To be much for God, we must be much with God. Jesus, that lone figure in the wilderness, knew strong crying, along with tears. Can one be moved with compassion and not know tears? Jeremiah was a sobbing saint. Jesus wept! So did Paul. So did John...Though there are some tearful intercessors behind the scenes, I grant you that to our modern Christianity, praying is foreign.
Many pastors criticize me for taking the Gospel so seriously. But do they really think that on Judgment Day, Christ will chastise me, saying, ‘Leonard, you took Me too seriously’?
My main ambition in life is to be on the Devil’s most wanted list.
Click the link below:
http://www.puritanfellowship.com/2007/11/leonard-ravenhill-quotes.html
Friday, December 31, 2010
Spurgeon on Prayer
Let us be Christians; let us have expanded souls and minds that can feel for others. Let us weep with them that weep, and rejoice with them that rejoice; and as a Church and as private persons, we shall find the Lord will turn our captivity when we pray for our friends. God help us to plead for others! And as for you that have never prayed for yourselves, God help you to believe in the Lord Jesus! Amen.~Charles Spurgeon
http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0404.htm
Click the link above to read the sermon.
Blessed are those who mourn. I have been mourning for others and I realize now that I am not bearing fruit because I am spending too much time thinking, blogging etc. and not enough time praying! Praying for others is our duty, when we pray we should ask the Holy Spirit into our hearts to bless us and help us bless others. Only then can God's work can be done through us.
http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0404.htm
Click the link above to read the sermon.
Blessed are those who mourn. I have been mourning for others and I realize now that I am not bearing fruit because I am spending too much time thinking, blogging etc. and not enough time praying! Praying for others is our duty, when we pray we should ask the Holy Spirit into our hearts to bless us and help us bless others. Only then can God's work can be done through us.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Sunday, December 26, 2010
The Blasphemy of the Rich Young Ruler by John MacArthur
ATTENTION: THIS IS A MUST LISTEN!!!!!!!
http://www.gty.org/Resources/Videos/V8241-51
Click the link above link to watch the sermon.
http://www.gty.org/Resources/Videos/V8241-51
Click the link above link to watch the sermon.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
The Parable of the Sower by Martin Luther
http://homepage.mac.com/shanerosenthal/reformationink/mlsower.htm
LUKE 8:4-15: And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable: A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
1. This Gospel treats of the disciples and the fruits, which the Word of God develops in the world. It does not speak of the law nor of human institutions; but, as Christ himself says, of the Word of God, which he himself the sower preaches, for the law bears no fruit, just as little as do the institutions of men. Christ however sets forth here four kinds of disciples of the divine Word.
SECTION II. THE DISCIPLES OF THIS WORD.
2. The first class of disciples are those who hear the Word but neither understand nor esteem it. And these are not the mean people in the world, but the greatest, wisest and the most saintly, in short they are the greatest part of mankind; for Christ does not speak here of those who persecute the Word nor of those who fail to give their ear to it, but of those who hear it and are students of it, who also wish to be called true Christians and to live in Christian fellowship with Christians and are partakers of baptism and the Lord's Supper. But they are of a carnal heart, and remain so, failing to appropriate the Word of God to themselves, it goes in one ear and out the other. Just like the seed along the wayside did not fall into the earth, but remained lying on the ground in the wayside, because the road was tramped hard by the feet of man and beast and it could not take root.
3. Therefore Christ says the devil cometh and taketh away the Word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved. What power of Satan this alone reveals, that hearts, hardened through a worldly mind and life, lose the Word and let it go, so that they never understand or confess it; but instead of the Word of God Satan sends false teachers to tread it under foot by the doctrines of men. For it stands here written both that it was trodden under foot, and the birds of the heaven devoured it. The birds Christ himself interprets as the messengers of the devil, who snatch away the Word and devour it, which is done when he turns and blinds their hearts so that they neither understand nor esteem it, as St. Paul says in 2 Tim 4:4: "They will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside unto fables." By the treading under foot of men Christ means the teachings of men, that rule in our hearts, as he says in Mt 5:13 also of the salt that has lost its savor, it is cast out and trodden under foot, of men; that is, as St. Paul says in 2 Ths. 2:11, they must believe a lie because they have not been obedient to the truth.
4. Thus all heretics, fanatics and sects belong to this number, who understand the Gospel in a carnal way and explain it as they please, to suit their own ideas, all of whom hear the Gospel and yet they bear no fruit, yea, more, they are governed by Satan and are harder oppressed by human institutions than they were before they heard the Word. For it is a dreadful utterance that Christ here gives that the devil taketh away the Word from their hearts, by which he clearly proves that the devil rules mightily in their hearts, notwithstanding they are called Christians and hear the Word. Likewise it sounds terribly that they are to be trodden under foot, and must be subject unto men and to their ruinous teachings, by which under the appearance and name of the Gospel the devil takes the Word from them, so that they may never believe and be saved, but must be lost forever; as the fanatical spirits of our day do in all lands. For where this Word is not, there is no salvation, and great works or holy lives avail nothing, for [it is] with this, that he says: "They shall not be saved," since they have not the Word, he shows forcibly enough, that not their works but their faith in the Word alone saves, as Paul says to the Romans: "It is, the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth" (Rom 1:16).
5. The second class of hearers are those who receive the Word with joy, but they do not persevere. These are also a large multitude who understand the Word correctly and lay hold of it in its purity without any spirit of sect, division or fanaticism, they rejoice also in that they know the real truth, and are able to know how they may be saved without works through faith. They also know that they are free from the bondage of the law, of their conscience and of human teachings; but when it comes to the test that they must suffer harm, disgrace and loss of life or property, then they fall and deny it; for they have not root enough, and are not planted deep enough in the soil. Hence they are like the growth on a rock, which springs forth fresh and green, that it is a pleasure to behold it and it awakens bright hopes. But when the sun shines hot it withers, because it has no soil and moisture, and only rock is there. So these do; in times of persecution they deny or keep silence about the Word, and work, speak and suffer all that their persecutors mention or wish, who formerly went forth and spoke, and confessed with a fresh and joyful spirit the same, while there was still peace and no heat, so that there was hope they would bear much fruit and serve the people. For these fruits are not only the works, but more the confession, preaching and spreading of the Word, so that many others may thereby be converted and the kingdom of God be developed.
6. The third class are those who hear and understand the Word, but still it falls on the other side of the road, among the pleasures and cares of this life, so that they also do nothing with the Word. And there is quite a large multitude of these; for although they do not start heresies, like the first, but always possess the absolutely pure Word, they are also, not attacked on the left as the others with opposition and persecution; yet they fall on the right side,
and it is their ruin that they enjoy peace and good days. Therefore they do not earnestly give themselves to the Word, but become indifferent and sink in the cares, riches and pleasures of this life, so that they are of no benefit to any one. Therefore they are like the seed that fell among the thorns. Although it is not rocky but good soil; not wayside but deeply plowed soil; yet, the thorns will not let it spring up, they choke it. Thus these have all in the Word that is needed for their salvation, but they do not make any use of it, and they rot in this life in carnal pleasures. To these belong those who hear the Word but do not bring under subjection their flesh. They know their duty but do it not, they teach but do not practice what they teach, and are this year as they were last.
7. The fourth class are those who lay hold of and keep the Word in a good and honest heart, and bring forth fruit with patience, those who hear the Word and steadfastly retain it, meditate upon it and act in harmony with it. The devil does not snatch it away, nor are they thereby led astray, moreover the heat of persecution does not rob them of it, and the thorns of pleasure and the avarice of the times do not hinder its growth; but they bear fruit by teaching others and by developing the kingdom of God, hence they also do good to their neighbor in love; and therefore Christ adds, "they bring forth fruit with patience." For these must suffer much on account of the Word, shame and disgrace from fanatics and heretics, hatred and jealousy with injury to body and property from their persecutors, not to mention what the thorns and the temptations of their own flesh do, so that it may well be called the Word of the cross; for he who would keep it must bear the cross and misfortune, and triumph. field,
8. He says: "In honest and good hearts." Like a field that is without a thorn or brush, cleared and spacious, as a beautiful clean place: so a heart is also cleared and clean, broad and spacious, that is without cares and avarice as to temporal needs, so that the Word of God truly finds lodgment there. But the field is good, not only when it lies there cleared and level, but when it is also rich and fruitful, possesses soil and is productive, and not like a stony and gravelly field. Just so is the heart that has good soil and with a full spirit is strong, fertile and good to keep the Word and bring forth fruit with patience.
9. Here we see why it is no wonder there are so few true Christians, for all the seed does not fall into good ground, but only the fourth and small part; and that they are not to be trusted who boast they are Christians and praise the teaching of the Gospel; like Demas, a disciple of St. Paul, who forsook him at last (2 Tim. 4:10); like the disciples of Jesus, who turned their backs to him (John 6:66). For Christ himself cries out here: "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear," as if he should say: O, how few true Christians there are; one dare not believe all to be Christians who are called Christians and hear the Gospel, more is required than that.
10. All this is spoken for our instruction, that we may not go astray, since so many misuse the Gospel and few lay hold of it aright. True it is unpleasant to preach to those who treat the Gospel so shamefully and even oppose it. For preaching is to become so universal that the Gospel is to be proclaimed to all creatures, as Christ says in Mk. 16:15: "Preach the Gospel to the whole creation;" and Ps. 19:4: "Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world." What business is it of mine that many do not esteem it? It must be that many are called but few are chosen. For the sake of the good ground that brings forth fruit with patience, the seed must also fall fruitless by the wayside, on the rock and among the thorns; inasmuch as we are assured that the Word of God does not go forth without bearing some fruit, but it always finds also good ground; as Christ says here, some seed of the sower falls also into good ground, and not only by the wayside, among the thorns and on stony ground. For wherever the Gospel goes you will find Christians. "My word shall not return unto me void" (Is. 55:11).
SECTION IV. WHY CHRIST CALLS THE DOCTRINE CONCERNING THE DISCIPLES AND THE FRUITS OF THE WORD A MYSTERY.
19. But what does it mean when he says: "Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God", etc.? What are the mysteries? Shall one not know them, why then are they preached? A "mystery" is a hidden secret, that is not known: and the "mysteries of the kingdom of God" are the things in the kingdom of God, as for example Christ with all his grace, which he manifests to us, as Paul describes him; for he who knows Christ aright understands what God's kingdom is, and what is in it. And it is called a mystery because it is spiritual and secret, and indeed it remains so, where the spirit does not reveal it. For although there are many who see and hear it, yet they do not understand it. just as there are many who preach and hear Christ, how he offered himself for us; but all that is only upon their tongue and not in their heart; for they themselves do not believe it, they do not experience it, as Paul in 1 Cor. 2:14 says: "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God!" Therefore Christ says here: "Unto you it is given", the Spirit gives it to you that you not only hear and see it, but acknowledge and believe it with your heart. Therefore it is now no longer a mystery to you. But to the others who hear it as well as you, and have no faith in their heart, they see and understand it not; to them it is a mystery and it will continue unknown to them, and all that they hear is only like one hearing a parable or a dark saying. This is also proved by the fanatics of our day, who know so much to preach about Christ; but as they themselves do not experience it in their heart, they rush ahead and pass by the true foundation of the mystery and tramp around with questions and rare foundlings, and when it comes to the test they do not know the least thing about trusting in God and finding in Christ the forgiveness of their sins.
20. But Mark says (4:33), Christ spake therefore to the people with parables, that they might understand, each according to his ability. How does that agree with what Matthew says, 13:13-14: He spake therefore unto them in parables, because they did not understand? It must surely be that Mark wishes to say that parables serve to the end that they may get a hold of coarse, rough people, although they do not indeed understand them, yet later, they may be taught and then they know: for parables are naturally pleasing to the common people, and they easily remember them since they are taken from common every day affairs, in the midst of which the people live. But Matthew means to say that these parables are of the nature that no one can understand them, they may grasp and hear them as often as they will, unless the Spirit makes them known and reveals them. Not that they should preach that we shall not understand them; but it naturally follows that wherever the Spirit does not reveal them, no one understands them. However, Christ took these words from Is. 6:9-10, where the high meaning of the divine foreknowledge is referred to, that God conceals and reveals to whom he will and whom he had in mind from eternity.
LUKE 8:4-15: And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable: A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
1. This Gospel treats of the disciples and the fruits, which the Word of God develops in the world. It does not speak of the law nor of human institutions; but, as Christ himself says, of the Word of God, which he himself the sower preaches, for the law bears no fruit, just as little as do the institutions of men. Christ however sets forth here four kinds of disciples of the divine Word.
SECTION II. THE DISCIPLES OF THIS WORD.
2. The first class of disciples are those who hear the Word but neither understand nor esteem it. And these are not the mean people in the world, but the greatest, wisest and the most saintly, in short they are the greatest part of mankind; for Christ does not speak here of those who persecute the Word nor of those who fail to give their ear to it, but of those who hear it and are students of it, who also wish to be called true Christians and to live in Christian fellowship with Christians and are partakers of baptism and the Lord's Supper. But they are of a carnal heart, and remain so, failing to appropriate the Word of God to themselves, it goes in one ear and out the other. Just like the seed along the wayside did not fall into the earth, but remained lying on the ground in the wayside, because the road was tramped hard by the feet of man and beast and it could not take root.
3. Therefore Christ says the devil cometh and taketh away the Word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved. What power of Satan this alone reveals, that hearts, hardened through a worldly mind and life, lose the Word and let it go, so that they never understand or confess it; but instead of the Word of God Satan sends false teachers to tread it under foot by the doctrines of men. For it stands here written both that it was trodden under foot, and the birds of the heaven devoured it. The birds Christ himself interprets as the messengers of the devil, who snatch away the Word and devour it, which is done when he turns and blinds their hearts so that they neither understand nor esteem it, as St. Paul says in 2 Tim 4:4: "They will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside unto fables." By the treading under foot of men Christ means the teachings of men, that rule in our hearts, as he says in Mt 5:13 also of the salt that has lost its savor, it is cast out and trodden under foot, of men; that is, as St. Paul says in 2 Ths. 2:11, they must believe a lie because they have not been obedient to the truth.
4. Thus all heretics, fanatics and sects belong to this number, who understand the Gospel in a carnal way and explain it as they please, to suit their own ideas, all of whom hear the Gospel and yet they bear no fruit, yea, more, they are governed by Satan and are harder oppressed by human institutions than they were before they heard the Word. For it is a dreadful utterance that Christ here gives that the devil taketh away the Word from their hearts, by which he clearly proves that the devil rules mightily in their hearts, notwithstanding they are called Christians and hear the Word. Likewise it sounds terribly that they are to be trodden under foot, and must be subject unto men and to their ruinous teachings, by which under the appearance and name of the Gospel the devil takes the Word from them, so that they may never believe and be saved, but must be lost forever; as the fanatical spirits of our day do in all lands. For where this Word is not, there is no salvation, and great works or holy lives avail nothing, for [it is] with this, that he says: "They shall not be saved," since they have not the Word, he shows forcibly enough, that not their works but their faith in the Word alone saves, as Paul says to the Romans: "It is, the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth" (Rom 1:16).
5. The second class of hearers are those who receive the Word with joy, but they do not persevere. These are also a large multitude who understand the Word correctly and lay hold of it in its purity without any spirit of sect, division or fanaticism, they rejoice also in that they know the real truth, and are able to know how they may be saved without works through faith. They also know that they are free from the bondage of the law, of their conscience and of human teachings; but when it comes to the test that they must suffer harm, disgrace and loss of life or property, then they fall and deny it; for they have not root enough, and are not planted deep enough in the soil. Hence they are like the growth on a rock, which springs forth fresh and green, that it is a pleasure to behold it and it awakens bright hopes. But when the sun shines hot it withers, because it has no soil and moisture, and only rock is there. So these do; in times of persecution they deny or keep silence about the Word, and work, speak and suffer all that their persecutors mention or wish, who formerly went forth and spoke, and confessed with a fresh and joyful spirit the same, while there was still peace and no heat, so that there was hope they would bear much fruit and serve the people. For these fruits are not only the works, but more the confession, preaching and spreading of the Word, so that many others may thereby be converted and the kingdom of God be developed.
6. The third class are those who hear and understand the Word, but still it falls on the other side of the road, among the pleasures and cares of this life, so that they also do nothing with the Word. And there is quite a large multitude of these; for although they do not start heresies, like the first, but always possess the absolutely pure Word, they are also, not attacked on the left as the others with opposition and persecution; yet they fall on the right side,
and it is their ruin that they enjoy peace and good days. Therefore they do not earnestly give themselves to the Word, but become indifferent and sink in the cares, riches and pleasures of this life, so that they are of no benefit to any one. Therefore they are like the seed that fell among the thorns. Although it is not rocky but good soil; not wayside but deeply plowed soil; yet, the thorns will not let it spring up, they choke it. Thus these have all in the Word that is needed for their salvation, but they do not make any use of it, and they rot in this life in carnal pleasures. To these belong those who hear the Word but do not bring under subjection their flesh. They know their duty but do it not, they teach but do not practice what they teach, and are this year as they were last.
7. The fourth class are those who lay hold of and keep the Word in a good and honest heart, and bring forth fruit with patience, those who hear the Word and steadfastly retain it, meditate upon it and act in harmony with it. The devil does not snatch it away, nor are they thereby led astray, moreover the heat of persecution does not rob them of it, and the thorns of pleasure and the avarice of the times do not hinder its growth; but they bear fruit by teaching others and by developing the kingdom of God, hence they also do good to their neighbor in love; and therefore Christ adds, "they bring forth fruit with patience." For these must suffer much on account of the Word, shame and disgrace from fanatics and heretics, hatred and jealousy with injury to body and property from their persecutors, not to mention what the thorns and the temptations of their own flesh do, so that it may well be called the Word of the cross; for he who would keep it must bear the cross and misfortune, and triumph. field,
8. He says: "In honest and good hearts." Like a field that is without a thorn or brush, cleared and spacious, as a beautiful clean place: so a heart is also cleared and clean, broad and spacious, that is without cares and avarice as to temporal needs, so that the Word of God truly finds lodgment there. But the field is good, not only when it lies there cleared and level, but when it is also rich and fruitful, possesses soil and is productive, and not like a stony and gravelly field. Just so is the heart that has good soil and with a full spirit is strong, fertile and good to keep the Word and bring forth fruit with patience.
9. Here we see why it is no wonder there are so few true Christians, for all the seed does not fall into good ground, but only the fourth and small part; and that they are not to be trusted who boast they are Christians and praise the teaching of the Gospel; like Demas, a disciple of St. Paul, who forsook him at last (2 Tim. 4:10); like the disciples of Jesus, who turned their backs to him (John 6:66). For Christ himself cries out here: "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear," as if he should say: O, how few true Christians there are; one dare not believe all to be Christians who are called Christians and hear the Gospel, more is required than that.
10. All this is spoken for our instruction, that we may not go astray, since so many misuse the Gospel and few lay hold of it aright. True it is unpleasant to preach to those who treat the Gospel so shamefully and even oppose it. For preaching is to become so universal that the Gospel is to be proclaimed to all creatures, as Christ says in Mk. 16:15: "Preach the Gospel to the whole creation;" and Ps. 19:4: "Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world." What business is it of mine that many do not esteem it? It must be that many are called but few are chosen. For the sake of the good ground that brings forth fruit with patience, the seed must also fall fruitless by the wayside, on the rock and among the thorns; inasmuch as we are assured that the Word of God does not go forth without bearing some fruit, but it always finds also good ground; as Christ says here, some seed of the sower falls also into good ground, and not only by the wayside, among the thorns and on stony ground. For wherever the Gospel goes you will find Christians. "My word shall not return unto me void" (Is. 55:11).
SECTION IV. WHY CHRIST CALLS THE DOCTRINE CONCERNING THE DISCIPLES AND THE FRUITS OF THE WORD A MYSTERY.
19. But what does it mean when he says: "Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God", etc.? What are the mysteries? Shall one not know them, why then are they preached? A "mystery" is a hidden secret, that is not known: and the "mysteries of the kingdom of God" are the things in the kingdom of God, as for example Christ with all his grace, which he manifests to us, as Paul describes him; for he who knows Christ aright understands what God's kingdom is, and what is in it. And it is called a mystery because it is spiritual and secret, and indeed it remains so, where the spirit does not reveal it. For although there are many who see and hear it, yet they do not understand it. just as there are many who preach and hear Christ, how he offered himself for us; but all that is only upon their tongue and not in their heart; for they themselves do not believe it, they do not experience it, as Paul in 1 Cor. 2:14 says: "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God!" Therefore Christ says here: "Unto you it is given", the Spirit gives it to you that you not only hear and see it, but acknowledge and believe it with your heart. Therefore it is now no longer a mystery to you. But to the others who hear it as well as you, and have no faith in their heart, they see and understand it not; to them it is a mystery and it will continue unknown to them, and all that they hear is only like one hearing a parable or a dark saying. This is also proved by the fanatics of our day, who know so much to preach about Christ; but as they themselves do not experience it in their heart, they rush ahead and pass by the true foundation of the mystery and tramp around with questions and rare foundlings, and when it comes to the test they do not know the least thing about trusting in God and finding in Christ the forgiveness of their sins.
20. But Mark says (4:33), Christ spake therefore to the people with parables, that they might understand, each according to his ability. How does that agree with what Matthew says, 13:13-14: He spake therefore unto them in parables, because they did not understand? It must surely be that Mark wishes to say that parables serve to the end that they may get a hold of coarse, rough people, although they do not indeed understand them, yet later, they may be taught and then they know: for parables are naturally pleasing to the common people, and they easily remember them since they are taken from common every day affairs, in the midst of which the people live. But Matthew means to say that these parables are of the nature that no one can understand them, they may grasp and hear them as often as they will, unless the Spirit makes them known and reveals them. Not that they should preach that we shall not understand them; but it naturally follows that wherever the Spirit does not reveal them, no one understands them. However, Christ took these words from Is. 6:9-10, where the high meaning of the divine foreknowledge is referred to, that God conceals and reveals to whom he will and whom he had in mind from eternity.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Idolatry~Charles Spurgeon
http://www.spurgeon.us/mind_and_heart/quotes/i.htm
When some men come to die, the religion which they themselves have thought out and invented will yield them no more confidence than the religion of the Roman Catholic sculptor who, on his death-bed, was visited by his priest. The priest said, “You are now departing out of this life;” and holding up a beautiful crucifix, he cried, “Behold your God, who died for you.” “Alas!” said the sculptor, “I made it.” There was no comfort for him in the work of his own hands; and there will be no comfort in a religion of one’s own devising. That which was created in the brain cannot yield comfort to the heart. AM333
The heathen bows to a false deity, but the true God he has never known; we commit two evils, inasmuch as we forsake the living God and turn unto idols. ME250
If you delight more in God’s gifts than in God Himself, you are practically setting up another God above Him, and this you must never do. PM35
No nation has ever yet risen above the character of its so-called gods. 640.399
We marvel not that licentiousness abounded, for “like gods—like people:” “A people are never better than their religion,” it has often been said, and in most cases they are rather worse. 640.400
Whatever a man depends upon, whatever rules his mind, whatever governs his affections, whatever is the chief object of his delight, is his god. 723.185
Further observe, that it is a gospel of hearing and not of doing. See the second verse, “Hearken diligently.” Notice the third verse, “Incline your ear;” and yet again, “Hear and your soul shall live.” Death came to us first through the eye, but salvation comes through the ear. Our first parent, Eve, looked at the fruit; she “saw that it was good,” and so she plucked, and so we fell. But no man rises to eternal life by signs and symbols appealing to the eye; it is by the use of the ear that the joyful news is communicated. 833.543
This is the one easily besetting sin of our nature—to turn aside from the living God and to make unto ourselves idols in some fashion or another; for the essence of idolatry is this—to love anything better than God, to trust anything more than God, to wish to have a God other than we have, or to have some signs and wonders by which we may see him, some outward symbol or manifestation that can be seen with the eye or heard with the ear rather than to rest in an invisible God and believe the faithful promise of Him whom eye hath not seen nor ear heard. 1339.97
If you love anything better than God you are idolaters: if there is anything you would not give up for God it is your idol: if there is anything that you seek with greater fervour than you seek the glory of God, that is your idol, and conversion means a turning from every idol. 1806.581
That is your god which rules your nature—that which is your motive power—that for which you live. 1819.39
The leaning of our evil heart is towards some form, symbol, or imagery which we judge may help our thought and intensify our worship. All this comes of evil, and leads to evil. 1976.434
If you want to lose that which is the object of your comfort and delight, love it too much. 2099.442
A lawless man fashions for himself a lawless god. 2117.652
If you worship a god of gold, you will perish as much as if you worshipped a god of mud. 2220.463
Jonah had a gourd, but when he made a god of his gourd, it was very soon withered.
2225.519
“Little children, keep yourselves from idols,” was the injunction of the loving apostle John, and he wrote thus in love, because he knew that, if God sees us making idols of anything, he will either break our idols or break us. 3025.65
In its grosser manifestations, idolatry is the desire of man to see God with his eyes, to have some outward representation of him who cannot be represented; who is too great, too spiritual, ever to be described by human language, much less to be set forth by images of wood, and stone, however elaborately carved and cunningly overlaid with gold. There is a great God who filleth all space, and yet is greater than space, whose existence is without beginning and without end, who is everywhere present, and universally self-existent; but man is so unspiritual that he will not worship this great invisible One in spirit and in truth, but craves after outward similitudes, symbols, and signs. 3034.169
Man is such an idolator that, if he cannot idolise anything else, he will idolise himself, and set himself up, and bow down and worship himself. 3516.286
When some men come to die, the religion which they themselves have thought out and invented will yield them no more confidence than the religion of the Roman Catholic sculptor who, on his death-bed, was visited by his priest. The priest said, “You are now departing out of this life;” and holding up a beautiful crucifix, he cried, “Behold your God, who died for you.” “Alas!” said the sculptor, “I made it.” There was no comfort for him in the work of his own hands; and there will be no comfort in a religion of one’s own devising. That which was created in the brain cannot yield comfort to the heart. AM333
The heathen bows to a false deity, but the true God he has never known; we commit two evils, inasmuch as we forsake the living God and turn unto idols. ME250
If you delight more in God’s gifts than in God Himself, you are practically setting up another God above Him, and this you must never do. PM35
No nation has ever yet risen above the character of its so-called gods. 640.399
We marvel not that licentiousness abounded, for “like gods—like people:” “A people are never better than their religion,” it has often been said, and in most cases they are rather worse. 640.400
Whatever a man depends upon, whatever rules his mind, whatever governs his affections, whatever is the chief object of his delight, is his god. 723.185
Further observe, that it is a gospel of hearing and not of doing. See the second verse, “Hearken diligently.” Notice the third verse, “Incline your ear;” and yet again, “Hear and your soul shall live.” Death came to us first through the eye, but salvation comes through the ear. Our first parent, Eve, looked at the fruit; she “saw that it was good,” and so she plucked, and so we fell. But no man rises to eternal life by signs and symbols appealing to the eye; it is by the use of the ear that the joyful news is communicated. 833.543
This is the one easily besetting sin of our nature—to turn aside from the living God and to make unto ourselves idols in some fashion or another; for the essence of idolatry is this—to love anything better than God, to trust anything more than God, to wish to have a God other than we have, or to have some signs and wonders by which we may see him, some outward symbol or manifestation that can be seen with the eye or heard with the ear rather than to rest in an invisible God and believe the faithful promise of Him whom eye hath not seen nor ear heard. 1339.97
If you love anything better than God you are idolaters: if there is anything you would not give up for God it is your idol: if there is anything that you seek with greater fervour than you seek the glory of God, that is your idol, and conversion means a turning from every idol. 1806.581
That is your god which rules your nature—that which is your motive power—that for which you live. 1819.39
The leaning of our evil heart is towards some form, symbol, or imagery which we judge may help our thought and intensify our worship. All this comes of evil, and leads to evil. 1976.434
If you want to lose that which is the object of your comfort and delight, love it too much. 2099.442
A lawless man fashions for himself a lawless god. 2117.652
If you worship a god of gold, you will perish as much as if you worshipped a god of mud. 2220.463
Jonah had a gourd, but when he made a god of his gourd, it was very soon withered.
2225.519
“Little children, keep yourselves from idols,” was the injunction of the loving apostle John, and he wrote thus in love, because he knew that, if God sees us making idols of anything, he will either break our idols or break us. 3025.65
In its grosser manifestations, idolatry is the desire of man to see God with his eyes, to have some outward representation of him who cannot be represented; who is too great, too spiritual, ever to be described by human language, much less to be set forth by images of wood, and stone, however elaborately carved and cunningly overlaid with gold. There is a great God who filleth all space, and yet is greater than space, whose existence is without beginning and without end, who is everywhere present, and universally self-existent; but man is so unspiritual that he will not worship this great invisible One in spirit and in truth, but craves after outward similitudes, symbols, and signs. 3034.169
Man is such an idolator that, if he cannot idolise anything else, he will idolise himself, and set himself up, and bow down and worship himself. 3516.286
Monday, December 13, 2010
The Truth of the Nativity (11/5/2009)
The Truth of the Nativity (11/5/2009)
John MacArthur
The story of the first Christmas is so beloved that singers and storytellers across the centuries have embellished and elaborated and mythologized the story in celebration. However, most people now don't know which details are biblical and which are fabricated. People usually imagine the manger scene with snow, singing angels, many worshipers, and a little drummer boy. None of that is found in the biblical account.
Christmas has become the product of an odd mixture of pagan ideas, superstition, fanciful legends, and plain ignorance. Add to that the commercialization of Christmas by marketers and the politicization of Christmas in the culture wars, and you're left with one big mess. Let's try to sort it out. The place to begin is in God's Word, the Bible. Here we find not only the source of the original account of Christmas, but also God's commentary on it.
We can't know Jesus if we don't understand He is real. The story of His birth is no allegory. We dare not romanticize it or settle for a fanciful legend that renders the whole story meaningless. Mary and Joseph were real people. Their dilemma on finding no room at the inn surely was as frightening for them as it would be for you or me. The manger in which Mary laid Jesus must have reeked of animal smells. So did the shepherds, in all probability. That first Christmas was anything but picturesque.
But that makes it all the more wondrous. That baby in the manger is God! Immanuel!
That's the heart and soul of the Christmas message. There weren't many worshipers around the original manger--only a handful of shepherds. But one day every knee will bow before Him, and every tongue will confess He is Lord (Philippians 2:9-11). Those who doubt Him, those who are His enemies, those who merely ignore Him--all will one day bow, too, even if it be in judgment.
How much better to honor Him now with the worship He deserves! That's what Christmas ought to inspire.
Unvarnished Truth
Luke 2:7 sets the scene: "[Mary] gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."
That verse is explicitly concerned with a lonely birth. There were no midwives, no assistance to Mary at all. The Bible doesn't even mention that Joseph was present. Perhaps he was, but if he was typical of first-time fathers, he would have been of little help to Mary. She was basically on her own.
Mary brought forth the child; she wrapped Him in swaddling cloths; and she laid Him in a manger. Where usually a midwife would clean the baby and wrap Him, there was no one. Mary did it herself. And where usually there would have been a cradle or basket for the baby, there was none. Mary had to put Him in an animal's feeding trough.
When Christ entered the world, He came to a place that had some of the smelliest, filthiest, and most uncomfortable conditions. But that is part of the wonder of divine grace, isn't it? When the Son of God came down from heaven, He came all the way down. He did not hang on to His equality with God; rather, He set it aside for a time and completely humbled Himself (Philippians 2:5-8).
Unlikely Testimony
Luke 2:8-20 describes the experience of the shepherds when Jesus was born. Think about that for a moment. Out of the whole of Jerusalem society, God picked a band of shepherds to hear the news of Jesus' birth. That's intriguing because shepherds were among the lowest and most despised social groups.
The very nature of shepherds' work kept them from entering into the mainstream of Israel's society. They couldn't maintain the ceremonial washings and observe all the religious festivals and feasts, yet these shepherds, just a few miles from Jerusalem, were undoubtedly caring for sheep that someday would be used as sacrifices in the temple. How fitting it is that they were the first to know of the Lamb of God!
More significant, they came to see Him the night he was born. No one else did. Though the shepherds went back and told everyone what they had seen and heard, and though "all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds" (v. 18), not one other person came to see firsthand.
Scripture doesn't describe how the shepherds' search for the baby Jesus actually unfolded, but it's not unreasonable to assume that they entered Bethlehem and asked questions: "Does anybody know about a baby being born here in town tonight?"
The shepherds might have knocked on several doors and seen other newborn babies before they found the special Child lying in the feeding trough. At that moment, those humble men knew for certain that the angels' announcement was a word from God. After their encounter with Joseph and Mary and Jesus, the shepherds couldn't help but tell others about what the angels had told them. They became, in effect, the first New Testament evangelists.
The shepherd's story is a good illustration of the Christian life. You first hear the revelation of the gospel and believe it (Romans 10:9-10). Then you pursue and embrace Christ. And having become a witness to your glorious conversion, you begin to tell others about it (Luke 2:17).
May God grant you the life-changing spiritual experiences and the ongoing attitude of enthusiasm and responsiveness that causes you to tell others that you, too, have seen Christ the Lord.
Adapted from God's Gift of Christmas.
John MacArthur
The story of the first Christmas is so beloved that singers and storytellers across the centuries have embellished and elaborated and mythologized the story in celebration. However, most people now don't know which details are biblical and which are fabricated. People usually imagine the manger scene with snow, singing angels, many worshipers, and a little drummer boy. None of that is found in the biblical account.
Christmas has become the product of an odd mixture of pagan ideas, superstition, fanciful legends, and plain ignorance. Add to that the commercialization of Christmas by marketers and the politicization of Christmas in the culture wars, and you're left with one big mess. Let's try to sort it out. The place to begin is in God's Word, the Bible. Here we find not only the source of the original account of Christmas, but also God's commentary on it.
We can't know Jesus if we don't understand He is real. The story of His birth is no allegory. We dare not romanticize it or settle for a fanciful legend that renders the whole story meaningless. Mary and Joseph were real people. Their dilemma on finding no room at the inn surely was as frightening for them as it would be for you or me. The manger in which Mary laid Jesus must have reeked of animal smells. So did the shepherds, in all probability. That first Christmas was anything but picturesque.
But that makes it all the more wondrous. That baby in the manger is God! Immanuel!
That's the heart and soul of the Christmas message. There weren't many worshipers around the original manger--only a handful of shepherds. But one day every knee will bow before Him, and every tongue will confess He is Lord (Philippians 2:9-11). Those who doubt Him, those who are His enemies, those who merely ignore Him--all will one day bow, too, even if it be in judgment.
How much better to honor Him now with the worship He deserves! That's what Christmas ought to inspire.
Unvarnished Truth
Luke 2:7 sets the scene: "[Mary] gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."
That verse is explicitly concerned with a lonely birth. There were no midwives, no assistance to Mary at all. The Bible doesn't even mention that Joseph was present. Perhaps he was, but if he was typical of first-time fathers, he would have been of little help to Mary. She was basically on her own.
Mary brought forth the child; she wrapped Him in swaddling cloths; and she laid Him in a manger. Where usually a midwife would clean the baby and wrap Him, there was no one. Mary did it herself. And where usually there would have been a cradle or basket for the baby, there was none. Mary had to put Him in an animal's feeding trough.
When Christ entered the world, He came to a place that had some of the smelliest, filthiest, and most uncomfortable conditions. But that is part of the wonder of divine grace, isn't it? When the Son of God came down from heaven, He came all the way down. He did not hang on to His equality with God; rather, He set it aside for a time and completely humbled Himself (Philippians 2:5-8).
Unlikely Testimony
Luke 2:8-20 describes the experience of the shepherds when Jesus was born. Think about that for a moment. Out of the whole of Jerusalem society, God picked a band of shepherds to hear the news of Jesus' birth. That's intriguing because shepherds were among the lowest and most despised social groups.
The very nature of shepherds' work kept them from entering into the mainstream of Israel's society. They couldn't maintain the ceremonial washings and observe all the religious festivals and feasts, yet these shepherds, just a few miles from Jerusalem, were undoubtedly caring for sheep that someday would be used as sacrifices in the temple. How fitting it is that they were the first to know of the Lamb of God!
More significant, they came to see Him the night he was born. No one else did. Though the shepherds went back and told everyone what they had seen and heard, and though "all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds" (v. 18), not one other person came to see firsthand.
Scripture doesn't describe how the shepherds' search for the baby Jesus actually unfolded, but it's not unreasonable to assume that they entered Bethlehem and asked questions: "Does anybody know about a baby being born here in town tonight?"
The shepherds might have knocked on several doors and seen other newborn babies before they found the special Child lying in the feeding trough. At that moment, those humble men knew for certain that the angels' announcement was a word from God. After their encounter with Joseph and Mary and Jesus, the shepherds couldn't help but tell others about what the angels had told them. They became, in effect, the first New Testament evangelists.
The shepherd's story is a good illustration of the Christian life. You first hear the revelation of the gospel and believe it (Romans 10:9-10). Then you pursue and embrace Christ. And having become a witness to your glorious conversion, you begin to tell others about it (Luke 2:17).
May God grant you the life-changing spiritual experiences and the ongoing attitude of enthusiasm and responsiveness that causes you to tell others that you, too, have seen Christ the Lord.
Adapted from God's Gift of Christmas.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
By His Wounds - Steven Curtis Chapman, Brian Littrell, Mac Powell, Mark ...
After Jessica's Christmas program last night she asked me if I videod the song By His Wounds that was sung during the play. I told her I did but she can also listen to it on YouTube. She told me she couldn't watch it on YouTube because the man with blood all over him upset her. I then realized someone had made a video for the song using scenes from the movie The Passion. (That's what I get for letting her use the computer without me in the room!) I was upset that Jessica had to see that. My standard answer is always, "That's just a movie. It's not real." I couldn't say that last night. I told her that was Jesus...It was a bittersweet moment I'll never forget. For the first time I was speaking of Jesus not as a character in a book called the Bible. He is real and the story is real. Seeing it through a child's eyes, the emotions stirring inside her about what she had seen in the video is what we should all feel everyday.
Refusing to Quit by Kay Daigle at Bible.org
http://bible.org/seriespage/refusing-quit-week-5
Energy for the Race
“Then Paul replied, ‘What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be tied up, but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
Acts 21:13
I think I could do sprints much more easily than a long race, such as a marathon, because I would just get tired of the cost. Eventually, I would quit. Enough is enough! Often runners in the Christian life do the same thing. We go and go and go, and then one day we just quit, believing that we can no longer do it. Surely God doesn’t expect his people to deal with such hardships in serving him! Paul’s example, as we just read in this week’s verse, gives us a different perspective.
Day One Study
This week we move into Paul’s third journey. At the point of his departure from Antioch in about 52 A.D., he had already written several letters and sent them off to the various churches where he had ministered on the first two journeys. Dates are not definite, of course, but many scholars believe that both of the Thessalonian epistles and both letters to Corinth were written during the second journey.
Read Acts 18:22-23, the end of the second journey and the beginning of the third.
1. What was Paul’s purpose in re-visiting these churches?
The Greek definition of the root word for strengthening in Acts 18:23 means “(1) to make stable, place firmly, set fast, fix; (2) to strengthen, make firm; (3) to render constant, confirm, one's mind.”5
2. Sharing question: Are you facing a situation that makes it difficult to be firmly set in your faith? Share it with your group. Consider writing a prayer request asking God to bring people into your life to strengthen your faith.
3. Responding to God: Ask God to bring to mind the name of another believer whose faith needs strengthening because of life situations. Write her a note encouraging her and reminding her of God’s love. Don’t try to fix the problem but show the love and concern of Christ. If possible, you may want to call her rather than write a note. Share with your group what you did and any outcome of which you are aware.
Extra Training: Read Acts 18:24-19:7. Read some commentaries on these verses.
Read Acts 19:8-20, which describes events when Paul was in Ephesus.
4. Summarize the highlights of Paul’s ministry in Ephesus and the results that God brought from it.
5. This period in Paul’s life was fairly peaceful compared to some of the other things that he had experienced. If you had been in his place, how would you have felt about it and how might you have responded to it?
6. Responding to God: Pray that you would always be open to follow God’s will, even when you have to leave behind what is peaceful or comfortable.
Day Two Study
Read Acts 19:21-20:1. The NET Bible calls what happened “a great disturbance”; the Message says it was a “huge ruckus”; and The Living Bible describes it is as “serious trouble”.
7. This is great headline material! Write the story as if you were the local news anchor, telling it in a way that would make people want to tune in.
8. In what ways was the message of Jesus a threat to the Ephesians?
Extra Training: Study about the city of Ephesus and the goddess Artemis.
9. Sharing question: How do you see the message of Jesus threaten people in our culture today? Consider what they stand to lose if the gospel is true, perhaps personally or even monetarily!
10. Sharing question: Is there anything in your own life that you would lose if you truly followed Jesus with all of your heart? Is there any part of his message that you tend to ignore rather than obey because you are unwilling to give up something? What is it? Ask for prayer from your group this week that you would desire to please God more than having this in your life.
11. Responding to God: Ask God to show you if there is anything you need to add to your answer in the previous question. Write down a prayer of confession for placing an idol in your heart before Jesus. (An idol is anything that you have made your own god, for example: money, entertainment, beauty, leisure, friends, popularity, happiness, security, etc.)
Day Three Study
Read Acts 20:1-12, which records Paul’s return to Macedonia and Greece where he had spent so much time on his second journey.
12. How does the information in Acts 20:3 seem like the same old thing happening again to Paul? How would you be feeling if you were in Paul’s place?
13. Our verses this week have related some miraculous stories. What miracles occurred in these passages?
a. Acts 19:11-12
b. Acts 20:8-12
14. Compare the miracles done by Paul in Acts 19:11-12 with those done by Peter in Acts 5:12-16.
15. How do the following verses relate to the miracles of this time period?
a. 2 Cor. 12:12
b. 1 Cor. 12:7-11
Extra Training: There is much debate about healing today. See what commentary you can find on the various perspectives.
God may answer the prayers of his people to heal today. His name is still Yahweh Rapha, the God who heals. We are to pray for those who are sick, boldly asking God to heal, but we must also accept that healing is not always God’s plan. Death is part of God’s plan for eternity, to bring us to a place where there is no more death. When we cannot discern God’s will in the situation, we have the assurance that the Spirit prays according to God’s will on our behalf (Rom. 8:26-27).
16. Sharing question: Share with the group a story of God’s healing in response to prayer. It may be your own story or the story of someone whom you know well.
17. Responding to God: Is there a person for whom you could pray for healing? Ask God what his will is in the situation so you can pray accordingly. He may place on your heart to pray for the person in a different way than simply for healing. You may want to look at examples of kingdom prayers at the end of Week Nine lesson for ideas of scriptural prayers to pray for him or her. Write your prayer below.
Day Four Study
Extra Training: Use a Bible atlas or map to follow the progress of Paul’s journey from Troas to Miletus in Acts 20:13-17.
Read Acts 20:18-38, which records Paul’s message to the elders of Ephesus.
18. List the ways that you see Paul model ministry in his farewell address to the elders.
19. Sharing question: What one lesson about your own ministry, whether it’s serving behind the scenes or leading up front, do you see in the way Paul describes his ministry here? How can you apply it this week?
20. How do you see Paul’s attitude of refusing to quit the race in his comments to the Ephesians? How does his relationship with them make it particularly difficult?
21. Responding to God: Write a poem or prayer proclaiming your determination to refuse to quit no matter what. Recognize that only God can give you the grace to follow through.
Day Five Study
Read Acts 21:1-17, which takes Paul from Miletus, where he met with the Ephesian elders, to Jerusalem, his intended destination.
22. What warnings did Paul get along the way that could have kept him from continuing on to Jerusalem?
23. How did Paul’s response to these warnings reveal that his desires for his life were to do what Jesus wanted him to do? (Be sure and memorize this week’s verse, Acts 21:13!)
24. Sharing question: What would keep you from responding as Paul did to knowing that God’s will involved something very difficult?
Extra Training: Read at least one commentator’s thoughts about these warnings and Paul’s response.
25. What emotions may Paul have felt at this point? Why?
I understand that marathoners reach a point in the race when they really want to quit; they are too remote from the finish to believe it’s attainable, and they are so far into the race that they are about to drop from exhaustion. At that point another runner coming alongside and encouraging her not to quit but to focus on the goal can make all the difference.
26. Sharing question: Have you ever felt that you could just not go on another day? Have you been so discouraged that you wondered if it was worth following God at all? Have you considered how much easier life would be if you could wander off as you pleased rather than staying on God’s course? If so, share your story with your group. What or who did God use to encourage you to keep following his path?
27. Responding to God: If you know a believer who is discouraged, in pain, or perhaps angry at God, ask God to show you how to be an encourager to her today. Write a prayer for her, and find a verse to pray over her situation. Send her a note of care and love.
We have a great story this week from a woman who has dealt with great difficulty and loss. The temptation was to quit, but she was encouraged by others and God’s Spirit; thus, she determined to keep on going in faith.
Story of a Real Runner: Abbie
This year has been one of overwhelming challenges for me. My husband lost his job right after the first of the year in a situation that involved a painful betrayal. I was in a high-risk pregnancy due with our fourth child the next month. This dear blessing was born via a C-section that was unplanned. She stayed in the NICU for a week afterward. My recovery involved unexplained nerve pain for the next six months. And we continued to feel called to home school our children. The Lord did not provide a job right away for my husband. In fact, while I am writing this, He still has not provided it. Most days, I am just waiting to exhale.
Yet, the Lord is faithful each moment of each day. Some days, He speaks a quiet word to my heart: “I only need a mustard seed.” Other days His Word jumps off the page and feeds my soul. He has sent women into my life that I wasn’t good friends with prior, but I consider them dear sisters now. They have considered it a labor of love to pray me through these things. They listened and obeyed when God placed me on their heart. I am deeply grateful for them. My husband and I came upon an internet devotional ministry. The timeliness of these and the scriptures in them are another fuel for my spirit to keep going.
I have learned that God does not leave us alone when the trials come. He may seem silent because He is not answering the specific questions that I have. He is not silent. If we ask Him for encouragement, He sends it in the way we need it. I have learned that the Lord reveals things in trials that I would not have heard from Him had I not gone through them. I have learned that pain is good sometimes, and I can either harden or soften my heart toward hearing from the Lord in this pain. Because I know He resurrects that which He allows to die, I choose to pray from a soft heart: “Teach me what I cannot see” (Job 34:32), and I expectantly wait on Him.
Moms Running the Race (by Susan)
Have you ever thought about what factors make it more likely for you to be discouraged or to want to quit? My mother called me one day with advice she had heard on Christian radio that was directed to moms. She told me what she had heard and then she printed the very practical and common sense advice so I would have a copy. It went something like this…“Eat right and get plenty of rest. Exercise. Stay on your knees.” I know that this is not only good advice, but also that it is advice that is very difficult to follow – particularly the part about getting plenty of rest. (What mom, especially a mom of young children, ever got enough rest). Following these principles would greatly reduce our stress level and would help us guard against discouragement.
Just as we can feel discouraged because of our failure to follow common sense suggestions about eating, sleeping, and exercising, we can also face negative consequences, stress, and hardship when we are doing everything we can to do what is right. Paul faced much hardship and opposition for doing what was right and for proclaiming the truth about Christ. In spite of the negative reaction he received, Paul never quit but doggedly pursued his calling to preach the gospel.
I am called to persevere in doing what is right. I need to persevere on the days when I feel well and on the days when I am exhausted and want to quit. Paul was not surprised by opposition and hardship and neither should I be surprised.
Action Step: Are you careful to eat nutritious meals, get enough rest, and exercise regularly? Are you “staying on your knees” in prayer, especially when life is challenging? Are you willing to persevere in spite of opposition and hardship when you are doing exactly what God has called you to do?
If you struggle in any of these areas, confess that to the Lord and commit yourself to doing your part to resist discouragement and to persevere in doing what is right.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 Strong’s #4741.
Energy for the Race
“Then Paul replied, ‘What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be tied up, but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
Acts 21:13
I think I could do sprints much more easily than a long race, such as a marathon, because I would just get tired of the cost. Eventually, I would quit. Enough is enough! Often runners in the Christian life do the same thing. We go and go and go, and then one day we just quit, believing that we can no longer do it. Surely God doesn’t expect his people to deal with such hardships in serving him! Paul’s example, as we just read in this week’s verse, gives us a different perspective.
Day One Study
This week we move into Paul’s third journey. At the point of his departure from Antioch in about 52 A.D., he had already written several letters and sent them off to the various churches where he had ministered on the first two journeys. Dates are not definite, of course, but many scholars believe that both of the Thessalonian epistles and both letters to Corinth were written during the second journey.
Read Acts 18:22-23, the end of the second journey and the beginning of the third.
1. What was Paul’s purpose in re-visiting these churches?
The Greek definition of the root word for strengthening in Acts 18:23 means “(1) to make stable, place firmly, set fast, fix; (2) to strengthen, make firm; (3) to render constant, confirm, one's mind.”5
2. Sharing question: Are you facing a situation that makes it difficult to be firmly set in your faith? Share it with your group. Consider writing a prayer request asking God to bring people into your life to strengthen your faith.
3. Responding to God: Ask God to bring to mind the name of another believer whose faith needs strengthening because of life situations. Write her a note encouraging her and reminding her of God’s love. Don’t try to fix the problem but show the love and concern of Christ. If possible, you may want to call her rather than write a note. Share with your group what you did and any outcome of which you are aware.
Extra Training: Read Acts 18:24-19:7. Read some commentaries on these verses.
Read Acts 19:8-20, which describes events when Paul was in Ephesus.
4. Summarize the highlights of Paul’s ministry in Ephesus and the results that God brought from it.
5. This period in Paul’s life was fairly peaceful compared to some of the other things that he had experienced. If you had been in his place, how would you have felt about it and how might you have responded to it?
6. Responding to God: Pray that you would always be open to follow God’s will, even when you have to leave behind what is peaceful or comfortable.
Day Two Study
Read Acts 19:21-20:1. The NET Bible calls what happened “a great disturbance”; the Message says it was a “huge ruckus”; and The Living Bible describes it is as “serious trouble”.
7. This is great headline material! Write the story as if you were the local news anchor, telling it in a way that would make people want to tune in.
8. In what ways was the message of Jesus a threat to the Ephesians?
Extra Training: Study about the city of Ephesus and the goddess Artemis.
9. Sharing question: How do you see the message of Jesus threaten people in our culture today? Consider what they stand to lose if the gospel is true, perhaps personally or even monetarily!
10. Sharing question: Is there anything in your own life that you would lose if you truly followed Jesus with all of your heart? Is there any part of his message that you tend to ignore rather than obey because you are unwilling to give up something? What is it? Ask for prayer from your group this week that you would desire to please God more than having this in your life.
11. Responding to God: Ask God to show you if there is anything you need to add to your answer in the previous question. Write down a prayer of confession for placing an idol in your heart before Jesus. (An idol is anything that you have made your own god, for example: money, entertainment, beauty, leisure, friends, popularity, happiness, security, etc.)
Day Three Study
Read Acts 20:1-12, which records Paul’s return to Macedonia and Greece where he had spent so much time on his second journey.
12. How does the information in Acts 20:3 seem like the same old thing happening again to Paul? How would you be feeling if you were in Paul’s place?
13. Our verses this week have related some miraculous stories. What miracles occurred in these passages?
a. Acts 19:11-12
b. Acts 20:8-12
14. Compare the miracles done by Paul in Acts 19:11-12 with those done by Peter in Acts 5:12-16.
15. How do the following verses relate to the miracles of this time period?
a. 2 Cor. 12:12
b. 1 Cor. 12:7-11
Extra Training: There is much debate about healing today. See what commentary you can find on the various perspectives.
God may answer the prayers of his people to heal today. His name is still Yahweh Rapha, the God who heals. We are to pray for those who are sick, boldly asking God to heal, but we must also accept that healing is not always God’s plan. Death is part of God’s plan for eternity, to bring us to a place where there is no more death. When we cannot discern God’s will in the situation, we have the assurance that the Spirit prays according to God’s will on our behalf (Rom. 8:26-27).
16. Sharing question: Share with the group a story of God’s healing in response to prayer. It may be your own story or the story of someone whom you know well.
17. Responding to God: Is there a person for whom you could pray for healing? Ask God what his will is in the situation so you can pray accordingly. He may place on your heart to pray for the person in a different way than simply for healing. You may want to look at examples of kingdom prayers at the end of Week Nine lesson for ideas of scriptural prayers to pray for him or her. Write your prayer below.
Day Four Study
Extra Training: Use a Bible atlas or map to follow the progress of Paul’s journey from Troas to Miletus in Acts 20:13-17.
Read Acts 20:18-38, which records Paul’s message to the elders of Ephesus.
18. List the ways that you see Paul model ministry in his farewell address to the elders.
19. Sharing question: What one lesson about your own ministry, whether it’s serving behind the scenes or leading up front, do you see in the way Paul describes his ministry here? How can you apply it this week?
20. How do you see Paul’s attitude of refusing to quit the race in his comments to the Ephesians? How does his relationship with them make it particularly difficult?
21. Responding to God: Write a poem or prayer proclaiming your determination to refuse to quit no matter what. Recognize that only God can give you the grace to follow through.
Day Five Study
Read Acts 21:1-17, which takes Paul from Miletus, where he met with the Ephesian elders, to Jerusalem, his intended destination.
22. What warnings did Paul get along the way that could have kept him from continuing on to Jerusalem?
23. How did Paul’s response to these warnings reveal that his desires for his life were to do what Jesus wanted him to do? (Be sure and memorize this week’s verse, Acts 21:13!)
24. Sharing question: What would keep you from responding as Paul did to knowing that God’s will involved something very difficult?
Extra Training: Read at least one commentator’s thoughts about these warnings and Paul’s response.
25. What emotions may Paul have felt at this point? Why?
I understand that marathoners reach a point in the race when they really want to quit; they are too remote from the finish to believe it’s attainable, and they are so far into the race that they are about to drop from exhaustion. At that point another runner coming alongside and encouraging her not to quit but to focus on the goal can make all the difference.
26. Sharing question: Have you ever felt that you could just not go on another day? Have you been so discouraged that you wondered if it was worth following God at all? Have you considered how much easier life would be if you could wander off as you pleased rather than staying on God’s course? If so, share your story with your group. What or who did God use to encourage you to keep following his path?
27. Responding to God: If you know a believer who is discouraged, in pain, or perhaps angry at God, ask God to show you how to be an encourager to her today. Write a prayer for her, and find a verse to pray over her situation. Send her a note of care and love.
We have a great story this week from a woman who has dealt with great difficulty and loss. The temptation was to quit, but she was encouraged by others and God’s Spirit; thus, she determined to keep on going in faith.
Story of a Real Runner: Abbie
This year has been one of overwhelming challenges for me. My husband lost his job right after the first of the year in a situation that involved a painful betrayal. I was in a high-risk pregnancy due with our fourth child the next month. This dear blessing was born via a C-section that was unplanned. She stayed in the NICU for a week afterward. My recovery involved unexplained nerve pain for the next six months. And we continued to feel called to home school our children. The Lord did not provide a job right away for my husband. In fact, while I am writing this, He still has not provided it. Most days, I am just waiting to exhale.
Yet, the Lord is faithful each moment of each day. Some days, He speaks a quiet word to my heart: “I only need a mustard seed.” Other days His Word jumps off the page and feeds my soul. He has sent women into my life that I wasn’t good friends with prior, but I consider them dear sisters now. They have considered it a labor of love to pray me through these things. They listened and obeyed when God placed me on their heart. I am deeply grateful for them. My husband and I came upon an internet devotional ministry. The timeliness of these and the scriptures in them are another fuel for my spirit to keep going.
I have learned that God does not leave us alone when the trials come. He may seem silent because He is not answering the specific questions that I have. He is not silent. If we ask Him for encouragement, He sends it in the way we need it. I have learned that the Lord reveals things in trials that I would not have heard from Him had I not gone through them. I have learned that pain is good sometimes, and I can either harden or soften my heart toward hearing from the Lord in this pain. Because I know He resurrects that which He allows to die, I choose to pray from a soft heart: “Teach me what I cannot see” (Job 34:32), and I expectantly wait on Him.
Moms Running the Race (by Susan)
Have you ever thought about what factors make it more likely for you to be discouraged or to want to quit? My mother called me one day with advice she had heard on Christian radio that was directed to moms. She told me what she had heard and then she printed the very practical and common sense advice so I would have a copy. It went something like this…“Eat right and get plenty of rest. Exercise. Stay on your knees.” I know that this is not only good advice, but also that it is advice that is very difficult to follow – particularly the part about getting plenty of rest. (What mom, especially a mom of young children, ever got enough rest). Following these principles would greatly reduce our stress level and would help us guard against discouragement.
Just as we can feel discouraged because of our failure to follow common sense suggestions about eating, sleeping, and exercising, we can also face negative consequences, stress, and hardship when we are doing everything we can to do what is right. Paul faced much hardship and opposition for doing what was right and for proclaiming the truth about Christ. In spite of the negative reaction he received, Paul never quit but doggedly pursued his calling to preach the gospel.
I am called to persevere in doing what is right. I need to persevere on the days when I feel well and on the days when I am exhausted and want to quit. Paul was not surprised by opposition and hardship and neither should I be surprised.
Action Step: Are you careful to eat nutritious meals, get enough rest, and exercise regularly? Are you “staying on your knees” in prayer, especially when life is challenging? Are you willing to persevere in spite of opposition and hardship when you are doing exactly what God has called you to do?
If you struggle in any of these areas, confess that to the Lord and commit yourself to doing your part to resist discouragement and to persevere in doing what is right.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 Strong’s #4741.
How I Almost Quit
How I Almost Quit: "How I Almost Quit from the Desiring God blog."
Are you so discouraged you don’t know what to do next? I want to help you get through this. Maybe this will help.
The following quote is from my journal dated November 6, 1986. I had been at Bethlehem 6 years. If you have ever felt like this, remember this is 24 years ago and I am still here.
The point is: Beware of giving up too soon. Our emotions are not reliable guides.
Am I under attack by Satan to abandon my post at Bethlehem? Or is this the stirring of God to cause me to consider another ministry? Or is this God's way of answering so many prayers recently that we must go a different way at BBC than building? I simply loathe the thought of leading the church through a building program. For two years I have met for hundreds of hours on committees. I have never written a poem about it. It is deadening to my soul. I am a thinker. A writer. A preacher. A poet and songwriter. At least these are the avenues of love and service where my heart flourishes. . . .
Can I be the pastor of a church moving through a building program? Yes, by dint of massive will power and some clear indications from God that this is the path of greatest joy in him long term. But now I feel very much without those indications. The last two years (the long range planning committee was started in August 1984) have left me feeling very empty.
The church is looking for a vision for the future—and I do not have it. The one vision that the staff zeroed in on during our retreat Monday and Tuesday of this week (namely, building a sanctuary) is so unattractive to me today that I do not see how I could provide the leadership and inspiration for it.
Does this mean that my time at BBC is over? Does it mean that there is a radical alternative unforeseen? Does it mean that I am simply in the pits today and unable to feel the beauty and power and joy and fruitfulness of an expanded facility and ministry?
O Lord, have mercy on me. I am so discouraged. I am so blank. I feel like there are opponents on every hand, even when I know that most of my people are for me. I am so blind to the future of the church. O Father, am I blind because it is not my future? Perhaps I shall not even live out the year, and you are sparing the church the added burden of a future I had made and could not complete? I do not doubt for a moment your goodness of power or omnipotence in my life or in the life of the church. I confess that the problem is mine. The weakness is in me. The blindness is in my eyes. The sin—O reveal to me my hidden faults!—is mine and mine the blame. Have mercy, Father. Have mercy on me. I must preach on Sunday, and I can scarcely lift my head.
Are you so discouraged you don’t know what to do next? I want to help you get through this. Maybe this will help.
The following quote is from my journal dated November 6, 1986. I had been at Bethlehem 6 years. If you have ever felt like this, remember this is 24 years ago and I am still here.
The point is: Beware of giving up too soon. Our emotions are not reliable guides.
Am I under attack by Satan to abandon my post at Bethlehem? Or is this the stirring of God to cause me to consider another ministry? Or is this God's way of answering so many prayers recently that we must go a different way at BBC than building? I simply loathe the thought of leading the church through a building program. For two years I have met for hundreds of hours on committees. I have never written a poem about it. It is deadening to my soul. I am a thinker. A writer. A preacher. A poet and songwriter. At least these are the avenues of love and service where my heart flourishes. . . .
Can I be the pastor of a church moving through a building program? Yes, by dint of massive will power and some clear indications from God that this is the path of greatest joy in him long term. But now I feel very much without those indications. The last two years (the long range planning committee was started in August 1984) have left me feeling very empty.
The church is looking for a vision for the future—and I do not have it. The one vision that the staff zeroed in on during our retreat Monday and Tuesday of this week (namely, building a sanctuary) is so unattractive to me today that I do not see how I could provide the leadership and inspiration for it.
Does this mean that my time at BBC is over? Does it mean that there is a radical alternative unforeseen? Does it mean that I am simply in the pits today and unable to feel the beauty and power and joy and fruitfulness of an expanded facility and ministry?
O Lord, have mercy on me. I am so discouraged. I am so blank. I feel like there are opponents on every hand, even when I know that most of my people are for me. I am so blind to the future of the church. O Father, am I blind because it is not my future? Perhaps I shall not even live out the year, and you are sparing the church the added burden of a future I had made and could not complete? I do not doubt for a moment your goodness of power or omnipotence in my life or in the life of the church. I confess that the problem is mine. The weakness is in me. The blindness is in my eyes. The sin—O reveal to me my hidden faults!—is mine and mine the blame. Have mercy, Father. Have mercy on me. I must preach on Sunday, and I can scarcely lift my head.
Friday, December 10, 2010
John Piper - God Loved You By Calling You
This message takes all my burden away and I feel an overwhelming relief!
Monday, December 6, 2010
Is Jesus an Egomanica? by John Piper
John Piper - Passion 2010 Main Session Talk - "Is Jesus An Egomaniac?" from Jacob Marlowe on Vimeo.
Read the transcript of this message.
http://vimeo.com/9450037
Passion 2010
Atlanta, Georgia
By John Piper January 4, 2010
Erik Reece is writer-in-residence at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, teaching environmental journalism, writing, and literature. He published a book last April entitled, An American Gospel: On Family, History, and the Kingdom of God. On May 13, 2009, he did an interview on National Public Radio with Terry Gross on the program Fresh Air about his book.
What he said is in large part why I am giving this message the way I am. It wasn’t the first time someone had said this. But it may have been the most recent and most public and most blatant. And just so you know, I wrote to Mr. Reece a long letter with my concern in the hope that I could give him another perspective.
Reece grew up in a fundamentalist Christian home, like I did. He rejected his. I loved mine and give thanks for it to this day. The background paragraph at the NPR website said that he struggled to find a different form of Christianity with the guidance of Thomas Jefferson, Walt Whitman, and other American writes.
Jesus Christ, Egomaniac
In the interview, Terry Gross pointed Mr. Reece to page 28 of his new book. On that page, he quotes from Jesus in Matthew 10:37-39.
Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Then after quoting Jesus, Reece says, “Who is the egomaniac speaking these words?” Terry Gross asks him, “Would you elaborate on that reaction?”
Reece replies, “Well, it just struck me as ‘Who is this person speaking 2000 years ago, a complete historical stranger, saying that we should love him, (who we are really incapable emotionally of loving) more so than we should love our own fathers and sons?’ It just seemed like an incredibly egomaniacal kind of claim to make.”
So in his book, he says that if Jesus talked like this, he is an egomaniac, and then in the interview, he confirms that conviction that someone who would talk like this is egomaniacal.
So here is Jesus saying: “Love me more than you love anyone in the world. If you don’t you are not worthy of me.” And Erik Reece says: “That is an egomaniac talking.”
Now Reece is not the only one who feels that way.
Like a Vain Woman Wanting Compliments
C. S. Lewis, eventually professor at Oxford and great writer of Christian apologetics and fiction 60 years ago, was slow to come to Christ. He was 29 before he was converted.
And he says in his book Reflections on the Psalms that one of the great obstacles in coming to believe in the God of the Bible was that when he read the Psalms, the constant demand from God to praise him seemed (to him) to picture God as craving “for our worship like a vain woman who wants compliments.”
In other words, he stumbled, just like Erik Reece, over the self-exalting commands of God that we praise him, and the self-exalting commands of Jesus that we love him more than we love our parents or our children or our own lives. To Lewis and Reece, this was sheer egomania.
Human Tyrants Crave Adulation
Almost seven years ago in the March 30, 2003, issue of the London Financial Times, Michael Prowse wrote the same thing from another vantage point:
Worship is an aspect of religion that I always found difficult to understand. Suppose we postulate an omnipotent being who, for reasons inscrutable to us, decided to create something other than himself. Why should he . . . expect us to worship him? We didn’t ask to be created. Our lives are often troubled. We know that human tyrants, puffed up with pride, crave adulation and homage. But a morally perfect God would surely have no character defects. So why are all those people on their knees every Sunday?
Or if he were here, he would say, “Why are these 20,000-plus students standing with their hands and their voices lifted in praise to a God and his Son who are such egomaniacs that they constantly demand that we think they are the greatest?
Why are all these young people cowed into doing just what these egomaniacs want them to do, namely, admire them and praise them above everybody else in the universe?
Until He Said, “Jealous”
My wife and I had dinner last night with Francis and Lisa Chan, and I was telling them about this talk and Oprah Winfrey came up as another example of someone who left traditional Christianity because of seeing God this way.
So I went back to my room and called up the You Tube clip of her statement and wrote it down. Here’s what she said. She was describing being in a church service where the preacher was talking about the attributes of God, his omnipotence and omnipresence. Quote:
Then he said, “The Lord thy God is a jealous God,” I was caught up in the rapture of that moment until he said, “jealous.” And something struck me. I was 27 or 28, and I was thinking God is all, God is omnipresent, God is . . . also jealous? A jealous God is jealous of me? And something about that didn’t feel right in my spirit because I believe that God is love, and that God is in all things.
In Exodus 34:14, God says, “You shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” In other words, God demands that you and I and Oprah Winfrey give him all our worship. If we give any of our worship to another, he is jealous, and if we don’t repent, he will break forth in wrath. “For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God” (Deuteronomy 4:24).
So Erick Reece and the early C. S. Lewis and Michael Prowse and Oprah Winfrey all turned away from the God of the Bible because they thought he was too self-exalting. Too self-centered. Too much the egomaniac.
Such a Self-Exalting, Self-Centered God
I heard Don Carson, New Testament scholar from Trinity Seminary near Chicago, say a while back that as he has done evangelistic outreach on university campuses, the questions have changed over the years. Thirty years ago they tended to revolve around historical problems with Christianity.
Nowadays it is represented by questions like, How can you worship a God who so self-exalting and so self-centered as the God of the Bible—a God who is constantly pointing to his own greatness and constantly telling people that they should recognize this greatness and tell him how much you like it?
Touching the Very Center of Christianity
I don’t think that what we are seeing here is a small, marginal, or tricky opposition to Christianity. I think what Erik Reece, C.S. Lewis, Michael Prowse, and Oprah Winfrey are seeing touches the very center of Christianity.
If you say in response: I thought Christ crucified for sinners and risen triumphantly was the heart of Christianity, you would be right. Paul said, “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).
That’s true. But the amazing thing is that it’s the intersection of God’s apparent egomania with the human condition of sin that makes the cross of Christ necessary and makes it intelligible and reveals the deepest things about God in the death of Christ.
So we are not dealing with something small here or marginal, but something central and crucial.
God Lives for the Glory of God
I didn’t face this issue until I was about 23 years old—40 years ago now. I had grown up in a Christian home where I was taught 1 Corinthians 10:31, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” So it was clear to me that I should live for the glory of God.
But no one ever said to me that God lives for the glory of God. Then I read Jonathan Edwards’s The End for Which God Created the World, and everything changed. He simply blew me away with page after page of biblical texts showing God’s pervasive God-centeredness. That God does everything for his glory. That he is unwaveringly committed to uphold and display his glory.
And what became clear to me, and remains clear to this day, is that many Christians think it is good for us to be God-centered, but don’t feel at all comfortable with God being God-centered. We should be Christ-exalting, but Christ shouldn’t be Christ-exalting.
God’s God-Centeredness as the Test
What I have found in my own life, and in the life of many others, is that God’s God-centeredness is the test of whether our own God-centeredness is real: Do I rejoice in God’s unwavering commitment to uphold and display his glory—do I rejoice in God’s God-centeredness? Or am I God-centered only because deep down I believe God is man-centered, so that my supposed God-centeredness is really man-centeredness, even me-centeredness?
Does my opposition to God’s God-centeredness reveal that my supposed God-centeredness is just a cover for wanting myself at the center, and the use of God to endorse that because he is so centered on me?
God’s Radical Devotion to Himself
Reading the Bible with these eyes, I began to see what Erik Reece and C.S. Lewis and Michael Prowse and Oprah were seeing. God really is radically devoted to seeing himself exalted. God is radically committed to seeing that his glory is esteemed as the supreme value of the universe.
Here is a sampling of what I saw.
God creates for his glory.
Isaiah 43:6-7: Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, every one who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory.
God elects Israel for his glory.
Jeremiah 13:11: I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, says the LORD, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory.
God saves them from Egypt for his glory.
Psalm 106:7-8: Our fathers rebelled against the Most High at the Red Sea. Yet he saved them for his name's sake that he might make known his power.
God restrains his anger in exile for his glory.
Isaiah 48:9-11: For my names sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you . . . . For my own sake, for my own sake I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.
God sends his Son at the end of the age for his glory.
2 Thessalonians 1:9-10: He comes on that day to be glorified in his saints and to be marveled at in all who have believed.
In all of redemptive history, from beginning to ending, God has this one ultimate goal: that his name be glorified. The aim of God in all that he does is most ultimately the praise of his glory.
All of redemptive history is bookended by this amazing purpose in God the Father and God the Son. And in the middle of that redemptive history stands the greatest event in the history of the world, the death of Jesus Christ.
And just at these points—the beginning and the ending and the middle (predestining of our salvation at the beginning, and the consummation of our salvation at the end, and the purchase of our salvation at the middle)—just at these points the problem of God’s apparent egomania finds its amazing solution.
God’s God-Centeredness from Start to Finish
Consider a passage of Scripture about each of these points—the beginning (predestination), the ending (consummation), and the middle (propitiation).
Beginning: Ephesians 1:4-6
God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace.
Before the foundation of the world, God planned a redemption in Christ with this great and ultimate goal: that we would praise his glory. And the apex of that glory would be the glory of his grace.
So from the very beginning, we see that God made his exaltation and our salvation one piece. You don’t have to choose between God’s glory and your joy, because the apex of your joy is praise, and the apex of his glory is grace.
What We Delight to Do
C. S. Lewis broke through to the beauty of God’s self-exaltation (thinking at first that the Psalms sounded like an old woman craving compliments). He finally saw something very different:
My whole, more general, difficulty about the praise of God depended on my absurdly denying to us, as regards the supremely Valuable, what we delight to do, what indeed we can’t help doing, about everything else we value. I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. (C. S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms [New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1958, 93-95])
Lewis saw that praising God is the consummation of joy in God. Therefore, when God is pursuing—even demanding—our praise, he is pursuing the consummation of our joy.
This may feel at first counter-intuitive—that when we are small and feel insignificant, while God is great and central, at those very moments we reach our highest joy. But it’s not counter to our deepest sense of where joy comes from. John is not in thinking highly of ourselves. Joy reaches its height in moments of self-forgetfulness in the presence of beauty and greatness.
So if Jesus wants you to feel most alive, most joyful forever, what would he show you?
Ending: John 17:24
Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
When all is said and done, and the history of the world is complete, and the new heavens and the new earth are established, and the infinitely joyful age to come is here, the ultimate joy, the ultimate climax of history for our aching hearts, is “we will see his glory,” and we will be transformed by it into the kind of people who can enjoy it fully and not be incinerated by it.
When Jesus says, “Love me more than you love your mother and father and sons and daughters and your own children and your best beloved on earth,” he is not hurting anyone!
Jesus Is Saying…
He is saying: If you find your ultimate joy in your most cherished earthly treasure, you will be disappointed in the end, and I will be dishonored. Because I am offering myself to you as the all-satisfying beauty and greatness and wisdom and strength and love of the universe. I am what you were made for. And I am telling you that, if you see this—if you see me as your supreme Treasure—then you don’t have to choose between your satisfaction and my glorification, because in the very act of your being most satisfied in me, I will be most glorified in you.
Jesus continues, “When I pray for you, that in the end you will see my glory, it is simply because, as God, I am infinitely glorious, and I want you to see infinite glory and enjoy it. I want you to be with me and be satisfied in me. I am not an egomaniac. I am your all-satisfying friend.”
The Great Problem of Sin
But of course, there is a great problem—and this is that we are sinners. Not only do we not want to treasure someone above ourselves, we don’t deserve that privilege. And so how will sinners like us be able to stand in the presence of God and enjoy his greatness as our all-satisfying Treasure?
Which brings us now to the middle of history and the work of Christ on the cross.
The Cross at the Center
The center of God’s plan—from beginning to end—stands the mighty cross of Christ. And in it we see the clearest statement of God’s passion for his glory—precisely and amazingly in the salvation of sinners. Romans 3:23-26:
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Note the argument:
What God did: He put Christ forward as propitiation by his blood (verse 25a). Christ died to remove the wrath of God.
Romans 8:3: “What the law could not do . . . God did: . . . he condemned sin in the flesh.”
Galatians 3:13: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.”
Why did he need to do it this way—by dying on a cross? Verse 25b: “This was to show God’s righteousness.” Why did he need to show his righteousness? Verse 25c: “because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.”
Why does passing over sins call God’s righteousness into question? Verse 23: All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. “Fall short” means “lack.” We have exchanged the glory of God in every sin (Romans 1:23). Every time we sin, we say that the glory of God is not the supreme Treasure to be desired above all others. It is not satisfying. It is not to be preferred.
When God passes over that, it looks as if he agrees. And if he agrees, he is unrighteous. He is wrong. He is acting in contradiction to what is true. His righteousness—his commitment to doing what is right—is his commitment to act as though his glory is supremely valuable, which it is. His righteousness is his commitment to upholding and displaying the infinite worth of his glory. And that is what the cross does.
God Is Passionate for God
Therefore, from beginning to end—from predestination before creation to the final state of contemplation of the glory of Christ at the end of history—God is passionate for his glory.
In the center of that history, the greatest event that ever happened, the death of the Son of God for sinners like us, is the demonstration of God’s righteousness—the demonstration of his unwavering commitment to uphold and display the infinite worth of his glory as the supreme Treasure of the universe.
Forgiveness for His Name’s Sake
Which means that now when we come to him for mercy and cry out to him for the forgiveness of our sins we do it for his name’s sake—for the sake of his glory.
For your name’s sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great. (Psalms 25:11)
And we hear the promise from 1 John 2:12, “[Y]our sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.”
The greatest news in the world is that in the death of Christ, God has made a way for his name to be exalted and my sins to be forgiven in the very same act. God is both just and the justifier of him who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:26).
The Foundation of Our Salvation: God’s Value
And what makes this so spectacular is that the foundation under our salvation is not our value but God’s value. The consummation of our salvation is not that heaven is a hall of mirrors where we like what we see, but that we will be glorified and the universe will be glorified to the point where we can fully enjoy the glory of Christ.
Here is the end of the matter: God is the one being in the universe for whom self-exaltation is not the act of a needy ego, but an act of infinite giving. The reason God seeks our praise is not because he won’t be fully God until he gets it, but that we won’t be happy until we give it.
This is not arrogance. This is grace.
This is not egomania. This is love.
By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org
Here's the message in full:
desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/ConferenceMessages/ByDate/2010/4454_Is_Jesus_an_Egomaniac/
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
The God Who Is There by Don Carson
http://thegospelcoalition.org/thegodwhoisthere
Click the link above to view the 14 part series by Don Carson
Click the link above to view the 14 part series by Don Carson
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)