New Beginning

Each Sunday I would like to dedicate a little space to post a prayer from the compilation of Puritan prayers called "The Valley of Vision." These are some of the greatest prayers I have read and encourage me to pray for more than health and travel safety, but for things of eternal value.

INCOMPREHENSIBLE, GREAT AND CLORIOUS GOD,

adore thee and abase myself.
I approach thee mindful that I am less than nothing,
   a creature worse than nothing.
My thoughts are not screened from thy gaze.
My secret sins blaze in the light of thy countenance.
Enable me to remember that blood which cleanseth all sin,
   to believe in that grace which subdues all iniquities,
   to resign myself to that agency which can
      deliver me from the bondage of corruption
      into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.
Thou hast begun a good work in me
   and canst alone continue and complete it.
Give me an increasing conviction of my tendency to err,
   and of my exposure to sin.
Help me to feel more of the purifying, softening influence of religion,
   its compassion, love, pity, courtesy,
   and employ me as thy instrument in blessing others.
Give me to distinguish
   between the mere form of godliness and its power,
   between life and a name to live,
   between guile and truth,
   between hypocrisy and a religion that will bear thy eye.
If I am not right, set me right, keep me right;
And may I at last come to thy house in peace.

One Man's Trash...

Check out this article from Tim Challies. He talks about the show Antiques Roadshow where things that were apparently junk often are revealed to be great treasure. What an awesome picture of how we used to think of Jesus as unimportant and then God opens our eyes and reveals Him as the greatest treasure of all.

For a little extra conviction. Consider if you were on the show and found out that your junk was worth $1,000,000. Would that bring you to tears? Would you jump for joy? Would you run to tell everybody you know? What was your reaction when you realized that Christ is your infinite treasure? Or haven't you realized that yet?

Humiliation

Each Sunday I would like to dedicate a little space to post a prayer from the compilation of Puritan prayers called "The Valley of Vision." These are some of the greatest prayers I have read and encourage me to pray for more than health and travel safety, but for things of eternal value.

I also realize this is not Sunday and I have fallen behind on these so I am starting back up again.

hen clouds of darkness, atheism, and unbelief come to me,
I see thy purpose of love in withdrawing the Spirit that I might prize him more,
in chastening me for my confidence in past successes,
that my wound of secret godlessness might be cured.
Help me to humble myself before thee by seeing the vanity of honour
as a conceit of men’s minds,
as standing between me and thee;
by seeing that thy will must alone be done,
as much in denying as in giving spiritual enjoyments;
by seeing that my heart is nothing but evil,
mind, mouth, life void of thee;
by seeing that sin and Satan are allowed power in me that I might know my sin,
be humbled, and gain strength thereby;
by seeing that unbelief shuts thee from me,
so that I sense not thy majesty, power, mercy, or love.
Then possess me, for thou only art good and worthy.

Thou dost not play in convincing me of sin,
Satan did not play in tempting me to it,
I do not play when I sink in deep mire,
for sin is no game, no toy, no bauble;
Let me never forget that the heinousness of sin lies not so much in the nature of the sin committed,
as in the greatness of the Person sinned against.
When I am afraid of evils to come, comfort me by showing me that in myself I am a dying, condemned wretch,
but that in Christ I am reconciled, made alive, and satisfied;
that I am feeble and unable to do any good,
but that in him I can do all things;
that what I now have in Christ is mine in part,
but shortly I shall have it perfectly in heaven.

Standing in the Presence of God

Imagine you are out for a stroll through the park. The sun is shining, warming your skin to the perfect comfort. The leaves are rustling in the slight breeze. You notice the birds in the branches singing their songs and the squirrels chattering at you as you disrupt their hunt for acorns. The many colors of the leaves, grass, flowers, and birds blend together more perfectly than a rainbow. You can’t help but be thankful to God for providing such a beautiful place to enjoy His creation.

Then He suddenly appears face to face with you. When you think of God’s character, what attributes come to mind? What would you do when confronted by Him? What would you say? How you answer the questions will give you some insight into how highly you think of God and of yourself. A proper understanding of God’s Holiness and your own sinfulness drives you closer to the Savior and deeper into your calling.

The word holy is very difficult to define. Literally, it means to be separate. In Bible study, we once talked about what it means to be consecrated and we discussed it as being set aside for specific use. When we are saved, God makes us holy, cleansing us and making us different from the world to be used for His glory. Holiness encompasses all that is God: His purity, righteousness, goodness, love, and sovereignty. The depths of God’s holiness are so great that I could never cover them in such a short piece like this. I only want to mention a couple interesting points about the holiness of God and discuss how a few people in scripture react to His holiness (for deeper study on holiness check out The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul, Holiness by J.C. Ryle, and The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges).

Exodus 33:12-23 gives us a glimpse into the relationship of God’s holiness and man’s sinfulness. God is talking to Moses on the mount explaining His commands for Moses to lead Israel and Moses asks God to let him see His face. God tells Him that it cannot be done, because nobody can see the face of God and live. God is so holy, and we are so sinful, that we would be consumed faster than a dry leaf on the surface of the sun. He tells Moses to hide in a crack in a rock while He passes by and will allow Moses to see His back but not look upon His face.

In Hebrew language, when you want to place emphasis on something you are saying, you say it repeatedly. Jesus often said to those he taught, “Truly, truly” or “Verily, verily.” He was telling His listeners that what he was saying is extremely important. A few times scripture expresses the importance of something to the third degree, emphasizing its supreme importance. In Revelation 8:13 the angel calls three “woes” upon the inhabitants of the earth. Jeremiah (7:4) addresses the hypocrisy of the people by saying “This is the temple of the LORD” three times. Only one of God’s attributes is raised to the third degree. You would think that listening to today’s Christian music or many popular Christian messages that it would say God is “love, love, love.” Isaiah shares his vision of God (chapter 6) and says the angels surrounding Him were saying, “holy, holy, holy.” God isn’t simply holy, or even holy, holy. He is holy, holy, holy.

Isaiah 6:1-8
Isaiah records his experience of seeing God sitting on His throne and then his response to such a revelation. He didn’t say, “Oh boy, I feel so comforted in the presence of God.” Or, “I feel such an overwhelming joy in your presence Lord.” Isaiah cried out, “Woe to me. I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips and live with people of unclean lips and I have seen God.” He was immediately aware of his utter sinfulness and knowing what God told Moses about seeing God and living knew that he should die. Isaiah called a curse upon himself and said he was “undone,” or “coming apart at the seams.”

Mark 4:35-41 (Luke 8:22-25)
Consider the story of Jesus calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee. The disciples were afraid their boat was going to sink and they would die, but Jesus was sound asleep. They were extremely frightened and they woke Jesus up to help. Jesus didn’t respond to them at all but simply commanded the sea to be calm. Even though Jesus controlled the sea miraculously, the most surprising part of the story is the reaction of the disciples; “They were terrified…” Their lives were spared. Their boat sat still. The sun was shining. No wind. Birds chirping. And they were terrified! They knew at once they were in the presence of the holy God.

Luke 5:1-8
Finally, look at the story of Jesus taking Peter off shore and telling him to drop his net in the water. Peter complains, saying he has been fishing all day and night and hasn’t caught a thing, but despite not being able to understand, he obeys anyway (another great sermon in here). They ended up catching so many fish that when other boats came to help they all began to sink.

In a book I just read and reviewed, the author explains that knowing the fear of God prevents us from being casual about sin and that it actually encourages us to flee to Him for holiness. These men knew that the Person who was in their presence knew every intimate detail about them. There was no hiding, no running, and no making excuses for their sins. There was nothing they could do but be terrified and hope for mercy. This is a proper reaction to the presence of God. Part of us should fear God for we are unclean and He is righteous; another part runs to His holiness for we know we must be holy and only he can grant that to us.

The good news, however, is that God did not leave these men in their condition. An angel came to Isaiah with a hot coal and purified his lips. Ultimately, Christ died on the cross and was raised from the dead so that we could be made holy and righteous. Though we are sinful and unclean, He cleanses us from our unrighteousness, then calls us to obedience. There is a pattern in of these stories (as well as our stories), it starts with brokenness and ends in a mission. If you have been broken over your own sins, repented and trusted in Christ, you have been called to serve Him.

Now the trick is deciding what He wants you to do.

Finding Relevance

I have been hearing a lot lately of the church needing to be more “relevant” in sharing the gospel with the world. I think I understand that the sentiment is coming from the idea that people are just sitting around in their churches enjoying their pot lucks and not trying to share the gospel with other people they normally wouldn’t come across. I would partially agree with this thought, but it seems like it is becoming more of a mantra than a legitimate concern. Trust me, although I love to digest the meat of God’s Word, and hear verse-by-verse sermons, and enjoy reading books on doctrine and church history, I have a passion for obeying the Great Commission. I am a leader in my church’s evangelism efforts and have spent time on the streets “meeting people where they are at” to try and share the gospel. However, I have a couple of concerns about this push to be “relevant.”

My first issue is that the gospel is already relevant to every culture. There is no need to make any adjustments for the listener beyond speaking in the same language as they do; and as far as I can tell, the majority in the United States already knows English.

This video clip from a John Piper sermon explains better the point I am trying to make. We were all born sinners who offend God with everything we do, but God came to earth as a human to redeem us from our fallen condition by dying on the cross and rising from the grave. How is that not already relevant? Everyone in every culture is a sinner. Everyone in every culture can be saved.

Another thing that caught my attention with the push for relevancy is the language calling us to “change lives” or “have an impact on the culture.” We aren’t called simply to do these things, but to faithfully preach the Word of God and be living proof of transformation by God’s Holy Spirit, which as a result by God’s blessing will change lives and cultures. Noah preached for a hundred years and didn’t have any positive impact on the culture. Not one person responded positively to his preaching; but he was faithful. Many of the Old Testament prophets lost more followers because of their faithful preaching than they gained. Stephen wasn’t fortunate enough to see lives changed by his preaching when he was stoned to death from his refusal to preach the hard truth to a stiff-necked people. It doesn’t matter how “relevant” you are, there will always be hard-hearted people who hate you because of the message you carry.

My last concern is that in an effort to be relevant, we accommodate the culture more than expecting them to have their minds transformed. The church, instead of being a place of worship for people from every culture, becomes an evangelism tool focused on a sub-culture. We have “relevant music” that the target audience will be comfortable with. We preach “relevant sermons” that sound like self-help guides on how to love Jesus but still be cool. Our first goal of sermons should be to understand what is says, to whom it was written, why it was written, who wrote it, and how it compares to other scriptures. Our last step should be how it applies to my life, but the trend to be relevant seems to put the life application first in the steps of biblical interpretation. If we want to see lives changed, we need to preach God’s coming kingdom an alternative to the culture, not something to be added to an existing lifestyle.

How do we reach the culture with the message of repentance and faith in Jesus Christ? Go to work, meet some people, and tell them about Jesus as you evidence your faith by being a kind, dedicated employee. Go to the gym, meet some people, and tell them about Jesus as you evidence your faith by controlling your pride in taking part in a delightful competition. Go to the mall, meet some people, and tell them about Jesus as you evidence your faith by displaying your commitment to modesty and purity in the things you purchase. Go to the homeless shelter, meet some people, and tell them about Jesus as you evidence your faith by sacrificing your time and money to help a person in need. Go to your family gatherings, and tell them about Jesus as you evidence your faith by your love for them, joy in all situations, peace in your difficulties, patience through trials, gentleness with the truth, goodness in your deeds, faith in His promises, meekness in sharing, and self-control. We make too much of culture differences. There have always been separate sub-cultures, and the beauty of God’s Word is that it applies to all nations. So let’s get out there and share it with them.

I don’t mean to come across as overly critical or hateful in any manner. This is not an attack on anyone, but more of a plea for right understanding and right motives, and a request for guidance in my efforts. I have a passion for both a deep understanding of God’s Word and a desire to share Christ’s transformation of my life with everyone I have met and will meet; and I fall short on both of them way too often. As a newer believer (~4 years) I know I have a lot of growing to do and am willing to accept correction from wherever it may come, and I simply want to make sure my efforts and those of my own church are grounded in Scripture and solely for God’s glory. Please share with me any misunderstandings I may have presented or ideas we can use to be more effective at preaching the Word to a lost world and teaching new believers how to grow in Christ. Soli Deo Gloria!

God's Will for Your Life

Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

How many of us have had to make a difficult decision in our lives and just prayed that God would reveal the answer to us? What are some big decisions you have needed to make that you prayed for a great deal before you made them? We pray all the time that God will open the door for us, or show us which decision to make. We worry ourselves sick wanting to be sure God will be happy with the job we choose, what school to attend, what person to date and marry, or which house to buy. How do we know we are in God’s will when making these decisions?

Psalm 37:4 says to delight yourself in the LORD. Last week we discussed how you know you are a Christian. We love others, we obey His commandments and they aren’t a burden but a delight, we love reading and learning from His Word, etc. This is key in understanding God’s will for your life.

When you get up in the morning and go to eat breakfast, do you pray to God asking which cereal you should eat? When you pick out which clothes to dress in for the day, do you pray for God to reveal which outfit is his will for you that day? When you are driving to work, do you pray to God which route is in His will for you to take? What is the difference between these apparently petty decisions and the decisions that give us ulcers?

Searching for God’s will in the Scriptures reveal a few things:

1. Salvation (1 Timothy 2:3-4, 2 Peter 3:9) He wants people to repent of their sins and follow Christ.
2. Be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:17-18) He wants us to be controlled by His Spirit revealed through His Word.
3. Sanctification (1 Thessalonians 4:3-7) He wants you to be continually growing in Holiness. You should be sinning less as you live and learning more from His Word. You should be loving others and serving the body more.
4. Submission (1 Peter 2:13-15) God says you should obey the commands of those in authority over you. Listen to guidance from your pastors, teachers, parents, and government. You shouldn’t ever violate clear prohibitions in the Bible, but you should trust those God placed in authority over you before you make your own decisions.
5. Suffering (Philippians 1:29, 2 Timothy 3:12) We discussed a couple weeks ago that God promises His children that they must endure suffering for His name. We shouldn’t be avoiding God’s work so we can avoid suffering. When we make decisions, we must consider if we are doing it simply to make our life easier at the cost of serving Christ, we are making a decision against God’s will.

No Scripture says that God will “lay on our hearts” or whisper in a “still small voice” or give you a perfectly timed sign or signal for the right decision we are to make (divination is actually prohibited). If you wait for God to give you a supernaturally spoken voice to guide your decision, you are going to be guessing at which of the voices in your head is the correct one, which will make your decision even more frustrating.

Important Steps in Making Big Decisions:

1. Read the Bible – that’s where you find God’s revealed will.
2. Listen to Your Conscience – God’s Spirit will convict you of unwise decisions
3. Pray Without Ceasing – Be constantly asking God for guidance and keep your eyes and ears open for answers from unlikely places and people.
4. Look for Godly Counsel – We are a body together for one purpose. Together we encourage, rebuke, teach, support, and comfort. Pastors, parents, brothers and sisters, elders, and deacons are not here to just to have something to organize. Seriously consider their thoughts when they oppose what you think you want.

When all of these things come into agreement, make your decision assured you are in God’s will. Don’t disregard the people God has placed in your life. They are there for the benefit of the church (which includes you). If you dive into a decision without spending time in prayer, how can you be sure you have listened for God’s direction or searched for guidance from His Word.

There are no stories in the Bible that tell us how to buy the right car or house, which specific person to marry, or which job to take. There are principles that guide us in making all decisions that can only help us by reading the Bible to learn them and looking for guidance from your pastor or other people who can help you make godly decisions. When buying things we need to be sure we are not wasting money God has entrusted to us. When marrying someone we need to be sure they are a believer who is going to serve God with you in that marriage. When getting a job we need to be sure we won’t be forsaking our family and church responsibilities and that we are witnesses of Christ in the workplace. If you understand and obey principles learned from studying the Bible, God says in Psalm 37:4b He shall give you the desires of your heart. If you are conforming to God’s revealed will as discussed, He places in your heart desires that reflect His will and you can choose what you want to! If the Bible does not offer any guidance for your decision, and one choice is as good as the other, you are free to do whichever you want and God works out His plan through your desires. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil (Matthew 12:34-36) If you are renewed by the Spirit, cleansed by the blood of Christ, your desires are now to please Him and the majority of the decision you make throughout the day will reflect the new heart inside.

John Owen

"The world put Him out of a house and into a stable, when He came to save us. Let Him now turn the world out-of-doors, when He comes to sanctify us, [so that] the baits of sin lose their attraction and disappear."

Memory Verse(s) 9/30/07-11/04/07

1 John 5:1-5 (HCSB)

1 John 5:1—To recite Sept. 30th:

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent also loves his child.

1 John 5:2—To recite Oct. 14th:

This is how we know that we love God's children when we love God and obey His commands.

1 John 5:3—To recite Oct. 21st:

For this is what love for God is: to keep His commands. Now His commands are not a burden,

1 John 5:4—To recite Oct. 28th:

because whatever has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith.

1 John 5:5—To recite Nov. 4th:

And who is the one who conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?