Faith, Rest, Quietness, Trust

For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, "In returning [Hebrew: שובה (shubah)] and rest you shall be saved; in quietness, and in trust shall be your strength." But you were unwilling...
Isaiah 30:15

Some render שובה (shubah) “repentance.” Others render it “rest,” and I am more disposed to adopt that rendering; for I think that the Prophet intended frequently to impress upon the people, that the Lord demands more from them than to rely fully upon him. Nor is the repetition of the statement by two words superfluous; for he expressly intended to bring together the words “rest and quietness,” in order to reprove the people the more sharply for their distrust and unbelief.

This verse consists of two clauses, a command and a promise. He enjoins the people to be of a quiet disposition, and next promises that their salvation shall be certain. The people do not believe this promise, and consequently they do not obey the command; for how would they render obedience to God, whom they do not believe, and on whose promises they do not rely? We need not wonder, therefore, that they do not enjoy peace and repose; for these cannot exist without faith, and faith cannot exist without the promises, and as soon as the promises have been embraced, souls that were restless and uneasy are made calm. Thus, unbelief alone produces that uneasiness; and therefore the Prophet justly reproves it, and shews that it is the source of the whole evil.

Though our condition be not entirely the same with that of the Jews, yet God commands us to wait for his assistance with quiet dispositions, not to murmur, or be troubled or perplexed, or to distrust his promises. This doctrine must belong equally to all believers; for the whole object of Satan’s contrivances is to distress them, and to cast them down from their condition. In like manner had Moses long before addressed them,

“You shall be silent, and the Lord will fight for you.” (Exodus 14:14.)

Not that he wished them to sleep or to be idle, but he enjoined them to have this peace in their hearts. If we have it, we shall feel that it yields us sufficient protection; and if not, we shall be punished for our levity and rashness.

--John Calvin's Commentaries

Black Church White Church

From Curtis "Voice" Allen's new CD: Christ The King

Black Church White Church
by Curtis "Voice" Allen

V1

Black church white church, they might really be a nice church, but we don’t think they the right church, so we don’t associate with the white church. Even though things might work, their music is different, they just too business. They don’t got emotion where is the shouting, their rhythms off beat we can do without them. Plus we just different cultures, and I don’t trust white folks they can be vultures. Always telling someone how to live, I think they racists they don’t play with our kids. Why we gotta be in the same church anyway I would choose our preaching anyday. We got good music we have church here, we sang so they can’t hang here. But we not racist we just think we should meet in different places. Yeah I work with them won’t go to church with them yeah friends with them that’s where it ends with them. I’m real I don’t pretend with them, it aint like I gotta be best friends with them. I’m just stating fact, and that’s where I’m so what’s wrong with that? THAT!

V2

White Church black church, we can’t recommend that church But we would love to see them at church. With us here yeah that works. But we ain’t trying to go over there, those people different but we still care. From a distance we’ll be polite, but if they came here it would alright. Cuz we think they don’t preach the gospel, or they just not theological. Unorganized real needy, teaching’s topical emotion is their gospel. So we’ll stay segregated, even though we next door, and hope that they make it. We ain’t judging them we can still be loving them even though we ain’t close enough to be touching them. I just love our church. I bet they would benefit from our church. Ain’t that how the gospel works, so why won’t they come to our church. I feel called to reach that community, but not if I gotta leave my community. But the gospel doesn’t give you immunity. The gospel gives you Impunity.

V3

Black church white church, news flash you are Christ’s church. So the color is red that you stand by, bloodshed nuff said hold your head high. Waves your hands by, to how life was, be high on Christ that’s the right buzz. Church segregation ain’t the right love, separation is really hating Christ’s love. We don’t go there, fill in the blank, and fill in the blank their music ain’t. Divided by cultural preferences is all us it is not what his message is. He called us to preach gospel sentences, so all must, complete what repentance is. Cuz we show the world that the Lord is real, or we show the world we got a fake appeal. Listen you were made in God’s image, before any man saw you as an image. So who you are is not who you are, and what defines you should behind you. Accept Christ, so what you thinking that in eternity it matters if you white or black? He made us, for better status, and our color’s red so let’s move ahead.

HT: Pure Church

The Wine Jesus Drank

From Desiring God Blog:

Twice Jesus was offered wine while on the cross. He refused the first, but took the second. Why so?

The first time came in [Mark 15] verse 23, “they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.” William Lane explains,

According to an old tradition, respected women of Jerusalem provided a narcotic drink to those condemned to death in order to decrease their sensitivity to the excruciating pain . . . . When Jesus arrived at Golgotha he was offered . . . wine mixed with myrrh, but he refused it, choosing to endure with full consciousness the sufferings appointed for him (The Gospel of Mark, p. 564)

This first wine represented an offer to ease the pain, to opt for a small shortcut—albeit, not a major one in view of the terrible pain of the cross, but a little one nonetheless. But this offer Jesus refused, and in doing so, chose “to endure with full consciousness the sufferings appointed for him.”

The second time came in verse [Mark 15] 35. After some bystanders thought he was calling for Elijah, “someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, ‘Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.’” Lane comments,

A sour wine vinegar is mentioned in the OT as a refreshing drink (Numbers 6:13; Ruth 2:14), and in Greek and Roman literature as well it is a common beverage appreciated by laborers and soldiers because it relieved thirst more effectively than water and was inexpensive . . . . There are no examples of its use as a hostile gesture. The thought, then, is not of a corrosive vinegar offered as a cruel jest, but of a sour wine of the people. While the words “let us see if Elijah will come” express a doubtful expectation, the offer of the sip of wine was intended to keep Jesus conscious for as long as possible” (Ibid., 573-574).

So the first wine (mixed with myrrh) was designed to dull Jesus’ pain, to keep him from having to endure the cross with full consciousness. This wine he refused.

And the second (sour) wine was given to keep him “conscious for as long as possible,” and thus have the effect of prolonging his pain. This is the wine Jesus drank.

Other condemned criminals would have taken the first (to ease their torment) and passed on the second (so as not to prolong their horrific pain). But Jesus would take no shortcuts on the way to our redemption.

At the cross, he drank the wine of his Father’s wrath down to its very dregs, and he did so for us—that we might enjoy the wine of his Father’s love, join him at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, and live redeemed forever in the glorious presence of the one who took no shortcuts in saving us.

Your Name

The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.
Proverbs 18:10

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

In Jesus' Name, Amen

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.
2 Corinthians 1:19-20

Prayer is drawing on the account where God has deposited all his promises of future grace. Prayer is not hoping in the dark that there might be a God of good intentions out there. Prayer goes to the bank every day and draws on promises of future grace needed for that day.

...

Prayer is the confident plea for God to make good on his promises of future grace for Christ's sake. Prayer links our faith in future grace with the foundation of it all, Jesus Christ.

Which leads to the final point: "Amen" is a full and precious word in times of prayer. It doesn't mean primarily, "Yes, I have now said all this prayer." It means primarily, "Yes, God has made all these promises." Amen means, "Yes, Lord, you can do it." It means, "Yes, Lord, you are powerful. Yes, Lord, you are wise. Yes, Lord, you are merciful. Yes, Lord, all future grace comes from you and has been confirmed in Christ." "Amen" is an exclamation point of hope after a prayer for help.

When we come to the end of our prayers and say the simple words, "In Jesus' name, Amen," we are really saying two Amen's. When we say, "In Jesus' name," that is God's Amen to us. All his promises are Amen in Jesus: Jesus Christ is God's Yes and Amen at the end of our prayers. Then when we say, "Amen," this is our Yes and Amen back to God for his. Which means that our Amen, and the prayer it supports, is our Yes to God's Yes to us. It is a commitment from our hearts that we will now live by faith in the Yes of God's guaranteed future grace.

--John Piper, Future Grace, p.107-108

Amazing. Paul (inspired by the Holy Spirit) said it himself: in Jesus, God always says yes to us. He never says no...as long as we're asking for what He's promised in His Word.

The Life That's Left Is Future Grace

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:3

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.
1 Corinthians 16:23

The only life I have left to live is future life. The past is not in my hands to offer or alter. It is gone. Not even God will change the past. All the expectations of God are future expectations. All the possibilities of faith and love are future possibilities. And all the power that touches me with help to live in love is future power. As precious as the bygone blessings of God may be, if he leaves me only with the memory of those, and not with the promise of more, I will be undone. My hope for future goodness and future glory is future grace.

...

Without exception the blessings at the beginning of Paul's letters say "Grace [be] to you," while the blessings at the end of the letters say, "Grace [be] with you." This is so consistent through thirteen letters that it must mean something.

The meaning I would suggest is this: at the beginning of his letters Paul has in mind that the letter itself is a channel of Gods' grace to the readers. Grace is about to flow "from God" through Paul's writing to the Christians. So he says, "Grace to you." That is, grace is now active and is about to flow from God through my inspired writing to you as you read--"grace [be] to you."

But as the end of the letter approaches, Paul realizes that the reading is almost finished and the question rises, "What becomes of the grace that has been flowing to the readers through the reading of the inspired letter?" He answers with a blessing at the end of every letter: "Grace [be] with you." With you as you put the letter away and leave the church. With you as you go home to deal with a sick child and an unaffectionate spouse. With you as you go to work and face the temptations of anger and dishonesty and lust. With you as you muster courage to speak up for Christ over lunch.

What then do we learn from Paul's unbroken pattern of beginning and ending his letters in this way ("Grace be to you." "Grace be with you.")? We learn that grace is an unmistakable priority in the Christian life. We learn that it is from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, but that it can come through people. We learn that grace is ready to flow to us every time we take up the inspired Scriptures to read them. And we learn that grace will abide with us when we lay down and go about our daily living.

In other words, we learn that grace is not merely a past reality but a future one. Every time I reach for the Bible, God's grace is a reality that will flow to me. Every time I put the Bible down and go about my business, God's grace will go with me. This is what I mean by future grace.

--John Piper, Future Grace, p.65-67

I don't know about you, but this makes me all the more eager to take up the Scriptures in order to "be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 2:1).

The Cost

Last night, I posted about my experience running to the top of a mountain. This morning, Ray Ortlund posted the following quote about the cost of reaching the top of the mountain.

“It cost Christ and all his followers sharp showers and hot sweats, before they won to the top of the mountain. But still our soft nature would have heaven coming to our bedside when we are sleeping and lying down with us, that we might go to heaven in warm clothes. But all that came there found wet feet by the way and sharp storms that did take the hide off their face, and they found tos and fros and ups and downs and many enemies by the way.”

Samuel Rutherford, Letters (Edinburgh, 1891), page 389.

Providence. I stopped believing in mere coincidence a while ago.

But no matter how many times I'm reminded, every time I read quotes like this it's like a blow to the stomach because I really would prefer to remain sleeping and lying down.

Sigh.

An Experience I'll Probably Never Forget

Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.
1 Corinthians 9:24

For an hour or so leading up to my final relay leg that would take me through the Santa Cruz mountains on Highway 9, I studied my map for one specific reason. I wasn’t afraid of taking a wrong turn and getting lost (like I had done in my previous two legs =( ) since this leg had no turns. The reason I was studying my map so diligently was because I wanted to identify the points in my leg where I would be able to look forward to coasting a little bit. Thinking about climbing 1,000 feet over the course of three miles was overwhelming and I wanted to at least encourage myself with the points I could look forward to where the leg would flatten out and I would be able to rest. That would make the leg seem more manageable for me. As Sushma would put it, I was trying to mentally prepare myself =). I found two such points on my map. So as the time came near for me to begin my final leg, the task felt less daunting.

Even though my leg was a continual incline for the first ten minutes, I wasn’t in any way overwhelmed because I knew that it would soon flatten out. So I maintained a steady pace. But with each bend I rounded as I scaled this winding mountain, instead of it flattening out, it was only becoming steeper and steeper. I was beginning to get a little worried because I knew that I probably wasn’t even half way done. I even took out my map at one point to try to gauge how far I had gone but had no way of identifying where I was so I quickly put it back in my pocket. I didn’t bother trying to look at it again. And I just began to pray, “Father, please grant me reprieve. I just need a little break…”

Soon after this my team van pulled up beside me to offer me water. What a blessing! My throat really needed that. After taking a small swig and running next to the van for a couple of feet, I gave it back to them and they drove on. Shortly after that I passed by another team van waiting for their runner to reach that point so they could give her water. As I passed by them, they cheered me on and told me that I was doing a great job. “You’re half way done!” they said. “Half way!??!! That’s it??!?” I thought to myself. “I can’t keep running for that much longer!” All I could say to them as I went by was, “This is sooo hard…”

It was around this time that I realized that there probably weren’t going to be any flat points in this leg. And yet I kept on praying, “Father, please grant me reprieve. I really need reprieve.” I can’t count how many times I said that. I wanted to stop running and start walking, and yet I refused to let myself.

As I continued to struggle on, I noticed my team van was waiting for me up ahead to give me water again! What a great team! But this time, my teammate Jesús (farthest to the right in the picture above) hopped out of the van to come run by my side. After I took another swig of water, the van took off and left the two of us running with more than a mile left to go. My crazy teammate—who had just run the previous leg before me which was identical to mine, climbing 1,000 feet over the course of three miles—actually got out of the van to run with me! All I could do at that time was tell him he was insane! I would later tell him that I loved him.

As we ran together, I kept thinking to myself, “If Jesús has gas in the tank to keep on running after just finishing one of these, now there’s no way I can start walking!” So, in a good way, his presence challenged me to keep on running. But his presence didn’t just challenge me. His presence also tremendously encouraged me. He pointed out to me that I was going at a pretty fast pace and suggested that I slow down. I didn’t think about it for a long time before I was happy to take his advice.

We slowed down a bit as we continued to scale the mountain. It just kept going up. No reprieve. At one point a couple hours earlier before our final leg, we had started talking about Bible verses related to running. As we ran, Jesús asked me which verse I had mentioned earlier. I recited it (huffing and puffing):

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1-2

That gave me renewed focus. As we continued to run, I meditated on that verse and thought of the verses that come soon after those two. I then recited those (huffing and puffing):

You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
Hebrews 12:4

One of my shins was beginning to hurt. But now there was no way I was stopping. There was no way I was walking. And, somehow, I actually sped up. Somehow, I got a little burst of energy.

But I don’t think that lasted very long and I soon slowed down again. Our team van was just ahead and as we approached it, Jesús asked me something to the effect of if I wanted him to keep running with me or not. I told him to get back in the van. He seemed to agree and the only words I can remember coming out of his mouth at that point are, “It’s just you and the Lord the rest of the way.” “That’s right,” I thought to myself. The team offered me water but this time I didn’t want any. And as I ran past the van, Jesús didn’t get in. He just continued to run with me. I can’t say how much that meant to me.

At this point, I had no clue how much of the leg was left. All I knew was that I was just going to keep running, no matter how far it was. To be honest, I don’t think I expected the end to come anytime soon.

As we approached the next bend, there was a pedestrian road sign. For a moment I had a glimmer of hope that this might be the end but I quickly prepared for another long incline that would stretch before us, like all the other previous bends. But as we began to round this bend, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I saw two orange cones (the checkpoint markers indicating the end of the leg)! I can’t even begin to describe the joy that flooded into my soul. This is the end of the leg! I can stop now! Jesús told me to finish strong. So with the last burst of energy and strength I had, I kicked it up a couple of gears as I took off my wristband and, after a last few strides, gladly handed it off to Liz to complete my last leg as I watched her begin hers.

Relief rushed over me. I was done. “Thank You, Lord Jesus” was soon followed by “That was the hardest run I’ve ever done in my life.”

I walked over to my van to get my Powerade and all of a sudden a wave of emotion overwhelmed me. I grabbed my Powerade and walked off to a wooded area where in isolation I began to weep. Like, I was literally bawling as I found myself overwhelmed by the goodness of God. And as I reflected in that moment on what was happening in my soul, the reason it was such an intense moment is because I realized that running that leg was one of the best living illustrations of the life of following Jesus. Several Bible verses began to flood my mind and heart.

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:28-31 (emphasis added)

I can’t count how many times I wanted to stop running during that leg. But somehow, my legs kept on moving. I know that the main reason I kept running was because God mounted me up with wings like eagles at the moments when I was most weary and exhausted. Life is hard and following Jesus is hard. There are times when I want to quit because I grow weary. But it is especially in those moments that God promises to renew my strength and mount me up with wings like eagles.

Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:8-10

More than three times I pleaded with God to grant me reprieve. I was desperate for some temporary relief. But, in love, He never gave it to me. Instead He let me keep running straight up hill because He wanted to give me something better. He wanted to give me His grace and power to be made perfect in my weakness. God doesn’t always give me the relief I seek in life. No matter how much I ask for it. But He promises to always give me the grace and power that I need for each day.

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! 11 Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone?
Ecclesiastes 4:10-11

This was precious beyond words. If I had fallen down, Jesús would have been there to help me up. But one of the reasons I didn’t fall is because he was there. I didn’t stop running because he was there. Two were better than one. I’m convinced that one of the ways God answered my prayer for reprieve was to bring Jesús to run with me at my side. That was grace. That was strength. As we approached the team van that last time before we would finish the leg, Jesús said to me, “It’s just you and the Lord the rest of the way.” I now know that the way God wanted to make sure that I knew He was with me was through the tangible presence of my dear brother. In a very real sense, it was just me and the Lord.

I will never leave you nor forsake you.
Hebrews 13:5

One of the most precious ways that God makes His presence known to me in life is through the brothers and sisters He gives me to walk with me through my trials.

Again and again in my life, I find myself struggling wanting to be in control, wanting to know how things are going to turn out, wanting to feel like I can manage. Remember how I said at the beginning of this that I studied my map to know where the flat parts were? Remember why I said I did that? Because I believed that it would make the leg more manageable for me.

But wanting to make my life manageable, wanting to be in control, and wanting to know how things are going to turn out are all just different ways that I try to be God instead of letting God be who He has always been, long before I was old enough to have the nerve to try to take His place and long before I even existed. God is the one who’s supposed to manage everything. God is the one who’s supposed to be in control. God is the one who knows how everything is going to turn out. Not me. And He wants me to be content with that.

God stripped me of all these things as I ran my last leg of the relay. The leg felt anything but manageable to me. I had no clue where the easy points would be. I had no clue when the struggle was going to end.

For we walk by faith, not by sight.
2 Corinthians 5:7

As a follower of Jesus, I’m called to live by faith. Living by faith means that I’m OK not having control or not knowing how things are going to turn out because I trust that God is in control, that He knows what He’s doing, that He knows much better than I do, and that He’s good and loves me beyond measure. I didn’t choose to run the steepest hill in the relay (even though I could have chosen out). But, for some reason, in His perfect love and wisdom, God gave me the steepest hill to run.

Even though a lot of things may not make sense now as I am in the middle of this race called life, one day this race called life will be over. And if I trust in God now, when that day comes I’ll be able to look back on this life and make sense of it all then. And overwhelmed with even more joy than I had at the top of that mountain, I’ll be thankful that God didn’t do things my way because I’ll agree that His way was best.

I know this much now: I wouldn’t have had my last leg of the relay any other way.

A man of many companions may come to ruin,
but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Proverbs 18:24

Thank you, Jesús Carrera, for reminding me that there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. I love you brother.

Thank You, Jesus Christ, for being the friend who sticks closer than a brother. I love You Lord.

Here Is Our King!

From Desiring God Blog:

In Deuteronomy 17 Moses instructs Israel concerning the king that they will one day appoint for themselves. He gives the following three negative stipulations:

1. he must not acquire many horses (v.16)
2. he must not acquire many wives (v.17a)
3. he must not acquire excessive silver and gold (v. 17b)

Now fast forward to Samuel and Kings. In 2 Samuel 7:12-17, God promises King David a son who will be king forever. Five chapters later his son Solomon is born, and by 1 Kings 1 this son has taken the throne. Could this be the promised eternal king?

The author of Kings leaves us in suspense. It’s not until 1 Kings 10:14-11:8 that we get a clear answer. Notice what he says there:

• 10:21 - “All of King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold.
• 10:26 - “And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen.”
• 11:3 - “He had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines.”
  

In other words, he had excessive gold, excessive horses, and excessive wives. And although he doesn’t have to, the author concludes in 11:6, “So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done.”

So Solomon is not ultimately the Son/King who was promised in 2 Samuel 7. And if Solomon is not the one, then there must be another.

Another son of David would come—there would be another king.

• This king would not have excessive silver and gold. He would be rich, and yet for our sake he would become poor so that we by his poverty we might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).
• This king would not own many horses. He would have to borrow a donkey to ride into Jerusalem (John 12:14).
• This king would not have many wives. He would have one Bride and he would give his own life for her, that he might sanctify her and present her in splendor, holy and blameless before him forever (Ephesians 5:25-27).
  

Here is your king, O Israel! Here is your king, O peoples! Here is the Son of David who was promised, and he will reign forever.

I love it! I love it! I love it!

The Often Neglected Half Of Justification

When sinners are justified ... two (organically linked) liberations wash into their life. The first and more obvious liberation is moral. The second liberation is emotional and psychological.

To be sure, these are two interlocking facets of a single gift. Yet it is easy to embrace the former and neglect the latter, as my own heart has been discovering over the past 22 months...

And my own heart as well.

This is an excerpt from a blog post I read yesterday. I can't count how many times I've re-read it. This is one of the most important blog posts I've ever read. I highly encourage you to read (and re-read) the entire post for yourself.

And then, Father, by the power of Your Holy Spirit, enable us to apply it, to really believe in our heart of hearts this gospel we embrace so that more and more we are living in the fullness of the freedom that You have secured for us in Christ. Freedom! Not half of it. But all of it. We are desperate for Your grace, not just every day but every moment of every day, to be able to truly walk in this freedom. Thank You that through Jesus alone, we really are OK. And always will be, both now and forever. Amen.

HT: The Gospel Coalition

Let's Chop It Up!

Hearing Mark Dever say that made me smile =) ! I'm really looking forward to this...

The Church // Promo 1 from The Lamp Lounge on Vimeo.

HT: Pure Church

Why Read Theology?

“For my own part, I tend to find the doctrinal books often more helpful in devotion than the devotional books, and I rather suspect that the same experience may await others. I believe that many who find that ‘nothing happens’ when they sit down, or kneel down, to a book of devotion, would find that the heart sings unbidden while they are working their way through a tough bit of theology with a pipe in their teeth and a pencil in their hand.”

--C. S. Lewis, quoted in R. L. Green and W. Hooper, C. S. Lewis: A Biography (New York, 1974), page 115.

Pipe in teeth? I haven't tried that one yet! Gotta love C.S. Lewis! =)

HT: Christ Is Deeper Still

The Best Evangelistic Strategy?

Who He Is

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
2 Corinthians 5:14-15

Humble Orthodoxy

“Is an attachment to orthodoxy necessarily accompanied by a rigid and unloving spirit? If we were to think of all the orthodox people we know, then we might conclude that that is sometimes the case. If we recollect all the unorthodox people we know, then we might come to the same conclusion! The real question is whether there is any likely or necessary connection between orthodoxy and lack of love. . . .

Any idea that love and orthodoxy are antithetical to each other is foreign to the teaching of Christ. Our Lord requires both. Let us therefore reject the sort of self-righteousness in which we congratulate ourselves on being orthodox and think that this somehow compensates for a lack of love. Similarly let us not think that Christ will overlook denials of his Word simply because we are loving.”

--Noel Weeks, The Sufficiency of Scripture (Edinburgh, 1988), page 237.

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Ephesians 4:15-16

In the words of Noel Weeks, love and orthodoxy. In the words of Josh Harris, humble orthodoxy. In the words of the apostle Paul, speaking the truth in love.

As we live this kind of life, we are growing up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, who saw no conflict between truth and love, but always spoke the truth no matter how unpopular it was, and always did so in love.

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
John 1:17

In the words of the apostle John, grace and truth. Not one. Both.

HT: Christ Is Deeper Still

This Was Grace

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
Romans 8:32

Every good gift and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
James 1:17

The Works of God

The Savior and The Sheep

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Psalm 23:1-3

But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
John 10:2-4

For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shephered, and he will guide them to springs of living water...
Revelation 7:17

All The Way My Savior Leads Me
by Chris Tomlin (original by Fanny J. Crosby)

All the way my Savior leads me
Who have I to ask beside
How could I doubt His tender mercy
Who through life has been my guide

All the way my Savior leads me
Cheers each winding path I tread
Gives me grace for every trial
Feeds me with the living Bread

You lead me and keep me from falling
You carry me close to Your heart
And surely Your goodness and mercy will follow me

All the way my Savior leads me
O, the fullness of His love
O, the sureness of His promise
In the triumph of His blood
And when my spirit clothed immortal
Wings its flight to realms of day
This my song through endless ages
Jesus led me all the way
Jesus led me all the way

All the way my Savior leads me
All the way my Savior leads me

I love being a sheep who belongs to Jesus!

The Key To Understanding Scripture

Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures...
Luke 24:44-45

Don't miss the implications of what Luke says in verse 45. It was only at that moment--after Jesus told His disciples that everything written about Him in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms (the Old Testament) must be fulfilled--that the disciples were able to understand the Scriptures. Before that moment, they didn't really understand the Scriptures (which at that point in time was only the Old Testament since there was no New Testament), even though they probably thought they did. They didn't understand the Old Testament because they didn't know that everything written in the Old Testament was about Jesus until Jesus told them so.

Similarly, we will never really understand the Old Testament (and in my experience, we will never remain motivated to read the Old Testament)--even though we may think we do--until we come to it as that which is meant to teach us about Jesus, to point us to Him and to prepare us for Him. The key to understanding Scripture is to know that, from beginning to end, it's all about Jesus (Colossians 1:16).

So if we were to pickup our Bibles for the first time having never read them before (or advise someone who has actually never read the Bible), the best place for us to start isn't in Genesis, but rather in Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John (John might make the most sense since it starts the same way Genesis does). If we want to better understand the writings of Isaiah and Jeremiah, then perhaps what we need to do is gain a better understanding of the writings of Paul and Peter. Because, as one person so concisely put it, "the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed."

When we start with Christ in the gospel and go back from there into the Old Testament, we find that the Old Testament eventually leads us back again to Christ.
-Graeme Goldsworthy, "Gospel and Wisdom," in The Goldsworthy Trilogy, page 343.

In other words, in all things (and especially our understanding of Scripture), Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end (Revelation 22:13).

HT: Christ Is Deeper Still

Together For The Gospel 2010: Session #9

C.J. Mahaney

Ordinary Pastors

Video
Audio

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 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. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
2 Timothy 4:1-5

Some pastors are remarkably gifted and have tremendous influence in the church. As for the rest of us, not so much. Most of us are ordinary pastors. Ordinary pastors don’t write books, let alone best-selling books. Ordinary pastors aren’t well known. An ordinary pastor pastors an ordinary sized church.

As ordinary pastors, we are predictably tempted to compare ourselves to other pastors, especially at a conference like this. It’s easy to lose the joy of being called to pastoral ministry because we become more focused on comparing ourselves to others. And we easily become discouraged. Too often ordinary pastors are discouraged pastors.

So this morning we want to look to the true definition of pastoral ministry so that instead of comparing ourselves to other pastors, we will be encouraged, so that we will be joyfully sustained in service to God’s people over the decades.

We can’t be like other remarkably gifted pastors but we can be and we are called to be faithful. It’s not about gifting, it’s not about influence, it’s not about fruitfulness. It’s about faithfulness.

1) Faithful to the Message

Preach the Word. Timothy would have recognized this as a reference to the gospel. Paul doesn’t need to clarify that to Timothy at this point. He’s telling Timothy, “Be faithful to preach the gospel.” Pastor, never assume that those in your church have sufficient knowledge of their need for the gospel.

We will experience temptations to stray from this gospel. We must be faithful to preach this gospel. And in order to do this, we must resolve to be unoriginal. If we don’t do this, we’ll be distracted by all that is new, trendy, and popular and that which is of secondary importance rather than the original old message of the gospel which is of first importance. If we don’t resolve to be unoriginal, we will lose sight of what matters most.

You might not look like much. Where you meet might not look like much. Church might not run smoothly. But if we’re being faithful to the charge to preach the gospel, there is power under the hood. And the church will be edified. And the lost will be evangelized.

Whitefield and Wesley may preach the gospel better than us but they can’t preach a better gospel.

Whatever our church demographics are, our charge is to preach the gospel whether people are indifferent or antagonistic.

We must not only be familiar with the message, but we must also be familiar with the people we are preaching to. We need to prepare to preach the Word in view of the people that we are preaching to. We need to spend time with the people so that we can discern how to best to serve them specifically as we preach the Word to them.

Faithfulness to the message requires godly character in general and patience in particular. Patience is essential, not optional for a pastor. Pastoral ministry requires not just patience but complete patience. We must not only be exegetically precise and theologically accurate but we must be completely patient with people. The latter is the most difficult. It’s much easier to study and prepare a sermon than to be patient with people. If we don’t cultivate this patience, our frustration and irritation will eventually surface in our ministry.

How does a pastor cultivate this complete patience?

• Frequently meditate on God’s patience with you. Daily reminders of God’s patience with me protect my soul from sinful impatience with others.
• Remember that sanctification is a process and not an event. Sanctification is a very slow process. We’re so tempted to expect our people to comprehend and apply truth quickly when it has taken us years to comprehend and apply those same truths.
• We must learn to trust in God’s timetable. Ministry is frequently illustrated in Scripture with agricultural metaphors, based on a timetable of long seasons.
  

Don’t assume that you are sufficiently patient.

2) Faithful to Your Ministry

This is what the life of an ordinary pastor looks like: he is sober-minded, he endures suffering, he does the work of an evangelist, and he fulfills the ministry. This is the day in and day out of pastoral ministry.

One of the hardest things for a pastor or ministry to do is to just keep doing the same thing. We need to be less distracted by and attracted to new things. We just need to keep on doing the same thing.

3) Faithful to the Savior

Paul issues this charge to Timothy to fulfill his ministry in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, the Savior who he’s to stay faithful to.

In verse 8, Paul is looking forward to receive his reward from His Lord. And he’s calling Timothy to do the same, to look forward to receiving commendation from the Savior.

On the last day, there will be a parade of ordinary pastors who will stand before Jesus and hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful ordinary pastor.”

Together For The Gospel 2010: Session #8

Matt Chandler and C.J. Mahaney

Preparing Our People For Suffering

Video
Audio


Matt Chandler:

We may not be suffering right now. But if that’s the case, the suffering will come. And we would do well to prepare for it.

When I got to The Village, it quickly became clear that the church did not have a theology of suffering. And so I began to try to build into them a theology of suffering. I did it in small ways like, for example, when going through the sermon on the mount. Jesus tells the parable about the house built on sand and the house built on rock. What I wanted to draw their attention to was that even though the house on rock didn't come crashing down, both houses experienced the storm. It wasn't just the house built on sand. I wanted them to know that we as Christians don't get spared from the storms of life.

But what I have come to realize over these past couple of months is the amazing grace and mercy of God in that even though I thought I was preparing my church to suffer through my preaching, this whole time it has really been God preparing me to suffer.

The truths of the gospel that we’ve been talking about are not ambiguous in their applications and implications.

I have always known that Jesus is my treasure, that He's everything, that He's enough. But only now do I really know that Jesus is my treasure, that He's everything, that He's enough in a way that I couldn't have otherwise known.

C.J. Mahaney:

5 implications:

1) The topic of suffering should inform the teaching diet of our churches. Teach through the book of Job, Habakkuk, or 1 Peter.

2) Draw attention to living illustrations of glorifying God in the midst of suffering.

3) Develop a curriculum of supplemental materials, books, and articles on the topic of suffering: How Long, O Lord? by D.A. Carson, Treasuring Christ and the Call to Suffer sermon series by John Piper (1, 2, 3, 4, Q&A), When God Weeps by Joni Erickson Tada, Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts by Jerry Bridges, Suffering and the Sovereignty of God by John Piper, Beside Still Waters quotes from Charles Spurgeon

4) The most effective way to prepare the church for suffering is to preach the gospel to the church. There is no more superior way to prepare our churches for suffering or to comfort them in the midst of suffering than to preach the gospel. Those who recognize that their suffering in this life is never as great as their sins find the greatest joy in the midst of their suffering. Because the great mystery in life isn’t “Why do I suffer?” but “Why would the God who I have sinned against suffer in my place?”

5) Where and when possible, let’s be there at their side when they suffer.

“Trust God’s heart when you can’t trace His hand.”