Thoughts on the Way Home
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Rachel Elizabeth Vann
Union and Communion - Maurice Roberts
HT: Of First Importance
Monday, September 29, 2008
New Resource From Paul Washer
You may find the book here.
All Wisdom Found in Christ - Kirk Wellum
-Kirk Wellum, Redeeming the Time
The Universe of God's Love
HT: JT
True Gratitude for the Infinite Grace of God - J. Gresham Machen
“It is a strange thing that when men talk about the love of God, they show by every word that they utter that they have no conception at all of the depths of God’s love.
If you want to find an instance of true gratitude for the infinite grace of God, do not go to those who think of God’s love as something that cost nothing, but go rather to those who in agony of soul have faced the awful fact of the guilt of sin, and then have come to know with a trembling wonder that the miracle of all miracles has been accomplished, and that the eternal Son has died in their stead.”
—J. Gresham Machen, “What the Bible Teaches About Jesus,” in Selected Shorter Writings, ed. D.G. Hart. (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 2004), 32
HT: Of First Importance
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Friday, September 26, 2008
Resting in Love, Not Our Lovableness
“If we are to change we must be regularly preaching the gospel to ourselves and believing it. We must be continually showing ourselves, and those we counsel, the depths and greatness of God’s love for them. We must stop wasting our time trying to convince ourselves that we are lovable, and instead rest in the glorious fact that we are loved. It is this message which God uses to change us at the motivational level.”
—Redeemer Presbyterian Church, Fellowship Group Handbook, 9
HT: Of First Importance
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Thursday, September 25, 2008
How to Do the Most for God and Man - M'Cheyne
“I am persuaded that I shall obtain the highest amount of present happiness, I shall do most for God’s glory and the good of man, and I shall have the fullest reward in eternity, by maintaining a conscience always washed in Christ’s blood, by being filled with the Holy Spirit at all times, and by attaining the most entire likeness to Christ in mind, will, and heart, that it is possible for a redeemed sinner to attain to in this world.”
—Robert Murray M’Cheyne, quoted by Andrew Bonar, Robert Murray M’Cheyne (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1960), 174
HT: Of First Importance
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Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Speaking of Vos...
Vos on Theology as a Science
Now, from this point of view we must say that no science has a clearer title to separate existence than Theology. Between God as the Creator and all other things as created the distinction is absolute. There is not another such gulf within the universe. God, as distinct from the creature, is the only legitimate object of Theology.
It will be seen, however, on a moment's reflection, that Theology is not merely distinguished from the other sciences by its object, but that it also sustains an altogether unique relation to this object, for which no strict analogy can be found elsewhere. In all the other sciences man is the one who of himself takes the first step in approaching the objective world, in subjecting it to his scrutiny, in compelling it to submit to his experiments — in a word, man is the one who proceeds actively to make nature reveal her facts and her laws. In Theology this relation between the subject and object is reversed. Here it is God who takes the first step to approach man for the purpose of disclosing His nature, nay, who creates man in order that He may have a finite mind able to receive the knowledge of His infinite perfections.
In Theology the object, far from being passive, by the act of creation first posits the subject over against itself, and then as the living God proceeds to impart to this subject that to which of itself it would have no access. For "the things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God." Strictly speaking, therefore, we should say that not God in and for Himself, but God in so far as He has revealed Himself, is the object of Theology.
Geerhardus Vos, The Idea of Biblical Theology as a Science and as a Theological Discipline
HT:VW
The Bottom Line: What God Desires - Mark LaCour
THE BOTTOM LINE
Mark LaCour
"So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires." (Rom. 9:18). "This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Tim. 2:3-4).
One of the most basic theological errors about God is thinking every desire of God is equal. That miscue has launched such heresies as Open Theism, where God's nature can change; to Arminianism, where Man's will canʼt be changed -- even by God. But every desire of God is not equal. What God brings to pass and what God wishes would come to pass, many times are not the same. What a cattleman desires of a calf isn't always what He desires of that same calf in the herd. In fact, it may be even contradictory. Three combinations of Godʼs decrees and desires exist:
First, God determines what He desires. This is where God's decrees and God's will for holiness and/or mercy are the same. God brings to pass what God has always desired in His nature and word. For example, it was His desire to glorify Christ from all eternity with an elect people, and He most certainly will bring that to pass. "He predestined us [decree] to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will [desire]" (Eph. 1:5). Both wills are accomplished.
Second, God determines what He does not desire. The classic example is Christ's death on the cross -- pre-determined by the foreknowledge of God, but brought about through what God does not desire -- godless men breaking God's commands (Acts 2:22-23). God decreed to bruise Jesus (Isa. 53:4,10) through the betrayal of Judas (Lk. 22:3), the contempt of Herod (Lk. 23:11), the injustice of Pilate (Lk. 23:24), and the hatred of the Jews (Lk. 23:21) -- all sins. God willed that His will not be done, so that His will would be done!
Third, God does not determine what He does desire. This is the above passage in 1 Timothy where God desires all men to be saved, but doesn't decree their salvation; or wishing for men to repent (2 Pet. 3:9) but doesn't grant them the gift (2 Tim. 2:25). Some will say that this makes God disingenuous -- saying that He cares when He doesn't save. But insincerity is built on a lie, which God cannot do (Tit. 1:2; Heb. 6:18). Simply because a husband chooses a wife doesn't mean he hates all other women. God could love and save everyone the same, but for reasons of His own, has chosen not to -- reasons left to His infinite wisdom for the displaying of His glory (Rom. 9:22-23). The error is in reading far too much into "desire" than what God has said, or not enough into it when God has said it.
Be careful how you judge the affections of God -- either by saying He has only one, or that He isn't honest in them. God's goodness doesn't contradict His sovereignty. Remember, people who bury talents in the kingdom of God start with this error (Matt. 25:24-25).
-Mark LaCour
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The Natural and Blessed Outgrowth of the Spirit's Indwelling
-C. H. Spurgeon, The Soul-Winner's Life and Work
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Fluffy Quote? What Say You?
Your Lord is very jealous of your love, O believer. Did he choose you? He cannot bear that you should choose another. Did he buy you with his own blood? He cannot endure that you should think that you are your own, or that you belong to this world. He loved you with such a love that he would not stop in heaven without you; he would sooner die than you should perish, and he cannot endure that anything should stand between your heart’s love and himself.Some of you may know this already, but does anyone want to venture a guess as to who wrote this? No using Google!
Monday, September 22, 2008
Musings: Isaiah 24:1-6, Part One
The world, and everything in it, has been infected by a disease that no earthly doctor can ever hope to cure; it is infinitely more deadly than cancer or AIDS combined. It is the disease of sin. Man himself has been infected by this disease, and this in turn affects the whole creation. As the text before us says, "The earth mourns and withers, the world fades and withers . . . the earth is also polluted by its inhabitants" (see also Gen. 3 and Rom. 8:20-22). "Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin" (Rom. 5:12), and nothing whatsoever has escaped the rule of this relentless tyrant. Man has been affected, and the rest of creation has been affected. Even the things of beauty in this world - like flowers and sunsets and mountains - are not AS beautiful as they SHOULD be because of the effects of sin upon them.
But - and this is extremely important - sin, in and of itself, is not really the ultimate problem. What do I mean? We sometimes think that sin has affected mankind and the world through some kind of mechanical cause-and-effect process. In other words, because man sinned, certain results just follow from that in a cause-and-effect kind of way. When this cause happens, these effects simply follow after, in the same way that when you drop a tennis ball it just falls to the ground as a matter of course. But that is NOT the way it works with sin (for a similar point re. the wrath of God, see John Murray's commentary on Rom. 1:18). What makes sin what it is? It is the fact that it is committed against a holy and righteous God (Ps. 51:4) who cannot even stand to look upon iniquity, and who MUST punish sin because of who He is; because the judge of all the earth must do right.
This means that mankind and the world is so messed up, not because sin entered the world and certain effects just happened as a matter of course, but because sin entered the world through one man, resulting in mankind and the world coming under the curse of God's judgment. As verse 6 says, "Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty." The world is the way it is because it is under judgment; it is under the curse of a holy God (again, see Gen. 3). And because it is under a curse, God will most certainly destroy it one day, as seen in Isaiah 24:1-3.
To be continued...
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Shouting for Joy
Ps. 71:23 My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to You;
And my soul, which You have redeemed.
Why is it we tend to think of a person as being a weirdo when they shout for joy during worship? I mean, if they are someone we know and respect, it’s usually ok, but if they are a stranger or visitor in our assembly and they shout for joy during the singing time, in most of the assemblies I’ve been around not a few eyebrows would be raised. It's almost as if the thinking is, “Yep, that guys probably some shallow oddball charismatic.”
It’s kind of sad that we don’t have more shouting for joy.
On another note, I wonder what the “regulative principle” guys would do with this verse. Do their services have regulated times for shouting with joy? ;)
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Scattering Enemies
Why, if God has all authority and power, does he sometimes let evil oppress his people, or let them be surrounded by darkness, rather than just driving it away immediately?
Many answers could be given to show the goodness and wisdom of God in his dealings, but one thing has really stuck out to me lately. God desires to show forth his strength against his enemies. Sometimes he lets it get bad before he breaks through with his saving power.
Ps. 59:11
Do not slay them, or my people will forget;
Scatter them by Your power, and bring them down,
O Lord,our shield.
Ps. 68:1
Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered,
And let those who hate Him flee before Him.
Ps. 68:14
When the Almighty scattered the kings there,
It was snowing in Zalmon.
It's as if God sometimes let's the enemies pile up and get strong so he can break them in a powerful way, all in a moment. A small experience in my back yard reminded me of this recently.
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The other day I was sitting out on my back patio quietly drinking coffee. I had some unexpected time, so I thought that I would just sit out back and enjoy nature for a bit. Aren't those times good? The air was quite cool, but the coffee was warm. The sun had only been up a little while, and there was an occasional bird or two flying by or landing somewhere next to me in the back yard. At this point everything was basically like I expected.
However, in a matter of minutes the birds started to multiply, and they were grackles. For all you non-bird people, this is a grackle:
Now, understand, grackles are probably one of my favorite unliked birds. That is, I enjoy disliking them. The males are dark and especially ugly, even noisy, and usually group up in little gangs of 10 or 12. In dino terms, if a crow is an Allosaurus, then grackles are raptors. They also have evil white looking eyes (for some reason when black birds have white eyes it looks evil). So they begin to multiply, with another two or three added about every 10 seconds. They are swarming the bird feeder and the ground below. All this is going on about 25 feet away from my bench. The birds seem to ignore me. The multiplication continues. Pretty soon it's getting ridiculous. There are probably about 40 or 50 grackles convened (and I have a small backyard mind you). They're all squawking and carrying on, fighting with one another competing for food, making tons of noise. It was like Abraham being pestered by the birds when trying to make a sacrifice. I thought, "That's it. That's enough." I quietly set down my coffee cup making as little of a stir as possible.
In the blink of an eye I made my move. I jumped from the bench to my feet in the direction of the birds and while still in midair I made the loudest clap possible with my hands. Think the grackles ignored me? Not a chance. At my thunder clap they all simultaneously scattered into to the air and fled for their lives. Did I feel good? Are you kidding?! I was filled with glee. I felt powerful (sad, I know)!
And right away I thought, "Man, it must be like that for God."
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Oh God, Scatter your enemies.
Readers and friends, don't ever give up on looking to God to break through the impossible adamant strongholds of sin and Satan. He is the God of peace who will soon crush Satan underneath our feet. And not just his feet, but our feet.
(As as footnote, I have found that many Psalms with their cries for destruction and imprecation toward the wicked rightly find fulfillment in God's destruction of our invisible and non-fleshly enemies, namely Satan and demons...)
Kept By Him - Bob Jennings
John 17:11 Holy Father, keep them.
The Holy Father keeps His own. It is a great comfort to us. It is a great glory to God, for as the old Puritan said, "It is more wonderful to keep a candle burning in a bucket of water than on a lamp stand." We could have been taken out of the world, but the Lord does not ask for that. "Victory is more glorious than exemption," says another. And it must be quite a frustration to the devil to see his former servants now walking the world in white, to see Daniels in Babylon, to see saints in Caesar's household. No, none were lost, but the son of perdition, that the scripture would be fulfilled – God is not frustrated. The elect must persevere, and they will.
- Bob Jennings
HT: Mack T
Reporting to Christ - J. R. Miller
"The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to Him all that they had done and taught." Mark 6:30
It will help us greatly in our Christian life if we will train ourselves to the habit of reporting to Christ continually, all that we do and say. We may come every evening to His feet--and tell Him all about the work and the life of our day.
Each day is a miniature life. Each morning we are sent out by our Master, commissioned by Him to do certain tasks, to touch certain lives, to leave certain blessings in the world, to endure certain temptations, to suffer or rejoice--as the case my be. At the close of the day--we come back to make report, in our evening prayer, of all that we have done, not only the good and beautiful things--the obedience, the kindnesses, the victories over temptation, the things which have been helpful to others; but also the foolish things--the disobediences, the defeats, the neglects of duty.
If we remember as we go through the day--that everything we do or say, and everything we fail to do or say--must be reported to our Master--it would make us more careful as the moments pass--of what we do and what we fail to do. We would not do the things which would shame us to look into Christ's face, and tell Him what we did. We would learn to do only what would give us pleasure to report to Him.
This would do much to make us always charitable and kind to others, for we shall not care to tell the Master that we said unkindly words of our neighbors. If we constrain ourselves to report in our evenings prayers--all our criticisms of others, all our uncharitable words, and all our blaming and fault finding--we shall soon be cured of the habit of censoriousness, and we shall learn to do and say only things which we shall be glad to tell our Lord.
There is no better way to keep our days holy and beautiful--than to tell Jesus every night--all that we have said and done through the day!
Yet, we need never dread to tell Christ of our failures for the day. There always will be failures. Our moods will not always be gentle. Sometimes we will speak rashly and harshly. We will not always be patient and thoughtful. Unchristian tempers will break out in spite of our determination always to keep sweet. We will fail many a time to be loving. But the Master will be infinitely gracious and gentle in dealing with our faults and failures. He is more kindly than any mother. No words in the Bible are sweeter to a faithful Christian, than those in one of the Psalms, "He knows our frame--He remembers that we are dust."
If we are living faithfully and are striving to do our best, and to do better each day--we need never dread to tell our Master all that we have done--even the worst! He wants us to be very frank and very honest with Him. Of course He knows all that we have done--but He wants us to tell Him all, keeping nothing back. We may come with the whole story, even if it is a confession of weakness, foolishness, or sin. He is never severe with us, as some human friends are--for He wants us never to be afraid to come to Him.
HT: Grace Gems
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Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Driscoll, Piper and Harsh Language
HT: Challies
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
The God of All Comfort - Thomas Brooks
(Brooks, "A Word in Season to Suffering Saints")
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of
all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles."
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
God is the God of all sorts and degrees of comfort.
He has all comforts at His disposal. This phrase,
"The God of all comforts," intimates to us:
1. That no comfort can be found anywhere else;
God has the sole gift of comfort.
2. God has not only some--but all comfort!
No imaginable comfort is lacking in Him, nor
can be found outside of Him. Nothing can
soundly comfort us, without God.
3. All degrees of comfort are to be found in
Him--in our greatest troubles and deepest
distresses. The deeper the distress--the
greater the comforts.
"God, who comforts the downcast." 2 Cor. 7:6
When we are in a very low condition, when we
are spent with grief and swallowed up in sorrows,
when we are destitute of all relief and comfort--
then the God of all comforts comes to console us!
No tribulations, no persecutions, no grievances,
no prison doors, no bolts, no bars--can keep the
consolations of God from flowing in upon His
people. God loves to comfort His people--when all
their outward comforts fail them. God's comforts
are not only sweet, but seasonable; He never
comes too soon--nor ever stays too long.
The comfort of God is His most sweet attribute...
HT: Grace Gems
Looking to This Lamb - William Mason
(William Mason, "A Spiritual Treasury")
"Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away
the sin of the world!" John 1:29
To continually behold this Lamb of God--is life
to our souls, and death to our sins! Sin cannot
terrify with its guilt, nor prevail in its power--
while the heart is looking to this Lamb!
Thus to behold--is to be happy. Thus to look--
is to be holy. May this, O my soul, be your daily
employment below, until you behold the Lamb
in the midst of the throne above! Astonishing
mystery!
Thanks to the gracious Father--for the gift of
this precious Lamb! Thanks to this holy Lamb
--for bearing and taking away sin! Thanks to
the loving Spirit--for showing this Lamb to
poor sinners and myself!
"I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain,
standing in the center of the throne!" Rev. 5:6
HT: Grace Gems
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As You Are - C. H. Spurgeon
“There never was one who came to him with a broken heart, but he healed him. He never said to one, “You are too bad for me to heal;” but he did say, “Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.” My dear hearer, he will not cast you out. You say, “You do not know me, Mr. Spurgeon.” No, I do not; and you have come here to-night, and you hardly know why you are here; only you are very low and very sad.
The Lord Jesus Christ loves such as you are, you poor, desponding, doubting, desolate, disconsolate one. Daughters of sorrow, sons of grief, look ye here! Jesus Christ has gone on healing broken hearts for thousands of years, and he is well up in the business. He understands it by experience, as well as by education. He is “mighty to save.” Consider him; consider him; and the Lord grant you grace to come and trust him even now!”
- Charles Spurgeon, Christ’s Hospital
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Thursday, September 11, 2008
Persecution in Orissa continues...
Apparently it's still going on too. Which is a cause for continued prayer and awareness.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Storing Up Money
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. – Matthew 6:19-21
Two things are commanded: don’t store up treasures on earth, and do store up treasures in heaven.
Jesus does not say, “Store up treasures in heaven… and if it’s possible to store up earthly treasures without it having a negative impact on your heavenly treasure, do that also.” No, rather he seems to say that the two places of storing up treasure are at odds with one another. Your earthly treasure is for sure going to effect your heavenly treasure, and in a very bad way. A Christian then should not be striving for the best of both worlds.
Why not store up in both places? How do we know that the two are at odds? Jesus tells us…
“… for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
This principle given to us is simple, and holds true. The heart follows treasure, be it earthly or heavenly. May we ditch our earthly treasure so that we can better pursue the heavenly treasure. May God give us the grace to choose Christ rather than the pleasure, security, and comfort, that money brings.
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Are we bold enough and other-worldly enough to seek personal nitty gritty application to this truth? Ask yourself, "Am I 'storing up' earthly goods, and money? Am I am doing something that Jesus specifically told his disciples not to do? Would Christ be pleased with my bank account?”
Saturday, September 06, 2008
The Touch of Christ - Spurgeon
"O that poor sinners would go to Jesus, believing in the power of his blessed substitutionary work, and they would soon learn the power of his gracious touch. That hand which multiplied the loaves, which saved sinking Peter, which upholds afflicted saints, which crowns believers, that same hand will touch every seeking sinner, and in a moment make him clean. The love of Jesus is the source of salvation. He loves, he looks, he touches us, we live."
-C. H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening
Friday, September 05, 2008
A New Nature Ready Prepared - Walter Marshall
“Christ died, not that we might be able to form a holy nature in ourselves, but that we might receive one ready prepared and formed in Christ for us, by union and fellowship with him.
—Walter Marshall, The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 1999), 36
HT: Of First Importance
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Going Directly to the Lord Jesus Christ - M'Cheyne
“I feel, when I have sinned, an immediate reluctance to go to Christ. I am ashamed to go. I feel as if it would do no good to go, as if it were making Christ a minister of sin, to go straight from the swine-trough to the best robe, and a thousand other excuses; but I am persuaded they are all lies, direct from hell.
John argues the opposite way: ‘If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father.’ I am sure there is neither peace nor safety from deeper sin, but in going directly to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is God’s way of peace and holiness. It is folly to the world and the beclouded heart, but it is the way.”
—Robert Murray M’Cheyne, quoted by Andrew Bonar, Robert Murray M’Cheyne (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1960), 176
HT: Of First Importance
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Thursday, September 04, 2008
Look What God Has Done FOR US - Tom Rayborn
Romans 8:26 - In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes FOR US with groanings too deep for words.
Romans 8:31 - What then shall we say to these things? If God is FOR US, who can be against us?
Romans 8:32 - He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up FOR US all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?
Romams 8:34 - Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes FOR US.
I Corinthians 8:6 - Yet FOR US there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.
I Corinthians 10:6 - Now these things happened as examples FOR US, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved.
II Corinthians 4:17 - For momentary, light affliction is producing FOR US an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.
Galatians 3:13 - Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse FOR US; for it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.
Ephesians 5:2 - And walk in love, just as Christ also loved us and gave Himself up FOR US, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
1 Thessalonians 5:10 - Who died FOR US, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him.
Titus 2:14 - Who gave Himself FOR US to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
Hebrews 6:20 - Where Jesus has entered as a forerunner FOR US, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 7:26 - For it was fitting FOR US to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens.
Hebrews 9:24 - For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God FOR US.
Hebrews 10:20 - By a new and living way which He inaugurated FOR US through the veil, that is, His flesh.
Hebrews 11:40 - Because God had provided something better FOR US, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.
1 John 3:16 - We know love by this, that He laid down His life FOR US; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
1 John 4:16 - We have come to know and have believed the love which God has FOR US; God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
Isn't it amazing what God has done FOR US ?
-Tom Rayborn
HT: Mack T
How Hard it is for the Religious to Enter the Kingdom of Heaven
Matthew chapters 21 and 22 contain three parables about God's rejection of the Jewish leaders of Christ's day. All three parables basically say the same thing. The point is that these elite Jews assume God favors them for salvation because of things like birthright and external morality, when in fact God cares very little about these things. What God cares about are those who humbly turn to believe in his Son, Jesus Christ. The people he ends up accepting therefore, are Jews, and even Gentiles,that see themselves as only accepted by the mercy and salvation found in Christ.
The parables are:
The parable of the two sons
The parable of the vineyard workers
The parable of the wedding feast
The parables bring out different aspects of why God rejects those that seem (in one way of looking at it) chosen and fit to inherit the kingdom. They also bring out with small hints why God accepts the less likely group to inherit salvation. At the core of these two truths is the fact that God delights to save sinners, not the righteous.
That God saves sinners only is a fact that most believers know well from the time of their conversion. However, there is an application often left unapplied. And this is what I’m getting at: we need to be continually reminded to give conscious thought toward who we are reaching out to and praying for. If we don’t, we may find ourselves laboring to save those that Christ wrote off. Surely this has been true in my own life. Unless I'm continually examining my efforts and prayers afresh I can spend a lot of time wrangling with lost religious people, when I probably ought to be looking for opportunities to share with a less informed and less refined group of unbelievers. Let’s face it, there are many lost religious people who are more than willing to talk about Christianity, yet never take one step toward the true form of it. I don’t think we should focus our efforts on these people.
Think about what Christ himself actually said. “I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” This really really hit me the other day. It was like, WHAM! “I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. … I didn’t call the righteous, John, why should you?”
All of this means that to a real degree Christ’s ministry could be seen as ignoring these “righteous” people, and even when they did get attention it was public denunciation. Should we not then follow his steps in our day and age? What does it mean for us to not waste our efforts on the lost religious?
Rather, than come up with some rule that bans all witnessing to religious people (for surely there are some appropriate situations), all I would advocate here is that we instead try focus on the people that are more known as sinners, and biblically illiterate. I think it was William Booth that said, "Go for sinners, and go for the worst!" We should be sowing our seeds of light in fields that are dark and gloomy. God, bring me some people whose lives are dark and gloomy; or if need be, send me to them. These are the people to which I want to be a witness.
God gets much glory out of saving the worst of sinners. In fact, according to Matthew 21:32, even outsiders that observe the conversion of a reputed sinner are brought into that much more accountability to get right with God themselves. This seems to be because God displays special transforming grace when he saves these people. Not only do I want to see that kind of grace poured out, but I have a feeling it is in ministering to those who have less light, that God will be more pleased to save.
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Please don't get me wrong, I'm not saying to stop praying for your family and coworkers if they are the “lost but confident” religious types. We are to share with all we find (22:10). I'm simply saying there is a principle in these verses we would do well to purposefully implement in our lives. For those that we are bound to be around on a long term basis, like coworkers and relatives, don't give up on them. However, when the choice is up to us, we should hunger and thirst for opportunities to share with the irreligious and reputedly sinful.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
The God of the Broken-Hearted - J. R. Miller
(J. R. Miller, "The Beatitude for the Unsuccessful" 1892)
"The Lord is near the broken-hearted." Psalm 34:18
HT: Grace GemsThe God of the Bible, is the God of the broken-hearted. The world cares little for the broken hearts. Indeed, people oftentimes break hearts by their cruelty, their falseness, their injustice, their coldness--and then move on as heedlessly as if they had trodden only on a worm! But God cares. Broken-heartedness attracts Him. The plaint of grief on earth--draws Him down from heaven.
Physicians in their rounds, do not stop at the homes of the well--but of the sick. So it is with God in His movements through this world. It is not to the whole and the well--but to the wounded and stricken, that He comes with sweetest tenderness! Jesus said of His mission: "He has sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted." Isaiah 61:1
We look upon trouble as misfortune. We say that the life is being destroyed, which is passing through adversity. But the truth which we find in the Bible, does not so represent suffering. God is a repairer and restorer of the hurt and ruined life. He takes the bruised reed--and by His gentle skill makes it whole again, until it grows into fairest beauty. The love, pity, and grace of God, minister sweet blessing of comfort and healing--to restore the broken and wounded hearts of His people.
Much of the most beautiful life in this world, comes out of sorrow. As "fair flowers bloom upon rough stalks," so many of the fairest flowers of human life, grow upon the rough stalks of suffering. We see that those who in heaven wear the whitest robes, and sing the loudest songs of victory--are those who have come out of great tribulation. Heaven's highest places are filling, not from earth's homes of glad festivity and tearless joy--but from its chambers of pain; its valleys of struggle where the battle is hard; and its scenes of sorrow, where pale cheeks are wet with tears, and where hearts are broken. The God of the Bible--is the God of the bowed down--whom He lifts up into His strength.
God is the God of those who fail. Not that He loves those who stumble and fall, better than those who walk erect without stumbling; but He helps them more. The weak believers get more of His grace--than those who are strong believers. There is a special divine promise, which says, "My divine power is made perfect in weakness." When we are conscious of our own insufficiency, then we are ready to receive of the divine sufficiency. Thus our very weakness is an element of strength. Our weakness is an empty cup--which God fills with His own strength.
You may think that your weakness unfits you for noble, strong, beautiful living--or for sweet, gentle, helpful serving. You wish you could get clear of it. It seems to burden you--an ugly spiritual deformity. But really it is something which--if you give it to Christ--He can transform into a blessing, a source of His power. The friend by your side, whom you envy because he seems so much stronger than you are--does not get so much of Christ's strength as you do. You are weaker than him--but your weakness draws to you divine power, and makes you strong.
"He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds." Psalm 147:3
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
The Comfort of All Comforts - Thomas Brooks
The knowledge of a man's property in God--is the comfort of comforts. Property makes every comfort a pleasurable comfort, a delightful comfort. When a man walks . . .
in a fair meadow--and can write mine upon it,
into a pleasant garden--and can write mine upon it,
into a fruitful field--and can write mine upon it,
into a stately habitation--and can write mine upon it,
into a rich treasury--and can write mine upon it--
Oh, how does it please him! How does it delight him!
Of all words, the word mine is the sweetest and most comforting word. Ah! when a man can look upon God and say "Mine!", when he can look upon God and say, "This God is my God forever and ever!", when he can look upon God and say, "This God is my portion!", when he can look upon God and say with Thomas, "My Lord and my God!"--how will all the springs of joy rise in his soul!
Oh, who can but rejoice to be possessor of that God who fills heaven and earth with His fullness? Who can but rejoice to have Him for his portion, in having of whom, he has all things--in having of whom, he can lack nothing?
The serious thoughts of our property in God will add much sweet to all our sweets! Yes, it will make every bitter thing sweet! When a man seriously thinks . . .
it is my God who cheers me with His presence,
it is my God who supports me with His power,
it is my God who guides me by His counsel,
it is my God who supplies me with His goodness,
it is my God who blesses all my blessings to me;
it is my God who afflicts me in love,
it is my God who has broken me in my estate,
it is my God who has sorely visited His child,
it is my God who has passed this sentence of death upon a friend,
it is my God who has thus cast me down--
how do these thoughts cheer up the spirit of a man, make
every bitter sweet and every burden light unto him.
O Christians! A clear sight of your property in God is . . .
a pearl of great price,
your paradise,
manna in a wilderness,
water out of a rock,
a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night,
a salve for every sore,
a cure for every disease,
a remedy against every malady,
an anchor at sea, and a shield on shore,
a star to guide you,
a staff to support you,
a sword to defend you,
a pavilion to hide you,
a fire to warm you,
a banquet to refresh you,
a city of refuge to secure you,
a cordial to cheer you!
What more could you desire?
- Thomas Brooks
HT: Mack T
A Book for the Unsuccessful - J. R. Miller
A book for the unsuccessful
The Bible is indeed a book for the unsuccessful. Its sweetest messages are to those who have fallen. It is the book of love and sympathy. It is like a mother's bosom to lay one's head upon--in the time of distress or pain. Its pages teem with cheer for those who are discouraged. It sets its lamps of hope to shine in darkened chambers. It reaches out its hands of help to the fainting, and to those who have fallen. It is full of comfort for those who are in sorrow. It has its many special promises for the needy, the poor, and the bereft. It is a book for those who have failed, for the disappointed, the defeated, and the discouraged.
It is this quality in the Bible, which makes it so dear to the heart of humanity. If it were a book only for the strong, the successful, the victorious, the unfallen, those who have no sorrow, who never fail, the whole, the happy--it would not find such a welcome wherever it goes in the world. So long as there are tears and sorrows, and broken hearts, and crushed hopes, and human failures, and lives burdened and bowed down, and spirits sad and despairing--so long will the Bible be full of inspiration, light, help, and strength--for earth's weary ones.
The God of the Bible is the God of those who have not succeeded. Wherever there is a weak, stumbling Christian, unable to walk alone--to him the divine heart goes out in tender thought and sympathy; and the divine hand is extended to support him, and keep him from falling. Whenever a Christian has fallen, and lies in defeat or failure--over him bends the heavenly Father in kindly pity, to raise him up and to help him to begin again. The God of the Bible is the God of the weak, the unsheltered. Their very helplessness of His children, is their strongest plea to the divine heart.
HT: Grace Gems
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Monday, September 01, 2008
So Walk In Him - Terry Rayburn
So Walk in Him
by Terry Rayburn
The only way to become a son or daughter of God is to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, to believe in Him (John 1:12, "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name").
This entrance into the family of God is accomplished by God's GRACE through faith. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." (Ephesians 2:8,9).
We can’t brag about earning our salvation, because we didn’t earn it, did we? It’s completely based on God’s Grace, His undeserved favor toward us. It’s a free gift.
Good works are the fruit of our new life, and we are a New Creation, with a new life. But no good works have any part in our receiving eternal life, or as the Bible calls it, being saved. "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10).
A Free Gift
The salvation, the eternal life is an absolutely free gift.
Some say that’s not fair. It’s too easy. You don’t know the sins I’ve committed. You don’t know how I’ve spit in God’s face for so many years. It’s not just, it’s too simple. Why should I be saved through simply believing in Jesus? We naturally gravitate toward trying to earn acceptance, and that attitude resists the simplicity of God's grace.
Yet the Bible is clear:
"But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness." (Romans 4:5). "And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. . ." (Romans 11:6).
No wonder John Newton's hymn Amazing Grace has such meaning to saved people of God!
So we received Him by Grace, didn’t we?
Well, let’s go back to our verse, Colossians 2:6, "As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him."
The Role Of Grace In Living And Growing In Christ
What role does God’s grace play in living and growing in Christ? What role does God’s grace play in living abundantly?
Jesus said “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)
That they may have life (that’s salvation, the new birth, the new creation, eternal life)...
And that they may have it more abundantly (that’s living as a believer AFTER our initial salvation).
What role does grace play in that?!
Well, it is VITAL to the Christian life.
Why? Why can’t I just pull out my Bible, find all the rules and laws for living the Christian life, and live it?
I’m tempted to just say, "Okay, go ahead and try it." But I know better than that. I know from personal experience, from the experience of others, and from the Bible itself, that this makes a miserable Christian life. It’s what we call Performance-based Christianity, and it stinks.
Problems With Performance-Based Christianity
1. First of all, if we make the Christian life about rules and laws, we will find ourselves constantly falling short.
If we think we are successfully following the laws and rules, then we don’t really understand them. We don’t understand how Jesus elevated the laws to reflect how holy and perfect God is. When He said that adultery included even the very THOUGHT of lust in our hearts, He put the cards on the table.
2. And if we try to live the Law way, we will always be thinking that God is angry with us, His children.
You may already think that God must be angry with you, either directly or by implication. Admit it.
You may even think when you are sinful or disobedient to the Word of God that God sees you as "wicked", and everyone knows "God is angry with the wicked every day", right?
Confusion
Jonathan Edwards preached his famous sermon, "Sinners In The Hands of An Angry God" in the 1700's, and the picture has been applied to believers and has stuck...
...with those who don't understand the difference between a Sinner and a Saint. Or who don't understand the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.
The Devil loves this confusion. He loves confusion between the biblical concept of a "saint" as anyone who is a born-again child of God, and the Roman Catholic nonsense that a "saint" is someone who meets some elaborate criteria of the Mother Church, and is "voted in".
The Devil loves confusion between the Old Covenant (which Hebrews 8 says failed in bringing righteousness because of man's inability to keep the Law) and the New Covenant, in which God puts His laws in our hearts, fulfills those laws in Christ on the cross, declares us righteous, and forgives us of all our sins, past, present and future.
Yes, the Devil loves confusion.
So it's no surprise (though a crying shame), that children of God think that God is angry at them when they fall short and sin. And otherwise fine Christians, who mean well, perpetuate this ridiculous notion, without one shred of support from the New Covenant scriptures!
Running Away From God?
And so Christians often run away from this "angry" God, instead of toward Him, when they fail. They won't look Him in the face, because they think it's a face of anger. What a tragedy.
This is not the place for an extended explanation of the subject in the scriptures. But here's a challenge for those who doubt what I'm saying: Search the epistles of the New Testament for any teaching that God is ever angry with His children.
By the way, don't think the passages on God's chastisement are regarding some kind of punishment out of anger.
Study them closely, and you will see they involve loving, usually gentle correction, from a loving Father, who just wants his kids to be in close fellowship with Him. No condemnation, no unforgiveness, no bitterness, no anger.
Like a daddy teaching his 1-year-old to walk, while the kid keeps wobbling, staggering, and falling...sometimes painfully in the wrong direction, but often into a laughing Daddy's arms for a big hug.
The Biggest Reason
And that’s the biggest reason why grace is so important to the Christian life. Because it causes us to want to fellowship with Christ. To draw near to Him, and not away. And that drawing near is the very SOURCE of our Life. Christ, who IS our life, the Scripture says.
And ironically, moving away from a law-based life to a grace-based life doesn’t cause us to sin more, but less. That’s why Romans 6:14 says “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” You are not under Law, which says “do”, but under grace, which says “done”.
With apologies to Jimmy Stewart, it can be a Wonderful Life between our initial salvation and our glorification, if we heed Colossians 2:6, and walk in grace just as we received Christ in grace, by simple faith.
Faith that He has already forgiven us of all our sins, past present and future.
Faith that we are no longer under condemnation, because our sins have been paid for and put away as far as the East is from the West.
Does God Overlook Our Sins?
Notice I didn’t say He overlooked our sins. He couldn’t be that unjust. No, He exercised His great justice, by taking our sins on Himself. He became sin FOR us, that we might be made the righteousness of God.
I love the hymn by Annie Johnson Flint that goes,
"His love has no limit, His grace has no measure,
His power has no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus,
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again."
You see, it’s His love that supplies that grace for salvation and living. His love for you and me.
On Sunday, August 16, 1987, Northwest Airlines Flight 225 crashed just after take-off at Detroit, Michigan.
155 died, and one lived.
That one who lived was a little 4-year-old girl named Cecelia. The wreckage was so bad, that the authorities thought at first she had not been on the plane. Checking the flight roster, however, and with Cecelia's own testimony, the following was discovered:
As the crash was developing, Paula Chichan had unbuckled her own seat belt, got down on her knees in front of her daughter, wrapped her arms and body around Cecelia, and would not let her go! Nothing could separate that child from her parent's love...neither disaster, nor crash, nor flames, nor pain.
Such is our Savior's love for us...
"...that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38,39)
-Terry Rayburn, Grace for Life
At the Cross - John Murray
“Christ’s blood is the laver of initial cleansing but it is also the fountain to which the believer must continually repair. It is at the cross of Christ that repentance has its beginning; it is at the cross of Christ that it must continue to pour out its heart in the tears of confession and contrition.”
- John Murray, quoted by C. John Miller in Repentance and 21st Century Man (Fort Washington, Pa.: CLC Publications, 1980), 92.
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The Gospel's Humbling Work - Milton Vincent
“Preaching the gospel to myself each day mounts a powerful assault against my pride and serves to establish humility in its place. Nothing suffocates my pride more than daily reminders regarding the glory of my God, the gravity of my sins, and the crucifixion of God’s own Son in my place. Also, the gracious love of God, lavished on me because of Christ’s death, is always humbling to remember, especially when viewed against the backdrop of the Hell I deserve.”
- Milton Vincent, A Gospel Primer for Christians (2008), 27-28.
HT: Of First Importance
Christ Precious to Believers - John Fawcett
He is Precious
"Unto you that believe, He is precious." - 1 Peter 2:7
Jesus is precious to believers--as the Bread of God coming down from heaven, and giving everlasting life to their souls. By Him they are really, constantly, and daily supported, fed and sustained. As bread is sweet and precious to a hungry man, so is Christ sweet and precious to those who live by Him. The entertainment that He gives to them is a divine, a spiritual feast!
Jesus is precious to believers--as the Sun of Righteousness. The beams of His grace are healing, enlightening, cheering, and full of consolation. If natural light is sweet, if it is a pleasant thing to behold the sun; how much more pleasant to experience the irradiating influences of the Light of life!
Jesus is precious to believers--as the fountain where they bathe their weary souls, and in which they are cleansed from all sin and impurity. He is the tree of life, under the shadow of which, they sit with great delight, and His fruit is sweet to their taste. He is a rock, a strong tower, a hiding-place, where they find protection from every storm, and security from every foe. He was precious to the Psalmist under all these views--"I will love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my strength in whom I trust; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower." It is therefore the delight of their lives to know Him, to love and honor Him with their whole hearts, and to aspire after conformity to His blessed image and His holy will."
O blessed Redeemer, I find in you all that my poor helpless soul stands in need of. Though I have the greatest reason for shame and humiliation on account of what I am in myself, yet in You I behold everything to elevate my hopes, and to afford me relief and encouragement! May my soul magnify the Lord, and my spirit rejoice in God my Savior! The characters and relations in which You have revealed Yourself to me in Your Word, exhibit a balm for every wound, and a cordial for every fear.
If I am naked--You are the Lord my righteousness.
If I am soul-sick--You are my physician.
If I am weak and helpless--You are my strength.
If I am neglected and despised--You are my compassionate and faithful friend.
If I am ignorant--You are made unto me wisdom.
If I am polluted and enslaved--You are made unto me sanctification and redemption.
If I am nothing but emptiness and vanity--You are full of grace and truth."
Yes, He is very precious to you who believe!
- John Fawcett
HT: Grace Gems