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Orlando Grace has a brand spanking new website. Time to post there from now on. If you aren't redirected immediately go to www.orlandograce.org and click on the blog. Thanks!

Why Pray for Power?

We have biblical precedent to pray for God's power in our lives. For example, Paul prays this way for the Ephesians in 3:16 - that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being.

The question remains why? The answer comes in v. 17 - so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

The key to understanding what Paul means by this purpose lies within the word dwell. D. A. Carson, in his book A Call to Spiritual Reformation, observes:

The verb rendered "to dwell" is a strong one. Paul's hope is that Christ will truly take up his residence in the hearts of believers, as they trust him (that's what "through faith" means), so as to make their hearts his home. . . . Make no mistake: when Christ first moves into our lives, he finds us in very bad repair. It takes a great deal of power to change us; and that is why Paul prays for power. He asks that God may so strengthen us by his power in our inner being that Christ may genuinely take up residence within us, transforming us into a house that pervasively reflects his own character (Baker, 1992, pp. 186-87).

Pray for power in your own life and in the lives of others to this end - that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

What To Do With So Many Support Requests

Most of us have had numerous “asks” in recent months with several folks from our church heading for the mission field in one direction or another. Truthfully, there are more to come. We’ve got "asks" from new candidates for the mission field as well as already deployed servants whose support has deteriorated with the economy. The demand has the potential to strain relationships in our midst in one way or another.

Here’s what we all can do when an “ask” comes our way to keep the process redemptive as opposed to divisive:

Welcome the request as a possible opportunity to invest in the kingdom for eternal reward. Treat the occasion as a chance to revisit your stewardship of wealth and evaluate whether or not your priorities are in order.

Take the matter to the Lord in prayer and see what He tells you to do.

Whatever He says, as best you can determine, do the missionaries the courtesy of replying with your answer so they can know what you can or can’t do. Please don’t let the awkward nature of having to decline graciously, if that is the case, keep you from timely communication. They would rather know that you cannot participate than for things to remain unclear.

Remain open to different responses to different requests depending upon changes in your circumstances and how the Lord might lead in unique circumstances. Evaluate each situation independently as God directs.

We are a relatively small church. The requests have mounted on our limited resources. Everyone understands that, especially people within our flock trying to raise support. However, the only way they are going to know if God is raising them up for the mission field or keeping them there is if they exhaust all their available contacts. Their church family is the first line of support. I am encouraging all candidates to contact our membership in light of such thinking.

Thank you in advance for your willingness to press ahead with processing of support requests. Please pray with me that the Lord will unleash the resources of heaven for each and every servant He wants on the field for the cause of the gospel from OGC.

J. C. Ryle on Hebrews 11:24-26

I neglected to mention a quote by Bishop Ryle regarding Moses and his astonishing choices in this morning's sermon text.

Wonder not that he chose affliction, a despised people, and reproach. He beheld things below the surface. He saw with the eye of faith affliction lasting but for a moment, reproach rolled away, and ending in everlasting honour, and the despised people of God reigning as kings with Christ in glory.

On this International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church we are reminded that many of our brothers and sisters around the world in 2009 must make similar choices born of their faith in God and convictions based on His word.

To learn more about the plight of the persecuted church, visit the Voice of the Martyr's website. By clicking on here you can request weekly prayer updates by email so that you can pray regularly for specific needs within the persecuted church.

Again I recommend you keep the prayer guide for the top ten persecuting nations from this morning's worship bulletin in a handy place this year so you can pray for spiritual breakthroughs in these dark places.

May the Lord give strength to those who suffer to stand firm in the faith. And may He open doors for the gospel in lands like North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Somalia, Eritrea, Afghanistan, and many, many more.

Ten Ways To Think Rightly About Murderous Rampages

First Fort Hood in Texas, now Gateway Center in Orlando. Back to back. Crazy men lock and load and blow folks away - the last episode striking far too close to home, right in our own back yard.

How are we to think in light of all we feel? I ask the question in light of Jesus' response to certain horrific tragedies in His day in Luke 13:1-5. When informed about Pilate's murderous rampage in mingling the blood of Galileans with their sacrifices, Jesus asked, "Do you think."

It matters greatly what and how we think in the face of such things. Thoughts give way to feelings and feelings give way to actions. And actions either glorify God or they don't. Jesus raised the question in Luke to engender a certain God-honoring reaction (more on that later). My aim is the same in offering these ten thoughts. No doubt more can be said, but these seemed to me to be particularly suited for the events of the last few days.

1. God is sovereign over every event including murderous rampages. He dwells in the heavens and does whatever pleases Him (Psalm 115:3). He brings BOTH prosperity and adversity (Ecc. 7:14). He makes well-being and calamity (Isa. 45:7). The prophet asks, "Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it?" (Amos 3:6b). Chance, coincidence, fate - none of these things govern our lives; God in His providence does. In Christ He is everlastingly FOR US (Rom. 8:31) . He does and will work everything together for our good as lovers of His called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28). Do not be afraid.

2. God Himself numbers our days, knows the length of their duration to the millisecond, and considers the exact moment of our death a terribly weighty, significant thing. Psalm 31:15 says, "My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and my persecutors." The confidence the writer has in God's hand governing the length of His days compels him to pray for rescue from the hand (note the repetition of the word hand and the contrast intended between God's ultimate power and an enemy's relative strength). After a near escape with death, the Psalmist observes in 116:15, "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints." The Hebrew word for precious comes from a root which means heavy. It means significant or weighty. God takes seriously the death of one of His own. It is no trifling matter as to its timing. It never takes Him by surprise. Rest in His eternal decree and meticulous concern.

3. Dying is gain and greatly to be preferred by the believer as opposed to remaining in this life. Facing martyrdom Paul writes in Phil. 1:21, "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Death is swallowed up in the victory of Christ (1 Cor. 15:55). Give thanks and rejoice for this liberating truth and do not toil under a paralyzing fear of death.

4. Murderous rampages and all other manner of evil in this world make sense in light of the fall of man into sin and his suppression of the truth of God in unrighteousness (Rom. 1:18). For these things, Paul says in the same verse, "the wrath of God is revealed from heaven." He goes on in the context to describe increasingly greater degrees of evil to which God gives rebellious sinners over as just judgment for their sin. He describes them in vv. 29-30 as "filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness, etc." Don't be surprised when you see this kind of thing on the news or in the paper. We live in a fallen world FILLED with such things.

5. Anger must be dealt with completely and thoroughly through the power of the gospel. On the front page of the local paper regarding the Gateway Center catastrophe the suspect's former mother-in-law is quoted as saying, "He was a very, very angry man." Jesus called anger toward another murder of the heart (Matt. 5:21-26). Paul warns in Eph. 4:26-27, "Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil." This man apparently saw way too many sundowns without dealing decisively with his rage. It turned to bitterness and resentment knowing no bounds. Let us take heed. Mortify the sins of anger in your life (Col. 3:8) with the strength Christ brings through the gospel (Phil. 4:13). If we do not, we give the devil opportunity.

6. Sinful people need others to act as brotherly and sisterly keepers. The LORD made clear to Cain after the first murder (his brother, Abel) in the human record that he was indeed his brother's keeper (Gen. 4:1-10). We must have others in our lives holding us to account, and we must do the same for them, if we are to keep from being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (Heb. 3:12-13), including sins of anger and murder. Don't go it alone.

7. Prayers should include petition to God for cultural change. Jesus taught His disciples to pray, "your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6:10). Pray for the gospel to penetrate places like Ft. Hood, Orlando, and every other installation, city, and place the news brings to your attention that He might bring the peace only the Prince of Peace can offer (Isa. 9:6-7).

8. Grief must be felt and processed but not as those who are without hope. One commentator in the local paper made this observation: "We limit our agony and empathy to the 60 seconds that CNN gives the tragedy of the day." Oh that we might not give way to such shallowness in our humanity. Romans 12:15 exhorts us, "weep with those who weep." But as we do, we are sorrowful but always rejoicing (2 Cor. 6:10) for the hope that while the whole of creation groans under the weight of sin it awaits a most certain redemption and recreation (Rom. 8:23).

9. The hope of the gospel must be shared with the lost who grieve over such tragedies as those who have no hope. In directing believers on Crete to live a lifestyle of good works before the watching world Paul reminds through Timothy, "For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another" (Titus 3:3). But God saved us by His goodness and kindness, delivering us out of so horrible a condition. Unbelievers need the hope of the Gospel. Make use of the opportunities God brings, even in discussing these recent events with people where you live, work and play.

10. The people who died at Fort Hood and the man who died in Orlando are no worse sinners for their untimely deaths than anyone else. This is where Jesus was heading in Luke 13:1-5 when He reacted to the reports of the tragedies in His day.

There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Beware the temptation in human arrogance to think that somehow others who suffer some terrible tragedy must have deserved it more than you because of their relative degree of sinfulness. Jesus warns us not to think that way. Twice He says, "Unless you repent, you will likewise perish." Sin has left us all in the same condition. We deserve judgment. It will come sooner or later to all of us. The only hope, the only right way to think in the face of murderous rampages and collapsing buildings, the first choice that honors God in the face of apparent senseless tragedy, is to repent of our own sinfulness and place our hope and trust in the power of the gospel. He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21). Start here and we will think rightly about this world full of murderous rampages and other consequences of its suicidal rebellion.

A Nasty Trick

More like a dreadful scare actually.

I thought I had oral cancer again.

Two months ago a sore developed in my mouth on the same side where tongue cancer hit four years ago. After it didn't go away for two weeks, I played it safe and made an appointment with my ENT to check it out. This week I saw him for the third time. No sign of the thing anywhere. Your mouth played a nasty trick on you, he said.

We're not sure what it was. I might have accidentally bit my cheek. It could have been a canker sore. Turns out after radiation treatment of an area in the mouth, sores like that don't heal near as fast as with normal tissue. I didn't know that. Now I do. Lesson learned.

I have to admit, it really scared me. Even the prospect of an early-stage lesion in my mouth brought back horrible memories of surgery and treatment. I can hardly describe the roller coaster of emotions I rode until the doctor pronounced the no-cancer verdict. I kept it a secret from Nancy until I knew for sure. I couldn't bear to subject her to the same kind of anxiety we went through the first time while we waited for a diagnosis. When I finally told her I fought back a flood of tears at the backlog of feelings and the waves of relief.

Phew. That was a close one. But a nasty trick? No way. I'm a child of the King. My Father loves me with undying, lavish love. He promises me that all things work together for my good (Rom. 8:28), not just cancer scares, but actual bouts with the dreadful disease.

I know who sent the sore. And He meant it for my good. It reminded me that the battle with unbelief and war against fear will go on until my dying day. Only one strategy will do in the face of dreadful scares. Philippians 4:6-7 says,

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Are you mistaking the presence of some adversary or trial as a nasty trick when in fact God has so ordained your circumstances so as to test your faith and strengthen your endurance (James 1:2-4)? Slay the giant of anxiety with relentless spears of prayer and know the peace of God guarding your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

Another IDOP for the Persecuted Church

As with every year, this Sunday we will observe the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.

All 9:30 Hour classes Middle School and above are cancelled for a prayer meeting in the fellowship hall on Nov. 8 for our brothers and sisters in chains.

Here is this year’s world watch list of the ten worst countries in the world for persecuting Christians. This comes from Open Door’s website .

This year’s number one on the World Watch List is no stranger: North Korea has topped the list for seven years in a row. There is no other country in the world where Christians are being persecuted in such a horrible and relentless way. The Wahhabi kingdom of Saudi Arabia holds a solid second place, sharing the same amount of points with a country that’s also ruled by Sharia law: Iran. Islam also is the official religion in Afghanistan, Somalia and the Maldives; the countries in the fourth, fifth and sixth position. Afghanistan rose from seventh to fourth place. The country moved up on the list as a result of increased pressure from the Taliban movement during 2008; the situation in the country is tense. On seventh place we come across Yemen, whose position changed from six to seven, but there was no major change in the lack of religious freedom for Christians in Yemen in 2008. There was no big change to the status of religious freedom in Laos; the country is still number eight on the list. Two new countries have entered the top ten: Somalia and Eritrea. For Eritrea the total number of points did not change compared to last year, but other countries dropping off the top ten made it go up. Nevertheless, the deplorable situation of Christians in this country very much justifies a position in the top ten. In Somalia the number of incidents against Christians increased dramatically in 2008, explaining its rise from twelve to five.

Islam is the majority religion in seven of the top ten countries: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Somalia, Maldives, Yemen and Uzbekistan. Two countries have communist governments: North Korea and Laos. Eritrea is the only dictatorial country in the 10 highest countries on the list.

Hebrews 13:3 commands us: Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them. And those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.

May we do just that this Sunday at OGC.

What True Practical Holiness Is

In chapter three of J. C. Ryle's Holiness he offers these twelve marks of true and practical holiness in the believer.

1. Holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God, according as we find His mind described in Scripture.
2. A holy man will endeavour to shun every known sin, and to keep every known commandment.
3. A holy man will strive to be like our Lord Jesus Christ.
4. A holy man will follow after meekness, longsuffering, gentleness, patience, kind tempers, government of his tongue.
5. A holy man will follow after temperance and self-denial.
6. A holy man will follow after charity and brotherly kindness.
7. A holy man will follow after a spirit of mercy and benevolence toward others. Do good.
8. A holy man will follow after purity of heart.
9. A holy man will follow after the fear of God.
10. A holy man will follow after humility. "He will see more evil in his own heart than in any other in the world."
11. A holy man will follow after faithfulness in all the duties and relations in life.
12. A holy man will follow after spiritual mindedness.

In short, a holy man follows hard after God (Psalm 63:8). How vigorous is your pursuit of God and His holiness today?

In the same chapter, Ryle adds this clarification about our pursuit of hoiness:

It is the greatest misery of a holy man that he carries about with him a "body of death;"-that often when he would do good "evil is present with him"; that the old man is clogging all his movements, and, as it were, trying to draw him back at every step he takes (Rom. vii. 21). But it is the excellence of a holy man that he is not at peace with indwelling sin, as others are. He hates it, mourns over it, and longs to be free from its company. The work of sanctification within him is like the wall of Jerusalem-the building goes forward "even in troublous times" (Dan. ix. 25).

May we know the great misery of indwelling sin AND the excellence of no peace with it.

An Acts 9:31 Birthday Wish/Prayer for OGC

Our church turned 18 on Sunday. Thanks be to God. We sang Happy Birthday to Us the previous Sunday night. Different, but sweet. This is my personal birthday wish/prayer for our church. My hope is you will join in making it with me.

It comes from Acts 9:31.

So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

By peace Luke means rest from persecution. The previous chapters record the hits taken by the fledgling church throughout Palestine in the form of heavy persecution. But now, following Saul’s conversion, she enjoys a widespread, relative peace.

But that’s not all the author tells us about the church in this season of blessed rest. He mentions two other significant realities about her. First, she was being built up. Edified. The Greek word gives us a word picture of a house under construction. We might say she was becoming more spiritual.

Second, she multiplied. The church grew. Numbers we added. Souls were saved. People were converted. The kingdom advanced.

How did these two things occur? Walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Walking conveys the idea of an everyday kind of experience. It was second nature for this church of the first century to reverence God and to be strengthened by His Spirit. In other words they were a Godward people in every sense of the word. As a result, they were edified and multiplied.

G. Campbell Morgan, in his commentary on this verse, wrote:

It is impossible to read this verse without being reminded of the missionary vocation of the Church. Here the Church is seen going on its way, going in the way the Lord commanded it, going to the nations to disciple them, going into the cosmos to suffer in order to save; and going on its way in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. These two things are closely united. The first part of the verse ends “being edified”; the second part ends “was multiplied.” The underlying thought is exactly the same. Consequently if the Church is to be missionary, she must be spiritual; and if the church is to be spiritual, she must be missionary.

Spiritual and missionary. Edified and multiplied. To be one or the other we must be both. That is my prayer for OGC as we move into our 19th year. May God make us spiritual and missionary, edified and multiplied, to a greater extent than we ever have before!

Will you join me in praying this birthday wish for our church?

A Preacher for the Glory of God

Reflections on D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: the First Forty Years (Banner of Truth, 1982, 381 pages)

I don’t remember the conference at all. Somewhere along the line I picked up a recording of it. I decided to listen to the messages. I especially liked the now characteristic Q&A panel discussions included in gatherings of this sort. The only speaker I remember from this conference was Dr. Alistair Begg. And the reason I recall him was the answer he gave to one of the questions in that particular session. What one book has made the greatest impact on your life? Begg’s reply was Ian H. Murray’s two volume biography of D. Martyn Lloyd –Jones.

That stuck with me, in large part I suppose, because like both those men, I too am a preacher. I settled on acquiring my own copy of Murray’s work with a desire to discover for myself what made it so very valuable to someone of note like Dr. Begg. My wife surprised me some time ago with the volumes as a gift. But I confess they have set on the bookshelf at home for some time now with no attention at all from me.

But this recent vacation I took volume one, the first forty years (1899-1939), with me to Idaho. I devoured it. Murray has gifted evangelicalism with a readable and stirring account of the Welsh M.D. turned pulpiteer. It took little time for me to gain some notion of its value to the likes of Dr. Begg and others who long to fulfill their calling to preach as best they can for the glory of God and the advance of His kingdom.

In the introduction Murray explains in part why Dr. M L-J eschewed the writing of an autobiography.

“Dr. Lloyd-Jones disliked any indulgence in personal publicity on the part of Christians. He viewed the personality-cults evident in some of the churches of the Victorian era as disastrous to the interests of true spirituality. Man-centeredness in any form disfigures the kingdom of God. The church at her best is a power in the world not because of what she says about herself but because of what she is by the grace of God” (p. xii).

Murray managed to gain permission to write his subject’s biography with Dr. Lloyd-Jones help in the process. But the collaboration came with a nonnegotiable condition. Murray explains:

“His one, oft-repeated, proviso, vehemently expressed both in conversation and in prayer, was that the sole aim of any record should be to advance ‘the glory of God’” (p. xiii).

The great apostle Paul, another man of God who was more than anything which print can convey (p. xv), exhorts in 1 Cor. 10:31, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Surely preaching falls under the comprehensive umbrella “all” in that verse.

I don’t know Dr. Alistair Begg at all. But I am willing to bet he found these volumes so very valuable because, like me, a preacher of the gospel, he longs to preach for the glory of God. There is much to learn from the biography of Dr. M L-J to that end.

I can hardly wait to get my hands on volume two.

What Then Is True Practical Holiness?

J. C. Ryle answers the question in several ways in his treatise on the subject.

"First, holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God, according as we find His mind described in Scripture. It is the habit of agreeing in God's judgment--hating what He hates, loving what He loves--and measuring everything in this world by the standard of His Word. He who most entirely agrees with God, he is the most holy man."

Are you seeking the mind of God in His word and pleading with Him for a spirit of agreement in your entire being? This is part of what it means to be holy.

A Seasonable & Profitable Question

Are we holy? That's the question. J. C. Ryle calls it the most seasonable and profitable question anyone can ask of himself.

I ask to be heard today about this question. How stands the account between our souls and God? In this hurrying, bustling world, let us stand still for a few minutes and consider the matter of holiness. I believe I might have choseen a subject more popular and pleasant. I am sure I might have found one more easy to handle. But I feel deeply I could not have chosen one more seasonable and more profitable to our souls. It is a solemn thing to hear the Word of God saying, "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord" (Heb. 12:14).

A solemn thing indeed. Stand still for a time today and ask yourself this most seasonable and profitable question. Are you holy? What do you hear God say in response? Remember the gospel and do what He requires.

Seek & You Shall NOT Find?

Never in all these years of hunting have I missed so many shots. Near shots. Far shots. In between shots. No matter. I failed to fell a deer in ’09. At one point toward the end of our vacation I concluded it would take an animal coming right up to me and shaking my hand for me to hit one. I used to think I was a good shot. Not anymore.

One night toward the end I thought I finally broke through. At dusk we sighted two nice size bucks on the sky line of the ridge pictured here. I fired at the bigger one first. Missed again. What else is new? Then I got off a round at the second. Missed yet again. Sigh. This is getting monotonous. One more chance. I fired a second shot. Finally. He staggered and disappeared beyond the skyline. “He went down out of sight,” my friend Dick assured me.

We marked the shot and began our climb. This ridge is precipitous. The heart pumps hard as you zig zag up the fence line. Finally, we reached the spot on the hillside. Nothing. No blood trail, no deer. You’ve got to be kidding me! I worked my way up to the very top of the ridge, well beyond the scene of the shooting. Slowly I crisscrossed back and forth scouring every square foot. My friend did the same. When darkness enveloped the hillside, we gave up and headed back to the truck. Unbelievable.

We came back at dawn the next morning. The law of the woods says if you think you hit something, make sure you do the right thing in looking for it until you are absolutely sure you did or didn’t hit it. My friend, who has hunted these hills all his life, was certain I got the buck given the way he staggered. So we climbed again. We zigged and zagged again. In the full light of day we searched for that deer to no avail. The case of the missing deer. Beyond baffling. Go figure.

It occurred to me while looking just how much effort the two of us put into the search, all in the hope of finding an animal to butcher and eat along with another rack to nail to the rail on my deck. Not that the pursuit of venison for the freezer is insignificant, mind you. But it pales in comparison to the rewards that come from seeking God. And unlike the occasional deer on the hillside, God promises to be found.

Deuteronomy 4:29 says, “You will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Jeremiah 29:13 repeats virtually the same promise. “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” Jesus said, in Matt. 7:7-8, “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened.”

Notice the proviso in these Old Testament verses. It concerns the way we must seek – with all our heart and soul. With at least the same, if not more vigor, that hunters seek after their felled quarry, believers should seek after God and His glory, banking all the way on His gracious promise to be found.

I asked myself some hard questions on that ridge. Do I seek God with the same energy I devote to finding a deer I might have shot? How earnest is my daily reading of the Scriptures? Does my zeal for Scripture memory match my passion for hunting? Where does my passionate pursuit of God in prayer compare to the enthusiasm with which I tackle an arduous climb up an Idaho hillside?

What do you value so greatly that you seek it with all your heart and all your soul? Don’t blow by this question. Stop and think about it for a time. Honestly, how do you answer?

With hunting or any other inferior pursuit, seek and you may or may not find. With God, your supreme satisfaction, seek with all your heart and soul and you will find.

Sanctification Can Be Seen

In the second chapter of his book, Holiness, J. C. Ryle contends that sanctification is a visible reality in a Christian. He gives the reader ten aspects of the visible evidence of sanctification in a Christian's life.

1. True sanctification does not consist in talk about religion (1 John 3:18).
2. True sanctification does not consist in temporary religious feelings (Matt. 13:20).
3. True sanctification does not consist in outward formalism and external devoutness (1 Tim. 4:8).
4. True sanctification does not consist in retirement from our place in life, and the renunciation of our social duties (Jn. 17:15).
5. True sanctification does not consist in the occasional performance of right actions (Psa. 119:1-4).
6. Genuine sanctification will show itself in habitual respect to God’s law, and habitual effort to live in obedience to it as the rule of life (1 Tim. 1:8; Rom. 7:22).
7. Genuine sanctification will show itself in an habitual endeavor to do Christ’s will, and to live by His practical precepts (Jn 15:14).
8. Genuine sanctification will show itself in an habitual desire to live up to the standard which St. Paul sets before the churches in his writings.
9. Genuine sanctification will show itself in habitual attention to the active graces which our Lord so beautifully exemplified, and especially to the grace of charity (Jn. 13:34-35; Col. 3:10).
10. Genuine sanctification will show itself in habitual attention to the passive graces of Christianity (1 Pet. 2:21-23). These are the graces of being forbearing to one another. It is nonsense to pretend to sanctification unless we follow after the meekness, gentleness, longsuffering, and forgivingness of which the Bible makes so much.

GENUINE SANCTIFICATION IS A THING THAT CAN BE SEEN!

How visible a reality is it in you and me?

Are You Growing in Grace?

In his book, Holiness, J. C. Ryle describes what it means to grow in grace.

When I speak of growth in grace, I only mean increase in the degree, size, strength, vigour, and power of the graces which the Holy Spirit plants in a believer's heart. I hold that every one of those graces admits of growth, progress and increase. I hold that repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, zeal, courage, and the like may be little or great, strong or weak, vigorous or feeble and may vary greatly in the same man at different periods of his life. When I speak of a man growing in grace, I mean simply this: that his sense of sin is becoming deeper, his faith stronger, his hope brighter, his love more extensive, his spiritual mindedness more marked. He feels more of the power of godliness in his own heart; he manifests more of it in his life; he is going on from strength to strength, from faith to faith, and from grace to grace. I leave it to others to describe such a man's condition by any words they please. For myself, I think the truest and best account of him is this: he is growing in grace.

Give yourself to the means of grace today that you may grow in grace to the glory of God, the increase of your joy, and your love for others.

More Puritan Power for the LB

William Gurnall writes:

Wickedness must be weak. The devil's guilt tells them their cause is lost before the battle is ever fought. They fear you, Christian, because you are holy; so you do not need to fear them at all. When you see them as subtle, mighty, and many, your heart beats fast. But look on all these spirits as ungodly wretches who hate God more than they hate you. And the only reason they detest you at all is your kinship to Him. Whose side is God on? In the past He rebuked kings for touching His anointed ones. Will He stand still now and let those wicked spirits threaten his life in you without coming to your rescue? It is impossible.

Amazing Grace

For a pretty sweet rendition by Il Divo click on here.

Faith & Food (Part 7)

Here is the John MacArthur quote about Jesus' meaning in saying we must eat of Him as the bread of life that I shared from this morning's message in John 6:52-59.

Now, when we think about this analogy, it should just conjure up in your mind all kinds of appropriate relationships to the spiritual apprehension of Christ. Let me see if I can't help you with that. Eating, just take eating in general. If we're talking about the physical bread and the physical eating. First of all, eating is a necessary act if I am to derive any advantage from the bread. Is that not true? Now I like bread. I like bread a lot. I grew up with a mother and a grandmother that made bread all the time, still do. Rarely do I ever visit my mother when she, knowing I'm coming, doesn't have bread made for me. I love bread. My wife makes bread. We have a bread maker. I like to walk in the house and smell it. I like to see it. I like the color of it. Sometimes I like just to squeeze it. And I can go on and on about the - I can eulogize the crust. I can get into this stuff. I like all kinds of bread with all kinds of different things in it. But I may look at that bread, and I may admire that bread, and I may sniff that bread, and I may analyze that bread, and I may philosophize about that bread, and I may eulogize its qualities, and I may touch it and handle it, and I may be assured of its excellencies. And I might even trust the baker. But if I don't eat it, it doesn't nourish me. How obvious is that.

You may access his entire sermon here.

The Gun Cabinet & Re-Creation

Finally, we found one. We searched a long time. Every time we’ve come to Idaho the last several years we’ve visited the thrift and second-hand stores looking for a good bargain on a used gun cabinet. It simply will not do for a Nimrod-wanna-be (see Gen 10:8-9) to store his rifles in a closet!

Not until this trip however did Nancy and I enjoy success. B&B in Grangeville had an old, beat up, paint-splattered, locked-with-no-keys-available, six-slotted deal with a glass front sporting some nifty etching of ducks and cattails. And the man only wanted $35 for it!

After talking him down to $30 (I have no shame, but that’s what those kind of places are for, if you ask me), we loaded up and took the thing back to our place. No one surpasses my bride in taking used stuff and making it shine like new. Out came the Old English furniture scratch repair polish. We covered over every imperfection from top to bottom. The polish acted like a solvent so we were able to scrape off all the paint speckles. Windex sprayed within and without put sparkle on the glass. We vacuumed out the inside. Voila. Good as new. Ready for guns in the spot in the living room I imagined for it all these years. Sweet. Good things come to those who wait.

But who’s kidding whom? While the thing looks great thanks to Nancy’s extreme makeover magic, it isn’t new, not by a long shot. It’s still basically the same old used, pressed wood, cheap man’s gun cabinet. All we did was make some repairs and mask the imperfections the best we could. More than suitable for a mountain home in Idaho, but certainly not just-out-of-the-carton-brand-spanking-new by any means.

How entirely different is the case for anyone known to be “in Christ.” The apostle Paul declares in 2 Cor. 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” When God gets a hold of someone by His amazing grace, He doesn’t just make some repairs and mask imperfections in us; He makes us entirely new! At the moment of faith where one becomes organically linked to Jesus, we say good-bye to the old us and hello to a brand new version. Our God, Rev. 21:5 says, specializes in making all things new. That’s His deal. That’s what ultimately matters when it comes to our relationship with Him (Gal. 6:15).

The Baker New Testament commentary on 2 Corinthians says this about 5:17 - “When people become part of the body of Christ at conversion, their lives take a complete reversal. They now abhor the world of sin and former friends are hostile to them. Their preconversion lifestyle is history.”

Old gun cabinets may enjoy a transformation of sorts by external treatment and concentrated repair. But they remain old gun cabinets just the same. But behold! Believers in Christ enjoy a transformation of another sort that leaves them fundamentally and completely changed – so much so that we may rightly refer to ourselves as new, gloriously and wonderfully new in Him.

Things We Do Before the Lord

It didn’t take long. Within half a day of touching down on Idaho soil, shot gun in hand, I headed out to hunt on the final day of turkey season. As you can see, the Lord went with me. He gave me good success. I bagged a hen from last year’s hatchlings.

An obscure verse of Scripture from the genealogy in Genesis 10 came to mind somewhere along the way. Verse 8 says, “Cush fathered Nimrod; he was the first on earth to be a mighty man.” What a way to go down in the biblical record!

How did he demonstrate his strength? Verse 9a gives the answer – “He was a mighty hunter before the LORD.” It was true to so great an extent that the rest of the verse indicates that the ancients coined a proverb in light of Nimrod’s prowess in the field. “Therefore it is said, ‘Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD.’”

I suspect Nimrod gained his reputation for hunting game bigger and badder than turkeys. Never fear. Whitetail deer and elk season in these parts opened the next day. The thing that ultimately arrested my attention however was the fact that he hunted BEFORE THE LORD. All that traipsing around the woods with a weapon occurred before the eyes of a watching God. Hunting? Yes, hunting.

What else goes on before the Lord, I wondered? Even a brief survey of the Bible reveals a lot of specifics that go on before the eyes of the omniscient One.

For example – Being silent (Zech. 2:13). Fasting (Jer. 36:9). Trembling (Psalm 96:9). Walking (Psalm 116:9). Being guilty (2 Chron. 19:10). Praying (Dan. 9:20). Sacrificing (2 Chron. 7:4). Humbling self (2 Kings 22:19). Doing evil (2 Kings 21:2). Hanging (2 Sam. 21:6). Worshiping/dancing (2 Sam. 6:5, 14). Being detained (1 Sam. 21:7). Ministering (1 Sam. 3:1). Growing up (1 Sam. 2:21). Sinning (1 Sam. 2:17). Weeping (Judges 20:23). Eating (Deut. 12:7). Feasting (Ex. 32:5). Bringing a case (Num. 27:5). Even dying (Lev. 10:2).

Proverbs 5:21 makes the obvious point of this word search exercise. “For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponders all his paths.”

From hunting to worshipping to living and dying, we do it all before the eyes of God in heaven. He takes it all in. And He ponders our paths. The Hebrew word means to weigh something – to judge it. The One who bring all things to judgment on the last day, weighs our every action as it unfolds before His eyes.

This sobering truth should lead to some pondering of our own. Proverbs 4:26 exhorts us – “Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure.”

Whether your feet take you into the forest to hunt, into the sanctuary to worship, into the dining room to feast, or, God forbid, onto the gallows to hang, and finally even onto your deathbed to die, remember this – every last bit of it, all of it is before the Lord.

Time to Vacate

It's that time of year again. The Pacific Northwest beckons. Today we fly to Clearwater, Idaho for two weeks of R&R. Turkey season closes tomorrow. That's the bad news. Whitetail deer season opens tomorrow. That's the good news. Fishing season never closes. More good news.

All of that to say that my bride and I are headed for the wilderness, pictured above, to refuel the engines and kill and catch some stuff. We ARE remote and have little access to the web, so I do not know how much, if at all, I will post during these two weeks.

Lord willing, we will return on October 23 and I will resume preaching on the 25th with more from John's Gospel and the bread of life discourse.

Please pray for refreshment from the Lord in both spirit and body!

OGC Men's Retreat - October 30-31

We are pleased to have Pastor Jack Jenkins, pictured here with his wife Gayle, of Faith Baptist Church, Orlando, as our keynote speaker for this year's men's retreat on October 30 and 31 at Camp Ithiel.

The theme of this year's retreat is:

Trusting the Sovereignty of God in Adversity:
A Study from the Life of Joseph

Here are the four session titles for the weekend:

Session #1: God's sovereignty can be trusted when we do what's right and everything seems to go wrong!

Session #2: God's sovereignty works to our advantage, especially in adversity.

Session #3: God's sovereignty gives us divine reasons for granting forgiveness to others.

Session #4: If God is sovereign, then what's my responsibility?

Be sure to stop by the registration table this Sunday or next and reserve your spot! The cost is $75 per man, $40 per student. Some scholarship assistance is available upon request.

Twelve Propositions About Sanctification

These are from J. C. Ryle in his book Holiness.

He cites these propositions after defining sanctification as that inward work which the Lord Jesus Christ works in a man by the Holy Ghost, when He calls him to be a true believer. He not only washes him from his sins in His own blood, but He also separates him from his natural love of sin and the world, puts a new principle in his heart, and makes him practically godly in life.

1. Sanctification is the invariable result of that vital union with Christ which true faith gives to a Christian.


2. Sanctification is the outcome and inseparable consequence of regeneration.


3. Sanctification is the only certain evidence of that indwelling of the Holy Spirit which is essential to salvation.


4. Sanctification is the only sure mark of God's election.


5. Sanctification is a thing that will always be seen.


6. Sanctification is a thing for which every believer is responsible.


7. Sanctification is a thing which admits of growth and degrees.


8. Sanctification is a thing which depends greatly on a diligent use of means.


9. Sanctification is a thing which does not prevent a man having a great deal of inward spiritual conflict.


10. Sanctification is a thing which cannot justify a man, and yet it pleases God.


11. Sanctification is a thing which will be found absolutely necessary as a witness to our character in the great day of judgment.


12. Sanctification is absolutely necessary, in order to train and prepare us for heaven.
    

He quotes the Puritan John Owen regarding this last proposition:

There is no imagination wherewith man is besotted, more foolish,none so pernicious, as this--that persons not purified, not sanctified, not made holy in their life, should afterwards be taken into that state of blessedness which consists in the enjoyment of God. Neither can such persons enjoy God, nor would God be a reward to them. . . . Holiness indeed is perfected in heaven: but the beginning of it is invariably confined to this world.

Saint of God, give yourself today to the means of grace that help conform you to the Son of God to the glory of God to prepare you for the dwelling place of God.

Bless You Cancer (19)

It has been some time since I have revisited this stream of posts. Today I reviewed several entries from my journal of 2005 covering the end of September into the beginning of October. This comes from 09.24.05, thirty-four days after finishing treatment for my head and neck cancer (note - I was still virtually completely unable to eat any solid food):

The Lord knew I would feel discouraged yesterday. He sent me multiple encouragements by email and visitor. Fred P's (a fellow head and neck survivor from Philadelphia I encountered through my network of friends and fellow-believers) gave me perspective through his doctor of all sources. I'm about where I'm supposed to be. My kind of cancer has among the harshest treatments in terms of impact on the body. That doctor tells people to expect a full year to recover normalcy. That was both good news and bad news to me. Clearly I have to adjust my expectations at how quickly my mouth will heal (I was under the faulty impression improvement would begin immediately). It is just going to take time. The whole R family came by for the night. We had a lovely visit. They lifted my spirits. Jeannie S sent me a nice letter too. God comforts the depressed by sending a Titus or two (2 Cor. 7:6). Praise His name.

Do you know a downcast saint you could comfort by a note, email, or visit today or sometime soon? Don't underestimate the significance to him or her of even the slightest encouragement on your part. God's comfort may well come through you at just the most needful time.

Responsibility & Inability

I made the point in the sermon from John 6:41-51 that Jesus requires us to repent and believe (v. 47). But it is also true (obnoxiously so according to Spurgeon) that we cannot do it (v. 44) left to our own devices. What are we to make of this conundrum between our responsibility to come and our inability to do so? Shouldn't we be responsible only for what we are able to do and not what we are unable to do?

Wayne Grudem offers this in reply in his one volume systematic theology:

The idea that we are responsible before God only for what we are able to do is contrary to the testimony of Scripture, which affirms both that we “were dead through the trespasses and sins” in which we once walked (Eph. 2:1), and thus unable to do any spiritual good, and also that we are all guilty before God. Moreover, if our responsibility before God were limited by our ability, then extremely hardened sinners, who are in great bondage to sin, could be less guilty before God than mature Christians who were striving daily to obey him. And Satan himself, who is eternally able to do only evil, would have no guilt at all—surely an incorrect conclusion. The true measure of our responsibility and guilt is not our own ability to obey God, but rather the absolute perfection of God’s moral law and his own holiness (which is reflected in that law).

Grudem, W. A. (1994). Systematic Theology : An introduction to Biblical Doctrine (499). Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House.

How Faith & Food Figure in Following Jesus (Part 6)

In the interest of driving home some of the truths of yesterday's message, here is a portion of my preaching manuscript from John 6:41-51.

Our part is clear. Repent and believe. That’s all over John’s gospel. Jesus gets right in their face and calls them over and over again to come, to believe, to eat. But something else is clear, painfully clear, Spurgeon said obnoxiously clear. We can’t do it left to ourselves and our own devices. Look at v. 44. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. This should sound familiar. It strikingly resembles Jesus’ words back in v. 37 – All that the Father gives me will come to me. This is the same doctrine of Christ related to salvation but said in two different ways. The first is from a positive view looking at the gifting to the Son by the Father all those He chooses out of His love and grace. The second is from a negative view looking at the total inability of absolutely everyone – no one can come – apart from that intervening love and grace of God on their behalf.

He’ll punctuate it again with this same crowd nearly the exact same way in 6:65 – This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father. Why is this so? Sin. Sin has left every last one of us like the invalid man at the pool of Bethesda. We are morally and spiritually unable to do a thing to remedy our condition. We are as Paul put it in Eph. 2:3 – dead in our trespasses and sins. Or in Rom. 8:7 – For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law, indeed it cannot. Or to use Jesus’ words to another crowd in John 8:43 – Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. It’s not your nature. Sin has corrupted it through and through. Rom. 3:10-12 – None is righteous, no, not one, no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.

The good folks at Desiring God ministries have summarized the implications of this truth, what Reformed types call Total Depravity, as well as I have ever encountered:

It is hard to exaggerate the importance of admitting our condition to be this bad. If we think of ourselves as basically good or even less than totally at odds with God, our grasp of the work of God in redemption will be defective. But if we humble ourselves under this terrible truth of our total depravity, we will be in a position to see and appreciate the glory and wonder of the work of God. (For the entire document go here.)

What must happen then? Where then is there hope? Another great doctrine of the Reformed faith, irresistible grace, or what we might better call effectual grace! And its truth is all tied up in that massively important word in v 44 – draws. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. Jesus uses the same word in 12:32 of the power He will exert in having gone to the cross – And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. When this word for draw gets used in the NT, whether for a fishing net that gets dragged from the sea, or a sword that gets drawn from its sheath, it always implies a couple of things. There is resistance and that resistance is ultimately overcome.

Thanks be to God that though our sin paralyzes grace regenerates!

7 Reasons We Need Small Groups

This comes from a message by Pastor John Piper. You may access the entire talk here.

He has given pastors to the church “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-12). I believe in what I do. And I believe that it is not enough. Here are the seven reasons I gave the small group leaders.

1.The impulse avoid painful growth by disappearing safely into the crowd in corporate worship is very strong.

2.The tendency toward passivity in listening to a sermon is part of our human weakness.

3.Listeners in a big group can more easily evade redemptive crises. If tears well up in your eyes in a small group, wise friends will gently find out why. But in a large gathering, you can just walk away from it.

4.Listeners in a large group tend to neglect efforts of personal application. The sermon may touch a nerve of conviction, but without someone to press in, it can easily be avoided.

5.Opportunity for questions leading to growth is missing. Sermons are not dialogue. Nor should they be. But asking questions is a key to understanding and growth. Small groups are great occasions for this.

6.Accountability for follow-through on good resolves is missing. But if someone knows what you intended to do, the resolve is stronger.

7.Prayer support for a specific need or conviction or resolve goes wanting. O how many blessings we do not have because we are not surrounded by a band of friends who pray for us.

So please know that when this small-group ministry of our church is lifted up, I don’t think it’s an optional add-on to basic Christian living. I think it is normal, healthy, needed, New Testament Christianity. I pray that you will be part of one of these small groups or that you will get the training and start one. This is the main strategy through which our pastors and elders shepherd the flock at Bethlehem: Elders > small group leaders > members to one another.

21 Days for Global Harvest

21 Days for Global Harvest from SVM2 on Vimeo.

Click on this video to learn about this prayer and fasting effort coming up soon. You may access the daily email prayer guide for free here.

Sanctification & the Use of Means

Here is the quote from J. C. Ryle's book Holiness that I read before the Lord's Table today in our worship at OGC.

Sanctification, again, is a thing that depends greatly on a diligent use of Scriptural means. When I speak of “means”, I have in view Bible-reading, private prayer, regular attendance on public worship, regular hearing of God’s Word, and regular reception of the Lord’s Supper. I lay it down as a simple matter of fact that no one who is careless about such things must ever expect to make much progress in sanctification. I can find no record of any eminent saint who ever neglected them. They are the appointed channels through which the Holy Spirit conveys fresh supplies of grace to the soul, and strengthens the work that He has begun in the inward man. Let men call this legal doctrine if they please, but I will never shrink from declaring my belief that there are no “spiritual gains without pains”. I should as soon expect a farmer to prosper in business who contented himself with sowing his fields and never looking at them till harvest, as expect a believer to attain much holiness who was not diligent about his Bible-reading, his prayers, and the use of his Sundays. Our God is a God who works by means, and He will never bless the soul of that man who pretends to be so high and spiritual that he can get on without them.

Lay hold of the varied means of grace in your pursuit of the holiness of God in your everyday life.

More Puritan Power for the LB

This is a particularly good word from William Gurnall in The Christian in Complete Armour:

Afflictions are a spade which God uses to dig into His people's hearts to find the gold of faith. Not that He does not seek out the other graces also, but faith is the most precious of them all. Even when God delays and seems to withdraw His hand before coming with the mercy He promises, it is so that He can explore our faith.

Do you find God using the spade of affliction to dig into your heart in this present season of your life? What is He finding in you? May we say to Him with the man in the Gospels, Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.

The Gospel’s Highest Privilege

I have to admit it. Until recently reading chapter 19, God the Son, in J. I. Packer’s classic, Knowing God, I never considered the notion of ranking the manifold privileges of the gospel. Is there a highest among such heights of the spiritual blessings of our salvation in Christ--election, predestination, justification, adoption, redemption, sanctification, and glorification?

Packer thinks so. He calls adoption the highest privilege that the gospel offers: higher even than justification (p. 206). That turned my head a bit. After all, reformed types cherish justification as a gift of gifts from God ever since Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the Wittenberg door.

The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith summarizes the biblical doctrine of adoption this way in chapter twelve:

For the sake of His only Son, Jesus Christ, God has been pleased to make all justified persons sharers in the grace of adoption, by means of which they are numbered with, and enjoy the liberties and privileges of children of God. Furthermore, God's name is put upon them, they receive the spirit of adoption, and they are enabled to come boldly to the throne of grace and to cry 'Abba, Father'. They are pitied, protected, provided for, and chastened by God as by a Father. He never casts them off, but, as they remain sealed to the day of redemption, they inherit the promises as heirs of everlasting salvation.

No wonder John exclaims in 1 John 3:1a – See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The truths contained within this doctrine of sacred Scriptures take your breath away. But do they do so enough to warrant ranking them above the likes of justification?

Packer explains why he thinks so:

Adoption is higher, because of the richer relationship with God that it involves. . . . The two ideas are distinct, and adoption is the more exalted. Justification is a forensic idea, conceived in terms of law, and viewing God as judge. In justification, God declares of penitent believers that they are not, and never will be, liable to the death that their sins deserve, because Jesus Christ, their substitute and sacrifice, tasted death in their place on the cross.

The free gift of acquittal and peace, won for us at the cost of Calvary, is wonderful enough, in all conscience--but justification does not of itself imply any intimate or deep relationship with God the judge. In idea, at any rate, you could have the reality of justification without any close fellowship with God resulting. [Chew on that notion for a bit!]

But contrast this, now with adoption. Adoption is a family idea, conceived in terms of love, and viewing God as father. In adoption, God takes us into his family and fellowship--he establishes us as his children and heirs. Closeness, affection and generosity are at the heart of the relationship. To be right with God the Judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God the Father is greater (p. 207).

To borrow from Wesley and dare embellish a bit, Amazing love, how can it be, that thou my God shouldst die for me AND make me your child! And can it be? Yes, oh my, yes, it can! Thanks be to God for His indescribable gifts of justification AND adoption!

A Reflection on the Desiring God National Conference

I say reflection singular, not reflections plural, for this article does not contain room to record all God brought to mind and worked in my heart this past weekend in Minneapolis. The title of the conference was With Calvin in the Theater of God. DG meant to honor the magisterial (of, pertaining to, or befitting a master; authoritative) reformer during this year marking the 500th anniversary of his birth.

My reflection comes from the final message of the conference delivered by Dr. John Piper. He entitled it Jesus Christ as Denouement in the Theater of God: Calvin and the Supremacy of Christ in All Things. Fortunately, he defined denouement for us; I did not have a clue. This comes directly from his message which you can access online here.

The dictionary says that the dénouement is “the final part of a play, movie, or narrative in which the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are explained or resolved.” Or: “the climax of a chain of events, usually when something is decided or made clear.”

Piper sought to answer the question, What is the ultimate goal of God in the theater of God? He argued that the answer is to glorify Himself in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He made his case for that with an exposition of Ephesians 1:4-6 and other related passages:

. . . even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

In what he called the ultimate statement in the Bible about the purpose of God in the theater of God, Piper explained from v. 6 that this is why everything exists. God is to be praised by innumerable redeemed beings. Specifically, we are not just to praise His glory but the glory of His grace. The apex of the glory of God is the grace of God. Every other attribute serves the purpose to make the grace of God more plain and precious.

He closed with a series of applications in answer to the question, So what? He called them five ways of believing this denouement.

1. The highest pleasure of the human being is the pleasure of admiration. Seeing it, savoring it, speaking it, is the end -- to admire the infinite admirability which is found only in God's grace in Christ. Make it your life-long, eternity-long vocation to see and know Him so that all else is counted loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ.

2. When the theater of God is renewed the dazzling creation will be as nothing as compared to Christ. Beware to become excessively excited about the new heavens and new earth. It will be as nothing in comparison. We won't need a sun or moon any more, because the glory of God will be its sun and the Son will be its lamp. Everywhere we look we will see Christ reflected. It will be unlike anything we've known. So don't get excited about eternal golf! Many in our churches will be shocked when denied entrance into heaven when the Lord says to them, All you ever really wanted was my gifts and not me. See Matt. 7:21-23.

3. Now that we understand what it means to be loved by God given the mercies of His grace we must also understand that this love is not in and of ourselves to be made much of but to be rescued from the need to be made much of.

4. To be sure, we ourselves will be glorified. We will shine like the sun in the kingdom of our Father. We will shine with the glory of Christ, not our own. It will be so stunning that we will be tempted to bow down and worship one another, said C. S. Lewis. But remember the glory will be a reflected glory, the glory of Christ.

5. When God gives us eyes to see His glory in the gospel of Christ, we are gradually being changed into the likeness of Christ (2 Cor. 3:18). This is the most important verse in the Bible on sanctification. Beholding is becoming. Seeing Christ in His glory changes us. Any other way toward change leads to legalism. The role of the pastor is to open eyes to the glory of Christ. Theirs' is an impossible task. It begins with the pastor seeing Christ for himself and then relentlessly commending Him to others.

This is the legacy of John Calvin. This is the call of the Holy Scriptures. This is the desire of my heart as a pastor. Let us continually stand in awe, amazed at the glory of Christ as the denouement of the theater of God.

Puritan Power for the LB

This from William Gurnall:

Faith, then, becomes active when it rests on Christ crucified for pardon and life. There are many acts of the soul which must precede this, for a person can never truly exercise this faith unless he first has knowledge of Christ and relies on His authority. Only then can he say, “I know whom I have believed” (2 Timothy 1:12). Most people are reluctant to trust a complete stranger. Abraham did not know where he was going, but he knew with whom he was going! God worked with Abraham to teach him the knowledge of His own glorious self—who He was—so that His child could rely on His word, assenting to the truth of it no matter how harsh and improbable and impossible it seemed. “I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect” (Genesis 17:1).

Wherever your journey takes you today in the life of faith, you may not know where you are going, but as a child of God you know with whom you are going. Be strong and courageous!

Why I Love Being a Pastor (5)

Look who I found (actually we came together) at the conference!

One Foot Raised

Pastor Sam Storms brought a message tonight starting with this quote from the great reformer in a letter to a woman struggling with physical illness:

Afflictions should serve as medicine to purge us, to remove what is superfluous…We ought to learn from our physical afflictions, in whatever form they may come, to live every day with one foot raised, ready for our departure into the presence of God.

The list of Calvin’s afflictions read like a medical journal. Headaches. Fevers. Gout. Colic. Hemorrhoids. Arthritis. Acute chronic inflammation of the kidneys. Gall stones. Violent fits of coughing that ruptured blood vessels in his lungs.

I never realized the man suffered from so many physical ailments. He managed to view them as momentary light afflictions (2 Cor. 4:16-18) by looking upon the invisible and contemplating the incomparably great weight of eternal glory that awaited him upon his death.

May all who name the name of Jesus do the same in good health and bad.

With Calvin in the Theater of God

I am posting this weekend from Minneapolis. The Desiring God National Conference this year focuses on the 500th anniversary of the great reformer's birth. Here is a picture of John Calvin.

It has been a long day (see previous post). I have just come from session one by Julius Kim of Westminster West. He hammered home a theme from his talk I won't soon forget. Calvin was a faith-possessed pilgrim with a singular passion for knowing God and making Him known.

Three words worth remembering whether you are a giant reformer or a small church pastor: pilgrim, passion, and purpose. This world is not our home. We are all, as believers, aliens and strangers in a hostile world (1 Pet. 2:11). Zeal must characterize our lives and ministries (Rom. 12:11). And all must be done for the purpose of glorifying God (1 Cor. 10:31).

Dr Kim closed with thoughts about John Calvin's approach to suffering and how to attain the blessing of God in it. Two things, he said, formed the reformer's approach and counsel for getting blessing in suffering: pray and go to church. Prayer is the means of bringing God's blessing into a suffering saint's life. And God shows up in corporate worship through the preached word and the sacraments.

May we all be faith-possessed pilgrims with singular passion for knowing God through the means of grace and making Him known through our words and works. That's what makes for a life well-lived in the end result.

Red Lights, Rain Delays, & Exploding Catsup Bottles

Haven't posted for a while. September has been insane. All good stuff but intense. Thanks be to God for the mercy ministry outreach. Here's a picture of the finished house. Should have been a painting contractor. Not really. Took me two days to recover. I think I'll stick to writing sermons from behind a desk.

But I did recover, thankfully, enough to write this post tonight from a hotel in downtown Minneapolis. Someone gifted me a trip to the Desiring God National Conference commemorating the 500th anniversary of John Calvin's birth. I do love this place. I treasure this ministry. I pray the viral contagion of Christian hedonism infects me and my ministry all the more from yet another exposure to the truths and passion of this work.

It was no picnic getting here, that's for sure. It was one of those days for teaching you the virtue of patience. Didn't sleep well the night before. Hit every red light, it seemed, on 436 between Casselberry and OIA. Sat for two extra hours in the Atlanta airport waiting for rain to clear at MSP. Waited interminably long, or at least it felt that way, in the Super Shuttle while a new mom tried to figure out how to install a ginormous car seat in the van for her baby. Hit rush hour traffic going downtown. And then to top it all off, at dinner, I go to open the catsup bottle and the thing erupts in an explosion of the red stuff all over my hands, shirt, and the only pair of jeans I've got with me for this trip. It was almost comical.

All was not for nought, though. The manager took pity on me and comped the meal. Sure glad I offered to buy. I left the server an extra big grat. My server son would have been proud. My Father, I think, was pleased that in my desire to get to Minneapolis for a conference that matters to me I didn't miss the bigger picture that today was a day for cultivating the virtue of patience, and it really didn't matter if the delays ate up the margin and if I walk around all weekend with catsup stains on my jeans. Perhaps I am learning something about what matters most after all these years.

Some Kind of Birthday Gift

I received this email from a fellow pastor friend today.

Psalm 1:1 ¶ Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. 4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 6 for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Father, I want to thank you for Curt, as I am reminded of his birthday. Lord, I pray for him to be a blessed man. A man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; my prayer for Curt this coming year is that his full delight will be in the law of the LORD, and on Your law he will meditate day and night. Lord, I ask for you to make him like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. Lord, I pray that in all Curt does this year he will prosper. Lord, thank you for keeping him from the influence of wicked men this past year. The wicked are not like the tree that prospers but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. But, Lord I pray that you will know Curt's way this upcoming year because he will be walking in righteousness. I also pray you will give him wisdom to avoid the way of the wicked that will perish. Thank you Lord, for Your faithfulness in Curt's life in the last year and I pray for your continued mercy and grace in the year to come. Amen & Amen.

Happy Birthday, brother. I treasure your friendship & partnership in ministry.

Few gifts have greater value than praying Scripture back to God for someone. I was hugely blessed and greatly encouraged by the gesture.

Happy birthday to me!

Well Look Who Has a Blog!

Recognize this young lady? She has joined the blogosphere. Check it out here.

Reflections on Aging

Another birthday. I turn 57 today. Yikes. I can see 60 from here. Amazing. James is right. We are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes (4:14).

I suppose I feel all the more that way after my bout with head and neck cancer four years ago. Every day is a gift. I’m not really old, I don’t think, but after wondering if you might have died at age 53, things take on a different perspective the older you get.

For each of the years since finishing cancer treatment, I have acknowledged my birthdays with a different little ditty of my own making. Not sure why. Maybe it’s the significance of marking another year I didn’t know for sure if I would ever have.

Fifty-three was 53 and cancer free.
Fifty-four was 54 and ready for more.
Fifty-five was 55 and staying alive (OK, so I stole that one from the federal government).
Fifty-six, last year, was 56 and up to the same old tricks.
Fifty-seven is 57 and not ready for heaven – at least not as far as cancer seems to be concerned. You never know, but I do praise God for four years now where I remain cancer free and able to do my pastoral work for His glory and others’ joy.

How is this so? Why do I continue on?

Isaiah 46:3-4 answers these questions.

3 “Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; 4 even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.

In contrast to idols of Babylon like Bel and Nebo (see v. 1-2), God doesn’t make burdens for His people; He bears His people and their burdens ALL THEIR LIVES.

He really wants us to get this. Listen to me, he says. The accumulation of verbs saying essentially the same thing jumps off the page. You have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.

Matthew Henry writes in his commentary on Isaiah:

As God began early to do them good (when Israel was a child, then I loved him), so he had constantly continued to do them good: he had carried them from the womb to this day. And we may all witness for God that he has been thus gracious to us. We have been borne by him from the belly, from the womb, else we should have died from the womb and given up the ghost when we came out of the belly. We have been the constant care of his kind providence, carried in the arms of his power and in the bosom of his love and pity.

Borne, carried, -- these words speak of God’s faithfulness in the past to his aging people, from the womb no less. Will carry, will bear, will carry, will save, -- these words speak of God’s ongoing promised faithfulness into the twilight years, should He grant length of days.

Again, Matthew Henry:

God has graciously engaged to support and comfort his faithful servants, even in their old age: "Even to your old age, when you grow unfit for business, when you are compassed with infirmities, and perhaps your relations begin to grow weary of you, yet I am he—he that I am, he that I have been—the very same by whom you have been borne from the belly and carried from the womb. You change, but I am the same. I am he that I have promised to be, he that you have found me, and he that you would have me to be. I will carry you, I will bear, will bear you up and bear you out, and will carry you on in your way and carry you home at last.’’

What a contrast God is to the idols of Babylon and the idols of our 21st century making! The latter bears us down with burdens unspeakably heavy; the former, our great God, Jehovah, through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, lifts (the Hebrew word for carried in the context literally means to raise) us up and bears us along through all of life, from womb to tomb as they say, rescuing us at every turn.

There is no god like our God from the moment of conception to the 57th birthday and beyond.

I wonder what rhymes with 58?

Why I Love Being a Pastor (4)

Yet two more special reasons, among some 200 others, I love being in covenant community with God's people in a local church.

Why I Love Being a Pastor (3)

Another brand new reason, among some 200 others, I love being a shepherd of God's people!

The Glory of God on Display Hubble Style

Dr. Mohler has a post about recent photos from the Hubble telescope and how they declare the glory of God in oh so fabulous fasion.

Check it out here.

How Not to Blaspheme God as a Man

Some years ago, John Eldredge wrote a hugely popular book about men called Wild at Heart. Recently I have reread it along with a sequel, The Way of the Wild Heart. God worked uniquely in my life as a man on both counts. He contends this in the first book:

Christianity, as it currently exists, has done some terrible things to men. When all is said and done, I think most men in the church believe that God put them on the earth to be a good boy . . . a nice guy. . . . Now let me ask my male readers: In all your boyhood dreams growing up, did you ever dream of becoming a Nice Guy (p. 7)?

Whatever one may think about Eldredge’s treatise of masculinity, I can tell you what God wants men to pray about becoming as men in His church. He wants them to dream of becoming good men.

Paul tells Titus in 2:14 that Jesus gave himself for us . . . to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Titus gets a commission from Paul in this pastoral letter. He tells his ward to go hard after teaching and preaching that promotes a lifestyle of good works. He describes what that looks like in three spheres: the church (chapter one), the home (chapter two), and the world (chapter 3).

God cares greatly whether or not we excel in goodness as men, just as he does women, as the rest of the context in Titus 2 bears out. The Lord charges Titus to teach what accords with sound doctrine (2:1). The aim of such teaching is plain -- that the believers on Crete would take care to devote themselves to good works (3:8).

But the ultimate motivation for such teaching and resultant devotion comes into focus clearly in chapter two in three different verses making the same point.

Verse 5 – that the word of God may not be reviled.

Verse 8 – so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.

Verse 10 – so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

In every instance the concern remains the same. We must calculate the impact of the lifestyles we live in terms of the way they reflect upon the faith we profess before the critical eyes of a watching, unbelieving world.

Men, we can act in such a way so as to blaspheme God. We can cause His word, the Christian faith, to come under reviling, blasphemous scorn. We can act in such a way so as to set unbelievers off saying all sorts of unflattering things about Christians. We can act in such a way so as to appear to be wearing anything but the doctrine of God our Savior.

May God give us grace to act like men of God so that the name of God may be glorified in us.

Bless You Cancer (18)

How does one battle discouragement in prolonged suffering?

My journal entry from 9.11.05 filled only five lines.

Again there is no change in my condition, except that my lip is nearly healed. I continue to make mucous, especially at night. If I swallow any, it gets thrown up at some point - violently. The amount of mucous is staggering. It is difficult not to be discouraged. Cast your burden on the Lord and He will sustain you (Psa. 55:22).

Take this massive promise to the vault of heaven and cash it in over and over again from the endless resources of God's care.

That's how to battle discouragement in prolonged suffering.

More Puritan Power for the LB

I marvel at the timing of God in the concurrence of Conciliation Anniversary Sunday and this stream of articles from William Gurnall. This today:

Now if the Gospel will not allow us to pay our enemies back in their own coin, returning anger for anger, then certainly it forbids a brother to spit fire into the face of another brother. When such embers of contention begin to smoke among Christians, we can be sure Satan planted the spark; he is the one great kindle-coal of all strife.

Fellow fire-spitters, let us be given to Colossians 3:12-17 graces through the power of the Gospel unleashed in our lives.