Thoughts On The Way

Jesus Shall See and Be Satisfied

2012-02-10T10:45:00.000-06:00

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“Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied." —Isa 53:11

The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He bought them and He will have them! They were given Him of old in the decree, and He will have them, snatching them from between the lion’s jaws by the power of His own Irresistible Grace.

Christ sees of the travail of His soul whenever a sinner touches the hem of His garment and receives the virtue that comes out of Him. He is satisfied as saints advance in Grace, as they make progress in the Divine Life. He is most of all satisfied as, one by one, they go up the glittering pathway to the gates of pearl and enter into rest.

He will be completely satisfied when all the chosen company shall be on the streets of gold like unto transparent glass and shall, without the lack of a single voice in the Divine Choir, sing, ‘Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His blood, unto Him be glory forever and ever.’”

— Charles Spurgeon
"The Suffering Christ Satisfied"

HT: Of First Importance

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A Counterintuitive Evangelistic Strategy

2012-02-10T10:44:00.000-06:00

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From Dane Ortlund:

Jack Miller, to a young husband and wife couple, March 1987:

Grow in your daily humility and you will become more effective in winning the lost. There is a beautiful harmony here. When our lives are empty of self and pride, we are freed to be ourselves. We are not under an iron law of duty, but acting and thinking and feeling as we were meant to by our Creator. In the enjoyment of that wholeness, we become attractive to sinners.

--The Heart of a Servant Leader: Letters From Jack Miller (P&R, 2004), 235

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What do Bible Studies Have to do With Fighting Abortion?

2012-02-08T17:26:00.001-06:00

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From Ryan Fullerton:

Marie Monsen was a Norwegian missionary to China (1878-1962). She was a woman of great faith. In 1917 God moved her to pray for Revival in that great land, 20 years later it came, and lasted a decade! In the course of her ministry she taught many Women's Bible Studies.

This morning I read a story from one of those Bible Stories. I thought it might be an encouragement to the many moms, and single ladies, and widows at Immanuel who are teach Bible Studies as disciplers, and missionaries to Louisville, and beyond. I thought it might be encouragement for you to see how your 'ordinary' Bible Study work can touch deep issues like abortion.

In a chapter called, At last-the Miracle, Monsen writes,

We had been holding classes for three days. On the fourth I was to have a lesson with the group of heathen women again. There were sixteen of them. We dealt with infanticide. Suddenly, in extreme amazement, one of the women said:

"Can't we do what we like with our own children?" We talked about it for a little longer. Then they broke down:

"Oh, and I have killed three."

"And I five..."

"I took the lives of eight of my children."

"And I of thirteen, but they were all girls."

(All the others had probably been girls too.) Only two of them did not confess themselves guilty of this sin.

It was the first time in over twenty years on the mission field, that I heard women, who knew we regarded the killing of infants as sin, confess that they themselves had committed this particular sin. They all knew, of course, of many others who had done it. This was the first time I had seen the Holy Spirit deal with a whole group - a miracle indeed.

The experience left me speechless. Then one of them suddenly asked:

"Why can't we sleep here?" (my note - they were staying with the missionaries at this time).

"Don't you sleep? What do you do at night?"

"We weep, we only weep."

"Why do you weep?"

"We remember so much."

"Do you remember all the wrong things you have done?"

They nodded in silent admission. Then I knew that He, who had come to convict the world of sin, had been doing it in this group of ignorant of heathen women from the very first day they came to us."

_____

I pray God would use many of our homes, our Bible Studies, our lives, to convict the world of sin, and to drive them to the sweet relief of the Savior.

Ryan

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How Can You Say There is Only One Way to God?

2012-02-08T07:27:00.000-06:00

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How Can You Say There is Only One Way to God?

Such is the question that most modern people have today, when they hear Christians say that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven. This produces various responses, from puzzlement, confusion, disagreement, to anger and hate.

How should we answer such people? It can lead into a debate which will not prove to be profitable, especially if they are allowed to get on a tangent with their modern ideas of pluralism, relativism, and man-centeredness.

The best reply, which usually the critics will have no reply to, is a simple three-point observation.

How can Christians say that Jesus is the only way to know God and be in heaven?

1. The uniqueness of His person - He is God. He is the only divine Son of God, being the only revelation of God to man that has ever come to men. If He alone is God, then He is the only way to God.

2. The uniqueness of His claims - He claimed not only to be God, but also claimed to be the only way to God: "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes unto the Father except through Me." You can ask the skeptic, "Do you believe Jesus was a good man?" If He made such claims, then simply ask the person, "Was Jesus telling the truth? He was either lying, deceiving, or was perfectly truthful. There are no other choices." Unbelievers must either affirm He is who He claimed to be or call Him a liar or lunatic.

3. The uniqueness of His work - He alone died a death for sinful men that atoned for sin. No one else has ever died as an act that was a payment and atonement for sin. Many have died as an example of love and sacrifice. But only one man's death was an actual divine payment and atonement that paid for sin's debt. Who else in the history of all religions can claim that a death of their leader was a one-time perfect atonement for the sins of the world? Only Christ is the sacrifice for sin.

These 3 simple points will answer the question from Oprah or anyone else who parrots her new age views: "How can you say that there is only one way to God?"

It's simple - 1. Who Jesus was and is -- 2. What He claimed about Himself -- 3. What He alone did about sin.

- Mack Tomlinson

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A Jealous Husband

2012-02-08T07:24:00.000-06:00

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“The Lord Jesus Christ, of whom I now speak, is very jealous of your love, O believer. Did he not choose you? He cannot bear that you should choose another. Did he not buy you with his own blood? He cannot endure that you should think you are your own, or that you belong to this world.

He loved you with such a love that he could not stop in heaven without you; he would sooner die than that you should perish; he stripped himself to nakedness that he might clothe you with beauty; he bowed his face to shame and spitting that he might lift you up to honour and glory, and he cannot endure that you should love the world, and the things of the world.

Be careful, Christians, you that are married to Christ; remember, you are married to a jealous husband.”

— Charles Spurgeon, "A Jealous God"

HT: Of First Importance

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Esteeming Singleness

2012-02-06T10:25:00.000-06:00

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Our churches might esteem marriage, but do they esteem singleness as well? In light of that question, I thought this was a really good word from Ryan Fullerton on the great value of singleness.

All Things Being Equal, I Wish More People Were Single (1 Corinthians 7:6-9)

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Martin Luther on Spiritual Warfare

2012-02-03T09:25:00.000-06:00

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Courtesy of Justin Taylor:

The following is from a letter written in July 1530 to Jerome Weller, a 31-year-old friend who had previously lived in the Luther home, tutored his children, and was now struggling with spiritual despair:

. . Excellent Jerome, You ought to rejoice in this temptation of the devil because it is a certain sign that God is propitious and merciful to you.

You say that the temptation is heavier than you can bear, and that you fear that it will so break and beat you down as to drive you to despair and blasphemy. I know this wile of the devil. If he cannot break a person with his first attack, he tries by persevering to wear him out and weaken him until the person falls and confesses himself beaten.

Whenever this temptation comes to you, avoid entering upon a disputation with the devil and do not allow yourself to dwell on those deadly thoughts, for to do so is nothing short of yielding to the devil and letting him have his way.

Try as hard as you can to despise those thoughts which are induced by the devil. In this sort of temptation and struggle, contempt is the best and easiest method of winning over the devil.
Laugh your adversary to scorn and ask who it is with whom you are talking.

By all means flee solitude, for the devil watches and lies in wait for you most of all when you are alone. This devil is conquered by mocking and despising him, not by resisting and arguing with him. . .

When the devil throws our sins up to us and declares we deserve death and hell, we ought to speak thus:
“I admit that I deserve death and hell.

What of it?

Does this mean that I shall be sentenced to eternal damnation?

By no means.

For I know One who suffered and made a satisfaction in my behalf.

His name is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Where he is, there I shall be also.”
Yours,

Martin Luther

Luther: Letters of Spiritual Counsel, trans. and ed. Theodore G. Tappert (orig., 1960; reprint, Vancouver, BC: Regent College Publishing, 2003), 85.

HT: Justin Taylor

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The Value of Faith

2012-02-03T09:22:00.000-06:00

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“To say ‘justification by faith’ is merely another way of saying ‘justification by Christ’. Faith has absolutely no value in itself; its value lies solely in its object. Faith is the eye that looks to Christ, the hand that lays hold of him, the mouth that drinks the water of life.”

— John Stott
The Cross of Christ
(Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1986), 187

HT: Of First Importance

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The Goal of Our Salvation

2012-02-03T09:20:00.002-06:00

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“Forgiveness of sins and justification are good news because they remove obstacles to the only lasting, all-satisfying source of joy: Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is not merely the means of our rescue from damnation; he is the goal of our salvation. If he is not satisfying to be with, there is no salvation. He is not merely the rope that pulls us from the threatening waves; he is the solid beach under our feet, and the air in our lungs, and the beat of our heart, and the warm sun on our skin, and the song in our ears, and the arms of our beloved.”

— John Piper
"What is the Christian Gospel?"
(Minneapolis, Minn.: Desiring God Ministries, June 5, 2002)

HT: Of First Importance

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Valuable for His Own Sake

2012-01-30T10:11:00.000-06:00

Machen:

We are subject to many pressing needs, and we are too much inclined to value God, not for His own sake, but only because He can satisfy those needs. . . .

[Food, clothing, companionship, and inspiring work] are lofty desires. But there is one desire that is loftier still. It is the desire for God Himself. That desire, too often, we forget.

We value God solely for the things He can do; we make of Him a mere means to an ulterior end. And God refuses to be treated so; such a religion always fails in the hour of need. If we have regarded religion merely as a means of getting things--even lofty and unselfish things--then when the things that have been gotten are destroyed, our faith will fail. When loved ones are taken away, when disappointment comes and failure, when noble ambitions are set at naught, then we turn away from God. We have tried religion, we say, we have tried prayer, and it has failed. Of course it has failed! God is not content to be an instrument in our hand or a servant at our beck and call. . . .

If we possess God, then we can meet with equanimity the loss of all besides. Has it never dawned upon us that God is valuable for His own sake, that just as personal communion is the highest thing that we know on earth, so personal communion with God is the sublimest height of all? If we value God for His own sake, then the loss of other things will draw us all the closer to Him; we shall have recourse to Him in time of trouble as to the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

--J. Gresham Machen, What Is Faith?, 73-74

HT: Dane Ortlund

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Sex, Marriage, & Fairytales || Spoken Word

2012-01-27T07:33:00.000-06:00

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HT: Justin Taylor

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Post-Prayer Satanic Whispers

2012-01-27T07:30:00.000-06:00

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From David Murray:

“…and forgive my sins. In Jesus name, Amen.”

Within seconds the wicked whispers start.
“Too short.”

“Too shallow.”

“Too distracted…again.”

“Missed out her, and him, and them…”

“Yawn. Nothing new to say?”

“You call that a prayer?”

“Not enough faith…not enough passion…not enough anything.”

“You don’t actually believe that made a difference, do you?”

“You’ll probably not even think about prayer for the rest of the day”

And on, and on, and on it goes.

Relentless, cruel, malicious Satanic whispers that begin the second I end my morning prayer with, “Amen.”

Anyone else get that? It’s so discouraging, isn’t it. I mean, why pray if all you get at the end of it is an even heavier feeling of guilt and failure? Prayer should be a delight not a dread.

I’d really welcome your own input on this, but here’s how I try to fight back, silence the whispers, and turn prayer into a soul-refreshing delight again.

God has forgiven me all my sins – even my sinful prayers.
Jesus is perfecting my prayers and presenting them absolutely flawless to my Heavenly Father.
My salvation does not depend on my prayers but on Jesus’ prayers.
My Heavenly Father listens even to the raven’s ugly grating squawks (Ps. 147:9) and gives it food; how much more will he hear and answer the ugly grating squawks of one of His children?
God delights in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His mercy (Ps 147:9).
God knows I’m a limited creature who cannot possibly pray for everyone everyday.
Surely the Devil would simply leave me alone if my prayers were really so pathetic and useless.
Just because my children don’t (can’t) tell me everything about their lives doesn’t make me love them less, nor does it reflect a lack of love on their part.
But maybe best of all, “You, Satan, are going to be crushed under my feet shortly” (Rom. 16:2o).

HT: Challies

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We Are Unworthy Slaves

2012-01-15T14:19:00.000-06:00

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"Which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come immediately and sit down to eat’? But will he not say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink’? He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done’” (Luke 17:7-10)

Our tendency is to do ONE thing which we are commanded to do, and then look around for praise and congratulations for having done that one thing. But the standard for Christ's followers is exceedingly higher. Even after we have done "ALL the things which are commanded," our response ought to be, "We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done." May the Lord grant us such humility of mind!

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Remember the Outcome

2012-01-10T22:57:00.002-06:00

"...what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death." - Romans 6:21

This verse out to come to mind with every temptation. Sin never did anyone a favor. It has always and only left us with shame and death.

The Universal Cry for Real Love

2012-01-09T15:14:00.000-06:00

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From Jared Wilson:

What is it that we all want? Significance, yes. Worth, yes. Approval, yes. All of that and more. I think, though, that if we could sum up the varieties of expressions of human desire we would say "real love." I think the cry of every human heart is to be known totally, inside and out, and loved totally anyway. Everything we've done, everything we've said, everything we've thought, everything we are -- everything. And in response: belovedness.

So we test out this cry, to see if it will be answered in some way, in every relationship. We try it with our parents, our children, our spouses, our friends, our church. It frequently, if not always, goes haywire. Sin gets in the way, fear gets in the way, defensiveness gets in the way, stupidity gets in the way, finite capabilities get in the way.

We are not equipped to love each other perfectly, not yet anyway. We are not omnipotent. And we are not love. And we are not omniscient, so we can't know each other perfectly, inside and out, past present future.

But God is and can do all that. And the good news is that God knows every single stinking thing about us . . . and loves us totally, unabashedly, powerfully, savingly. I find this staggering.

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The Greatest Need in the Church Today

2012-01-09T15:13:00.000-06:00

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From an interview with Jerry Bridges:

    There are so many needs in the church today that it is difficult to single out one as the greatest. However, if I had to pick one, I would say the most fundamental need is an ever-growing awareness of the holiness of God. I don’t say this because that is the main emphasis of Ligonier Ministries but because I believe it is true.

    The emphasis of my own ministry has been the believer’s personal pursuit of holiness. But years ago I came to realize the gospel has to be the foundation and motivation for the pursuit of holiness. Believers need the gospel to remind them that our standing with God is not based on our own obedience but on the perfect, imputed righteousness of Christ. Otherwise, the pursuit of holiness can be performance driven: that is, “If I’m good, God will bless me.”

    How, then, can we get Christians to embrace the gospel every day? I believe Isaiah 6:1-8 gives us a paradigm for addressing this need. Isaiah sees God in His holiness, that is, His supreme majesty and infinite moral purity. In the light of God’s holiness, Isaiah is completely undone by an acute awareness of his own sinfulness. This is what we need in our churches today. Because we tend to define sin in terms of the more flagrant sins of society, we don’t see ourselves as practicing sinners.

    It is only after Isaiah has been totally devastated by the realization of his own sinfulness that he is in the right position to hear the gospel proclaimed to him by the seraphim: “Your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for” (v. 7).

    What happens next? Isaiah hears God say, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Immediately he responds, “Here am I! Send me” (v. 8). What causes such an immediate and spontaneous response? It is gratitude for the forgiveness of his sins as he hears the gospel from the seraphim. Jesus said, “He who is forgiven little, loves little” (Luke 7:47). It is because the vast majority of Christians do not realize how much they have been forgiven that there is so much lethargy in the church today.

    There is an inevitable sequence in the account of Isaiah’s vision. It is God (in His holiness), guilt, gospel, and gratitude. It is deep, heartfelt gratitude for the work of Christ as proclaimed in the gospel that motivates us to pursue holiness. But it all begins with an ever-increasing realization of the holiness of God. That is why I see it as the greatest need in the church today.

Read the whole interview HERE.

HT: JT

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The Bottom Line: Change - Mark LaCour

2012-01-09T15:10:00.000-06:00

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THE BOTTOM LINE

Mark LaCour

“My days are like a lengthened shadow, and I wither away like grass. But You, O Lord, abide forever, and Your name to all generations. (Psa. 102:11-12).

Change -- it’s the slogan of politicians, the promise of unfaithful partners, the quest of scientists, the dream of inventors. Change is inevitable. While I type this my body will have changed microscopically so that I’m not the same person I was when I started -- having succumbed to the second law of thermodynamics.

But there are some things that will never change in 2012. Here are a few immutable things you can expect to happen this year: First, contrary to our relativistic culture, truth will not change in 2012. Truth by nature is immutable and eternal. If hypothetically all truth was capable of change, then the single truth that all truth changes would be immutable -- incapable of change (Psa. 117:2). Hence, proving the point.

Second, God’s nature, will, and glory will not change this year. Since God can’t increase or decrease, His plans can’t be frustrated, neither His glory diminished by any action or inaction of His creation. ". . . the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind." (1 Sam. 15:29).

Third, Jesus Christ as our high priest cannot and will not change. “The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, “you are a priest forever” (Psa. 110:4). And if a priest, then effectual in being heard by the Father (Heb. 7:25) and sympathetic toward His people (Heb. 4:15).

Fourth, the inability of sinners to please God will be inexorable. Just as leopards can’t change their spots (Jer. 13:23) sinners can’t please God -- never have, never will. All the cajoling of religious authorities, all the charity of benevolent philanthropists won’t change a sinner’s status before God (Rom. 3:10-18) in calendar year 2012.

Fifth, the hatred of your spiritual enemies won’t change in 2012. Expect the accuser to accuse, the world to seduce, and the flesh to oppose. It’s what they do and the forecast is for more of the same.

Sixth, God’s grace won’t change in its sufficiency in 2012. Whether faced with the opportunity to bless (2 Cor. 9:8), or struggling with trials (1 Cor. 10:13), everything you receive will be a mercy from God.

But lastly, there are some things in 2012 that must change: God’s people must change. They must be born again (Jn. 3:7) because they must see the kingdom of God. They must repent of their sins because they can’t perish (Lk. 13:3), and they must believe and treasure Christ (Heb. 11:6), because their pre-ordained inheritance demands their trust and obedience. All these “must” changes never change in how God deals with His children. They’re as immutable as God Himself -- which is far greater than any resolution you can make for yourself in 2012.

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Fleeing Immorality, Pursuing Purity

2012-01-01T19:09:00.000-06:00

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Three very helpful messages from Ryan Fullerton:

Flee Sexual Immorality (Part 1) - 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Flee Sexual Immorality (Part 2) - 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

The Pursuit of Purity Through Marriage - 1 Corinthians 7:1-5

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Drawing Near in 2012

2012-01-01T18:30:00.000-06:00

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From Ray Ortlund:

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” James 4:8

How can we draw near to God in 2012? Let me propose two ways, consistent with the gospel. They are not heroic. They only require faith and honesty.

One, at those very places in our lives where we are the most sinful, the most defeated, let’s face it and admit it. Whatever view we take of Romans 7, surely every one of us can say, “I do not understand my own actions” (Romans 7:15). And beyond admitting the impasse which we thought that, by now, we’d have grown past, let’s trust God to love us at that very point in our existence. It is his way. God loves grace into us (Owen, Works, II:342). Let’s open up. If Jesus is a wonderful Savior in every way except where we are the most hypocritical, then he is no Savior for us. But the truth is, he draws near to broken sinners who own up. What if we saw, in our very sins, the nearness of God awaiting us with greater mercy than we have ever known before?

Two, let’s confess our sins to one another and pray for one another. No one grows in isolation. We grow in safe community. Sadly, such an experience is rare in our churches. It should be common among us gospel people. It should be our lifestyle. We should be obvious, even scandalous, as friends of sinners. But so often, someone must break the ice. I see no revival in our future without a new culture of confession. Personally, I have found a good way to measure my own honesty is the level of my embarrassment. If I’m not embarrassed by my confession, I’m still holding out. But it is freeing to come clean with a brother or sister and receive the ministry of prayer (James 5:16). What if in 2012 we were, to one another, unshockable friends, down on our knees together, not judging one another but praying for one another? Surely God’s nearness would be there.

- Ray Ortlund

HT: Dane Ortlund

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Your Podcast is Not Your Pastor

2011-12-26T14:46:00.000-06:00

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A good reminder HERE from Trevin Wax.

HT: Jared Wilson

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Dealing with New Christians

2011-12-26T14:39:00.000-06:00

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Let us settle it in our minds that grace must have a beginning in every believer's heart; we have no right to say that a person has no grace just because it does not come to full ripeness at once. We do not expect a child to do the work of a grown man, though he may one day if he lives long enough. Just so, we must not expect a new Christian to show the faith, love, and knowledge of an old soldier of the cross. He may become a mighty champion of the truth by and by. But at first we must give him time. There is great need of wisdom in dealing with all young disciples.

Kindness, patience, and gentleness are of the first importance. We must not try to pour in the new wine too quickly or it will run over. We must take them by the hand and lead them gently on. We must beware of frightening or hurrying them or pressing them too fast. If they have only gotten hold of the main principles of the gospel, let us not set them down as godless because of a few lesser matters. We must bear with weakness and infirmity, and not expect to find ripe Christian experience in those who are only babes in Christ.

- J. C. Ryle

HT: Mack T

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Beholding the Glory of Christ

2011-12-26T14:38:00.000-06:00

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“If we regularly beheld the glory of Christ our Christian walk with God would become more sweet and pleasant, our spiritual light and strength would grow daily stronger and our lives would more gloriously represent the glory of Christ. Death would be most welcome to us.”

— John Owen, The Glory of Christ, (Carlisle, Pa.: Banner of Truth, 1994), 21

HT: Of First Importance

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The Subtle Snare of Anonymous Criticism

2011-12-09T19:17:00.000-06:00

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A good reminder of why anonymous criticism should be avoided among the family of God.

Jared Wilson elaborates:

For the laymen out there, "some people are upset/concerned" is maddening. Use it only when anonymity is absolutely necessary, as it will cripple your pastor's confidence. "Some people" might as well be "all people." Because if we don't know who's mad, we are ill at ease with everyone. It leads us to be timid, suspicious, distrusting. (eg. Can we tell this person about our fears and struggles, or is this person the one who thinks I'm doing a terrible job?) There are times when vulnerable people lack the confidence to bring concerns directly, but most other times the biblical mandate to take an offense to someone directly, not to someone anonymously through someone else, is more necessary.

I learned a good line from Andy Stanley in his "Life Rules" series: "Never say something about someone you wouldn't say to them." I'd add this rule of thumb: If you can let an offense go, do it. If you can't, take it to the offender, not to others.

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No Running From our Odoriferousness

2011-12-09T19:12:00.000-06:00

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Yes, it's Friday. And yes, this is the first and last time I will use "odoriferousness" in a post.

Jack Miller describing one of the reasons why Jesus is such a wonderful Savior:

He is life from the dead. When the tomb was opened, the smell of Lazarus' sin and death came forth. The Lord must have felt like running away, since He hates evil in all its forms. But He stayed there.

He does not run from us in our state of decay and smelliness. I tell you, when Jesus deals with us He does not pretend that we are lovely and odorless, but it is in the midst of our smelly death that Jesus draws near with tears and power and love and called the dead and rotting into new life. . . .

I know of no one else who can help the heart in its deepest needs, who can comfort the soul.

HT: Dane Ortlund

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Baby Jesus Isn't Safe

2011-12-08T07:44:00.000-06:00

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Christmas Eve I saw a stable, low and very bare,
A little child in a manger.
The oxen knew Him, had Him in their care,
To men He was a stranger,
The safety of the world was lying there,
And the world's danger.

-- Mary Elizabeth Coleridge, "The Stable"

HT: Jared Wilson

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Grace is a Person

2011-12-08T07:42:00.000-06:00

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Sinclair Ferguson:

[R]emember that there isn’t a thing, a substance, or a “quasi-substance” called “grace.” All there is is the person of the Lord Jesus — “Christ clothed in the gospel,” as Calvin loved to put it. Grace is the grace of Jesus. If I can highlight the thought here: there is no “thing” that Jesus takes from Himself and then, as it were, hands over to me. There is only Jesus Himself.

HT: Jared Wilson

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How Not to Ruin a Perfectly Good Preaching Ministry

2011-12-02T13:17:00.000-06:00

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A MUST-HEAR message from Ryan Fullerton. Not just for pastors!

(The audio-only version can be found HERE.)

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Making John 17:26 Your Own

2011-11-22T10:00:00.000-06:00

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“I have paraphrased John 17:26 in order to pray it like this: ‘Father, grant me power from the Holy Spirit to love the Son of God like you love him.’

I pray this in the morning when I get up; I pray it during the day when my mind slips into neutral; and I pray it when I fall asleep at night. My heart has been captured by this prayer.

When I pray it, I am confessing to God that if he does not grant me a work of the Holy Spirit in my life, I will never acquire passion for the Son of God. I am confessing to him that my godliness, my discipline, my knowledge of the Word, though all good, are insufficient to produce passion for the Son of God.

I can change my mind, but only the Holy Spirit can change my heart. Divine love can only be divinely imparted.”

—Jack Deere, Surprised by the Power of the Spirit (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1993), 201

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John 3:16

2011-11-22T08:58:00.000-06:00

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While discussing the meaning of John 3:16 during the meal on Sunday, I was reminded of this article by Sam Storms. It's very much worth your time to read!

The Meaning of John 3:16

Sam Storms

Often the interpretation of John 3:16 begins with the term world, for it is believed that here lies the key to a proper appreciation of the dimensions of divine love. "Just think," we are told, "of the multitudes of men and women who have, do now, and yet shall swarm across the face of the earth. God loves them all, each and every one. Indeed, God so loves them that he gave his only begotten Son to die for each and every one of them. Oh, how great the love of God must be to embrace within its arms these uncounted multitudes of people."

Is this what John (or Jesus, as recorded by John) had in mind? It is undeniably his purpose to set before us the immeasurable love of God. But are we able to perceive how immeasurable God's love is by measuring how big the world is? I don't think so.

What is the finite sum of mankind when set opposite the infinitude of God? We could as well measure the strength of the blacksmith by declaring him capable of supporting a feather on an outstretched palm! The primary force of this text is certainly to magnify the infinite quality and majesty of God's love. But such an end can never be reached by computing the extent or number of its objects. Do we to any degree heighten the value of Christ's death by ascertaining the quantity of those for whom he died? Of course not! Had he but died for one sinner, the value of his sacrifice would be no less glorious than had he suffered for ten millions of worlds!

Rather, let us pause to consider the contrast which the apostle intends for us to see. John surely desires that we reflect in our hearts upon the immeasurable character of so great a love, and that we do so by placing in contrast, one over against the other - God and the world. What does this reveal? Of what do we think concerning God when he is seen loving the world? And of what do we think concerning the world when it is seen as the object of God's love? Is the contrast this: that God is one and the world many? Is it that his love is magnified because he, as one, has loved the world, comprised of many? Again, certainly not.

This love is infinitely majestic because God, as holy, has loved the world, as sinful! What strikes us is that God who is righteous loves the world which is unrighteous. This text takes root in our hearts because it declares that he who dwells in unapproachable light has deigned to enter the realm of darkness; that he who is just has given himself for the unjust (1 Peter 3:18); that he who is altogether glorious and desirable has suffered endless shame for detestable and repugnant creatures, who apart from his grace respond only with hell-deserving hostility! Thus, as John Murray has said,

"it is what God loved in respect of its character that throws into relief the incomparable and incomprehensible love of God. To find anything else as the governing thought would detract from the emphasis. God loved what is the antithesis of himself; this is its marvel and greatness" ("The Atonement and the Free Offer of the Gospel," in Collected Writings of John Murray [Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1976], I:79 [emphasis mine]).

When we read John's Gospel (and Epistles), we discover that the "world" is viewed fundamentally neither as the elect nor non-elect but as a collective organism: sinful, estranged, alienated from God, abiding under his wrath and curse. The world is detestable because it is the contradiction of all that is holy, good, righteous, and true. The world, then, is the contradiction of God. It is synonymous with all that is evil and noisome. It is that system of fallen humanity viewed not in terms of its size but as a satanically controlled kingdom hostile to the kingdom of Christ. It is what God loved in respect of its quality therefore, not quantity that sheds such glorious light on this divine attribute. In summary, I can do better than note the explanation of B. B. Warfleld:

"The marvel . . . which the text brings before us is just that marvel above all other marvels in this marvelous world of ours - the marvel of God's love for sinners. And this is the measure by which we are invited to measure the greatness of the love of God. It is not that it is so great that it is able to extend over the whole of a big world: it is so great that it is able to prevail over the Holy God's hatred and abhorrence of sin. For herein is love, that God could love the world - the world that lies in the evil one: that God who is all-holy and just and good, could so love this world that He gave His only begotten Son for it, -- that He might not judge it, but that it might be saved" ("God's Immeasurable Love," in Biblical and Theological Studies, edited by Samuel G. Craig [Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, 1952], pp. 515-16 [emphasis mine]).

Warfield's definition of the term world needs to be carefully considered:

"It is not here a term of extension so much as a term of intensity. Its primary connotation is ethical, and the point of its employment is not to suggest that the world is so big that it takes a great deal of love to embrace it all, but that the world is so bad that it takes a great kind of love to love it at all, and much more to love it as God has loved it when He gave His son for it. The whole debate as to whether the love here celebrated distributes itself to each and every man that enters into the composition of the world, or terminates on the elect alone chosen out of the world, lies thus outside the immediate scope of the passage and does not supply any key to its interpretation. The passage was not intended to teach, and certainly does not teach, that God loves all men alike and visits each and every one alike with the same manifestations of His love: and as little was it intended to teach or does it teach that His love is confined to a few especially chosen individuals selected out of the world. What it is intended to do is to arouse in our hearts a wondering sense of the marvel and the mystery of the love of God for the sinful world - conceived, here, not quantitatively but qualitatively as, in its very distinguishing characteristic, sinful" (ibid., 516).

I think Warfield is right. Do you agree?

- Sam Storms

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Encouraging Words

2011-11-21T10:47:00.002-06:00

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Here are a couple of very encouraging messages from the meeting yesterday. The first is from Costel Ghioanca, a visiting pastor from Romania, who exhorted us from Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21. The second is Charles' message from John 10, explaining what Jesus meant when He said, "I am the door." What a blessing to sit under such teaching!

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"How much more will your Heavenly Father . . ."

2011-11-20T16:26:00.000-06:00

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A good exhortation HERE from Ryan Fullerton. While listening to Ryan's message, I was reminded of the old hymn "Give Reviving," which was recently recorded by Sandra McCracken. The lyrics are below, and Sandra's version can be heard HERE.

Give Reviving

“Give Reviving” was written by Albert Midlane around 1850. The tune was added by Chelsey Scott and Aaron Sands in 2008. Midlane wrote more than 700 hymns, although not many were widely known. At one point, he wrote a book of hymns for children called “Bright Blue Sky Hymn Book.” Although “Give Reviving” one was not intended for use as a children’s hymn, this song was sung at both of our children’s baptisms. This hymn boldly asks God to bless his people—appealing for his great mercy in Jesus. (You can find Chelsey’s version on an Indelible Grace album called, Wake Thy Slumbering Children.)

Lyrics

1. Father for Thy, promised blessing,

Still we plead before Thy throne

For the times of, sweet refreshing,

Which can come from Thee alone

Blessed earnests, Thou hast given,

But in these we would not rest

Blessings still with, Thee are hidden,

Pour them forth and make us blest!

2. Prayer ascendeth to Thee ever,

Answer Father, answer prayer

Bless oh bless each, weak endeavor,

Blood-bought pardon to declare

Wake Thy slumbering, children wake them,

Bid them to Thy harvest go

Blessings O our, Father make,

Round their steps let blessings flow

3. Let no people be forgotten,

Let Thy showers on all descend

That in one loud blessed anthem,

Millions may in triumph blend

Give reviving, give refreshing,

Give the looked-for Jubilee To Thyself may,

crowds be pressing, Bringing glory unto Thee.

Tag: Give reviving, give refreshing,

Give the looked-for Jubilee To Thyself may,

crowds be pressing, Bringing glory unto Thee.

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Christ our Substitute

2011-11-13T19:47:00.000-06:00

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Christ was all anguish that I might be all joy, cast off that I might be brought in, trodden down as an enemy that I might be welcomed as a friend, surrendered to hell’s worst that I might attain heaven’s best, stripped that I might be clothed, wounded that I might be healed, athirst that I might drink, tormented that I might be comforted, made a shame that I might inherit glory, entered darkness that I might have eternal light.

My Savior wept that all tears might be wiped from my eyes, groaned that I might have endless song, endured all pain that I might have unfading health, bore a thorned crown that I might have a glory-diadem, bowed his head that I might uplift mine, experienced reproach that I might receive welcome, closed his eyes in death that I might gaze on unclouded brightness, expired that I might forever live.

- Author Unknown, The Valley of Vision, ed. Arthur Bennett

HT: Mack T

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All We Are

2011-11-13T19:46:00.000-06:00

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Anything whereby we may glorify God is a talent. Our gifts, our influence, our money, our knowledge, our health, our strength, our time, our senses, our reason, our intellect, our memory, our affections, our privileges as members of Christ’s Church, our advantages as possessors of the Bible—all, all are talents. Where did these things come from? What hand bestowed them? Why are we what we are? Why are we not the worms that crawl on the earth? There is only one answer to these questions. All that we have is a loan from God. We are God’s stewards. We are God’s debtors. Let this thought sink deeply into our hearts.

- J. C. Ryle

HT: Mack T

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Josh Garrels - Love & War & The Sea In Between

2011-11-08T11:12:00.000-06:00

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On Stephen's recommendation, I downloaded Josh Garrels' new album a few months ago. I've really been enjoying it. Josh has a unique voice (took a few days for it to grow on me) and a real gift for crafting intelligent and thought-provoking lyrics. Standout tracks for me are "Flood Waters," "Farther Along," "Ulysses," and "Bread and Wine." The album can be download for free HERE and HERE.

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Prayer and Christ's Merit

2011-11-05T10:52:00.000-05:00

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“Perhaps fewer petitions and more urging of the merit of Christ would make better prayers. If we were shorter in what we ask for but longer in pleading the reason why we should obtain it, we might prevail more easily.

I suggest that we use fewer nails, but take care that those nails are driven in with Calvary’s blood-stained hammer and clenched with this argument—‘For Jesus’ sake.’”

— Charles Spurgeon, "The Sprinkling of the Blood of the Sacrifice"

HT: Of First Importance

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The Bottom Line: Assurance

2011-11-05T10:50:00.000-05:00

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THE BOTTOM LINE

Mark LaCour

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God . . .(Rom. 8:16). By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God . . .(1 John 3:10).

Answering the question, “Are you a Christian,” and answering the question, “Are you sure you’re a Christian,” can evoke two different responses. Many a child of God has struggled with the latter, while many a hypocrite should have struggled with the former (Matt. 7:22-23). So how does a person really know if they’re one of God’s elect? A few observations on possessing biblical assurance:

First, assurance is not positive thinking, the eternal security of the believer, once saved, always saved, or faith itself. It’s not how hard we believe ourselves saved based on some past religious act, or even on the objective work of Christ by itself. Assurance is simply the personal confidence that I’m a child of God. Being assured in what Christ has done is different than being assured I’m included in that work Christ has done. One grows out of the other, but they’re not the same.

Second, assurance is a personal gift as well as common fruit. The Father can tell His child at any time, under any circumstance, that he is bought by Christ’s blood (Lk. 10:20). It doesn’t depend on his performance -- and many times is given in spite of it (Rom. 9:25-26). On the other hand, assurance is a process borne out of much perseverance (2 Pet. 1:5-11), overcoming (Rev. 3:5), and proven character (Rom. 5:4). It comes after years of running a race and fighting a fight (2 Tim. 1:12; 4:7-8).

Third, assurance is optional, as well as necessary. It’s optional in that salvation depends on knowing what to believe, not knowing if I’m believing it. One man’s confidence he’s a Christian is another man’s struggle -- and God is the savior and determiner of both. God has his sanctification purposes in withholding it from some and lavishing it on others. Our confidence should be in our Father’s good distributing hand rather than idolizing the mental comfort of possessing that gift. Better to walk in darkness and have no light (Isa. 50:10-11) than to have all kinds of light and crawl (Heb. 5:11ff.). No man will see the Lord without holiness (Heb. 12:14), but many will see Him without assurance.

But it’s also necessary -- not for salvation, but for faith. All faith possesses a measure of assurance in what God has promised (Heb. 11:1). It’s an objective confidence outside of ourselves in someone else. Questioning my performance isn’t the same as questioning God’s (Heb. 6:11-14).

It’s a good thing to know you’re an heir of God, written in the will, an inheritor of eternal things. What a blessed gift! But avoid two errors: Be careful who you assure they’re a Christian, as it’s not yours to give. Better to say we have great encouragement we’re one of His as we press on to maturity. And second, don’t be afraid to take it away from those who falsely trust in it without fruit (Ezek. 13:22; Jam. 5:19). Wait on the first, don’t wait on the second.

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May I Go In There?

2011-11-03T13:04:00.000-05:00

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Imagine with me a Moabite of old gazing down upon the Tabernacle of Israel from some lofty hillside. This Moabite is attracted to what he sees so he descends the hill and makes his way toward the Tabernacle.

He walks around this high wall of dazzling linen until he comes to a gate and at the gate, he sees a man. “May I go in there?” he asks, pointing to the gate where all the bustle of activity in the Tabernacle’s outer court can be seen.

“Who are You?” demands the man suspiciously.

“I’m from Moab,” the stranger replies.

“Well, I’m very sorry, but you can’t go in there. You see, it’s not for you. The Law of Moses has barred the Moabite from any part in the worship of Israel until his tenth generation.”

The Moabite looks so sad and said, “Well, what would I have to do to go in there?”

“You would have to be born again,” the gatekeeper replies. “You would have to be born an Israelite, of the tribe of Judah, or of the tribe of Benjamin or Dan.”

“Oh, I wish I had been born an Israelite,” the Moabite says and as he looks again, he sees one of the priests, having offered a sacrifice at the brazen altar and the priest cleansed himself at the brazen laver and then the Moabite sees the priest enter the Tabernacle’s interior. “What’s in there?” asks the Moabite. “Inside the main building, I mean.”

“Oh,” the gatekeeper says, “That’s the Tabernacle itself. Inside it contains a lampstand, a table, and an altar of gold. The man you saw was a priest. He will trim the lamp, eat of the bread upon the table and burn incense to the living god upon the golden altar.”

“Ah,” sighs the Moabite, “I wish I were an Israelite so that I could do that. I would so love to worship God in there and help to trim the lamp and offer Him incense and eat bread at that table.”

“Oh, no, the gatekeeper hastens to say, “even I could not do that. To worship in the holy place one must not only be born an Israelite, one must be born of the tribe of Levi and of the family of Aaron.”

The man from Moab sighs again, “I wish that I had been born of Israel of the tribe of Levi of the family of Aaron,” and then, as he gazes wistfully at the closed Tabernacle door, he says, “What else is in there?”

“Oh, there’s a veil. It’s a beautiful veil I’m told and it divides the Tabernacle in two. Beyond the veil is what we call ‘the Most Holy Place’… ‘the Holy of Holies.’”

“What’s in the Holy of Holies?” the Moabite asks.

“Well, there’s the sacred chest in there and it’s called the Ark of the Covenant. It contains holy memorials of our past. Its top is gold and we call that the mercy seat because God sits there between the golden cherubim. Do you see that pillar of cloud hovering over the Tabernacle? That’s the Shekinah glory cloud. It rests on the mercy,” said the gatekeeper.

Again, a look of longing comes over the face of the Moabite man. “Oh,” he said, “if only I were a priest! How I would love to go into the Holy of Holies and gaze upon the glory of God and worship Him there in the beauty of His holiness!’

“Oh no!” said the man at the gate. “You couldn’t do that even if you were a priest! Only the high priest can enter the Most Holy Place. Only he can go in there. Nobody else!”

The heart of the man from Moab yearns once more. “Oh,” he cried, “If only I had been born an Israelite, of the tribe of Levi, of the family of Aaron. If only I had been born a high priest! I would go in there every day! I would go in there three times a day! I would worship continually in the Holy of Holies!”

The gatekeeper looked at the man from Moab again and once more shook his head. “Oh now,” he said, “you couldn’t do that! Even the high priest of Israel can go in there only once a year, and then only after the most elaborate preparations and even then only for a little while.”

Sadly, the Moabite turned away. He had no hope in all the world of ever entering there!

. . . Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith (Hebrews 10:19-22).

Here it is, a tremendous word of welcome, extended to Jew and Gentile alike, to come on in and worship, not in the holiest place of the human tabernacle, but into the Holy of Holies in heaven itself "by the blood of Jesus."

-John Phillips

HT: Jared Wilson

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The New Fulfills the Old

2011-11-03T12:59:00.000-05:00

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From Dane Ortlund:

Seems to me that while it need not be the main point of every NT book, nevertheless every NT book in some way fulfills the hope of the OT, though each from its own perspective. One former prof of mine used to say that the NT is a 27-volume commentary on the OT. Truth to that.

Matthew fulfills the OT’s hope for a Messiah, a Christ, an anointed son of David who would save God’s people (1:21).

Mark fulfills the OT’s hope for a coming Son of God who would inaugurate God’s kingdom (1:1, 14–15).

Luke fulfills the OT’s longing for God to come and set right the world’s injustices—reversing rich and poor, oppressors and oppressed, satisfied and hungry, outsider and insider (19:10).

John fulfills the OT’s longing for the tabernacle/temple to do decisively what it was always meant to do—unite God and man in restored fellowship (1:14; 2:21; 14:6).

Acts fulfills the OT by bringing God’s mercy to the nations (1:8; 9:15).

Romans fulfills the OT by showing the supreme manifestation of the righteousness of God, in Jesus, bringing resolution to the constant OT tension between God’s justice and his mercy (1:17; 3:21–26).

1 Corinthians fulfills the OT by showing, in Christ, the climactic way in which God destroys the wisdom of the wise (1:19).

2 Corinthians fulfills the OT’s repeated pattern of strength through weakness (12:9–10), supremely in Christ (13:4), in whom all the promises of God are clinched (1:20).

Galatians fulfills the OT by showing that Jesus’ atoning work (3:13) at just the right time (4:4–5) is the reason that the real children of Abraham are those who are of faith (3:7–9).

Ephesians fulfills the OT by revealing the “mystery” long hidden—that Christ, by virtue of his death and resurrection, unites Jews and Gentiles in one renewed people of God (3:5–6).

Philippians fulfills the OT by showing that the church is the real circumcision (3:2–3).

Colossians fulfills the OT by showing that another Adam, likewise the image of God (1:15), has fulfilled the creation mandate of Genesis 1:28 to bear fruit and increase, so that we who are united to this second Adam can now do what the first Adam failed to do—bearing fruit and multiplying (1:10).

1 and 2 Thessalonians fulfill the OT’s hope of judgment on God’s enemies by showing that Jesus received this judgment, so that God’s punitive judgment, which is surely coming, now will fall only on those who reject Jesus (1 Thess 5:1–10; 2 Thess 1:5–12).

1 and 2 Timothy fulfill the OT by showing that the true warfare of God’s people is not against the Amalekites and Amorites and others but against sin and Satan (1 Tim 1:18; 6:12; 2 Tim 2:3–4), a war that cannot be lost because of the Savior anticipated in the OT (2 Tim 3:15).

Titus fulfills the OT’s underachieved efforts to redeem a people for God who are his own possession, zealous for good works (2:11–14).

Philemon fulfills the OT’s insistence that love be from the heart (v. 14).

Hebrews fulfills the OT’s longing for a perfect priest and final sacrifice to usher in the new covenant (8:1–13).

James fulfills the OT’s call for obedience to the law by showing that such obedience is fulfilled in one thing—active love (1:12; 2:8–26).

1 and 2 Peter fulfill the OT’s calling to Israel to be a royal priesthood and a holy nation (1 Pet 1:4–12)—a corporate fulfillment that happens only because of another fulfillment that is not only corporate but also individual, this time of Isaiah 52–53 (1 Pet 2:22–25).

1, 2, and 3 John fulfill the OT by showing that through Christ we are once more, like Adam, sons of God, and now able to fulfill the OT law through love (1 John 3:1 and passim).

Jude fulfills the exodus in the OT by showing that ultimately is was Jesus who provided this rescue (Jude 5; cf. 1 Cor 10:4).

Revelation fulfills the OT by showing that Jesus has conquered our great enemy, death, which was introduced in Eden (Rev 1:18; 21:4).

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Defeat in Victory

2011-11-03T12:56:00.000-05:00

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I was talking with a brother struggling with sin once. He told me he had managed to resist temptation the night before. "Good!" I said. "But whether you gave in or not, are you still able, looking beyond yourself, to rejoice in Christ's perfect obedience on your behalf?" He hung his head. That was a more difficult question--even more difficult than resisting temptation.

If a Christian resists temptation and then focuses on their victory, is pleased with it, and the joy of it carries them onward--that may be a defeat at a deeper level.

-Eric Ortlund

HT: Dane Ortlund

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Does an Unbelieving Child Disqualify an Elder?

2011-11-02T07:20:00.000-05:00

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Justin Taylor answers HERE.

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God Killed Jesus

2011-11-02T07:19:00.000-05:00

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“I know it sounds harsh to speak of God killing Jesus. Killing so easily connotes sinning and callous cruelty. God never sins. And he is never callous. The reason I say that God killed his own Son is because Isaiah 53 uses this kind of language. Verse 4: ‘We esteemed him stricken, smitten by God.’ God smote him. Verse 6: ‘The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all.’ Verse 10: ‘It was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief.’ God smote him. God crushed him.

This is the very center of our Christian faith: God substituted Jesus for us.”

— John Piper

HT: Of First Importance

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The Science of Sunsets

2011-10-29T08:35:00.000-05:00

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I used to wonder why sunsets seemed to look so much better in the fall and winter than at other times of year. Now I know why.

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An Ache for Jesus

2011-10-29T08:33:00.003-05:00

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“Jesus is what we drink. “Come to me and drink” (John 7:37). Jesus doesn’t just have what our souls need; he is what our souls need. Recall John 6:35 “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” He is the bread of life. He is the living water. Our souls were made for Jesus. The ache in our hearts is at root an ache for Jesus. This is how the soul lives on God. It lives on Jesus.”

— John Piper

"Out of Your Heart Will Flow Rivers of Living Water"

(Minneapolis, Minn.: Desiring God Ministries, February 19, 2011)

HT: Of First Importance

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The Cure for Spiritual Deadness

2011-10-29T08:33:00.000-05:00

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“Do any of us find decays of grace prevailing in us; deadness, coldness, lukewarmness, a kind of spiritual stupidity and senselessness coming upon us? Do we find an unreadiness unto the exercise of grace in its proper season and the vigorous acting of it in duties of communion with God? And would we have our souls recovered from these dangerous diseases? Let us assure ourselves there is no better way for our healing and deliverance, yea no other way but this alone, namely, the obtaining a fresh view of the glory of Christ by faith, and a steady abiding therein. Constant contemplation of Christ and his glory putting forth its transforming power unto revival of all grace, is the only relief in this case.”

— John Owen

HT: Of First Importance

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Radically Insecure Christians

2011-10-22T13:22:00.000-05:00

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Much that we have interpreted as a defect of sanctification in church people is really an outgrowth of their loss of bearing with respect to justification.

Christians who are no longer sure that God loves and accepts them in Jesus, apart from their present spiritual achievements, are subconsciously radically insecure persons--much less secure than non-Christians, because they have too much light to rest easily under the constant bulletins they receive from their Christian environment about the holiness of God and the righteousness they are supposed to have.

--Richard Lovelace, Dynamics of Spiritual Life: An Evangelical Theology of Renewal (InterVarsity, 1979), 211-12

HT: Dane Ortlund

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Your Money is No Good Here

2011-10-22T13:19:00.000-05:00

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From Jared Wilson:

Come, everyone who thirsts,

come to the waters;

and he who has no money,

come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

without money and without price.

-- Isaiah 55:1

I have accomplishments galore, religious and otherwise. I am good enough, smart enough, and doggone it, people like me. I am brimming with excellence!

Don't bring it. Don't do it.

The deal is all Christ is for all your nothing. Don't cheapen the treasure with your currency.

Come buy the unsearchable riches of grace with your poverty of spirit. That's all he'll accept.

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Gospel Transformation

2011-10-19T17:05:00.001-05:00

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“The gospel transforms us in heart, mind, will, and actions precisely because it is not itself a message about our transformation. Nothing that I am or that I feel, choose, or do qualifies as Good News. On my best days, my experience of transformation is weak, but the gospel is an announcement of a certain state of affairs that exists because of something in God, not something in me; something that God has done, not something that I have done; the love in God’s heart which he has shown in his Son, not the love in my heart that I exhibit in my relationships. Precisely as the Good News of a completed, sufficient, and perfect work of God in Christ accomplished for me and outside of me in history, the gospel is ‘the power of God unto salvation’ not only at the beginning but throughout the Christian life. In fact, our sanctification is simply a lifelong process of letting that Good News sink in and responding appropriately; becoming the people whom God says that we already are in Christ.”

— Michael Horton

The Gospel-Driven Life

(Grand Rapids, Mi.: Baker Books, 2009), 77

HT: Of First Importance

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Lacking Reverance

2011-10-19T17:04:00.000-05:00

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"Protestants are altogether too much inclined to take things for granted. We laugh at those on the other side of the ecclesiastical fence because they bow and scrape and kowtow in the presence of the church. But we lack reverence--not because we are free in the gospel, but because God is absent, and we have no sense of His presence."

- A.W. Tozer, Rut, Rot & Revival

HT: A. W. Tozer Quotes

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Life Out of Death

2011-10-18T17:03:00.000-05:00

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"God offers life, but not an improved old life. The life He offers is life out of death. It stands always on the far side of the cross. Whoever would possess it must pass under the rod. He must repudiate himself and concur in God's just sentence against him. What does this mean to the individual, the condemned man who would find life in Christ Jesus? How can this theology be translated into life? Simply, he must repent and believe. He must forsake his sins and then go on to forsake himself. Let him cover nothing, defend nothing, excuse nothing. Let him not seek to make terms with God, but let him bow his head before the stroke of God's stern displeasure and acknowledge himself worthy to die. Having done this let him gaze with simple trust upon the risen Saviour, and from Him will come life and rebirth and cleansing and power. The cross that ended the earthly life of Jesus now puts an end to the sinner; and the power that raised Christ from the dead now raises him to a new life along with Christ."

- A.W. Tozer, The Old & New Cross

HT: A. W. Tozer Quotes

Habitations for God

2011-10-18T17:02:00.000-05:00

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“The love of Jesus, which had been fixed upon his people from all eternity, is manifested to them in time — by calling them out of darkness into his marvellous light. They are dead — until he quickens them by his Spirit; dark — until he enlightens them by his word; in bondage — until he frees them by his grace.

They are in Christ, and they are new creatures; old things are passed away, and behold, all things are become new. God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved them, has quickened them together with Christ, and by grace they are saved.

Salvation is now brought home; their sins, which are many, are all forgiven them, and they are accepted in the beloved. They are now the people of God, they have obtained mercy and are habitations for God through the Spirit.”

— James Smith

HT: Of First Importance

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Having the Peace of God

2011-10-17T17:00:00.000-05:00

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If you want the peace of God to reign in your life, you have to quit a few things:

- You must quit trying to figure out how God will work everything out.

- You must quit worrying and fretting.

- You must quit telling God what you think is right for you.

- Most of all, you must quit thinking you are a failure; stop thinking you don't please God! One of Satans most effective traps for robbing Christians of peace is to convince them they must strive in the flesh to please God!

- David Wilkerson

HT: Mack T

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Restoring the Cross

2011-10-17T16:59:00.000-05:00

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“We must do something about the cross, and one of two things only we can do – flee it or die upon it. And if we should be so foolhardy as to flee we shall by that act put away the faith of our fathers and make of Christianity something other than it is …

“If we are wise we will do what Jesus did: endure the cross and despise its shame for the joy that is set before us … The cross will cut into our lives where it hurts worst, sparing neither us nor our carefully cultivated reputations. It will defeat us and bring our selfish lives to an end. Only then can we rise in fullness of life to establish a pattern of living wholly new and free and full of good works.

“The changed attitude toward the cross that we see … proves not that God has changed, nor that Christ has eased up on His demand that we carry the cross; it means rather that current Christianity has moved away from the standards of the New Testament. So far have we moved indeed that it may take nothing short of a new reformation to restore the cross to its right place in the theology and life of the Church.”

- A.W. Tozer, The Root of The Righteous

HT: David McCrory

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Landscapes

2011-10-16T17:09:00.000-05:00

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From the artist:

Landscapes: Volume 2 is the second of a three part series (probably). Every frame of this video is a raw still from a Canon 5D2 DSLR and processed with Adobe software. In Volume 2 I again show off my beautiful home state of Arizona and I also made several trips to Utah. This video has some iconic landmarks that we have seen before. I felt that showing them again with motion controlled HDR and/or night timelapse would be a new way to see old landmarks.

More info HERE.

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How shall I go to God?

2011-10-16T16:59:00.000-05:00

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““How shall I go to God?” It is with our sins that we go to God—for we have nothing else to go with that we can call our own. This is one of the lessons that we are so slow to learn; yet without learning this—we cannot take one right step in that which we call a Christian life.”

— Horatius Bonar

"How Shall I Go to God?"

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Testing Spiritual Experiences

2011-10-16T16:57:00.000-05:00

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"A good rule (in testing a spiritual experience) is this: If this experience has served to humble me and make me little and vile in my own eyes it is of God; but if it has given me a feeling of self-satisfaction it is false and should be dismissed as emanating from self or the devil. Nothing that comes from God will minister to my pride or self-congratulation. If I am tempted to be complacent and to feel superior because I have had a remarkable vision or an advanced spiritual experience, I should go at once to my knees and repent of the whole thing. I have fallen a victim to the enemy.

Our relation to and our attitude toward our fellow Christians is another accurate test of religious experience.

Sometimes an earnest Christian will, after some remarkable spiritual encounter, withdraw himself from his fellow believers and develop a spirit of faultfinding. He may be honestly convinced that his experience is superior, that he is now in an advanced state of grace, and that the hoi polloi in the church where he attends are but a mixed multitude and he alone a true son of Israel. He may struggle to be patient with these religious worldlings, but his soft language and condescending smile reveal his true opinion of them-and of himself. This is a dangerous state of mind, and the more dangerous because it can justify itself by the facts. The brother has had a remarkable experience; he has received some wonderful light on the Scriptures; he has entered into a joyous land unknown to him before. And it may easily be true that the professed Christians with whom he is acquainted are worldly and dull and without spiritual enthusiasm. It is not that he is mistaken in his facts that proves him to be in error, but that his reaction to the facts is of the flesh. His new spirituality has made him less charitable."

-A.W.Tozer

HT: Kevin Williams

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The McGurk Effect

2011-10-08T10:06:00.000-05:00

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My wife thinks it's lame, but I LOVE stuff like this:

HT: Justin Taylor

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What Is Saving Faith?

2011-10-08T10:02:00.000-05:00

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"The sinner needs to be told emphatically that he MUST believe and that, in case he does not believe, the wrath of God will abide on him.

A worse predicament than that in which the unsaved sinner finds himself cannot be imagined. He MUST believe in Christ. If he does not he will be damned. Yet he CANNOT believe [without a work of the Holy Spirit]. Of that dire predicament he must become aware. If he is made aware by the Holy Spirit he will look away from himself for salvation and abandon himself unreservedly to the grace of God. That is precisely the act of saving faith.

A certain man had been a paralytic for thirty-eight years. Together with a multitude of other impotent folk he lay at the pool Bethesda. He despaired of recovery. Jesus spoke: 'Arise, take up thy bed and walk'. The paralytic was comanded to do that thing which of all things he could not do, and let no one think that he was not aware of his complete inability. But he also knew that his one hope of getting well lay in his doing that very thing. Fully conscious of his plight, he forgot himself and fixed his eye on Jesus. That was faith. By faith he was made whole (John 5:1-9)"

-R. B. Kuiper

HT: Kevin Williams

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Lord Over All

2011-10-08T10:00:00.000-05:00

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"Can we imagine the Lord God of Hosts having to request permission of anyone or to apply for anything to a higher body? To whom would God go for permission? Who is higher than the Highest? Who is mightier than the Almighty? Whose position antedates that of the Eternal? At whose throne would God kneel? Where is the greater one to whom He must appeal? “Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.”

- A.W. Tozer, Knowledge of The Holy

HT: A. W. Tozer Quotes

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Loved and Welcomed

2011-10-08T09:59:00.000-05:00

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“Our Savior, the one who loves and welcomes us, tells us where our treasure should be: with his kingdom and his righteousness (Matt. 6:33). If our treasure is in living our lives for him and in leaving our success and security to his providential care, and if our treasure is his righteousness, not ours, then we will be able to appreciate all the good things he bestows without succumbing to worry. On the other hand, when we find ourselves plagued by anxieties, we have to conclude that his kingdom and his righteousness are not the chief delight of our heart.

When we feel anxious, we are to remind ourselves of the gospel. Because of the ongoing incarnation, we can rest assured that the One who bore and continues to bear our flesh is providentially watching over us. Because of his sinless life, we can stop worrying about our reputation or trying to make ourselves look good in the eyes of others. We are sinful and flawed but loved and welcomed. We have been counted righteous.”

— Elyse M. Fitzpatrick and Dennis E. Johnson
Counsel From the Cross
(Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2009), 137

HT: Of First Importance

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How to Find a Wife

2011-09-13T10:42:00.000-05:00

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Some excellent thoughts HERE from Daryl Wingerd on how to find a wife. The outline:

If you want to find a wife, stop trying to attract one.
If you want to find a wife, make sure you’re ready to provide for her.
If you are ready to find a wife, find a friend first.
If you think you have found a potential wife, approach her through her father.
What if Her Father Approves? Then What?

Read THE REST to see these fleshed out.

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Spurgeon: Groan in the Lord Always?

2011-09-10T12:29:00.000-05:00

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"There is a certain breed of Calvinists, whom I do not envy, who are always jeering and sneering as much as ever they can at the full assurance of faith. I have seen their long faces. I have heard their whining periods, and read their dismal sentences in which they say something to this effect—"Groan in the Lord always, and again I say, groan! He that muourneth and weepeth, he that doubteth and feareth, he that distrusteth and dishonoureth his God, shall be saved." That seems to be the sum and substance of their very ungospel-like gospel.

But why is it that they do this? I speak now honestly and fearlessly. It is because there is a pride within them—a conceit which is fed on rottenness, and sucks marrow and fatness out of putrid carcasses. And what, say you, is the object of their pride? Why, the pride of being able to boast of a deep experience—the pride of being a blacker, grosser and more detestable backslider than other people. "Whose glory is in their shame," may well apply to them. A more dangerous, because a more deceitful pride than this is not to be found. It has all the elements of self-righteousness in it. I would sooner a man boast in his good works than boast in his good feelings, because you can deal with the man who boasts in his good works, you have plain texts of Scripture, and you convict him of being a legalist. But this other man boasts that he is no legalist, he can speak very sharply against legality, he knows the truth, and yet the truth is not in him, in its spirit, because still he is looking to his feelings and not looking to the finished work of Christ.

Of all the Diabolians that ever stole into the city of Mansoul, Mr. Live-by-feeling was one of the worst of villains, though he had the fairest face. Brethren, you had better live by works than live by feelings. Both are damning forms of trust, but the one is more deceptive and more delusive than the other by far. You are justified by faith, not by feelings, you are saved by what Christ felt for you, not by what you feel, and the root and basis of salvation is the cross, and "other foundation shall no man lay than that which is laid." Even though he place his experience there, he builds "wood, hay, and stubble," and not the corner stone, which is Christ Jesus the Lord."

-Charles Spurgeon

HT: Kevin Williams

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The Bottom Line: High Maintenance Wives and Low Tolerance Husbands

2011-09-10T12:22:00.000-05:00

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THE BOTTOM LINE

Mark LaCour

"It is better to live in a desert land than with a contentious and vexing woman." (Prov. 21:19). "You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered." (1 Pet. 3:7).

High maintenance wives and low tolerance husbands can make for much "distress at the address." While conflict resolution isn’t always possible in marriage, conflict diminution is. Here are a few suggestions from the Apostle to husbands:

First, in order for husbands to understand their wives, they must first undertake to live with them. Desert lands and house corners (Prov. 21:9) may provide sanctuary when times are rough, but they’ll never produce understanding. You must live with your wife -- eat her food, sleep in her bed, carry her groceries, put up with her quirks. Our children will come and go, but our wives are a part of us (Eph. 5:28).

Second, husbands must understand only their wife. What makes someone else’s wife mad, sad, or glad is irrelevant. Another man’s wife might be prettier, smarter, holier, more organized -- but those are not cisterns he drinks from (Prov. 5:15), nor chides his wife to become like. He accepts her as she is -- not as he thinks she should be or once was. A woman who marries thinking her husband will change, and a husband who marries thinking his wife never will, are in for an education.

Third, understanding wives requires knowing they’re wired to think different. A weaker vessel isn’t an inferior vessel; only a finer one. Sterling crystal isn’t pewter. If a husband can’t be gentle in his speaking and patient in his listening, then his prayers will be treated accordingly. Hindered prayers come from hindered carefulness.

Lastly, granting honor to wives controls granting answers to prayers. The initiative in this granting is the husband’s. He must promote the honoring, which means if there are conflicts, he should promote the reconciliation. Christ did for His bride.

How we live with our wives tells others how Christ lives with us -- a true husband who doesn’t live in a desert because of our astronomical maintenance. He understands our frame, that we are but dust -- a dust cherished enough to die for (Eph. 5:25) and to be made a fellow heir with Him.

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When Death is Gain

2011-09-06T16:38:00.001-05:00

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“Christ is shown as great, when death is seen as gain. The reason for this is plain: the glory of Christ is magnified when our hearts are more satisfied in him than in all that death takes from us. If we count death gain, because it brings us closer to Christ (which is what Phil. 1:23 says it does), then we show that Christ is more to be desired than all this world can offer.”

— John Piper God's Passion for His Glory (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 1998), 46

HT: Of First Importance

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Your Love to Me was Wonderful

2011-09-06T16:37:00.000-05:00

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“Can you imagine it, that God, who is greater than immensity, whose life is longer than time, that God the all-boundless One, should love you? That He should think of you, pity you, consider you, this is all very well—but that He should love you, that His heart should go out to you, that He should choose you, that He should have engraved you on the palms of His hands, that He should not rest in Heaven without you, that He should not think Heaven complete until He brings you there, that you should be the bride and Christ the Bridegroom, that there should be eternal love between Him and you—oh, as you think of it, lift up your hands with adoring wonder and say, ‘Your love to me was wonderful.’”

— Charles Spurgeon

HT: Of First Importance

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Go Home and Pray?

2011-09-01T18:19:00.003-05:00

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Saith the Spurgeon:

To preach the gospel is to exalt Jesus Christ. Perhaps this is the best answer that I could give. I am very sorry to see very often how little the gospel is understood even by some of the best Christians.

Some time ago there was a young woman under great distress of soul; she came to a very pious Christian man, who said "My dear girl, you must go home and pray." Well I thought within myself, that is not the Bible way at all. It never says, "Go home and pray." The poor girl went home; she did pray, and she still continued in distress. He said, "You must wait, you must read the Scriptures and study them."

That is not the Bible way; that is not exalting Christ; I find a great many preachers are preaching that kind of doctrine. They tell a poor convinced sinner, "You must go home and pray, and read the Scriptures; you must attend the ministry;" and so on. Works, works, works—instead of "By grace are ye saved through faith," If a penitent should come and ask me, "What must I do to be saved?" I would say, "Christ must save you—believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." I would neither direct to prayer, nor reading of the Scriptures nor attending God's house; but simply direct to faith, naked faith on God's gospel. Not that I despise prayer—that must come after faith. Not that I speak a word against the searching of the Scriptures—that is an infallible mark of God's children. Not that I find fault with attendance on God's word—God forbid! I love to see people there.

But none of those things are the way of salvation. It is nowhere written—"He that attends church shall be saved," or, "He who reads the Bible shall be saved." Nor do I read—"He that prays and is baptised shall be saved;" but, "He who believes,"—he that has a naked faith on the "Man Christ Jesus,"—in his Godhead and his manhood, is delivered from sin.

Full sermon HERE.

HT: Kevin Williams

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Sovereignty, Responsibility, and Warnings

2011-09-01T18:16:00.000-05:00

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From JT:

The shipwreck story of Acts 27 is a fascinating paradigmatic story illustrating the compatibility of divine sovereignty, human responsibility, and the role of promise and warning to achieve God’s ends.

In a nutshell, here are the three key elements at work in this regard:

The situation on the ship: “All hope of our being saved was at last abandoned” (v. 20).
A word to Paul from the Lord: “There will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship” (v. 22). “God has granted you all those who sail with you” (v. 24). “Not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you” (v. 34).
Paul’s warning to the centurion and the soldiers on the ship: “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved” (v. 31).

Tom Schreiner explains:

The storm struck with such fury that all aboard despaired of living (Acts 27:13-19). Paul, however, received a word from the Lord that every single person on the ship would be saved, i.e., every single person’s life would be preserved (Acts 27:20-26).
The word that all aboard the ship would live was a divine promise, pledging safety for all. Some of us might be inclined to relax and “take it easy” after receiving such a promise. Paul, on the other hand, did not think that such a promise ruled out the need for admonitions and warnings. This is clear as we read on in the narrative. The sailors feigned that they were merely lowering anchors, when actually they intended to lower the lifeboat and escape the ship (Acts 27:29-32). Paul responded by warning the centurion that if the sailors left the ship the lives of those on board would not be preserved.
Why would Paul even bother to admonish the centurion about the scheme of the sailors? After all, he already had received a promise from an angel that everyone on the boat would escape with their lives. Paul did not reason the way many of us do today, “God has promised that the lives of all will be saved, therefore, any warning is superfluous.” No, the urgent warning was the very means by which the promise was secured. The promise did not come to pass apart from the warning but through it.
This same approach should be applied to the promises and threats in the scriptures regarding our salvation. It is by means of taking the warnings seriously that the promise of our salvation is secured.

An accessible elaboration of Schreiner’s perspective on the warning passages of Scripture and the doctrine of perseverance can be found in his book Run to Win the Prize: Perseverance in the New Testament.

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Gospel Men

2011-08-31T07:27:00.000-05:00

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From Dane Ortlund:

I see four ways masculinity is expressed by Christian men today; three wrong, one right.

1. Soft exterior, soft interior. Effeminate inside and out, top to bottom. Yuck.

2. Hard exterior, soft interior. Posers. Macho. Insecure, covering it with how much they can bench.

3. Hard exterior, hard interior. Genuinely strong, willing to lay down their life for Jesus and family, but earnest to make sure everyone knows that about them. Not only wants to be strong in actuality but needs to be strong in image. Stiff not only in conviction but in demeanor.

4. Soft exterior, hard interior. Rock solid, responsible, risk-taking, calls heresy heresy, calls error error, willing to take shots for the good of the team, able to stick his neck out in elder meetings when the pastor is being maligned by fellow-elder-golfing-buddies--but all soaked in a gentle demeanor, seasoned with grace, someone the guy struggling with homosexuality would confide in.

The answer to the first two is not the third but the fourth.

Paul said 'Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men' (1 Cor 16:13) and he said repeatedly to do all things with gentleness (Gal 5:23; Eph 4:2; 2 Tim 2:25). I think in the past I've received the first thing to the neglect of the second.

A mature oak tree is immovable when the storms rage against it, but it's also beautiful, and invites shelter to others. Isn't that what gospel men should be?

Original post HERE.

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He That is Down Need Fear No Fall

2011-08-31T07:23:00.000-05:00

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"... the man who is meek is not even sensitive about himself. He is not always watching himself and his own interests. He is not always on the defensive. We all know about this, do we not? Is it not one of the greatest curses in life as a result of the fall — this sensitivity about self? We spend the whole of our lives watching ourselves. But when a man becomes meek he has finished with all that; he no longer worries about himself and what other people say. To be truly meek means we no longer protect ourselves, because we see there is nothing worth defending. So we are not on the defensive; all that is gone. The man who is truly meek never pities himself, he is never sorry for himself. He never talks to himself and says, 'You are having a hard time, how unkind these people are not to understand you'. He never thinks, 'How wonderful I really am, if only other people gave me a chance'. Self-pity! What hours and years we waste in this! But the man who has become meek has finished with all that. To be meek, in other words, means that you have finished with yourself altogether, and you come to see you have no rights or deserts at all. You come to realize that nobody can harm you. John Bunyan puts it perfectly. 'He that is down need fear no fall.' When a man truly sees himself, he knows nobody can say anything about him that is too bad. You need not worry about what men may say or do; you know you deserve it all and more. Once again, therefore, I would define meekness like this. The man who is truly meek is the one who is amazed that God and man can think of him as well as they do and treat him as well as they do."

-Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, i, p. 69

HT: ML-J Recording Trust

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What does the radical Christian life look like?

2011-08-19T13:09:00.002-05:00

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But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need. 1 Thessalonians 4:10-12

On this note, I wish more biographies were written about Christians who weren't foreign missionaries or pastors. Just reading through the New Testament, you don't get the feeling a large percentage of Christians are going to end up in one of these callings. The majority are going to end up keeping house or going to work, and I think it would be a great service to have more stories from Christians who "excelled still more" in these roles.

Where Ephesians 1-3 Takes Us

2011-08-12T11:09:00.000-05:00

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From Dane Ortlund:

Taking a breath after three exultant chapters reminding his readers of what God in Christ has done, Paul turns in Ephesians 4 to remind them what this means for their personal conduct.

'I exhort you, therefore, as a prisoner in the Lord, to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called, with all ____________________.' (Eph 4:1)

What would you expect there?

Paul, suffering as a prisoner in the Lord, turns his attention now to the Ephesians; he is not so much looking at Christ in light of the Ephesians but looking directly at the Ephesians in light of Christ.

I would expect something like:

'. . . with all sacrifice'; '. . . with all zeal'; '. . . with all untempered courage.'

Paul says: '. . . with all gentleness and humility.'

That is where the first three chapters of Ephesians, lofty chapters which refuse to be exhausted by the unending proliferation of academic scrutiny, take us.

Ephesians 1 to 3 may call some of us to great sacrifice ten years from now in a Muslim land. First, though, Ephesians 1 to 3 calls all of us to great sacrifice this weekend in our living room.

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Continually Beholding the Lamb

2011-08-12T11:07:00.000-05:00

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“To continually behold the Lamb of God is life to our souls and death to our sins.”

— William Mason

HT: Of First Importance

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Why Judas Was Never a Christian

2011-08-06T11:31:00.000-05:00

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Why Judas was never a Christian

-Mack Tomlinson

There have been new discussions on the life of Judas Iscariot in recent years. Television documentaries have caricatured him as a sincere seeking person, as one who simply had some identity problems, and ultimately as a victim of circumstances beyond his control.

But the Bible gives a different picture of Judas. He was a thief who never cared for the poor, as he tried to portray about himself. And he was never a Christian at all, despite some who would erroneously say that he was a believer, but then he "fell from grace."

Ultimately it must be Jesus' words that shape our understanding of Judas.

Why did Judas never truly come to faith in the Lord Jesus? Jesus said it was because it was not granted or given by the Father for him to do so. This is hard saying. The disciples themselves stated this. Read closely John 6:64-66 and see the connection between Judas not believing and the Father not granting it.

" 'But there are some of you who do not believe.' (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe and who it was who would betray him). "

Notice the inference--the one who had never believed was the one who would betray him--clearly one man named Judas.

vs 65- "And he said, 'This is why I told you, that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father."

What could be more clear? Judas did not come to saving faith. He never believed truly and Jesus says it is because it was no one can come unless it is granted them by the Father.

Only those will come to Jesus who have it granted to them by the Father. Some will object to this by saying, "But God grants that to everyone, and then it is dependent on them to choose and believe."

But the passage in view here shows that God does not grant faith to everyone. He did not grant it to Judas. And Jesus said this is why Judas did not believe.

This is a hard thing to grasp. And it is a hard thing to believe. It was for those who heard it and it still is difficult.

That is why the next verse (vs 66) says that many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.

Will we continue to walk with and trust the One who says "No one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father?"

If we love the Saviour, we must love his hard sayings, even if one of them is that it was not granted to Judas by the Father to believe in Jesus. That is why he never became a Christian.

-- Mack Tomlinson

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The Bottom Line: The Value of Denied Prayers

2011-08-06T11:29:00.000-05:00

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THE BOTTOM LINE

-Mark LaCour

"In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should" (Rom. 8:26). "But Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking." (Matt. 20:22). "Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you . . ." (2 Cor. 12:8-9a).

Not every petition a lawyer files in court is effectual before the judge. Having a motion denied isn’t the same as having your case thrown out -- and Christians have many "motions" denied when they pray. Consider why denied prayers have value:

First, ineffectual prayers are not unacceptable prayers. The former have a place before God as sacred incense albeit unanswered (Rev. 5:8), the latter are prayed by the lost and never reach the ears of God at all. While a non-Christian can't pray an ineffectual prayer, let alone an effectual one, the Christian can't pray an unacceptable one. God always hears -- and accepts His people's prayers. Only saints have "bar roll numbers" in order to make "motions."

Ineffectual prayers are not insignificant prayers. It’s easy to think since my prayer wasn't answered in the way it was prayed, then my prayer must be wrong or sinful. Rarely are any of our prayers a single seamless garment, but rather a "quilt" of wrestling with God, asking with a weak faith, groaning through despair, all "stitched" together by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:26-27), interceded and worn by Christ (Heb. 7:25). No cry is too small to be heard, or too weak to be ignored. God wastes no scrapes of "material" in sewing together our prayers.

Lastly, ineffectual prayers are not unprofitable prayers. Ineffectual prayers are used by God to teach us how to prayer more effectual ones -- not discourage us from praying altogether. As we persevere through the silence we learn to think more biblically, focus more passionately, ask more faithfully. It’s normal to want a thorn in the flesh removed, but it's more profitable to have pride in the flesh restrained.

If the joy of the Lord is our strength (Neh. 8:10), and having our prayers answered increases our joy (Jn. 16:24), then ineffectual prayers are no small matter. God will see to it that we are on the same page with Him when we communicate. How long that "lesson" takes is up to Him, but the outcome will always be more than effectual.

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Gospel Ecstasy and Delight

2011-08-04T18:02:00.000-05:00

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“Ecstasy and delight are essential to the believer’s soul and they promote sanctification. We were not meant to live without spiritual exhilaration, and the Christian who goes for a long time without the experience of heart-warming will soon find himself tempted to have his emotions satisfied from earthly things and not, as he ought, from the Spirit of God. The soul is so constituted that it craves fulfillment from things outside itself and will embrace earthly joys for satisfaction when it cannot reach spiritual ones. The believer is in spiritual danger if he allows himself to go for any length of time without tasting the love of Christ and savoring the felt comforts of a Savior’s presence. When Christ ceases to fill the heart with satisfaction, our souls will go in silent search of other lovers. By the enjoyment of the love of Christ in the heart of a believer, we mean an experience of the “love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us” (Rom. 5:5). Because the Lord has made himself accessible to us in the means of grace, it is our duty and privilege to seek this experience from Him in these means till we are made the joyful partakers of it.”

-John Flavel

HT: Scotty Smith

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The Tragedy in Norway and the Scandal of the Gospel

2011-07-25T10:53:00.000-05:00

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From Jared Wilson:

The horrid beast who murdered upwards of 100 in Norway last week deserves the full measure of justice executed upon him, and worse. He deserves the wrath of God. And if he goes to his grave as he is, he will experience the eternal conscious torment of hell.

But if he repents and believes in Christ . . .

That little "twinge" we feel at the very idea is our brushing up against the scandal of the cross.

David Berkowitz -- most (in)famously known as the "Son of Sam" -- was a serial killer who terrorized New York City from 1976 to 1977. In 1987 he made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. "Of course he did," we say. "They all do." But his commitment to the faith has lasted, and his repentance has been visible and consistent, evidenced continually in his request not to be paroled in order to own the consequences of his sins and to not cause any distress to the families of his victims, and in his advocacy for victims' rights groups, arguing that killers should not profit from writing or memorabilia related to their crimes. (Proceeds from Berkowitz's own book go to a victims' rights group, not to himself.)

This bothers a great many of us. We don't care how repentant he looks; we reckon his crimes too heinous to forgive.

If this vicious murderer in Norway repents of his sins and trusts in Jesus' saving work on his behalf, when he goes to his grave he will be welcomed into the arms of the Father like a beloved child.

If this bothers me, it is because I have forgotten most of the Psalms and most of the New Testament were written by murderers.

And it is because I consider myself a better judge than God.

And it is because I have forgotten that I deserve the same fate as this horrid beast. Or I think I do not face this fate because of some comparative goodness of my own.

It could be that we don't often meditate on just how much Christ's cross saved us from. And how much he bore when he hung on it.

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Christ and Christ Alone

2011-07-22T07:01:00.003-05:00

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I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

No reason to pick on the sweet frames; bad frames can't be trusted either. The former doesn't commend us to Christ, and the latter doesn't take Him away.

Tilling the Land

2011-07-21T14:48:00.004-05:00

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He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, but he who pursues worthless things lacks sense. - Proverbs 12:11

Another Proverb God has used in my life lately. The man who gives himself to study and prayer won't lack spiritual bread for himself or others. May God help us to be diligent in the business of tilling.

New Website Address

2011-07-21T11:09:00.000-05:00

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As of a few days ago, Thoughts on the Way now has a dedicated website address: www.thoughtsontheway.org

If you type in the old address (www.thoughtsonthewayblog.blogspot.com) it will automatically redirect you to the new home, but I don't know how long it will keep doing that. So now is probably a good time to update your bookmarks, feed readers, etc. with the new address.

Thanks!

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The Walk - Bob Jennings

2011-07-21T11:02:00.000-05:00

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The Walk

WITH GOD. Enoch and Noah walked WITH God (Genesis 5.24, 6.9). This speaks ofcompanionship and intimacy, as friend with friend. When the Hebrides Revival had subsided around 1951, Duncan Campbell was asked if life was now anti-climactic. He replied that nothing compares with the daily walk with God. And what a promise is laid up for us, “But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy” (Revelation 3:4).

BEFORE GOD. Abraham walked BEFORE God (Gen. 17.1). This speaks of consciousness. God’s eye is on us – every step we take, every thought we think. The Christian is continually conscious that it is the living God with whom he has to do.

AFTER GOD. Josiah walked AFTER God (2 Kings 23.3). This speaks of compliance, conformity, obedience, and pursuit. The Lord Jesus is the leader and we walk after Him. He is the shepherd of the sheep and we follow after Him. The Lord Jesus is our example – a hero without fault – and worthy of our imitation. The sheep do indeed follow the shepherd – “My sheep…follow Me” (John 10.27). Talk is not enough. Hell will be filled with talkers – “Many will say to Me on that day…” (Matthew 7:22).

The Christian knows there is nothing more important than the walk. This is a great matter for prayer.

We have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will … so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects (Colossians 1:9, 10).

-Bob Jennings

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Victory is Certain

2011-07-16T13:21:00.004-05:00

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Write this in a book as a memorial and recite it to Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven." Moses built an altar and named it The LORD is My Banner; and he said, "The LORD has sworn; the LORD will have war against Amalek from generation to generation." - Exodus 17:14-16

Joshua had just overwhelmed Amalek through the power of God (Exodus 17:11, 13), and God immediately sent a message to the young leader, which was to be memorialized for future remembrance. What is the message? "I will not rest or relent until Amalek has been obliterated!" God would continue to undertake, and victory is certain.

The Christian has been given the same message. God has sent His Spirit to war against your flesh (Galatians 5:17), and He will not rest or relent until every idol and fleshly indulgence has been utterly purged (Ezekiel 36:25). He will be your God! This promise delights the true believer because, as one brother said, he already sins more than he wants to.

As a side note - like Moses, we need to make it our business to remind one another of these promises.

Radically Boring

2011-07-14T09:35:00.000-05:00

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From Stephen Altrogge:

So you want to be a radical Christian, huh? You want to be a sold out, hardcore, all on the line, hold nothing back Christian. You don’t want to waste your life. You want to have crazy love for God. Awesome. So do I. I want to be a radical disciple for Jesus.

But what exactly does that mean? How exactly do I be a radical Christian? I’ve been thinking a lot about that lately. This matters a lot to me. In Revelation Jesus says that he spits out lukewarm people, and I certainly don’t want to be a lukewarm Christian. I want to be a red hot Christian who is on fire for Jesus.

So should I sell everything I have and be a traveling evangelist? Should I go immediately into the mission field? Should I give 75% of my income away? Should I read my Bible all the time and not watch TV or play video games? Well, maybe. But not necessarily. The more I read the Bible, the more I’m convinced that being radical for Jesus is actually pretty “boring” and “mundane”.

Read the rest HERE.

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The Sluggard Doesn't Follow Through

2011-07-13T07:00:00.000-05:00

The sluggard buries his hand into the dish, but will not even bring it back to his mouth. Proverbs 19:24

One characteristic of the sluggard is he doesn't follow through. He starts many things, but completes very little. Obviously you could get into trouble by being too stringent with this. (I'm thinking, for example, of a book you start but realize it's not the right thing for now). Nevertheless, our lives should be characterized by a commitment to finish what we start. "Whatever our hands find to do" we should "do it with all your might" until the thing is done (Ecclesiastes 9:10).

This probably seems like a trivial thing to write about. But I find not heeding this principle creates stress and stunts spiritual growth.

The Mountain

2011-07-12T20:10:00.002-05:00

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Ryan x 2 = 2 Excellent Sermons

2011-07-12T19:59:00.000-05:00

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Two excellent messages from this past Sunday:

Prayer Is For the Unworthy - Ryan Fullerton

The Grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ - Ryan Skinner

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Avoiding Fruitless Discussion

2011-07-12T07:15:00.000-05:00

...nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere...But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion. 1 Timothy 1:4-6

A good reminder - The goal of all biblical study and theological conversation must be "love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith". Anything else is "fruitless discussion".

Have Faith in God

2011-07-11T11:03:00.001-05:00

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"Lay down this principle as a law– God does nothing arbitrary. If He takes away your health, for instance, it is because He has some reason for doing so. This is true of everything you value, and if you have real faith in Him, you will not insist on knowing this reason."

Thoughts Concerning the King by Elizabeth Prentiss

Happy Independence Day

2011-07-04T20:29:00.003-05:00

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Spiritual Depression Book Trailer

2011-07-03T22:25:00.001-05:00

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More info HERE.

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Think of the Rock, Not Your Feet

2011-07-03T22:14:00.001-05:00

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“I am not sure that it is best for us, once safe and secure on the Rock of Ages, to ask ourselves too closely what this and that experience may signify. Is it not better to be thinking of the Rock, not of the feet that stand upon it? It seems to me that we ought to be unconscious of ourselves, and that the nearer we get to Christ the more we shall be taken up with Him. We shall be like a sick man who, after he gets well, forgets all the symptoms he used to think so much of, and stops feeling his pulse, and just enjoys his health, only pointing out his physician to all who are diseased.”

— Elizabeth Prentiss
"Thoughts Concerning the King"

HT: Of First Importance

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Motivated By Love

2011-07-03T22:10:00.000-05:00

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“We believers do need to be challenged to a life of committed discipleship, but that challenge needs to be based on the gospel, not on duty or guilt. Duty or guilt may motivate us for awhile, but only a sense of Christ’s love for us will motivate us for a lifetime.”

— Jerry Bridges
The Disciple of Grace: God's Role and Our Role in the Pursuit of Holiness
(Colorado Springs, Co.: NavPress, 1994), 24-25

HT: Of First Importance

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The Bottom Line: Romans 11:33 - Mark LaCour

2011-07-03T22:07:00.000-05:00

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THE BOTTOM LINE

Mark LaCour

"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!" (Rom. 11:33).

Plummeting the depths of God's wisdom is majestic and futile -- necessary for worship; useless in finding a bottom. Its simplicity and symmetry invigorates the mind, strengthens faith (Jam. 1:4). Its complexity empties every philosophy and pushes the borders of sanity. A few observations from the bathysphere:

First, knowing the "what" about God is a gift. No scholarships are needed but no one gets into this university without an invitation (Matt. 11:25-27). Even then, you learn at the teacher's pace, not the student's. While all men know enough to flunk out, no one has enough to graduate. If behavior determines grade level (Dan.11:32), avoid anyone who invents his own divine syllabus. God isn't found at the end of cold, steel syllogisms; nice, warm euphoric mysticisms, or even torments of fire in eternity. He's found at the end of his own invite. If God doesn't reveal, there's nothing to know or believe.

Descending past the mesopelagic zone, knowing the "why" about God is dangerous. While necessary for growth, it's lethal if taken without a prescription. Hell is full of pundits who either never connected the obvious dots (Rom. 1:19-21), or connected them wrongly (Rom. 10:3-4). If the smartest man in the world couldn't get it right with God-given wisdom (Eccl. 1:12-14), tread lightly. Let God -- and only God in the Bible tell us why He does what He does. A God who decrees what He doesn't desire (Acts 2:22-23), and yet desires what He doesn't decree (1 Tim. 2:3-4), in order to bring all of history to its decreed and desired end (Eph. 1:11), is beyond our hat-sized brains. Learn the genius of saying "I don’t know" to itching ears when asked to speculate about God's motives and reasons.

Lastly, submerging to where the cable ends, knowing the "who" about God is salvation. "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." (Jn. 17:3). While some descend only enough to hate Him (Matt. 25:24), His elect must go to the cavernous end where there’s not greater darkness or pressure, but light and rest in Jesus Christ (Matt. 11:27; Col. 2:3).

How God reasons caused the apostle to worship -- not because it was irrational or trans-rational, but because it showcases God's glory the best and only way possible, in the person of Christ (2 Cor. 4:6) -- someone a child can understand but a bathysphere can't reach.

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Why a Cloud? - Dane Ortlund

2011-06-13T10:13:00.000-05:00

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From Dane Ortlund:

During the course of Jesus’ transfiguration, as he stands with Moses and Elijah, 'a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud' (Mark 9:7).

Why a cloud? Did it just happen to be a rainy day?

No, the cloud uniquely represents the presence and glory of God. The cloud shows up at important points throughout the Bible, especially in the book of Exodus. The Lord leads his people by a pillar of cloud (Exod. 13:21–22; cf. 1 Cor. 10:1–2), speaks to his people by appearing in a cloud (Exod. 16:9–10), gives his people the ten commandments amid a cloud (Exod. 19:9, 16; 24:15–18), descends in a cloud when Moses enters the tent to speak with him (Exod. 33:9; 40:34–38), and proclaims his name in a cloud (Exod. 34:5).

Throughout the Bible the cloud signifies God's glory-filled presence. In the transfiguration Jesus appears under a cloud because he is the climactic display of the glory of God. Jesus shines radiantly in Mark 9, just as Moses had (Exod. 34:30; Mark 9:3), because Jesus is the final 'prophet like Moses' spoken of in Deut. 18:15–18. At the very end of his earthly ministry Jesus would also be taken up in a cloud (Acts 1:9).

Jesus and the cloud are then explicitly brought together in the final judgment at the end of the Bible in John's vision, drawing on Daniel 7, of 'a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man' (Rev. 14:14).

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I Will Put My Fear In Their Hearts

2011-06-13T10:11:00.000-05:00

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“I will put My fear in their hearts—so they will never turn away from Me. (Jer 32:40)

Jesus, to whom I have been led to commit myself, has engaged to save me, absolutely, and from first to last. He has promised not only that He will not depart from me—but that He will put, keep, and maintain His fear in my heart—so that I shall never finally depart from Him!

And if He does not do this for me—I have no security against my turning apostate! For I am so weak, inconsistent, and sinful; I am so encompassed with deadly snares from the world; and I am so liable to such assaults from the subtlety, vigilance, and power of Satan—that, unless I am ‘kept by the power of God,’ I am sure I cannot endure to the end!

In short, I must sit down in despair—if I did not believe that He who has begun a good work in me, will carry it out to completion.”

— John Newton
Works of John Newton

HT: Of First Importance

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Hindrances to Prayer

2011-06-01T08:02:00.000-05:00

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Hindrances to Prayer

1. Pretense in prayer - Mark 12:40

2. Inconsistency in prayer - Acts 2:42; Romans 1:9; Luke 11:8; Romans 12:12

3. Lack of fervency(zeal) in prayer - Romans 15:30; James 5:16; Colossians 4:12; Hebrews 5:7

4. Generality (lack of specificity) in prayer - 1 Thessalonians 1:2; Ephesians 6:19; Philemon 1:4

5. Lack of devotion to prayer - 2 Timothy 1:3; 1 Timothy 5:5; Mark 9:29; Luke 6:12; Eph 6:18

6. Lack of corporately gathering - Acts 1:14; Acts 12:5

7. Lack of self-control - 1 Peter 4:7; 1 Cor 7:5

8. Failing to honor your wife -1 Peter 3:7

9. Failure to discern spiritual danger 1 Peter 4:7

10. Double-mindedness - James 1:6-8

-Bob Schembre

HT: Mack T

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Christopher Yuan's Testimony

2011-05-27T13:20:00.000-05:00

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HT: JT

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Soul-Transforming Love

2011-05-27T07:28:00.000-05:00

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Courtesy of Dane Ortlund:

On one of his seven trips from Britain to America, George Whitefield was battling depression and feelings of failure and was stabilized finally only with meditation on God's love in Jesus Christ.

Nothing could possibly support my soul under the many agonies which oppressed me when on board, but a consideration of the freeness, eternity and unchangeableness of God's love to me.

I need not fear the sight of sin when I have a perfect, everlasting righteousness wrought out for me by . . . Jesus Christ. The riches of His free grace cause me daily to triumph over all the temptations of the wicked one. . . .

May he enlighten me more and more to know and feel the mystery of his electing, soul-transforming love. Nothing like that, to support us under present and all the various future trials. . . . But the Lord has apprehended us and will not let us go. Men and devils may do their worst; our Jesus will allow nothing to pluck us out of His Almighty hands.

--quoted in Arnold Dallimore, George Whitefield: The Life and Times of the Great EVangelist of the 18th Century Revival (2 vols; Banner of Truth, 1970, 1980), 1:407

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The Bottom Line: The Second Coming - Mark LaCour

2011-05-27T07:27:00.000-05:00

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THE BOTTOM LINE

Mark LaCour

"Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. (2 Thess. 2:1-2).

       Harold Camping isn't the first preacher to be a "victim" of bad math. Jonah had the number of days to judgment correct, but God mercifully extended the deadline. Hananiah shortened the number of years of judgment, and it cost him his life (Jer. 28). But bad "accounting" methods don't produce false prophets -- arrogance does. While Harold Camping and his faulty "math" has exposed him for who he is, don’t think for a second God hasn't used him. Notice a few ways:

       First, God has used him to show the world how foolish it is to date the future. It's one thing to "look for the blessed appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior" (Titus 2:13), it's another to circle a date on a calendar and hour on a clock. The former emphasizes our desire to be with Christ, the latter our desire to be seen as someone important with inside knowledge from God.

       Second, God has used him to harden people in their arrogance. More than one atheist has patted himself on the back that he's more "enlightened." While he correctly assizes Camping as foolish, he mistakenly generalizes from that foolishness there is no return of Christ at all (2 Pet. 3:3ff.) And God uses Camping's foolishness to harden the atheist with that effect (2 Thess. 2:9-10). Laughing at the "fool on the hill" doesn’t equate to every Christian being a fool. We’re just not on the hill.

       Third, God has used him to discipline well-meaning but gullible Christians to always test the prophetic. Rarely is naivete built on immaturity alone, but pride. People giving up jobs, spending their retirement, working/preaching long hours to get the message out is disheartening, but the rebuke should be evident -- humble yourself and listen to others outside your own circle. "The naive believes everything, but the sensible man considers his steps" (Prov. 14:15) -- a consideration that requires being teachable from others (Prov. 9:4, 16).

       If Noah, a preacher of righteousness (2 Pet. 2:5), had concentrated his preaching on the 120 years God was to put up with mankind before the flood (Gen. 6:3) the unbelievers wouldn't have been caught off-guard when the flood came (Lk. 17:26-27); and two, he could have "dragged his feet" in building the ark, knowing he had 120 years. He did neither. He left the calendar -- and the math to God. So should we. There’s too much building yet to be done.

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Thoroughly Accepted

2011-05-27T07:25:00.000-05:00

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“The gospel of grace is a message of breathtaking freedom. It must be embraced with faith and thanksgiving. You are thoroughly accepted just as you are.

Jesus Christ is your righteousness and he is never going to change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. When you wake tomorrow, he will still be your righteousness, before you have done anything to enjoy God’s favour. You have to earn nothing.

Your spirit needs to bask in the brilliant sunlight of this reality. You need to know it inwardly and celebrate it on a daily basis.”

— Terry Virgo
God's Lavish Grace
(Oxford, UK: Monarch Books, 2003), 40

HT: Of First Importance

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Christ's Love for the Struggling Believer - Kevin Williams

2011-05-18T07:12:00.000-05:00

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Another excellent message from the recent Fellowship Conference in Denton, TX.

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Our Saviour Is No Fickle Lover

2011-05-18T07:10:00.000-05:00

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We have not chosen him first, but he hath chosen us. If we be God’s servants, we were not always so; to sovereign grace the change must be ascribed. The eye of sovereignty singled us out, and the voice of unchanging grace declared, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” Long ere time began or space was created God had written upon his heart the names of his elect people, had predestinated them to be conformed unto the image of his Son, and ordained them heirs of all the fulness of his love, his grace, and his glory. What comfort is here! Has the Lord loved us so long, and will he yet cast us away? He knew how stiffnecked we should be; he understood that our hearts were evil, and yet he made the choice. Ah! our Saviour is no fickle lover. He doth not feel enchanted for awhile with some gleams of beauty from his church’s eye, and then afterwards cast her off because of her unfaithfulness. Nay, he married her in old eternity; and it is written of Jehovah, “He hateth putting away.” The eternal choice is a bond upon our gratitude and upon his faithfulness which neither can disown.

-Charles Spurgeon

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