IN
THE HANDS OF GOD
By
Pastor Max Solbrekken, D.D.
“And when
the Chief Shepherd shall appear ye shall receive a crown of glory
that fadeth not away. Humble yourselves therefore under the Mighty
Hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time. Casting all your care
upon Him for He careth for you.” (1
Peter 5: 4,6,7)
Anointed
by the Holy Spirit, St. Peter admonished the churches. He focused on
the Return of Christ as the great end-all and final
prize for
the Christian life. It will be worth all the suffering, ridicule and
persecution when we finally see Him face to face and hear His
comforting words, “Well
done thou good and faithful servant.” (Matt.25:
23)
Humility
is one of the graces that God gives us. St. Augustine said:
“The
sufficiency of my merit is to know that my merit is not sufficient.”
Alfred Mercier
called humility, “the
grace which makes every other grace amiable.”
And Edmund Burke
stated: “True humility—the
basis of the Christian system—is the low but deep and firm
foundation of all virtues.”
JONATHON
EDWARDS, who
delivered
the message, 'Sinners
in the hands of an angry God',
stated: “Some
persons are always ready to level those above them down to
themselves, while they are never willing to level those below them up
to their own position. But
he that is under the influence of true humility will avoid both these
extremes.
“On
the one hand, he will be willing that all should rise just so far as
their diligence and worth of character entitle them to; and on the
other hand, he will be willing that his superiors should be known and
acknowledged in their place, and have rendered to them all the honors
that are their due.”
WILLIAM
PENN stated:"Sense
shines with a double luster when it is set in humility. An able and
yet humble man is a jewel worth a kingdom."
OUR
CREATOR & HEAVENLY FATHER!
WILLIAM
JENNINGS BRYAN was a godly politician who fought to keep the
abominable teaching of the 'evolutionary
theory'
out of the classrooms of America! His opponent was a laywer and
atheist named Clarence Darrow. The trial was from January 10-25,
1925.
CLARENCE
DARROW, a famous atheist and criminal lawyer stated before his death:
“My
colleagues say that I am a success. Many honors have come my way, but
in the Bible is a sentence which expresses the way I feel about
life: 'We have
toiled all night and taken nothing'."
By
the standards of his peers, Darrow had reached the pinnacle, yet he
was totally unfulfilled, void of peace and joy. In order to
give expression to his dissatisfaction, he had to quote the Bible,
which he claimed to disbelieve.
After his great victory in gaining
for the evolutionary 'foolosophy' theory the right to become the
official religion of Academe in US schools, he felt compelled to
quote the Bible to express his emptiness and utter despair and his
lack of contentment in his own efforts.
The
Word of God shouts out the admonition: “Humble
yourself under the Mighty Hand of God! WHY?
So that He may exalt us in due time. Here is the solution to all our
problems. We are invited to cast all our cares upon Him because He
cares for us!n It should not be difficult to humble ourselves before
God and man, when we realize that we are under-girded by our Creator
and He is our Father and God.
He
decrees: “Fear
thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I
will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee. Yea,
I will uphold thee with the
Right Hand of My
righteousness.”
(Is.
41: 10; 13,14).
The Eternal God invites His people to follow the
example of the rest of His creation: “Hearken unto Me, O Jacob and
Israel, My called: I AM He; I AM the first, I AM also the last. Mine
Hand
also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand hath
spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.”
(Is. 48: 13): “Behold
I have graven thee upon the palms of My Hands...”
(Is.49:16)
King
David cried out in adoration: “O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is
Thy Name in all the earth! Who hath set Thy glory above the Heavens.
When I consider Thy Heavens, the work of Thy
Fingers,
the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained...” (Ps. 8: 1, 3);
“But now, O Lord, Thou art our Father; we are the clay, and Thou
art our Potter; and we all are the work of Thy
Hand.”
(Ps. 64:8)
JESUS
said: “Come unto Me, all ye that labour are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for
I am meek and lowly, in heart;
and ye shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My
burden is light.” (Matt.11: 28, 29)
“They that
are well have no need of a physician, but they that are sick; I came
not to call the righteous, but sinners unto repentance.”
(Mark 2: 17); “For
the Son of man is come to seek and to save them that are lost.”
(Luke
19: 10); “And
this is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the
Son, and beliveth on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise
Him up at the last day.”
(John 6: 40)
MARTIN
LUTHER was pressured to cave in to the Pope in his crusade to purge
the Roman Catholic Church of their apostasy, sin and perversion. He
was asked: “Where will you be Martin Luther when the Emperor, the
Pope and the Cardinals are all against you?” He answered, “Then
as now, I will be in the Hands of God!”
There is no better pace to be in, then the Hands of God!
BELSHAZZAR
WEIGHED IN THE BALANCES!
Belshazzar
was an idolater, an adulterer and a drunkard! He was proud and
egotistical. The
Bible states: “Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand
of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand... In the same hour
came forth fingers
of a man's hand,
and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall
of the king's palace: and the king saw the HAND
that wrote.
"Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts
troubled him, so that joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees
smote one against the other.” (Daniel 5: 1-6)
Daniel
stated: “Thou hast
lifted up thyself against the God of Heaven. Thou hast praised the
gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see
not, nor hear, nor now: And the God in Whose hand thy breath is,
and whose are all
thy ways, hast thou not glorified.” In
that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.” (Dan.5:
23-30)
In
a mighty display of supernatural power, God crashed Emperor
Belshazzar's Big Party. His hand appeared out of the sleeve of the
night and in an unknown tongue wrote His judgment against King
Belshazzar!
"None of his wise men, magicians, astrologers or
soothsayers were able to reading the writing, yet DANIEL the Prophet
of God was able to read the writing by God's own hand!
I
believe this was a precursor to the supernatural gift of the Holy
Spirit and tongues our Heavenly Father gave Christ's Body, the Church
on the Day of Pentecost in Jerusalem. Only the followers of Jesus
Christ can receive the Gift of Interpretation of such supernatural
Gifts!
“When
the Day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in
one place. And suddenly there came a sound from Heaven of a rushing
mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And
there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and
it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy
Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit
gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:1-4)
FINGER
OF GOD WROTE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Satan
sought unsuccessfully to tempt our Lord in His Wilderness Temptation.
He had to use God's Word while tempting Jesus of Nazareth. Three
times he said, “It
is written”,
invoking the authority of the Word of God.
Satan
is an exceptional LIAR, but he CANNOT DENY that the Word of God is
true! St. James concurs with that statement: “Thou believest that
there is One God; thou doest well:
the devils also believe, and tremble.”
(James 2: 19).
On
a number of occasions, evil spirits cried out in Jesus' presence. The
Bible records: “And
in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean
devil, and cried out with a loud voice, Saying, Let us alone; what
have we to do with thee? Thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art Thou come to
destroy us? I know who Thou art; the Holy One of God.” (Luke
4: 33-34)
JESUS
used the Word of God when He refuted the Devil with the words, “IT
IS WRITTEN”.
What was Jesus referring to? Moses was with God in the mountain,
where He wrote with His
own Finger
the Ten Commandments. I repeat, Satan had to acknowledge that that
the Word of God is TRUE, by uttering the words, “It
is written”,
in the temptation of Jesus Christ our Saviour!
God
communicated His words to the prophets
and they wrote them down: “Knowing
this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private
interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of
man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
(2 Peter 1: 20,21);
St.
Paul wrote: “All
Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction for instruction in
righteousness.”
(2 Tim. 3:16, 17). He was referring to God speaking His Word to
Prophets and holy men who wrote them down as the Scriptures we call
the Holy Bible!
JESUS
WROTE ON THE GROUND!
The
Pharisees were always trying to trap Jesus into saying or doing
something whereby they could legally accuse Him before the Sanhedrin
or before the Roman Authorities. He knew their intentions and He knew
the Holy Scriptures, and being the Son of God He was led by the Holy
Spirit.
The
Scripture states: “And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto Him a
woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They
say unto Him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very
act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned:
but what sayest Thou? This, they said tempting Him, that they might
have to accuse Him.
“But
Jesus stooped down, and with HIS
FINGER wrote on the
ground, as though He heard them not. So when they continued asking
Him, He lifted up Himself and said unto them, He that is without sin
among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again, He stooped
down, and wrote on the ground.
“And
they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went
out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and
Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.When Jesus
had lifted up Himself, and saw none but the woman, He said unto her,
Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man accused thee? She
said, No man, Lord. And
Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go and sin no more.”
(John 8:3-11)
O,
the wisdom, goodness and the GRACE of our Lord Jesus! The woman was
guilty. She knew it and Jesus knew it. The law of Moses demanded that
such should be stoned! We
might curiously ask, “Where was the man? Did he somehow get away?
Why was he NOT also charged? We know there was a double standard
here. They were'nt interested in justice for the law's sake.
They
were using this unfortunate situation to charge our Saviour with a
crime of not adhering to the Law of Moses! JESUS knew their hearts
and their lives. He knew that they were not true Shepherds of Israel
and they had rejected Him as their Messiah. He knew the Scriptures.
More than 700 years earlier, Jeremiah had prophesied:
“O
Lord, the Hope of Israel, all that forsake Thee shall be ashamed, and
they that depart from Me, shall be WRITTEN
IN THE EARTH,
because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of Living Water.”
(Jer. 17:13)
NEITHER
DO I CONDEMN THEE!
JESUS
is all that you and I will ever need. He is so wonderful,
understanding and gracious! The way he handled the self righteous
Pharisees to save a sinner woman, is exciting. And He did that before
going to the CROSS. It is so marvellous and filled with Compassion
and Love and speaks of Who Jesus really is!
He is pure, righteous,
kind and good. He is God the Son from Eternity Who came to this earth
as the Father's Paschal Lamb to atone for the sins of the world,
past, present and future!
His
ministry for more than three years proves His love for Adam's fallen
race. After a 40-day fast, He defeated the devil in His Wilderness
Temptation, healed the sick, liberated the sinful and tormented, the
poor, fearful and needy. He didn't turn a deaf ear to the lepers who
cried out for mercy, the tax collectors, publicans and outcasts.
He
went out His way to emancipate the demoniac called Legion, to heal
the man who had lain by the Pool of Bathesda for 38 years and to
reach the Samaritan Woman at the Well of Sychar! He stood up to the
hypocritical religious leaders that “threw out” the
man-born-blind whom Jesus had made to see.
The
same HAND
that wrote on the ground, held little chidren while blessing them and
healed the sick and afflicted. The hands
of Jesus
still reach out today to hurting people across the globe as His His
servants minister to multitudes in His name and by His power!
Many
people live in fear of meeting Jesus, in person. They are afraid of
death and even the Return of Christ. As I read the Gospels and the
Epistles, I do not recognize anything except anticiption and joy of
entering His prescence and seeing our Saviour face to face! His
treatment of sinners who cried out for mercy and the sick and
suffering who thronged Him just to touch His garments is astonishing
in that He did'nt turn anyone away.
He
did not rebuke people who sought Him out even when He was tired from
praying for thousands of sick, demon possessed and discouraged
people. When He took His disciples to a secret place for some rest
and the masses followed Him, He never missed a beat. He preached and
ministered to the sick for days without any complaining. On two
occasions our Saviour Jesus Christ miraculously created food for them
lest they go away hungry. Hallelujah!
“And Jesus
went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with COMPASSION
toward them and He
HEALED
their sick. And when it was evening, His disciples came to Him,
saying, This is a desert place and the time is now past; send the
multitudes away that they may go into the villages, and buy
themselves victuals.
“But Jesus
said unto them, They need not depart. Give ye them to eat. And they
say unto Him, We have but here but five loaves and two fishes. He
said, Bring them hither to Me. And He commanded the multitudes to sit
down on the grass, and He took the five loaves and two fishes, and
looking up to Heaven, He blessed and brake, and gave the loaves to
His disciples, and the discipes to the multitude.
“And they
did all eat and were filled, and they took up of the fragments that
remained twelve baskets full. And they that had eaten were about five
thousand men, beside women and children.”
(Matt. 14: 14-21)
WHY
DOES GOD HEAL THE SICK?
Because
He is totally good, merciful, benevolent, kind, gracious, loving,
compassionate and caring.
That is why our Heavenly Father gave His Son to redeem us from our
sinful condition. Through His vicarious death for us, He purchased
our complete healing! (Ps. 103: 1-6)
Because
He is the God of Order.
He made man perfect in the beginning and makes order out of disorder.
When He was finished creating, our Lord said that everything He had
made was Good! He wants to restore that perfection again! The gift of
Healing renews the body! (2 Thes. 5: 23, 24)
Because
He is Life and is diametrically against death and because He is
against strife, He makes things right.
Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life and no man cometh
unto the Father but by Me.” (John 14: 6).
Divine Healing brings life, because Jesus said: “I am the
resurrection and the Life...” (John 11:25)
Because
He is all powerful, and all wise.
It is His Perfect will to end all war, pain and disunity. “Commit
thy way unto the Lord, Trust also in Him and He shall bring it to
pass.” (Ps.37: 5); “For I know the thoughts that I think toward
you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you
a future and a hope.” (Jer. 29:11);
“Trust
in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own
understanding. In
all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.” (Prov.
3:5, 6)
Because
He is our Saviour, Healer and Deliverer.
Here is the Healing Covenant that Jehovah God made with children of
Israel: “And said, If Thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of
the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in His sight, and
wilt give ears to His commandments, and keep all His statutes I will
put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the
Egyptians: For I am
the LORD
that healeth thee.”
(Ex. 15: 26).
Because
He cares for us.
St. Peter wrote: “Humble yourselves therefore under the Mighty
Hand of God,
that He may exalt you in due time. Casting all your cares upon Him
for He careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary
the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may
devour: whom resist in the FAITH.
“But
the God of all GRACE, Who hath called us unto His eternal glory by
Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect,
stablish, strengthen, settle you.” (1 Pet. 5: 6-10)
Because
as God's children, we are recipients of His Redemptive work which
includes the forgiveness of sins, cleansing of consciences, healing
of minds and bodies.
Jesus
invites: “Come unto Me all ye who labour and are heavy laden and I
will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am
meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For
My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28)
Being
yoked to Jesus is such a blessing! He lifts the load and carries us
through all our trials, dispelling our fears, forgiving our sins and
healing our sicknesses. Satan binds his slaves. They carry the load
and the Devil gives them more and more pain, guilt, despair, fear,
sickness and death. Jesus Christ said:
“The
thief (Satan) cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill and to
destroy. I am come that they might have life, and that they might
have it more abundantly.”
(John 10:10)
“Come
now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: Though your sins be
as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red as
crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Is. 1: 18); “Peace I leave
with you, My Peace I give unto you: not as the
world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27).
Seven
hundred years before Christ's Virgin birth in Bethlehem, the Prophet
laid out the Redemptive work of Jesus Christ:
“The Spirit of
the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the Gospel
to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the broken hearted, to preach
deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to
set at liberty them that are bruised.” (Luke 4: 18)
St.
Paul writes: “There is therefore no CONDEMNATION to them which are
in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free
from the law of sin and death.” (Rom. 8: 1,2)
JESUS
SAID, BEHOLD MY HANDS!
“And
straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with
the elders and scribes and the whole council, and BOUND
JESUS, and carried Him away,
and delivered Him to Pilate.” (Mark 15:1); “Then the band and the
captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus and Bound
Him, And led Him away to
Annas first...” (John 18: 12)
A
powerful Gospel song by Loretta Lynn says:
They
bound the hands of Jesus in the garden where he prayed
They led
him through the street in shame
They spat upon the Saviour so pure
and free from sin
They said crucify him he's to blame
He could
have called ten thousand angels to destroy the world and set him
free
He could have called ten thousand angels but he died alone
for you and me
Upon his precious head they placed a crown of
thorns
They laughed and said behold the king
They struck him
and they cursed him and mocked his holy name
And all alone he
suffered everything
He could have called ten thousand angels to
destroy the world and set him free
He
could have called ten thousand angels to destroy the world and set
him free
The Bible says:
“The
other
disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said
unto them. Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails,
and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand
into His side, I will not believe.
“And after
eight days again His disciples were within, and Thomas with them:
then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and
said, Peace be unto you. Then saith He to Thomas, Reach hither thy
finger, and behold My hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it
into My side: and be not faithless, but believing.
“And
Thomas answered and said unto Him, my Lord and my God. Jesus saith
unto him, Thomas because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed:
blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” (John
20: 25-29)
Zechariah
prophesied that a fountain of blood would be opened when
Messiah would die as the Lamb of God for the sins of the world: “In
that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for
sin and uncleanness. And one shall say unto Him, WHAT
ARE THESE WOUNDS IN THINE HANDS?
Then,
He shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of My
friends,” (Zech.13: 1,6)
“But
when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they break
not His legs. But one of the soldiers with a spear PIERCED
HIS SIDE and forthwith
came there out blood and water. And he that saw it bear record, and
his record is true: and he sayeth that he KNOWETH
it is true, that ye
might believe. "For these things were done, that the Scripture should
be fulfilled, A bone of Him shall not be broken. And again another
Scripture saith, They shall look on Him Whom they PIERCED.”
(John 19: 33-37)
After
Jesus appeared to Saul of Tarsus in a blinding LIGHT, the hate-filled .Jewish
Enforcer spent more than
forty years preaching Christ's Gospel to Jews, Greeks and Romans. And he founded the Church across the Gentile World, before giving his life as a
Martyr for his Saviour!
St.
Paul stated: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Heavenly
places in Christ: In
Whom we have Redemption through His Blood, the forgiveness of sins,
according to the richness of His grace.”
(Eph.1: 1,7).
St. John declared: “But if we walk in the Light, as He is in the
LIGHT, we have fellowship one with another, and the BLOOD of Jesus
Christ His Son cleanseth us from all Sin.” (1 John 1: 7)
A
Gospel song says it all: “There is a fountain filled with blood,
drawn from Emmanuel's veins and sinners plunged beneath that flood,
lose all their guilty stains!”
And
just to remind you, “...Greater
is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.”
(1 John 4: 4). Amen.
