Remember

(preached 3/24/2016)

1 Corinthians 15:1-4

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,


Introduction

What do you think is the most dangerous place for a Christian to be?

Perhaps it's in a country that's hostile to the gospel like North Korea or Iran. Yet, God's word encourages us to not fear man, even though they may seek to kill us.

Perhaps it's living in the midst of a sinful, immoral and amoral culture. But God's word is full of guidance on how to live in the midst of such a culture and the examples of both Jesus and the early church would actually encourage us go and seek this type of opportunity.

Perhaps it's living with our own sin and apathy. Even here, we are exhorted by Scripture to turn and find life. To return like the prodigal son. To plead for mercy like the tax collector. To say I'm undone like Isaiah.

I would submit to you that the most dangerous place for a Christian to be is in a religious system. Consider the Pharisees. They had Jesus killed to protect their system. Consider the parade of kings in Israel's history. How many started well, trusting in God yet to crash and burn as they began trusting in themselves? Consider Paul. Even he was given a thorn in the flesh to remind him that God's grace is made perfect in weakness.

And, consider the Corinthian church. They had it made. They were the mega church of their day. If they could have, they would have done multi site, written their own ciriculum, maybe hosted a pastors conference. They had everything a church of their day needed. Except they were in grave danger. They were in danger of loosing the gospel.
 
Tonight brothers and sisters we face a very similar danger. We are at the apex of the church calendar. Palm Sunday through Easter, Holy Week as it were, is the centerpiece of why any church exists. Christmas leads to Easter. Every Sunday service points to Jesus' death and resurrection. Communion proclaims what Jesus accomplished for us. All of this is designed to worship the God of glory and to remind us of who he is, what he's done and what he continues to do.

And yet, if we are not careful, we too could be in danger. We could be in the danger of familiarity. In the danger of "I've heard that, what's next". In danger of loosing the awe of Christ and the gospel. In danger of falling into the trap of thinking we're really not that bad, are we?

So, as Paul comes to the end of his first letter to the church in Corinth he sees this danger and he needs to remind them of what is truly important and essential as they continue to grow and serve the living God. He has written about leadership. He has written about wisdom. He written about giving up their rights for the sake of others. He has written about the grace gifts lavished on church by the Spirit. And, he has written about true, agape love. With all of that, he concludes by saying, I need you to focus on something really important. I need to remind you of the gospel.

What is the gospel?

Well, that begs a question, doesn't it? What exactly is the gospel? It seems we are all pretty good at throwing terms around without defining what we mean. We do this at work. We do this at home. We do this a lot on social media. And the result? There are a whole bunch of people talking past each other.

Now, we can't address every definitional problem tonight, be we can tackle one. What exactly is the gospel? Some of you might want to say "it's the good news", which in fact it is. But in reality, in doing that aren't we just trading one assumed term for another? So what is this gospel? What is this good news?

It starts with a couple of facts. The first is this: God created everything good. The plants and animals, mountains, rivers and oceans. Man and woman. Everything was good. And God and his people lived together, face to face.

The second fact is this: the first man, Adam, chose to disobey God in an attempt to be God himself. That disobedience fractured everything. Sin entered the world, and to make things even worse, because of this fracturing, everything in God's good, perfect world was now subject to decay and death. What was once a personal, intimate relationship with God was torn apart and ruined.

What makes this fractured and ruined relationship with God so incredibly tragic is that we each have faint memories of "the good old days". Something inside of us says this can't be all there is. But we are blind to the way out, of the way back. We are, in every sense of the word, lost.

But God decided, even before Adam rebelled and fractured all of creation, that out of the overflow of his love and grace and mercy he would rescue a people for himself. His dilemma, of course, was that the rebellion and sin, both conscious and subconscious really occurred and really needed to be paid for. It's like my Discover bill. Somebody simply saying "it's paid for" doesn't actually pay for it. Somebody has to write the check.

And it's more than that. Paying the bill is a huge thing, because our debt is infinite. But paying the bill doesn't fix the heart of the problem. How can I, a broken, rebellious sinner be reunited with my pure, holy, loving Father? Nothing can bridge that gap, can it?

Enter the hero: Jesus. He is our good news. He is our sin bearer. Whatever debt we owe God and whatever debt we continue to accumulate along the way, Jesus paid it all. And on top of that, he has restored us to a right relationship with our Heavenly Father. Each of us was at one time were far away from God. But through Jesus we have been brought near. Not only that, he has also begun repairing and restoring us, giving us a new heart, new motives and a new reason to live.

What is our hope?

Notice that Paul's emphasis on reminding the Corinthians of the gospel was not simply for a history lesson. He saw the danger we all face of isolating our salvation to a point in time event. Let me be clear, it is crucial that we remember and continue to praise God for what Jesus has done for us at Calvary two millennia ago. It is huge. It is significant. But it is not the complete picture. Our salvation is not simply a historic, point in time salvation. There is a future dimension to it as well.

Some day, each of us will stand before God. There will be no hiding on that day. As Moses got a glimpse, as Job got a glimpse, as Isaiah got a glimpse, as John got glimpse, standing before God is a terrifying thing. On that day, who will be your advocate? On that day, who will save you from the pure holiness of God? What hope, what confidence, what assurance do you have that you will be able to spend even a moment with God, much less an eternity?

Once again we look to our hero Jesus. As Paul says here and elsewhere, Jesus not only paid for all our sins, past, present and future. Not only did he destory the wall of hostility and alienation between us and God. But he also secured for us an eternal redemption. When he says in Rom 8:38-39 that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Jesus, he's looking from today forward. Jesus will keep us. Jesus will save us. As the author of Jude says so eloquently: "Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen."

What about today?

And that leaves us with today. March 24, 2016. Jesus has saved us from our sins. He has restored us to the family of God. He will deliver us safe into God's presence one day. But what about today? What about difficult marriages? What about cancer or Alzheimer's? What about job loss? What about wayward children or unsaved parents? What about terrorist attacks? What the loss of infant children? What about the next curve ball life throws at us? What then? Between trusting Christ and being ushered into God's presence are we left to ourselves?

The reason Paul wanted the Corinthians to remember the gospel is precisely for these questions. Since Jesus really is our hero, he is walking with us in the midst of each of these things. He walking with us in our marriages, in our health concerns, in our job situations, as we deal with children or parents or siblings, as we grieve for love ones who have died, whatever their age. And while we don't know what tomorrow holds, Jesus does. Even now he is preparing us for what's coming next. Jesus said that he would never leave us nor would he foresake us. Brothers and sisters hear me, Jesus keeps his promises.

In Romans 8, Paul states that Jesus is interceding for us. Think about that. Right now, whatever you may be dealing with, as big as it is, as bad as it is, Jesus knows, Jesus cares and Jesus is pleading for you personally before the throne of our Father. Think of Peter in the hours before the crucifixion. He boasted of his willingness to die with Jesus. Jesus told Peter that Satan had asked to sift Peter like wheat. (That's a scary thought). Jesus' reassurance to Peter was not that Jesus would forbid Satan, but rather that he had prayed for Peter. That is what delivered Peter through to the other side. Jesus prayed for him. And Jesus our hero, is personally praying for each one of his brothers and sisters, even now.

Conclusion

Since this is a message on remembering the gospel, I would like to conclude with just a couple of questions. The first one is this: what effect does the gospel have in your own life? Not the life of your spouse or your kids or your neighbors. What difference does Jesus make to you?  We all know that there are some things that have no affect, no pertinence to our lives. But the gospel is not one of those things. Gospel truths are make or break. Black or white. In or out. So for you, deep in your heart of hearts, what difference does any of this make to you?

My second question is this: how will you respond? Not to my words, but to God's Word. This is where the danger is. If we have enough religion, we can intellectually acknowledge everything that's been said and yet miss the point. The Pharisees were Old Testament experts, yet they missed the point. When God says come to me that you may have life, will you come? When Jesus says whoever believes in me will have eternal life, will you believe? When the Word says all those who seek me I will never cast our, will you seek Christ?

If you have trusted in Christ, this the gospel is an incredible picture of what Jesus did for you. But, if you have yet to take that step of faith, you are in the greatest danger. No ritual of this day or this weekend can rescue you. No amount of good works or wishful thinking can get you home again.  Only Jesus can do this. Only Jesus can save. What better day than today to trust in Jesus as your savior and begin to follow him as your Lord, to stop trying to save yourself or assuming your good works will outweigh your bad ones. Spiritually speaking, we are all in the same boat. We all desperately need a savior, a sustainer and someone to take us home. Jesus is the one who conquered sin, death and the grave. I plead with you, trust him today with your life.

The Real Good Samaritan

(link to the audio here)

Luke 10:25-37

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

D.A. Carson, New Testament scholar and co-founder of the Gospel Coalition has said, mastering God's Word is one thing; being mastered by it is something entirely different.

This morning we have a very familiar passage of scripture before us. I would dare to say that if I took a quick survey almost everyone in this room knows about the parable of the Good Samaritan.  I would also dare to say that most of you think you know the punchline to this sermon already. And maybe you do since this is one of the most culturally referenced parts of Scripture. And yet, this is God's Word. We may be masters of it, but even today, as familiar as this passage is, we still need to be mastered by it.

Prayer

My goal this morning is to look at this passage on two different layers. As I just mentioned, the first layer will be very familar to most of us. Still, in that familiarity, I trust God will speak to us and use his word as a sharp, double edged sword. The first layer we will consider is the point and pupose of the parable in its immediate context. Following that, I would also like to look at this parable in the sweep of middle section of the book of Luke. From 9:51 to 19:44, Jesus is on this relentless journey to Jerusalem, teaching both disciples, bystanders and opponents both by lesson and by example, what going to Jerusalem really meant and why it was necessary for us all.

Before we dive in, I think it will be helpful for us all to remember a couple of things about parables.  Parables, of course, are stories. They are illustrations Jesus and other teachers of that day used to hammer home a point that may not have been obvious to the immediate audience. Thus in Matthew many of Jesus' parables start with the phrase "The kingdom of heaven is like..."

One guiding principle we must keep in mind is that since parables are illustrations, they have one main point which takes us outside of the parable and into a spiritual reality. Thus, the parable of the lost sheep is not about diligent shepherding, but rather about the unstoppable love, grace and mercy of God. Additionally, since parables have one main point, they are not meant to say or communicate everything that Bible has to say on a topic.

Another reality about parables is that most were given with the intent that the audience would find themselves within the parable. I realize this is risky because by human nature we will want to place ourselves as either the hero or the villian. But, if we have ears to hear, if we really listen as the Spirit speaks God's word to us, I am confident we can see who we are in this parable.

The final item to consider is the combination of these prior elements. These aren't just stories like Age of Ultron or Cinderella or even Pilgrim's Progress. Jesus used parables both as challenging calls and stinging rebukes. He openned vistas of God's magificent grace so that we might believe and he presented spirtual realities so that we would see the exclusivity and preemince of his own life, death and resurrection. You see parables have one main point and we find ourselves in them so that the Spirit can move us forward in our faith.

With all of that being said, what is the stage that this parable is playing on? Look with me at Luke 10.  Verse 25 sets it up for us nicely. An expert in the Jewish law is seeking to test Jesus' view on salvation. Of course, much could be said about the scribes and Pharisees and other Jewish authorities, but what has always intrigued me is the phrasing of the question.  "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Do? Inherit? These words don't seem to go together, do they? An inheritance, almost by definition, is something done to you. So this question is in essence asking "what can I do to be born into Bill Gates family?"

But it also betrays where the lawyer's heart really is. Intrinsically we go here by default, don't we? What can I do? What can I do to fix my marriage? What can I do strengthen my kids? What can I do to improve my walk with God? What can I do to prepare for the next stage of life? High School, College, First Job, marriage, Kids, empty nest, grand children, retirement, nursing home, death. And so many more. What can I do? Many of us in this room are asking this very question. It seems to be the fundatmental human question.

Notice though, how Jesus responds. Those of us who have a theological defense mechanism might have arched our backs and cut loose on the lawyer. But not Jesus. Jesus, the master teacher and superb discussion guider responds with a question of his own. Its a question right up the alley of this Jewish legal scholar. In fact, some would say its was a high arching softball pitch intended for an easy answer. So Mr legal scholar, how would the Law answer your question?

Jesus' approach here is helpful for a couple of reasons. First, it reminds us that God is never out to trick us or trap us. Even though this was the lawyer's goal, Jesus' actually wanted him to learn something, to grow in his faith, to put his trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord. And, he's asking the same thing of us. He knows we all have this "I can do it myself" attitude. So he asks us, "What does the Bible say?"

But there's another, less obvious thing as well. Jesus is underscoring the reality that the Jews could know how to be saved from just their Old Testament scriptures. Think back to last week, how Steve showed us so clearly that Naaman's healing and even life circumstances point us to Christ. Remember, the Old Testament is all this guy had. Its all Nicodemus had. Its all Peter and Paul and John and James had. We are blessed with the New Testament, but the point here is that the Old Testament has always pointed to Jesus.

The lawyer responds with a classic "sabbath school" answer. He quotes two Old Testament verses Dt 6:4-5 and Lev 19:18. To pharaphrase his answer he says love God supremely and love people sacrificially. Bam. Out of the park. Home run.

Now, if I could step into the story at this point I would. The lawyer had just dialoged with Jesus and even if he did not regard him as the Messiah, most people saw him as a teacher worthy of respect. Even Nicodemus, "Israel's teacher", approached Jesus with deference. To engage in a conversation with Jesus and receive such a positive reponse was incredible. So if I could, I would step in say to the lawyer "stop talking", "just leave it alone", "don't say another word".

Fortunatey for this lawyer and fortunately for the rest of us, I was not there and God allowed the lawyer to speak out of the overflow of his heart. You see he did what we so often do. He had recited a creed, but this creed had never become a confession. He knew that God's word said in his head, but what it meant never really made it down into his heart. Think about it. Even without Luke's commentary, the question "And who is my neighbor?" betrays the real god of this man's heart.

How often do we fall into the same pit? How much to I have to give? How often to I have to go? How long do I have to serve? We seem to have this insatible need to put limits and caps on God's call in our lives. Why? Because, as Tim Keller would say, "We need to protect what is most important to us." You see, where we draw the lines, where set up the limits, that demonstrates where our true allegiance lies.

Now, before we move into the parable itself, let me hit the pause button for just a few seconds. This is the moment where we all need to be careful. At the risk of sounding over dramatic, I believe we are on dangerous ground. We are treading on the ground of familiarity. In fact for this parable it could actually be called the ground of over familiarity. I am not going to ask you to forget what you know and I won't ask you to pretend like 2 millenia of cultural baggage doesnt affect how we read this parable.  But, I will ask and have been praying that you read and listen with fresh, attentive minds and hearts. By doing this, I am trusting that God may bless us and allow his word to master us.

One thing we need to capture is how this parable probably unfolded to the original audience. You see we know (or think we know) the punch line. In fact, we, not scripture have titled the Samaritan "good", as if the parable is about him. By contrast, most of us view the priest and levite as "bad".  I would dare say, those first two guys were normal and doing what was culturally expected. And the Samaritan? He would have been viewed as the least likely to help and certainly the least likely to be the hero of this story.

Now consider with me what Jesus is saying in this parable as it plays out in verses 30-36.  An unknown man is robbed and left for dead. Two religious men pass by onthe other side of the road, doing their duty to the Law, but not to the man. A third traveler, one who would be least likely to help and probably would not have been helped by the man who was robbed if the situation was reversed not only helps but goes above and beyond the immediate need. In this little story are at least three things we are meant to see.

First, loving God supremely and loving people sacrificially requires more than religious obedience. Remember the conversation that triggered this parable. Jesus and the lawyer agreed that to have eternal life one must love God supremely and love people sacrificially. But the lawyer wanted to know the limits on this mandate. In essence he wanted to make it a religious system. The parable does the exact opposite; blasting open even the preconceived limits the lawyer already had. This is demonstrated in the first two travelers. As I said, they were doing their religious duty. They were obeying the Law. They were keeping themselves pure for service to God. And yet, Jesus' implication is that they didn't do what was most honoring to God nor what was most loving to the man. Would there have been a sacrifice in crossing the road? Absolutely. Seven days to become rituallly clean again. But what is that compared to saving someone's life?

And we can do this too, can't we? Choosing something good over something better. Helping ourselves rather than helping others. Using our religious structures and traditions to limit the scope and call of Holy Spirit in our lives. Here is one simple example: I have been meeting for years with a couple other guys for breakfast once a week. Most weeks we have some pre arranged material to kick start our conversation. But I also desire to pray for our time before we meet. Sometimes, however, when I get to the prayer time I realize I am unprepared for material. At the point I typically abandon the prayer for the prep, even though I know that it is God, through prayer, that really makes our time effective.

A second thing to see in this parable is what we most often connect with, that loving God supremely and loving people sacrificially cannot be limited by our social constructs. The Jewish / Samaritan divide was what was in view here, but in reality Jesus has any such barrier in view. Male / female, rich / poor, strong / weak, white / black, straight / gay, American / foreign, Christian / secular. And on and on.

To be candid, the more I've reflected on this, the more God has pressed me. If the extent of my love for God is measured by the scope of my love for people who are different from me then perhaps my love for him isn't as deep or broad or wide or deep as I thought. Thankfully, God's love for me is not contingent on my love for him, but yet the upward call of Christ keeps pressing and pulling and urging and calling us deeper in.  And, just to add some fuel to this fire, none of this exempts from serving and caring and loving those who are closest to us.

The third thing that Jesus is pointing out to the lawyer and to us about loving God supremely and loving people sacrificially is in regard to the expanse and extent of this love. Notice the Samaritan doesn't just stop with checking on the traveler or cleaning up his wounds. He also took him to a place where he could recover and he provided for the expense of not only his stay but also his care. And, he promised to pay for any extra costs that might be incurred. To steal a line from a older strong, "His love was extravagant"

So there it is. To love God supremely and to love others sacrificially requires us to put our religiosity away, that we go beyond our social constructs, and that we allow the boundless love that we have received from God through Jesus to flow freely to those around us.

As awesome and as challenging as it is to see the depth of Chirst's call in this parable, there is another layer of the parable of the Good Samaritan that we need to consider. You see, just like the parable itself doesn't occur in a vaccum and is in fact an answer to a question, the entire encounter between Jesus and the lawyer doesn't occur in a vaccum either. Jesus is on a somewhat circuitous journey that starts in Luke 9:51 where Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem. This journey culmunates with the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem followed by Jesus' entry into the temple in Luke 19:44. Along the way Jesus' mission to seek and save the lost, to redeem a people for God, to fulfill all of the Old Testament promises continued to gather steam. Each stop along the way was like a tributary flowing into the river of his mission and pupose.

With this perspective in view, let's consider again the encounter between Jesus and the lawyer. The lawyer's own answer to his original question was that eternal life is bound up   with loving God supremely and loving people sacrificially. As true as this is, how many of us could have claimed to do this before we were Christians? Personally, God was there to serve me and people were simply in the way. And so, here we have the same dilemma we have throughout the Bible: we are stuck in a deep hole with only a shovel to get us out.

So, is Jesus' response to the lawyer meant to cause us to despair?  Is there no way I can love God supremely and love people sacrificially? Since we can't do this perfectly, since no one can do this completely, are we to give up and simply languish in our sin? Or, is this actually meant to give us hope? We are correct to realize we cannot live out the affirmation of the lawyer, but we dare not stop there. We need find the one man who can.

In this sense, when the lawyer asks, who is my neighbor, we need to read the question backward. Not just who is my neighbor to love sacrificially, but who is my neighbor who loved me with the ulimate sacrifice? If we see the parable at this 2nd level then the charaters and the parable itself take on an added dimension.

First, who is the victim? In the immediate context we saw the victim was anyone we are called to love sacrificially irregardless of whatever differences we may have with them. But now we can see that at a spiritual level, at the level of Jesus setting his face toward Jerusalem, we are the victim. We are the one who was bereft of resources. We are the one who was been left for dead. We are the one people avoided in the name of religion. We are the one who was naked and alone. We are the one who was without hope.

What about the first two travelers? We could play some games and say one is legalism and one license or one is religion and one is worldly wisdom. While those would be cute, the real point is that there is nothing, no system, no individual, no power, no possession that is able or even willing to save us. I think this is important to note and remember. The first two travelers didn't try to save the beaten, bloody victim and fail. They went to the other side of the road so as to even avoid the attempt. The same is true with anything you can dream up that might rescue us from our desperate condition. Nothing can save us and nothing is even willing to try.

That leaves us with the third traveler. He is the one who binds our wounds. He is the one who treats us as a friend, even though we would likely consider him our enemy. He is the one who took us out of the domain of our trouble. He the one who clothed us with clothes we couldn't afford. He is the one who provided a safe place for us. And, he is the one who promised that if any expense is incurred for our care, he would pay for it.

Does this sound familar to anyone? I would hope so. It is Jesus!

Let me botton line this for you. As Andrew made clear a couple of weeks ago, we are all on this spectrum of a spiritual journey. Because of that there are different aspects of this parable that may press upon you differently depending on where you are and what God is moving you toward.

For those who are here that have never trusted in Christ for your salvation, who when you hear all that Jesus has accomplished for his children and say "I wish that were true of me", let me say this: It can be. Today is the day of salvation. Don't wait another day or hour or even minute. Stop your striving, stop your performing, stop your attempts at self salvation and rest in Christ. Trust that God is willing and able to save and rescue and redeem and that he has done so through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

Now, for those of us who perhaps are stuck in neutral in our Christian life, who hear Jesus describe what it looks like to really love God supremely and love others sacrificially and sigh and say: that's not me, what do we take from this passage? First is this: know that Jesus is the real Good Samaritan. Since Jesus loved God supremely and others sacrificially, we as his brothers and sisters inherit that obedience. By this we are freed and empowered to begin loving God supremely and loving others sacrificially. Remember, as Matt Chandler is fond of saying, God's not looking for perfection, but progress. And second, beware of putting limits on God's claim on your life. We all do this, to some degree, but Jesus, via this parable, is saying since I withheld nothing to save you, you should withhold nothing to serve those I bring across your path.

And for those who see the mandate of this parable and are seeking by the power of the Spirit to live it out, I would say praise God! You are where God wants you to be. Keep up the good work that God was prepared in advance for you to do. But you also need to remeber, along with all of us, that there is no arrival. We must always be growing and we need to continue to grow. Grow in faith, grow in dependance, grow in praise, grow in knowledge of God, grow in reliance on the Spirit, grow in communion with God.

Finally for all of us who consider ourselves followers of Jesus. We need to praise God for what he has done, what he continues to do and what he will ultimately do. We are caught up in the entire sweep of redemptive history from the promise in Gen 3 to the triumphant wedding feast in Rev 19 and this reality alone should cause us to simultaneously weep and shout and stand dumb founded. And, one day we will realize that God has actually given us way more than we could possibly ask or imagine.  May that realization begin today.

To God Alone Be The Glory

The Gospel In My Basement Stairwell

This morning I found a mouse at the base of our basement stairwell. Fortunately for all (me, Sally and especially the mouse) it was still outside and I was coming down the stairs, not openning the door from the inside. So as I stood for a moment eying up this little creature, I decided in all my humanitarian kindness that I would rescue this poor thing.

Certainly, some kind of rescue was required. This mouse was doomed. He had no means of escape. The stairs are poured concrete and the walls are basement block. There would be no climbing. There would be no jumping. The little animal did not having the ability to save itself. On top of this there was no material for it to build a ramp or ladder or any other means of escape. In fact, even if I had thrown it the raw materials for a ladder, I doubt the mouse had the skills to construct the ladder. And to add to its dilemma, even if I could have explained how a ladder might be built, I am doubful that its paws could even do the work.

It was then that I realized that I would provide the means of its escape. I would simply place a small bucket on its side and let the mouse run (ok walk or wander) into the bucket. Its salvation would be a cooperative effort. I would provide the means and it would provide the will. And yet, it wanted nothing to do with my freely offered rescue. It had been trapped for most of the night; didn't it want to be free? Couldn't the mouse tell that I only wanted what was in its best interest? Wasn't it obvious that its rescue was contingent on it willfullly choosing to get into my freely offered bucket?

Well, the answer to all these questions was No. It didn't just avoid the bucket. It ran to the opposite corner. As much as the mouse probably hated the stairwell and at some level knew it was trapped and doomed, it clearly hated my bucket even more. It had an instinctual fear and "knew" that nothing good could possibly happen by going anywhere near that bucket.

At that point, my experiment with the free-will salvation of this mouse was over. It was time for some irresistable grace. I retreived a broom from the garage and proceed to attempt to "sweep" the mouse into the bucket. It took more than a few swipes and more than a few laps around the strairwell. It also resulted in a battered little mouse as he ran away from my rescue for every second...until it landed in the bucket and realized it was safe.

From there I carried the bucket, with the mouse bruised and tired, but very much intact, to a field near our house. I released the little creature into a new home, a home much more fit for him than the one he had been trapped in. He has been delivered, not by his own works or merit or skills or even desire. Instead, salvation came by grace, from the outside, unexpected, unwanted and yet in the end graciously received and joyfully embraced.

And if I, one who would just a quickly set a trap or leave out poison, would do this for a mouse that has no lasting value, how much more will the perfectly loving, gracious, merciful and compassionate God save and rescue and redeem and deliver us?

To God Alone be the Glory

The Gospel For Good People

Let me be frank at the outset. These thoughts are much better expressed in the sermon with the same title by Jim Shaddix http://9283b62adf4cad736e46-46e4f035c5679c79ce7534d08f6f25e9.r5.cf2.rackcdn.com/audio/2284.mp3

With that being said, I still feel compelled to write this down at least for my own blessing, if not for others as well. The set up is to consider David's life prior to 2 Sam 11. By any definition he was a "good" person. We would be hard pressed to find a very big chink in his armor. And yet somehow his affair with Bathsheba occurs as does the cover up and the resulting murder of Uriah.

We could easily spend a lot of useful time considering the how and the why of David's sin, because my guess is the drivers are not much different for us today. However, I'm moved by two verses that book end the account of David being confronted in his sin. The first is at the end of 2 Sam 11:27 "But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord." This is a piercing reminder that no matter who we are, no matter how good we are, our sin displeases God. I know we don't like to hear this or think about it, but even as Christians our sin displeases God.

But thankfully, that is only one bookend of David's account. The other end is in 2 Sam 12:13 "And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die." Much could be said about the consequences of our sin and rightly so. But what has captivated me is the gospel truth contained in the first 13 verses of 2 Sam 12. Consider the following:

• David did all he could to cover up his sin, yet God confronts him. No sin is hidden.
• David knew God was holy and requires justice 
• David did not seek any type of restoration, yet God pursued him and brought him to the point of repentance.
• David did not outsin the grace that God had lavished on him.
• Even "good" people need the gospel

I'm not sure where anybody reading this may be at. But I am continually amazed by the extent of the gospel and how much more I need to own it today than I did when I first believed. On top of that, there is the reality that God's love in Christ so wide and high and long and deep that it will cover even our deep, dark sins. I think we will be astounded, as David probably was, when we finally are confronted with the reality of our sin and that all of that offense has been taken from us and given to Jesus.  Amazing grace indeed.

Soli Deo Gloria

Guard the Good Deposit

By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. - 2 Tim 1:14

As I read this verse today, it dawned on me that there are several implications here for all of us who call ourselves disciples of Jesus. For now, I simply want to list them with a short comment or two. I pray God makes a connection for you with one or more of these and leads you into deeper study and prayerful reflection.

1) The good deposit is the gospel. This is fairly clear from the context, especially vv 9-10. I don't list this here to be pedantic, but because the gospel really needs to be first and central in everything we do. It really is the good deposit.

2) Whatever God is expecting of us in relation to the good deposit (ie the gospel), He is expecting it by and through the Holy Spirit. I have an ongoing, internal debate around my action vs my dependence on God, which is summed up beautifully in Phil 2:12-13. One thing that the Bible makes abundantly clear is that whatever God asks of us, He enables by his Spirit.

3) The gospel is worth guarding. This may seem redundant to the first item, but I think many of us might agree that the gospel should be central, but can easily step back from the fray when push comes to shove. Paul's day was no different than our day in this respect: someone is always looking to shade the gospel just a little. Add a little here. Trim a little there. Tweak something. Tune something. Polish something. Our command is simply to guard it. Protect it. Preserve it.

4) This responsibility has been entrusted to us. Some might argue that Paul is writing to Timothy as a pastor / mentor to an upcoming pastor. There is a sense in which this is true. However, there is a broader sense in which we all have pastoral roles, in families, Bible studies, friendships, so we too must take on this responsibility. Additionally, the call of discipleship is always to strive to be like the master. Or should I say the Master? Paul says in 1 Cor 11:1 "Imitate me as I imitate Christ" We can't walk on water, raise the dead or die for the sins of the world. But we can guard the gospel which has been entrusted to us.

5) Guarding isn't just a passive verb. I say this in equal parts as confession and exhortation. Guarding seems passive to me. I picture the night watchman, maybe walking the halls periodically, but mostly sitting around watching some cameras. I also picture some one disconnected to what he is guarding. Are they jewels or engine parts or food for orphans in Africa? The guard probably doesn't really care. But the gospel's claim on us is to care intensely and to guard it actively.

6) Finally, to come full circle, God is pulling this all together. Skip back 2 verses to 2 Tim 1:12 "I am convinced that he (God) is able to guard until that Day what he has entrusted to me"

So today, by the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells in you and with confidence in the God who is accomplishing everything for His own purposes and glory, guard the good deposit of the gospel which has been entrusted to you.

To God Alone be the Glory

Because it was not possible

This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. -- Acts 2:23-24

For all the times I've read Acts 2, a certain aspect of verses 23 and 24 have escaped me until now. Read it again. Slowly. Soak it in.

Oh, there is so much there, but what struck me out of the blue when I heard it read yesterday was this reality: It was not possible for Jesus to stay dead.

Part of why this struck me hard is that I have often viewed Jesus as the participant in the resurrection. In other words, the resurrection happened to Him. And while this may be partially accurate, I think it misses the point. Peter's point here is that the resurrection had to happen, because the grave simply could not hold Jesus.

Kevin DeYoung recently used the illustration of childbirth -- tied to the word pangs -- to describe Jesus in the grave. Was he dead? Yes? Could he have stayed dead? Not a chance. Just like a baby cannot -- will not -- stay in the womb, Jesus could not stay in the grave. It could not contain Him. It could not hold Him. Add to that the imagery associated with labor, a baby needing to be born and mother needing to deliver her child and we begin to glimpse the heaven reality -- death could not hold on to Jesus.

This is important for at least two reasons. First and probably foremost is that the resurrection is the lynch pin of our faith. If Jesus didn't rise, we are still in our sins. Everything we believe, every hope we have is tied to this one historic fact.

Secondarily, but no less important for our daily walk with Christ is that Jesus has defeated death. We may not see all of the implications of this victory yet, but Jesus' resurrection proves that the victory has occurred. And because Christ has conquered  sin and death, he can -- and will -- rescue us from our sin and death. Spiritually speaking, we are safe and secure in Christ. Romans 8:33-34 say it best:

Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

So, if you are believer in Christ know this: the grave that couldn't hold Jesus, can't hold you either. Your eternity is certain and Jesus' resurrection is the guarantee.

However, if you do not believe that Jesus' life, death and resurrection have anything to do with you, know that you are taking an awful risk. And yet, even in this moment, as you read these words, you can give your life, your future, your eternity into the hands of the One who made you, who loves you and was willing to die so that you might live.

To God Alone be the Glory

A Better Ref

I'm amazed by all of the commentary surround the NFL referee issue. Not that the comments and concerns are inappropriate nor worth discussing, but that it reveals a deep need in the human heart that the rules, whether in football or life, be followed and administer fairly. The collective "outrage", while maybe a little over the top, springs from and reveals that even the least theological among us still carry the image of God within us.

Wouldn't it be great if there were a better ref? One who never blew a call? One who made sure each player played within the boundaries of the game? Even better, wouldn't it be great if there was a ref who could, by his very presence, make each player want to play within the rules and execute each play to the best of their ability.

Of course life is different than football, and we can do "all the right things" and still face failure, temptation, illness and even death. To face these things, and so many other things, we need more than a ref. We need a friend. We need a father. We need a protector. We need an advocate. We need a deliverer. We need an adviser.

And when we "commit a penalty" and the ref "throws the flag" we need someone to stand in our place. Because, in life, its not just a 10 yard penalty. It will cost us the game. It will cost us the season. It will cost us our lives.

The good news is that the Better Ref has come. Jesus is that ref. He has lived. He has died. He is risen. And He is the ref over the whole world. And while we may not see his calls as being right and good, in reality they are. And He is so much more than just a ref. He offers us new life. He delivers us from both the affects of our penalties, but also from the power that causes us to want to commit them. He can change us from the inside so that we want to and are able to play the game within the rules that have been established from the beginning. And, best of all. He's already won the Super Bowl.

I just want to pray, if you've read this far, that you will allow Jesus to be for you everything He promises to be. He has made this promise, which can be yours if you entrust your life to Him.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. -- Mat 11:28

To God Alone be the Glory

Plausible Arguments

I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. Col 2:4

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. Col 2:8

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 2Ti 4:3-4

I have no idea why I would be surprised by someone claiming to be a biblical scholar publishing an article that at the same time states the Bible is the inspired word of God and that it is all culturally conditioned. Why would I be shocked when it is stated that the Bible has many different literary types and that our understanding must begin by understanding the literary style we are reading which is followed by mis-categorizing the literary genre of the one book the author chooses to discuss? Why am I bothered by an article that seems so nonsensical and politically, 2012 issue driven that it almost made me laugh, except for my tears?

Perhaps its because the article (read it here to do your own review) is in my local newspaper. Perhaps its because the article is written in a style and tone that actually supposes to support the Bible. Perhaps because as I read it I kept thinking of all of the Biblical writers and Jesus himself who warned about people who would want to change what had been written. Perhaps, most of all, it was because his arguments were so plausible.

My point here is not to refute anything the article presented. To me, that seems to take the discussion in the wrong direction. Is there merit in discussing methods of interpretation? Absolutely. But the Biblical writers almost always direct our gaze away from the counterfeit and back to the genuine. One of the main themes of the book of Colossians is the one preparing the church for the onslaught of false teachers. Paul's refreshing technique is to draw the Colossians (and us) back to Christ and the gospel. I think that is where every interpretive question should begin and ultimately must end.

My other point is that we all need to be wary of what we read and watch and listen to. It may easy to filter out the extreme positions (e.g. the Bible is fiction, so why worry about interpretation?) but there are so many shades of grey that may become for us a path toward wandering off into myths. I pray that we can read the newspaper in light of the Bible, not the Bible in light of the newspaper.

To God Alone be the Glory

Life Lessons from Acts 4

"This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 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 4:11-12)

For some time now, but especially over the past few months, I've been challenged by God to see that this faith we proclaim and this Savior we trust and adore are not new things that God called out of nothingness, but they are rather lost things that He has graciously brought back to our minds and hearts. Part of this challenge has been to read (and re-read) the Old Testament with a Christ-centered, Christ-expectant heart. Another part is to read the New Testament, not as corrective to the Old Testament, but as an expansion, a clarification and (dare I say it?) a fulfillment of what God was saying and doing and promising.

That's where Acts 4 comes into play. As I read it this morning I saw a few key connections between the Old Testament and New. On top of that, I also saw some great examples how we can take this unified story and plan of God out to a lost and dying world.

Everything Starts and Ends with the Gospel

Much could be said about the contents of the first 12 verses, including the fact that preaching the gospel will annoy religious people. But as I read these verses today, what struck me was the simple transparency of the early church's gospel witness. Their master plan was to speak to people (v1) and do good deeds in Christ name (v9, in reference to Acts 3) They also had the willingness (and the power) to testify to gospel realities (vv10-12). How often to I get lost in trying to fit the right words in the right situation instead of just talking about gospel realities. D.A. Carson calls this "gosipping the gospel". And, as Peter says later, "in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect" (1 Pet 3:15)

It should be noted that the conflict here and in most of the first half and the last quarter of Acts is a conflict between two views of God's connection with His people. Either its exclusive and limited by the whole Jewish system, thus Jesus is in fact a heretic, or it is expansive and unlimited through a salvation by grace through faith. Peter makes it clear which claim he believes is true.

The Gospel is a Synthetic Part of our Lives

Nothing seems more difficult for me to remember than the truth that the gospel is not something "out there", but it is "right here" and it touches every aspect of my life. Verses 13-22 bear this out, but verse 13 hammers the point home. The disciples were not the cream of anyone's crop and so people were that much more amazed by the effectiveness of their preaching and ministry. And, people recognized that they had been with Jesus.

Pause a minute to consider the implications of that verse. How could someone tell whether Peter or John or any of the others had been with Jesus? The cool t-shirts? A specific hair style? Their accent? The shekinah glory? Perhaps its because there's an internal recognition system in each of us, broken by the fall, that still resonates when the truth of God and his redemption is proclaimed. This is what our lives, our daily, mundane, ordinary lives are to be like.

On top of this, the disciples had a mantra that should really be placarded over each of our lives. "We must obey God rather than men." This again demonstrates the connection the disciples see with the faith that came before them. They don't see themselves as abandoning Judaism as much as fulfilling it.

God Entranced Prayers yield God Entranced Results

As any of my good friends would know, I have a very healthy respect for the height and breadth and depth of prayer. I certainly would be the last person to deny that God honors the simple, here and now requests of His children. That is the straightforward conclusion of the second half of the Lord's prayer and the teaching of Mt 6:25-34 and Mt 7:7-11. Yet, so many of the prayers within the Bible transcend this "me centered", "temporal centered" perspective. The prayer in verses 24-30 is no different. The disciples give glory to God and ascribe to Him the sovereignty over all the events leading to and through Jesus' crucifixion. Then they don't seek relief, nor do they abandon themselves to the nebulous "will of God". Instead they pray in the hard direction they knew they were called to. And of course the ask for God to continue bring glory to Christ. The results are a direct manifestation of the Spirit and an unashamed proclamation of the gospel.

Our Lives and the Church should begin to look like the New Heavens and the New Earth.

This is not a statement of post-millennial eschatology. Rather, it is simply the observation that in verses 32-37. The people individually and the church collectively were doing something so counter cultural and so against human nature that we simply want to discard these verses. However, if we are really growing in grace, shouldn't this sort of "real-world", radical generosity be a mark of our lives? Isn't this extravagant blessing of others be a mark of people who have been with Jesus? I know there are dozens (maybe hundreds) of "real-world" reasons for us to be cautious of how we give our money and resources. But this doesn't mean hoard them or waste them. Instead it should mean prayerfully, wisely lay them at Jesus' feet and distribute to all who have needs.

It is interesting that the one highlighted for his self-sacrificial generosity is Barnabas, a Levite. The Levites were dependent on other's generosity for their own needs, so here is one who has nothing of his own giving to others who had even less. He is thus pointing to and fulfilling the enduring call of the people of God to love their neighbors as themselves (Lev 19:18, see also Lev 19:9-10)

The bottom-line? We always need to be growing up and growing in to our salvation. There is always more Jesus will ask of us, but He will give us today our daily bread (manna, anyone?). What we should not do is either despair, thinking the bar is too high and we can never achieve it or ignore, thinking this is only for the "elite" Christians who read Puritans and write blogs. The call of Acts 4 is for us all. May the Spirit apply it to your heart today in way that brings glory to Christ and brings you closer to One who sits on the throne.

To God Alone be the Glory

Time is brief; Words are few

O LORD, make me know my end 
and what is the measure of my days; 
let me know how fleeting I am! 
Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, 
and my lifetime is as nothing before you. 
Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah (Ps 37:4-5)

After a lengthy pause, I feel compelled to write again because I realize more than ever that my time and opportunities to exalt Jesus are short and few. The Spirit is pressing, always pressing, so I must avail myself of every outlet He places in my life. And, the events of the past week have cemented in my mind that waiting on or depending on others to carry the ball that God expects me to carry is foolish and sinful.

The ache of my heart is that we would all know and grasp (deep in our hearts) that the gospel must drive everything we do. And the gospel must be explicit (kudos to Matt Chandler Explicit Gospel). Jesus, fully God and fully man, perfect in every way and deserving only God's favor and blessing, took on our rebellion and sin and unrighteousness. He hung on the Cross. He absorbed God's just and holy wrath. He endured true separation from his infinitely loving Father. All of this was on our behalf. We, through no effort or merit of our own received forgiveness and peace and reconciliation. We are no longer rebels or traitors or slaves. We are sons and daughters because of the grace of God manifested in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. In short, Jesus died so that we might live.

Everything (no hyperbole here) hangs on this. How I think, how I act, how I love & treat Sally, how I parent my kids, how I do my job all need to flow from the truth and the reality of the gospel in my life. If it doesn't, its a game and a sham. The same goes for how we do church and how we approach ministry. Church is not an add on to the gospel. It must be an outflow and direct expression of the gospel. Our ministries should not be something we do simply because we know the gospel is true. They should be fed and fueled and be a profound picture of the grace of Christ and the mercy of God and the power of the Holy Spirit.

I cannot promise the future frequency of these posts, simply because I want them to be prayerfully considered and Spirit driven. Above all, I want them to be gospel centered, Christ exalting, and God honoring. And, by God's grace, they will be a blessing to any who may read them.

To God Alone be the Glory

The Extreme Gospel

"Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able." (Lk 13:25)

"I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture." (Jn 10:9)

One of the paradoxes of Christianity is that it is at the same time both open to everyone and limited to those who follow Christ. I think both strands of this thinking need to be stressed in equal measure to be biblically faithful and honoring to God and exalting of Christ. The verses above represent a glimpse at the exclusivity side of things, while verses like John 3:16 and Mt 11:28-30 show us the expansive openness of Jesus and the gospel.

It is easy for us to lean toward one of the ends of this spectrum or the other. For those of us who don't want anyone to miss the good news of grace and want to make sure we are not the offending agent, we will tend to move toward the expansiveness and the openness of Christ. And there is a lot of truth here. We must never portray Christianity or the gospel as something constrained or limited.

And yet there is a limitation. Those of us who want to make sure that faith and dependence on Jesus is stressed will head toward the other end of the spectrum We rightly highlight the cross and the fact that Jesus himself declares that He is the only way to the Father. And there is a lot of truth here. We must never portray Christianity (or Jesus) as one religion (or religious leader) among many. Christianity and Jesus himself are unique and by definition exclusionary.

So, where do we go? At the risk of being paradoxical myself, I think we need to go both to the middle and to the extremes. We need to go to the middle because each of us is somewhere on this pendulum of expansiveness and exclusivity. If we are not precisely at the apex, we could very easily over emphasize one element of the gospel to the detriment of the other. But we need to go to the extremes because the gospel itself is extreme. The gospel is offered to all. Jesus prayed for Jerusalem's salvation a week before his death in that very city. Paul prayed and labored for his brother Jews even though they were out to kill him. We must push the expansiveness boundary as much as Jesus and Paul did. All the while, the Jesus and the gospel must remain exclusive. There is no other name under heaven by which we may be saved. Any one who does not enter by the gate is a thief and a robber. Behold, I hold the keys of death and Hades.


Father, give us balance in our view and articulation of Christianity and the gospel. And grant us the passion and power to push the envelope in declaring both the expansiveness of the gospel and the exclusivity of Christ. For your glory and exaltation of Jesus Amen.

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

I read the following quote from D.A. Carson in For The Love of God Vol 2. It was a refreshing reminder that the gospel does not terminate on us but rather terminates on God's saving work in Christ.

We must always remember that: The Gospel is not admired in Scripture primarily because of the social transformation it effects, but because it reconciles men and women to a holy God. Its purpose is not that we might feel fulfilled, but that we might be reconciled to the living and holy God. The consummation is delightful to the transformed people of God, not simply because the environment of the new heaven and the new earth is pleasing, but because we forever live and work and worship in the unshielded radiance of the presence of our holy Maker and Redeemer. That prospect must shape how the church lives and serves, and determine the pulse of its ministry. The only alternative is high-sounding but self-serving idolatry.

To God Alone be the Glory

The Gospel is Everything

“Without the gospel everything is useless and vain; without the gospel we are not Christians; without the gospel all riches is poverty, all wisdom folly before God; strength is weakness, and all the justice of man is under the condemnation of God. But by the knowledge of the gospel we are made children of God, brothers of Jesus Christ, fellow townsmen with the saints, citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, heirs of God with Jesus Christ, by whom the poor are made rich, the weak strong, the fools wise, the sinner justified, the desolate comforted, the doubting sure, and slaves free. It is the power of God for the salvation of all those who believe …”  - John Calvin


Read the rest here.


To God Alone be the Glory

Preaching the Gospel to Ourselves

The link below by Scotty Smith is a great reminder that the gospel is not just something that gets us into heaven. Rather it is everything. It is our means of salvation, but it is also our means of growth and what drives us and enables us to worship.  Here is an excerpt:

"There was a time when I thought the gospel was only for nonbelievers—simply the doorway for beginning a relationship with you. I now realize we believers need the gospel just as much as nonbelievers. From beginning to end, our redemption is entirely dependent upon the grace, truth, and power of the gospel. Indeed, there’s nothing more than the gospel, there is just more of the gospel.

Thank you for rescuing us from the notion that salvation is primarily death preparation. It’s about coming to life and it concerns the whole of life. It’s about becoming like you, Jesus—one Day being as beautiful and loving as you. It’s about deliverance from our little stories of personal peace and affluence, that we might serve in your big story of pan-national and cosmic redemption. What a privilege and honor!"

Read it all here.

To God Alone be the Glory

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

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

Oh, to see things clearly

I read a blog post by Kevin DeYoung today entitled: A Resurrection Postscript: Saved by Justice. Here are two excerpts that struck home with me.

I believe many of us have not begun to grasp just how good the good news is, just how secure our salvation is, just how completely and unalterably justified we are through faith in Christ. Mark this: God did not set aside the law in judging us; he fulfilled it.  Christ bore the curse of the law so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.  Not because we possess this righteousness, but because God credits it to our account.  So that, in one sense, at the moment when Christ died, it was what he deserved (by imputation).  And now by faith, blessing and mercy and favor are what we deserve (by imputation).

The resurrection is not a sentimental story about never giving up, or the possibility of good coming from evil. It is not first of all a story about how suffering can be sanctified, or a story of how Jesus suffered for all of humanity so we can suffer with the rest of humanity. The resurrection is the loud declaration that Jesus is enough–enough to atone for your sins, enough to reconcile you to God, enough to present you holy in God’s presence, enough to free you from the curse of the law, enough to promise you there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

It would be hard and probably impudent to add to what DeYoung has said so well.  I am constantly amazed by my own lack of grasping the breadth and the depth and the length and the height of the gospel. But I always rejoice when I consider (and reconsider) the absolute solidity of Christ, his work on the Cross, his eternal promise to his Father and to mine and the fact that He is not a wishful Savior (oh please accept my gracious offer) but rather a conquering King who has ransomed a people for Himself.

To God Alone be the Glory.

Immerse Yourself

"Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress." 1 Tim 4:15

It never ceases to amaze me that I continue to pick up new insights in God's Word, especially after going through it year after year for more than a decade. Sometimes, this new insight comes in the form of God expressing himself in way I hadn't seen or perceived. But sometimes it comes in words and phrases that simply hadn't registered in my mind.

Such was the case this morning as I read through 1 Tim 4. This is a somewhat familiar passage where Paul is directing Timothy to remain true to his calling, to exercise his gifts and to put into practice all that he had learned, especially the things Paul had written to him about. Paul's extension of all of this is that Timothy (and us) are living examples of the grace and the power of the gospel.

But the phrase that was new to me, what I had read dozens of times and never really recorded in my heart and mind was the phrase from v15, "immerse yourself in them". In fact the original Greek says to "be in them". Wow! What a reminder to me that this faith, this life, this grace is not an add on, not a coat to wear over a suit which is over a shirt which is over my heart. No, this gospel, this love, this mercy, this submission of my will to God's goes all the way to the core. By the power of the Spirit, we need to dive into this gospel, into the grace Jesus freely provides. Being a disciple of Christ is not a tweak on our already pretty good lives. It is not even a remodel of a totally messed up life. It is a full fledged reconstruction of a life destroyed by sin but purchased and redeemed by the blood shed on the cross. We must be immersed in these things!

Can you rejoice with me today over the small phrases in God's Word that have big impacts on how we see Christ, how we perceive his grace and mercy, how we embrace the cross and the gospel and how we live our lives as examples to the Church and as spotlights to a lost and dying world?

To God Alone be the Glory

Tuesdays from Phil 1 - God Finishes What He Starts

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Phil 1:6

To be honest, I find the familiar passages more difficult to comment on than the more obscure ones. The less reflected upon a verse or passage is, the comfortable I find myself. Maybe that's due to a lesser chance of critique when few are unfamiliar with a text. Or, maybe its due to a fear that I don't have anything to say that hasn't already been said, said more accurately and more eloquently. But, both the fear of critique and the fear of irrelevance have their roots in pride. So, I trust that God will use a time like this to both bless His people but also root out the sometimes pervasive pride in my life.

I share this in part to be transparent with those who read this blog, but also as a way to testify that God is at work even now bringing to completion the work He began in us. I know we need to be careful and to understand the Paul is ultimately looking at the full completion Christ will accomplish on our behalf on the day of His return. Yet isn't all of our journey, including our death, part of the process of being completed? Yes there will be a glorious day when the perishable puts on the imperishable, but aren't there hundreds and thousands of days where we become a little more Christ-like in this life?

I think this verse has two time horizons. The first is the end state, the 1 Cor 15, resurrected body, walking on streets of gold, fully complete, gloried person. And, we should praise God that we can be sure that He will do and accomplish this. If He can't, or won't or is given to changing His mind, our faith is useless. But I would also submit there is a second time horizon. Or maybe a better comparison is traveling from New York to LA. You can take a 747, get on and go. Once you are on the plane, if you trust the pilot and equipment and the security folks, you are on your way. Or you can drive in your family vehicle, stopping in Philly and Pittsburg, maybe Chicago or St Louis, Denver or Salt Lake anyone? How about stopping at Gettysburg or Cedar Point or the Arch. What about skiing or picnicking or a hundred other activities along the way. Eventually, however, if you trust your driver and your mechanic and your GPS, you will also arrive in LA.

Our lives are on the secure-in-Christ, fast track to glory. God said it. I believe it. That settles it.  But our lives are also on the cross country journey to glory. There are detours. There are diversions. There may be car trouble. Paul's point here is not to belabor the what or where or the why, but to get our focus back on the Who. God started our journey and He wlll make sure we finish it. Why? Because He's God.

So whether you need to be gently (or abruptly) reminded that God will absolutely, positively get us where we are going or you need to know that the Spirit travels with us on the day to day journey of life and He will ultimately get us where we need to go, this verse (and this Book) is for you.

One final note. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that all of Paul's (and my) confidence is pointed to those who are on the journey. If God has begun the work in you, He will complete it. No doubt. But if He has not yet begun the work, that is where you must start. Look to Christ, even just ahead in Philippians 2 or in John or the other gospels. See what He has to say and the faith He asks from us, but also graciously provides to us (Eph 2:4-10). Trust me, this is one journey you don't want to miss!

To God Alone be the Glory