Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Edwards' Resolutions - week 22

My I intention, by God's grace, to post one of Jonathan Edward's 73 resolutions each Monday. As I read the list, it is convicting to me that I can only handle them in small doses, while Edwards reviewed the whole list each week The entire list of Edward's resolutions can be found here: the-resolutions-of-jonathan-edwards

To God Alone be the Glory

Preamble:

Being sensible that I am unable to do any thing without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him, by his grace, to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake.

Resolution 22:

Resolved, To endeavour to obtain for myself as much happiness in the other world as I possibly can, with all the power, might, vigour, and vehemence, yea violence, I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Are you prepared?

An excerpt from a sermon preached today...

If you don’t hear anything else I say today, hear this: you must place your faith in Christ alone for your salvation. Nothing else will suffice. If you do believe that Christ’s death on the cross satisfied God’s holy justice and that though his life, death and resurrection, Jesus provided for you the righteousness that you could never achieve on your own, praise God! However, if you have yet to believe this, to really own it in your soul, I urge you to take Christ’s admonitions and Paul’s admonitions seriously. Strongly consider the claims of Jesus and ask yourself if you are prepared to stand in front of the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe, the Holy Judge of all things and have your entire life evaluated, knowing that only a 100% score is sufficient to meet God’s standard. If the Spirit is pressing on your soul, I plead with you to place your life in Jesus’ gracious, loving hands and trust Him to save you and deliver you unscathed into God’s joyous presence.

To God Alone be the Glory

Monday, May 23, 2011

Edwards' Resolutions - week 21

My I intention, by God's grace, to post one of Jonathan Edward's 73 resolutions each Monday. As I read the list, it is convicting to me that I can only handle them in small doses, while Edwards reviewed the whole list each week The entire list of Edward's resolutions can be found here: the-resolutions-of-jonathan-edwards

To God Alone be the Glory

Preamble:

Being sensible that I am unable to do any thing without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him, by his grace, to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake.

Resolution 21:

Resolved, Never to do any thing, which if I should see in another, I should count a just occasion to despise him for, or to think any way the more meanly of him.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Preparing For Your Funeral

I ran across this quote from J.C. Ryle on Kevin DeYoung's blog. I think it sums up a reality I observed way too often and even in the last few weeks. The phenomenon is a lot people gathered around hoping the deceased is with Christ, but not quite knowing for sure. Ryle's admonitions: be sure and make sure others know you are sure.

When we have carried you to your narrow bed, let us not have to hunt up stray words, and scraps of religion, in order to make out that you were a true believer. Let us not have to say in a hesitating way one to another, “I trust he is happy; he talked so nicely one day; and he seemed so please with a chapter in the Bible on anther occasion; and he liked such a person, who is a good man.” Let us be able to speak decidedly as to your condition. Let us have some solid proof of your repentance, your faith, and your holiness, so that none shall be able for a moment to question your state.
Depend on it, without this, those you leave behind can feel no solid comfort about your soul. We may use the form of religion at your burial, and express charitable hopes. We may meet you at the churchyard gate, and say, “Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord.” But this will not alter your condition! If you die without conversion to God, without repentance, and without faith–your funeral will only be the funeral of a lost soul; you had better never have been born. (Holiness, 228-229)
To God Alone be the Glory

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Living and Dying for Christ

Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. - Phil 1:18b-21

Note: I drafted the first part of this blog post last Tuesday, but was unable to finish due to time constraints. By the time I was able to return to it on Wednesday evening, a co-worker of mine had died. So, on Wednesday I was unable to find the right words or balance to finish this blog.  But perhaps today, by God's grace I can do so.  SDG.

Sometimes there is a danger of speaking of more than we know. I have a sense that I am on the verge of that now. Sure most could probably talk about living for Christ although most would use examples of others who would portray these truths better than we do. But dying for Christ; that's a different story. I would dare say most us, while on the slow march toward the grave, are not dying in the immediate sense of the word. So, I will proceed Biblically, but with the acknowledgement that my reach may exceed my grasp.

I think at the outset it would be important to note that at one level Paul did not see any distinction between living and dying in Christ. His prayer was the Christ would be honored, whether by life or by death. Next week, Lord willing, we can see the tremendous differences and blessings of dying in Christ. It should also be noted that Paul is receptive to either course of events. Life or death didn't appear to matter to him. He seemed content in whatever God granted to him.

One question that is raised in my heart and in my mind as I read this passage is: How is Christ honored in my life? Paul could certainly be our example. He was sold out, dependent on the Spirit, willing to speak the truth in love, committed to the spread of the gospel, insisting (at least in Corinth) that he speak of nothing expect Christ and Him crucified, and the list goes on. The problem with Paul (or any Bible character) is that we tend to super-spiritualize them. we think things like: he had a direct line to Jesus, she was able to pray 23 hours a day, etc.The reality is that the folks in the Bible were ordinary people with an extra ordinary God. And their commitment to live for Christ and that Christ would be honored in their lives did not come from themselves. Rather it was (and is) a gift from God via the Holy Spirit. But, this tendancy to place the men and women of the Bible on a pedestal is why I try to follow Piper's admonition to read Christian biographies. To see "real" men and women how they struggled in the faith and yet kept going is a refreshment and an encouragement to my soul.  In one sense, at least for me, it is an extend edition of Heb 11.

Here, of course, is the tricky part, the risky part. We can all offer an opinion about what it means to have Christ honored in our bodies through our lives. Not too many of us are qualified to pontificate on what it means to have Christ honored in our bodies through our death. With that being said however, I think we can make some safe, albeit challenging observations from Scripture.

The first observation is that this life is not ultimate; eternity with Christ is ultimate. To have Christ honored through our death must involve this reality. It is so easy to get caught up in the "here-and-now-ness" of this life and we forget that not only is this life a mist, it is also a shadow. We must remember and be reminders of the shortness of our lives and the incompleteness of our lives. If we are not yearning for something more, how will Christ be honored in our death?

Another observation is that everything in this life should lead to, point to and drive us to the next. The author of Hebrews states we do not have a city here, but we seek the city that is to come. Seeking, pursuing, actively going after what is eternal, all of this demonstrates that this life leads us to eternity with Christ. Our deaths then will honor Christ as a culmination of a life spent on a journey toward the Celestial City.

My one final observation of the many that could listed is this: death is not an end nor is it a tragedy for those who are in Christ. This is often a hard truth, especially for those who have lost a loved one and  for those who are faced with death. In all honesty, I think it connects with our poor memories regarding the temporariness and incompleteness of this life. But Christ will be most honored in our deaths when we can proclaim we are eager to die because only through death (or Christ's return) can we actually receive the prize we've been longing for.

If our heart's desire is to honor Christ whether we live or die, the Spirit needs to continually reform our hearts. By God's grace our lives will become more and more a picture of Christ's love and our deaths will not be a tragic event to be avoided at all costs, but rather a long awaited reunion with the One who created us, redeemed us and loves us with a love that exceeds knowledge.

To God Alone be the Glory

Monday, May 16, 2011

Edwards' Resolutions - week 20

My I intention, by God's grace, to post one of Jonathan Edward's 73 resolutions each Monday. As I read the list, it is convicting to me that I can only handle them in small doses, while Edwards reviewed the whole list each week The entire list of Edward's resolutions can be found here: the-resolutions-of-jonathan-edwards

To God Alone be the Glory

Preamble:

Being sensible that I am unable to do any thing without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him, by his grace, to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake.

Resolution 20:

Resolved, To maintain the strictest temperance in eating and drinking.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Pure Spiritual Milk

"Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation" - 1 Pt 2:2

How much of my life is spent longing for and craving something other than pure spiritual milk? I pray today that God, by his grace, works in each of us a craving, a desire, a longing for pure spiritual milk. And I pray we will pursue that desire, that craving, that insatiable hunger to the end of our days. Only as we pursue this pure spiritual milk with Spirit-driven abandon will we be able to grow up into our salvation.

To God Alone be the Glory

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Life Is A Mist

Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. - Jm 4:14

Life is a mist. Monday afternoon a co-worker of mine collapsed at her desk. Wednesday she died in surgery.What was a vibrant life on Monday morning is now over. All of her hopes, dreams, plans and aspirations have been cut short. I don't where her true treasure lay. But her death makes it absolutely clear, no amount of success, no amount of ability, no amount of wealth can buy us another minute of life. And nothing in all of creation has any value when we stand before God, the One who owns it all.

As Piper is fond of saying: Only what is done for Christ will last. In this brief, mist-like life, I pray the I can spend more of my few short days working for Christ. If the treasures and the pleasures that are around me won't last and can be taken from me (or me from them) in a heartbeat (literally), I have to ask, are they really worth it? Perhaps instead I should count everything around me and about me as a loss compared to the greatness and the permanence of knowing Christ and being found in him and having a righteousness that is not my own, but depends on faith.

One final thought. Part of Edwards' resolutions emphasizes his desire to see and do things as if they were the last things we would be doing. He saw and needed to remind himself that life is a mist and that mist can lift at any time. I too need to continually be reminded of this reality, perhaps sometimes with the stark truth.

So, I want to close by asking any who may read this to examine your walk with Christ. Perhaps you are not a believer. My friend that is where you must start. Your life is in a very dangerous predicament.Pick up a Bible. Read Romans or John. Probe the claims of Christ in the gospels. Consider the transformed lives in the book of Acts. Ask yourself why such urgency in all the New Testament writers? Place your life, your eternal life, in Jesus' dependable hands.

If you are a believer, I would ask you do a serious, Spirit-invested assessment of your life. Do not be afraid of the hard questions. Do not be afraid of the hard answers. Trust that Christ wants whats best for you and what is best for his Bride, the Church. And, as you do this assessment, praise God for all the good things you find, all the ways Christ is already exalted in your life. But commit to him the shortcomings and the areas that need attention. Work these things out, because it is God who works in us, to will and to work according to His good purpose. And do what you can today, because life is a mist and tomorrow may be in eternity.

To God Alone be the Glory

Monday, May 9, 2011

Not enough private prayer

This is first and foremost a personal indictment. I'm sharing it in case the Holy Spirit wishes to convict others as well...

There are few professing Christians, it may be feared, who strive to imitate Christ in the matter of private devotion. There is abundance of hearing, reading, talking, professing, visiting, contributing to the poor, subscribing to societies and teaching at schools. But is there, together with all this, a due proportion of private prayer? Are believing men and women sufficiently careful to be frequently alone with God? These are humbling and heart-searching questions. But we shall find it useful to give them an answer. 
Why is it that there is so much apparent religious working, and yet so little result in positive conversions to God – so many sermons, and so few souls saved – so much machinery, and so little effect produced – so much running here and there, and yet so few brought to Christ? Why is all this? The reply is short and simple. There is not enough private prayer. The cause of Christ does not need less working, but it does need among the workers more praying. Let us each examine ourselves, and amend our ways. The most successful workmen in the Lord’s vineyard, are those who are like their Master, often and much upon their knees.
~ J.C. Ryle
From J.C Ryle Quotes

To God Alone be the Glory

Edwards' Resolutions - week 19

My I intention, by God's grace, to post one of Jonathan Edward's 73 resolutions each Monday. As I read the list, it is convicting to me that I can only handle them in small doses, while Edwards reviewed the whole list each week The entire list of Edward's resolutions can be found here: the-resolutions-of-jonathan-edwards

To God Alone be the Glory

Preamble:

Being sensible that I am unable to do any thing without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him, by his grace, to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake.

Resolution 19:

Resolved, Never to do any thing, which I should be afraid to do, if I expected it would not be above an hour before I should hear the last trump.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Preaching Christ, even with false motives, is better than not preaching at all

Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice - Phil 1:15-18

I was (and still I am) unsure of the title. I thought maybe "Preach Christ!", but that's not full point. Then I thought "Preach Christ, no matter what your motive", but that's not quite all that's here either. In the end, at least as I write these words, I went with what I wrote several week's ago in my Phil 1 summary post. Why all the hassle? First, because I firmly believe that good, effective titles draw people in and set the stage for what is said. Second, because my personal effort to pick a title is also my personal effort to encapsulate what I want to say.

I think part of the struggle with "sound biting" these 4 verses is that there is more than one layer to think about and to be affected by.  There is the preaching Christ whatever the motivation layer. There is the rejoicing that Christ is being preached as opposed to not being preached layer. There is the Christ is being preached to afflict Paul in prison layer. And there is the Paul rejoicing even though he is in jail layer. And, there may more.

With all those layers, where do we start. Maybe the simplest way is to look at the most transparent layer first. Paul is rejoicing over the fact that Christ is being preached no matter what the motive. There were good preachers preaching good sermons with Christ as their focus and Paul was rejoicing. And there were other preachers with insincere motives preaching Christ (or at least about Him) in an effort to get Paul in more trouble. It is difficult to imagine what such a sermon might look like, but perhaps it contained phrases like: "what those Christians believe" or "their savior is Jesus, who claimed to forgive sins" Doctrine was taught by way of negation.

Paul is clearly excited about this and I think we should be too. Not every one is going to preach Christ in a God-honoring, Christ-exalting, gospel-centered way. But even if they preach these realities by way of negation or in opposition, Paul rejoices and we should too.

However, not every sermon preaches Christ. Paul's sentiments in verse 18 are clear "What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice." Paul rejoices when Christ is preached. So that should be our goal and our standard and our Spirit-driven expectation. Too many sermons in too many churches for too many years have preached something other than Christ. Yes, Jesus' name may be stated. Jesus may even be quoted, but that is not preaching Christ. Preaching Christ is exposing our helpless, hopeless, rebellious hearts for what they are. Preaching Christ is proclaiming the boundless, matchless, sacrificial love that Jesus had for his Father and for his sheep. Preaching Christ is declaring that the Father, Son and Spirit planed from all eternity to execute a rescue mission to save God's people from themselves and from the power of sin and death and Satan. Preaching Christ is stating emphatically that Jesus died to absorb the just wrath of God for those who believe and the in dying, Jesus' righteous was give to those same believers. Preaching Christ is wholeheartedly affirming that we are caught up in this love and grace by the sovereign, omnipotent, gracious loving will of God. Preaching Christ is announcing with every fiber of our being that if Jesus has done all of this, He will complete His work and deliver us to the end of the race, whole and pure and ready to meet our God. Preaching Christ is saying unequivocally that we must work out this salvation with fear and trembling because it is God, through his Spirit who works in us to will and to work according to his good purposes.

Added to all of this, what do we do with the fact that Paul saw some people as preaching Christ with the specific intention of afflicting him? Would we respond with his same attitude of joy? Would we acknowledge that there may be a higher gospel value than our comfort and ease? Would we gladly accept, not just prison, but abuse while in prison, so that the gospel could go forth much more effectively?

Maybe, in the end, it all comes back to the source of our joy. If our joy is in our happiness, none of this will make any sense. If our joy is in our success, we will struggle with being put on the sidelines. If our joy is in our doctrinal precision, we will  bristle when average and even poor theological preaching and ministries succeed. But, if our joy is in Christ, if our joy is seeing Him preached, no matter the motive, if our joy is in the spread of the gospel whether we're directly involved or not, then we will truly rejoice as God does his work in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.

To God Alone be the Glory

Update: Piper's comments on this passage.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Edwards' Resolutions - week 18

My I intention, by God's grace, to post one of Jonathan Edward's 73 resolutions each Monday. As I read the list, it is convicting to me that I can only handle them in small doses, while Edwards reviewed the whole list each week The entire list of Edward's resolutions can be found here: the-resolutions-of-jonathan-edwards

To God Alone be the Glory

Preamble:

Being sensible that I am unable to do any thing without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him, by his grace, to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake.

Resolution 18:

Resolved, To live so, at all times, as I think is best in my most devout frames, and when I have the clearest notions of the things of the gospel, and another world.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

A Prayer for Today

Father,

As the day dawns, I simply ask that your presence go with us. If we go it alone, we will achieve nothing of lasting value. But if your Spirit goes with us, everything we do will bring you glory and further the kingdom of your Son. Please allow our mouths to speak your words, our hands to do your work and our hearts to sing your praises.

I ask this with confidence in the name of your Son, our great and faithful High Priest who is the sure and steadfast anchor of my soul.

Amen.