We live in a fast paced world, and many people feel like it’s getting more and more out of control as well. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke recently said the outlook for the economy is “uncertain” and “remains vulnerable to unexpected developments.” I have heard respected economists speak of the possibility of a “double dip recession,” and even a “depression.” Deficit spending by the federal government is clearly out of control. Many believe moral corruption in our society is out of control as well. Trust, respect, honesty, and decency among people seem to be quite low, while skepticism and moral relativism soar to new heights.

In a fast paced world full of change and instability, it’s nice to know the most important things never change:

“I the LORD do not change” (Malachi 3:6);
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8);
“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:8);
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Luke 21:33).

It’s also helpful to have friends, and to develop new friends, in times like these. Friends care about each other, accept each other, encourage and support each other. Good, loyal friends are more valuable than gold. The writer of Proverbs 18:24 speaks of a “friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Who doesn’t want that kind of friend? Our hope and prayer at RVFC is that people will find those kinds of friends here. Now more than ever we need them. Are you willing to be a true friend?

On Aug. 24, 1456, the printing of the Gutenberg Bible was completed. It’s hard to overestimate the importance of the printing of the Bible. Printing made “mass” production of the Bible possible, which in the 15th and 16th centuries put the Bible directly into the hands of many middle-class, educated people. Now longer were they at the mercy of the clergy to tell them what God has said to human beings. It is safe to say that without the Gutenberg press and Gutenberg Bible the Protestant Reformation would not have taken place. Many valuable truths of God’s word would have remained hidden and countless souls would have experienced a different eternal destiny. Thank God for Johannes Gutenberg and his printing press!

When Jezebel threatened to kill Elijah, he fled to Mt. Horeb, that is, Mt. Sinai. Elijah was deeply discouraged. When God asked him what he was doing there, Elijah said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away” (1 Kings 19:10). The irony in this passage is that Elijah felt like he was the only faithful person left in Israel, yet not only was that not true (God had kept 7000 faithful followers, 1 Kings 19:18), it was Elijah’s lack of faith that in part led him to this place of deep discouragement that made him think he was alone in being faithful. Elijah had stopped trusting in the sovereign Lord, and he took responsibility for what was happening in Israel upon himself. He had become self-centered, not God-centered. That blinded him to the reality of God’s sovereignty. And not seeing the truth of God, he didn’t trust in God. But at Mt. Horeb God graciously reminded Elijah who he was – not in the violent wind, or earthquake, or fire, but in the brief sound of silence that followed these things.

One of the most important Christian virtues is humility. Without it we won’t fear the Lord as we should, nor depend on God as we should, nor deny ourselves as we should, nor have a servant attitude as we should. The best way to grow in humility and to be the human beings God wants us to be, knowing our place before him and having the lowliness of heart before him and the reverent, worshipful attitude that is fitting for us, is to grow in personal mindfulness of God - who he is. Reading and meditating on books that explore the attributes of God can be a big help in this regard. I can recommend three books:

The Attributes of God – A.W. Pink (about 95 pages)
Knowledge of the Holy – A.W. Tozer (120 pages)
Knowing God - J.I. Packer (280 pages)

Christian apologetics is the defense of the Christian faith against the attacks and misunderstandings of those opposed to the gospel and the other truths of the Bible. There is also an offensive component to Christian apologetics whereby arguments and evidences are presented to unbelievers for why they should believe the gospel and other truths of the Bible. This is tricky, however, because no one can be reasoned into faith. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:14, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and his is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” It is only the Holy Spirit who can open the eyes of unbelievers to the essential truths of the Bible. And yet presenting arguments and evidence can help prepare the ground for the gospel seed, and so we should attempt to be as rationally persuasive as we can be when it comes to pre-evangelistic apologetics, as well as share the gospel with them. In the end, however, if we want people to come to faith in Christ, we need to ask God to do in their lives what only he can do. No amount of sharing arguments and evidence, or sharing the gospel, will in itself bring one to saving faith. So we need to go directly to the Author of faith – God – and plead with him to give spiritual sight and salvation. We should engage in apologetics – both defensive and offensive, and we should certainly share the gospel with people, but most of all let us constantly go to God in prayer for those who spiritually blind. It’s prayer that has the power to make our apologetics and witnessing effective, because prayer can move God.

I came across this insightful illustration the other day:

In a boiler room, it is impossible to look into the boiler to see how much water it contains. But runner up beside it is a tiny glass tube that serves as a gauge. As the water stands in the little tube, so it stands in the great boiler. When the tube is half full, the boiler is half full; if it is empty, so is the boiler. How do you know you love God? You believe you love him, but you want to know. Look at the gauge. Your love for your brother is the measure of your love for God.

1 John 4:10-12: In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

There are many good reasons to study the Bible. Here’s one I read recently:

Consider the difference between a strong and a weak cup of tea. The same ingredients – water and tea – are used for both. The difference is that the strong cup of tea results from the tea leaves’ immersion in the water longer, allowing the water more time to get into the tea and the tea into the water. The longer the steeping process, the stronger the cup of tea.

In the same way, the length of time we spend in God’s Word determines how deeply we get into it and it gets into us. Just like the tea, the longer we are in the Word, the “stronger” we become.

The effect of consistent, penetrating Bible study is that we become stronger Christians, that is, Christians who are better able “to fight the good fight of faith” successfully and so grow into the likeness of Jesus Christ.

Kent and Davidene Humphreys are the authors of Show and the Tell: Presenting the Gospel Through Daily Encounters. They write a nice summary of their book at the end of chapter 8:

As a way of review, we have talked in this and previous chapters about various aspects of loving

God and loving people. They are actually not separate entities as much as a sequence of events that happens over time. When it comes to how we show and tell others about God’s love, it works like this:

• We observe people around us. As we do this,
• We see needs. As we recognize the needs,
• We are sensitive to those needs.
• We listen to understand what people are going through.
• We are available to them.
• We care for them in every way that the Holy Spirit indicates.
• We serve them, and
• We encourage them. And as our relationship progresses,
• We love them as Jesus would. We look for and are ready to
• Communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ to them.

Jesus meets the needs of men’s souls. He satisfies as nothing else can. We are simply the channels through which His love flows. A servant heart and an encouraging spirit are the vehicles that He uses to transport His love to a hurting world.

Speaking of Israel, the apostle Paul says in Romans 11:5-6, “So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.” The idea that human beings today are reconciled to God by the grace of God alone, and not by works, or by grace plus works, is difficult for most human beings to accept. Pride, it would seem, gets in the way and people feel they must help God with their salvation; they feel they need to contribute something. They can’t let grace be grace. That is to say, they can’t let a free gift of God be a free gift of God, but rather they feel compelled to do something to pay for the gift that is being offered. Of course, the moment a person does that, it is no longer a gift; it’s no longer grace, and so God withdraws the gift, taking it back. He will not let salvation be earned or paid for; he will not cheapen it by making it an object of economic exchange. Either a person receives it as a free gift, or they don’t obtain it at all. Salvation requires that people let grace be grace. Again, Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” So humble yourself and let grace be grace.

Have you ever known that it is best to keep quiet and say nothing even though everything within you wants to cry out and pour forth words of justification, or self-justification, or rebuke, or …. Yet you know that for the good of the other, or perhaps just to avoid making a situation worse, the best course of action is silence. I assume parents have found themselves in this situation before with their children. Other kinds of leaders eventually find themselves in this situation as well.

There is a silence that comes easy to some people, and there is a silence that comes hard – a silence that actually takes great strength. Speaking of the coming Christ, Isaiah writes, “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7). When Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin and charges were brought against him, we read in Mark 14:61, “he remained silent and made no answer.” Can you imagine the strength required to do that knowing your life is on the line? Through faith, that same strength is ours in Christ. When it is required, then, let us be silent.