When Joy Is Hard to Come

You’re not alone in your struggle for joy.

With remaining sin in our hearts, brokenness in our lives, and fallenness in our world, every Christian experiences seasons where we simply don’t feel the joy. And many of the “greats” in the history of the church have been some of her most downcast and depressed.

The question is not whether we will one day feel the angst of David’s heart, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation” (Psalm 51:12), but how soon. Days will stand on end — if not weeks, months, and years — where our joy seems fragile and thin, if we even feel it there at all.

But in those times, is there anything we can do? Besides pray that God restore the joy, is there any more we can say — any steps of hope we can take?   Continue at David Mathis

The Tragedy of Ahithophel

[A couple weeks ago, Dr. William Varner, a professor at The Master's College, posted on Facebook some brief, but very insightful thoughts from the life of David, particularly about a lesser-known figure named Ahithophel. I asked him if he had more to say about this man and he was so kind to send me this larger article.]

Following David’s awful sin of adultery with Bathsheba and the ensuing arranged murder of her husband, Uriah, he was confronted by Nathan the prophet. Among the consequences of his sins were that from his own household enemies would arise against him (2 Sam 12:10-11). Three of his sons – Amnon, Absalom, and Adonijah – each caused serious problems for him and his successor, Solomon (2 Sam 13; 14-17; 2 Kings 1-2). There was another person, whose name also began with an “A,” who rose up against him as a betrayer. This man, Ahithophel, had been a close advisor to David and could even have been called “the smartest man in the world.” “Now in those days the counsel that Ahithophel gave was as if one consulted the word of God; so was all the counsel of Ahithophel esteemed, both by David and by Absalom” (2Sam 16:23). He evidently came out of his own retirement and joined the revolt of Absalom as his trusted advisor (2 Sam 16:23).    Continue at Paul Tautges

Building Again the Tabernacle Of David

The apostle James, in announcing the decision of the great and epoch-making Conference of the apostles and elders at Jerusalem (Acts 15:1-21) which Conference was the first General Council of the Christian Church, cited the words of the prophet Amos, through whom God had said: “In that day will I raise up again the tabernacle of David, that is fallen” (Amos 9:11).

 The present writer has frequently been asked the meaning of this prophecy concerning the tabernacle of David; and inasmuch as the passage is sometimes referred to in support of the idea of a future restoration of the Jewish nation, it is appropriate that due consideration be given to it in this volume.

By reference to Acts 15:1-21, it will be seen that the question presented for the decision of the Conference was whether the Gentiles, who had been converted to Christ, should be circumcised and commanded to keep the law of Moses (v. 5). For some had taught them, saying, “Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved” (v. 1). That question was of capital importance, as may be clearly seen in the light of Paul’s Epistle to the churches of Galatia. The conference, therefore, marked a momentous epoch in the history of the Kingdom of God.

For a proper understanding of this record, and particularly the words of James, we must give heed to the fact that the Jerusalem conference had to do wholly and solely with “the conversion of the Gentiles” (v. 3), which was not only a new thing, but to the Jewish disciples was a most astonishing thing, a thing for which they were, in fact, wholly unprepared.

Peter was the first to speak. He related how God had instructed him to go to the house of Cornelius, where a company of Gentiles was awaiting him, and what had taken place there. Then Barnabas and Paul addressed the conference, “declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them” (v. 12). And finally James addressed the assemblage, saying:

“Simeon hath declared how God at the first (i. e. for the first time) did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for His name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return , and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentles upon whom My Name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world” (vv. 14:18).  Continue at TABERNACLE OF DAVID

David a Model of Restoration?

Does David’s life teach us that God can restore an adulterer to ministry? After all, David was a murderer and an adulterer, as well as a liar and poor father. 

Polygamy aside, his family life was a catastrophic train crash matched only by the debacle in 2 Samuel 11. 

Yet God did not remove him from the throne, and allowed his reign to directly last 40 years, and indirectly forever. Why? What is the lesson there?

The wrong lesson is this: God does not take sin seriously. I have heard people who commit immorality point at David and say, “See! God let him be king, so he can return me to ministry despite my unbiblical divorce and/or adultery.”

Let me be clear about two things. First, God does use sinners (those are the only kind of people there are!). At the same time, there are some sins that in the church disqualify someone from being an elder or church leader. Second, it is possible for people who have committed certain disqualifying sins to eventually be restored to pastoral ministry after an extended time away. An excellent book on that topic is The Stain that Stays, as it provides principles to apply in  those situations. This post does not want to go down the road of looking at those principles.

But I have heard Christian leaders who have committed disqualifying sexual sins point to David as justification for their refusal to take time away from ministry. The goal of this post is to explain why David’s life does not function as an example of God blessing the ministry of a disqualified leader.   Keep Reading >>>