SEVEN LOOKS IN SCRIPTURE
Isa. 45:18
Morning Meditation 12/27/14
"Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else."
This is the Scripture that God used to bring the great English preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon to his knees and to salvation.
THE LOOK OF FAITH FOR SALVATION
This is based on an Old Testament passage. Numbers 21:8-9 says, "And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived."
Israel tried God many times on their way from Egypt to the promised land. One of the ways their unbelief came out was their murmuring. They would complain and make all kinds of remarks and blame God for their problems. Instead of being thankful for what God was doing for them, they complained and murmured against God and Moses. This was one of those occasions. God had so much patience with them. But in spite of God's patience, they blamed Him for all their problems.
You know I think it is natural to complain. Man is by nature a sinner. He is unsettled and wants everything to go exactly the way he thinks it ought to go. You have seen the type. A constant complainer. This action on the part of the freed slaves was very offensive to God. They would take the good from God and blame Him for all the bad. If that is your policy, it is wrong. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
God is Sovereign and is over all. He has promised to make all things work together for our good and His glory (Rom.. 8:28). When one starts murmuring it is unbelief in His promise and a declared unwillingness to go through what He allows.
Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:5, "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."
Jesus then explains what one must do to experience this new birth. John 3:14-16, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Jesus says, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." God has made the plan of salvation so simple that man refuses to accept that the eternal destiny of a man's soul is as simple as believing. If a child had been bitten by a firey serpent, I can visualize a mother picking up the child and holding him up above the crowd so he could see the serpent made of brass and I can rejoice with her as she lowers the baby completely free of a sign of illness caused by the bite of the serpent. God's plan of salvation is as simple as that. What is your faith in? Are you willing to trust Him by faith and believe that looking to the cross alone for the forgiveness of sins is all one has to do?
THE OUTWARD LOOK IN SERVICE
John 4:35, "Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest."
Jesus saved the woman at Jacob's well as is recorded in John chapter 4. She went back into town and brought several people with her. When Jesus saw this group of people coming, He said to His disciples in John 4:35, "Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest."
There is much to do as we wait on His return. Waiting on our Lords return is not sitting around and waiting. It is to be busy about His business reaching as many with the gospel as we can before it is too late for them. After the rapture, there will be no opportunity for salvation for those who have heard the gospel before the rapture. This is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12, "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
THE UPWARD LOOK OF FAITH
Psalms 5:3, "My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up."
Immediately after the Lord's ascension the disciples stood looking up upon the spot where He was taken up. This is recorded in Acts 1:11, "Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven."
How does our intense look for our Lord's return affect us? We are told in 1 John 3:2-3, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." For us to look for His return has a sanctifying effect on us. John says, "Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure."
It will also cause us to seek the salvation of our family. Matthew 24:42-44, "Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh." We do not know when He is coming. We live in a day when men are attempting to set dates for the Lord's return. Their calculations are based on their understanding of some of the signs. But we are not to look for signs. We are to look for Him. He will come again and He will come without warning. We are to live each day as if it were the last. If we do this, we will be looking for Him just as he says.
Then the Scripture teaches that,
LOOK, HE IS BESIDE US TO GUIDE US
Psalms 16:8, "I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved." It is good to know that the LORD is always before us. We look to Him and He will be honored by His children as we depend upon Him by faith to move us in the right direction.
Psalms 32:8 says, "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye."
Isaiah 30:21 says, "And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left."
One of the great promises of Scripture is that our LORD will guide us. We are the sheep, He is the Shepherd. He is always there to guide us to safety and to protect us from harm. What a great comfort it is to us to know we are never alone. He is always there to protect us from the evil one. And I might add, to protect us from ourselves. We so easily wander into dangerous territory and if it were not that we were surrounded by His glorious power and His holy Angels we would have been in the grave years ago.
LOOK, HE IS AROUND US TO DELIVER US
Psalms 34:7, "The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them." There is so much we do not understand. The Lord says, "The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him . . ." The word angel is in the singular. It is not the "angels" of the Lord. It seems that one angel can surround us. That is interesting. I have a lot of questions that I will get an answer for when we are brought by Him into His presence. It is His to state a truth. It is ours to believe that truth whether we understand it or not. I understand by faith. It probably won't take a second or two for Him to make an explanation that will make all of this make complete sense. Amen. Praise the Lord!!! Someone hold my mules!!!
LOOK, HE IS BEHIND US TO PROTECT US
Isaiah 52:12, "For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward." The word "rereward" means that the LORD is bringing up the rear. No one can trap us. He takes care on all sides. He especially neutralizes any attacks from the rear.
There is just not a chance for us to lose a battle when it is the LORD'S battle that we are involved in. How many times has Satan gotten behind our backs and we were completely unaware of the serious nature of the battle we were in. BUT GOD was completely aware and came to our rescue. May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ receive all the praise of our hearts this day. I thank Him for the victories that He gave me when I didn't even know what was going on. Amen.
May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.
In Christ
Bro. White
