Christ the Wisdom and Power of God

Christ the Wisdom and Power of God

 1 Corinthians 1

18 For the word of the cross is bfolly to cthose who are perishing, but to us dwho are being saved it is ethe power of God. 19 For it is written,

f“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

20 gWhere is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? hHas not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach2 to save those who believe. 22 For iJews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ jcrucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ kthe power of God and lthe wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

26 For consider your calling, brothers: mnot many of you were wise according to worldly standards,3 not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But nGod chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; oGod chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even pthings that are not, to qbring to nothing things that are, 29 so rthat no human being4 might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him5 you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us swisdom from God, trighteousness and usanctification and vredemption, 31 so that, as it is written, w“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Creed

Children of God, Third Day

Spark

"A spark is quite sufficient to begin with, for fire multiplies itself: So give us the truth, a single voice, and the Holy Spirit with it, and none can say where the sacred conflagration will end." - Spurgeon

Worship, John Calvin

"Let us now see what is meant by the due worship of God. Its chief foundation is to acknowledge Him to be, as He is, the only source of all virtue, justice, holiness, wisdom, truth, power, goodness, mercy, life, and salvation; in accordance with this, to ascribe and render to Him the glory of all that is good, to seek all things in Him alone, and in every want have recourse to Him alone." (Calvin.)

Christ Crucified, Charnock

"Christ crucified is the sum of the Gospel, and contains all the riches of it.  Paul was so much taken with Christ that nothing sweeter than Jesus could drop from his pen and lips.  It is observed that he hath the word, Jesus, five hundred times in his Epistles." — (Charnock.)

Favorite Prayer Quotes

"Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16

"If we pray, we will believe; If we believe, we will love; If we love, we will serve." Mother Teresa

"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength"  Ephesians 1:18-19

Gifts to Jesus, John Piper

"Therefore the only gifts that we can bring Jesus are gifts of praise, thanks, longing, and neediness. A fountain is not glorified by us hauling buckets of dirty water up the mountain and pouring them in. A fountain—a spring in a mountain—is glorified, rather, by us lying down at the edge of the stream, putting our face in, drinking our fill, and getting up and saying, "Ah!" That's called worship. Then we take a bucket, dip it in, walk down the hill to the people in the valley who don't know that the spring exists, and we say, "Taste this! It's right up there, and his name is Jesus!" The kind of gift that the fountain wants is drinkers, because then he looks truly overflowing, rich, and self-sufficient. And that's exactly what he wants to look like."John Piper

Mommy Katie

"I have learned that I will not change the world. Jesus will do that. I can, however, change the world for one person. So I keep stopping and loving one person at a time. Because this is my call as a Christian." Katie Davis

Scheme of Prayer

"Much of the nurse's work was done with her hands. And she used her hand as, as it were, a scheme of prayer. Each of her fingers stood for someone. Her thumb was nearest to her and it reminded her to pray for those who were nearest and closest and dearest to her. The second finger was used for pointing, those who teach us point to us with it when they would ask us a question. Therefore her second finger stood for all her teachers, she prayed for them. The third finger is the tallest and it stood for the VIPs, the leaders in every sphere of life. The fourth finger is the weakest, as every pianist knows, and it stood for those who were weak and in trouble and in pain. And the little finger is the smallest and the most unimportant and to the nurse it stood for herself." Excerpt from No Common Task by George Raindrop

Excerpt from Jesus, Islam, Pharisees, and the New Perspective on Paul by Desiring God

Listening to an interview by Mark Dever with Thabiti Anyabwile, I heard Mark use an illustration that I found tremendously helpful. It relates to the question whether Muslims and Christians worship the same God under different names.

He said that we should picture two old classmates from college discussing a common friend from thirty years ago. They begin to wonder if they are talking about the same person. One of them is convinced they are, and the other keeps thinking this is not quite the way he remembers the friend. Finally, they decide to dig out an old yearbook and settle the issue. They open the book, and as soon as they see the picture of their classmate, one says, “No, that’s not who I am talking about.” So it was not the same person after all.
...
Jesus is the yearbook photograph that the Pharisees do not recognize. The reason they don’t is because they want a Messiah who will confirm their love of the praise of men for their own achievements (John 5:43-44). The follower of this self-exalting religion may genuinely be thankful to God for some of his outward moral purity (“God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers,” Luke 18:11). But his confidence before God is what he is (regardless of who made him that way). Whether one should call this religion a “self-help moralism” is an open question. But that it is a religion that trusts in its own morality and exalts self is clear. What Jesus thought of it is also clear:

• They accused Jesus of being demonic (Matthew 12:24).
• They do not know how to understand the law (Matthew 12:2-7).
• They sought to destroy Jesus (Matthew 12:14).
• They are “an evil and adulterous generation” (16:4).
• They break the commandments with their traditions (Matthew 15:6).
• They worship vainly and their heart is far from God (Matthew 15:8-9).
• They are not planted by the Father (Matthew 15:12).
• Their teaching is leaven to be avoided (Matthew 16:12).
• They do not bear the fruit of the kingdom and will lose it (Matthew 21:43-45).
• They are children of hell (Matthew 23:15, 33).
• They neglect the weightier matters of the law (Matthew 23:23).
• They are full of greed and self-indulgence (Matthew 23:25, 27).
• Outwardly they appear righteous, but are lawless within (Matthew 23:28).
• They were lovers of money (Luke 16:14).

The upshot of this is that we should always reach for the yearbook of the New Testament Gospels to see the picture of Jesus. He will make clear whether Muslims and Christians are worshiping the same God, and whether Pharisees and followers of Jesus are worshiping the same God.
Fixing my eyes on Jesus with you,

Pastor John
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/taste-see-articles/jesus-islam-pharisees-and-the-new-perspective-on-paul

Paul called it Idolatry

A Roman Catholic priest startled us not very long ago by saying that for 25 years he had been sitting in the confessional, listening to the confessions of men and women. He said he heard (of) murders, rapes, adultery, and fornication. He met men and women who have broken every law of God and man with repetition. But never in 25 years had anyone ever confessed to be covetous. Covetousness! We wrap it up and call it ambition. We may call it business or something, but right down in the middle of those things is a rotten word called "covetousness." Paul called it idolatry!

The Cost of Being a True Christian by J.C. Ryle

http://www.graceonlinelibrary.org/christian-life/the-cost-of-being-a-true-christian-by-j-c-ryle/
The following is an excerpt from J.C. Ryle’s book, Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots, one of the most profound books I have ever read.
Let there be no mistake about my meaning. I am not examining what it costs to save a Christian’s soul. I know well that it costs nothing less than the blood of the Son of God to provide an atonement and to redeem man from hell. The price paid for our redemption was nothing less than the death of Jesus Christ on Calvary. We “are bought with a price.” “Christ gave Himself a ransom for all” (1 Cor. 6:20; 1 Tim. 2:6). But all this is wide of the question. The point I want to consider is another one altogether. It is what a man must be ready to give up if he wishes to be saved. It is the amount of sacrifice a man must submit to if he intends to serve Christ. It is in this sense that I raise the question: “What does it cost?” And I believe firmly that it is a most important one.
I grant freely that it costs little to be a mere outward Christian. A man has only got to attend a place of worship twice on Sunday and to be tolerably moral during the week, and he has gone as far as thousands around him ever go in religion. All this is cheap and easy work: it entails no self–denial or self–sacrifice. If this is saving Christianity and will take us to heaven when we die, we must alter the description of the way of life, and write, “Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to heaven!”
But it does cost something to be a real Christian, according to the standard of the Bible. There are enemies to be overcome, battles to be fought, sacrifices to be made, an Egypt to be forsaken, a wilderness to be passed through, a cross to be carried, a race to be run. Conversion is not putting a man in an armchair and taking him easily to heaven. It is the beginning of a mighty conflict, in which it costs much to win the victory. Hence arises the unspeakable importance of “counting the cost.”
Let me try to show precisely and particularly what it costs to be a true Christian. Let us suppose that a man is disposed to take service with Christ and feels drawn and inclined to follow Him. Let us suppose that some affliction or some sudden death or an awakening sermon has stirred his conscience and made him feel the value of his soul and desire to be a true Christian. No doubt there is everything to encourage him. His sins may be freely forgiven, however many and great. His heart may be completely changed, however cold and hard. Christ and the Holy Spirit, mercy and grace, are all ready for him. But still he should count the cost. Let us see particularly, one by one, the things that his religion will cost him.
1. True Christianity will cost one his self–righteousness. He must cast away all pride and high thoughts and conceit of his own goodness. He must be content to go to heaven as a poor sinner saved only by free grace and owing all to the merit and righteousness of another. He must really feel as well as say the Prayer Book words, that he has “erred and gone astray like a lost sheep,” that he has “left undone the things he ought to have done, and that there is no health in him.” He must be willing to give up all trust in his own morality, respectability, praying, Bible reading, church–going, and sacrament receiving, and to trust in nothing but Jesus Christ.
2. True Christianity will cost a man his sins. He must be willing to give up every habit and practice which is wrong in God’s sight. He must set his face against it, quarrel with it, break off from it, fight with it, crucify it and labor to keep it under, whatever the world around him may say or think. He must do this honestly and fairly. There must be no separate truce with any special sin which he loves. He must count all sins as his deadly enemies and hate every false way. Whether little or great, whether open or secret, all his sins must be thoroughly renounced. They may struggle hard with him every day and sometimes almost get the mastery over him. But he must never give way to them. He must keep up a perpetual war with his sins. It is written, “Cast away from you all your transgressions.” “Break off your sins . . . and iniquities.” “Cease to do evil” (Ezek. 18:31; Dan. 4:27; Isa. 1:16).
This sounds hard. I do not wonder. Our sins are often as dear to us as our children: we love them, hug them, cleave to them and delight in them. To part with them is as hard as cutting off a right hand or plucking out a right eye. But it must be done. The parting must come. “Though wickedness be sweet in the sinner’s mouth, though he hide it under his tongue; though he spare it, and forsake it not,” yet it must be given up, if he wishes to be saved (Job 20:12, 13). He and sin must quarrel if he and God are to be friends. Christ is willing to receive any sinners. But He will not receive them if they will stick to their sins.
3. Also, Christianity will cost a man his love of ease. He must take pains and trouble if he means to run a successful race toward heaven. He must daily watch and stand on his guard, like a soldier on enemy’s ground. He must take heed to his behavior every hour of the day, in every company and in every place, in public as well as in private, among strangers as well as at home. He must be careful over his time, his tongue, his temper, his thoughts, his imagination, his motives, his conduct in every relation of life. He must be diligent about his prayers, his Bible reading, and his use of Sundays, with all their means of grace. In attending to these things, he may come far short of perfection; but there is none of those who he can safely neglect. “The soul of the sluggard desires, and has nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat” (Prov. 13:4).
This also sounds hard. There is nothing we naturally dislike so much as “trouble” about our religion. We hate trouble. We secretly wish we could have a vicarious Christianity, and could be good by proxy, and have everything done for us. Anything that requires exertion and labor is entirely against the grain of our hearts. But the soul can have “no gains without pains.”
4. Lastly, true Christianity will cost a man the favor of the world. He must be content to be thought ill of by man if he pleases God. He must count it no strange thing to be mocked, ridiculed, slandered, persecuted and even hated. He must not be surprised to find his opinions and practices in religion despised and held up to scorn. He must submit to be thought by many a fool, an enthusiast and a fanatic, to have his words perverted and his actions misrepresented. In fact, he must not marvel if some call him mad. The Master says, “Remember the word that I said unto you, ‘The servant is not greater than his Lord.’ If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept My saying, they will keep yours also” (John 15:20).
I dare say this also sounds hard. We naturally dislike unjust dealing and false charges and think it very hard to be accused without cause. We should not be flesh and blood if we did not wish to have the good opinion of our neighbors. It is always unpleasant to be spoken against and forsaken and lied about and to stand alone. But there is no help for it. The cup which our Master drank must be drunk by His disciples. They must be “despised and rejected of men” (Isa. 53:3). Let us set down that item last in our account. To be a Christian, it will cost a man the favor of the world.
Considering the weight of this great cost, bold indeed must that man be who would dare to say that we may keep our self–righteousness, our sins, our laziness and our love of the world, and yet be saved!
Moreover, I grant it costs much to be a true Christian. But what sane man or woman can doubt that it is worth any cost to have the soul saved? When the ship is in danger of sinking, the crew think nothing of casting overboard the precious cargo. When a limb is mortified, a man will submit to any severe operation, and even to amputation, to save life. Surely a Christian should be willing to give up anything which stands between him and heaven. A religion that costs nothing is worth nothing! A cheap Christianity, without a cross, will prove in the end a useless Christianity, without a crown.

Basic Biblical Concepts of Human Motivation by David Powlison

http://www.sovereigngracestore.com/Category/2073_1/MP3s_%28Free%29.aspx
Here are a few:
1. What do you love? Hate?
This “first great commandment” question searches your heart, soul, mind and might. There is
no deeper question to ask of any person at any time. There is no deeper explanation for why
you do what you do.
2. What do you want, desire, crave, lust and wish for? Whose desires do you obey?
This summarizes the internal operations of the “flesh” in the New Testament epistles.
Notice, sometimes another person’s will rules you (peer pressure, people -pleasing, slave-like
behavior). Your heart’s craving in such cases is to get whatever good they promise and
avoid whatever bad they threaten.
3. What do you seek, aim for, pursue? What are your goals and expectations?
5. What do you fear? What do you not want? What do you tend to worry about?
7. What do you think you need? What are your felt needs?
Felt needs are frequently taken as necessities to be acquired, not as deceptive slave-masters.
10. Where do you find refuge, safety, comfort, escape, pleasure, security?
This is the Psalms’ question, digging out your escapism and false trust, false refuge.
11. What or who do you trust?
Trust is one of the major verbs relating you to God--or to false gods and lies.
Who must you please? Whose opinion of you counts? From whom do you desire approval
and fear rejection? Whose value system do you measure yourself against? In whose eyes
are you living? When you lose God, you enter a jungle of distortion. You tend to live before
your own eyes or before the eyes of others--or both.
13. Who must you please? Whose opinion of you counts? From whom do you desire approval
and fear rejection? Whose value system do you measure yourself against? In whose eyes
are you living? When you lose God, you enter a jungle of distortion. You tend to live before
your own eyes or before the eyes of others--or both.

Ponder Your Sin

"Jesus advised that we consider the log in our own eye before we deal with the speck in another's eye. Whatever failure or assault we hate in others we must hate in ourselves as well. If we hate their sin more than our own, we will always be unrighteous. But if we hate the sin in our own hearts more than what we see in theirs, we will grow in the quiet, patient sorrow of true righteous anger. ~The Cry of the Soul

His Plan for Me

When I stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ
    And His plan I begin to see,
 The plan for my life as it might have been
    Had He had His way with me.


 Will I see how I slowed Him and blocked His way
    And would not yield my will?
 And will there be grief in my Savior's eyes,
    Grief, tho He loves me still?
He would have me be rich,
   But I chose to stay poor.
 He wanted to bless,
    And I kept closing the door.


Will my memory run like a hunted fawn,
    Down paths that I cannot retrace?
 Will I remember things I should have done
   As I gaze on His precious face?


 Then will my trembling heart well nigh break
    With tears that must be shed,
 I'll cover my face with my empty hands
    As I bow my uncrowned head.


 Lord, of the years that are left to me
    I give them into Thy hand.
 Take me, and break me, and mold me to fit
    In the pattern that You had planned.


 D. Windsor

Fallin Madly in Love with God, Francis Chan

Katie at Brook Hills

http://www.brookhills.org/media/series/first-timothy-the-household-of-god/

One Thousand Gifts Chapter 9

One Thousand Gifts: Chapter Nine from Bloom (in)courage on Vimeo.

One Thousand Gifts Chapter 7

The Sovereignty of God

The Sovereignty of God

Click the link above to hear this interview with Francis Chan.

Amazima Ministries

Kisses from Katie

Why Does Family Worship Matter to God?

We cannot always protect our children, but we can prepare them for an eager world that is ready to entice them with its fleshly pleasures and flattery—a world that is zealous to swallow them up in pride, self-satisfaction, self-reliance, and, ultimately, self-worship.
It is not the duty of schools or Sunday school teachers or even ministers to lay the divine foundation of truth. Rather, it is a parent’s privilege before God through the means of family worship. What we teach our God-given children through a dedicated and consistent example of worship will shape their character, teach them wisdom from above, and prepare them to face the challenges and temptations of daily living with grace and trust in God.
Scripture is full of verses that show that God esteems family worship. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says, “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shall teach them diligently unto thy children, and shall talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” Proverbs 22:6 reads, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Psalm 78:4-8 exclaims: “⁴We will not hide them [truth and ordinances of God, emphasis mine] from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. ⁵For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: ⁶That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: ⁷That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments: ⁸And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.
In his book The Case for Family Worship, Puritan George Hamond examines the biblical bases for family worship through the examples of Abraham, Job, Joshua, Cornelius, and Christ. He states, “Family worship, rightly and religiously performed, is truly the worship of God; for it partakes of the general nature of divine worship, is the same for it with substance, and has all the essentials of it. That it comes to be performed in families is only accidental and a mere circumstance. They, therefore, who will not admit of family worship ought, in reason, to show either that it is not divine worship or that it cannot be performed in families, that the Scriptures may not be read in families, nor God invoked or praised, nor the members of the family be instructed in the knowledge of God, nor be exhorted to live soberly, righteously, and godly. These are the instances in which family worship is to be employed and exercised.”
In his booklet The Duties of Parents, J.C Ryle says: “We live in days where there is a mighty zeal for education in every quarter. We hear of new schools rising on all sides. We are told of new systems, and new books for the young, of every sort and description. And still for all this, the vast majority of children are manifestly not trained in the way they should go, for when they grow up to man’s estate, they do not walk with God. Now how shall we account for this state of things? The plain truth is, the Lord’s commandment in our text [Prov. 22:6] is not regarded; and therefore the Lord’s promise in our text is not fulfilled.” In his booklet he offers helpful hints on the right training of children, and urges his readers as follows: “Be very sure, if you would train children for heaven, these are hints that ought not to be lightly set aside.” He discusses topics such as training your children with all tenderness, affection, and patience; training them with an abiding persuasion on your mind that much depends on you; training them with a knowledge of the Bible; training them to develop a habit of prayer, faith, for obedience; always speaking the truth; always redeeming the time; and always avoiding overindulgence. As parents train their children they should remember continually how God trains His children, the influence of their own example, the power of sin, and the promises of Scripture.
It is never too late to start your family in the delight and discipline of worship. In his book Family Worship, Donald Whitney graciously encourages men in the following way: “Fathers, husbands—if you have been negligent in this duty and great privilege, repent by starting family worship today. Again, you may feel awkward about what to say to your wife or your children about starting, but simply say that God has convicted you of your responsibility to lead in family worship and you want to start at a given time today or tonight. Almost certainly your wife will be thrilled more than you can imagine to hear you say that. Your children may or may not be as enthusiastic, but that does not really matter. The less interested they are, the more your family needs family worship. The Lord will help you. He does not call His Spirit-begotten sons to this task without giving them the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish it. The same Father who gave you the Gospel and who drew you to Christ will strengthen you by His Spirit to put on this badge of godly manhood.”
Are you unfamiliar with leading family worship and feel unsure of what to do? A helpful book by Joel Beeke, Family Worship, has a chapter dedicated to its implementation. In this short read he offers easy suggestions that will help you establish God-honoring family worship in your homes. These will also help you to avoid two extremes: an idealistic approach that is beyond the reach of even the most God-fearing home, and a minimalist approach that abandons daily family worship because the ideal seems so out of reach. As a God-honoring preacher and loving and caring husband and father with many years of experience in family worship, Beeke provides sound advice on planning the what, where, and when of family worship and lays out practical guidelines for the reading of Scripture, prayer, and singing during family worship.
Family worship is not a dreadful burden laid upon you by our Almighty God. It is a blessing and a privilege. Our heavenly Father gave the best He had for the worst of us. Rest not the neglect of family worship upon your feelings of insecurity or tiredness, rest with your feelings on Christ who is abundantly available to help you and guide you. God is not asking you to give something up; rather, He wants to give you Himself.
According to A. W. Pink the advantages and blessings of family worship are incalculable! First, family worship will prevent much sin. Daily prayer in the home is a blessed means of grace for allaying those unhappy passions to which our common nature is subject. It awes the soul, conveys a sense of God’s majesty and authority, and sets solemn truths before our minds. How can those who neglect the worship of God in their families look for peace and comfort therein? Personal piety in the home is the most influential means, under God, of conveying piety to little ones. Children are largely creatures of imitation, loving to copy what they see in others. Finally, family prayer gains for us the presence and blessing of the Lord. There is a promise of His presence that is peculiarly applicable to this duty: “Where two or three are gathered together in My name—I am there among them”(Matt. 18:20). Many have found in family worship abundantly rich help and communion with God.
In Family Worship, Whitney suggests eight motivations for family devotions:

1. What better way to evangelize your children daily?
2. What better way to provide a regular time for your children to learn the things of God from you?
3. What better way to provide your children with an ongoing opportunity to ask about the things of God in a comfortable context for such questions?
4. What better way for you to transmit your core beliefs to your children?
5. What better way for your children to see the ongoing spiritual example of their parents?
6. What better way to provide workable, reproducible examples to your children of how to have a distinctively Christian home when they start a home of their own?
7. What better way for getting your family together on a daily basis?
8. Isn’t this what you really want to do? 

In agreement with all these godly authors, we appeal to you not to neglect the goodness of this discipline. Before long you will experience the fruit-bearing, soul-reviving, and mind-altering benefits of family devotions for yourself and your family. Don’t delay. Start today.

http://heritagebooktalk.org/2011/09/19/why-does-family-worship-matter-to-god/