A Free Man's Song - Stephen Gates

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UPDATE: This was originally posted back in August, but since then, the site I was using to host the music files went the way of all flesh. I've since found a new site to host the files, so I wanted to update the links, and once again draw attention to this post for those who are interested.

One of the greatest blessings I've experienced over the last few years was the conversion of my friend, Stephen Gates, a couple of years ago. Ever since, he has been a tremendous encouragement to me personally and to the body of believers here, especially through the use of his gifts as a musician.

When God saves a man, He puts a new song in his mouth (Ps. 40:3; Rev. 5:9). Stephen has compiled some of those new songs into an album he calls A Free Man's Song. Three of the tracks are covers ("He Brought Me Out", "Thy Way, Not Mine, O Lord" and "Give Thinks"), while the other seven are originals. You can listen to the entire album below:




If you're having trouble getting the embedded player to work - or if you want to have the album on your own computer - you can also freely download tracks from A Free Man's Song using the following download links:

01 Not Myself.mp3

02 Take Me.mp3

03 He Brought Me Out.mp3

04 Bring Life.mp3

05 Words of Life.mp3

06 Count It Loss.mp3

07 Thy Way, Not Mine, O Lord.mp3

08 Turn.mp3

09 Give Thanks.mp3

10 Saviour.mp3


If you would like to get in touch with Stephen regarding his music, or to send him a gift for his labors, feel free to contact me and I will be glad to put you in touch with him. I know he would certainly appreciate any feedback you might have. Also, if anyone would like a hard copy of the CD, I would be glad to provide that as well.

May the Lord be pleased to use these songs for His glory, and for the edification of His church. I know Stephen desires nothing more than this.

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Christ Is All

"Then there is the word pre-eminent...As the old bishop said, He is above all things but not pushed up, and He is beneath all things but not pressed down, and outside of all things but not excluded and inside but not confined. He is above all, presiding; and beneath all, upholding; and outside all, embracing, and inside of all, filling."

Quote from Tozer's Total Commitment To Christ: What Is It?

Returning to Give Thanks - Mack Tomlinson

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Returning to Give Thanks

"And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice, glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving thanks." Luke 17:15-16


Here's a healed leper, who in response to the Lord's mercy in his healing, did that which man's conscience, experience, reason, morality, emotion, common sense, and the good example of others all teach us is the only proper response in his situation--he returned back to give thanks.

The event in Jesus' ministry is well-known. Ten lepers approached him, not crying out, as the law would require, "Unclean! Unclean!", but rather crying out, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"

His response to their request is unlike anything most of us would say: "Go show yourself to the priests!" This command of the Lord was so that they would fulfill the Old Testament law of being declared ceremonially clean after they arrived there, since Jesus was going to heal them enroute to the temple.

All ten were healed instantly as they went in obedience to the command of Jesus. If you and I had been among the ten, and realizing we were healed, do you not think we would all turn back, being overwhelmed at what Christ had done for us? But only one did. How could the other nine go on without returning back to the source of their miracle? But only one returned to give thanks. After the Lord Jesus healed the ten, only one returned, worshipping Him and giving thanks.

What a failure of the nine and what an example of the one who returned. It is important to follow this example. Do we do the same? We certainly ought to go to the Lord to express gratitude to Him, every time we are conscious of anything He does for us. How often do we return to give thanks? There ought to be many times daily. Only 10% of the lepers returned; what percentage do we fall into?

What does this event teach us?

The Lord notices ingratitude. Jesus' first words to the one leper were, "Were there not ten? Where are the other nine?" When we are not thankful enough to turn back and give thanks after God's mercies come to us, something is wrong; how could anyone be so ungrateful for grace received? He sees and knows when we don't return back to give thanks; the Lord notices our ingratitude. Jesus said, "Where are the nine?" He was looking for them, and they were not grateful enough to return. He notices ingratitude.

Does a heart of ingratitude cause temporary amnesia? How can we forget? Because we don't have a thankful heart all the time. I wonder--when the Lord has mercy on us in situations and we don't return back to give thanks, does He say of us, 'Where are they? Look what I just did for them and they did not even stop to really give thanks?" He notices our forgetfulness regarding thankfulness.

The Lord notices gratitude. When we return to give thanks, the Lord notes it, and it blesses Him; it is a ministry to Him; that is why the Bible calls it a sacrifice: "I will render thank offerings to You." (Ps. 56:12) Hebrews also speaks of our offering the sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. Giving thanks is not just feeling thankful--it is opening our lips and speaking it, voicing it; GIVING thanks to God.

The Lord blesses gratitude. The Lord said to him, "Go your way--your faith has made you whole." He rewards, in different ways, those who return in gratitude to Him; John Blanchard says, "I give this as my testimony, that there is marvelous therapy in thanksgiving." He is right; it is therapeutic in every way. It not only ministers to the Lord when we return to be thankful, but it does good things to and for us. Dietrich Bonhoffer said, " It is only with gratitude that life becomes rich." I believe he was right.

David was thankful

"Sing praises to the Lord, O you His saints, and give thanks to His holy name."

"Give thanks unto the Lord, for His mercies endure forever."


Paul was thankful

"I give thanks to God always . . ." - 1 Cor. 1

"I do not cease to give thanks . . ." - Eph. 1

"Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father . . . " - Eph. 5


Do we return automatically with thanks to Him for what He does for us?

Gratitude springs from genuine faith; if we believe God and are trusting Him, we will be returning to thank Him continually. The faithless are ungrateful and the ungrateful are faithless, while the believing soul is thankful and the thankful soul is the trusting soul.

Every time you sense or recognize His mercies toward you, just return and give thanks. It will make your day and His as well.

- Mack Tomlinson

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Genesis 2:5-6

"...and there was no man to cultivate the ground. But a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground." Genesis 2:5-6

There may be some readers who don't have much fellowship. Or, you may spend the majority of your day working in an acid-bath of unbelief. Take heart - God is able to water His plants even when there is no one around to help.

"To Know Him!"

"...Let me ask you a very simple but a very searching question. How many years have you been a Christian? Has your knowledge, your personal knowledge of the one with whom you are in relationship, kept pace with the duration of your relationship? Do you know Jesus better today than you knew him the day you found him as your Savior? To know him! 'The Lord is my shepherd', and because he is MY Shepherd, I am getting to know him better all the time; and in know him I am in possession of eternal life, I am a living sheep."

The Lord My Shepherd, Douglas MacMillan

The Relationship of the Resurrection to Our Justification

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A quick perusal of past posts indicates that it's been several months since I've posted anything from John Murray. And as you can tell from the picture above, he is NOT happy about it. So, in order to appease Murray, and ease my conscience at the same time, I want to draw your attention to a section from Murray's commentary on Romans. This is vintage Murray, with profound thoughts expressed with clarity and brevity. If you do not have this commentary yet, you are without excuse!

To give you some context for the portion I am quoting, Murray is commenting on Romans 4:25, and is specifically addressing the question of how the resurrection serves the purpose of justification. He then lists five ways:

(1) We are justified by faith, and this faith must be directed to Jesus (3:22, 26). But only as the living Lord can he be the object of faith.

(2) It is in union with Christ that we are justified (cf. 8:1; 2 Cor. 5:21). Only as active through resurrection can any virtue proceed from Christ to us and only with a living Christ can union have efficacy.

(3) The righteousness of Christ by which we are justified (5:17, 18, 19) has its abiding embodiment in Christ; it can never be thought on in abstraction from his as a reservoir of merit stored up. Only as the living one can Christ be the embodiment of righteousness and be made to us righteousness from God (1 Cor. 1:30).

(4) The death and resurrection of Christ are inseparable. Hence even the death or blood of Christ as related to our justification (3:24, 25; 5:9; 8:33, 34) could have no efficacy to that end in isolation from the resurrection.

(5) It is through the mediation of Christ that we come to stand in the grace of justification (5:2). But the mediation of Christ could not be operative if he were still under the power of death.

-John Murray, The Epistle to the Romans, 156-7.

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Stop Calling Christians "Sinners" - Terry Rayburn

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Courtesy of Terry Rayburn at Grace For Life:

You have a new identity, not that of a Sinner, but of a Saint.

By grace the old you has died, and the new you has come. That’s why Rom. 6:6 says, “knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin."

But we have to "reckon" that. We have to "consider that true". We have to "choose to believe that". Rom. 6:11, “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

Don’t deny when you sin. Admit it. Confess it. But recognize that’s not your identity. That’s not who you are. That goes against who you are. You’re dead to sin and alive to God in your spirit, in your nature, through Jesus Christ.

Stop saying you’re a Sinner. “Such WERE some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” -1 Cor. 6:11

You WERE a Sinner. Now you are a Saint.

Now Rom. 6:12 makes sense. After Paul tells us to reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to God, Rom. 6:12 says, “THEREFORE do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.”

See how that makes sense? If we were still SINNERS it wouldn’t make sense. It would be saying, “since you’re SINNERS, don’t let sin reign in your body.” That doesn’t make sense and that’s why so many Christians are confused. But if you are no LONGER a Sinner, then it makes sense to say, “don’t let sin reign in your body”. It’s not you. It’s AGAINST the new you.

Friend, accept this by faith as your true identity!

Set your mind on it!

Dwell on it!

Meditate on the truth of it!

Then, moment by moment act like it is true! Praise the Lord in all things, whatever circumstances you may encounter, acting as if Christ is expressing His Life through you.

Because He is.

Read the rest HERE.

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No Condemnation - Michele Rayburn

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Courtesy of Michele Rayburn at Grace For Life:

John Owen has wrongly stated:

"To keep our souls in a constant state of mourning and self-abasement is the most necessary part of our wisdom..." (Works, VII, p. 532)


Roman Catholics, as well as those in other religions that do not know the grace of God in salvation, in effect "flagellate" themselves in order to be made acceptable to God, through works righteousness (self-denial, creeds, liturgy, sacred vows). But why should we? We who know the Lord's grace toward us not only for our salvation but for each day of our lives?

If we have been saved by grace, why should we "flagellate" ourselves now? We have been made acceptable to God and received His righteousness. We’ve been forgiven. And He loves us with an unfailing, everlasting love.

His love is not conditioned upon us pining away over our once fallen nature. The work is already done. Jesus said as He was dying on the cross, having been "flagellated" for us, "It is finished."

It’s by grace alone, through faith alone, on the Word alone, because of Christ alone...now and always. It is by God’s grace that He has given us new life, and it is by His grace that we will continue to live this Christian life. Now let us walk in it!

This is the rest of the gospel...the rest of the good news. Now that we have been saved, we have been made new creations in Christ so that we can "walk in newness of life" by His Spirit that lives in us.

Read the rest HERE.

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More MacMillan...

Commenting on Psalm 23:

"...Here is a soul that is resting in God, and a soul that KNOWS it is resting in God; a soul that not only knows the Shepherd, but knows that it knows the Shepherd. Because it knows the Shepherd, because it can say 'The Lord - Jehovah Jesus - is my Shepherd', then it can go on to say all the other things. I think it was Martin Luther who said that the essence of the blessing of being a Christian lay in the ability to use personal pronouns. The use of the words 'I' and 'my' and 'me' is only possible because we are linked into the life of Christ."

The Lord Our Shepherd, 76.

Don't Neglect The Book

"Young Christians, let me say something to you. Do you want to get to know the Shepherd better? He is here, in this Book (i.e. the Bible - mv). If you want to feed on him, do it from his Word. Why do young Chritians find the Christian way difficult? Why do they get cold and wander back into the world? Why do they become afraid and not make a strong and uncompromising stand for Christ? Nearly always because they are neglecting God's Word."

The Lord Our Shepherd, 88.

Don't Try To Be Somebody

Douglas MacMillan commenting on Psalm 23...

"Don't want to be a big sheep! They are a perfect pest to the shepherd...Let's be content not to be big guns, but to be what God has meant us to be, and thank him for the least gift that he has given us."

The Lord Our Shepherd, 86-87.

"Forget Yourself..."

"Now I am talking to preachers especially. Don't try and shape great sermons. Try to preach and bring God to people. Forget yourself and forget how you are saying the thing. It is a terrible temptation, isn't it, when you know you have got to go and face people and you want to show them how good you are. You want to show them how you can use English and how well you know your Bible, and how much of the Puritans you have read -- and you've read Berkhof as well! People don't, primarily, need to know that you have read Berkhof; they need to know that you are living with Jesus Christ, that Jesus Christ is important for you, and He is important for them."

The Lord Our Shepherd, 56

The Old Cross and the New - Tozer

Anyone with even a remnant of spiritual life will resonate with Tozer's conclusions. But it isn't enough to get a warm feeling from articles like this. The only question is: Is this true? And if it's true, what am I going to do about it? - mv

The Old Cross and the New

ALL UNANNOUNCED AND MOSTLY UNDETECTED there has come in modern times a new cross into popular evangelical circles. It is like the old cross, but different: the likenesses are superficial; the differences, fundamental.

From this new cross has sprung a new philosophy of the Christian life, and from that new philosophy has come a new evangelical technique-a new type of meeting and a new kind of preaching. This new evangelism employs the same language as the old, but its content is not the same and its emphasis not as before.

The old cross would have no truck with the world. For Adam's proud flesh it meant the end of the journey. It carried into effect the sentence imposed by the law of Sinai. The new cross is not opposed to the human race; rather, it is a friendly pal and, if understood aright, it is the source of oceans of good clean fun and innocent enjoyment. It lets Adam live without interference. His life motivation is unchanged; he still lives for his own pleasure, only now he takes delight in singing choruses and watching religious movies instead of singing bawdy songs and drinking hard liquor. The accent is still on enjoyment, though the fun is now on a higher plane morally if not intellectually.

The new cross encourages a new and entirely different evangelistic approach. The evangelist does not demand abnegation of the old life before a new life can be received. He preaches not contrasts but similarities. He seeks to key into public interest by showing that Christianity makes no unpleasant demands; rather, it offers the same thing the world does, only on a higher level. Whatever the sin-mad world happens to be clamoring after at the moment is cleverly shown to be the very thing the gospel offers, only the religious product is better.

The new cross does not slay the sinner, it redirects him. It gears him into a cleaner and jollier way of living and saves his self-respect. To the self-assertive it says, "Come and assert yourself for Christ." To the egotist it says, "Come and do your boasting in the Lord." To the thrill seeker it says, "Come and enjoy the thrill of Christian fellowship." The Christian message is slanted in the direction of the current vogue in order to make it acceptable to the public.

The philosophy back of this kind of thing may be sincere but its sincerity does not save it from being false. It is false because it is blind. It misses completely the whole meaning of the cross.

The old cross is a symbol of death. It stands for the abrupt, violent end of a human being. The man in Roman times who took up his cross and started down the road had already said good-by to his friends. He was not coming back. He was going out to have it ended. The cross made no compromise, modified nothing, spared nothing; it slew all of the man, completely and for good. It did not try to keep on good terms with its victim. It struck cruel and hard, and when it had finished its work, the man was no more.

The race of Adam is under death sentence. There is no commutation and no escape. God cannot approve any of the fruits of sin, however innocent they may appear or beautiful to the eyes of men. God salvages the individual by liquidating him and then raising him again to newness of life.

That evangelism which draws friendly parallels between the ways of God and the ways of men is false to the Bible and cruel to the souls of its hearers. The faith of Christ does not parallel the world, it intersects it. In coming to Christ we do not bring our old life up onto a higher plane; we leave it at the cross. The corn of wheat must fall into the ground and die.

We who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, the world of sports or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum.

God offers life, but not an improved old life. The life He offers is life out of death. It stands always on the far side of the cross. Whoever would possess it must pass under the rod. He must repudiate himself and concur in God's just sentence against him.

What does this mean to the individual, the condemned man who would find life in Christ Jesus? How can this theology be translated into life? Simply, he must repent and believe. He must forsake his sins and then go on to forsake himself. Let him cover nothing, defend nothing, excuse nothing. Let him not seek to make terms with God, but let him bow his head before the stroke of God's stern displeasure and acknowledge himself worthy to die.

Having done this let him gaze with simple trust upon the risen Saviour, and from Him will come life and rebirth and cleansing and power. The cross that ended the earthly life of Jesus now puts an end to the sinner; and the power that raised Christ from the dead now raises him to a new life along with Christ.

To any who may object to this or count it merely a narrow and private view of truth, let me say God has set His hallmark of approval upon this message from Paul's day to the present. Whether stated in these exact words or not, this has been the content of all preaching that has brought life and power to the world through the centuries. The mystics, the reformers, the revivalists have put their emphasis here, and signs and wonders and mighty operations of the Holy Ghost gave witness to God's approval.

Dare we, the heirs of such a legacy of power, tamper with the truth? Dare we with our stubby pencils erase the lines of the blueprint or alter the pattern shown us in the Mount? May God forbid. Let us preach the old cross and we will know the old power. (A. W. Tozer, Man, the Dwelling Place of God, 1966)

(This article can be found several places with a Google search on the title)

Melissa Yakes & Friends

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Melissa Yakes, who is a member of the body here in Kirksville, has recently finished a CD project that I would highly encourage you to check out. It has been a tremendous blessing to my wife and I, and I trust will be to you as well. In Melissa's words:

I've put some songs together over the past couple of years, and now the finished product is before your eyes. Many thanks to Dan Thompson for his recording and musical skills. I also want to thank Rachel Vann, Stephen Gates, Meghan Kelly and Kaitlyn Kelly for their contributions. Special notes: #1 lyrics by Bob Fleming(my great uncle), #6 lyrics by Rachel Vann, and #15 lyrics by Dan Hargrave. If you have any other questions, just ask.

The entire album can be listened to online using this music player:

In addition, the individual MP3s can be downloaded below:

01_Praise_Him_More.mp3
02_Baby.mp3
03_Peter_s_Denial.mp3
04_Peace__Be_Still.mp3
05_Hannah_s_Prayer.mp3
06_Look_at_Me.mp3
07_Draw_Near.mp3
08_Command_My_Strength.mp3
09_Glory_of_Christ.mp3
10_Transformed.mp3
11 God Moves in a Mysterious Way.mp3
12_Restoration.mp3
13_Resting_in_Grace.mp3
14_Garrison.mp3
15_In_Trouble_with_the_Law.mp3
16_Praises__Instrumental_.mp3
17_There_is_a_Peace.mp3
18_My_God_is_So_Big.mp3




Praise the Lord for the gifts He has given for His glory and the edification of the body!

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Go and Tell Jesus - Octavius Winslow

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“There is nothing that you may not in the confidence of love, and in the simplicity of faith, tell Jesus—no temporal need—no spiritual sorrow. “Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” “You people, pour out your heart before Him!” Tell Him your desolateness as a widow—your friendlessness as an orphan—your sadness and solitude as one whose heart is overwhelmed within you. Go, and lose yourself in the love of Jesus—hide in the wounds of Jesus—wash in the blood of Jesus—replenish from the fullness of Jesus, and recline upon the bosom of Jesus.

Think not this a weak, sentimental Christianity to which we are urging you. We know no other than this—no other which so appeals to the intellect, as to the most sacred feelings and affections of the heart. This telling Jesus everything in our individual history—this recognition of His government in all our ways, and this reliance upon His power and love in all our circumstances—is the legitimate employment of a faith at once the most sublime exercise of the mind as it is the loveliest and holiest impulse of the heart.”

- Octavius Winslow, Go and Tell Jesus

HT: Of First Importance

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Don't Be a Muck-Raker

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The man with the muck-rake

(J. R. Miller, "Life's Byways and Waysides")

"Only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better." Luke 10:42

Paul prayed that his friends "may be able to discern what is best." Philippians 1:10.

We must be always making choices in this world. We cannot take up everything that lies in our path--and we ought to choose the best things. Even among 'right things' there is room for choice, for some right things are better than others.

There are many Christians, however, who do not habitually choose the best things--but second-rate things. They labor for the food that perishes--when they might labor for the food that endures unto everlasting life. Even in their prayers, they ask for temporal blessings, when they might ask for spiritual treasures!

They are like "the man with the muck-rake", in Bunyan's 'Pilgrim's Progress'--who only looks 'down' and drags his rake among the weeds and worthless rubbish--while over his head are crowns which he might take into his hands! They are like Esau, who sold his valuable birthright, for some lentil stew. They toil for this world's vain things--when they might have been laying up treasures in heaven!

We only have one life to live--and we ought therefore to do the best we possibly can with it. We pass through this world only once--and we ought to gather up and take with us the things that will truly enrich us--things we can keep forever!

It is not worth our while, to toil and moil, and strive and struggle--to do things that will leave no lasting results when our life is done--while there are things we can do which have eternal significance!

"Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things!" Colossians 3:1-2

HT: Grace Gems

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The Effect of Shortcomings

Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on... Philippians 3:13-14

Another way to discern true Christianity from the false - the effect of shortcomings.

1. The lost religious person. Their shortcomings cause complacency. They excuse themselves with a quaint phrase like "after all, no one is perfect."

2. The true Christian. Their shortcomings have just the opposite effect. Their deficiencies cause him to run even harder.

Distractions and Revival

Al Baker wrote a good article on the subject of revival. I found the following section especially rich. - mv

"...all of these revivals, including the ones happening currently, occurred in the absence of modernity. By modernity I mean all of our modern conveniences — twenty-four hour sports, news, weather, and movies, internet, cell phones, iPods, etc. Even the awakenings occurring in China, Algeria, India, and Iran are largely among the poor, those who do not have access to our modern conveniences. Why is this? I suggest our affluence and all it buys is killing us spiritually. There is too much noise, too many distractions, too many 'lesser' things to steal away our hearts from sincere devotion to Jesus. We are too easily satisfied with 'cotton candy' when we need a nutritional meal. You know how it goes — you purpose to be more earnest in prayer and Bible study and attending your small group weekly covenant group, but you cannot resist the desire to sit in front of your computer until midnight, looking at Facebook or checking out various news or sports websites. So you are too tired in the morning to spend time with God or to make it to your weekly men’s group. And more importantly, even if you observe your spiritual disciplines you find very often that your heart is not in them, that you have grown cold toward Christ, that your burden for the lost is non-existent. You are more disturbed by your team losing the big game on Saturday than you are by the truth that thousands die daily and go to hell."

Dealing with Coldness

I shall run the way of Your commandments, for You will enlarge my heart. Psalm 119:32

When you sit down to spend time with the Lord, and you find your heart as cold as ice, you can do one of two things:

1. Fake it by trying to work your emotions up. This will always leave you feeling exhausted and proud. After all, you were able to persevere.

2. Be honest and believe the truth of Psalm 119:32. "Lord, I'm going to open this Bible and start praying. I feel absolutely nothing. But I'm going set off in the direction I know you want to go, and I'm depending on You to give me reality somewhere along the way." And then you set off in the way of His commandments trusting that God will give the rest.

Accepted Only for His Sake - B. B. Warfield

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“There is nothing in us or done by us, at any stage of our earthly development, because of which we are acceptable to God. We must always be accepted for Christ’s sake, or we cannot ever be accepted at all. . . . This is not true of us only when we believe. It is just as true after we have believed. It will continue to be true as long as we live. Our need of Christ doesn’t cease with our believing; nor does the nature of our relation to Him or to God through Him ever alter, no matter what our attainments in Christian graces or our achievements in behavior may be. It is always on His ‘blood and righteousness’ alone that we can rest.”

- B. B. Warfield, quoted by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Dennis Johnson in Counsel from the Cross(Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2009), 19.

HT: Of First Importance

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Bad Days

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

A lost person having a bad day is simply a lost person having a bad day. A Christian having a bad day is God working glory in his life. This truth should cause a quiet trust to reside with us no matter the circumstances (Isaiah 30:15).

One Reason Not to Fear Suffering and Persecution

There are many reasons why we should, with Paul, long to be conformed to the image of Christ in his death (Phil. 3:10)… many, many. But there is one that has encouraged me today. The reason and principle is this: suffering with Christ brings a greater experience of the grace of God and presence of God in your life. Whereas Christ’s suffering was under the curse of God, our suffering is always with his smile and nearness.

Think first of Stephen. It was only when he was surrounded by the angry bulls of Bashan that he had his heavenly vision of God’s glory, his throne, and his Son. God had drawn near.

Think next of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. It was when they were tossed into the fire that one “like a son of the gods” came to comfort and protect them. Their friend Daniel had also proved this principle true, for it was when tossed into the lion pit, that he could now say God had, “sent his angel” to him and was present with him.

And even better than the angels that ministered to him in the garden, Jesus had said, “Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.” (John 16:32)

God gives an extra grace and the glory of his presence when we need it most. Let us not fear suffering, imprisonment, or any form of crucifixion. Let us join with Paul, in conformity to our Savior in every way. There is rich blessing in suffering with Christ in a fallen world. Whether by a vision, an angel, or by the spiritual presence of the One who is unseen, God will draw near to his children when they suffer.

Psalm 149:6

"Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand." Psalm 149:6

Our personalities will cause us to gravitate toward one or the other. The former without the latter is a person who rejoices in the Lord but never stands for the truth. The latter without the former is a person who always stands for the truth but has no joy. If these two seem irreconcilable simply read the life of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Taking Seriously the Purpose of 1 John

These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. 1 John 5:13 (emphasis mine)

1 John is often used as a rebuttal to easy-believism. However, this would would require the final "that" to be replaced with "whether or not" so that it would read:

These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know whether or not you have eternal life.

Or one would have to insert "do not" between "have" and "eternal" so that it would read:

These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you do not have eternal life.

Many of the statements in 1 John certainly serve the purpose of tearing down that which is false. And it is very right to use 1 John in this way. However, that is not the primary purpose of this epistle. And when the secondary purpose is made primary the result is that true believers fail to get the Spirit's intended comfort. The primary purpose of this epistle is to provide assurance that you are a believer (cf 1 John 2:21). Keeping our focus the same as John's guards believers from holding their breath every time they read this epistle until they successfully pass the tests again. Instead, they will receive the intended comfort that they truly are children of a wonderful, loving Father (1 John 3:1-2).

Faith and Prayer

Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon. And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed." But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, "Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us." But He answered and said, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, "Lord, help me!" And He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." But she said, "Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." Then Jesus said to her, "O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed at once.
Matthew 15:21-28

The Syrophoenician woman clouds what is otherwise a clear-cut theology concerning the role of faith during prayer. The clear-cut answer says you must have a specific promise to apply to your specific situation. Then and only then may you believe God for this promise. You can't just "believe" God for anything. You need content to tie off on.

Enter Syrophoenician woman. Not only does she not have any specific promise that applies to her specific situation, she is a Gentile and therefore outside of God's covenant people! And more than this - she can't even get Christ to talk to her. When she finally does get Him to speak He calls her a dog! Yet she persisted, and Christ commended her for having "great" faith.

This account in no way negates the need for content in order to believe. She had plenty of content. She knew Christ was compassionate and able to help the helpless. But she had no specific promise that God would help her daughter.

I think our caution in this area may come more from a reaction against the Charismatic "name it and claim it" practice than honestly dealing with the Bible's teaching. Yet I confess I don't have the answers on how this works out in practice. I simply know that I'm asking God to make Mark 11:24 more of a reality in my life.

Preaching with Power, Part 2 - Iain Murray

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Preaching with Power- Pt. 2

(Part 1 is HERE)

What is necessary for powerful preaching and what elements produce it?

1. Sermons will not be marked by authority and power unless they are marked by truth that the Holy Spirit can honor.

The Word of God is to be exegeted and explained. That has to be the heart of the sermon. There is a real danger that we become over concerned about such things as delivery, while the New Testament is insistent on the content: "let him speak as the oracles of God." The authority of the preaching comes from the text of Scripture. It is God-given power which honors his own word.

Dr Lloyd-Jones grew up in a vague sentimental era with churches fascinated with the personalities and quirks of famous men. MLJ as a man was absorbed with the glory and the greatness of the truth. A preacher lives in the truth. He expected the preacher to go through the whole Bible in his personal devotions once each year. He expected him to continue to read theology as long as he lived. The more he read, the better. Preaching is theology coming through a man who is on fire.

In the latter part of his ministry, there was a change in emphasis. In the first 30 years there was a stress on the importance of the historic faith, and then in the last decades a new emphasis emerged, not on the recovery of truth, but with the accompanying need of power to proclaim it.

2. The man himself is a part of the message.

He can read all the best books and give out a well-rounded exegesis of the text, but somehow the man himself has not become a part of the truth. The less we say of ourselves in preaching the better, but the Holy Spirit does not work in preaching except through the man, and so, inevitably, not only does the message compel attention, but the man himself. The man becomes a part of the message. What does that mean?

A] The preacher must know the power of the message he is bringing to others. When MLJ was 25 and at the cross-roads of his life, he became engaged to Bethan Philips, and she became conscious that her future husband was considering becoming a preacher. She was very concerned because she had never heard him preach. At that point a letter came from a missionary society inviting them to become medical missionaries in India. She was challenged by this invitation, but MLJ had no interest at all. Bethan said to him, "But how do you know that you can preach?" "I know I can preach to myself", he replied. He knew the power of the truth in his own heart.

When he was preaching on Ephesians 2 on fulfilling the lusts of the flesh and the mind, he raised the question about what they were? He interjected that "as I was preparing this sermon, it filled me with a loathing and hatred of myself. I look back and I think of the hours I have wasted in mere talk and argumentation. And it was with one end only--simply to gain my point and to show how clever I was" ("God's Way of Reconciliation", p.65). So MLJ was preaching to himself before he spoke to others.

B] The Holy Spirit must produce the feelings in the preacher's heart that must be in harmony with what the Spirit has breathed out. Paul writes, "Knowing the terror of the Lord we persuade men." Again he speaks of some "with tears" that they are enemies of the cross. One finds phrases like, "I tell you weeping ...I am glad and rejoice with you all." There was something in the way these preachers spoke who were used by God- "I preached what I smartingly did feel," said Bunyan. A most important part of preaching is exhortation. In preaching we move people to do what they are listening to, and to this end there has to be a felt consciousness in the preacher of the truth of what he is saying. We have to bring our feelings into harmony with the stupendous nature of what we are saying. The men most used of God in their pulpits are those who know they had fallen far short of the wonder that should characterise the preaching.

C] The more he becomes part of his message then the more he forgets himself. What is the main feeling in the preacher? It should be love - to God and to man. It is the very opposite of self-centredness. Love seeks not her own. The needs of the people spoken to take over. We forget ourselves. A baptism of Holy Spirit love gives us a love for people.

Preaching Under the Influence of the Holy Spirit

There is a total insufficiency in ourselves or in anyone else in the world, so that we cannot preach without the Holy Spirit. I Cor 2:3 - is the key text, "And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling." God makes us weak and so enables us to become true preachers. Real authority always comes out of felt weakens, and then God uses us. The preacher is the last person to be praised. To be clapped when he had finished would have horrified him.

Bethan Lloyd-Jones once listed to some men speaking about her husband and she interjected, "No one will understand my husband who does not realise that he was first an evangelist and a man of prayer." MLJ loved the hymn of Oswald Allen, "Today thy mercy calls us..." especially these final lines:

When all things seem against us,
To drive us to despair,
We know one gate is open,
One ear will hear our prayer.

That is what he believed. His public pastoral prayer lifted many burdens long before the preaching began. He rested ultimately on the Holy Spirit being given to them that ask him. The real preacher is a mere voice sounding in the wilderness. MLJ was criticised for being too dogmatic and authoritarian. If we are preaching from God then that has to be delivered with faith and confidence that we knows what God is saying. You have to believe definite truths in order to be saved. Men have to know that they are condemned before they can be saved. There is the utter certainty of a preacher in what he is preaching. Paul says, "We have the same spirit of faith ... we also believe and we speak." That is the fundamental thing. We are going against all that the natural man believes.

MLJ's faith came out in what he preached, that man was under the wrath of God, depraved and lost. He preached this with absolute conviction, and he followed it up with the cross, week by week. That authority was given by the Holy Spirit. It influenced MLJ's whole way of looking at things. He was a man who stood alone for most of his life; one reason was that he was conscious that the problem with man was far deeper than people in the church were prepared to acknowledge They were thinking of 'communication to the modern man' etc. Lloyd-Jones believed that what we faced was not the problem of modern communication, but what was wrong in the church itself. One of the reasons that he did not take part in the big crusades was because there was something wrong in the churches themselves. He quietly stood aside, God having kept him in the way he did, and he preached evangelistically each Sunday.

The test of the presence of the Holy Spirit's work is the presence of Christ himself in the assembly and known by the congregation. A maid worked in a church manse, where there was great anticipation for the coming visit of a powerful preacher, Mr Cook. One maid was not enthusiastic, and she told the butcher she was fed up: "With all this fuss, you would think Jesus Christ himself was coming." Mr Cook did preach and as she heard him, something happened in her life. The butcher said to her with a grin on the following Tuesday, "Did Jesus Christ come?" "Yes, he did come," she said seriously.

William Williams of Pantycelyn said, "Love is the greatest thing in religion, and without it religion is nothing." MLJ often quoted those words. Love has to lead the way. He thought the people were not ready to hear extended series of systematic expository sermons for the first 20 years he was in the ministry. The needs of the people were paramount because love is in our hearts.

-- Iain Murray


HT: Mack Tomlinson

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Disappointment

"Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed."
Romans 9:33; Romans 10:11; 1 Peter 2:6; Isaiah 28:16 ("disturbed")

The sheer number of times this verse is quoted should signal that something important is being said. Disappointment is a sure sign of misplaced hope. The person who can say with the hymnwriter...

My hope is built on nothing less,
Than Jesus blood and righteousness

...is a person who can never be disappointed. His ultimate hope is far out of reach from all circumstances.

The Bottom Line: Self Deception - Mark LaCour

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Of all forms of deception, self-deception is the most deadly, and of all deceived persons the self-deceived are the least likely to discover the fraud. When a man is deceived by another he is deceived against his will -- temporarily the victim of the other's guile. Since he expects his foe to take advantage of him he is watchful and quick to suspect trickery. Under such circumstances it is possible to be deceived sometimes and for a short while, but because the victim is resisting he may break out of the trap and escape before too long.

With the self-deceived it is quite different. He is his own enemy and is working a fraud upon himself. He wants to believe the lie and is psychologically conditioned to do so. He does not resist the deceit but collaborates with it against himself. There is no struggle, because the victim surrenders before the fight begins. He enjoys being deceived. The deeply religious man is far more vulnerable than the easygoing fellow who takes his religion lightly. This latter may be deceived but he is not likely to be self-deceived. (A.W. Tozer)

Self-deception evidences itself in two ways: An overestimation of self-worth and an underestimation of God's revelation. This type of pride and disrespect sets the stage for every other lie to gain a foothold -- regardless of the level of education, culture, or training. But not only that, if persisted in, God simply gives the self-deceived over to what they need least and want most -- more deception (Rom. 1:22ff.; 2 Thess. 2:11).

Bowing to God's word in humility is not only the first step in salvation, but the first step toward sanity (Eccl. 9:3). Right thinking always starts with God. Hell is full of people who start with their own opinion and worth: "Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, 'We see,' your sin remains." (Jn. 9:41).

-Mark Lacour

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Rising From the Dust - C. H. Spurgeon

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“When a believer has fallen into a low, sad state of feeling, he often tries to lift himself out of it by chastening himself with dark and doleful fears. Such is not the way to rise from the dust, but to continue in it. As well chain the eagle’s wing to make it mount, as doubt in order to increase our grace. It is not the law, but the gospel which saves the seeking soul at first; and it is not a legal bondage, but gospel liberty which can restore the fainting believer afterwards. Slavish fear brings not back the backslider to God, but the sweet wooings of love allure him to Jesus’ bosom.”

- Charles Spurgeon, Morning & Evening, November 6

HT: Of First Importance

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Preaching with Power, Part 1 - Iain Murray

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Preaching with Power- Part 1

During the Second World War, a Scotsman who was in the service and was visiting London, went to Westminster Chapel. But the Chapel was closed, damaged by bombing, but on a piece of paper posted as a note, visitors were directed to a nearby hall. The visitor described a 'thin man' wearing a tie calling the people to worship. He thought the man was a church officer, and he appreciated his prayer, but then the man began to preach, beginning quietly enough. "This must be Martyn Lloyd-Jones," he thought. But for the next 40 minutes, he was unconscious of anything else in the world, hearing only this man's words. He had been caught up in the mystery of preaching. This man later became a well-known Church of Scotland minister named Tom Allen.

When he left that service, Tom Allen was taken up with the message, not the preacher. Lloyd-Jones (MLJ) would have thought little of conference addresses like this one about himself. He thought messages about contemporary men had done great injury, especially during the Victorian period. With man-centredness being the terrible bane of today's church, there is a danger in drawing attention to personalities. MLJ would quote the words of God, "My servant Moses is dead so arise and go over Jordan." He prevented several would-be biographers from writing anything, and reluctantly consented to an official biography, if only something could be written which would encourage those who were entering the gospel ministry.

MLJ believed that God was the God of tomorrow who would raise up servants who would enjoy blessings that he himself had not known. Frequently when he prayed it was particularly for a recovery of authority and power in preaching.

One must add another observation, that preaching was not MLJ's exclusive concern. He was concerned with the church fellowship, prayer meetings, and the promotion of foreign missionaries, but he was convinced that the spiritual health of the church depended on the state of the pulpit. On behalf of Christ, the true preacher speaks and the Lord himself is building his church in his sovereign way. So MLJ was conscious of what he spoke of as the romance of preaching. The preacher is but an instrument in the Lord's hands: the preacher is not in control. Preaching is the highest and most glorious calling to which anyone could be called.

So when we come to the subject of authority in preaching, there are a number of ways this could be addressed. The New Testament terminology on this theme should be studied, e.g. that 'Jesus spoke with authority', the phrase 'the word came with power', and the word 'boldness' which is surprisingly frequent in the NT.

The characteristics of preaching with power:

1. It always is attended by a consciousness of the presence of God.

Though a worshipper may be meeting in the midst of a large congregation of people, when the preaching is with authority, the individual forgets the person he has come with and the building they are sitting in, and even the one who is preaching. He is conscious that he is being spoken to by the living God. Thus it was in Acts 2. A remarkable illustration of this is the spiritualist woman in Sandfields in Wales, drawn to hear MLJ and was conscious that she was surrounded by 'clean' power. For the first time she was conscious she was in the presence of God. Thomas Hooker had such a sense of God about him that it was said that he could have put a king in his pocket.

2. There is no problem of holding the attention of the people.

It is a problem to keep people's attention. The preacher has his chain of thought, and all the people also may have theirs which are all very different so that they are taking in very little from the preaching. But authoritative preaching gets inside people because it speaks to the heart, conscience and will. Skillful oratory cannot come anywhere near to that preaching. True preaching made a moral and emotional earthquake in those who heard the word at Thessalonica. The well-remembered ship builder who built ships in his mind during Sundays' sermon could not lay the first plank when he was listening to George Whitefield preach. Conviction of sin and the reality of the living God became far more important to him than his business.

One Friday night in his series of lectures on theology, MLJ was preaching from Revelation on the final judgment on Babylon. Anyone listening to that exultant message would have found it impossible to have been occupied with any other subject; the great reality was such that awareness of anything else disappeared. The very date of that occasion was accurately quoted, easily memorable to the speaker because the next day he was getting married, but all thoughts of that were gone as he saw the overthrow of great Babylon.

3. Even children can understand it.

There is a mistake in thinking that preaching is chiefly to address the intellect, and thus the will. Rather preaching is to address the heart and soul of men and women. Preaching which accomplishes that can arrest a child as easily as a grown-up. Children did listen to MLJ because of the character of the preaching and the sense of God about it.

4. It is preaching that results in a change in those who listen.

It may be repentance; it may be restoration, or reconciliation; it may be strength given for those in the midst of trials, but powerful preaching always brings some real change. Sometimes they went away indignant and some of them were later converted. You cannot be apathetic under true preaching. Felix trembled. There was no certainty of conversions, but there was a degree of certainty that there will be power in that preaching. In Mrs. Bethan Lloyd-Jones' book on Sandfields, there is a reference to a professor of law at Liverpool who said that there were two men who kept the country from communism - Aneurin Bevan and Martyn Lloyd-Jones. His preaching affected communities. On November 15, 1967, he was preaching in Aberfan a year after a local disaster. His text was Romans 8:18: "the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory to be revealed in us." It had a great impact on the perplexed little religious community in the Taff valley.

to be continued

-- Iain Murray


HT: Mack Tomlinson

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Integrity and Wisdom

For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity.
Proverbs 2:6-7

Quite a thought - God doesn't give wisdom based on how many books you've read, degrees you've attained, or how many people you know. God gives wisdom based on whether or not you walk with integrity. That let's us know where we should put our emphasis.

Redeem the Time!

"The average person who used Facebook in each of the last 12 months has spent 70 hours 26 minutes on the site during that period." (Taken from here)

Get off Facebook and memorize the book of Romans!

What Muslims Think of America

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What Muslims Think of America

A Saudi-raised Pastor offers an insider's perspective

At 4.55 am, the minaret loudspeaker blared outside my window. I was in Damascus, visiting relatives, and hundreds of mosques all over the city were calling Muslims to the first of five daily prayers. Faithful Muslims weave these into their everyday lives. If they forget their duties in the midst of the details of life, muezzins from minarets throughout the Muslim world cry "Allahu akbar" ("God is great") at the appointed times to bring them back to this most basic of religious tasks.

Throughout the Middle East and in much of North Africa and lower Asia, Islam dominates the religious, cultural, and political landscape. While Islam is not monolithic, many in the Muslim world, particularly in the Mideast, see the U.S. as the stronghold of the "infidels," who refuse to bow to Allah (the God whom Muslims believe rules over all creation), and who therefore must be opposed or even destroyed.

Where does this intense antipathy come from? Radical Muslims in Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq, Iran, Indonesia, and elsewhere regularly chant, "Death to America! Death to the Great Satan!" Some of this is posturing for CNN, but the fact that such chanting can take place indicates the brewing of a storm for which America is the tallest lightning rod. Why?

1. First, devout Muslims see the US as exporting immorality. The international marketing of our movies and TV programs paints a lurid picture of American life for the Third World. Viewers get their ideas of American life from The Dukes of Hazzard, Dallas and Baywatch, so they assume that illicit sex, fast cars, guns, and intrigue are the norm here.

2. Second, Muslims see the United States' foreign policy as a political puppet of Israel and American Jews. They see in our government's positions over the past 50 years a blind support of a nation that most Muslims view as the cause of untold suffering among Arabs throughout the Middle East. A Syrian cousin of mine pointed to all the "Jewish-sounding" names in Cabinet-level and Congressional positions and declared, "The United States is in the pocket of the Jews"

3. Third, the American heart seems to Arabs to have an anti-Arab bias in both foreign policy and human rights issues. Muslims point to the cries of the Palestinians, not just over their displacement from their homeland, but over the ongoing oppression and violence they see them suffer under the rule of Israeli authorities. It is American planes, they say, that bomb their villages, and American helicopters that fire missiles into their apartment buildings, and American bulldozers that knock down their settlements, and American bullets that shatter their children's skulls. One of my Syrian cousins declared to me with undeniable passion, "If I could go to occupied Palestine [Israel] and fight against the oppressors and give my life to help liberate Palestine, I would count it a privilege. I would count it an honor!"

4. Fourth, Muslims (especially non-Western ones) view the USA as a Christian nation, and so a powerful rival to their faith; Though we know there is no such thing as a Christian nation since God has not called us to a kingdom of this world, the Muslim mind cannot conceive of religion apart from political realities. For Islam the kingdom of Allah must in the end become the unrivaled kingdom of this world.

In many quarters of the world, there is a sense of jealousy among Muslims as they look at the military strength of America across the globe, the standard of living and technological advantages of our society - the freedoms and pioneering spirit - that characterize our way of life. American influence in the world translates for some Muslims into Christian advances into Muslim territory, which cannot be tolerated. Even worse is American military presence in Saudi Arabia, the cradle of Islam and home of its holiest shrines.

5. Finally Islam is committed to the complete subjugation of the entire world to Allah. Though there is not consensus among Muslims concerning the use of force to advance Islam, there is unanimity concerning three fundamental principles: Islam is the one true religion, meant to be accepted universally; its ultimate goal is the establishment of a one-world theocracy where the laws of Islam (Sharia) become the laws of all societies; and all human beings will one day be either converted to Islam, subjugated under Muslim rule, or eliminated by the sword.

The term jihad, often translated "holy war" leads Americans to ask, "Is such violence sanctioned by Islam?" There is an intense debate in the Muslim world over how Islam's enemies are to be conquered. Moderates claim terrorism has no place in Islam and point to a verse in the Quran that says, "There is no compulsion in religion." But fundamentalists point to numerous texts in the Quran where Muhammad as Allah's spokesman commands his followers to fight and subdue all who resist Islam, if necessary by killing them.

What leads Muslim men to volunteer for death, even young men with all their lives before them? Islam offers no certain hope of heaven to any of its adherents, with one exception. Those who die while fighting in a jihad are promised immediate access to Paradise, the highest level of heaven with the greatest sensual delights imaginable.

For those trapped in a religious system where you can never be sure you have done enough good to please God eternally, and whose lives amid poverty, oppression, and despair do not guarantee much of an earthly future, the assurance of a reward of eternal hedonism is undeniably attractive. Add to this the high tribute in the minds of the faithful left behind and the thought of being an underdog who in the name of Allah does grave damage to the Great Satan, and you have a recipe for conflagration.

How should Christians respond? Confidence and Love are the first two words that come to mind. Paul reminds us in 2 Tim 1:7, "God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." Jesus said that to live by the sword is to die by the sword. His followers are to love enemies and pray for those who engage in persecution.

Since our futures are secure in God's hand because of the finished work of Jesus Christ, we are not to fear those who threaten us, nor seek to destroy them. Rather, we are to approach them with the same love by which Jesus first approached and won us to Himself.

In the end, it is not a question of what Muslims think of America, or of Christians. It is much more a matter of what Christians think of Muslims. Will we extend them Christ's love, the only real hope for peace and transformation, or will we turn away in fear or anger? The future is not in the hands either of Muslim terrorists or of Muslim moderates. It is in the hands of Jesus Christ, and He still calls the church to meet the world with grace and love. The next months and years will show whether we are listening.

-- MATEEN A. ELASS

HT: Mack T

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Bringing Our Children to the Lord - Charles Leiter

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This message is a definite "must hear" for any parents, or future parents.

"Examples in Scripture to encourage us to bring our children and loved ones to the Lord. Mark 5:22-24, 35-43; Mark 9:14-29; John 4:46-53; Matthew 15:21-28; Luke 7:11-17"

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Flames of Love to Christ - Thomas Brooks

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(Thomas Brooks, "The Golden Key to Open Hidden Treasures")

Oh, the infinite love of Christ--that He should leave His Father's bosom, and come down from heaven--that He might carry you up to heaven; that He who was a Son should take upon Him the form of a servant:
that you slaves--should be made sons;
that you enemies--should be made friends;
that you heirs of wrath--should be made heirs of God!

To save us from everlasting ruin, Christ was willing to be made flesh, to be tempted, deserted, persecuted, and to die upon a cruel cross! Oh what flames of love to Christ, should these things kindle in all our hearts!

HT: Grace Gems

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Prayer and the Christian Life

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
John 14:12-13

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. John 15:7-8

To me these are two of the most amazing statements in the Upper Room discourse. In the former, we are told that believers will do greater works than Christ. In the latter, we are told that God wants us to bear lots and lots of fruit. Much could be said about these verses - especially 15:8. Having misunderstood the last clause in Romans 12:3, some have the idea that God predetermines at the beginning of one's Christian life how much faith a person will have to press on in Christlikeness. While a proper reading of Romans 12:3 in it's context would clear the air, John 15:8 will suffice - God's desire for you is that you go a VERY long way in the Christian life!

But actually the thing I want to note about the two passages above is how close prayer is tied in to these statements. The "greater works" of 14:12 happen through the asking of 14:13. Additionally, the multiplied fruit-bearing of 15:8 comes through the prayers of a person who abides in the words of Christ.

Just another reminder that "at all times [we] ought to pray and not to lose heart." (Luke 18:1)

The Unrivaled Sovereignty of Christ

Jesus said to him, "If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? John 21:22

It's a comfort to remember that the sole factor which ultimately determines what happens in the life of every believer is what Jesus "wants".

ML-J and Baptism in the Holy Spirit

Taken from a review of Messenger of Grace at Reformation 21

I must also say that I would have to side with John Stott over against ML-J on baptism with the Spirit and I wonder whether ML-J's concern for the third element in his understanding of the foundations of assurance wasn't problematic as well. Clearly the risen Lord's pouring out of his Holy Spirit on the church at Pentecost was closely and organically connected with his work in life, death, resurrection and ascension. In other words, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is part of that series of events connected with our Lord's life and ministry that cannot be repeated and ought not to be expected to be replicated in the individual life of the Christian.

The problem, of course, with this conclusion is the post-Pentecost baptism in the Spirit that is noted in Acts 11:15-17.

For further helps in study see Charles Leiter's introductory article on Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Additionally, I would encourage you to listen to his sermon series on the subject, which may be found here.

Background to the "Shocking Youth Message" - Paul Washer

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“When Jesus was persecuted, when people said bad things about Jesus, they were always wrong. When people make critiques of me they are not always wrong. We are men, we are weak, we are failing. I just want people to know that when someone says something about me that is not very positive, they may be right. And I want them to know that I know that they may be right, and it breaks me, and I do want to be more exact; I do want to be more Holy.”

HT: Matt Haney

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What is the Glory of God? - John Piper

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What Is the Glory of God?

The glory of God is the holiness of God put on display. That is, it is the infinite worth of God made manifest. Notice how Isaiah shifts from “holy” to “glory”: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” (Isaiah 6:3). When the holiness of God fills the earth for people to see, it is called glory.

The basic meaning of holy is “separated” from the common. Thus, when you carry that definition all the way to the infinite “separation” of God from all that is common, the effect is to make him the infinite “one of a kind”—like the rarest and most perfect diamond in the world. Only there are no other diamond-gods. God’s uniqueness as the only God—his God-ness—makes him infinitely valuable, that is, holy.

The most common meaning for God’s glory in the Bible assumes that this infinite value has entered created experience. It has, as it were, shined. God’s glory is the radiance of his holiness. It is the out-streaming of his infinite value. And when it streams out, it is seen as beautiful and great. It has both infinite quality and infinite magnitude. So we may define the glory of God as the beauty and greatness of God’s manifold perfections.

I say “manifold perfections” because specific aspects of God’s being are said to have glory. For example: “the glory of his grace” (Ephesians 1:6) and “the glory of his might” (2 Thessalonians 1:9). God himself is glorious because he is the perfect unity of all his manifold and glorious perfections.

But this definition must be qualified. The Bible also speaks of God’s glory before it is revealed in creation. For example, Jesus prays, “Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed” (John 17:5). So I would suggest a definition something like this: God’s glory is the outward radiance of the intrinsic beauty and greatness of his manifold perfections.

I am aware that words are poor pointers here. I have replaced one inadequate word with two others: glory with beauty and greatness. But we must try. God has revealed himself to us in words like “the glory of God.” And he does not want them to be meaningless.

We must constantly remind ourselves that we are speaking of a glory that is ultimately beyond created comparison. “The glory of God” is the way you designate the infinite beauty and the infinite greatness of the Person who was there before anything else was there. In other words, it is the beauty and the greatness that exists without origin, without comparison, without analogy, without being judged or assessed by any external criterion. It is the all-defining absolute original of greatness and beauty. All created greatness and beauty comes from it, and points to it, but does not comprehensively or adequately reproduce it.

“The glory of God” is a way of saying that there is objective, absolute reality to which all human admiration, wonder, awe, veneration, praise, honor, acclaim, and worship is pointing. We were made to find our deepest pleasure in admiring what is infinitely admirable, that is, the glory of God. The glory of God is not the psychological projection of human longing onto reality. On the contrary, inconsolable human longing is the evidence that we were made for God’s glory.

How Central Is the Glory of God in the Bible?

The glory of God is the goal of all things. “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). All things were created for God’s glory (Isaiah 43:6-7).

The great mission of the church is to declare God’s glory among the nations. “Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!” (Psalms 96:1-3; Ezekiel 39:21; Isaiah 66:18-19).

What Is Our Hope? Seeing the Glory of God

Seeing the glory of God is our ultimate hope. “We rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:2). God will “present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy” (Jude 24). He will “make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory” (Romans 9:23). “He calls you into his own kingdom and glory” (1 Thessalonians 2:12). “Our blessed hope [is] the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).

Jesus, in all his person and work, is the incarnation and ultimate revelation of the glory of God. “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Hebrews 1:3). “Father, I desire that they . . . may be with me where I am, to see my glory” (John 17:24).

What Is Our Hope? Sharing in the Glory of God

“So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed” (1 Peter 5:1). “The creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). “We impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory” (1 Corinthians 2:7).“This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17). “Those whom he justified he also glorified” (Romans 8:30).

Summary

Seeing and sharing in God’s glory is our ultimate hope through the gospel of Christ. Hope that is really known and treasured has a huge and decisive effect on our present values and choices and actions. Get to know the glory of God. Study the glory of God, the glory of Christ, the glory of the world that reveals the glory of God, the glory of the gospel that reveals the glory of Christ. Treasure the glory of God above all things.

Study your soul. Know the glory you are seduced by, and know why you treasure glories that are not God’s glory. Study your own soul to know how to make the glories of the world collapse like Dagon (1 Samuel 5:4) into pitiful pieces on the floor of the world’s temples.

-- John Piper


HT: Mack T

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