Category: Saturday Study

Saturday Study

Genesis 6-10 (1-13-18)

Grab your Bible, and let’s dive into the testimony of Noah and God’s judgment as we review Genesis 6-10.

In Genesis 6, we read about God’s declaration about the hearts of mankind after the fall, and then His righteous judgment to bring His wrath on the wickedness of man.

Genesis 6:5-8 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Then in Genesis 6:9-22, we see that God saves Noah and his family alone. In obedience to God, Noah built a very large boat, and notice how the chapter ends. Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

Verse 9 tells us that Noah was a righteous man. Verse 22 gives us the evidence of this fact.

Here is a fun fact that people often get wrong: How many of each kind of animal did Noah take on the ark with him?

Read Genesis 7:1-5.

Noah took seven pairs of the clean animals, one pair of the unclean animals, and seven pairs of the birds.

Isn’t it funny how we believe what we’ve heard over the years, and in the end, it is not actually biblically accurate? Most people believe Noah only took two of each kind of animal. This is a great reminder that much of what many people say or believe about God, His ways, or His word is simply not true. We must resist the temptation to read the Bible through our worldview or traditions. We need to form our worldview through the authority of the holy Bible.

Notice something that is becoming a pattern in verse 5. It reads, “And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.”

When we jump ahead to verse 16, we see the floods start, and on the same day Noah takes himself and his family into the ark, and God shuts him in. Notice Noah did what he was commanded again, and God sealed him safely in the ark and away from the flood.

Read Genesis 7:21-24.

So, God saw the wickedness of man, and He set forward to pour out His wrath. He found favor in Noah and commanded him to build an ark and take in animals and his family. God followed through with His plan to flood the earth and cleanse it from its sin. God blotted out all the living creatures and mankind, except for those in the ark with Noah. The judgment of God is right and good. The wrath of God is right and good. Sometimes we are guilty of thinking that His love and mercy are more important than the attributes of His wrath or justice, but they are not. All of God’s attributes are good and perfect. We must see God’s worldwide extermination as righteous and good, not because the death of many is to be celebrated, but because God did it. William Perkins once wisely said, “We must not think that God does a thing because it’s good and right, but rather the thing is good and right because God does it.”  

In Genesis chapter 8, we read that God pulled back the waters and unveiled the land. And the storm was over. Noah built an altar and worshiped the Lord.

The Lord’s response is the key I want us to see today.

Genesis 8:21-22 And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”

In the beginning of Chapter 9, God gives Noah instruction similar to one we’ve heard before. God blesses Noah and says, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” Sound familiar?

God then tells Noah that the plants and animals are his to rule over and cultivate. Sound familiar?

God is rebooting this creation with Noah and his family.

Then God makes a covenant with Noah and all who will come after him.

Read Genesis 9:8-17.

God commits to never flood the earth again, even though the intention of a man’s heart is evil from his youth.

This is His promise of common grace. Common grace is the idea that God extends some of His grace over all men, even though they are wicked in sin and deserving immediate judgment and wrath for their rebellion against Him.

Matthew 5:45 “For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

Common grace is different than saving grace in that common grace is for all mankind, but saving grace is just for God’s elect.

The sobering reality is man is still wicked and deserving of God’s perfect and just wrath. Every man will be judged.

We will stand before the great Judge and either be condemned for our wickedness because we stand on our own merit and pride, or we will be pardoned for our wickedness because Christ stands in our place. He is our perfect advocate and mediator who took on our sin, and as a result, takes on our wrath. He then gives us His righteousness, allowing us to be accepted by God and brought into His holy presence forever. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NASB) says, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Oh, how desperate we are for Jesus alone. 

Here is the thing: We truly are a wicked people when we take God’s promised symbol (the rainbow) that He has graciously given us as a promise of His common grace to not send His swift judgment on our sin, and we then, in the very sin for which this grace is promised, use His symbol to represent homosexuality, which He has made clear in His word is sin.

Here is the truth: God will righteously judge, and those who rebel against Him will be condemned.

Let me show you an interesting passage in 2 Peter that brings light to God’s judgment:

2 Peter 3:5-7 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

“For they deliberately overlook this fact.” In other words, “They shut their eyes to the facts.”

The old King James version says, “They are willingly ignorant of …” This is speaking of the false teachers who are not of God’s people and are deserving judgment and wrath.

Heretics and false teachers choose to ignore the truth to form lies that suit their needs. It might be right in front of them, but they don’t want to see the truth!

Why do they do this? They love their evil. They love their sin. They love their lust. They don’t desire truth. They don’t want a judgment, and they don’t want Christ to return, so they develop a system that says He won’t.

Peter speaks of two great, historic, game-changing events here:

The first is creation! He says they willingly shut their eyes to the fact that by the word of God, the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and by water. Peter is saying creation was a cataclysmic act of God.

The false teachers who don’t want a God, who don’t want a God who is going to judge their sin, they teach a big bang theory and a system of evolution that is absent of the need for God.

Peter says they forget willingly. Now look at this detail he adds in 2 Peter 3:5: “For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God.”

You might we saying, “That sounds off.”

So, to jog your memory, let’s read Genesis 1:1-2: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”

In God’s original creative action, the earth was without form. The darkness was over something God has made. What was it?  “The face of the deep.” What is “the deep?”

Look next: The Spirit of God was hovering over what? The face of the waters! Ahhhhh…

So, it wasn’t nothing and then light. The darkness hung above a watery, formless mass that God made first.

In Proverbs 8:27, God says He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep.

Read Genesis 1:3-10.

Then God made light, then separation between waters below and waters above, and then separation of the water below to determine ground from rivers or oceans.

And you know what He said about it? God said about it, in verse 10, “It’s gooooood.”

But it isn’t very long before man sins and multiplies, and the multiplication of that sin equals mass judgment.

God looks at the world and Genesis 6:5 says, “The Lord saw that wickedness of man was great on the earth and every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, and He was sorry that He made the whole thing. And He said, ‘I’m going to destroy it.’”

How’s He going to destroy it? With water!

Now, go back to 2 Peter 3:

2 Peter 3:5-6 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.

Now, let’s go back to Genesis 7:11-12:

In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

Read Genesis 7:19-24 again.

So, you can’t say, “All things continue as they have from the very beginning.” No, they haven’t.

There was devastating, total judgment on the whole world, and there will be in the future.

Look at 2 Peter 3:7: But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist …

This means the world was different after the flood. No one lived 900 years after the flood.

Things were different. A new kind of judgment was at work in the post-flood earth.

God’s symbol of promise (the rainbow) was given as a symbol that He will never destroy the world again by water.

But we know worldwide judgment is coming again. Why? Because God’s word tells us so!

But it won’t be by water, because God promised not to flood the earth again.

So, what will the judgment be by if not water? Fire!

2 Peter 3:7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

 “Kept for the judgment, the day of judgment, and the destruction of ungodly men.”

God is the Creator, and He is the Destroyer. Only the next time He brings global judgment, He’ll do it by fire. It is reserved for fire. The word “reserved” in the Greek is where we get the word “treasury.” It means “to store up.”

Isaiah 13 says, “When the final Babylon is destroyed it will be destroyed as were Sodom and Gomorrah.”    

How were they destroyed? By fire and brimstone.

The promise of God’s judgment coming in fire is all over the word of God:

Malachi 4:1 fire; Micah 1:4 fire; Daniel 7:9 and 10 fire; and in Matthew 3:11 and 12, John the Baptist said He’s coming, and He’s coming with fire.

2 Thessalonians 1 verses 7 and 8 (NASB) is so graphic. it says when Jesus comes He’ll “be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire.”

And in our passage today in 2 Peter 3:12: “waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!”

Wow… this is a sobering reality. Jesus is coming! And God will judge and execute His wrath.

And the Bible tells us that this is good and right for God to do.

Romans 2:5 because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

This is why we take full advantage of the common grace that God has given to those who are unrepentant and wicked and deserving death. God has sent us into a sea of darkness to testify of the only One who can save condemned guilty people from the fire of God’s wrath: JESUS! This is why we ride, why we testify, and why we serve in Jesus’ name!

Come, Lord Jesus, and in the meantime, help us be bold in our testimony of Your saving grace in this season of patience that You show for all those under Your common grace.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

Saturday Study

Genesis 1-5 (1-6-18)

The Trinity Creates

As we open our Bibles to begin our new Bible Reading Plan, we are immediately introduced to the Triune God and His unmatched power and will.

There is only one true God. God exists eternally as one God, three persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit. God is eternal, self-existent, and self-sufficient. He is the almighty Creator, Sustainer, and Ruler of everything.

Look with me and see the Triune Godhead at work in the beginning of all that He ordained to create:

Genesis 1:1-3 (NIV) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

The very first three verses of Genesis reveal something far greater to us than the simple fact that God created the heavens and the earth. They reveal to us that God is a community of three persons in one being!

Genesis 1:1 (NIV) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Here we are introduced to God as the grand designer of all creation.

God’s creative hand swings out and drips all the integral parts of the universe into being. The backdrop is set, and creation has its stage. God is the Father of all creation, and all things find their origin and definition in Him.

Genesis 1:2 (NIV) Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

The Holy Spirit is also in play. Now, this is still God, but a distinction is made here that is different than the action of the Father in the previous verse. The Spirit does not imagine or construct the created world, but instead He is described as “hovering over it” after the universe hung in place. This is the first insight we have into the personality or role of the Holy Spirit as one of protector or overseer.

Genesis 1:3 (NIV) And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

In verse 3, we see the Word of God. The Word is found in His verbal command of “Let there be,” and whatever He commands comes into existence through the power of that WORD. The active agent of God’s will, the Word, we know to be the Son of God, Jesus!

So, we only need to go three verses deep into the divine revelation of God to discover what is abundantly taught in the rest of the Scriptures:

God is one God as a Tri-Unity of divine persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). This is the eternal community from whom all other communities derive life and meaning and purpose for life!

We see this later in chapter 2 as God creates man:

Genesis 2:18-20 (NIV) The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.

Adam was sharing and loving and enjoying God and His creation, but the animals, mountains, waves, and sky were not suitable for Adam to understand and experience what real deep community is.

We are not meant to do life alone!

See that God is communal in the eternal relationship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and He ordained that we would be communal, too. In that it was not good for man to be alone.

Genesis 1:26-27 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

The community that is the Godhead created the community of mankind. We are not meant to do this life alone but in community. It is only when sin came into play that mankind separated from God and each other. Let’s see that unfold.

Sin Equals Death and Separation

Genesis 3 & 4

In Genesis 2:16-17, we read that God was clear about what would bring death and separation:

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Then in Genesis 3, we read that man sinfully disobeyed God and was rightly cursed for it.

Genesis 3:6-13 says the following:

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

They gave into temptation and chose sin over God. They chose to betray the glory and honor due God and to serve their own desires and glory. See the immediate consequences of their sin. They are caught up in judgment of each other and themselves, and they cover themselves. They separated themselves. They hid themselves.

See the consequences of our sin that breaks down community and causes fear, judgment, and hate for each other. It separates us. This is in full opposition to the beautiful community God created us to have and to enjoy.

Then Adam and Eve hid from God in shame and fear. God goes on to make it clear that they will reap real consequences for their sin. We see the fallout of their sin in chapter 4 as one of their sons murders the other. But the worst of their consequences is their separation from God.

It says in Genesis 3:24, “He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.”

This was the symbolism of being separated from God in His holiness and from the tree of life.

A Redeemer Is Promised

If we would ever be restored to God and to each other apart from our sin, we would need someone to go through the sword to make a way for us. Not just anyone, but someone perfect and eternal. Someone who could represent mankind and redeem us from all unrighteousness.

That royal redeemer is promised by God in Genesis 3:15:

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Here, God declared war and victory on Satan, sin, and death with what is known as the proto-evangelium–the first gospel pronouncement–in Genesis 3:15. God proclaims that He will bring forth a man (a royal Redeemer) who would come from the line of the woman, and this Redeemer would crush and defeat sin and death.

This is Jesus. The rest of the Old Testament points us to Jesus–the promised Redeemer. He is the only hope for mankind.

The Gospels are the story of Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection.

This is our only hope for true restoration into lasting and life-giving community with God and each other.

Jesus came, lived perfectly, died in the place of undeserving sinners, and rose to conquer death as the forerunner of a chosen people’s redemption.

The Bible is clear that there is not greater news or hope mankind has.

Each person is utterly desperate for Jesus alone.

Confess your sin, turn from it, and trust your life completely to Jesus as Savior and Lord.

Die to yourself and your sin, and live to Christ and for His glory and the making much of His name.

Praise God He created us, but praise Him all the more that He chose in His grace to save an undeserving people to be restored into the beautiful community of the Triune Godhead and His redeemed family.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

Saturday Study

Proverbs 31 (12-30-17)

For our final Saturday Study of the year, we get to focus on the woman who fears the Lord.

Oh, what a treasure it is to know and have in your life a woman who truly fears the Lord and lives to honor Him in all she does while not in her flesh. Proverbs 31 is one of the best places in all of Scripture for a woman in Christ to look for a picture of what a God-honoring life looks like. It is also a great resource for a single man who is praying for and seeking the kind of woman that authentically lives for God and not herself. It is also a great passage for the training of our daughters to understand the attributes of a godly woman that she should aspire to grow into. So, this one is for the ladies. Can I just say that I am so very thankful for the God-fearing women our Lord has blessed us with in our ministry? We men are thankful for you and are praying for you.

Let’s read Proverbs 31:10-31 again.

Proverbs 31:10 An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.

Our society is far too passive and flippant when it comes to the union of two lives into holy marriage. Couples link up and say, “I do,” simply based on emotional bonds and good times shared together. Maybe attraction and compatibility are weighed in there too, but I have found in 20 years of pastoral ministry and with hundreds of couples that I have counseled that people simply do not slow down to rightly weigh all that must be considered and vetted in who a person really is. It is especially important to know who they are in their maturity in the Lord before saying “I do”. The excellence of a wife is rightly found in the depth and dependence of her heart and life on the Lord. She is genuinely far more precious than jewels. For all the reasons stated below that are signs of a devoted and dedicated life of a godly woman for her Lord and the things He has entrusted to her, she must first and foremost be sold out for and mature in her Lord if these things will truly last and bear great fruit for a lifetime.

Proverbs 31:11-12 The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain.

                                She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.

Why does the heart of a husband trust in a godly woman? Because she is hard working or beautiful or fun to be with?

No. It is because she is desperate for and dependent on God in all that she does. He trusts in her because she is fixed to the vine, who is Christ. She is not governed by her own ambition or standard but by the Lord. A husband will have no lack of gain because his wife’s life will be fruitful in the Lord and therefore a great blessing to do him good and not harm all the days of her life.

Proverbs 31:13-16 She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands.

                               She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from afar.

                               She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens.

                               She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.

Proverbs 31:27 She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

A godly woman works hard in whatever her task is. She is not slothful or lazy but rises to steward well the day that the Lord has entrusted to her. The descriptions given in verses 13-16 point to the managing of the household and the basic gathering of the things needed for the family. Her aim is to be sure her family is clothed and fed well. So, she rises to tend to her household and the things needed for her family to thrive and be cared for. I have heard many say over the years that a stay-at-home wife or mother doesn’t have a job or work. They have never met the godly women I know who rise early and work hard to care for their family and household and the women they get to invest into and disciple along the way. No matter what is on the plate of daily tasks and responsibilities, the managing and tending to the family and household is a God-given priority for a godly woman. May we not let a modern worldview prevent us from training up our daughters to do these things well and unto the glory of the Lord.

Proverbs 31:17-18 She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong.

                                She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night.

A godly woman lives and thrives in the strength of the Lord. She is not weak but is strong in Christ. This does not mean she is strong-willed or not meek. It means she is focused on the things that the Lord has put before her with a God-honoring drive and not a passivity. She knows what God has entrusted to her is profitable, and she finishes her day well. Meaning, she walks in the strength of her Lord from start to finish. This is a blessing to her husband and family, because she doesn’t tap out and quit part way. She is able to do this because of who Christ is in her life and because she is not doing it in her own strength, which is often fleeting and self-serving.

Proverbs 31:20 She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy.

A godly woman is selfless in her love and therefore generous and sacrificial in her love for others. When a woman’s heart is captivated in Christ, what was formerly to be gained in selfish pursuits falls away because her heart is satisfied in Jesus. Therefore, she is able to open her hand to the poor and serve the needy. This is the gospel at work through the redeemed for the good of those God puts in our path.

Proverbs 31:23 Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land.

The point about her husband being known among the leaders of the land is less about ego and fame and more about the fact that because she is rightly stewarding the household and the family, the husband is able to invest himself in the things the Lord has called him to among other men. This is similar to the saying, “Behind every good man is a good woman.” The blessing of a godly wife frees her husband to thrive in doing what God has entrusted to him.

Proverbs 31:25 Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.

A godly woman walks confidently not in herself, but in her God. She laughs at the time to come, because she knows and trusts the One who ultimately controls it. She trusts in the sovereignty of God and rests in Him.

Proverbs 31:26 She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

A godly woman is a disciple-maker and gladly invests her time into mentoring and teaching others the good things of the Lord.

Proverbs 31:28-30 Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:

                               “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.”

                                Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

There is something special about the love and praise of those closest to you. It is not because you will win a prize to hang on your wall that will bring your fame, but because God blesses you with a true and deep appreciation from those who matter most in your life. My life is forever impacted and blessed by my own mother, who was truly and in every way a Proverbs 31 wife and mother.

By the grace of God, my wife, Jennifer, has been the greatest gift God has given me and the greatness of her is beyond doubt her love and devotion to the Lord. When Solomon says, “Her children and husband call her blessed and give her praise,” it is a true thing of a godly woman who fears the Lord and practices the things mentioned above. While she is beautiful on the outside through and through, it is truly a right and growing fear of and devotion to the Lord that is her greatest and most blessed attribute.

In closing, no matter where one is on this journey, may we recognize that the cause of a godly woman’s life and devotion is not herself but is Christ alone. He is the only one who empowers good stewardship and devoted hard work unto His glory. He is the only one who changes the heart to fear the Lord and love others sacrificially. He is the only one who changes us from the inside out. No matter where you are, ladies, or no matter where your wife or daughter is, men, may we point the women in our lives back to the gospel and all that Christ is to us. May He change us from the inside out to be good stewards of the life He has entrusted us, for His glory and others’ good.

* I am very excited to bring this year’s study to a conclusion and to kick off a new year of Bible reading and study on Monday.

This year, we will study a book in each of the critical eras of the Old Testament and a couple gospels and epistles along the way, too. Below is an outline of what is to come. Who can you invite to join us in our daily reading? This is the perfect time to recruit others to join us as we start a new year of reading and growing in God’s word. It is a joy to walk with you in this way, as we look to grow in Christ and make much of His great name.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

Saturday Study

Proverbs 30 (12-23-17)

In Proverbs 30, we find one of my favorite prayers in the Bible. They are the words of Agur.

I appreciate these words because of the honesty and humility. We live in a culture where we love to take God’s word out of context and use it for our personal gain and prosperity, like many did with “The Prayer of Jabez,” marketed to the Christian culture as a prayer we can use as a type of incantation to cause God to bless us with more than we have. In contrast, the prayer of Agur is humble and trusting in the Lord to provide what He determines we need and not what we declare we need. It is a prayer that corrects our hearts when we are, in sin, feeling like we deserve more than we have. It is a prayer that honestly asks God for the basic needs of daily life but also asks not to be given abundance so that one’s heart can remain dependent on the Lord alone for joy and strength. I pray that today’s deeper look at this prayer brings a healthy reminder and maturity to your heart and desires. I pray that you, too, would be trusting in God and content for what He provides you in His perfect wisdom and will.

Let’s dig in.

             Proverbs 30:7-9:

             Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die:

             Remove far from me falsehood and lying;

             give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me,

             lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?”

             or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.

The first thing Agur asks God for is TRUTH! He wants to be fixed on truth and not lies. This is a global removal he is asking for. “Remove any lies that I have believed along the way and therefore would speak to others, and remove from me the influence of deceit and lies from others.” We live in a world that is built on sinful deceit and lies of the enemy. Our sin will lie to get what it wants. The best and nicest person you know will lie because of his sin to get what he wants.

Oh, how desperate we are for truth–truth that brings light instead of darkness. We need truth that honors God and causes us to be honorable before Him. Earlier in this Proverb, he said, “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him” (Proverbs 30:5). In a world of lies and deceit, the truth of God’s word is truly a saving grace and solid foundation for our feet. God is truth. Jesus said, “I am … the truth” (John 14:6). Also, John 18:37 says Jesus came “to bear witness to the truth.”

Do you hold fast to the word of God like nothing else in order not to get swept away in lies and deceit?

He is the only pure and trustworthy source of truth. May we be utterly dependent and fixed to His written word.

Second, Agur asks for neither poverty nor riches. I believe this prayer is included in the Proverbs because this request is incredibly wise and humble. We quickly resonate with his request not to be in poverty, as our flesh might rear up and sinfully curse God or disobey Him by stealing from others to fill our bellies. This is a real request for the basic needs of our daily life. I think we can be guilty of thinking we need more than we really do. In modern western life, we can be found often saying, “I am starving,” because we are really hungry. But we have no idea what hunger is or what starving really is because we are late to eat our next meal. Let us who have much be careful of not declaring that we are in jeopardy of poverty when we are very far from it.

It is the other end of the spectrum of Agur’s request that strikes me the most. He says, “Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’” (Proverbs 30:8).

Agur is mindful that his sin and selfishness can cause him to become fat and happy with the provisions of his abundance, and he would not think he has a need for God and say, “Who is the Lord?” This is related to the teaching of Christ in the New Testament, when He says it is hard for a rich man to inherit the kingdom of God, because he doesn’t think he needs it; the man has all that he wants in his wealth and abundance. Many in our society, including us at times in our own lives, can get caught up in being so fat and happy with life and all that we have that we lose our desperation for the Lord. With it, we lose our passionate cry to Him for all that He is and is doing in our lives despite ourselves.

For years, I have been greatly inspired by Agur’s prayer here for only what he needed and nothing more. We all can get quickly caught up in thinking we need more to be happy, safe, and secure, but we do not. Christ is enough. God is the best One to decide what to entrust to us to steward for His purposes for our lives. For some that will be much, and for others that will be little. Both are equally blessed because they have Christ, but they are just entrusted with different means and abilities with which to serve God.

The point is, we do not need more to be satisfied; we need Jesus. We need what God best determines we need.

Agur got this and simply says, “Give me what I need daily and nothing more, so I can serve you and keep my eyes on you as my prize and my Lord.” May we join Agur in this prayer for the perfect will and provision of God and trust in the Lord as He determines what we should have and be able to do. We serve a good God who is worthy of our praise simply because of who He is and what He has done in Christ to save us and make us His. He owes me nothing. I owe Him everything. May He be praised by me every day He ordains to give me breath.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

Saturday Study

Proverbs 29 (12-16-17)

Proverbs 29:11 A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.

The word “spirit” here means anger, emotions, feelings.

This is much needed counsel from Solomon that blesses us in so many situations. When we can exercise control of our emotions and not just unleash and lash out or rage when we are stirred up or bothered, we can prevent extra turmoil or hurt from happening. Solomon says, “It is wisdom to check our emotions and anger and act with restraint.” This is a good practice to constantly do. Whenever we are stirred up or angered, it is good to take that to the Lord in prayer and to His word and even sometimes to a brother or sister to be checked first before letting it have its way. WHY? Because our flesh is sinful and self-serving and self-preserving. It doesn’t like to be offended and/or hurt, so our fleshly habit is just to lash out in an effort to cope or justify.

James gives great New Testament counsel in James 1:19 when he says, “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.”

When we are only thinking of ourselves, we will be quick to speak out regarding whatever injustice or offense has been made.

But when I am thinking of others, I will long to slow down and listen longer and consider how I might better understand their perspective and/or how the gospel applies to this situation. Think about it: How many fights have you had with a spouse, loved one, or close friend simply because you chose to fire back in your emotions before you gave them the benefit of the doubt or really tried to understand where they were coming from first? Empathetic listening is not just listening with the intent to understand what is being said, but it goes deeper; it is listening with the intent to understand why the person feels the way they do about what is being said. In my 20 years of pastoral ministry, I have seen this make some of the most significant differences in struggling relationships. Simply put, an other-centered, loving practice to be slow to speak and longing to really listen and understand where the other person is coming from really shows respect, care, and interest in the other person instead of you just spouting out what you think or feel with no real regard for them.

Hear me clearly: this is not just a practice for marriages or families. The counsel of Solomon and James is for all of us and any relationship. They are saying, “It will go better for you if you will slow down, hold back your immediate emotions and anger, and listen longer, empathize, and really try to hear them.”

Second, slowing down to really listen and give the benefit of the doubt gives you opportunity to prayerfully apply the gospel to the situation and to speak with a Christ-centered, loving disposition. What the gospel does in situations like this is gives us a renewed perspective: while the other party might have messed up or offended, the gospel reminds us that we are no better than them; without the grace of God and His power at work in us, we are just as capable of the kinds of things that are said or done to us. This keeps us from a self-righteous, self-justified response that looks to correct or condemn the other person in the wake of our anger and emotion. Not to say that you still don’t say “ouch” or speak honestly about the hurt or offense, but you speak after you have forgiven them and been reminded of just how desperate you both are for the cross to do anything that honors God or each other.

Let us be better at slowing down and avoiding emotional responses charged with anger and lacking grace of giving the benefit of the doubt. Let us go to prayer and to the word and, if needed, to a brother for accountability and counsel. In these things, we will be more ready to apply the counsel given for how we should act towards one another.

As I wrap up today’s study, I encourage you to meditate on Colossians 3:12-17, as it gives us great counsel as to how we should respond and act towards one another. May our God be honored and our testimony of Christ be bright as we fight our flesh and look to live in the Spirit, which made us new in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Colossians 3:12-17 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church