Entering 1987: Missing, Yet Possessing

Dear believer,

Before you knew it, 1987 was here. You had hoped to enter it on the heights of faith, fellowshipping with God. You had hoped for a clean slate in Christ Jesus. On January 1 you had wanted to look backward and forward by faith — backward to see and feel afresh all sin consciously wiped away, and forward to see and feel Cod with chalk in hand, ready to write His grace across the slate of 1987's 365 pieces. You knew, of course, that you didn't deserve such spiritual ecstasy; nevertheless, you had hoped....

But Old Year's night came and went uneventfully, along with 1986's last sermon. And New Year's morning did not bring the applied word of pardon for which you bowed your knees. It didn't seem to help that you spoke to Cod before man as you crossed the threshold into 1987.

You were disappointed. And burdened. And a bit afraid. At the family gathering breaking in the new year, you couldn't quite be festive or yourself. You wondered silently as you sat among children and grandchildren or parents and grandparents, "What will 1987 bring?"

You entered 1987 not only
with the baggage of your fears,
but also with your evil heart,
prone to hug unbelief
and boycott faith.

You had more questions, too. You knew you deserved many burdens and that the Lord had never rewarded you according to your iniquities. It wasn't that you were questioning the Lord. You knew very well that the Lord had always been better to you than you to Him, but....

"Buy why," you still wondered to yourself, "must I enter 1987 with so many cares and with so much trepidation?"

Yes, the mountains you seem called to scale in 1987 appear so rocky and expansive, that you sigh: "How can all this exist and I still be a child of God?"

In fact, you feel worn out already in January. Weary of mountains, of sin, of internal and external war, and yes, above all, of yourself.

For you were made aware already on January 1 that you entered 1987 not only with the baggage of your fears, but also with your evil heart, prone to hug unbelief and boycott faith.

All this provided you sufficient turmoil to refuel your doubts: "Surely, if I were a true believer, God wouldn't...." And, "Surely, if I were a true believer, I wouldn't be so...."

A bit more frantically, you tried to search yourself for marks and steps of grace. Wherever you turned, you came up with nothing...nothing, that is, but sin.

Of one thing you became convinced. You were and remain your own greatest enemy. Your own heart is the greatest culprit. You feel yourself to be your heaviest plague and most bitter disappointment. You cannot be satisfied with who you are in yourself. Self is your constant cross, often nudging you toward a dying and sinking life. In spite of mustering all your strength, your own heart all too often causes you to come out on the losing end.

How tragically real it is: Self creeps into everything! All your efforts to get rid of the "old man" within in order to live purely to God's glory, appear fruitless. Self even cleaves to what the Lord has given you. You always get in your own way. And you feel you are always wrong.

Self. Oh, what poisonous fruit self produces! So often you fear that self fills you with:

more death than life,

more enmity than love,

more rebellion than reconciliation,

more false peace than authentic war,

more hypocrisy than sincerity,

more opinion than conviction,

more "doctrine" than truth,

more "Pharisee" than "publican",

more "theology" than the God of theology,

more "Chrisitianity" than Christ,

more earth than "hell" or heaven,

more excuse than repentance,

more prayerless prayer than prayerful prayer,

more tongue than heart,

more pride than humility,

more self-wealth than divine-poverty.

There's no end to it. Spiritually, self brings you to conditions in which you should not be, cannot be, and never thought to be. And all the while you realize that self-possibility, self-reformation, self-repentance, yes, self itself must die and be buried, and yet refuses to be mortified.

The bottom-line you confess is this: "I miss all. I am nothing. I have nothing."

My dear friend: Keep courage. In spite of all, your Master is alive. You shall not perish at the hands of Satan, Saul, or self.

In fact, your case is not so dreadful as it first appears. For you are looking at only one side of tine coin of truth. Did it ever occur to you that your reasonings may be overlooking this truth: Jo possess all, you must learn to be stripped of all?

The apostle Paul said it best, "As having nothing, and yet possessing all things" (2 Cor. 6:10).

No, your trial is not strange. Paul, too, confessed: "I have nothing." When gazing only upon himself, this holy saint could only exclaim, "In my flesh dwelleth no good thing." And again, "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

You are, my friend, in good company as you enter 1987, for beside you stand the most renowned saints of all ages.

Listen to Job: "I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes."

To David: "My loins are filled with a loathsome disease."

To Isaiah: "Woe is me, for I am undone!"

To Daniel: "My comeliness is turned into corruption."

To Martin Luther: "When I look upon myself, I am not only miserable—I am misery itself."

To Samuel Rutherford: "When I look at the sinfulness of my own heart, my salvation is my Savior's greatest miracle."

To Bishop Andrews: "I am made of sin."

And to Jonathan Edwards: "If God were to mark only my heart inquities against me, my bed would be in hell."

Your life, contrary to your fears, is not tragic. Hard—yes. (Please tell me: Where did the Lord ever promise you an easy life? Did He not rather forewarn you: "In the world ye shall have tribulation?") But tragic—no.

And why not? For two reasons. First, you would not trade the joy you receive from pursuing even a "missing" God for all the joys the world dangles before your eyes. You would rather perish as a "nothing" at the feet of God than be "everything" in the world away from His footstool.

Second, and most importantly, your feeling to be "nothing" is not an end in itself, but serves to make room in your soul for Jesus Christ and Him crucified who is "everything" for His people. The Holy Spirit drives you to God's throne as a missing person in order to fill you with the fullness of divine grace—grace for grace, grace upon grace.

You need not despair precisely because when you learn by grace to miss everything in self, you shall also learn to possess everything in Cod through Christ. When the tree of self-expectation is cut to the ground, the sprout of holy expectation in Christ will crack open the dead stump. "As having nothing" rides tandem with "yet possessing all things."

You see, there are two sides to the coin of experiential grace: Wanting, yet not wanting. Missing, yet possessing. "As deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, yet well known; as dying, and, behold we live; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich"—such, dear believer, shall also be your life in 1987 out of free, sovereign grace. For grace not only breaks down man; it also builds up God in Christ. Spiritually speaking, your impossibilities are God's opportunities. Your spiritual uncover/Tigs of self pave the way for God's discoverings of Jesus Christ. And both are God's gifts of grace.

Without faith in exercise, you lead a missing life. With faith in exercise, you lead a possessing life. By grace, God shall give you both in 1987 because you need both.

But pray that faith may gain the upper hand in 1987. As the exchange of years calls us to stand in the doorway of history's stream, looking backward to what has transpired and forward to what may rightfully be expected, it is faith that you and I need the most. Faith in God's blood-bought way of salvation. In this time of passing over from 1986 to 1987, may you be graced to stand spiritually and experientially behind Israel's Passover door, covered with blood overhead and on both sides. Oh, my dear friend, how des-parately you need to stand under Christ's blood, between Christ's blood, and behind Christ's blood! Otherwise, how shall you escape the angelic messenger of death? Apart from Christ, unbelief is right: God can only be a "consuming fire" and an "everlasting burning." Without the blood of Jesus, your looking back shall only spell death,

hell, and condemnation. Without the blood of Jesus, your looking forward shall only spell sin, disappointment, and hopelessness.

On the other hand, if you stand under Jesus' blood, the sword of God's justice shall be sheathed. If you stand behind the blood of Jesus, you may look back upon 1986 with humble gratitude, notwithstanding thousands of shortcomings and a heart prone to sin. If you stand between Christ's blood, you may look forward to 1987 with holy expectation, knowing this Mediator is not only the justification, but also the ongoing sanctification, of His dearly purchased church.

Simply put, the two sides of heaven's mintage may be paraphrased like this: "As having nothing [in myself], yet possessing all things [in Christ]."

When faith is in exercise in the year of Christ, 1987, dear believer, you may look upward and exclaim: "I have everything!" For He who sits on the right hand of the Father, to whom all power in heaven and earth belongs, shall draw you to repose with confidence in His saving care. He promises to provide all that may be necessary for your soul and body, for your supportive preservation in time and your heavenly bliss in eternity.

When faith is in exercise in the year of Christ, 1987, you may look downward and confess: "I have everything!" This earth which you tread is full of God's goodness. Shall not He who clothes the fields with beauty, and covers them with abundance, make you beautiful in Christ Jesus and cover you with His robe of righteousness? Shall not He who provides for the birds of the air, the fish in the sea, the animals dwelling in forest and field, even for the most insignificant organisms invisible to human eye, also provide most richly in both nature and grace for you, His special child, chosen and redeemed by saving grace?

When faith is in exercise in the year of Christ, 1987, you may look inward and stammer: "I have everything!" He who has brought to birth in your soul new and heavenly desires; who has taught you to abhor sin and hunger after righteousness; who has inclined you by His Spirit to love His Name, to delight in His service, and sigh for greater conformity to His image, will perfect that which concerns you. Oh, He will do abundantly above what you ask or think! He will satisfy every divine aspiration of your heart with His irresistible grace.

When faith is in exercise in the year of Christ, 1987, you may look backward and attest: "I have everything!" Insignificant and unworthy as you were, did not the good Shepherd seek your lost, wandering soul unt/7 (oh, precious word: unt/7.0 He found it (Lk. 15:4)? Innumerable and aggravated as were your trespasses, has He not restored your backslidings, led you at times into His sacred communion, and revealed to you that He shed His precious blood to secure full and free forgiveness for such as you are? Insignificant and unworthy as you st/7/ are, He will never fail to strengthen and supply you in every hour of need as interceding Lord.

When faith is in exercise in the year of Christ, 1987, you may look forward and profess: "I have everything!" Though future necessities may become pressing future duties, overwhelming; future trials, prolonged, your Jehovah-jireh has promised: As your day is, so shall My strength be. He enables you to contemplate with hope the vicissitudes of life, the inevitabilities of death, and the solemnities of judgment, for He shall be your Elder Brother in every vicissitude, your Shepherd through death's dark valley, and your gracious Judge in the day of everlasting acquittal.

When faith is in exercise in the year of Christ, 1987, you may look onward and exult: "I have everything!" By grace, you may soar in godly meditation above the horizon of typical human thought. With eagle eye you may look down the vista of time to gaze upon the glories which surround the threshold of eternity. You may anticipate with a Spirit-given eye of faith the advent of your Lord; the splendor of His attendant seraphs; the resurrection of the dead; the transfiguration of the living saints; the city of the living Cod, the heavenly Jerusalem; the reign of universal righteousness—the kingdom of peace, purity, and power; and, above all, the radiant presence of Him at whose right hand is fulness of joy and pleasure forevermore! You may contemplate with hope the removal of all sin, the subjugation of every enemy, the freedom from self, and the delivering up of the internal and external kingdom to the Father! Onward, onward you may gaze, dwelling in love upon the future reality of Cod being all-in-all! Your threefold faith-hope-love jewel will then no longer be able to contain itself: "Amazing grace! The Lord Jesus shall be my Shepherd! The ransomed flock, my companions! Heaven, my fold! Cod Himself, my portion! Forever I shall bathe in Triune love, eternally possessing Cod and being possessed by Him. I shall have Jacob's 'everything' forever—without intermission, interruption, or end!"

Though future necessities may become pressing-,
future duties, overwhelming; future triab,
prolonged, your jehovah-jireh has promised:
As your day is, so shall My strength be.

"As having nothing, yet possessing all things": may this be your experience and comfort in 1987. Nothing in self; all in Christ. Black in self; comely in Christ (S.S. 1:4). By grace, may you decrease; Christ, increase. For then you will understand the great mystery that the "nothingness" of self and the "everythingness" of Christ is not a one-time experience, but a life-long, yes, eternal reality of free grace.

Having nothing and possessing all: may these compatible truths walk hand-in-hand in your life throughout 1987, for such Jesus pronounces blessed (cf. Mt. 5:3-12).

Pastorally,

Rev. J.R. Beeke

New Year's Wishes

On behalf of the Banner of Truth committee, we desire to wish you and yours God's richest blessings of grace in Christ Jesus in 1987. May God grace us to experience in 1987: "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and for ever" (Heb. 13:8). For Christ's sake, may we confess under the Spirit's application: "Because Thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise Thee" (Ps. 63.3).

Receive our sincere thanks for all the support you have provided by means of prayers, letters, subscriptions and gifts in 1986. Personally, as editor your appreciation and love throughout a year of intense need have been most humbling. Thanks, dear friends, from the bottom of our heart. We have felt that many of you were as Aarons and Hurs for us.

For our part, the Lord has been inexpressibly good. He has given strength for the day and precious application when needed. We are debtors of His grace, for we can confess nothing other than: "But by the grace of God I am what 1 am" (1 Cor. 15:10a).

May God continue to bless our periodical to many hearts and lives, and confirm through its pages also for you: "Thou hast given a banner to them that fear Thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah" (Ps. 60:4).

—JRB

Rev. J.R. Beeke is pastor of the First Netherlands Reformed Congregation of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

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