Today, we want to see what the Westminster Larger Catechism has to say about the responsibility/calling of those who are under someone else’s authority. In our families, this would apply to the children as well as the younger siblings. I found a modern version of the Larger Catechism and here it goes. First, what is required: “Those over us deserve respect in our hearts, our words, and our actions. We must pray and give thanks for them, emulate their virtues and gifts, willingly heed and obey their lawful commands and advice, submit to their correction, be faithful to them, and defend and support their persons and authority, as is appropriate to their rank and position. We must also tolerate their imperfections and infirmities and cover them with our love, so that we will be an honor to them and to their authority” (Q. 127).
Read MoreAs we reflect on God’s calling, it is helpful to know that we have more than one calling in life. At a given moment, we have many callings pertaining to the various spheres of our life—our family, our work, our neighborhood, our church, etc. Let us consider our family-related callings. Family, of course, is the most basic social unit, the building block of our society. Of the central importance of our family relations, Horatius Bonar said,
Read MoreToday, we want to reflect on the last part of Jeremiah’s commissioning: “Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me, ‘Behold, I have put my words in your mouth…’” (Jer. 1:9). We can see why God did this to Jeremiah. God was calling him as a prophet. A prophet was a mouthpiece of God, who spoke forth God’s words. So, the Lord touched his mouth with his hand.
Read MoreYesterday, we reflected on God’s calling of Jeremiah and how it applies to us. But what are we to do with God’s calling? Let’s see what we can learn from Jeremiah’s response. When God extended His call to be a prophet to the nations, Jeremiah responded by saying, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth” (1:6). This was quite different from Moses’ response. Moses’ many excuses showed that he really didn’t want to do the job. That was not the case with Jeremiah. His response seems to arise from humility based on his awareness of his youth and lack of eloquence. This kind of self-knowledge is not bad as long as it does not turn into an excuse. It is in fact good because it will compel us to trust in the Lord rather than in our strength. Jeremiah became more keenly aware of his inadequacies by the enormity of the task to which God was calling him—to be a prophet to the nations (1:5).
Read MoreYesterday in my sermon, I quoted Jer. 1:5: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” This verse connects Samson’s extraordinary conception and calling with Jeremiah’s ordinary conception and more typical calling as a prophet. Even though Jeremiah’s birth was not announced by an angel and his conception was not a miracle, it was really no different from Samson’s. Even though he did not have a miraculous conception, God was still the One who formed him in the womb. Even though there was no angelic announcement beforehand, God consecrated Jeremiah as a prophet before he was born. But this was not true just for Samson and Jeremiah. Paul says, “…[God] chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him” (Eph. 1:4). This verse connects us to Samson and Jeremiah. Even as God consecrated Samson and Jeremiah before they were born, God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. What about our calling? Again, Paul says, “…we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). How encouraging these verses are! We may not have the peripherals—e.g., an angelic announcement about our birth or a miraculous conception. But we have the essence of what was true of Samson and Jeremiah—God’s foreknowledge, election, creation, and calling of us even before we were born.
Read MoreYesterday, we saw trials as our spiritual medicines. But trials may be more than just medicines we take occasionally. Jesus said, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you” (John 15:18); “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34); “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Paul, too, said, “…it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake…” (Phil. 1:29).
Read MoreHere is another quote, which adds one more perspective on our suffering: “Trials are medicines which our gracious and wise physician prescribes because we need them; and he proportions the frequency and weight of them to what the case requires. Let us trust in his skill and thank him for his prescriptions” (John Newton). It is unfortunate that we need trials. Newton says that we need them like we need medicines. We need medicines because we are not well physically. We need trials because we are not as healthy as we can be spiritually. Listen to what Paul says in this regard:
Read MoreIn our reflection on suffering based on 2 Cor. 1:3-4, we observed two things: 1) God allows afflictions in our lives so we can come to know more deeply “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort”; 2) if we can know God in that way, it is only because God is “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Today, let’s talk about another reason for our suffering: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Cor. 1:3-4).
Read MoreYesterday, we talked about the meaning of our suffering based on 2 Cor. 1:3-4: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Cor. 1:3-4). I hope simply remembering that He is “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort” was encouraging and comforting to us all. One of the reasons that God allows His people to suffer, even though He loves us with His infinite love, is so that we can come to know this Father of mercies and God of all comfort in a deeper and greater way.
Read MoreWhen going through a difficult time, it is hard to think of anything other than how we can get out of it as soon as possible or how we can get through it another day without losing our mind. It’s hard to get our mind off what is going on at the moment—the pain we are feeling, what needs to be done to get some relief, etc. Even when we manage to direct our thoughts to God, all we can ask is, “Why me? Why are you allowing this happen to me? Do you not love me?” Often, those questions seem to go unanswered, only met with a deafening silence. But that is because God has already answered them in His Word:
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