The Believer in Great Distress



"And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for His mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man." -II Samuel 24:14 [KJV]
Whenever we as believers fall, like king David, into times of great distress and grief, we know our only hope is to "fall now into the hand of the LORD," and "not fall into the hand of man." God may use men to help us, but we know our help and deliverance is ultimately all of His power and grace, not men. For the most part, man can and will only make the situation worse. But God's "mercies are great," and they never fail. We can see this especially in our eternal salvation.
When it comes to being forgiven of our sins and justified before a holy God, we are definitely "in a great strait." In ourselves, we have nowhere to go and no way out of this great dilemma - How can a sinner be justified before God? If we fall into the hands of men, including our own, we will be worse off than before. Man can reform his ways, become religious, and clean up the outside, but he can neither put away his sin nor establish a righteousness accepted by God.
To "fall into the hand of man" for salvation, forgiveness, righteousness, eternal life, and glory is to fail miserably. O let us "fall now into the hand of the LORD." Salvation is of the LORD in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a matter of God's grace and mercy based on the blood and righteousness of Christ by Whom all our sins are put away by the sacrifice of Himself, and in Whom we find the only righteousness whereby God can justify the ungodly. There is mercy from God for sinners in Christ, and in Christ "His mercies are great."

-Gospel report by preacher Bill Parker

Eager Avenue Grace church of Albany, Georgia USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

JESUS - Rock of Ages

Jesus remains the same in all ages. He is the One who is constant when everything and everyone else fails. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever; the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He is our R ock [I SAMUEL 2:2 ] . In the Old Testament, in Exodus 33, Jesus is pictured as the Cleft Rock. In that chapter, verse 18 and following, Moses desired to see the glory of the Lord, but was told, "You cannot see My face; for there shall no man see My face and live.” And the Lord said, “There is a place by Me, and you shalt stand upon a rock: and it shall come to pass, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by." Notice that as Moses stood upon the rock, the Lord hid him in the cleft. This wonderfully applies to us today! Believers are both standing on and hidden in Christ [COLOSSIANS 3:3 ] . We are both in and on the Rock. As life with its many bitter events presses upon us, ...
Read more

CHRIST OUR ONLY AND PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS

" The flesh lusteth against the Spirit." —Galatians 5:17 [KJV] Christian experience fully proves this apostolic truth. Hence the children of God cannot do the things that they would: nor have we any authority from God's word to conclude this lusting ever ceased in any of the saints till they got to glory; none are delivered from it while in the flesh. For, as the renewed soul or spirit loves to enjoy spiritual and heavenly objects, so the flesh, or unrenewed part, lusts after those objects it is naturally conversant with, and from which it derives its happiness.  Here is thy conflict, O Christian. Hence the necessity of thy Lord's command, "Watch always." This is the use of the doctrine. What woeful effects have fulfilling the lusts or desires of the flesh produced in eminent saints! Thou standest by faith, be not high-minded, but fear. The conceptions of lust are the productions of sin.— see James 1:15 . The commission of sin contracts fresh s...
Read more

GLORY ALONE IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

" Lest Israel vaunt themselves against Me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me." -Judges 7:2 [KJV] Thus the Lord reasoned with Gideon. He knows what is in man. He sees the pride of the human heart: how prone we all are to boast in an arm of flesh. The Lord is jealous of His own glory. Gideon’s army of two and thirty thousand, is brought down to three hundred. By this handful of men, and no more, did Gideon gain the victory of the Midianites. The Lord’s wisdom in this was, “Lest Israel should vaunt themselves, and say, Mine own hand hath saved me.”   But I have not transcribed the text right. There are two little words of great import, which I have omitted. Mind then, O Christian— against Me. Now remember, whenever thou dost boast of thy power, thy free-will, thy human goodness, thy works, ditties, conditions, and performances in order to be saved, thou art then, as it were, two and thirty thousand strong. Thou vauntest thyself against the Lord . Thou art gloryi...
Read more