Randy McCarthy • Bethlehem Primitive Baptist Church of Oklahoma City • Page 54

Being Thankful for God’s Providence

December 5, 2010

By: Elder Randy McCarthy

God’s providence, which is His faithful activity on our behalf to supply all of our needs, is unbounded. We may think of His providence in terms of the great things He has done or will do for us: the redemptive election of His people in eternity past; Christ’s substitutionary offering of Himself on the cross; His promised second coming when we will be resurrected in glory to live with Him forevermore.

But God’s providence to us goes beyond this; it is something that He gives to us day-by-day, hour-by-hour and even minute-by-minute. It extends down to even the very air that we breathe. And like the air, we often fail to notice that it is there. Indeed, at times it may feel like His providence is very far away from us.

In James’ epistle, the author opens the letter with the following statement:

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing [this], that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have [her] perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. James 1:2-4.

James is telling us to rejoice, that is, to be happy and thankful when we experience temptations, which in this context means trials or difficult situations. On its face this statement may seem rather quixotic. Contemplating this statement in view of our own experience, though, shows this statement is imminently practical and foundational for our faith.

The temptations under consideration in this text seem to be primarily directed to the types of difficulties, losses, disappointments, infirmities, and problems that are common to the Christian experience. Such trials and difficulties in this life are assured; our Lord promised it would be so. John 16:33; Gen 3:16-19. How we react to suffering says much about our character.

Many people use the existence of suffering in this world as an excuse for unbelief; how often have you heard someone say, “how can God allow this to happen?” or argue that “if there was a God, this would not have happened!” Others waste their lives being caught up in worldly political or social movements which falsely promise to bring about a Utopian paradise here on earth through the reformation of human nature and behavior. Still others react to suffering by indulging themselves in substance abuse or depraved lifestyle choices in an effort to escape their own feelings of helplessness and despair. This is the world we live in, and it was the same sort of world in which James penned these words.

The Christian is instructed to take a different view of suffering. As believers, we are not to deny its existence, or to minimize it, but rather to face it head on and see it as it is: a direct and necessary consequence of the fall of man. And yet God, in His providence, uses suffering to refine and purify the lives of His people as they journey here below. God is not the author of suffering in this world, but like all of his creation, He can use it to His glory. And He does.

When we suffer, James instructs us to count it joy, that is, to rejoice and be thankful. This seems strange. But it’s not that we are to rejoice that we are suffering, but rather to rejoice because God has promised to bring good in our lives because of it; that the trial of our faith will produce patience, and patience will better equip us to walk with God no matter our circumstances. Heb 12:10-11; Job 33:12-30; Phil 1:21-24.

If you think about it, any suffering that ultimately causes us to draw closer to God in dependence upon Him is ultimately a good thing for us to go through, no matter how unpleasant it is at the time. Heb 12:10-11. As Joseph told his brothers, what you did in selling me into slavery was an evil act, but God used it for good in saving the people of Israel. See Gen 50:20. Christ Himself learned to better serve as our eternal high priest through the things that He suffered during His ministry here on earth. Heb 5:8-10. So God’s providence extends even to our troubles, since this is a way in which God brings us closer to him, and makes us more like Christ. 1 Peter 1:7.

I believe this is why James, continuing his thought, says this next:

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all [men] liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man [is] unstable in all his ways. James 1:5-8.

James recognizes that what we may need most, particularly in times of suffering, is wisdom. Wisdom, after all, is skill in living; being able to make the right decisions and to see things as they really are. As Solomon said, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Proverbs 1:7. God is the source of all true wisdom, and all we need to have wisdom is to ask Him for it.

But James makes a further point that is worth considering: God will only grant a prayer for wisdom if it is asked in faith, nothing wavering (doubting). We can waver in a number of ways: we can doubt that God is really the source of wisdom, or we can be in a state of mind where we still wish to direct our own course and therefore are not committed to following God’s wisdom, or we may doubt that God really will grant our request. This is why the perfection (maturing) of our faith, particularly in times of trials, is so important: being thankful is an act of faith, and it increases our patience, which in turn strengthens our faith. Our strengthened faith leads us to request wisdom from God as we perceive our lack, and with increased wisdom given to us by the providence of God, we are equipped to be even more thankful.

There are many examples of the providence of God in the Scriptures. Some are open and manifest operations by God, such as the parting of the Red Sea or the feeding of the multitudes in the plains of Galilee. Others are more hidden, such as the providence of God exhibited in the lives of people such as Esther, Ruth, Job and Nehemiah. In each case, these examples show that God is always active in the lives of His children, providing for them in whatever circumstance they find themselves. The lesson that we must learn throughout our life is that God’s grace is, and always will be, sufficient for us. Let us learn the lesson, and be thankful.

Published: 2010-12-05 by RKM

Tagged With: Randy McCarthy

A Bodily Resurrection

October 10, 2010

By: Elder Randy McCarthy

Our reading schedule for October includes 1Corinthians 15. This is one of my favorite chapters in the entire New Testament. In this chapter, the Apostle Paul makes several powerful arguments for the veracity of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and for the significance of this event.

Paul appears to be addressing a false teaching that had crept into the Corinthian church, namely, that there would not be a physical resurrection of the saints when the Lord Jesus returns. Paul ably dispels this false teaching, and tells us several things about the resurrection that can be of great comfort to us today.

Paul begins this section of his letter by repeating the following creed, or saying, that was commonly voiced among the early believers. Many scholars believe that this creed had been in existence within two years after the resurrection of Christ (circa 30 A.D.):

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. 1Cor 15:3-7.

From the very beginning, the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead was the central theme of all of the apostles’s teachings. See Acts 4:2, 13:30, 17:18 and 26:23; Romans 1:4; Galatians 1:1; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 2:12; Philippians 3:10; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 2 Timothy 2:8; 1 Peter 1:3 and 1:21; Revelation 1:18. Seven weeks after the crucifixion and resurrection, Peter stated emphatically on the Day of Pentecost that he and the other apostles were eyewitnesses to the resurrection of Jesus. (Acts 2:32 et seq.).

In Chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians, Paul directly links the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ to our own bodily resurrection when Christ returns. Paul argues that since Jesus was raised from the dead in glory, we must be raised too; it is an absolute certainty that we will be raised. There is no way it cannot happen.

For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith [is] vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, [and] become the firstfruits of them that slept…But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. Then [cometh] the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy [that] shall be destroyed [is] death. 1Cor 15:16-26.

In this passage, Paul explains that Jesus was the “firstfruits” of them that slept. The firstfruits was an offering under the Mosaic Law that was made at the beginning of a harvest season: if God accepted the firstfruits, God accepted the rest of the crop. Leviticus 23:10-11. Since God accepted Jesus Christ and honored Him by raising Him from the dead, God will accept us as well and raise us from the dead in glory based on the perfect atonement by Christ. This is great news!

Paul makes one more wonderful statement about the resurrection, describing to us what it will be like:

But some [man] will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? [Thou] fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other [grain]: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body… So also [is] the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [was made] a quickening spirit… As [is] the earthy, such [are] they also that are earthy: and as [is] the heavenly, such [are] they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. 1 Cor 15:36-49.

Paul brings to mind an example that the Lord Jesus had also used, that of a seed planted into the ground. John 12:24. Paul says that nature itself tells us that we put one kind of thing into the ground (like a seed of wheat), and another thing comes out (like a wheat plant). They are the same in one sense, and yet quite different in another. So it is with our bodily resurrection; we will emerge in our own bodies, and yet these bodies will be changed. All our corruption from our relation to Adam and his sin will be erased, and we will be like the Lord, bearing his glorious image.

It is comforting to look forward to the resurrection, when all our trials will be over and we will be with the Lord and His People forever in peace and safety. Still, it is a difficult thing to imagine what it will be like. Paul was caught up into heaven and saw some of the glories of this, and could not speak of them, either because he was forbidden, or more likely, there simply were no words to describe it. 2Cor 12:2. Paul does say that the sufferings of this present life are not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us then. Romans 8:18. John said that it is not clear what it will be like in the resurrection, but we shall be like Him. 1John 3:2. Job said that he would see his Redeemer with his own eyes, and not the eyes of another. Job 19:27. God said that in that day there will be no more death, and He will wipe away every one of our tears. Rev 21:4. Perhaps David said it best: I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness. Psalm 17:15.

One thing we do know about our bodily resurrection in glory: it will happen. Every day brings it closer. Praise God for His great mercy and love!

Published: 2010-10-10 by RKM