Sit Still

“Then said she, Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall: for the man will not be in rest, until he have finished the thing this day.” (Ruth 3:18)

This was the instruction given to Ruth by Naomi in hopes that her kinsman, Boaz, would be willing to perform his family duty and marry Ruth, whose Jewish husband had died in Moab. Ruth’s behavior had been honorable, and she had done what she could to let Boaz know she was willing to be his wife, but now she could do nothing except to sit still and wait.

This lesson needs to be remembered by Christians today. All too often we rush ahead of the Lord, fearful that things won’t work out unless we take matters into our own hands. When the Jews were being invaded by the Assyrian armies and felt they needed an alliance with Pharaoh, God warned: “The Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still....In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength” (Isaiah 30:7-15).

Long before, when the children of Israel were in even more desperate circumstances with the Egyptian armies pursuing them and the Red Sea in front of them, Moses had said: “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD” (Exodus 14:13). Soon, Pharaoh’s chariots were at the bottom of the sea just as, in due time, Boaz did marry Ruth, and 600 years later, the hosts of the Assyrians were slain by the angel of the Lord (Isaiah 37:36).

There is, certainly, a time to work—and work hard—in the service of the Lord. There are spiritual battles to be fought and races to be run. But when we have done the best we know how, according to the Scriptures, and still don’t see the answer, there comes a time when we must simply sit still and wait for the Lord. He would have us “be still, and know that [He is] God” (Psalm 46:10). HMM

Psalm 119:35

Romans 7:21-8:1

Genesis 12:1-5

Nehemiah 2:1-6

Acts 8:1-26

John 6:37

John 3:7

Completing a Good Work

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“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6)

In his introductory comments to the Philippian church, Paul reminds them of his thankfulness for them (v. 3), his prayer for them (v. 4), and as we see in our text, his confidence in God’s continuing work in their lives.

This “good work” is not the sort of work that men and women are able to accomplish. Paul identifies this as God’s work, as yet not completed—that is, the transforming work of grace. “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (2:13).

The work of grace takes several forms. It includes the redemption of our lost souls, having been fully accomplished by Christ on Calvary. It also includes our ultimate sanctification, transforming our character from that of a redeemed sinner to one of Christ-likeness. He is working toward this goal on a daily basis and will finish the task in His presence. But the work of grace also includes our service for Him—not our work but His that He does through us. He grants us, through His grace, the distinct privilege of participating in His work here on Earth.

Paul writes that the ultimate completion of this “good work” of grace awaits “the day of Jesus Christ.” In a similar prayer for the Corinthian believers, he writes of their “waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:7-8).

Meanwhile, we can rest in His faithfulness, fully convinced of His intention and ability to complete His work. “The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands” (Psalm 138:8). JDM

Mark 12:36

Luke 1:34, 8:21, 22:26

Zephaniah 3:8

Zechariah 12:4

Malachi 3:6

John 5:21, 8:56, 14:27, 18:37

Isaiah 53:6

John 3:3

The Three Appearings of Christ

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“For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” (Hebrews 9:24)

Although we usually think in terms of two appearances of Christ, once at His first coming and again at His second coming, the ninth chapter of Hebrews specifically refers to three “appearings,” each involving a different Greek word. With reference to His first appearing, we read: “Now once in the end of the [age] hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (v. 26). The word used here means “to make manifest.” It is the word used in 1 John 3:5: “He was manifested to take away our sins.”

His second coming is the topic in Hebrews 9:28, where the word means to show oneself visibly. “Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”

But there is also a third appearing mentioned in Hebrews 9, and this is the one in our text referring to Christ’s present and perpetual appearance on our behalf in the presence of God in heaven. The word here means “to inform,” referring to His advocacy on our behalf as our “defense attorney,” so to speak. Not only did Christ die for us; not only will He come for us; right now, He is interceding for us!

This work of Christ on our behalf is vitally important, although we do not think of it nearly as much as we do His two other appearings. This appearing affects us right now, every day, and is of infinite value. “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 2:1-2). “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). HMM

Genesis 12:3, 21:12

Numbers 24:17

Genesis 49:10

Isaiah 11:1

Jeremiah 23:5

2 Samuel 7:13

John 1:1

1 John 3:8

Luke 19:10

John 10:10, 18:37

Matthew 20:28

The Lord Our Maker

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“O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.” (Psalm 95:6)

Psalms 95–100 seem to form a unit with several common themes running through them, all involving praise to the Lord.

One of these major themes is the recognition of the Lord as Maker of heaven and Earth. For example, consider Psalm 95:5: “The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.” Thus, God made the earth, including both land and sea. But He also made the heavens! “For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens” (Psalm 96:5).

Higher and far more complex than any planet of the solar system or any star in the heavens are the living organisms found only on planet Earth—especially human beings—and He made these, too. “Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture” (Psalm 100:3).

It is significant that these verses all emphasize the activities of God as Maker rather than as Creator. In the first chapter of Genesis, both types of activity are stressed, the account finally concluding with the summary: “All his work which God created and made” (Genesis 2:3).

The two types of work are almost synonymous when referring to the divine activity, but not quite (otherwise “created and made” would be redundant). Specifically, the three acts of true creation in Genesis are the creation of the physical elements of the cosmos, the entity of biological life, and the spiritual image of God in man (Genesis 1:1, 21, 27). These entities God simply called into being ex nihilo by His omnipotent Word.

Everything else He made, or formed or let be, out of the three basic entities that were specially created. He is both Creator and Maker of all things, and we should worship Him as such. HMM