Unexpected Confirmation

In addition to pastoring a new church start up, I also teach a men's group on Monday evening. This group is made up of men from different churches. Last fall we had a man attend that we all know and who is now back on staff at a local church. This particular church is the "hot church" in Midland and really focuses on being new and not your grandmother's church. During the session that evening I made the comment that it was not the job of the church to make people feel good about themselves. Well, you could see this man stiffen up immediately, and he began to make some comments to counteract what I had said. As you might guess, he did not come back.

Personally, I don't believe that the church/pastor is supposed to make people feel better about themselves, I believe that it is the church's/pastor's job to speak the truth and have the people see the truth about themselves and about God.

This morning I came across something that J.I. Packer wrote and it is good to see that someone as astute and respected as Jim Packer sees things the same way. He wrote....for the substitute product does not answer the ends for which the authentic gospel has in past days proved itself so mighty. The new gospel conspicuously fails to produce deep reverence, deep repentance, deep humility, a spirit of worship, a concern for the church. Why? We would suggest that the reason lies in its own character and content. It fails to make men God-centered in their thoughts and God-fearing in their hearts, because this is not primarily what it is trying to do. One way of stating the difference between it and the old gospel is to say that it is too exclusively concerned to be "helpful" to man--to bring peace, comfort, happiness, satisfaction--and too little concerned to glorify God. ...Whereas the chief aim of the old was to teach men to worship God, the concern of the new seems limited to making them feel better. The subject of the old gospel was God and His ways with men; the subject of the new is man and the help God gives him. There is a world of difference. The whole perspective and emphasis of gospel preaching has changed. ...part of the biblical gospel is now preached as if it were the whole of that gospel; and a half-truth masquerading as the whole truth becomes a complete untruth.

This was written in 1959. How prophetic for the American church today. If you have read Ian Murray's Evangelicalism Divided you can see how this played out in England in the middle of the 20th century and then jumped the pond to start the same cycle over here in the eighties. Where England is now spiritually is where the US will be shortly unless God intervenes. Will He? Let us be praying that He will.

Set Your Heart

"Set your heart on knowing God and He will reveal Himself through His word; set your heart on serving Him and you will not lack the opportunity to do so. But set your heart on nothing of spiritual consequence, and that is precisely what you will receive--nothing of spiritual consequence."

Sinclair Ferguson

"A Heart for God"

Page 125

A Prayer for Today

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised. He sits upon His throne in the midst of His holiness. Everything He does, He does in righteousness. Holy and awesome is He. There is none like You, O Lord! Purify my lips this day. Cleanse my heart, renew a steadfast spirit within me, and cause me to walk in faithfulness and truth. Open my eyes, the eyes of my spirit, to behold You in the splendor of Your righteousness, the glory of Your holiness, and the power of Your majesty; and leave me not the same, but more faithful to You, more trusting in You, more desirous of You, and enlarge me spiritually. Go with me this day in Your holiness, truth, and power. Amen, O Lord, Amen.

Reflections and Thanksgiving

There is a term that has fallen into disuse among Christians over the last couple of generations and it is "Divine providence." Divine providence is the term that was used to describe the hand of God in the affairs of everday life and the hand of God in the course of one's life. It pulled all of the seemingly random events, the decisions, the people, and their effect upon us and put them under the aegis of God. I believe that the church in general has lost this sense of God using and supervising all of these to bring about His desired purpose in our lives. Listen to what some of the Scriptures have to say about His Divine providence:

Psalm 37:23 The steps of a man are established by the Lord, and He delights in his way.
Proverbs 16:9 The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.
Proverbs 20:24 Man's steps are ordained by the Lord, how then can man understand his way?
Jeremiah 10:23 I know, O Lord, that a man's way is not in himself, nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps.
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.

We also see this played out in the lives of many people in the Bible. The most notable being Joseph, and listen to his response to his brothers years after they had sold him into slavery.
Genesis 50:21 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.

This was on my mind all weekend as I was in Dallas/Plano at the end of last week and drove by the place where I lived for the four and a half years we were there. I have been by our old home several times in the years since we have been in Midland, but this time really caused me to reflect upon all the things that happened during that short four and a half years we were there.

I was a brand-new Christian when we moved there in August of 1980, and even though I was looking to pursue a career in the corporate end of the insurance business, I had a strong sense in my spirit that moving to Dallas/Plano was God's desire for me. And it was, as the move was about much more than just my career in the insurance business as the Lord used that time to ground me in my faith, to set the foundation of where I am now spiritually, to teach me about Himself, to teach me about myself, and to chart the course of my life spiritually, personally, and professionally. When we left Dallas at the end of 1984 I was a much different person than when I arrived, much more mature, much wiser, spiritually grounded, and with the realization that I had so much further to go. This was all due to the Divine providence of God in orchestrating all the events and people that were part of my time in Dallas, and in His providence He moved us to Midland where the work He began in Dallas continues on.

In reflecting on all of this I was very overwhelmed and had to stop and give thanks to God for His Divine oversight of my life. His goodness and mercy to me, and His watchcare over me ,were so poignant in my spirit as to leave me breathless. God let me see with spiritual eyes what He was doing in my life and I am humbled beyond my ability to express it.

May God grant you that you would see with spiritual eyes His marvelous Divine providence in the affairs of your life, and that you would see with eyes of eternity His care for you.

A Prayer for Today

Glory be to the Lord, praise His matchless name! Glory to God in the highest, His will be done and His name be known over all the earth. The Lord alone is good, and He is good even to unkind and ungrateful men. Who are we Lord that You are mindful of us, and what have we done that Your thoughts toward us would be as numerous as Your wonders?

We are the recipients of Your bountiful grace. Help us not to be smug or take Your grace for granted, but to come before You with a thankful heart, one that rejoices in the bounty of Your goodness. For it is You that has givn us the power to make wealth. It is You who gives us daily our bread. It is You in whom we live, and move, and have our existence. Help us this day to look past ourselves to be vessels of Your grace and goodness.

Amen

Thought for the Day

If you want to live for Christ then you must live as Christ would live.

Peace and Unity

As believers we are to "Let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts," Colossians 3:15. So often we see this verse either ignored or misapplied, and it is because of a misunderstanding or a false assumption of what this peace is. So let's see if we can garner a better, a correct understanding of what the peace of Christ is and how it is manifested in our lives.

First off, this verse is in the middle of a section where Paul is talking about our common ground in Christ because He is all and is in all (3:11), and how this is manifested in our life in the church in how we treat and respond to one another in the body. So its primary application is for believers in the context of church life. So this peace of Christ is to rule, act as arbiter or umpire, in our dealings and interactions with other believers, especially those in our local body.

Secondly, what is this peace that Christ has, that is to be the umpire of our hearts, and how did we come to possess it? In John 14:27 Christ says, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you." So we see that it is Christ, Himself, that has given us His peace, and we have this peace because He has come and taken up residence in our heart; and we have become partakers of the divine nature (II Peter 1:4). The peace of Christ is the peace between Him and the Father. There was no enmity between the Father and the Son because Jesus always did the things that were pleasing to the Father (John 4:34, 5:30, 8:28-29, 8:42, 12:49, 14:10, 17:4, Matthew 3:17). Because of His perfect obedience to the Father there was unity and harmony between them with peace being the by-product of that unity and harmony. Christ had the same unity and harmony with the Father in His life here upon the earth that He had with the Father in eternity past. This is why Jesus could say, "I and the Father are One." (John 10:30, 17:11, 22-23). The body of Christ is to have and manifest the same unity and harmony within itself that exists between Christ and the Father (John 17:20-23).

Before salvation we were at enmity with God, we were His very enemies (Romans 5:10), but God reconciled us to Himself through His Son (Romans 5:10, II Corinthians 5:18-19). The Father and the Son were at perfect peace, so that, "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:29). So when we let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts it means that we are not to do anything that would disrupt our peace with our heavenly Father. Our peace with Him should guide our decision making and govern our responses. Within the context of this section of Colossians we see this worked out in our compassion, gentleness, kindness, humility, patience, forbearance, forgiveness, and love within the body of Christ. We have peace with God and one another as we practice these Christian graces mentioned here; and it should then be a part of our life so that, "As far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men." (Romans 12:18).

However, this peace, the peace of Christ, is not a peace at the expense of righteousness, or peace at the expense of the truth. It does not compromise righteousness or truth, but instead it is a peace at the expense of the self, at the expense of personal "rights", at the expense of personal desires, at the expense of personal comfort. It is a peace at the expense of personal ambitions, personal glory, at the expense of personal achievements, or personal recognition. It is peace because we have given up ourselves, and is part of taking up our cross daily and following after (living in like manner) Him, who gave up Himself.

So, first, be sure that you are at peace with God through faith in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Then pray a prayer of thanksgiving to God for establishing peace with you, His enemy, and reconciling you to Himself through the blood of the cross. Now live a life of peace with God through how you live your life with others in the body, and in the world; but not at the expense of righteousness or the truth.

A Few Quotes to Think About

I am reading through David Wells' latest book, The Courage to be Protestant. It is one of those books that is a must read for anyone who loves the church, and offers penetrating insight into our American culture and its affect upon evangelical church culture. I am going to quote several lines from this book that I think are worthy of giving some thought.

"By speaking about faith in terms that are familiar in our world of self-fulfillment, self-esteem, and the whole many-sided self movement, the gospel suddenly is on the cutting edge of where-we-are. By assuming access to God that is as swift and certain as the swipe of a credit card, a spiritual purchase without waiting, the gospel makes itself appealing to consumers. They are getting it when they want and how they want it. By speaking of the gospel in terms not of truth but of feelings, evangelicals of this stripe guarantee for them selves instant success. Feelings are easy to arouse while thought is hard and slow."

"The self-movement is all about feeling good about ourselves, not about being good. It is therapeutic, not moral."

"Evangelical faith, which has lamely followed along this cultural path, has lost its integrity in the world."

"The problem is that study after study over the last four decades has been unable to show any correlation between low self-esteem and all the social maladies that have supposedly followed it."

"The language of sin is not a part of the way people think of themselves."

"The majesty of God's forgiveness is lost entirely when we lose what has to be forgiven."

"When we miss the biblical teaching, we also miss the nature of God's grace in all its height and depth."

"The glory of Christian faith is the grace that has bridged the chasm sin has created, the heights and depths of God's saving love expressed in the person of Christ."

These are some good things to think about as we consider the state of the church in our land.

Milestone

We passed a milestone this last weekend. In the eternal scheme of things it probably wouldn't even be a blip on the radar, but it is a milestone for us none the less. This last Sunday we finished our first year as a church as we began Grace Covenant Church on the third Sunday of June 2007. There are many things that have gone through my mind over the last couple of days, but foremost would be the gratitude I have to the Lord for calling me and giving me the privilege of serving Him in this way. Along with the gratitude is also a sense of awe that people came, and are still coming, in spite of me also leading the singing for most of this last year. The Lord has brought some great people to be a part of this and I am blessed to be their pastor.

I wrestled with the Lord for almost a year before I finally accepted the fact that He was calling me to become a pastor. What were my excuses? 1. My age, as I was 55 at that time. 2. I am divorced and remarried. 3. No seminary degree or training. 4. Me? Why would the Lord be calling me? 5. I did not trust myself and wanted assurance that this was truly from the Lord. 6. I have been on the ground floor of two other church plants and never desired to be the pastor, and in both instances I knew my place was to be a teacher. But I could not deny the burden in my spirit and the desire of my heart. In fact, it was the change in my heart from not wanting to ever be a pastor, because of all the stuff that goes along with it, to having it be such a fervent desire that has been one of the confirmations that this indeed is a calling from the Lord; but it was the encouragement and admonishment from my wife, Angie, that finally got me off of high center and stepping out in faith.

In the four months leading up to us starting the church Angie and I talked often about the things involved with starting a church, and one of my comments to her was that we would be surprised at who would come and who would not, and I was right. We talked specifically to about 30 couples about what we felt the Lord was leading us to do, what the philosphy of ministry would be, and what the mission and purpose of the church would be. Some of them told us they were interested, some were non-commital, some were not interested, but when the first Sunday came only two couples that we had specifically talked to came and one of them had their nose in the air and left as soon as they could. However, we had others come that we did not specifically talk to and they have continued to come. We had a family join in October and another join last month, and the one who joined last month was an answer to everyone's prayer as he can play the guitar and has volunteered to lead the singing. We now have 14 adults, two teenagers, and seven children. Angie is teaching the children in the front bedroom and we are holding the worship service in our living room.

Where is the Lord leading us? Honestly, I am not sure. We are meeting in our home, but I don't consider us a house church nor want to be one. We have just incorporated and I will be applying for our tax exempt status soon. We are considering the pros and cons of affiliation or remaining independent. I did not start this with a vision or a grand plan, but with the desire to be obedient to what I knew the Lord was calling me to do and the prayer to the Lord to keep me faithful to the task He has assigned me; and Angie as my helpmate has accepted my calling as her calling.

The Lord is having us take it a week at a time, so my answer to several who have asked me what my vision is for this church has been, "The service this coming Sunday." We are working our way through Colossians. We started in Colossians last June and I will be preaching on Colossians 3:16-17 this coming Sunday.

Along the way, and even this last week, the Lord has been gracious to give me confirmations that this is what He has called and is continuing to call me to do. Along with the change of heart that I mentioned earlier has been a firm conviction in my own spirit that I am right where He wants me to be, a conviction that has never left even through the few times of disappointment. All the ways He has given me confirmation have reminded me of the Lord dealing with Elijah in I Kings 19:11-13 So He said, "Go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord." And behold, the Lord was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" God is indeed faithful and we are looking forward to the weeks and months ahead as He guides us, not through spectacular events, but through the gentle breeze of His Spirit and the confirmation of His word.

IRREVERENCE Part III

This irreverence in the American church is not just in the worship service, but pervades every area of Christian life. Recently my family and I were at Jason's Deli one evening when another family sat down next to us. One of the men was wearing a "religious" tee shirt, and thought, I'm quite sure, that he was providing a cool witness of his Christianity with its catchy wording, as if it is the catchy wording that provides the witness. I sat there with a mouth full of turkey croissant sandwich thinking, "This guy's not serious," and slowly shaking my head at the irreverence he was projecting, all the while he was probably thinking how cool his tee shirt is because of its hip phrasing that will witness to the unchurched, for why else would he wear it. The tee shirt said, "GETTING DOWN WITH THE MOST HIGH," and went on to quote Psalm 91:1 He who dwells in the shadow of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. And of course it had all the fancy graphics most of these tee shirts have. Can anyone seriously think for one minute that they or anyone one else can "get down" with God, the Most High? This tee shirt pictures God as some home boy you can hang out with, dance with, crack jokes and cruise the hood with. The irony of this is that because God is the Almighty, the One and only God, the Creator of Sustainer of all that exists, the One who holds our life breath and our ways in His hand, the One to whom the angels constantly cry, 'Holy, Holy, Holy,' He is not going to be getting down with us...at any time. This, to me was the same attitude that Nadab and Abihu had, and, as we have seen, God did not get down with them, but struck them down. Look at the reverence Jesus, His own Son and fully God as well, showed to Him during His life upon this earth. This tee shirt is indicative of the irreverent attitude towards God that if rife in the American church today. Where is the respect for God as God, and all that He is as God, in the church in our land today?

Another area in Christianity that smacks of irreverence is in the books and music. I am not going to get into all the issues with the music because that should be another post series, but just listen to the lyrics, compare them with the Scriptures, and see how much of what is passing off as worship and praise is veiled irreverence. The same can be said about books, and there are way too many to mention, but I will single out one because it is such a good example. It is John Eldredge's "Wild At Heart." It is one of the biggest pieces of heresy I have ever come across, and the heresy involves the very person of God and how He is presented in this book, and the presentation of God in this book is the height of irreverence as it portrays Him as just like sinful man.

Worship is not limited to our gathering on Sunday, but is to be lived out every day as we see in Romans 12:1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living an holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. So we see that our lives, therefore our lifestyle, should be one of worship. How does God say that we should worship Him? Psalm 2:11 Worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling. So our lifestyle, yes, our very life, should be one of reverence, filled with rejoicing and trembling. To revere is to honor, to show respect, to pay homage all because it is what is due. This is the kind of life we are to live before Him, Coram Deo, before His face. Our lifestyle should not spit in His face, ridicule Him, or present Him as less than He is or other than He is. In Romans Paul tells us to give honor to whom honor is due. Well, who is due more honor than our heavenly Father, our Great Redeemer, and our Friend. Read John 17 and see the honor, the respect, the homage the Son pays to the Father. Should we not do the same in every area of our life?

Judgement begins with the household of God. Let us examine ourselves and our own households for attitudes or displays of irreverence towards our God. Let us look at our own lifestyle, thoughts and attitudes. Let us come before God with reverence and awe and let all that we do reflect the high regard and esteem we hold for our wonderful Savior and our God.

IRREVERENCE Part II

You might be thinking to yourself, "Wait a minute, you are picking on the contemporary church crowd. What about the coat and tie traditional crowd?" Honestly, they can be just as guilty. Let's look at Isaiah 29:13 "Because this people draw near with their words and honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, and their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote." Wearing your Sunday best, repeating the liturgy, praying out of a prayer book, and singing three hymns accompanied by an organ does not make you reverent. Much of the contemporary movement was a reaction to the lifeless, heartless, traditional service where the reverence was ritualized, not internalized. Reverence begins in the heart and its attitude towards God, and at the heart of true worship is reverence towards God. Part of why we are to gather together is to corporately revere God; and in that corporate reverence is a testimony to the greatness of this God who commands such honor and respect.

You may think that this was really an Old Testament issue, and the New Testament God of grace and love is not so harsh and demanding. Read I Corinthians 11:17-34 about the Corinthians attitude and handling of the Lord's supper. Check out verses 27-32, "Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgement to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world." What was God's discipline upon members of this church (which so resembles the American church of today)? Many were weak, many were sick, and a number (obviously more than one) slept (were dead). Go read Acts five about God's dealings with Ananias and Sapphira. Would God do this today? Well, you might be familiar with the Waco pastor who, two years ago, was electrocuted in the baptistry in front of his congregation after leading them in a prayer saying, "Surprise me, Lord. "Let not many of you become teachers, for as such, you will incur a stricter judgement."

If you noticed in the section above where I quoted from I Corinthians, the Corinthians were so spiritually dull that Paul had to tell them that the reason some were sick, or weak, or dead was because of God's hand of discipline among them. They could not see it themselves. Take a step back and take a good look at your church. Could the same thing be happening there? Has it been happening and no one has been able to see it because of the spiritual shallowness of the congregation? Could this be going on in American churches and no one is noticing?

To be continued.

IRREVERENCE

We live in an irreverent society. In fact, it is in vogue to be irreverent, and in many cases the more irreverent, the better. What does it mean to be irreverent? Well, the dictionary defines the word irreverent as having or showing a lack of respect, and the thesaurus gives the word disrespectful as its synonym. We live in a time when it is hip, cool, and popular to be irreverent. However, if you examine irreverence closely, you will find at its heart is rebellion, and that is exactly what the heart of man is, rebellious. Unfortunately, like so many other things, this irreverence has made its way into the church bringing its rebellious heart along with it.

One of the culprits that has allowed this societal irreverence to make its way into the church has been the paradigm shift that has taken place over the last couple of decades in the place and purpose of the church. Where once the church was the place where believers gathered to corporately express their mutual praise, adoration, and thanksgiving, it has now become a place where unbelievers are enticed, entreated, and entertained. Where once the purpose of the church was to honor God, glorify God, and give witness to His majesty, its purpose now is to attract as many people as possible, by any means possible. Where once the focus was on God, His glory, and His holiness, the focus now is on the individual and his felt needs. In short, people no longer come to church for God, they come to church for themselves. The church has ceased to honor God and has chosen to honor man. It reminds me of Malachi 1:6 A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests who despise my name."

Think about it, be honest, and ask yourself these questions. Why do I go to church? For whom am I going to church? What is my motivation for going to church? Do I get disappointed if I don't get anything out of the music or the sermon? Am I focused on blessing God, being a blessing to others, or getting a blessing for myself? Am I disappointed if the music is not how I like it? Do I only like and appreciate the sermons if they make me feel better about myself or cover an area of self-improvement? Am I here to extol God, if not, then why am I here.? The church has become like Romans 1:21 where they know God, but do not honor Him as God.

Another area of irreverence in the church can be seen in the casual attitude and dress. You get the sense that people are telling God that He should, He must, and He will accept them as they are. Is this how you feel in your heart of hearts, that God should accept you like you are, without any concern of whether you are acceptable to God, whether your attitude is acceptable to God, whether your dress is acceptable to God, or whether your lifestyle is acceptable to God? Would you wear what you wear to church to a state dinner with the President? If not, why not? Would you tell the President he must accept you just like you are? So you hold the President in greater esteem than you do the God who gave His Son to secure your eternal salvation? What does this say about your attitude towards God? Listen to the words of God in Leviticus 10:3 after He slew Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, for approaching Him in a disrespectful way, "By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, and before all the people I will be honored." And what was Aaron's response to this as verse three ends? "And Aaron, therefore, kept silent."

When women wear tops to church that reveal their breasts or midriffs are they treating the Lord as holy? When they wear tops or pants that look like they are either sprayed on or shrink wrapped so that the whole contour of their front or backside is entirely visible leaving little to the imagination, are they doing so to honor the Lord, or to say, "Hey, look at me!" When husbands and fathers allow their wives and daughters to go to church dressed in such a manner are they honoring the Lord, or are they fearing their wives and daughters more than they fear the Lord? Isaiah 8:13 tells us, "It is the Lord of hosts whom you shall regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, and He shall be your dread." Men, what are you saying to the Lord when you come in to appear before Him dressed for the beach or the golf course? In the presence of the Lord is not a place to be "hot" or a place to chill out. By your demeanor, your attitude, or your dress are you regarding the Lord as holy? Are you showing Him the respect that is due Him, the Almighty God?

To be continued

A Prayer for May 12, 2008

Blessed be the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ; and God the Father--the God Most High--as Your throne is standing in the heavens and the train of Your robe fills the temple. Majestic in holiness, there is none like You. You, who have declared the end from the beginning, who dwells in unapproachable light, who is unmovable and unchangeable, and who knows all the stars by name. Before You all the nations are nothing in Your sight and are less than meaningless; yet, You humble Yourself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth; and choose to dwell with the contrite and lowly of Spirit, and incline Your ear to the prayers of Your children. Hear us this day, O Lord, give heed to our supplications, grant our requests, and attend our prayers for we do not know how to pray as we should; but in our weakness strengthen us, in our blindness give us sight, in our ignorance give us knowledge, and in our sin forgive us and grant us repentance and restore to us the joy of our salvation. Blessed be the Lord, now and forever more. Amen

Are You an Almost Christian

Bill Lawless has posted one of George Whitfields greatest sermons, "An Almost Christian" over at his blog, Reformed Lawless. You can link to it from here http://billsbible.blogspot.com

This is well worth reading.

Alone with God

Prayer is something in which we turn our backs upon everything else, excluding everything else, while, for the time being, we find ourselves face to face with God alone.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Alone with God and face to face with God. Maybe that is why we don't pray as often or as much as we should. Are you avoiding prayer because it is just you and God and it makes you uncomfortable or makes you feel vulnerable? Are you uncomfortable in the presence of God because you know you aren't walking in the light, as He Himself is in the light, and that the darkness of your sinful ways and thoughts will be exposed? Are you afraid of exposing the dark corners of your heart, or are you harboring a sin that you don't want to let go? Are you afraid of coming into the holiness of His presence and being confronted by His righteousness? Are you ashamed to come before Him because you know you should be spending time in prayer and you are not? Or is it a matter of rebellion because praying to God requires our acknowledgment of His superiority, our submission to His authority, and our subjection to His sovereignty? Is it that it is hard to justify taking time out of your busy schedule? Is it that you take your relationship with Him for granted until you need Him for something? Or, somehow, is it a little of all of the above.

Brethren, don't let your heart become hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. The nearness of our God, your God and my God, is our good (Psalm 73:28). His promise is that if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us, and that if we seek Him, He will let us find Him (James 4:8, Jeremiah 29:13); and His command is for us to seek His face (Amos 5:4, Psalm 27:8). Whatever you are holding on to that is hindering you from fully coming into His presence, let it go. Come as Jacob did, to wrestle with God until he received the blessing, and you will leave His presence changed and marked by God.

The Delusion of Pleasing Self

In listening to all the cries that the church must be relevant, new, cutting edge, abreast of all things modern to reach the current age, I wonder if those making such claims have bothered to look at the heart of man to see if it has changed in lo these many ages since the fall. From all the cries to contextualize you would think that somehow the heart has morphed, or been subjected to some evolutionary influence so that we must approach it differently than ever before. No, the heart has always been the same, wicked and desperately sick. Its main goal has always been to please itself at the expense of all else.

I ran across a poem by Charles Wesley written in the early 1700's that reveals the timeless self-absorption of the heart with all its vices. This poem is based upon I Timothy 5:6 "But she who gives herself to wanton pleasure is dead, even while she lives."

How hapless is th'applauded virgin's lot,

Her God forgetting, by her God forgot!

Stranger to truth, unknowing to obey,

In error nurs'd and disciplin'd to stray;

Swoln with self-will, and principled with pride,

Sense all her good, and passion all her guide:

Pleasure its tide, and flatt'ry lends it breath,

And smoothly waft her to eternal death!

A goddess here she sees her vot'ries meet,

Crowd to her shrine, and tremble at her feet;

She hears their vows, believes their life and death

Hangs on the wrath and mercy of her breath;

Supreme in fancied state she reigns her hour,

And glories in her plenitude of power.

Herself the only object worth her care,

Since all the kneeling world was made for her.

For her creation all its stores displays;

The silkworm's labour, and the diamond's blaze;

Air, earth, and sea conspire to tempt her taste,

And ransack'd Nature furnishes the feast.

Life's gaudiest pride attracts her willing eyes,

And balls, and theatres, and courts arise:

Italian songsters pant her ear to please,

Bid the first cries of infant reason cease,

Save her from thought, and lull her soul to peace.

Deep sunk the imprison'd soul remains,

Nor knows its fall from God, nor feels its chains;

Unconscious still, sleeps on in error's night,

Nor strives to rise, nor struggles into light:

Heaven-born in vain, degen'rate cleaves to earth,

(No pangs experienc'd of the second birth)

She only fallen, yet unwaken'd found,

While all th'enthrall'd creation groans around!

Father, deliver us from ourselves!

A Prayer for Today

Dearest Redeemer, make me humble, prepare me for Thy future mercies; and whenever Thou see me in danger of being exalted above measure, graciously send me a thorn in the flesh, so that Thy blessings may not prove my ruin.

It takes a humble person to pray a prayer like this, one who knows his own heart, his own sin, and his own proclivity to pride. No wonder God used him to fan the Great Awakening in America and England.

George Whitefield
From his journal, Thursday, November 29, 1739, at age 24.
Wilmington, Pa

A Thought for Today

"To live without a sense of God's particular Providence, is in effect, to live without God in the world."

George Whitefield
Monday, November 5, 1739
Philadelphia, Pa

Devotional Reading

My favorite form of devotional reading is just studying and meditating on a passage of Scripture. Many people enjoy and benefit from reading and meditating on the Psalms. However, there are times when it is good to have some variety in your devotionals and there are many books that would serve that purpose. Let me recommend a few in no particular order.

1. Tabletalk magazine. It is a monthly devotional magazine published by Ligonier Ministries. It gives an expositional treatise on a certain topic or section of Scripture. It also has articles that deal with the topic of the month. The articles are excellent and educational, and cover a good breadth of topics.

2. Awake my Heart. Written by J. Sidlow Baxter. It was originally published in 1960 and was republished in 1994. It is devotional readings for a year, and really it is more like a years worth of mini-sermons as it is expositional in nature. It offers wisdom, insight, and application.

3. George Whitefield's Journals. Published by Banner of Truth. This may seem like a strange book for devotional reading, but it is very personal, and reveals Whitefield's heart for Christ and his allegiance to the Word of God. It also reveals the working of God during the time of the Great awakening in England and America. It also is an inspiring example of faithfulness and trust; and most modern preachers should read it and be ashamed at how little we preach and at the shallowness of our knowledge of the Scriptures.

4. Gems from Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Written by Tony Sargent. It is a collection of quotations from the sermons of one of the great biblical minds and preachers of the twentieth century. It is arranged topically and covers a plethora of topics. It is robust, full of wisdom, and prompts you to think.

5. Pulpit Magazine. This is the online magazine of John MacArthur's ministry. It has daily articles, which are usually excerpts from John's sermons, but occasionally they have guest authors contribute articles. Of course, since these are excerpts from John's sermons they are expositional, but they are arranged around different topics. The comments are usually interesting and it is a way you can interact with the article.

The key thing about devotional time is that you need to take the time to think about and pray about what you are reading. Don't approach it as something to be done or as a task to be accomplished, but consider how what you are reading applies to your life and take it to heart.

An additional thought...three of the above books were written by English "chaps". There are two countries that I have had a particular burden for, and that is England and the former Soviet bloc. I have been blessed to preach and teach twelve times in the Ukraine, and once in Siberia. I have asked the Lord to let me do the same in England. Who knows how He will answer that prayer.

A Prayer for the Day

O Lord, It is not just that apart from You I can do nothing, it is apart from You I have nothing, apart from You I have no life, apart from You I am dead. You are life-inYou is life-the life that is the light of all men. I am undone without You. It is You that is my Rock, my Shield, my Fortress, my Deliverer, my Strong Tower, my Stronghold, my Very Present Help, my Dread Champion, my Shepherd, my soul's Guardian, my Intecessor, my Advocate, my Savior, my Wisdom, my Sanctifier, my Redeemer, my Reconciler, my Propitator, my Hope, my Standard, my Goal, my High Priest, my Expiator, my Ruler, my King, my Lord, my Encourager, my Comforter, my Consoler, my Joy, my Security, my Sustainer, my Great Reward, my Life, my Song, my Peace, and my God. May Your name be exalted in me today. May Your name be exalted in Your church today. This day may Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, starting with me. Come Lord Jesus and subdue Your enemies under Your feet, and rule and reign forever. AMEN

A Final Word to a Common Word

Bill Lawless from Impact Midland interviewed Brian Fairchild and me at the Shepherd's Conference last week. The interview was our response to A Common Word. You can listen at http://www.impactmidland.com/

Audio

A couple of months ago I was interviewed by Bill Lawless at Impact Midland, and then last week we had a discussion concerning worship in the church. You can listen to both at
http://www.impactmidland.com.

Irrelevant Preaching

To be relevant or having relevancy means having a signifcant and demonstrable bearing on the matter at hand. So being culturally relevant is really no more that staying current with the times. This is what so many pastors are striving for in their preaching....to be relevant. They are seeking to stay current with what is going on in our American culture, and the topics they preach on reflect this. Take, for example, the Atlanta pastor who is currently preaching a two month series of Green sermons. That's right, two months on Christian responsiblity and the enviroment. With all of the buzz about global warming you can't get more current, more relevant than that, or can you? Look at other sermon series that are being preached such as marriage and the family, handling stress, how to be a good friend, how to stay positive in a negative world, how to handle your finances, how to raise your children, sex and sexuality, how to handle conflict, forgiveness, depression, and the list goes on. I wish I were exaggerating on these topics, but unforturnately, I am not.

You might say, but, Morris, all of theses topics are current, they are today, they are relevant to the world in which we live. Isn't it therefore good for the people to hear what the Bible says about them? Can't we use them to draw those who need to hear the gospel? Well, think about it for a second....maybe longer. Is the Gospel about your sex life, is it about your marriage and your family, is it about enabling you to handle stress? I admit that the topics I have mentioned are issues that we all encounter, and the Bible does get around to addressing them. But what is the point of Scripture? Is the point of Scripture our being a better dad or mom, a better husband or wife, a better person, our feeling better about ourselves, or our responsibility as stewards of the planet God gave us to rule over? Is it about the gratification of our fleshy desires or our infatuation with the immediate? Or is it about God in Christ reconciling the world to Himself through the cross, and then about us becoming more like Christ, being conformed to His image?

If you really think about it and give it some thoughtful meditation, to what, ultimately, must the church be relevant? Isn't it eternity? The current culture is temporal and fleeting, and even though our bodies will eventually wear out, our inner man, the real us, is eternal, is being renewed day by day, and will exist long after this world and all it contains is burned up. Did we not step into eternity the moment we were conceived? Is not our eternal state the real matter at hand? So then if we are preaching to be relevant to today's culture, to be current with the times, and are ignoring the preparation of souls for eternity, which is the real time in which we shall always live, isn't that the height of irrelevant preaching?

The great pastor, who is still a pastor to pastors, the apostle Paul, distills for us the essentials of an eternally relevant ministry in Colossians 1:28-29. Listen to his words, "We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we might present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me." When we proclaim Christ and are admonishing and teaching every man so that they will become more like Christ, that is the epitome of relevant preaching. Why? Because it is Christ against whom we will ultimately be measured. He is the standard because He is the one who fulfilled all righteousness, He perfectly kept the law, He was absolute in His obedience. He is the one by which we are measured when we stand before God in preparation for our eternal state.

If we are becoming more like Christ then we will automatically be a better person, a better spouse, a better parent; and be more patient, kind, joyful, self-disciplined, loving, faithful, and good because He is all of these and more. So relevant preaching will always seek to lead the hearer to greater Christlikeness by having Christ at the center and Christ as the goal.

So, my friends, are you preaching to be culturally relevant or are you preaching to be eternally relevant? Are you sitting under preaching that puts a band-aid on your itch, or are you sitting under preaching that heals and prepares your soul for eternity? Let's recognize the true time in which we live, and move, and have our existence....eternity, and let us seek to be relevant to the eternal culture, God's culture.

The Deep Love of Jesus

In looking for some music to play for the time prior to the start of our church service I ran across a CD on Rhapsody that really blessed me. It is Sacred Space-The Songs of Penny Rodriguez. Many of the arrangements are modernized, but without taking away the classical richness of these great songs. I have included a link to one of my favorite songs, The Deep Deep Love of Jesus. It was written in 1890 by Samuel Francis and was recently popularized by Selah on their Hiding Place CD. Sacred Space has great arrangement of this song and captures all of its richness. Let the words speak to your mind and wash over your soul as it takes you before His throne.

The Deep Love of Jesus: "1. The Deep Love of Jesus - Penny Rodriguez "

Joining the Church

In late May of 2001 I was in Kiev, Ukraine teaching at St. James Bible College. I had taught at the school numerous times since 1994 and had developed a close friendship with one of my former students, Igor Lemischuk, who was now a pastor in Kiev. When I was in Kiev Igor always asked me to preach at his church and this time was no exception. Before the service started Igor took me aside and pointed to a group of young men, probably early twenties to early thirties, and explained that they had been coming for some time and that he had met with them on several occasions and explained the gospel and Christianity to them. He then asked me to finish my sermon with a strong call to repentance as he felt that is what they needed to hear. This fit in well with the sermon I had planned as I was preaching on I Thessalonians chapter one, and verses nine and ten paint a great picture of the turning from, the turning to, and the serving that encompasses the fullness of repenting. So I did just as Igor asked and finished up the sermon with a call to repentance following the pattern laid out in those verses. As I finished the sermon I handed the microphone to Igor.

Even though I had preached at his church several times I don't remember ever having seen him do an altar call. When he grasped the microphone he immediately asked for those who wished to repent in the manner I had described to come forward and meet with him. Four young men came to meet with him. As we sang songs for the next ten minutes or so I could see him talking to each of the young men. Now here is where it gets interesting! When the music ended he had the four young men stand and face the audience and told us that they had come down to repent and turn their lives over to God. Then for the next ten to fifteen minutes he proceeded to address these young men about what it meant to become a Christian, what it cost to become a Christian, what was required of them in coming to Christ, what they would be giving up, the sacrifices and sufferings that would be theirs because of their new found faith. He went on to tell them that true repentance meant that their lifestyle would change and they would not be living the same way any longer if their faith was genuine. He told them that their new found faith would be put to the test to see if it was genuine. He explained to them that their friends and even family would ridicule them and ostracize them because of their faith. He told them that they were not just joining a church, but were joining themselves to Christ. He said that true repentance was not just a decision, but entailed a commitment, and was about seeking to please God and not themselves any longer. He finished with asking them individually if they understood what he had said, and then told them if they were not ready to make this commitment or were unsure about it to say so now and return to the audience. All four young men stayed there and affirmed their commitment for all to see and hear.

Thanksgiving of 2005 Igor stayed with us for five days and I was delighted to share the hospitiality with him that he given me on so many occasions. I asked him if those four young men were still attending his church and how they were doing spiritually. He told me that all four were still attending and serving the Lord.

What would happen in the churches in our country if we handled people who want to join the church the way Igor did these young men? When someone makes a profession of faith or wants to know how to become a Christian are we telling them what it really takes? In our rush to get people to make a decision, to get them to join the church are we leaving something out? Are we adequately explaining to people the cost of discipleship? Are we telling people it is not just a decision, but a commitment; not something tried on like a shoe, or tried out like a test ride? Is the church in America too scared of running people off that it has watered down or left out the cost of discipleship?

In fact, I believe the American church's obsession with numbers and growth prevent it from telling people anything that will upset them or turn them away. In John 6:41-69 we see Jesus explaining the commitment required to be a true disciple of His. At this many of the disciples said, "This is a difficult (hard) statement; who can listen to it?" To which Jesus replied, "Does this cause you to stumble?" And we see that as a result of this many of His disciples were not walking with Him anymore. In Mark 10:17-27 we have the story of the rich young man who asked Jesus what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. Even though Jesus felt a love for this man He told him what he must give up to have eternal life. The young man was saddened and went away grieving. In both instances Jesus spoke the truth, not harshly, but plainly, and let the people walk away who would not accept the truth. In Luke 14:25-35 we see Jesus explaining the heavy cost it will take to be His disciple, and then uses two examples of counting the cost before making the committment. Is this not the pattern we should be following?

I am afraid that the church in America has bought into and is preaching a false gospel. It is a gospel without a cross. In the American gospel both the cross that Christ bore, and the cross that his true disciples are to daily bear is missing. Without the cross of Christ the gospel is emptied of its saving power. Without the cross we are to bear the gospel is denied its claim on our life. Would it be that more preachers would be like my friend Igor and not be afraid to tell people the cost of becoming a true disciple of the Lord.

Fact Collectors

Are you a collector? Do you collect antiques, dolls, comic books, depression glass, animal trophies, or.....you name it? Do you set your collectables up on a shelf, or do you have a display case, or a special storage unit to house them? Do you show your collection off to friends and family? Is your collection something you take pride in? Have you become informed or developed a level of expertise regarding what you collect, and can you talk about it until the cows come home? Is what is on display not just your collection, but your knowledge of it as well? Is this how you treat the Bible, the Sacred Scriputres, the living Word of the living God? Are you a fact collector, a Biblical fact collector?

You may say, "But, Morris, aren't we all? Isn't that why we study the Bible, listen to the pastor, read blogs, go to conferences, etc.?" To which I would answer, "No, not really." For the goal for us in our learning of the Scriptures ought not to be knowledge for the sake of accumulation, but knowledge for the sake of assimilation. We should want what we know about the Scriptures to become part of the fabric of our person, to be a part of who we are and what we are, not a collection of facts gathering dust in the shelf of our minds.

Many people are just like the Athenians in Acts seventeen...always in search of something new. New truth, new knowledge, instead of becoming a morsel to be looked at, chewed on, and ingested, becomes a nugget to hoard and stash away, so that hearer can go and find another new fact to add to the collection. These people are also like the ones we see in II Timothy 4:3 who accumulate teachers in a heap. As soon as they are through milking all the new nuggets of knowledge from the current one he is thrown on the heap and they are off to the next.

What is your view toward Biblical knowledge? Is it something to be accumulated or something to be assimilated? Is knowledge for the sake of knowledge what you are pursuing, or are you pursuing knowledge because you are pursuing Him? In Hosea 4:6 God says His people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, but then tells us in 6:3 to press on, to press on to know the Lord. So it wasn't religious facts that they needed, but knowledge of the Holy One, Himself. Peter tells us in II Peter 1:3 "His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence." So we really shouldn't even seek knowledge for the sake of transformation, but seek knowledge for the purpose of growing and deepening our relationship with Him, out of which our transformation occurs.

So, let us not be fact collectors, but seekers of Him who promises to reward those who diligently seek to know Him with the knowledge of Himself, which then becomes something in which we truly have a reason to boast.

Between Two Worlds: Timothy George on John Owen's "Communion with the Triune God"

Between Two Worlds: Timothy George on John Owen's "Communion with the Triune God"

Music in the Worship Service

Another book I am currently reading is on being a missional church (the term missional being the topic for another post). In reading through the book one of the author's quoted in the book was saying how much freedom we have to be creative in the music portion of the worship service (yes, I call it the music portion because the whole service is a worship service). It sparked the question in my mind as to how much freedom do we really have? Are there some guidelines that need be, must be followed in order for the music to be acceptable to God and spiritually effective for the people? I do believe that the regulative principle of worship gives us the guidelines of what is acceptable to God so what I am going to do is share what I believe makes it spiritually effective for the people. These are the questions that I ask of the music portion of the worship service. These questions apply whether you are participating in a traditional service or one that is considered contemporary.

Is it reverent? Does it create an atmosphere of reverence. The elements of reverence being:

Holiness
Respect
Awe
Transcendence
Majesty
Humility
Submission

Does it take us up to God or does it bring God down to us? Is it

God focused
God honoring
God exalting
God glorifying--defined as that which gives an accurate representation
of who God is, His nature and character?

Is it Scripturally true and accurate?

Does it present and teach right theology?

Does it add to and enhance our understanding and appreciation of God and Christ?

Does it spiritually inspire, not a rock concert high, but does it feed the
soul by engaging the mind, thereby taking the people to a higher and
deeper place than themselves?

Does it prepare the mind and heart, does it open them up to receive the
word that will be preached?

Does it minister to the people?

Does it teach?
Does it admonish?
Does it exhort?
Does it encourage?
Does it enlarge?
Does it take them to the throne of God?
Do they experience the presence of God as
part of the corporate communion?

Is it able to be sung congregationally?

Is it balanced through Psalms, Hymns, and spiritual songs?

Is it worship driven and ministry driven versus performance driven?

Does the instrumentation overpower the singing?

Is it transcendent versus being temporal?

Does it make people spectators rather than participants?

Does it occupy its proper place in the service, not as the focus of the service?

Between Two Worlds: Get First Things First

Between Two Worlds: Get First Things First

A Few Thoughts on the SBC

From my view point there seems to be four main camps in the SBC right now. Camp #1 is the Traditionalists--those that have been Southern Baptist and were a major part of the resurgence. Camp #2 is the New Traditionalists--those who have been Southern Baptist and were involved in the resurgence, but were not the movers and shakers; and those who have come on since the resurgence. Camp #3 is the Disenfranchised--This is made up of those who were against the resurgence and are still in the SBC, and those who are newer and are questioning the value of remaining in the SBC. Camp #4 is the Evangelical Southern Baptist--those who see value in the SBC, but are also connected and involved in the larger evangelical arena.

Camp #1 seems very interested on keeping the status quo it has achieved as a result of the resurgence. This group is starting to be defined more by what they are against than what they are for, which is the leading edge of fundamentalism. This usually leads to behavior based on fear.

Camp #2 seems very interested in keeping things Southern Baptist and keeping the tent large for the purpose of missions cooperation. They put a high value on local church autonomy and cooperation. However, when the tent gets too large it can start falling in on itself. This is potentially a problem in an age where individualism is valued over cooperation. In addition there is always the problem of having to accomodate for the sake of cooperation.

Camp #3 seems interested in doing their own thing. Those that were against the resurgence are mostly ignoring the goings on in the SBC and have their own niche within the SBC. Many of those who are new are resentful of being left out and disregarded. The remainder of the new group are feeling that the SBC has nothing to offer them. As a result many are looking to other groups to associate with like the Willow Creek Association, etc.

Camp #4 seems interested in getting the SBC to reevaluate itself in light of theology and church practice. They see value in the SBC in the areas of missions and seminary education, but also think the SBC should be doing some healthy self evaluation.

The struggle/battle, if you will, in the SBC right now is between camps one and two. Camp three doesn't care and will pursue doing its own thing. Camp four wants some changes made and is concerned with the health and future of the convention. There seem to be many things going on in the SBC right now and in my opinion we will see more tumultuous days ahead and the SBC will go through a shake out, a pruning if you will. In fact, I think that the pruning process has already started and is needful for us to bear more fruit.

We do need to reexamine ourselves, our values, our common ground, our procedures, our expectations, what holds us together, what defines us as Southern Baptists. There is too much disunity, and distrust for the SBC to continue on as it has been. As a result I think we will see a smaller, leaner, more focused, and therefore, more effective SBC. I believe that those who are involved in the denominational goings on know this is happening and that things will be brought to a head sooner than they think.

The State of Evangelicalism and Preaching

The post is titled this way because the two are inextricably linked for as preaching goes so goes the church. After attending conferences, reading blogs and books, and listening to CDs you see the lamentable shape the church of Christ is in. However, I am neither pessimistic or optimistic about the current or future condition of the church. Looking back at the history of Israel and the history of the church the true believers have never been in the majority or ever been a major minority.

Looking back to the early church, the time of the reformation, the time of the Puritans and the great awakening (which many consider the golden age of the church) you see that false teaching abounded, persecution was common and often severe, but the church, though small, was strong, vibrant, and influential. What stands out about the church during these times is the quality of its preaching/teaching. The early church of course had the apostles, Timothy, Apollos, Epaphras, Stephen, Phillip, and Barnabas, but then came along men like Augustine, Chrysostom, and Clement. Then we had the reformation with Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli (and John Hus, the John the Baptist to Luther). In the Puritan age there are almost too many to mention, but we see John Owen, John Flavel, Jonathan Edwards, Richard Baxter, and Cotton Mather. Throughout these times we had the well-known, the less-known, and the unknown who were faithfully proclaiming the word of truth, truthfully.

I see the same thing today. In the crumbling of evangelicalism here in our country I believe we are seeing the purging of the church that will reveal the true church. We have many outstanding preachers that are well-known such as John McArthur, John Piper, R. C. Sproul, and Albert Mohler. We have less-known such as Philip Ryken, Sinclair Ferguson, Stephen Lawless, Mark Dever, and Ligon Duncan, and then we have the host of unknown, many of whom are entering the blogosphere. Much like the previously mentioned times we live in an age of pervasive false teaching and attacks from both within and outside of the church, and in this I find a strange comfort as I see that there is nothing new under the sun. As evangelicalism crumbles we will see the true church that is led by faithful preachers from the well-known to the unknown holding their ground, holding their doctrine, proclaiming the grace of their God and the power of His Christ. Paul says in I Corinthians 11:19 "For there must also be factions (hairesis-a divergent opinion or belief, from which we get our word heresy) among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you." Really, we should thank God for what is going on in evangelicalism in our land as it will separate and make obvious those among us who hold to and proclaim the truth and those who do not. Those who do not hold to the truth will no longer be hidden among us as reefs in our love feast, but will be made manifest for who they are and there will be a separation, a parsing if you will, of both the true and the false, the sheep and the goats.

In Philip Ryken's series "City on a Hill" (available through the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals) he talks about our time being a post-christian time. I believe he is right, but I also believe that our post-christian time is not any different than the pre-christian time of the early church. Small in number but large in faith, benign in the things of the world but bold in its confession, these men and women were those that turned the world upside down. I see in our present time well-known and lesser-known men who are standing firm for the pure truth of the word and proclaiming it as such, and I see many of us, the unknowns, who are in agreement with them, doing the same thing. While those who hold to the truth and the way of the truth are small in number compared to the whole of evangelicalism, God has always seemed pleased to work through small numbers to bring glory to Himself.

The Object of Our Faith--Colossians 1:4a

This is the first sermon of my series on The Measure of a Church.

If we are to measure the church and therefore its people by faith, hope, and love, it is important to understand what faith is and what is to be its object. For faith, by its very nature, cannot exist by itself, but must have an object to rest upon. Faith must have a target to aim at, a bulls eye to fix itself upon. So let's see what faith is for us as a people of God and then what the object of this faith is to be so that we can be truly saved.

Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is the assurance of things hoped for the conviction of things not seen. Martin Luther describes faith as a living, daring confidence in God's grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times. The Greek word for faith is pistis and means a firm persuasion, a strong conviction, a belief in the truth. It is not the outcome of imagination, but is based on fact. It is a strong and welcome conviction that leaves no room for doubt. It is to be fully and completely persuaded beyond a shadow of any doubt.

Colossians 1:4a Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus...

Before we get to the object of our faith, Christ Jesus, it is interesting to note what Paul did not include as the object of our faith. It is not faith in our faith, faith in a prayer we prayed or a decision we made, because this would be having faith in ourselves. It is not faith in walking the aisle, faith in our baptism, our tithing, or the good things we do, for that would be having faith in our works or faith in our obedience. Which, again, is nothing more than having faith in ourselves.

Here Paul gives us only one object for our faith to rest upon, that is Christ Jesus. There is a dual component to having faith in Christ. It is having faith in the person of Christ, which is represented by His name and having faith in the work of Christ, which is what He did to accomplish our salvation.

What is in a name? Well, in this case quite a lot. The name Jesus means Jehovah is salvation, God is salvation, or Savior. The name Christ is the Greek word for Messiah, the anointed One, King of Israel. To be anointed was to be appointed or set apart for a specific task or duty. So in the very name of Christ Himself we see that He was the appointed One, the One set apart to achieve our salvation. Let's see how this is pictured in the Scriptures.

Acts 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call his name Immanuel (God with us).

Matthew 1:20-21...the angel appeared to Joseph and said, 21...She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.

Luke 2:11 (When the angels appeared to the sheppards) For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

John 1:41 (Andrew) He found first his own brother Simon and said to Him, "We have found the Messiah" (Which translated means Christ).

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

John 6:69 We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.

John 8:24...for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.

John 10:30 I and the Father are one.

John 20:31...but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

Acts 10:43 Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.

I Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.

Matthew 16:13-16, 13...Who do people say that I am? 15...But who do you say that I am? 16. Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

So the question for us today is not any different. Who do you believe that Christ is, and who do you say that He is?

Okay, what did Christ do to accomplish our salvation? What work did Christ finish to make our salvation complete? Again, let's take a look at what the Scriptures have to say. For to understand His work is to understand why He took on flesh and came to earth.

Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. (Hmm, notice who the seeker is here. Compare this with John 4:23 and Romans 3:10-11. It shoots a big hole in the notion behind all the seeker churches.)

I Corinthians 15;3-8, 3. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4. and that he was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5-8 then He appeared....

II Corinthians 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

Hebrews 7:26-27 For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; 27. who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because He did once for all when He offered up Himself.

Hebrews 9:11-12 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; 12. and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, he entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

Hebrews 10:10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Hebrews 10:12 But He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God.

Hebrews 10:14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.

Hebrews 7:25 Therefore He is able also to save forever those who drew near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

Hebrews 5:9 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.

Hebrews 12:2 Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

Wow, think about all that we have seen here. Isn't God good to base our faith on facts, truth, real events that transpired in real time around a real person. God did not decree that our faith should be based on whims or notions or meditations. He did not leave it up to each person to find their own path to heaven or to figure out how to have eternal security. God Himself has done everything necessary for our salvation in and through Christ, and that is why it is necessary for us to believe in Him and Him alone for our eternal salvation.

Lets' consider some of the facts behind other Scriptures:

Matthew was written by a disciple who walked with Jesus, an eyewitness.
John was written by a disciple, an eyewitness who laid on Jesus bosom, and beheld His glory as the only begotten of the Father.
Mark was discipled by Peter, a disciple and eyewitness.
Luke traveled with Paul and interviewed eyewitnesses.
In I John, John talks about what we beheld and our hands handled.
In II Peter, Peter says, "We were eyewitnesses to His majesty."
James was written by Jesus brother who was an eye witness to His resurrection.
Paul saw the resurrected Christ and was taken up into the third heaven.

We have the infinite and eternal God who broke into time and space by becoming flesh and blood. He lived a real life, died a real death, was raised and ascended to heaven--all real events that happened in real time with eyewitnesses. God did not leave us with fables, or tales, or our own vain imaginings, but provided a real person and a real work upon which our faith can rest; and by which we have a sufficient security for our eternal state. To paraphrase A.W. Pink, the work of Christ did not make our salvation possible, it made it certain. The thing we must do then, according to John 6:29, is to believe in Christ whom God has sent.

So, my friend, are you trusting in His person and on His work for your eternal state? Do you believe the words of Scripture to be true? Is Christ Jesus alone the object of your faith? This is indeed the starting point and resting place for all those who are truly Christians!

The Direction of Our Love--Colossians 1:4b

As I mentioned in my last post the best way to measure a church is by the three eternal spiritual qualities mentioned by Paul in I Corinthians 13. They are faith, hope, and love. This post is from a sermon I recently preached on Colossians 1:4b which was the second in a series on the measure of a church.

In I Corinthans 13 Paul tells us that is faith, hope, and love that abide. These three spiritual qualities are mentioned in nearly every book in the New Testament, but of particular note there are only two churches that are singled out as reflecting all three of them, the church in Thessalonica and the one at Colossae.

In I Thessalonians 1:3 we see these qualities manifested in the work of their faith, the labor of their love, and the steadfastness of their hope; and in the rest of the letter to the Thessalonians you see these qualities reflected in the life and work of this exemplary church. Here in Colossians we see these attributes manifested in the object of their faith--Christ Jesus, the direction of their love--all the saints, and the place of their hope--in heaven. Remember that for these qualities to be present and manifested in a church they must be present and manifested in the lives of its people. So with this in mind I want to talk about the direction of the Colossians love, which is towards all the saints, and as it was for the church at Colossae, it should be for the church today.

So as we consider the direction of their love and therefore the direction of our love in the church today we want to look at four things:

1. What is this love they have?
2. Where does this love originate?
3. Why is this love directed towards all the saints?
4. How is this love manifested?

What is this love they have? Well, the Greek word for love used here is agape. It is one of four words the Greeks use for love. The four Greek words for love are storge, eros, phileo, and agape. Storge means natural affection, like the kind you automatically have for a pet (unless you are a pet tolerater like me), but better yet the natural affection the parent has for their child. Storge is not used in the New Testament except twice in its negative form in Romans 1:31 and II Timothy 3:3 to describe how far man has fallen without God. Eros, is a passionate, sensual, physical love. It is a love based on infatuation and sensual attraction. It is often used to describe romantic love. It is the kind of love portrayed in most of our music, television, and movies. Interestingly, it is never used in the Scriptures. Then there is phileo, brotherly love. Phileo is a warm and tender affection. It can be deep and intense. It is used to describe the love of those near and dear to one's heart. It is a love that cherishes. It is a love that is reciprocal in nature and a love that is shared. It is used throughout the New Testament. Finally, there is agape, the predominant word used for love in the New Testament. It is a love of the will and the mind. It is a love of choice and commitment. It is not devoid of emotion, but overrules and overrides emotion. It acts in spite of how one feels. It is a selfless love, an unselfish love, a sacrificial love. It is not motivated by the self, but by others. It loves even if the person who is the object of the love is undeserving, unworthy, and unloving in return. It puts what is best for the other person first and foremost. It is a love that compels one to action. It is used to describe the love of God, the love of Christ and how we are to love. This type of love was thought unattainable by the Greeks and is only used in Greek writing two or three times. Therefore what we see in the Scriptures is not "being in love," but the act of loving.

Where does this love originate? As you can see the Greeks were right in thinking this type of love was unattainable, from a human perspective. The heights this love operates in are unassailable for us mere mortals. So where do we go to find this love, where are the headwaters from whence this love flows? I John 4:7, 16 As we see in these two verses, God is love. Note that it does not say that God has love, or that God is a loving being, but that God is love. By saying that God is love John is saying that love is intrinsic to who God is, it is part of His nature, and is therefore inseparable from who He is, and, consequently, present in all that He does. Love is as much as part of Him as your eye color is of you. This love that is part and parcel of who God is, is agape. God is agape. This love of the will, of choice and commitment, this love that compels one to action, this love that is selfless, unselfish, and sacrificial, this love that loves despite the unloveliness of the object loved, that loves despite its unworthiness, in spite of the hatefulness it receives in return, this love that comes from a predetermined state of mind; this is the love that is part of the core of His being. This the the love that is described in I Corinthians 13 as patient, kind, never jealous, never bragging, is never arrogant, never acts unbecomingly, is never self seeking, is not provoked, never takes into account a wrong suffered, it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, and it never fails. This is the the love that God is.

This love is also the love that we are to direct toward all the saints, so how do we get this love? Let's look again at I John 4:7. We are to love (agape) one another, for love (agape) is from God and everyone who loves (agape) is born of God and knows God. So we see that agape is from God and only those that are born of God (born again) and know God have this kind of love. So this love, this agape, is not something that an unregenerate person, the unsaved person, the person that the Scriptures call a natural man possesses. It is unique to the believer. Now let's look look at Romans 5:5. Here we see that the love of God (not just any love, but God's love, agape) has been poured out within our heart through His Holy Spirit who was given to us. Poured out is in the perfect tense here which means that it is a completed event with continuing results or effects. So we see that God has given us His love, His agape, in our heart through His Holy Spirit who indwells us, and we received this love, the full amount of this love, the minute the Holy Spirit came and took up residence in our heart. Now let's look at Ephesians 3:17. This verse tells us that we are rooted and grounded in love, this agape. What a beautiful picture these words paint of our secure position in, and reservoir of, the love, the agape of God. We are fixed into and draw from the infinite love (agape) of God. This is where this love we are to have for all the saints originates and how we have come to posses it.

Why is this love directed toward the saints? Most of us who have been Christians for any length of time are familiar with the two greatest commandments in all of Scripture. The greatest is to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, and with all of your soul, and with all of your mind; and the second is like it, it is to love your neighbor as yourself. We all know that when Jesus came He fulfilled all of the law, so He fulfilled these two commandments. But what He also did was to raise the bar. John 13:34-35 Here Jesus gives a new command, and this command is to love (agapao) one another, which would be fellow believers ( the saints), not as ourselves, but as He has loved us. This is what John is referring to in I John 4:7 when he says "Beloved let us love one another, for love is from God." So we are to have the same love toward all the saints that Christ Jesus has for us. This is why Paul is commending the Colossian saints, for following the command of Christ to love one another as He has loved us. According to John 13:35 our love for all the saints will prove to all men that we are His disciples, His followers. If you think about what we have seen about agape, you can understand how this would be a witness to all men that we are His disciples, because only Christ or someone who has Christ living within them can love like this. We also see that this is a particular love; it is Christ's love, and His love for His own, being lived out through His saints for one another. This is a powerful witness to all men, both saved and unsaved, of the reality of the power and love of Christ. And when we follow His command to love one another we prove our love for Him as He said in John 14:15 "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments," and we know His commandments are not burdensome. Christ Jesus wants us to love one another as He loves us. He wants us, His own, to share and experience His love for us with and through each other. Oh, what a glorious thing this ought to be in the church, to never be without the love of Christ. What a wonderful provision He has given us to never be without His love. This is the reason behind the gifts and the gifted given to the church in Ephesians chapter four, to attain to the stature of the fullness of Christ, and in doing so the church will build itself up in love, agape, Christ's love.

How is this love manifested? When something is manifested it means that it is revealed. As believers we reveal the love of Christ in how we live it out, and from the context here in Colossians it is lived out in relation to other believers. Let's look at some practical examples from Scripture:

We are to be angry and yet, not sin.
We are to let no unwholesome word proceed from our mouth, but only that which edifies.
We are to let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and slander be put away from us.
We are to be kind to one another , tender-hearted, forgiving each other.
We are to bear one anothers' burdens.
We are to bear one anothers' weaknesses.
We are to be on the alert and pray for one another with all prayer and petition.
We are not to be arrogant toward one another.
We are not to be partial.
We are to treat each other the way we would want to be treated.
We are to please others instead of ourselves.
We are to defer to others by considering one another as more important than ourselves.
We are to do no wrong to one another.
We are to accept one another.
We are to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice.
We are not to be provoked.
We are not to act unbecomingly toward one another.
We are to be patient with one another.
We are to not to gossip about one another.
We are to consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds.
We are to provide for one anothers' needs.
We are to reconcile with one another.
We are to gently restore those who sin.
We are to be subject to one another.
Our love is to cover a multitude of sins against us and still keep on loving.
No matter how much and how well we love we are to excel still more.

This is the essence of love, the love and God and Christ, that has been given to us; the love in which we are rooted and by which we are grounded.

You know we hear so often today that we are to love ourselves or that we must learn to love ourselves. Some would even tell us that we must love ourselves before we can love others. This is the mantra behind all the self-help books and seminars. It is what under girds the new hot seller "The Secret" and unfortunately is what is being taught in so many churches. This is the eternal lie! It is what Satan was really telling Eve to do in the garden, and what Satan was tempting Christ to do in the wilderness. Isn't it interesting that there is not one place in Scripture that says God loves Himself, nor is there any place where we are told to love ourselves. If self love was that important to our well being don't you think that God would have told us, nay, would have commanded us to do just that? What Scripture says is that God loves us, that God loves His Son, that God so loved us that He gave His Son, His only Son whom He loved, for us; that we might have eternal life with Him and enjoy His presence forever. We are not commanded in Scripture to love ourselves, but to love God, to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, and to love one another as He has loved us. The focus of our love is to be on God and therefore on His saints, our brothers and sisters in Christ. My friends don't fall prey to the siren song of self love, but follow the command of Christ, and the example of Christ by loving one another as He has loved us. Greater love has no man than this, that He would lay down His life for His friends. My friends, my fellow saints, let us love like this today.