
Israel was the recipient of this double-edged sword often. God used them to judge Pharaoh, the Assyrians, the Canaanites, the Philistines, all the nations around them. Through Israel, He judged and rebuked the nations, destroying them and reducing their power for their evil acts. But many times, Israel became just like Egypt and Assyria and Canaan and Philistia, and God brought them low, judging them and destroying their cities and people for their unrighteousness.
The standard of judgment is not just one we can bear against others, but as Hebrews 4:12 tells us, it is one we must bear against ourselves equally as much. There is no other choice. Either you first use it against yourself, and then it is an honor for you to show others the depth of their sins so they might come to the living God and be made whole; or you use it against others, and the living God will bring that sword down against you to show you the depth of your sins so you might come back to Him and be made whole.
The Sword for God’s Glory2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All scripture is God-breathed and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All scripture is God-breathed and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” The Word is useful in all things for God’s glory; it is applied equally in judgment against the sinner and the saint so that the sinner might become the saint and the saint might become more like God than he was before. It is used to slough off the flesh of this world for all people so that we may only be judged here and not on the final judgment day. And as you exalt God in your life, you will find the double-edged sword of His Word applied both to you and those around you.
The BackgroundI wrote on Psalm 129 that God’s sovereignty means He controls and dictates when both good and evil occur. I find this view to be consistent with scripture in both the Old and New Testaments. I think many will try to unrightly skew this fact of God’s character and power into a debate of Calvinism and Arminianism. I don’t think there’s a debate.
If you are Calvinist and find this to somehow stray too far towards the Arminian view for your liking, know that this is purely scripture. If you are Arminian and find this to be too close to Calvinism for your liking, know that this is purely scripture. You may argue with what I say about the scripture, but the idea of God’s sovereign control, of His vengeance that kills kings, and His love and compassion that slaughters civilizations, is evident throughout His Word. There is no mistaking that.
Paul writes in Romans 9:21-22, “Or has the potter no right over the clay, to make from the same lump one piece of pottery for honor and another for dishonor? And what if God, desiring to display His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience objects of wrath ready for destruction?”
Through this chapter of Romans, Paul frequently calls back to an OT God (who, I might add, did not change from then to the NT times to now) has mercy on whoever He wants and who raises up people for a display of His power. Elsewhere, we find Jesus claiming the same thing: a man who cannot walk is kept lame, not for his sin, but for God’s glory, to be healed by Christ in His mission to save His people and reveal the glory of the Father.
God is Great Psalm 135:3-4 “Praise Yahweh, for Yahweh is good; sing praise to His name, for it is delightful. For Yahweh has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel as His treasured possession. Psalm 135:3-4 “Praise Yahweh, for Yahweh is good; sing praise to His name, for it is delightful. For Yahweh has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel as His treasured possession.” Encapsulated here is a non-exhaustive list containing why God is great. He is great because He is good; He is great because His name is delightful; He is great because He has chosen for Himself His own people. This is the easy part to understand. All believers know God is good because of who He is and the good He does.
The hard part is recognizing that God is good when the act does not quite compute in our brains to being good. Or perhaps delightful is the better word here. In light of my post on Psalm 129, we know that good sometimes involves evil. That doesn’t mean that good turned from evil appears delightful to us, and it is at these things we cringe back saying, “Who is this God?”
But the psalmist says, “For I know that Yahweh is great; our Lord is greater than all gods. Yahweh does whatever He pleases in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the depths” (Psalm 135:5-6). But the psalmist says, “For I know that Yahweh is great; our Lord is greater than all gods. Yahweh does whatever He pleases in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the depths” (Psalm 135:5-6). What follows is a description of the plagues, of the slaughtering of kings and the destruction of many nations (verses 8-12).
So Who is God?Let’s be plain. There is no hiding the fact that our God is one who slaughters kings and destroys nations. He wipes out bloodlines and ends entire cultures. We cannot look at the scriptures and claim He does not do these things. There is no dodging or ducking conversations about this. God is the Author of salvation, the Creator of all things good. But He is also the God who told the Ninevites “repent or be destroyed.” He is the One who looked on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them. And even Lot’s wife, who looked back on those cities, went with them.
Paul writes, “But who are you, a mere man, to talk back to God? Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” (Romans 9:20). So let’s not hide from it. Let’s take it head on. Undoubtedly, our God is a good God, and undoubtedly, He commits acts that humanity would claim as devastating atrocity. But why do we get to make the claim of what is and isn’t atrocity? Paul writes, “But who are you, a mere man, to talk back to God? Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” (Romans 9:20). Half of Job includes Job questioning why things are as they are. It ends with God asking Job, “Who are you to ask me these things? Were you there when I set the world in place, when I defined all of reality as you know it and even the things you could not even comprehend?”
I just finished reading Paul Washer’s Narrow Gate Narrow Way. It’s a brilliant little sermon book. In it, he says this idea that pervades Christianity, and even the world at large, today: God is love, so He cannot be hate. But Paul and I both tell you, God is indeed both. God loves, and because God loves, He hates. God loves righteousness, so He hates unrighteousness. God loves children, so He hates those who kill and assault them. God loves His people, so He hates what harms them. To love intensely, you must hate the opposite of what you love with the same intensity. This is God.
The Matter of Compassion Psalm 135:14 says, “For Yahweh will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants.” Psalm 135:14 says, “For Yahweh will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants.” In line with what I said moments ago, we see there is no strange dichotomy between compassion and vengeance. If you love strongly, you hate just as strongly. God loves His people strongly; His compassion on them is beyond our understanding, even though it is written numerous times. Because His compassion is on His people, and He vindicates them, or justifies them, He commits acts of what we would call atrocity on those who harm them.
The demons, those following Satan, who attempt to inflict themselves on God’s creation in a manner of ways for evil and chaos seek nothing but to harm. They will influence the world and attack God’s chosen ones, whether we speak of Israelites or professing believers. God strikes down the nations of these people. He tears kings from their thrones. He annihilates entire generations because He hates them for their evil against His people. He hates their attacks on His chosen ones as the enemy seeks to pull them from His grasp.
The demons are bound for the lake of fire already. The people who reject God will go there as well. This is a matter of compassion just as much as it is vindication just as much as it is hate. They all go hand in hand. God loves His people and holds them close to justify their place as His creation; He has compassion on them in His hatred against the demons and those who take the broad way, and in this compassion towards His people and hatred of those who hate Him and seek to harm His people, He will slaughter and annihilate and turn them toward the lake of fire.
They go hand in hand. They are inseparable. For God to love us as greatly as He does, there is a necessity of hate against those who oppose Him, and, by proxy, us. For God to have compassion at all, He must have a hate that makes that compassion required. You can’t rightfully claim God does not hate evil, but you also can’t rightfully claim that God does not love, and have compassion on, those who come to Him.
The Reality of MercyI think we often have an inflated view of ourselves. I don’t think it’s difficult to see how this occurs when so many people believe they can work their way to Heaven. I came across this turn of phrase again recently and remembered how sad of a mindset it is: “Do your best, and let God do the rest.”
At first glance, there doesn’t appear to be anything wrong with this idea, but at closer inspection, we can see behind it this notion that we can somehow close the gap between our sin and God’s righteousness with a measure of hard work, and, that, once we are finished coming close by our own power, God’s power is sufficient to cover the final distance.
The fault, as always, lies on our prideful thoughts that, somehow, we have the ability to come close to God with human power. But even our very first act of drawing near to Him is originated in the work of the Holy Spirit, who reaches out to us in order to affect our whole selves in seeing the glory of the Lord. In the very first moment of the first step to salvation, the mercy of God works, for it is by no other power that we reach out to perfection but perfection Himself.
Psalm 130:3-4 says, “Yahweh, if You considered sins, Lord, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness, so that You may be revered.”
Psalm 130:3-4 says, “Yahweh, if You considered sins, Lord, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness, so that You may be revered.” This idea, perpetuated in much scripture, is how we get the series of events that first, God moves; then, we accept His work. If God considered sins, none could stand, and we know that the sins of the nonbeliever are, indeed, considered, lest there would be no judgment. But His forgiveness, which He reaches out to us, gives us the platform to revere Him.
This is mercy, that forgiveness is outpoured, and in this outpouring, we may glorify Him by His Spirit, which draws us near to Him. The form and function are that God’s power covers the entire distance, and our only involvement in the process is crucifying ourselves for the Spirit to do His work.
Awaiting DawnThe great news about mercy is that it’s new every morning. Lamentations 3:22-23 says, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning: great is Your faithfulness.” Psalm 30:5 says, “For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor, a lifetime. Weeping may spend the night, but there is joy in the morning.”
Pardon me for being so literal, but at each new dawn, there comes new mercy, there comes new grace, there comes new forgiveness for everything that happened in the darkness of night. There comes an abatement of righteous anger because the Lord is pleased to show favor to those He loves, if only we might find ourselves willing to wait through the night, watching for His mercy.
Psalm 130:5-6 says, “I wait for Yahweh; I wait and put my hope in His word. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning—more than watchmen for the morning.” Psalm 130:5-6 says, “I wait for Yahweh; I wait and put my hope in His word. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning—more than watchmen for the morning.” Throughout history, the most terrifying, nerve wracking, and stressful time to be a guard is at night. Night is when the attacks come. Whether a guard is defending an encampment of soldiers and fears for a sneak attack, or even the prowling predator looking for a meal; watching over the walls of a city for enemy soldiers preparing to siege; or even a castle hoping to hold out a defensive position, he watches, trembling, hoping that nothing occurs before dawn. Because if it does, a battle is to come.
This is the image we see in Psalm 130. It’s not dissimilar from the ideas perpetuated in the The Parable of the Ten Virgins from Matthew 25 or the thief in the night from Matthew 25. We stand on guard as a soldier on a watchtower, waiting and hoping that our Savior comes.
When the Dawn Comes Ephesians 6: 18 says, “Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert in this with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.” The reason we wait so attentively is because we know what the dawn means, what the arrival of the Savior means. In the night, there is the stress of keeping on guard. Ephesians 6: 18 says, “Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert in this with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.” This is the role of the guard on watch. He stays alert, interceding for all in the city, ensuring that no enemy may sneak in to harm the guard or the citizens within the walls.
But in the morning, when the dawn comes, the city awakens, and the light of the sun makes it easy to see what’s outside the walls. The defensive readiness of the city is no longer an issue because an attacker can be seen from miles away. There is no fear or worry that an enemy might be right at the gates.
The arrival of the Savior means the guard can relax. It means that we no longer have to worry about sin and the powers and principalities that perpetuate it. When the Savior makes His arrival, all evil will be washed away, unable to touch us. When redemption comes, when perfection comes, we can finally let down our guard and stop straining against the darkness for any sight of the prowling enemy. There will be no darkness, only light.
But until that day comes, we stand watch, persevering, hoping in His promise that He will come, awaiting the mercy that comes to us in the morning.
The BackgroundTuesday nights are one of three Bible study nights for me. I like to keep busy, and moreover, I love to study the Word with like-minded believers my age. We want to not just know the Word but also how others are seeing the Word and what we can do to teach those around us.
So Tuesday, May 9, we talked about demon possession and oppression. The world moves in cycles, and one on repeat recently has been this heavy focus on the work of the demonic. Ephesians 6 tells us that our war is not against flesh and blood but powers and principalities and commands us to put on spiritual armor, the armor of God, to combat it. It’s fairly clear Paul speaks of the demonic and not in a sense that the works of demons will cease until the judgment day.
The Theology of Evil ActivityWe began with the foregone conclusion that those born of the Spirit of God, who indwells all who profess belief in Christ through repentance, are forever marked safe from the act of demonic possession. God is light, and there is no darkness in Him (1 John 1:5). The forces of darkness cannot overpower the Holy Spirit of God, and, thus, they are incapable of forcing Him to move from the temple He has chosen to indwell in order to occupy it for themselves.
But we reached many conclusions within this conversation about the works of evil, first and foremost of which is the sovereignty of God. In Job, whether we see this as mere metaphor or true story, God is the author of Job’s blessings and the allowance for his suffering. It is He who says to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” (Job 1:8).
Blameless, God calls him. There aren’t many in scripture who receive this distinction. Satan states Job’s righteousness is because of his blessings and seeks permission to take them away. God grants it, and so we have the book of Job. But there’s an important act to focus on. In order to touch Job or his blessings, Satan had to ask permission, and then God had to allow it. Sovereignty. Not even evil occurs without God’s okay. There are many tough theological nuts in here to crack, but I don’t have space for that here.
The understanding reached from this comes from many places. First, Paul’s declaration about the messenger of Satan he attempts to pray away thrice, and thrice, God refuses him. Second, Paul also writes in Romans 8:28 that all things work for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose (capitalization of “His” added by me). Third is Paul writing the reason this messenger of Satan is allowed to continue tormenting him: “to keep me from becoming conceited” (2 Cor. 12:7). So we see that God allows the works of evil to afflict His beloved in order that He might sanctify them fully because it is for their good.
A friend of mine often says, “God will always trade the finite for the infinite.” I find this to be accurate to a Tee. Both Peter, James, and Paul write multiple times of present suffering for eternal glorification and reward. God works in this just as much as He does in blessing, and we can’t discount this from the OT either: Israel is constantly being left to experience evil temporarily in order that they might come closer to God for permanent rescue. The story of God’s work is using the evil and pain and hurt of the world in order to affect His people to come closer, and as they do, they find blessing.
The Endless BattleSo we finally come to Psalm 129 — in the HCSB, this psalm is entitled “Protection of the Oppressed.” Verses 1-2 say, “Since my youth they have often attacked me—let Israel say—Since my youth they have often attacked me, but they have not prevailed against me.”
I’ll bring Paul back for just a moment: daily, he was attacked by this messenger of Satan. Whatever this thorn was, it was constant, consistent, and debilitating enough that it could keep him from inflating in pride. If the attacks ceased, might Paul have become prideful? We don’t know, but the discussion was had that in all things, there is good to be had for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.
I say all this to bring it back to what this psalm is titled and the information it carries: it is not “Deliverance of the Oppressed,” nor “Freedom for the Oppressed,” but “Protection of the Oppressed.” Now I’m aware that this psalm isn’t titled this way originally. But the scripture tells the same point. Nowhere in this psalm does it indicate that Israel permanently pacifies their enemy. Instead, it states they continued to attack, but they never prevailed.
The messenger of Satan against Paul never prevailed or we’d have a much smaller NT. Satan never prevailed against Job, for Job never once cursed God. He questioned, he struggled, and he cursed the day he was born, but Satan did not win Job’s curse. David was attacked by Saul over and over and over as he was inflicted by evil, yet David became the man after God’s own heart. In each case, a man was oppressed, and in each case, he was protected from turning away. His life was not stolen, and especially Job is very clear about that: Satan was allowed to touch Job, to inflict him with illness, but his life was not on the table.
Everything in a believer’s life works for ultimate good. You may be oppressed, whether by the work of the demonic or your own fleshly desires, but have these things stolen you from God? If not, you are protected. If you still seek God; if you still praise Him for His goodness; if you are still His (for who can pluck you from His hand?) then you are protected. You may be attacked ceaselessly, but driving back the attack and continuing to serve the Lord is a victory in and of itself.
So the next time God calls you to do something for someone else, think about why He’s given you that task. Don’t just do it to do it, but truly seek God in the doing of it. You might find that you benefit from your actions just as much as the people you help.
No survivor is going to change what they think already works for something that can’t be proven effective. As believers, we know we were remade in Christ to live; it’s just a matter of convincing nonbelievers that they, too, were made for more than just surviving, and then showing them how to live as God calls us to.
Confronting the sin of a brother or sister in Christ is not judging them or a statement of condemnation; instead, it is a show of concern for their spiritual welfare.
You have to destroy the world around you (metaphorically) to keep it from infecting you with sin until you glow brightly enough with the power of God to walk through the darkness without stumbling.
Whatever the method we were granted by God to fulfill our purpose, every action we take should be tailored toward making Heaven more crowded, right up until our dying breath. We should even hope for our actions to be so purpose-driven that they inspire people to turn to Christ after our death. If your every action isn’t directing people to Jesus, you’re doing it wrong.
So, apply this to your life. When things seem a little annoying or painful in your walk with God, when the path God is guiding you down leads you through a desert and provides you manna to sustain you, remember the lesson the Israelites should’ve learned: a life of bountiful joy is undoubtedly worth eating a little bit of manna.
But truly, when it comes right down to the question of how we should treat sin, there is only one answer: Love your neighbor as yourself. Don’t deny someone the chance to seek Jesus because of their transgressions and your hatred. Until someone dies, they always have a chance to be redeemed, for all sins can be forgiven but one. If God loves them enough to give them a chance by continuing to breathe the breath of life into them, you have no right to take away that chance.
And He did not just generically feel those things. He felt the exact shame I feel whenever I give into lust or anger. He felt the guilt of each time I sinned and knew I was doing it. He felt the weight of every failure I have committed. Why? So He could chase us down, seek us out, pick us up, and show us with the scars on His hands, His feet, His side, and His head that we are not too far gone to be rescued.
Now, you can’t work your way to being even with God; you can’t pay the debt that would incur if you were to buy the gift He freely gave. That’s not what this is about. But you can show you’re grateful to Him by sacrificing yourself for Him the same way He sacrificed Himself, Jesus, for you. Jesus gave His life for yours; I think it’s only fair to give your life to Him. Isn’t it? That’s the same kind of love He showed when He did it. He held nothing back. Why should you?
We’ve frankly forgotten how to spread the Word of God like Jesus, Peter, and Paul did. God doesn’t care about the number of people sitting in your pews. He cares about the number of souls destined for Heaven. And it’s time we stop being lazy and start caring for souls the same way He does.
You don’t need to track down false beliefs or threats against the foundations of Christianity; they’ll weed themselves out by virtue of their own imperfections. In your own walk, remember to confront all teachings and beliefs with the Bible. If it doesn’t hold up to God’s Word, it’s not right, no matter what pastor, preacher, podcaster, YouTuber, blogger, or whoever tells you.
In this episode, Nathaniel welcomes all to his first podcast episode, details the purpose of the podcast, then jumps into scripture to hopefully provoke everyone to start reading and learning from scripture in a deeper way.
In the end, you can boil Solomon’s statements down even more—to just three words, in fact. Life isn’t fair. But I’ll qualify that statement. Keep this in mind the next time you see someone whose talents aren’t being employed properly, even more so when you become disgruntled with your position and believe it is your own talents that are being wasted. Life isn’t fair, but the God who holds it in His hands is just and good. He will not forsake you nor abandon you; He will use you as He needs you used.
I challenge you to look around the next time you find yourself struggling to understand God or why He would do something one way or the other. You may find that the answer is in something as small as the flower by your front porch or as convenient as your best friend.
So, no matter what happens tomorrow, no matter who becomes president or senator or representative or governor, remember that your time here is temporary. The lease on your home here is short; soon you won’t have to pay that rent anymore. When all’s said and done, you’ll have a wonderful, permanent home waiting for you. And there, you will be at home forevermore.
You’ll find that the peace of this world is brittle, taut, and actually nearly as peaceless as full out war. The tension in the air in times of worldly peace is so thick it can be cut with a knife, but the true peace of God is malleable, flexible, and able to be applied at all times without breaking. It can lift any weight, stop every flood, calm every fight, drown every fire.
When we talk about commitment to God, we must commit everything in a full out sprint to God, like little children, else we risk selfishly holding back parts of ourselves from Him, and that’s no way to enter the kingdom of God. He wants all of you, and He’ll settle for nothing less.
This works with the quote, too. For believers, our yesterday is history, as God has removed our transgressions from us, freeing us from the past. Our tomorrow is a mystery, but not to the God who has it planned out. And we are truly able to enjoy the gift of the present because we have no need to despair over the past or future.
How do you treat your prayer time, your Bible time? Is it something you rush through because you need to do it? Are you merely performing the physical acts out of an obligation? Or are you devoting your heart to it like it’s something you treasure?
Johnny thought he won by gambling himself against Satan, but Satan had two pocket aces the whole time. In the end, when we try to beat sin by wagering ourselves against it, we only lose. The only way to win against Satan is to walk away from the table, to not be dealt a hand at all. Because even if you’re walking away from the cards with a couple extra dollars in your pocket, Satan’s walking away with your sinful soul.
But I, along with Solomon, encourage you to avoid dwelling on the punishments and rewards other will receive. Instead, focus on what the Lord has given you to enjoy here and do what He has called you to do. Life is so much more enjoyable when you don’t constantly wonder about the effects of the fall and instead just strive to do all you can for the kingdom.
In other words, what made the Pharisees the Pharisees wasn’t the spiritual nourishment they received, but what they did with the knowledge they held. And that goes for everyone. You can’t control what happens to you in this life, but who you are is determined by what you do because of, or in spite of, the things that occur. People can’t see everything that’s happened to you, but they can see how you’ve let it affect you.
When the Spirit moves, His will is done. If you are hurt by this world, what does it matter? If you are alive, you become more like Christ. If you die, you go to be with Christ in perfection for eternity. It’s a win-win situation.
I know this is a hard battle to fight. Anxiety is a beast that does not let its prey slip from its claws with ease, but you can escape it. There is much power in knowing God has it all under control; you can rework your brain to be dependent on Him rather than yourself, to trust Him, even when your mind tells you to fear.
That’s why you aim to have character above reproach; not only is it protection for you in a world that hates you, but it serves as another way for us to be a city on the hill, shining light for all to see.
So, don’t forget that you owe your ultimate allegiance to God, not your county, not your high school or college, not your state, not your country, and not your political leaders. But to God and God alone.
When we sin, we see the world as Satan intends and all the good things God made we either cannot see, or we see differently. But make it your goal to see this: that God made this Earth, and it was good. When you see that, you can see what you should do, what is right, and avoid what you shouldn’t do, what is bad.
Guard your tongue, guard your mouth, speak the Gospel backed by scripture. Speak carefully and exercise caution when provoked to answer, and don’t let what you say be the reason for someone turning away from the way, the truth, and the life.
So, let your words be life, truth, healing, fixing, complimenting, and pointing people to Jesus. Don’t hold back that compliment because you’re afraid it would sound awkward. Compliment endlessly and unashamedly. Tell people how much they mean to you.
You don’t need to know the plan. In fact, I still say it’s better you don’t. Lean on your faith in the one who’s writing the story, the one who holds your tomorrow, and know that He will work everything together for the good of those who love Him.
I think the note I wrote in my Bible near verse 18 fits the idea and imagery pretty well, if I can toot my own horn for a minute. It says, “We can’t escape sin in this life, so all we can do is hold on to God and drag our sin behind us.”
To nonbelievers, especially, we have this goal to be different because being different is how we show them who God is and what He does. If our food tastes the same as theirs—if our lives look the same as theirs—why would they need what we have? Why would they need God?
A you who chooses to follow someone else’s life is not fully you. Who you are is dependent on who you follow. So, stop trying to be other people. You’re free to be you only in Christ Jesus, only when following His will. So be you.
There are two sides: Good and evil, God and Satan, and they’re fighting for control over your very being. They are literally warring inside you just like those two wolves. But because of free will, it’s not up to them who wins this battle, it’s entirely up to you. And it all depends on which one you feed.
When Jesus died, He didn’t just wipe away the actions of sin. He changed who we are and how we thought and felt. He didn’t stick to the surface and do an incomplete job.
There is nothing that happens in this world that He does not see, know, and have power over. In times that are rough, be reminded that the Lord is still in control, and place your joy in that.
Meanwhile, we know the plans that God had for the war, we have a defensive location set, and we have the provisions to last through a siege. Our goal is not to win, to wipe out Satan’s army, but to merely survive until word of God’s victory reaches our ears and those of our enemy.
He provides us salvation because it is who He is. Because His very nature is good. Because His very nature is love. And because we are His, He loves us.
The only one who knows what is good and who knows what happens after we die is the one who created us. We can deliberate about it all we want, but unless we’re getting our information from God, we’ll never know anything good.
When hard times come around and you feel like God is distant and the emotional high you once had as you chased after His heart disappears, the most common question is, “How do I get that fire back to pursue God? How do I get motivated to love Him, to read my Bible, to pray?”
Literally our sole purpose is to be an extension, a visual representation, of God’s love on Earth, and I write about it a lot because we fail to be that far more often than we succeed.
I find it disturbingly ironic that the wealthiest king in the history of kingdoms hated wealth so much that he dedicated more page space to it than any other worldly pursuit of happiness in Ecclesiastes. The richest king ever abhorred his wealth; that should tell you something.
Ephesians 4:26-27 provides a framework for resisting any temptation that comes—don’t give it time to cause you to sin. When Satan comes to tempt you, don’t give him time to chip away slowly at your defenses. Get rid of him quickly so he can do no damage to your walk with Christ.
It’s okay to be real with your emotions and thoughts. It’s okay to admit that sometimes you doubt God. It’s okay to acknowledge how hard it is to love how Christ loves. It’s okay to admit your struggles. And it’s high past time we started making the body of Christ a safe place to be imperfect humans.
The first seven verses of Ecclesiastes chapter five express the need to approach God and your relationship with Him with caution. As with any significant relationship, our relationship with God is one that must be intentional and guarded so that we do not cause any undue issues.
We would hate to leave behind loved ones, but when you’re afraid of the small things like helping out a homeless person or showing love to a friend or even an enemy, keep in mind that to die is to gain all the benefits of being with Jesus. What’s a little fear in the perspective of eternity?
Biblically, I think it’s pretty clear that we need socialization. We need intimate, vulnerable, human connection to survive and thrive on this Earth.
People who will never abandon you are a rock on which you can find strength, even if they aren’t the rock on which your foundation should be built. Wealth can be lost in a moment, but a good companion will stick by you through rich and poor.
1 Corinthians 12:12-13 says, “For as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.”
Just for a moment, imagine that you don’t know what you know about the Bible. Imagine that God didn’t have everything, like Jesus’s sacrifice for our salvation, planned beforehand. Put yourself in a world where the intended plan was for you to suffer and die for your sins.
Well, God says we are different, special. We were formed out of clay by God’s hand as he breathed life into us while he merely spoke animals into existence from the earth. We were designated as God’s special creation while animals were not given such a position. We were made in the image of God while animals were not.
Too many times we've all held back The truth from those put in our path So let us be the voice of love to them.
If you change your mindset about how God works, you’ll find that you’re far more blessed than you think you are. You’ll see God doing so much that you never would have noticed. He’s always working; you just need to be looking in the right place.
If anyone else is like me, you’ll have struggled with God in an attempt to rationalize doing what you want rather than what He wants, or at least trying to figure out every last move He has set up for you. Personally, I hate not knowing what’s going to happen to me on any given day.
Ecclesiastes chapter three expands upon the latter statements in chapter two, wherein Solomon indicates that it is a gift of God to enjoy the things of this Earth. But, chapter three also provides some context in an important caveat to remind us that, even though many things are appropriate for enjoyment, they are only appropriate in the right time.
It will be uncomfortable for awhile. Healing usually is: as cuts heal and scar, they itch; as your body fights off disease, you get a fever; and as your heart and mind change, you deal with discomfort as well. But once it’s all said and done, you’ll find you’re much better off having gone through the healing than you were living in the sickness.
The walls don’t keep others or God out. They just keep you in; they keep you from experiencing the freedom that comes with letting go of yourself. They keep you from receiving help from others because though people can see through the glass to your suffering, they can’t get through it to help ease your pain and share your burdens, as Christians are called to do.
See, on the road of life, we all get to experience some hardship and some happiness. The advantage believers have is that we know that neither the hardships nor the happiness are the end of the line, but that the end of the road is us being smothered in absolute, never-ending joy as we experience an eternity of worshiping Christ.
In our faith, we do not get to specialize. We cannot allow ourselves to only be consistent and good at one part of our walk with Christ. You have to be able to walk separate from the world just as well as you can speak about the gospel. You have to be able to defend against questions just as easily as you can recite John 3:16 from memory. Why? For situations such as the one Solomon found himself in. It’s an integral part of the Great Commission.
Every morning, mercy’s new, so start over and march on to the beat of a new drum. Today could be day one of the rest and best of your life if you’re willing to step out on the grace of the amazingly forgiving God we have who is so merciful He is willing to let you start each day anew. He is willing to essentially forget every wrong you have ever done so that, to Him, you committed no wrongs at all.
God doesn’t want you living in shame. He’s forgiven you of your sin. It’s time that you forgive yourself and let your heart move on to serving God fully. Trust me. Living in your own shame will only hold you back from doing what God asks you to do. You don’t want that, and God doesn’t want that.
See, as Christians, we can have happiness in the things we do here because we have the joy of Christ in knowing that, once we’re done here, there is everlasting joy to look forward to. We can enjoy the things of this world because we are already satisfied by Christ. We will never be satisfied by the things of this world, but we can have a little fun doing the things that are not sinful. There’s nothing wrong with pursuing some of these empty things if you’re already full.
There is no such thing as a “lukewarm Christian.” You’re either with God or not with God. You’re either filled with God’s righteousness, with the Holy Spirit, or you’re stuck in your sin nature. You have the gift of salvation or you don’t. There’s no in-between. You can’t choose to accept salvation and then give up nothing.
We have an extremely clear process we are to follow to grow in our faith and build Godly character. Peter was kind enough to write it down in the first chapter of his second letter in a step-by-step list of character traits you should have. This list provides us with the process to grow closer to God and the necessary characteristics we need to be encouraging in other believers.
Seriously, take it from someone who was as habitual about getting the last word in as most people are about their morning coffee. It doesn’t matter. Let them have the last word. Move on. You won’t even notice you “lost the argument.” Your character won’t disappear. In fact, you’ll likely feel better than if you had said the last word.
This is an important truth we as Christians must realize that is spoken of in the rather popular song called “Nobody” by Casting Crowns, featuring Matthew West. It’s interesting that this issue, in my opinion, happens to be the biggest holdup most Christians have when it comes to living their lives as God has called. We don’t like being nobody because it means we have to give up ourselves, and that’s hard.
Solomon says it’s like pursuing the wind. Have you ever tried to chase the wind? First of all, it’s ridiculously fast, but that doesn’t even matter. Why? Because even if you could run faster than the wind, you can’t even capture it! It’ll slip right through your fingers every time you grab at it.
Hey, in your midweek Bible study with your small group, or among friends you know have developed a deep relationship with Christ, use the Christianese. It works there. But keep it away when you’re talking to those who don’t know our language. It’s hard enough to show them who Christ is without adding a language barrier to the difficulty.
Now Matthew 7:3 talks about our enormous spiritual blind spot: our own sins. Our perspective of ourselves prevents us from easily seeing the things we do wrong. Our behavior is so close to us that we find it difficult to point out those things we do that are unbiblical behavior.
You can’t make things good by accident. It’s not possible. No good thing that occurs happened by mere association with goodness. Goodness is not contagious. It is a choice, and it is a process. On the flip-side of that coin, bad is contagious. It occurs by accident. It occurs when one is not careful. It is the natural order of this fallen world. Bad things can and do occur from mere association with badness.
So when you reach that mountaintop, don’t lose your mental alertness. Don’t take off the armor of God. As 1 Corinthians 16:13 says, “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith, be courageous; be strong.” Don’t ever give up. When you’ve reached the top of the mountain you’re climbing right now, get right up and head up the next one. Until the day you go home to be with the Lord, keep fighting the good fight.
God is still God whether He’s with the other persons of Himself or not. He’s not a fraction where 1/3 + 1/3 +1/3 = 1 God. He’s light, so He’s light when He’s only a certain wavelength of light, and He’s light when He’s all of light. He doesn’t become less light, and He can’t become more light. He’s just light.
Take a moment to think about that, and don’t try to be optimistic about it. Solomon wasn’t being optimistic here. What do you really get for waking up early in the morning and working hard all day? You get some money, but what’s that worth? You’re just going to spend it. No, you don’t get money. You get to wake up and do it again the next day just to survive. It’s pointless. Even if your goal is to set up your children for their own life, it’s pointless.
To turn the tide is to reverse the situation, as a tide turns from high to low. In the times of sailboats, the turning of the tide was extremely important to casting off to sea. If you were trying to set sail as the tide was coming in, it was far more difficult than if you cast out as the tide was going out. You had to put yourself in a favorable situation to more easily escape the harbor, and it’s the same with sin.
Someone else knowing that you’re going to choose a certain way doesn’t automatically make the other options disappear, and it doesn’t mean that you’re going to like the option you chose any less than if they didn’t know.
We tend to run straight toward asking God to provide via a miraculous divine intervention, but we often forget that we are God’s representatives on Earth. We are His deus ex machina. We are called to be an unexpected power to save others from a potentially hopeless situation. Think about this: if God just did everything by His divine intervention, what reason would we have to be on Earth?
When one part of the body of Christ has to do the job of two parts, it makes the whole body less effective. That means we’re reaching fewer people when parts of the body aren’t evangelizing in their mission field. So step up. Pick up your briefcase, or grab your screwdriver and go to work, using what you have in your unique position to adhere to the calling of Christ.
For King and Country’s “The Proof of Your Love” is a quintessential contemporary Christian song detailing Christ’s love and how we’re supposed to follow up on that in a world that desperately needs to experience it because we’ve all been thinking of love all wrong.