Hearing God’s Voice from His Word
James 4:8 says, “Come near to God and he will come near to you.”
Take a moment and turn your attention to God. Tell God that you desire to trust and obey Him. Ask God to speak to you from His word.
Psalm of the Day
Psalm 76:7-10 And you—you are to be feared. When you are angry, who can stand before you?
8 From heaven you pronounced judgment. The earth feared and grew quiet
9 when God rose up to judge and to save all the lowly of the earth. Selah
10 Even human wrath will praise you; you will clothe yourself with the wrath that remains.
Read the entire Psalm
When God is angry, who can stand before Him? No one. Give thanks for God’s anger. It is terrifying and wonderful that He judges and pours out His wrath. If He did not execute His wrath, there would be no justice. There would be no justification for the sinner. He would not be good. Praise Eim that He is good because he pronounces judgement.
Scripture Reading
1 John 2:18-27 – New International Version
18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. 21 I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 22 Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
24 As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is what he promised us—eternal life.
26 I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. 27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.
Having God’s Ear through Prayer
- Express thanks to God.
- Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal sin to you.
- Confess your sin to Him and receive forgiveness.
(1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sin He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins.”) - Bring your personal requests to God.
(Psalm 62:8 “Pour out your heart before God”) - Pray for someone in your small group.
- Join with others from River and pray for Sarah. Ask God to encourage her, guide her, and use her as she serves overseas.
Living as God’s People by applying the Bible
Scripture Reflection from the Sermon
This era of salvation history in which we live (“the last hour”) is characterized by dangerous pressure on the church; pressure which comes from both the outside and the inside (Matt. 24:3-14; 2 Tim. 3:1-7; 2 Peter 3:1-10, 1 John 2:15-17).
However, we should not respond in the following ways: fear the hour and despair; avoid the hour and withdraw; try to predict the hour and be distracted; sit in judgment over the hour and be cynical. We should respond by honoring the hour and seeking to live faithfully in the midst of it.
We do not have to feel happy about the suffering that happens, nor do we have to be happy about the pain and sorrow we may endure personally. But we do need to give the realities of life in this last hour the sober recognition they deserve. We do this by remembering that God is sovereign, He is completely good, and that, before the earth was even spoken into existence, He determined that we would worship Him in this era and in this place. We, like Queen Esther, must step forward in faith rather than shrinking back in fear: “Who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14).
Today, live so as to honor the hour.