The first words of this glorious old tome were put to parchment
over three thousand years ago by a man who spoke with God face to face. His
name was Moses. “The Revelation”, which is considered, by many theologians to
be the last canonical entry, was written by the Apostle John some twenty
centuries ago. Yet today, the Bible remains one of the most printed books in
the world.
Within its pages lie, not only the recorded history
of the biblical ages, but also many of the experiences of our Christian lives in
this present time. As Solomon puts it so eloquently, “There is nothing new under the sun”; in other words…there is
nothing that we may face today that hasn’t already been witnessed by God’s
people in ages past.
Let us take into account many of the incidents in our
lives today and compare them with the struggles and triumphs of ages past.
Are we oft times left distraught over what we consider to
be the “hopeless” battles we may be facing? To find strength during these
moments of distress, let us travel back to the valley of Elah and look there
for the youngest of Jesse. He is not hard to find, for there are only two
images on this large open field, and one is dwarfed by the other. A nine foot tall seasoned warrior of Gath
towers over a young shepherd boy. This pagan giant daily curses the true and
living God, causing King Saul and his army to cower with fear in their tents.
But watch closely as this young man, who with no weapons of warfare in his
hand, faces and destroys this Philistine Champion. Look and see as his entire army
turns and flees for their lives. Let us listen closely to the words of David
only seconds before the titan falls,
“Then said David to the Philistine, Thou
comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to
thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom
thou hast defied”.
Have we ever felt that crushing sense of loneliness; of
being completely isolated? We are not the first to have this impression. Go
yonder and peer into the cave where Elijah has hid himself from the wicked
Jezebel who is seeking to take his life. God speaks to Elisha and asks why he
is there. Elisha tries to make the Lord aware that there is no one left in the
land that will stand with him and that he is now alone. The Lord carries Elijah
to the top of the mount and after many troubling sights and sounds, He begins
to speak softly. Listen intently to what the Lord tells the old prophet?
“Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto
Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him”.
Does it not often seem that we are overwhelmed by our
enemies, with no help on the horizon?
Look to the city of Dothan as the Syrian Army surrounds it borders. They
are sent to capture Elisha and bring him to stand in judgment before their king.
Despair grips a young servant’s heart as he steps outside the house where he
and Elisha have spent the night and looks upon this unsettling sight. As Elisha
walks through the door, there is no concern in his eyes, nor dismay in his countenance.
He prays a very simple prayer that is immediately answered. Let us listen to
Elisha’s words,
“LORD, I pray thee, open
his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and
he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round
about Elisha”
How many of us experience the nagging fear of failure:
that terrible feeling that we have let our Lord down. Again, we are not the first. Let us make a trek back in time to a courtyard
outside Pilate’s judgment hall where we find Simon Peter. This “bold” man, who only hours earlier was so adamant about
dying beside his Lord, is now shivering, not only from the cold, but from uncontrollable
anxiety. His fear is so great that we now
we hear him cursing and swearing; lying about his acquaintance with the Jesus
he loves so much. He has just turned his back on his best friend and is now
sobbing with guilt…But wait, we cannot leave him there, let us fast forward a
few weeks to the day of Pentecost and there peer into a house within the city
where a crowd is gathered. This same Peter is now standing before these Jews of
every nation, some of whom demanded the death of his Master. He is reminding
them of their crimes against the Messiah. He does this with no concern for his
own life or regard as to the status of those to whom he is speaking. Listen closely and we can find that
fear is now turned to courage as Peter preaches the Gospel to those who
crucified Jesus,
“Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus
of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs,
which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him,
being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have
taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Therefore let all the
house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye
have crucified, both Lord and Christ”.
Can we even number the times that we pout about whether
or not our Lord still loves us? Let us rehearse the story once more, the
narrative of the greatest relationship that has been for all time and shall be through
the vastness of eternity; the story of Jesus Christ and His beautiful bride…Let
us read of how He chose her, even before the world began. Even though He understood
that she would not be faithful, He knew that He always would be. Even though she would be unfit for marriage to
the worst of men, much less to the Holy One of the Heavens, He would take her
to himself. He would make her clean.
Yes, He chose her and loves her with everlasting, unconditional
love; such love that no man can begin to fathom. He chose her while she yet
dwelt in the wilderness of sin, and then to prove His love for her, He takes her
sin upon Himself and dies for her iniquities upon a cruel Roman cross. Now she
is chaste. She is washed pure and white in the blood of her precious Husband. She
is the beautiful Church; spotless and undefiled. She is His Bride. She is His
Love. She is His Choice.
In times of our distress, let us cling to the time honored
scriptures, which are documented by a great cloud of witnesses. . Let us look
back into their wondrous old accounts and see what lies ahead for us. There we
will find the glorious hope that flows down to this world today. There we will
find Love, yet indescribable by the human tongue; Love that can only be
experienced, yet never put into words. There we can see our lives in events long
past.