To Israel (as both a nation and a
church), Yahweh sent a prophet to say, “The Lord is with you while you are
with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He
will forsake you. For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without
a teaching priest, and without law; but when in their trouble they turned to
the Lord God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them” (2Chr 15:2-4).
The Lord Jesus speaks similarly to churches in Revelation 2-3.
So, how will we respond to this
reminder? What was its effect in the life of Asa? “And when Asa heard these
words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and removed the abominable
idols from all the land.”
He took courage. Undoubtedly, courage
was needed, as his actions would be unpopular. But it was the Word of God, announcing
how mercifully God responds to repentance, that God used to give Asa courage.
This, too, is the aim of the warnings/invitations
in the letters to the churches in Revelation: that we might take courage to
overcome our fears and all other resistance to faithfulness to Christ (cf. Rev
2:7, 2:11, 2:17, 2:26, 3:5, 3:12, 3:21, 21:7).
As Christians, we need the Word of God,
to press into us the reality of the unseen world, so that we will walk by faith
and not by sight. It is difficult to do so. Asa couldn't see the living God. The first century church couldn't see the ascended Christ seated in glory.
Do we desire to live corum deo, “before the face of
God”? Do we desire the courage to be so mindful of Him that earthly fears and
resistance fade? Do we desire to live courageously?
Then, here is one means toward that end.
God sends His Word to sharpen our view of the seriousness of His threats. God
sends His Word to sharpen our view of the strength and certainty of His
merciful response to repentance. God sends His Word to bring the unseen world
into focus, and push all competition into the background.
And never is this more true than when we
worship Him by that Word, and visit that unseen world by faith in the Lord’s
Day assembly (Heb 12:18-29).
Looking forward to doing so together,
Pastor
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