Religious knowledge or faith?

"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few." (Mt 7:13-14)

A week or so ago I had a blog post about the faith of the wisemen (read here) Today I read a blog post by David Mathis at Desiring God which highlights the lack of faith of the religious leaders. And, as a good teacher should, Mathis brings his point to us.

Is the warning here not obvious for those of us who have taken class after class and read Christian book after Christian book? Many of us are all too familiar with the church jargon. We can say all the right things to appear pious. We’ve memorized Scripture. We know how to sound very churchy in our repeated use of precious theological terms and concepts. But biblical training does not guarantee that our hearts are inclined toward worshiping the true king. Religious language and learning can cloak the kingdom of self.

Note the contrast between the pagan astrologers and the religious establishment. The magi don’t know much, but they rejoice exceedingly with great joy (verse 10) at the true revelation from God they have received, while the religious leaders with all the answers and books about books about books are disturbed along with Herod and refuse to bow the knee in their hearts.

Later on in the blog, he wraps it up like this:

A word to the modern-day chief priests and scribes, the religious establishment, the well churched: Bible knowledge from all the classes and all the books can be precious fuel for worshiping the true Jesus or a scary excuse for keeping Jesus at arm’s length. Increased knowledge doesn’t necessarily translate into increased worship.

And for those more like the magi, the non-churched “pagan” and de-churched disenfranchised: You may not have any Christian background (or you did and rejected it, maybe because of the religious). You may not know the Christian jargon. You don’t fit nicely into the church-goer box, and yet you’re being drawn to Jesus. And this whole church scene may feel really foreign, but we want you with us. We want the magi. Please don’t let imperfect Christians scare you away from the perfect Christ. Let the astrologers come to Jesus, and do not forbid them, for such is the kingdom of heaven.

What can I add, except to say Amen! (Read the whole post  here)

I now send forth this post with a deep sense of its many defects; but with an earnest prayer that it may do some good. (JC Ryle)

To God Alone be the Glory

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)

How easy is it to assume the truth of the gospel? It becomes like the foundation of a house or the footings of bridge. Maybe in the 21st century it can even be compared to the working of the Internet. The gospel is something that exists, largely unseen that supports everything that we do.  And yet, when was the last time you checked the foundations of your house when you woke up? When was the last time you praised God for the footings of the bridge you just drove over? When was the last time you rejoiced and were glad that the Internet allowed you to update your Facebook status or check your e-mail?

Can I be bold? We must never leave the foundation of the gospel of Jesus Christ! As I push through Acts here in January it is very clear that what drove the early church from the apostles to the little known saint is the truth that Jesus died and rose again. And, that he did this in fulfillment of Scripture. And that he did it according the purpose and foreknowledge of God. And he did it redeem a people for himself from every tribe and language and people and nation. That means he did it for me and he did it for you.

Know this: Jesus died so that you might live and he rose that you may spend eternity with God. If you believe this, anchor it in your heart and soul. Never let go off it. Let everything you do from changing your oil and washing the dishes to serving in church or proclaiming the gospel to praying for Christ's return, be centered on this truth. Christ's death and resurrection must drive everything. As John Piper is fond of saying, "Only that which is done for Christ will last.

However, if you do not believe that Jesus died and rose again, or you do not see how that historical event applies to you, I want to ask you one simple question: what do plan to do after you die? You may not believe that there is a real hell, you may not believe there is even a God. But in a small way, our deaths are like April 15. Whether you like it or not, whether you know intricacies of the tax code or not, whether you believe in the government or not, your taxes must be paid. The Federal government takes this very seriously. And so it is with God. Here is my invitation to you. Test Jesus at his word. He invites us to come to him. He wants us to leave our burdens and our sins and pursue him. To replace lies with truth, to replace anger with love, to replace selfishness with concern and most of all to replace death with life. And the best thing. He does all the heavy lifting. Trust in Jesus. Believe that he died for you and give your life to the one who owns it anyway.

I now send forth this post with a deep sense of its many defects; but with an earnest prayer that it may do some good. (JC Ryle)

To God Alone be the Glory

But I say to you...

Six times in Matthew 5, Jesus uses the phrase "But I say to you". He touches on anger, lust, divorce, promises, personal justice and relational strife. It is interesting that each time Jesus uses this phrase he prefaces it with a statement of a Jewish law or rule that the people would have known and presumably been trying to obey. So, in one broad sweep, Jesus strikes at the heart (not just the letter) of the law, establishes His authority to "ratchet up" God's holy requirements, and lays down a gauntlet that reveals we are all really just spiritual beggars (Mt 5:3).

However, as these six manifestos are reflected on, I think they can expose, through the work of the Spirit, some unfinished heart renovations within each one of us. For example, look at Mt 5:43-48.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love  your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

How often have I read this passage and thought of enemies and persecutors as people who are openly opposed to my faith or outwardly seeking my harm (slander, lawsuit, etc) ? While this category exists for some folks and these verses apply to those situations, I am not currently faced with anything remotely like it. So, do these verses get shoved in the mental vault until such opposition arises? Or is there something more?

Here is where the Spirit has pressed on me in the last few days: "For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?" Where is my care and concern for those outside of my circle? In my prayers for revival, why do I focus on churches where I have friends and acquaintances? Shouldn't I ache for my city, my state, my country in a similar manner as Jesus ached for Jerusalem?

I think the bottom-line for me is the dawning realization that my perception of Jesus is way too small. Is Jesus for me? Absolutely! Is Jesus for those I know who are believers? Without a doubt! Is Jesus looking to minister to and possibly redeem the person who cuts me off in traffic or the person who empties my trash at work or the person I've never met to blindly attends a nominal mainline church that has no gospel preaching? Yes! Is Jesus seeking and saving the lost, even if those lost people are simply passing me on the street? Yes!

The question becomes, what does God want me to do about it?

I now send forth this post with a deep sense of its many defects; but with an earnest prayer that it may do some good. (JC Ryle)

To God Alone be the Glory

How is your praying?

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. (Rom 8:26)

Have you ever been slapped in the face? The shock and the sting command your attention And, if the one doing the slapping is God. we had better be alert to what he is trying to say to us.

Such is often the case with me and prayer. I often strive to grapple with and get my arms around prayer, but I usually fall woefully short. Additionally, I am keenly aware of the prayerlessness of my heart and life. Even when the quantity and frequency of praying grows, the depth and the urgency often don't. So when I read the following quote by Spurgeon, the slap of God was severe.

A prayerless soul is a Christless soul.

Let those words sink in before you explain them away or self-congratulate on your awesome prayer life. What if everything we did without prayer was something we did without Christ? What if the depth and frequency of our praying was a barometer of our true devotion to Christ? What if the Bible's admonition to pray without ceasing was actually meant to be taken seriously?

I'm sharing these thoughts as my own self-examination. I am continually grateful for the promise of Rom 8:26. So even as my anemic prayers are offered to God, the Spirit is interceding for me. And above all, there is grace. We are not saved by our praying. We are saved by the shed blood of Christ graciously applied to our to sins.

Here is a closing thought from Spurgeon:

Prayer is the lisping of the believing infant, the shout of the fighting believer, the requiem of the dying saint falling asleep in Jesus. It is the breath, the watchword, the comfort, the strength, the honour of a Christian.

I now send forth this post with a deep sense of its many defects; but with an earnest prayer that it may do some good. (JC Ryle)

To God Alone be the Glory

Hope for the New Year

No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. (Jn 15:15-16)

Yesterday I had a conversation with a few friends about the difficulty of moving from the knowing to the doing. The sad truth is I am pretty good at knowing things, especially biblical things, but not so good about executing on those things. And while the point of the conversation was for us to see that there is a difference between knowing and doing and that doing doesn't necessarily following knowing, I left feeling burdened and convicted.

Later, by God's grace, I ran across a quote from John Newton (read it here). Through these words of Newton, God set forth a couple of things that I trust will make a difference as I personally grapple with the knowing vs. doing gap in my own life. The first thing is this. I am not alone. We all are like Newton's example of someone who reads about sailing, but has never been on a ship. This is not a excuse, but it can provide us with humility, honesty and safety as we work together (as the church should) to move from knowing to doing.

The second thing Newton is quick to point out is that left to ourselves, when we see this gap in our own lives we will make "either a tame surrender or a shameful flight.". When I read these words, I could not have agreed more fully. I am ashamed to admit how many times the Holy Spirit's conviction does not prompt me to return to God but instead I cower in fear or I run in a vain attempt to hide from Him (Ps 139:7).

Thankfully, Newton did not leave the remedy to this situation in doubt. While our natural response will always be to crumble or to try to escape, we have someone who is on our side and he is interceding for us. As Newton says it:

But if He [Jesus] is the Captain of our salvation, if his eye is upon us, his arm stretched out around us, and his ear open to our cry, and if He has engaged to teach our hands to war and our fingers to fight, and to cover our heads in the day of battle, then we need not fear, though a host rise up against us; but, lifting up our banner in his name, let us go forth conquering and to conquer; Rom. 16:20.

So, our hope for the New Year is not in our resolutions, as good and sincere as they may be. And our hope is not in our ability to bridge the gap between knowing and doing, as great and beneficial as that would be. No, our hope for 2012, as it is in any year, is found in the One who laid down his life for his friends, the One who ransomed us and cleansed us and adopted us and is now empowering us to serve and glorify Him. Our hope always and forever is in Jesus.

I now send forth this post with a deep sense of its many defects; but with an earnest prayer that it may do some good. (JC Ryle)

To God Alone be the Glory

Edwards' Resolutions - week 1

My I intention, by God's grace, to post one grouping of Jonathan Edwards' resolutions each Sunday afternoon. I am convinced 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.

Overall Life Mission:


1. Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God’s glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriad’s of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many and how great soever.

2. Resolved, to be continually endeavoring to find out some new invention and contrivance to promote the aforementioned things.

3. Resolved, if ever I shall fall and grow dull, so as to neglect to keep any part of these Resolutions, to repent of all I can remember, when I come to myself again.

4. Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God; nor be, nor suffer it, if I can avoid it.

6. Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live.

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

62. Resolved, never to do anything but duty; and then according to Eph. 6:6-8, do it willingly and cheerfully as unto the Lord, and not to man; “knowing that whatever good thing any man doth, the same shall he receive of the Lord.”

O Great God

Based on The Valley of Vision prayer “Regeneration”

Words and Music by Bob Kauflin

Verse 1
O great God of highest heaven
Occupy my lowly heart
Own it all and reign supreme
Conquer every rebel power
Let no vice or sin remain
That resists Your holy war
You have loved and purchased me
Make me Yours forevermore

Verse 2
I was blinded by my sin
Had no ears to hear Your voice
Did not know Your love within
Had no taste for heaven’s joys
Then Your Spirit gave me life
Opened up Your Word to me
Through the gospel of Your Son
Gave me endless hope and peace

Verse 3
Help me now to live a life
That’s dependent on Your grace
Keep my heart and guard my soul
From the evils that I face
You are worthy to be praised
With my every thought and deed
O great God of highest heaven
Glorify Your Name through me

I now send forth this post with a deep sense of its many defects; but with an earnest prayer that it may do some good. (JC Ryle)

To God Alone be the Glory