Where is God in Catastrophe?

This is the question we discussed in our Young Adult Tuesday night Bible Study. I will post the notes when I get them in a computer format. For now, check out these links:

This is John Piper's response to the bridge collapse in Minneapolis. Splendid! Consider how much your sin offends God and you will praise Him for His mercy.

Listen to the first hour of this radio show. Todd (the host) visits the U of M and asks students where God was during the collapse. He also discusses God's sovereignty over calamitous events with Mark Dever.

[Update] Sorry these are late, here are a few notes from our study together.
Have you pondered how much your sin angers God, yet because of His Son, you are given life anyway?

Romans 8:28 God works all things together...
He uses "tragedy" to bring about his purposes. He teaches us about the seriousness of sin, the fragility of life, His control over His creation, our helplessness in the world.

Four words in the Luke passage to consider:
Ye - Jesus isn't talking to one person but all people
repent - turn away from your sin, admitting that underneath you are corrupt, laying your sin on Christ, trusting your life to Him, hoping in His promises for the future.
likewise - death will sneak up on you and you will be surprised
perish - the context can't mean that we will simply die, or that we will die from a tower falling on us. Christ seems to be suggesting final judgment (reference John 3:16)

Because God is holy and righteous, it is good for Him to punish our sin. We see catastrophes as tragic, God sees it as right. It is only because of His mercy and grace that we get to take another breath. The amazing thing about these events is not that sinners died, but that the rest of us sinners, by God's mercy, are allowed to live.

After recognizing this great truth of the seriousness of sin and God's great mercy, it should drive us to our knees for God's salvation to come to more sinners.

The Parable of the Lost Son

Luke 15:11-32

• This is a story mainly of repentance and of God’s joy over a repentant sinner.

• Three Characters:

• Father – God
• Prodigal Son – Repentant Sinner
• Oldest Son – Self-righteous, Unrepentant Sinner (specifically in context a Pharisee)

• Context:

• Speaker – Jesus
• Audience – Tax Collectors, Sinners, Scribes, Pharisees
• Specifically Jesus was responding to the Pharisees’ accusation of Jesus hanging out with “sinners.”

1. Youngest son asks for his inheritance, essentially saying he wishes his father were dead. His only concern is himself, picturing the heart of the sinner before conversion.
2. He travels far off and spends his money on “Prodigal living” (Gr. dissolute, utterly debauched lifestyle). His heart is manifest in his depraved life of sinfulness.
3. When his squanders his entire inheritance, he gets a job feeding pigs (this is incredibly insulting to the Pharisees who know that the Law states swine are unclean animals. This is the bottom of the barrel for a Jew). He would gladly have eaten the pigs food (but couldn’t because it was not digestible by his system), and since nobody would help him out, Jesus is describing him in helpless despair; the place we must come to before God’s grace is poured out on us.
4. The youngest son decided to beg for mercy from his father, but his father instead ran to him joyfully, giving him the best robe, a ring, sandals, and killing the fatted calf for a celebration (See Luke 15:7 “more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents”).
1. Robe – reserved for guests of honor
2. Ring – symbol of authority
3. Sandals – restoration to sonship (slaves went barefoot)
4. Calf – saved for most special of occasions
5. Older son was angry and jealous of his father’s joy over his lost brother. This is a rebuke by Jesus of the Pharisees’ proud, self-righteous (as opposed to Christ’s righteousness) unrepentant hearts.
6. The father rebukes his older son telling him he has always had the blessings of his household but still cannot find joy in his repentant brother. Jesus was explaining to the Pharisees here that they were raised in the Old Covenant, under the blessings of God’s chosen people, but simply being in the household doesn’t make them children of God. If they were truly sons, they would be joyful over the restoration of repenting sinners.

Before I was truly converted, I always sympathized with the older son. I didn’t understand why he was rebuked for being faithful to his father the entire time and asking for a little recognition. When I finally understood my own helplessness and truly repented, I understood that the older son was just as sinful (proud, hateful, jealous, self-righteous, selfish) and I was just like him. I had grown up in church my entire life, having all the blessings of being in the family of God (like the older son), without actually being a child of God. What a beautiful story this has become to me, because of my previous confusion and how the Spirit has brilliantly illuminated the depth of meaning in this parable to me.

This is a great picture of what a conversion looks like; recognition of your utter helplessness, understanding the wealth of God available to you anyway, and turning your back on the old lifestyle coming to the Father for mercy. We must be careful adding interpretations to every detail of parables to try and prove a point. Jesus purpose in telling parables was simply to make a point within the context of the conversation with his audience at the time. Here the younger son simply portrays a sinner before and after conversion and the overwhelming joy of God in welcoming sinners to His home.

Consider your conversion story; does it parallel with Prodigal at all? Did you recognize how lost you were and ask God for mercy or have you always felt you were a pretty good person who deserves a few blessings from God? If your conversion was genuine and you truly repented, can you imagine the celebration going on in heaven when you called out to him and the party you will be welcomed to when you finally arrive in your eternal home? Oh, how I can’t wait to see everyone there and thank God for blessing me beyond belief when I don’t even deserve pig slop.

“’For this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.” Luke 15:24

You Must Be Born-Again

I encourage anyone reading this to get a much better sermon (with a lot better context) on this text from Pastor Kevin here: http://www.ebcrochester.org/misc/resources/sermons/2006-09-17%20-%20Kevin%20Binkley%20-%20The%20Wallop.mp3

John 3:1-21 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You have come from God {as} a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. "Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." Nicodemus said to Him, "How can these things be?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? "Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. "If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? "No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. "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. "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. "But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."

• Being “born-again” is not a separate category of Christianity. It isn’t an add-on to the Christian life. It is the beginning of the Christian life and is absolutely essential to your eternity.
• Being “born-again” is just as radical as being born the first time. At one point you didn’t exist, then you were physically born. Similarly, at one point you were spiritually dead, then you were born spiritually into God’s kingdom. You may not remember the exact time, but you should be able to look back and see a time when you weren’t living for God, then by a miracle of the Holy Spirit, you began to love everything about Him and His family (reading the Bible, more heartfelt, consistent prayer, enjoying church, singing praises and listening to sermons, and you began to grow immensely in the fruits of the Spirit).

Have you ever heard a testimony like this:

I gave my heart to Jesus as a child. Then I became involved in drugs, robbery, muggings, rape, murder, pornography, torture, gambling, money laundering, adultery, perjury, treason, extortion, and other things I’d rather not mention. I was filled with anger, hatred, and greed, but all the time I knew the Lord and gave my heart back to him when I was an adult.

Or a story like this:

There was a pastor of a large church who had a real heart for shepherding his people. One night there was a knock on the door from a guy who wanted council at 3:00 in the morning. But because of his heart, the pastor agreed to meet with him in the middle of the night. The pastor ran to his room to put some clothes on while the man waited in the living room. As the pastor entered the living room, the man attacked him with a machete so viciously that the pastor was barely recognizable, with blood everywhere. Later that week, when the neighborhood was discussing the event, it was discovered that the man went to another church nearby and the people were trying to figure out how a Christian could do such a thing to another Christian.

Points to ponder/discuss:

• What does someone who is born-again look like (how do they act)?
• Has this experience been evident in your life?

1. Nicodemus grew up in the Jewish culture. He knew the Scriptures inside and out. He was a very well respected teacher of the Law.
2. Jesus told Nicodemus that mere knowledge or lineage was not enough to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. You must be born-again.
3. Nicodemus knew it was impossible to be physically reborn, so he asked Jesus for clarification.
4. Jesus explains that you are born once of the flesh, but that you must also be born of the Spirit and it is a supernatural work of God. Imagine if someone showed up to Bible study an hour late and said, “Sorry I’m late everyone. I was in a bit of an accident. I was hit head on by an 18-wheeler.” You would say, “That’s impossible. There is no way someone can have an encounter like that with something that big and walk away unaffected.” More so, how can we walk away from an encounter with God and not be radically transformed?
5. Jesus explains to Nicodemus that God sent His Son to die for the sin of the world. Those who believe in Him will be saved. Those who don’t believe are condemned already. Believe is kind of a silly word these days. When people say they believe in God, they simply mean He exists. When people say they believe in another person, they mean they trust that person can accomplish something in their lives. Our belief in God should be that trust that He can accomplish the washing of our sinful hearts, and save us on the Day of Judgment. Imagine a parachute: it doesn’t do any good to believe the parachute exists, but you must trust in it by putting it on and staking your life on it.
6. There will be evidence of the transformation in love for the things of God (holiness, thirst for knowledge, compassion for the lost, intimate prayer).

What are the implications of this teaching from Christ? Is it possible for someone to go to heaven without this transformation of the heart? Does someone need to understand fully the concept of being “born-again” to actually be saved (i.e. Is it possible for a person to be “born-again” without knowing what happened?)? What should we see in a new convert, and what should we expect from them? How should we encourage them to grow in their profession of faith?

Is this what your Christian life has looked like? Are you growing in holiness and a love for Christ and His body? Do you welcome teaching and correction or do you justify your sin and get defensive at a rebuke?

Fellowship

1 John 1:1-10

New Testament fellowship isn’t getting together to eat, or watch television, or play badmitton. It should grow us in joy, power, ministry, vision, encouragement, and discipline.

Genesis 2:8 “It is not good for man to be alone.”

What is fellowship?
See VINES Complete Expository Dictionary
Partnership, Sharing in Common, Communion, Partaking

1 John 1:1-4 , 1 Corinthians 6:17 “He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit.” The goal of evangelism is to bring others into fellowship with Christ and His body. To be saved is to be in the fellowship. Despite all of our differences, we have one thing in common, we are all filthy sinners with nothing to offer God, but dying on the cross He paid for our sins and uses us anyway.

1 John 1:5-10 We can call ourselves Christian, but if we do not desire fellowship, Bible study, worship, discipleship, we are deceived and have not been born again.

What does fellowship look like?

Acts 1:14-15 Praying in upper room after Jesus has ascended. Luke 24:52 says these people spent time worshipping at the temple and praying in the upper room. They then would go out in public to preach the gospel.
Acts 2:1-2 3000 people were saved once as a result of these 120 people praying for ten days in the upper room
Acts 2:46 The 3000 new converts followed this example. The Lord added to their number day by day.
Acts 4:31 Peter and John arrested, get out of jail and then go to small gathering and prayed. The Spirit of God came and gave them power to speak the word with boldness.
Acts 13:2 Church leaders were gathered, worshipping and fasting, the Holy Spirit gave them a mission to reach Barnabas and Paul.
Acts 16:25 “Forced fellowship” Paul and Silas people in a dungeon singing hymns and praying, when the prison was miraculously opened. They chose to turn their crisis into a fellowship of praise.

James 5:16 “Confess your sins to one another” Be open and honest about your sins.
Forgive one another. Colossians 3:13 says, “Forbearing one another and forgiving one another.”
Bear one another’s burdens. Galatians 6:2, “Bear ye one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
Rebuke sin in one another. Ephesians 5:11 says “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather reprove them or rebuke them.”
Galatians 6:1 says, “If a brother be taken in a fault, restore such a one in love.”


“The neighborhood bar is probably the best counterfeit there is to the fellowship Christ wants to give his church. It’s an imitation dispensing liquor instead of grace, escape rather than reality, but it is a permissive, accepting and inclusive fellowship. It is also unshockable. It is Democratic. You can tell people’s secrets and they usually don’t tell others or even want to. The bar flourishes, not because most people are alcoholics but because God has put into the human heart the desire to know and be known, to love and be loved, and many seek a counterfeit at the price of a few beers.” - ? Larson

Aristides’ writing on Christianity in the second century wrote these words. He was an observer of Christians, he said. “They obtain from all impurity in the hope of the recompense that is to come in another world. As for their servants or handmaids or children, they persuade them to become Christians by the love they have for them. And when they become so, they call them without distinction brothers. They do not worship strange gods, and they walk in all humility and kindness, and falsehood is not found among them and they love one another. And when they see the stranger, they bring him to their homes and they rejoice over him as over a true brother for they do not call brothers those who are after the flesh but those who are in the Spirit and in God.

And there is among them a man that is poor and needy and if they have not an abundance of necessities, they will fast two or three days that they may supply the needy with his necessary food. And they observe scrupulously the commandment of their Messiah. They live honestly and soberly as the Lord their God commanded them. Every morning and all hours on account of the goodness of God toward them, they praise and laud Him and over their food and their drink they render him thanks.

And if any righteous person of their number passes away from this world, they rejoice and give thanks to God and they follow his body as though he were moving from one place to another. And when a child is born to any of them, they praise God. And if again it chances to die in its infancy, they praise God mightily as for one who has passed through the world without sins. Such is the law of the Christians and such is their conduct.”

From Evidence Not Seen by Darlene Deibler Rose (pg. 69) “That night and every night, we invited everyone to remain while we read a portion of God’s Word and prayed. We were united by a recognition of a mutual need from within for help from One Who is greater than we. We faced a common enemy from without, and if we were to survive we had to function as a unit. The interpersonal barriers of language, race, and color became nonexistent, and an ever-increasing appreciation of one another enabled us to face with courage the common plights of most prisoners of war: suffering, hunger, deprivations of every kind, forced labor, bombings, disease, psychological pressures, death, and lonely graves. People from other barracks often joined us during evening devotions. Throughout those very difficult years that tried our souls, God kept our barracks a calm center in the eye of the military storm that raged around us. There was a sharing, a concern, and a love that was unique. We struggled to preserve family feelings, to discover ways to lift morale, to encourage, comfort, and bear one another’s insupportable burdens. I am convinced the harmony we experienced in Barracks 8 was due to the spiritual shelter beneath which we all hid when there was no other refuge.”

We gather together as a fellowship in Christ, to have fellowship by praising God, teaching one another, rebuking, confessing, and forgiving sin, encouraging each other to grow in our faith, and spending time in prayer showing our reliance on God.

The result of fellowship “That your joy may be full.”

Pray that this group grows together in Christ that we may become more faithful believers, and we may encourage each other through necessary rebukes and positive affirmations. Pray that together we reach those who do not know salvation from sin in Christ, and that those who are simply Christians outwardly but have not been regenerated within become fully devoted followers of Christ. May God receive all the glory from what is accomplished here.

Resources:

EXPLOSIVE FELLOSHIP - John Piper
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/1990/724_Explosive_Fellowship/

TRUE FELLOWSHIP – John MacArthur
http://www.gty.org/resources.php?section=transcripts&aid=231746

Songs of a Lukewarm Church

I found this list online ( http://www.wayofthemaster.com/songofthelukewarm.shtml ) and found it both humorous and convicting.

12. It Is My Secret What God Can Do

11. Fill My Spoon, Lord

10. Oh, How I Like Jesus

9. He’s Quite a Bit to Me

8. Where He Leads Me, I Will Consider Following

7. What An Acquaintance We Have in Jesus

6. Take My Life and Let Me Be

5. Sit Up, Sit Up For Jesus

4. I’m Fairly Certain My Redeemer Lives

3. I Surrender Some

2. Pillow of Ages, Fluffed for Me

1. Blest Be the Tie That Doesn’t Cramp My Style

Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!...

‘Twas grace that caused my heart to fear,
and grace my fears reliev’d…

Amazing Grace, written in the 1770’s by an Englishman named John Newton, is one of the most recognized hymns in our society. It is played in movies, at memorials and funerals, and often shows up in a worship service. Most people know the tune and can sing a few words, but how many actually consider the depth of one of the greatest Christian songs of all time?

John Newton converted to Christianity after living the life of a slave trader. Upon realizing that his life was led in rebellion to God, and God offered him salvation despite his wickedness, Newton became a Christian and wrote the beautiful lyrics to this hymn, expressing his hatred of his old self and gratitude to his Savior. Because of the songs patent themes of redemption and freedom, it has even become a song of hope for non-Christians throughout the world.

The thing that amazes me most about the hymn is how many people today wouldn’t even describe themselves with the words they so blindly sing. What is this grace and what is so amazing about it? Does it make any sense to use this song in the way it has been applied so often?

In today’s Christianity, there is a popular trend to overemphasize and misunderstand the love of God. Listen to much of contemporary music produced by Christians and you will be flooded with stories of being in love with God, and God holding you close in His arms. The message seems to be that God will fill your greatest desires, whisper sweet things to you when your down, and is anxiously awaiting your arrival in Heaven. But Jesus in not a lovesick boyfriend waiting for you to accept Him so He can hug you. God is infinitely grander than the emotional butterflies we get from being smitten by the thought of another person. Do a quick study of the words “God loved” in the New Testament and you will find a very different picture of what God’s love for us entails (John 3:16, John 15:12,13, Romans 5:8, Galatians 2:20, Ephesians 2:3-5, Ephesians 5:2, 1 John 4:10). Every mention of God’s love for humans is in reference to the cross. This is the first step in understanding how Amazing the Grace is.

Look at the second line of the hymn Amazing Grace; “That saved a wretch like me.” How many people who have sung these words would actually consider themselves to be wretched? Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Would you agree with God’s assessment of your heart? Consider the fact that he knows every thought, and secret desire you have ever had. He sees every deed that you have done when you thought nobody was watching. God views lust as adultery, hatred as murder, and careless use of His holy name as a damnable offense. Before you are converted, everything you do (even those that appear to be good) is offensive to God (Isaiah 64:6), because it isn’t done for His glory. This is the way John Newton finally saw his own heart, and until you see this in your heart and come to the end of yourself looking for mercy, you won’t understand your need for God’s grace.

According to Scripture, God does not love us because we are lovable (because we’re not). God does not love us because we look sad and need a warm-fuzzy to brighten our day. 1 John 4:8 says, “God is love.” His character is so full of love that He pours out goodness on us even though we deserve His wrath so that He can be praised for eternity for being so kind to us. And the way He showed us He loves us is by the cross. Sending Jesus to live a perfect life, and die on the cross to pay the punishment for our sins and admitting wicked, wretched people like us into Heaven based on His perfection is the demonstration of His love. This is how John Newton understood God’s love and explains why His Grace is so Amazing.

A Word from God

Quickly, I just want to let everyone know that the Wednesday night classes are going great. I pray that more people get excited about becoming more devoted followers of Christ at Emmanuel by joining with other believers in growing together.

I was reading through my copy of Grudem's Systematic Theology today and was challenged by the Personal Application questions at the end of the Word of God chapter. They went as follows:

Do you think you would pay more attention if God spoke to you from heaven or through the voice of a living prophet than if he spoke to you from the written words of Scripture? Would you believe or obey such words more readily than you do Scripture? Do you think your present level of response to the written words of Scripture is an appropriate one? What positive steps can you take to make your attitude toward Scripture more like the kind of attitude God wants you to have?

As the leader of the evangelism class, I immediately applied this to our obedience to sharing the gospel. If God came to me personally (like He did to Moses and Jeremiah and Paul), do I think I would be more obedient to His commands? My first instinct is to say yes; but this is an inappropriate response. The Bible is no less authoritative than an audible voice from heaven or a personal exhortation from Christ. How much respect do you have for God's written word? Should it be higher in your life? Think about it.

May the Lamb that was slain
receive the reward for His suffering,
Adam Pohlman

Discipleship Classes Start Tonight

Just a reminder that the four new discipleship classes start tonight at 7:00 pm right after fellowship dinner at 6:00 pm. The options are:

Prayer Time with Kim Owens
Doctrine of God with Kevin Neff
Worldview Discussions with David Sandifer
Fishers of Men with Me

Please join us and look back to this blog site for testimonies from people that I will be posting. This will be a great encouragement for others to join us on Wednesday nights. Pray that God strengthens all believers at Emmanuel and brings more into the flock.

May the Lamb that was slain
receive the reward for His suffering,
Adam Pohlman