I said, “LORD, be
merciful to me;
heal my soul, for I
have sinned against You.”
my enemies speak evil
of me:
“When will he die,
and his name perish?”
and if he comes to
see me, he speaks lies;
his heart gathers
iniquity to itself;
when he goes out, he
tells it.
Psalm 41:4–6
King David
had many enemies, those too who would speak lies or evil against him, even a
close friend had become a liar and an enemy. To say that King David was not
perplexed over such things is wrong and to make him not to be human. We too
when beset by those who would accuse us of being a “Christian’ as though this
is a bad thing also hurt us and much agony and hurt comes from those who are
the closest to you, even family. Why would such reproach be brought against a
person who in every way is living according to the commands of God, those ten
commandments that are for our good, as well as to show us that we are sinful,
what sin is, and how by following them we are pleasing to God. Maybe you as did
King David desire to repay those who do evil towards you and cry out: “By
You, O LORD, be merciful to me, and raise me up, that I may repay them” (Psalm
41:10). To strike back, to get even, and to settle the debt, to win against
an enemy is so human and so far from what it means to be a Christian. Remember
as did King David: “By this I know that You are well pleased with me,
because my enemy does not triumph over me” (Psalm 41:11). Here is some very good news: “As for me,
You uphold me in my integrity, and set me before Your face forever” (Psalm
41:12). Notice this: it is in your integrity that God will answer your
prayer for help, not in your hope, or wish, or any other reason, even by your
doing of good things, or as some teach and practice, to speak in tongues, or do
miraculous things, no it is in your integrity that God will uphold you: are you
living in integrity? Are you willing to suffer for the sake of Jesus Christ the
reproach that anyone who is opposed to you throws at your face, to attempt to
destroy your faith? Augustine in his book: The City of God, states: We
divide the human race into tow kinds: one, those who lived according to man,
the other, according to God. These also we mystically call two cities, that is,
two societies of men, one of which is predestined to reign forever with God;
the other, to undergo eternal punishment with the devil”[1](Italics
mine). That which was written under the inspiration of God in His word the
Bible were written for our instruction and such men as Augustine give us a view
of the meaning for this narrative in regards to Cain and Able: “Therefore
the former, Cain, was born of those two parents of the human race and he
belongs to the city of men; the latter, Abel, to the city of God. The former
was born a citizen of this world; but the latter, a pilgrim in this world,
belongs to the city of God. Foreordained by grace, elect by grace, he is by
grace a pilgrim here below, by grace a citizen there above, so far as he
belongs to himself he arises from the same lump, but God is life a potter. The
apostle maintains this figure not foolishly but intelligently, ‘Out of the same
lump’ he made ‘one vessel for honor, the other for ignominy.’ (Romans 9:21). He
first made the vessel for ignominy, but afterward the other for honor. Since in
one and the same man, as the apostle says, ‘it is not the spiritual which is
first but the physical, and then the spiritual,”[2] There are those who scorn at the thought of
predestination as do those who teach Arminianism, that man somehow can save
himself, that in some way his soul is just good enough to desire God, but this
is not what is taught in the Bible and by such men as Augustine who delivered
to us clear words from the Bible, not some allegorical teaching. God’s word is
clear that divine predestination is fixed on the part of the reprobated,
because they are said most truthfully and rightly to be predestined by divine
judgment not to guilt but to punishment, not to an evil work which they do
voluntarily but to evil itself which they will reluctantly suffer in eternal
tortures. A person may scoff at predestination, and even be offended by such a
doctrine, as though by predestination there is a necessity of doing evil that
is to be intended upon or imposed upon anyone. True teaching is this; that God
has foreordained no one to sin but only to pay the penalty for sin. God is
Just, and God justly foreordains man’s evil to His just punishment.
How can I know
that I am not as was Cain? How can I know that I am like Able, foreordained
either to punishment or to eternal life with God? Do you desire godly things,
that is, to live according to His commandments? Are you willing to pick up your
cross daily and follow Him? Are you watching TV where homosexuality is
displayed, or going to and paying for movies where the actor(s) are an enemy of
the truth, i.e., Scientologists, or displaying a lack of modesty, or drinking
bouts? Would you take Jesus Christ with you to some event or movie, etc., or
not due to its content? Do you believe that God will uphold you in your
integrity? Living for Jesus Christ, to be a true Christian is not easy in this
world, yet, why do we yield to sin when we have our soul, that soul given to us
by God, a soul that will yield to the calling of God, to lead you in faith and
truth? Read your Bible, see if this is not true: as a Christian, a soul giving
by God, saved from sin by the death and resurrection, and ascension into heaven
by Jesus Christ who makes eternal intercession for you, that you are legally in
heaven now. God sees you through His Son, and we can, that is, if we allow it
to be, live for Him now, and present to others this love of God given to you by
His Grace, through His Son.
Blessed is that man who
Makes the
LORD his trust,
And does not respect the proud,
Nor such as
turn aside to lies.
Psalm 40:4
Praise God By Living For Him
Richard L. Crumb
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