Sunday Leftovers (3/4/07)

There is a simple reason why Jesus says, "Do not judge according to appearance..." (Jn. 7:24). Because we are prone to being impressed with the superficial.

For the same reason that foods that have much attraction and little substance and sustenance (read: candy bars, fast food burgers, chips and dip, and bubble gum), we are prone to being attracted to spiritual life that is glamorous, easy and superficial. Why dig deep into the heart of the matter if you can approach it superficially and give the appearance of being transformed?

Dig deep, because only spiritual depth will give you the satisfaction of a nourished soul.

Beware of the sermon that doesn't challenge you to something greater than you are or can accomplish in your own strength (every sermon should be God-exalting and expound the Scriptures so you are taught, reproved, corrected, and trained for righteousness). Beware of devotional times that leave you yawning — both literally and figuratively (you are meeting the holy God who invited fear when others saw Him). Beware of ministry and service that doesn't invigorate you or even make you fearful (you have been called to do something for which you are not adequate!). Beware of honoring those who have superficial successes (like money and position) and ignoring those who have no such trappings (its dishonoring to the name of Christ). Beware of being convicted of sin without being transformed.

All these dangers and more are marks of a superficial life that is perhaps "reputable" on the surface, but is weak and crumbling internally.

We do well to hear the words of Robert Murray McCheyne, which he wrote to a young missionary who was about to leave for his new ministry:

I trust you will have a pleasant and profitable time in Germany. I know you will apply hard to German; but do not forget the culture of the inner man — I mean the heart. How diligently the cavalry officer keeps his sabre clean and sharp; every stain he rubs off with the greatest care. Remember you are God's sword — His instrument — I trust a chosen vessel unto Him to bear His name. In great measure, according to the purity and perfections of the instrument, will be the success. It is not great talents God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God.

There is a measure to the superficial life which is easy and simple. But the life of ease is not always (rarely, in fact) the good life. The good life is the examined, "heart deep" life.

Preparing for Hearing a Sermon

I have been carrying in my Bible for several years a statement by J. I. Packer [Quest for Godliness] that is excellent preparation for Sunday worship:

We must never, therefore, let our Sundays become mere routine engagements; in that attitude of mind, we shall trifle them away by a humdrum formality. Every Sunday is meant to be a great day, and we should approach it expectantly, in full awareness of this. [my emphasis]

How might we prepare our hearts so that worship is a joyful expectation?

George Whitfield gave six practical guidelines in how to listen to a sermon:

1. Come to hear them, not out of curiosity, but from a sincere desire to know and do your duty. To enter His house merely to have our ears entertained, and not our hearts reformed, must certainly be highly displeasing to the Most High God, as well as unprofitable to ourselves.
2. Give diligent heed to the things that are spoken from the Word of God. If an earthly king were to issue a royal proclamation, and the life or death of his subjects entirely depended on performing or not performing its conditions, how eager would they be to hear what those conditions were! And shall we not pay the same respect to the King of kings, and Lord of lords, and lend an attentive ear to His ministers, when they are declaring, in His name, how our pardon, peace, and happiness may be secured?
3. Do not entertain even the least prejudice against the minister. That was the reason Jesus Christ Himself could not do many mighty works, nor preach to any great effect among those of His own country; for they were offended at Him. Take heed therefore, and beware of entertaining any dislike against those whom the Holy Ghost has made overseers over you.
4. Be careful not to depend too much on a preacher, or think more highly of him than you ought to think.
5. Make particular application to your own hearts of everything that is delivered.
6. Pray to the Lord, before, during, and after every sermon, to endue the minister with power to speak, and to grant you a will and ability to put into practice what he shall show from the Book of God to be your duty.

In a very practical way, preparation for worship begins not just in the morning on Sunday, but in the day and days preceding it. It begins with a humble recognition that my heart needs transformation, and so I pray that the Lord will use the message on Sunday to transform me. To that end ask that God would equip the preacher of the Word with wisdom to accurately interpret the Word and deliver the Word so that the Spirit of God can use that Word of God to turn you into a man of God.

This week may be the week in which you make dramatic progress in your life — or it may be a week in which you realize one small piece of truth that has been inhibiting you from growing. Go to worship with the expectation that in either case, both dramatic or small, you are going to worship God and to hear His Word as if your very life depended on it (for it does!)

Two More Resources

The appearance of new and helpful resources regarding "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" is happening probably by the minute on the internet. So I will attempt to refrain from offering daily updates. However, two additional resources came to my attention today that I think are helpful:

• "Tales From the Crypt: Do we have the bones of Jesus?" Written by Kerby Anderson, the analysis is helpful, concise and perceptive."
  
• "Eight Reasons Why I Believe That Jesus Rose from the Dead." Written by John Piper, this article addresses my fundamental concern: rather than merely addressing the week arguments set forth by Simcha Jacobovici and James Cameron, we also need to positively remind believers of the truth of the resurrection and why we believe and defend it so vigorously. Piper does that well.

.mp3 audio

I have a small .mp3 player (512 MB) that I keep loaded with sermons only (and one music album for when my daughters are in the car with me). And I listen to several of those sermons (usually 5-8) per week. Even with a short commute (12-15 minutes), with the commute and lunch and various other appointments and 4 exercise times per week, I can usually listen to that many full length sermons with ease. So I'm always on the lookout for sermons on the web.

Last week I was telling a friend what I do, and in doing so ended up talking him into purchasing a similar kind of .mp3 player. So then he emailed me, "Can you send me some links of where you go to get messages?" So I did. And thought it might be of interest to others. This is what I emailed him —

Glad you're enjoying your .mp3 player. I have used mine probably hundreds of hours; it has been well worth the time. Now for some links: I listen to Piper every week, and receive his messages as a podcast in itunes (and then I just drag the message to my player). I have a few other podcasts in itunes, though I pick and choose what I download. I also like to look for conferences (Shepherds Conference, Resolved Conference, various Desiring God conferences), etc... I also look for interviews and lectures that are sometimes easier to listen to than sermons while I'm exercising (it's sometimes difficult to follow an expositional argument when I'm gasping for breath!). So here are some places I find sermons:

• John Piper — something like 2500 Piper sermons and conference addresses, like the pastor's conference, which I'm just starting to listen to.
• Mark Dever — I don't often listen to the sermons here (though I am challenged and encouraged by Dever's preaching very much), but I love and listen to all the Nine Marks Interviews and Henry Forum lectures. I just finished Al Mohler's series "Naked and Not Ashamed" and it was excellent.
• Resolved Conference — the audio from this year's conference is free; other years are $2.
• Shepherd's Conference — these aren't free, but they are good!
  
• Master's Seminary Chapel
  
• Dallas Theological Seminary chapel — I have particularly appreciated the DTS Dialogue podcasts
• Southern Seminary Chapel and special addresses — they have lots of resources here; I generally just look at the chapel messages.
• Al Mohler audio — perhaps the most insightful and Biblical commentator on the cultural condition today
  
• Justin Taylor — this is not an audio site, but it is one of the few blogs I regularly read, and he often references audio resources on the web, so I will often find resources that way.
• Mars Hill Audition — you won't agree with everything on these, but they are thought provoking.
• Tommy Nelson — They have just added a podcast feature to this sight, making even more of his material available.
  
• Steve Lawson — I've heard him several times at the Shepherd's Conference, and he's excellent.
• I also update what I'm listening to every Sunday or Monday on my blog ("on my .mp3 player this week"), providing links that are usually directly downloadable from my site.

That ought to get you started....

May these messages glorify God in your heart by deepening your understanding of and affection for Him.

Thoughts on "The Lost Tomb of Jesus"

If it is close to Easter, it must be time for an attack on Christ, the cross, or the resurrection.

And so it is. This Sunday, Discovery Channel is airing "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" in which the claim is made that a tomb in Jerusalem has been discovered in which the bones of Jesus may have resided, along with His mother and father, his wife Mary Magdalene, and His children. (Where have we heard a similar story recently? That one was well-addressed too: audio, notes, power point.)

Numerous websites and articles have provided helpful insight into this issue as well. See, for instance:

• Darrell Bock ("Hollywood Hype" and "No Need to Yell")
• Nathan Busenitz
• Ben Witherington
• Al Mohler (Larry King Live and Al Mohler's radio program)

For a growing list of other helpful sites, please also see Justin Taylor or The Shepherd's Fellowship. All of these authors point to truth that makes our faith defendable. We have a reason for the hope within us, and we have a literal and credible object of faith — Jesus Christ.

Given that so many are saying so many right, good and true things in analysis of this television show, I do not feel compelled to add my voice to that part of the chorus.

There is something else that must be added to the song being sung, however. And it is a voice of encouragement to the church to be vigilant in defending the faith. Maybe this event will pass with only a small measure of impact on the culture and the church. And maybe not. The case has been made that The DaVinci Code came and went with little influence on the church. Perhaps. Perhaps not.

As I reflect on over 15 years of pastoral ministry and nearly 40 years in the faith, it appears to these eyes that the attacks on the credibility of Christ and the Christian faith are becoming more frequent and more brazen, yet with a lower inflammatory impact, both in the church and the culture. The general attitude is a shrug of the shoulder, and a "what's new?" as if Christ's resurrection is of little importance.

It is of great importance.

Paul says the resurrection is of first importance. Was this hyperbole? Hardly.

• The resurrection of Christ is of first importance because if there is no resurrection, there is no salvation.
  
• If there is no resurrection of Christ, ministry and preaching is a waste of time and effort.
  
• If there is no resurrection of Christ, there is still accountability for sin (there is no forgiveness!).
• If there is no resurrection of Christ, there is no life for anyone.
• If there is no resurrection of Christ, life is pitiful for those who say they are followers of Christ.
  

The resurrection of Christ is a central doctrine and tenet of the faith — it is an issue worth defending (cf. 1 Cor. 15:12ff and 2 Tim. 2:16-19 to see what Paul thought about those who distorted Christ's resurrection) and an issue for which we will die, if necessary.

Why would men be so compelled to vigorously attack the resurrection of Christ? What's in it for them? Lawlessness and sin. If Christ is denied, if the resurrection is desecrated, then the authority of Christ is removed and sin is allowed to reign. This is Christ's word: "At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold" (Mt. 24:10-12). There you have it from the lips of Christ: if truth is removed, sin is allowed to reign, and people can "enjoy" hearts that are cold to Christ without the conviction of their consciences. The conscience is dead.

Further, a denial of the resurrection of Christ is a Satanic attack on the truth, designed to keep those who are blind to the gospel in that condition (2 Cor. 4:4). Wherever there is an assault on the truth, you can be sure that it is initiated by the one whose very name means "deceiver." His work is to deceive people, making his lies appear attractive and like the truth so that they will believe and follow him instead of the glorious Creator (2 Cor. 11:13-14). His destiny is eternal hell, and his desire is to keep as many as possible from being satisfied in Christ and joining him in his assured destiny.

And even more tragically, attacks on the truth are also designed to upset the faith of believers. During the week preceding His crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus taught His disciples that at the end of time, there would be "false Christ's and false prophets [who] will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect" (Mt. 24:24; my emphasis). This attack on the resurrection of Christ is not merely to confirm the blind in their blindness. It is to confuse the seeing so that they too will be blinded.

Attacks like this distort the truth and upset the faith of believers (2 Tim. 2:16-19). And that is the greatest tragedy of all. People who earnestly seek the truth and the Savior are dissuaded from following Him because of a horrid lie perpetrated by the Deceiver.

Will this attack pass? Perhaps (though I am skeptical that it will pass). But the truth of the resurrection is worth defending; it must be defended. It is of first importance. If we will not defend Christ's resurrection, we will defend nothing. And that will be to the spiritual detriment of Christ's chosen and elected people — perhaps even ourselves. It's time to sing the song of truth in defense of the faith.

Sunday Leftovers (2/25/07)

I have been deeply encouraged as I have prepared for communion and the sermon this week. I have read and perused more books and articles than I normally do, and have found many Biblical encouragements.

For instance, I found myself thumbing through J. I. Packer's Knowing God (it's been far too long since I picked it up), and came across these words:

On the cross Jesus lost all the good that He had before: all sense of his Father's presence and love, all sense of physical, mental, and spiritual well-being, all enjoyment of God and of created things, all ease and solace of friendship, were taken from Him, and in their place was nothing but loneliness, pain, a killing sense of human malice and callousness, and a horror of great spiritual darkness. The physical pain, though great (for crucifixion was the cruellest form of judicial execution the world has ever known), was yet only a small part of the story; Jesus's chief sufferings were mental and spiritual, and what was packed into less than four hundred minutes was an eternity of agony — agony such that each minute was an eternity in itself, as mental sufferers know that individual minutes can be.

I also appreciated J. Dwight Pentecost's concise summary of justification in Things Which Become Sound Doctrine:

1. God is the source of justification (Rom. 8:30)
2. Blood is the ground of justification (Rom. 3:24-26).
3. Faith is the instrument of justification (Rom. 3:28; 4:5).
4. Grace is the essence of justification (Rom. 3:24).
5. The Spirit is the instrument of justification (1 Cor. 6:9-11).
6. Works are the evidence of justification (James 2:21, 24-25).
7. Christ is the position of the justified one (2 Cor. 5:21).
   

As I read, I was reminded again of the value of reading good writers who love God and honor the Scriptures (1 Cor. 11:1). I am always on the lookout for books on the cross that will deepen my faith and enlarge my understanding of the work of Christ on the cross. One of the works mentioned on this morning's outline would be a great place to start if you would like to add to your own library.

One more thought: A simple concordance search of the words "justify," "justified," and "justification" will yield a rich treasure of the work of God on behalf of those who have faith in Christ. Do the search, look up and meditate on the verses. It will encourage and enrich your soul.

Amazing Grace, Newton and Wilberforce

My family and I rarely go to see movies in the theater; we may make an exception in the next week or two. Today "Amazing Grace," the story of William Wilberforce is opening in theaters nationwide. If you are interested in knowing about the philosophy of the filmmaker, read the speech given by Michael Flaherty, the President of Walden Media, producers of this movie (and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, among others).

In addition, John Piper has written a brief (80 pp.) biographical book about Wilberforce's life. Amazing Grace in the Life of William Wilberforce can be purchased or read online. He has also written about the life of John Newton (redeemed slave-trader, hymn-writer and pastor), who significantly influenced Wilberforce. The book (which also includes an account of Charles Simeon and a more condensed biography of Wilberforce) is based on a sermon he preached at the Bethlehem Pastor's Conference.

These Inward Trials

These Inward Trials

I asked the Lord, that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek more earnestly His face.

I hoped that in some favoured hour
At once He'd answer my request,
And by His love's constraining power
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.

Instead of this, He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart;
And let the angry powers of hell
Assault my soul in every part.

Yea more, with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe;
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.

'Lord, why is this?' I trembling cried,
'Wilt thou pursue Thy worm to death?'
' 'Tis in this way,' the Lord replied,
'I answer prayer for grace and faith.

'These inward trials I employ
From self and pride to set thee free;
And break thy schemes of earthly joy,
That thou may'st seek thy all in me.'

— John Newton


(HT: J. I. Packer, Knowing God, p. 229)

Listening to the Giants

When I purchased my first good camera in college (35mm film and everything), I determined that if I could get one or two, or perhaps three excellent pictures from each roll of film that it would be money well spent.

I've taken a somewhat similar approach to books — if I can find two or three really excellent ideas, quotes, thought-provoking or life-changing exhortations, it is worth the hours I invested in reading the book.

So having concluded Warren Wiersbe's Listening to the Giants last night, I would call it a worthwhile book. The book contains brief biographical sketches of 15-18 pastors and Christian leaders from the past 3 centuries, along with a number of other pastoral encouragements. Probably the most compelling chapter was the last one, "Marks of Maturity in the Ministry" — a chapter that will make it to my filing cabinet.

Other compelling thoughts in the book:

• a helpful definition of worship: "to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open up the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God." [William Temple]
• the advice of W. H. Griffith Thomas to preachers: "Think yourself empty, read yourself full, write yourself clear, pray yourself keen — then enter the pulpit and let yourself go!"
• and an oft-paraphrased and seldom-sourced quotation: "Henry Varley would have been a famous man had he never met Dwight L. Moody. But for some reason people remember Varley most for telling the evangelist: 'The world has yet to see what God can do with and for and through and in a man who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him.'"

Why Sing Hymns?

Over the past generation, many churches have left behind the singing of hymns. Some have asked whether hymns are still appropriate or relevant for today. Yet at the same time, there are new hymns being written that honor the tradition of the ancient, Biblical hymns of the faith. Among these hymn writers are Keith Getty and Stuart Townend (e.g., "In Christ Alone").

Getty gave a very helpful summary of why he writes hymns and a theology of music at a recent conference. You may listen to it here.

Abortion and Crisis Pregnancy Centers

Al Mohler's analysis of Time magazine's current cover story ("The Grassroots Abortion War") on Crisis Pregnancy Centers is helpful and illuminating. Read it here.

More Dying and Living

What does a man think and write as he faces imminent death?

Read the words of grace penned by Al Groves prior to his death, as he anticipated that death. The letter was read at his memorial service.

Sunday Leftovers (2/18/07)

People are clueless about Christ (if they are unbelievers) and the power of Christ in their daily activities (if they are believers) because they do not want Him to intrude on their lives. They want trivial happinesses and self-indulgent pleasures (and lack of pain) without the transforming work of Christ in their hearts.

Jesus said it so simply and penetratingly: "If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching…" (Jn. 7:17). Stated positively, if anyone wants to want to obey Christ, he will have Christ. Stated negatively, if anyone has no desire to do God's desires, he will not have Christ. The reason people have a dynamic walk with Christ is that they have a desire for Him. And the reason that others have no genuine life with Christ is that they don't want Him.

There are numerous examples of this in the life and ministry of Christ. Consider the parable of Jesus in Mt. 22:1ff, and Jesus' lament over Jerusalem (Mt. 23:37). And the crowd in Jn. 6:66 which has no desire to heed Christ's words about belief, so it leaves (in contrast with the disciples, who want Christ, so they stay; Jn. 6:67). And the church of Thyatira also repudiated the word of Christ because it had no desire to repent of immorality (Rev. 2:21).

The "poster child" of those who do not want to want God's will is the "faithful" son of the waiting Father in Christ's parable in Luke 15. He didn't get what he wanted from his Father, so he was unwilling to go into the party celebrating the return of his repentant prodigal brother.

These examples are related to God's repeated refrain in the Old Testament, "For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings" (Hos. 6:6). God wants more than just outward conformity to His ordinances; He longs for people that follow Him joyfully — out of a desire for His fellowship (see also Acts 7:39 for another of many OT examples).

By contrast is the plea of the praying tax collector, who demonstrated his desire to know God and follow God by petitioning God with the simple prayer, "God, be merciful to me, the sinner!" This is the prayer of the one who wants to want to do the will of God — he prays for God's mercy and grace to provide it for him (cf. also Rom. 7:24-25; 9:16).

John Piper said it well in a sermon four years ago:

…to you who say, you have never tasted the glory of God, I say, you have tasted many of its appetizers. Have you ever looked up? Have you ever been hugged? Have you ever admired anything? Have you ever sat in front of a warm fire? Have you ever tasted sexual desire? Have you ever walked in the woods, sat by a lake, lain in a summer hammock? Have you ever drunk your favorite drink on a hot day or eaten anything good? Every desire is either a devout or a distorted enticement to the glory of heaven.

You say you haven’t tasted God’s glory. I say. You have tasted the appetizers. Go on to the meal. You have seen the shadows; look at the substance. You have walked in the warm rays of the day; turn and look at the sun itself. You have heard echoes of God’s glory everywhere; tune your heart to the original music.

And the best place to get your heart tuned is at the cross of Jesus Christ. "We have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). If you want the most concentrated display of the glory of God, look at Jesus in the Gospels, and look especially at the cross. This will focus your eyes and tune your heart and waken your taste buds so that you will see and hear and taste the glory of the true God everywhere.

That is what you were made for. I plead with you: don’t throw your life away. God made you to know his glory. Pursue that with all your heart and above all else.

So this is a worthy prayer for us today: "Lord, kindle afresh our hearts not only to be obedient to you, but to take delight in obeying you. Give us a passion to want you and to want to do Your will. Intrude into our lives to change our passions into godly desires — so Christ might be glorified (revealed) in us."

Help for Marriages

I regularly read books and magazines and journals and websites and have conversations with people that remind me that many marriages are in desperate need of God's grace to intervene and save them from self-implosion.

I also listen to several audio sermons each week to stimulate my own heart to joyful obedience to Christ. And one pastor that has consistently stimulated my heart to joy in Christ is John Piper. I am drawn to his preaching because he makes me long to know and experience the glory of God like no one else apart from Scripture itself has ever done for me. The glory of God is not just a theological topic that is divorced (I use that word intentionally) from reality, as his current series on marriage is demonstrating.

In his most recent message, he articulated the theme of the series in one brief sentence: “You cannot say to often that marriage is a model of Christ and the church.”

His sermons are providing the reasons why he says that: 1) This lifts marriage out of the sordid sitcom images and gives it the magnificent meaning God meant it to have; 2) this gives marriage a solid basis in grace, since Christ obtained and sustains his bride by grace alone; and 3) this shows that the husband’s headship and the wife’s submission are crucial and crucified. That is, they are woven into the very meaning of marriage as a display of Christ and the church, but they are both defined by Christ’s self-denying work on the cross so that their pride and slavishness are cancelled.

Three messages have been preached already. More are on the way. Listen to them here (manuscripts for each message are also available on the DG website):

• Staying Married Is Not About Staying in Love, Part 1
  
• Staying Married Is Not About Staying in Love, Part 2
• Marriage: God's Showcase of Covenant-Keeping Grace
  

Sola Scriptura

The audio from the recent Sola Scriptura conference hosted by Countryside Bible Church has now been posted. There are six messages in all, two each by Steve Lawson, Bruce Ware, and Don Whitney. I could only attend one evening, but have downloaded the rest of the messages and am looking forward to listening to all of them over the coming weeks.

I Like Leftovers...

I like leftovers.

It hasn’t always been that way.

Mom always had a meal schedule. I don’t remember exactly how it went, but it was something like, Sunday is turkey legs, Monday is chicken, Tuesday is pork, Wednesday is ground beef, and so on. And periodically there would be a surprise “clean out the refrigerator of leftovers.” I did not care for those days (Mom taught me not to say “hate,” but my disdain for leftovers was pretty high).

Then I moved out and survived on my own cooking, which began with ramman noodles (10 for a dollar!) and five for a dollar frozen burritos (I usually remembered to thaw before eating). All of a sudden Mom’s leftovers looked really good. And now having eaten a fairly high number of sandwiches in my life, I much prefer taking leftovers when I take my lunch to the office. Just because I didn’t finish a piece of steak or a bowl of soup the night before doesn’t mean that it suddenly became tasteless after a night in the refrigerator. In fact, some things taste better the second time around as the flavors have time to meld together.

That is true spiritually as well. Even though we may eat a delightful spiritual meal on a particular passage, there may still be more food to feed our faith and stimulate our godly desires in that same passage the next day. In fact, it is often only as we ruminate (see Ps. 1:2) on a passage over an extended period of time that its deeper meanings are comprehended and applied.

This is one of the reasons that Scripture often says to remember the things that have already been spoken. Discipleship is often not the impartation of new truth, but a reminder of the things that are already known and believed (2 Pt. 3:1-2). An effective means of stimulating one another to love and good deeds is simply to remind each other of the truths we believe and exhort each other to hold on and keep on (1 Thess. 4:1). This is what a parent does, and this is what a parent in the faith does (1 Thess. 2:11).

And this is also what a pastor endeavors to do (in part) every Sunday morning. Yet some things (believe it or not) get left on the “editing room floor.” Perhaps there are tangents suggested by the passage that get left out as the message is written on Friday morning, simply because they would be too distracting to the overall flow of the message. Or perhaps they are left out as the message is preached because of time considerations or because of the dynamic of communicating the passage unfolds while preaching. Regardless, the pastor regularly leaves the pulpit having provided a sufficient meal, with leftovers in hand.

What is done with those leftovers? If there are enough, they become a sermon the next week or on another occasion. But usually they just end up tucked away in the recesses of his own mind for his own meditation, or buried in a file folder in a cabinet.

Or they end up on a website blog the next morning. Often after fielding questions following the worship service or after my own further reflection, I realize that a point was inadequately explained or that something may have been edited that needed amplification, or there was another quote that would have provided further insight. What to do with those things?

Just a few years ago, there was nothing to do with those thoughts. But now with the Internet there is. So as a means of redeeming technology and as stimulant to my own soul to remember the truth just preached and as a foundation for a “spiritual midnight snack,” you will regularly find posted on my blog “Sunday Leftovers” — short thoughts, quotes, applications and expansions of the message from that morning. Use them to deepen your understanding of the grace of Christ and as a stimulant to a greater delight in Christ.

Family Worship

It is a common occurrence that a man struggles with how to provide spiritual leadership to his wife and children. Why is that? Perhaps it is because —

Laying aside all flattering words, I may say plainly that I regard the neglect of family worship as springing from lukewarmness and worldliness in religion. [J. W. Alexander]

Is there anything that can be done to have a heart change? In a concise (28 pp.) booklet entitled Family Worship, Don Whitney offers gentle and wise counsel about providing that leadership, surveying the biblical teaching on family worship, how it has been done throughout church history, and briefly some simple how-to's of family worship. The booklet is based on a two-part sermon series he preached last summer (audio 1 | audio 2).

Sunday Leftovers (2/11/07)

Proximity to Christ does not guarantee faith in Christ.

This was the reality of the half-brothers of Jesus prior to His resurrection (though they later trusted in Him; cf. Gal. 1:19; Jude 1).

It makes you wonder, doesn't it, how they could be so close to Christ — seeing His lack of sin day after day for years, hearing His speech that was so different even as a young man (cf. Lk. 2:41-52), and then seeing His public ministry of preaching and teaching — and yet dismiss His claims and reject faith in Him.

Jesus tells them (and us) why they rejected Him (and why people continue to reject Him): because they loved the world and its enticements more than they loved Christ. The world hated Christ, wanted to kill Christ and rid itself of the ministry of Christ, but the world did not hate the brothers of Christ (Jn. 7:7). There is only one reason that the world will not hate someone — if that person is part of the world system and loves the world (Jn. 15:19). The brothers had succumbed to the attraction of temporal delights and pleasures called worldliness and rejected Christ.

We don't use that word "worldliness" too much anymore. It sounds quaint to our "modern" ears. Old-fashioned. Even legalistic. But it was destructive in the time of Christ and it is destructive today.

What is meant by this term worldliness? David Wells offered a helpful discussion of it in a recent interview:

Worldliness is that system of values in any given culture that makes sin look normal and which makes righteousness look strange or alien. It’s what gives public affirmation, public credence, public approval to fallen human life. It’s what comes out in poll when someone says, "Well, everyone is doing it." That is worldliness. That is where you get public sign-off on what is wrong, and it exerts enormous coercive power because people feel as if they’re odd or strange if they don’t go along with a certain way of looking at life or living life or having certain things or doing certain things or being certain people. That’s worldliness.

He also adds that there is a temptation in addressing worldliness to deal with trivialities. But worldliness is about competing loyalties — you cannot love the world and be a friend of God. (You might read the last part of the last sentence again.) This is John's message as well — worldliness is comprised of fleshly lusts (don't think that just means illicit sex; it's much more than that), hedonistic (self-indulgent) and lusty desires, and arrogant pride. In short it is anything which does not and cannot originate with the Father (1 Jn. 2:15-17). It is, as Iain Murray wrote, "departing from God. It is a man-centered way of thinking."

We (like the brothers of Jesus probably did), think that the influence on us is not so terribly dangerous. (How else will pastors be able to justify watching profane television shows and movies and listening to heretical music and be able to call it "relevance" instead of impurity and unholiness?) Yet in Scripture "world" refers to that which has been warped by sin and tormented by beliefs and desires that are uncontrollable. It is hostile to God (sometimes openly, often subtly) and is that from which believers have been delivered from, not that to which we have been delivered (1 Pt. 2:9).

Two final words are helpful — one old and one recent —

The world is too much with us; late and soon
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! [William Wordsworth]

Most of us recognize the danger of exposing ourselves to sinful content, so we tend to set arbitrary limits based on how much we think we can "handle." When a movie or TV show presents us with mild or infrequent profanity, and occasional adulterous affair, or a limited amount of gratuitous violence, we sort of weigh the danger level. We act as if we each have a "sin threshold" beyond which we dare not go. We might as well ask how much of a poison pill we can swallow before it kills us. [Josh Harris, "Christians and Media."]

Worldly desires will delude us into thinking two dangerous thoughts (as Jesus' own brothers did for a time) — our sin is inconsequential and Christ is insignificant. Beware of worldly desires. With them, you may be near in proximity to Christ, but in reality you will remain far, far away.

Sex and Marriage

I have a book in my library that always makes a friend of mine laugh when he sees it on my shelf. The book is Lauren Winner's recent release, Real Sex: the Naked Truth About Chastity. He laughs because the spine simply reads, "Real Sex Winner."

Yet (while I don't agree with everything in the book) it really is a winner because it forces us to think critically about sex and fidelity and the forces that attempt to distract us from thinking truly about our sexuality. Winner recently addressed Calvin College in it's January series on the topic: "The Truth About Married Sex." Her talk is an expansion of a topic in the aforementioned book, and well worth a listen. Below is a quotation from the book that will give you a flavor of the lecture:

Premarital Sex: It Teaches You that Sex Is Thrilling

The main story our society tells about non-marital sex is that it's exciting. Indeed, "exciting" and "thrilling" are among the adjectives our popular culture most frequently attaches to sex. And premarital sex can be exciting. Folks who are in the dating pool cannot assume they are going to have sex every night, or every week. Sex isn't regular. It isn't ordinary. To the contrary, it is dramatic. Sometimes it is dramatic because it is bound up with the thrill of the chase-this is the drama of the much-touted college "hook-up." You get all gussied up and go to a party and you have a goal: to attract that cute man with the long eyelashes. Flirting is exciting. Knowing someone finds you attractive feels good. Not knowing the outcome — Will he or won't he? Does she or doesn't she? — can be thrilling.

Sometimes premarital sex feels dramatic because, by definition, it is part of a relationship that is itself not wholly stable. Even when you've been dating someone for a year, the lack of" permanence that fundamentally characterizes your relationship can add a certain frisson to everything you do with that person, from going on a Saturday hike to smooching on the sofa. Everything in your relationship gets some of its charge from the uncertainty, the unknown: put negatively, it gets its charge from the instability; put more generously, it gets its charge from the possibility.

This may be the single most significant way that married sex differs from unmarried sex. Married sex does not derive its thrill from the possibility of the unknown. Married sex is a given. It is solemnized and marked in ritual. It is established. It is governed by vows. It becomes a ritual in itself; it becomes a routine.

The sex of blind dates and fraternity parties, even of relatively long-standing dating relationships, has, simply, no normal qualities. Based principally on mutual desire, it dispenses with the ordinary rhythms of marital sex, trading them for a seemingly thrilling but ultimately false story. This may be the way that the sin of premarital sex sticks with us most lastingly; it may be the twisted lesson it teaches us most convincingly: that sex is exciting. That sex derives its thrill from instability and drama. In fact, the opposite is true: the dramas of married sex are smaller and more intimate, and indeed it is the stability of marriage that allows sex to be what it is.…

[So] There's nothing inherently wrong with married couples fostering a little romance. There's nothing wrong with the husband who buys his wife some lingerie or lights a few candles in the bedroom. The problem comes before that-it comes in a set of premarital sexual experiences that foster the expectation that sex will be constantly exciting, that it will be thrilling the way instability is almost always thrilling, the way walking on a rope bridge across a gorge can be thrilling. The problem comes when we learn to define excitement by instability's terms, to connect sexuality and desire with that instability, instead of teaching us to find it in the stable, daily-and yes, occasionally dull-rhythms of marriage. [pp. 118-20.]

Thoughts on Dying and Living

Generally we say, "living and dying." Life comes first, then death. Yet for the believer, the order is reversed. There is death, and then there is life eternal in all its fullness.

I thought of that as I read the blog accounts of the passing of J. Alan Groves. I was unaware of the life or ministry of Professor Groves until I read of it online. His wife's account of the final hours of his life on earth and his passage to eternity was moving, even to one who did not know him. We do well to think often of the shortness of life on earth and the reality of our eternal destiny. This account will help you do that. It's well worth a read, as is the more extended account.


(HT: Justin Taylor)

Questions to Sanctify Your Life

In this morning's devotional, Oswald Sanders asks a number of helpful questions to stimulate sanctification in our lives:

When we pray to be sanctified, are we prepared to face the standard of these verses? We take the term sanctification much too lightly. Are we prepared for what sanctification will cost? It will cost an intense narrowing of all our interests on earth, and an immense broadening of all our interests in God. Sanctification means intense concentration on God's point of view. It means every power of body, soul and spirit chained and kept for God's purpose only. Are we prepared for God to do in us all that He separated us for? And then after His work is done in us, are we prepared to separate ourselves to God even as Jesus did? "For their sakes I sanctify Myself." The reason some of us have not entered into the experience of sanctification is that we have not realized the meaning of sanctification from God's standpoint. Sanctification means being made one with Jesus so that the disposition that ruled Him will rule us. Are we prepared for what that will cost? It will cost everything that is not of God in us.

Are we prepared to be caught up into the swing of this prayer of the apostle Paul's? Are we prepared to say - "Lord, make me as holy as You can make a sinner saved by grace"? Jesus has prayed that we might be one with Him as He is one with the Father. The one and only characteristic of the Holy Ghost in a man is a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ, and freedom from everything that is unlike Him. Are we prepared to set ourselves apart for the Holy Spirit's ministrations in us?

Final Thoughts from Adophe Monod

I just finished reading Adolphe Monod's Living in the Hope of Glory this morning. Several statements stood out as I completed the book:

"We have no idea of what we would be able to do if we were completely lost in such total harmony with God; if we would seek no other will than his. We have no idea of what we would be able to do if every word in our mouth, every beat of our heart, every thought of our minds, every movement of our spirit and body were oriented toward him to wait for him in the spirit of Samuel: 'Speak, for your servant is listening' (1 Sam. 3:10)." [p. 135.]

"Oh, how can we surround [Scripture] with enough attention and respect?…Most read [the Scriptures] superficially and content themselves with a few great general truths when they could be probing ever deeper and becoming aware (as much as they can) of all that is there, as it is written, 'The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever' (Deut. 29:29)." [p. 141.]

"Without the Word, prayer is nothing, having no source of nourishment. Without prayer, the Word is powerless and does not penetrate into the heart." [p. 154.]

I had no knowledge of Monod prior to purchasing this book, and only bought it because I trusted the publisher. What a sweet treasure this book has been for the past month or so of devotional readings.

Sunday Leftovers (2/4/07)

A comment made by David Wells in his book God in the Wasteland resonates in my mind as I think about discipleship and the state of the church: "God rests too lightly — too inconsequentially on His church." That is, too many believers follow God too superficially. And too often, He is followed weakly because the cost of following Him is too high or the desires we have for Him are misplaced (we want what He gives rather than desiring Him).

Three brief comments from others address this topic in different and provocative ways:

"…there must be a hearty reliance upon God, and a childlike confidence in him. I would recommend you either believe in God up to the hilt, or not at all. Believe this Book of God, every letter of it, or else reject it. There is no logical standing-place between the two. Be satisfied with nothing less than a faith that swims in the deeps of divine revelation; a faith that paddles about the edge of the water is poor faith, and is not good for much. Oh, I pray you, do believe in God, and his omnipotence." [C. H. Spurgeon, "Is God in the Camp?"]

"You will become like those with whom you 'walk' or spend time. If you spend much of your discretionary hours with foolish or worldly people — including those on TV shows and commercials — you'll grow more foolish and worldly. But if you become one 'who walks with wise men [you'll] be wise.'" [Don Whitney, Simplify Your Spiritual Life.]

"If there are so many Christians in the U.S., why aren't we affecting our world? I believe it's because…we treat our faith like a section of the newspaper or an item on our 'Things to Do Today' list. We file religion in our schedules between relatives and running. It's just one of the many concerns competing for our attention.…if Christianity is true — then it cannot be simply a file drawer in our crowded lives. It must be the central truth from which all our behavior, relationships, and philosophy flow." [Charles Colson, Against the Night.]

A Provocative Statement about Marriage

Speaking of the difficulty the disciples had in hearing Jesus' words concerning marriage in Matthew 19, John Piper said Sunday,

"…how much more will the magnificence of marriage in the mind of God seem unintelligible in a world that we live in where the main idol is self, and its main doctrine is autonomy, and its central act of worship is being entertained, and its two main shrines are the television and the cinema, and its most sacred genuflection is the uninhibited act of sexual intercourse. Such a culture will find the glory of marriage in the mind of Jesus virtually unintelligible." [I have not yet finished this sermon, but it is an outstanding encouragement to faithfulness in marriage because of the creation of marriage by the hand of God for the glory of God.]

Music Worth a Listen

I don't often purchase new music — most of what I buy was written 200 (or more) years ago. And I rarely make musical suggestions to others. But the other day I found a reference to some new music, and on a whim, listened to some excerpts and then made a purchase.

In the album, "His Faithfulness," Jim Spencer provided arrangement for about 10 of Amy Carmichael's poems. It is outstanding. It arrived yesterday, and I have probably listened to it a half dozen times already.

The music fits well with the words, and the words reflect a biblical theology. It's already proven to be worth my $14 investment.

(HT: Justin Taylor)

Sunday Leftovers (1/28/07)

The cartoon character Broom Hilda once lamented,

"I've searched all my life for the key to happiness.
"I found the key to happiness once..."
"The next day someone changed the locks."

Even believers are not immune to such thinking. We believe that we have found the key to happiness, and then realize that what we thought would provide happiness, does not.

Yet the promise of God that He will give us eternal life is a directive to us that what we should pursue as an object of happiness is life in Christ (Col. 3:4) and eternal life (Jn. 6:54).

And just what kind of new life does Christ offer? James Boice tells of at least 10 things that become new in Christ because of His resurrection and the promise of our resurrection:

• Christ is known in a new way (Jn. 20:17)
• Believers are given a new title (Jn. 20:17)
• Believers are told a a new position (Jn. 20:17)
• Believers occupy a new place (Jn. 20:19)
• Believers are assured of a new blessing (Jn. 20:19, 21)
• Believers are given a new privilege (Jn. 20:19)
• Believers have a new joy (Jn. 20:20)
• Believers receive a new commission (Jn. 20:21)
• Believers are a new creation (Jn. 20:22)
• Believers have a new Indweller (Jn. 20:22)
  

These truths are the promise of God and are to be pursued and enjoyed as the overflow of our satisfaction in Christ. He is our satisfaction.

Must Reading

If you read one thing on the Internet today or this week or this month, let it be this morning's commentary by Al Mohler, "The Scary Logic of Peter Singer." The topic of bioethics and eugenics may not be a favorite of yours, but as believers, we must be informed about how the culture thinks and how we are to respond in thought and action. True, Singer's position is obviously and tragically flawed and minor, but there are massive shifts taking place in our cultural mores (listen to the discussion about homosexual marriage and think about how different similar discussions were even five years ago), and what is minority opinion today may be accepted opinion tomorrow.

So read Mohler's commentary and beware of the influences of the culture on your own mind and affections.

Sunday Leftovers (1/21/07 )

One of the great (and often over-looked) truths about salvation is that God draws (compels) men to believe. This action originates with the Father's eternal plan (Jn. 6:44; Eph. 1:3-6), but it also includes the resurrecting work of Christ as the means by which salvation is fulfilled (Jn. 6:39, 40, 44, 54) and the revealing of the Word of God by the Spirit of God as the means by which men come to know the truth (Jn. 6:45). In other words, your salvation does not come by your own self-exalting reasoning (as the Pharisees thought they could accomplish it), but by the cooperative work of the entire, triune God.

This salvation, while compelled by God, is available to all people everywhere (Jn. 3:16; Acts 17:30). Yet the belief that is produced is not singular — it is continual and constant. That is, belief is not something that is evidenced one time and then substantially forgotten. Belief in Christ is an ever-present reality for those who belong to Christ. This is why Jesus says, "he who believes (present tense -- emphasizing the ongoing and continual nature of the belief) has eternal life" (6:47) He does not say "he who believed (past tense) has eternal life." Those who have eternal life have it because of the gracious work of God which compels them to give evidence of their faith in Christ in a living, ongoing manner.

In their book How People Change, Lane and Tripp note that there is a "gospel gap" in many people's lives. Why is there a gap between what people say they believe about the gospel and how they live life? Because what they say they believe is not really what they believe — because they do not believe that Jesus must be really believed.

But when people believe, there is life — that is, Christ becomes all-satisfying. I like how John Piper says it:

Believing in Jesus means coming to him for the quenching of our soul's thirst. Faith in Christ is being satisfied with all that God is for us in Jesus.

That's belief, produced by the Word and work of God. And it is the great word about salvation from the Word.

Lessons Learned in a Crisis

Yesterday morning I made that statement that James 1 is a difficult passage for us to comprehend (and apply) because it is so contrary to the fleshly response when trials occur. In addition to the eternal help we receive from God's Word, God also provides us with godly people who respond to trial in God-exalting ways -- and thereby demonstrate for us the trustworthiness of His Word. Al Mohler is such a man, and his commentary this morning is such a help for us. It is worth reading, printing, and keeping.

A Prayer for a Lack of Prayer

This is from Adolphe Monod's book, Living in the Hope of Glory. It is a fitting preparation for our worship for Sunday, and for our preparation of our service today (and any day):

My God, forgive the way in which your church, which alone in the world knows enough to pray, does pray. Forgive the way in which we ourselves pray; the half-heartedness, the uncertainty, the unbelief we exhibit even on the least unfaithful, the least unbelieving days of our Christian life and ministry! My God, forgive the sin of our holy offerings! [p. 95]

Why is prayerfulness so important (apart from the fact that it is commanded by God in Scripture!)? Monod answers:

…most of the time we pray without praying. We have no idea of the weakness and unbelief that are mingled with our prayers for want of living with the invisible [his term for fellowship with God, particularly in relation to the future eternal state]. We have no idea of the blessings and favors of which we deprive ourselves. Oh, my friends, let us constantly repeat this prayer, 'Lord, teach us to pray!' When we know how to pray, we will know all, and what is of even greater worth, we will have all. We will know Jesus, and we will do better than simply know him; we will possess him. [pp. 95-6]

Sunday Leftovers (1/14/07)

It has been said that “the trouble with life is that it’s so daily.” Most of us identify well with that statement.

Daily-ness is not only the trouble with life; it is also the “trouble” with the spiritual life (it’s what makes the spiritual life difficult). We desire a sanctification that is instant and complete, but that kind of spiritual maturity is nonexistent. Instead, God has designed our sanctification to be progressive — to be a daily, moment-by-moment reminder that we are always dependent on Him for all our life.

As you think about your spiritual life this year, consider two complementary truths:

• see everything you do as an opportunity to grow in your dependence on (and love for) Christ.
• remember that for all you do to grow in Him, at the end of this year, you will not be fully perfected.

Everything that is part of our life is an opportunity to trust Christ and grow in fellowship with Him and moved forward in our sanctification. So paying bills and shopping for shoes and praying with children at night and praying alone in the morning and reading the newspaper and drinking orange juice and taking out the garbage every evening and calling a friend and getting your hair cut and commuting to work and listening to the radio and surfing the internet and writing thank you notes and preparing for Sunday worship on Saturday and then worshipping on Sunday and taking a nap and riding your bike and confessing your sin to your mate and forgiving an offense, and preparing a meal for a sick member of the congregation whom you don’t know and mowing your lawn — everything we do is an opportunity to trust Christ and grow in fellowship with Him. So see your life not as a series of disjointed events, but as a tapestry woven by Christ on a daily, monthly, and yearly basis to produce a life that is increasingly devoted to Him and satisfied with Him.

And then with that also remember that while you grow in Him, you will not be absolutely perfected until you reach glory (what a great day that will be!). So in that sense, the goal is growth, not perfection (we strive to live in all ways to the glory of God, but recognize that because of our fleshly bodies, we will not attain that on earth). When you fail, confess your sin, and thank God for the work of Christ on your behalf — the work that brought you to salvation, and continues to work that salvation in your life all day, every day.

The Cost of Obedience

Oswald Chambers makes a surprising and perceptive (and true) statement about the cost of obedience in this morning's devotional.

If we obey God it is going to cost other people more than it costs us, and that is where the sting comes in. If we are in love with our Lord, obedience does not cost us anything, it is a delight, but it costs those who do not love Him a good deal. If we obey God it will mean that other people's plans are upset, and they will gibe us with it — "You call this Christianity?" We can prevent the suffering; but if we are going to obey God, we must not prevent it, we must let the cost be paid.

The Darkness of Depression — a Help

John Piper has long said that he has written only one book — Desiring God — all the other books he's written are merely expansions and explanations of that book. That is particularly true of the book When I Don't Desire God, which became one of my most favorite books by Piper after I read it. I was particularly encouraged in reading his final chapter, "When the Darkness Does Not Lift," which addressed the topic of pervasive depression and how to stand strong in the face of it.

That chapter has now been expanded into a short book: When the Darkness Will Not Lift: Doing What We Can While We Wait for God — and Joy. It too is in my "to read" stack (near the top) — and it can be read for free by downloading it. Or if you prefer the "dead tree" edition, you may order it from Desiring God.

The book is described this way:

Even the most faithful, focused Christians can encounter periods of depression and spiritual darkness when joy seems to stay just out of reach. It can happen because of sin, satanic assault, distressing circumstances, or hereditary and other physical causes. This book, which is an expansion of a chapter in When I Don't Desire God, aims to give some comfort and guidance to those experiencing spiritual darkness.

Readers will gain insight into the physical side of depression and spiritual darkness, what it means to wait on the Lord in a time of darkness, how unconfessed sin can clog our joy, and how to minister to others who are living without light. Piper uses real-life examples and sensitive narrative to show readers abundant reason to hope that God will pull them out of the pit of despair and into the light once again.

(HT: Justin Taylor)

Owens on Temptation

After Sunday's message I was moderately rebuked for not listing John Owen's works on sin, particularly On the Mortification of Sin in my resources.

So here they are:

• John Owens, Of the Mortification of Sin — this edition includes the classic introduction by J. I. Packer.
• Kelly Kapic and Justin Taylor, Overcoming Sin and Temptation: Three Classic Works by John Owen. This edition includes Of the Mortification of Sin, Of Temptation: the Nature and Power of It, and Indwelling Sin. This is essentially the complete text of Owens, with added footnotes for difficult vocabulary, integrated outlines of the books, and modernized punctuation. This is currently in my book bag — which is supposed to mean its on my "next to read" list.
  

And, as an added bonus, here is the well-quoted statement that Owens made about sin:

Let no man think to kill sin with few, easy, or gentle strokes. He who hath once smitten a serpent, if he follow not on his blow until he be slain, may repent that ever he began the quarrel. And so will he who undertakes to deal with sin, and pursues it not constantly to the death.…Mortification abates [sin's] force, but doth not change its nature. Grace changeth the nature of man, but nothing can change the nature of sin....Destroyed it may be, it shall be, but cured it cannot be....If it be not overcome and destroyed, it will overcome and destroy the soul. And herein lies no small part of its power.…It is never quiet, [whether it is] conquering [or] conquered.…Do you mortify; do you make it your daily work; be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you.

Sunday Leftovers (1/7/07 )

“Sanctification” has the basic meaning of being set apart or dedicated to God on the basis of the atoning work of Christ.

While God sees believers in Christ as being fully righteous (2 Cor. 5:21), sanctification most often refers to the process of the believer progressively working out his salvation so that he is increasingly freed from the power of sin and is increasingly more like the Savior.

The emphasis in that last sentence is on the two occurrences of the word “increasingly.” Sanctification is both constant and progressive. It is constant in that it is pursued continuously (not sporadically), and it is progressive in that the depth of fellowship with Christ is ever increasing. Those words are not gentle in the ears of Americans who love words like “instant,” “immediate,” “fast,” and “now.” Yet it is the constant testimony of the Word of God that sanctification is the process by which God demonstrates our dependence on and need for Him (note the emphasized words):

• …and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God (Col. 2:19)
• But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18)
• …but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen (2 Pet. 3:18)
• but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ (Eph. 4:15)
• so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God (Col. 1:10)
• My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you (Gal. 4:19)
• But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. (1 Tim. 6:11)

This is why Jonathan Edward’s second resolution was “Resolved, to be continually endeavoring to find out some new invention and contrivance to promote [whatsoever I think to be most to God's glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time…].”

Every day our chief concern is to structure our schedules and orient our affections to being more satisfied with God and to increase our maturity in Him. Which is why I said that two fundamental activities of the believer every day are to:

• do everything you can to feed your hunger for and satisfaction with God’s Word (see 1 Peter 1:22-25; 2 Tim. 3:16-17).
• do everything you can to abstain from anything that will abate your hunger and satisfaction for the Word of God.

Or, to grow progressively, starve sin and feed hunger for the Word of God.

A Good Word about the Word

I came across this statement about the authority of Scripture in my devotional reading this morning:

I declare, as though before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ, where I expect soon to appear, my unshakable conviction that when Scripture speaks, God speaks.…When Scripture speaks, God speaks. When Scripture proclaims God’s will or the way of salvation or the great doctrines of sin and grace, and of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, what it tells us is no less true and no less certain than if heaven were opened above us at this very moment and the voice of God resounded, as it once did at Sinai, saying these same things to us.

There are no bounds to the trust and submission that we owe the Scriptures, any more than there are limits to the truth and the faithfulness of God.

The words were spoken by Adolphe Monod from his bedside just six weeks before his death from cancer. A series of 26 weekly talks from that bedroom were later transcribed by his friends and bound into a book, entitled Les Adieux (Farewells). It was recently translated from French and published in English under the new title, Living in the Hope of Glory. I stumbled across it recently while parousing the shelves of my favorite local used bookstore. It's proving to be quite a little treasure, taking significant theological themes and expounding on them in fresh and simple ways.

Resolved...

‘Tis the season for making resolutions and setting goals.

Perhaps you’ve already established your course for the year, or perhaps your resolution for 2008 is to make your resolutions before the new year has begun!

Perhaps you haven’t set any goals for the coming year because your experience with goal setting is an overwhelming sense of defeat. If so, perhaps you should consider one person’s suggestions:

• Gain weight — at least 30 pounds.
• Stop exercising — it really is a waste of time.
• Read less — it makes you think too much.
• Watch more TV. I’ve been missing some good stuff.
• Get further in debt.

Well, those may be easy to attain, but they may not be so profitable, either in this life or in the life to come.

Some people resolve to make no resolutions and set no goals because they fail too faithfully in meeting those goals. And one reason we all are defeated when we set goals and make resolutions is because we tend to view them as singular events (or a series of singular events) rather than as a process.

So we view losing weight as a one-time (one day, or one week or one month) act instead of a change in lifestyle. We view sharing the gospel as a singular act rather than as an ongoing process in which we are always looking for opportunities to talk about Christ. We view trials and difficulty as singular in nature rather than ongoing and repetitious. We view prayer as something we do once or twice or five times a day (morning, evening and at each meal) instead of a continual attitude of repeated intercession through the day, each day.

We even say our goals and resolutions should be measurable, so we establish them as things that we can count and mark as completed (4 books read, 6 verses memorized, and 8 people invited to dinner), rather than considering whether a heart attitude has been changed. In this Albert Einstein was correct (he was speaking of something else, but it applies well to the spiritual life): “We live in a time of excellence of methods and a confusion of goals.”

Almost three centuries ago Jonathan Edwards clearly understood the significance of resolutions in a manner that is relevant today as well. The goal is not the completion of a task, but the cultivation of a heart that follows Christ more passionately. This is demonstrated by his first resolution:

Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God's glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriad's of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many and how great soever.

And it is demonstrated throughout the remaining 69 as well. For example:

17. Resolved, that I will live so as I shall wish I had done when I come to die.
18. Resolved, to live so at all times, as I think is best in my devout frames, and when I have clearest notions of things of the gospel, and another world.
28. Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same.
48. Resolved, constantly, with the utmost niceness and diligence, and the strictest scrutiny, to be looking into the state of my soul, that I may know whether I have truly an interest in Christ or no; that when I come to die, I may not have any negligence respecting this to repent of. May 26, 1723.
56. Resolved, never to give over, nor in the least to slacken my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be.

So how do we make resolutions in a way that will keep our eyes on the prize set before us? Here are three principles I have found helpful:

• Focus the goals on developing Biblical character more than engaging in activities.
• Spend some time each day in self-examination. (Am I moving toward the intended goal or am I merely completing checklists?)
• Keep the goals simple in orientation and realistic in number. Don’t overcomplicate your resolutions — even Christ said that the entire Old Testament law could be summarized into two — love God and love your neighbor. That too is our simple goal.

As you develop goals and resolutions for the coming week, month, year, or even decade, remember that our fundamental objective is to be as close to God as we can be, and that “every man is as close to God as he wants to be; he is as holy and as full of the Spirit as he wills to be” (Tozer).