June 4
2 Sam 22:1-23:23 | PS 122:1-9 | Prov 16:19-20 | Acts 2:1-47
What are you standing on? We all stand upon something. Are you standing upon your righteousness or upon God's grace. One relies on your goodness, your uprightness, and your own power. The other relies on His goodness, His righteousness, and His power. 2 Samuel 22, is almost identical to Psalm 18. Most feel it was written early in his reign, and thus not in chronological order where it is placed in 2 Samuel. This is primarily thought this because of 2 Samuel 22:21-25, where David speaks of his own righteousness and being blameless. These words would not seem to flow from a man who committed both adultery and murder. We see a completely different David in Psalm 51 after his fall, when we read in 51:1-3, "Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me." So, what do we rely on? We can either point out in a legalistic fashion all of those "good" things that we do and stand upon them in our own righteousness, or see ourselves as the unworthy recipients of God's grace, standing upon His righteousness. A choice. It always comes down to a choice.
I love Peter. He always stepped out, sometimes putting his foot in his mouth. He certainly loved Jesus, as you can't mistake this as you read through the gospels. But often he stepped out in his own strength, in his own spirit of right and wrong. Even in the Garden, when he lashed out on the servant of the High Priest and cut off the ear of Malchus, it was in his strength. But then came his denial of Jesus, followed by the sound of the rooster, and his slinking away in humiliation and failure. Any sense of self-righteousness was stripped away from him. But then came grace as Jesus restored him in John 21. This is the Peter that we now see in Acts. His boldness comes from what Jesus had done, rather than on the basis of who he was and what he had done. We read in Acts 2:14, "But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words." Then Peter went on to describe the power behind his message. It wasn't based on him, on his power, on his righteousness, as we read in 2:22-24, "“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it."
If we want to see revival, true revival, then it has to be about Him, and not us. It was, it is, and it will always be Jesus Christ, and Him crucified and raised from the grave. This is our power. This is our message. It is His finished work, not our works. As Paul so beautifully stated in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, "And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." All praise and glory to our risen Savior!
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: