Do You Often Remember The Gospel's Effectual Work In Your Life?

Colossians 2.13-14

"And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,

having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross."

Don't Be Ashamed....Go Ahead And Tell Others!

“When we preach Christ crucified, we have no reason to stammer, or stutter, or hesitate, or apologize; there is nothing in the gospel of which we have any cause to be ashamed.”

~ Charles H. Spurgeon, "Spurgeon Quotes on the Gospel"

(HT: Of First Importance)

Can You Get De-Baptized?

I picked up this post from Denny Burk. Thought you all might like to read about a new 'trend'.

It would seem that atheists would be among the most dispassionate people on earth vis a vis religion. But that is not the case. In too many instances, they are not content to disbelieve. Their unbelief (far from giving them objectivity) compels them to berate those who do not hold their view. They are like the fool of Proverbs 19:3, “The foolishness of man ruins his way, And his heart rages against the LORD.”

Here’s an article from USA Today explaining the new trend among atheists, ‘de-baptism.’

‘Up until last summer, Jennifer Gray of Columbus, Ohio, considered herself “a weak Christian” whose baptism at age 11 in a Kentucky church came to mean less and less to her as she gradually lost faith in God.

‘Then the 32-year-old medical transcriptionist took a decisive step, one that previously hadn’t been available. She got “de-baptized.

In a type of mock ceremony that’s now been performed in at least four states, a robed “priest” used a hairdryer marked “reason” in an apparent bid to blow away the waters of baptism once and for all. Several dozen participants then fed on a “de-sacrament” (crackers with peanut butter) and received certificates assuring they had “freely renounced a previous mistake, and accepted Reason over Superstition.”

Whatever you do....don't shake your head and think "this girl is absolutely pitiful"! This ought to break your heart for those who are so blind and calloused to the Truth of Christ. This girl apparently grew up in the church. If it were not for God's sustaining grace, we too would reject everything that we have been taught about the gloriousness of God in Christ. Pray for her! Pray that God will open the eyes of her heart that she may see Christ for who He is. Pray that she would seek God while He still may be found!

Be Careful To Reserve The Word Heresy!

I have longed believe that the word heresy should only be used when orthodoxy has been broken when specifically concerning the doctrine of the person and work of Christ and the Trinity. This morning Al Mohler takes up the issue when he discusses the current state of the Episcopal Church.

Dr. Katherine Jefferts Schori is the presiding Bishop and she addresses their national convention by declaring that all who profess that Jesus Christ can save them and put them in a right relationship with God are caught up into the web of a Western heresy. Of course, she is flip flopping the issue. She claims that those who actually embrace an individualistic approach to the saving work of Christ are heretics. The irony!

But I wanted to highlight Mohler's paragraph that deals with what heresy should specifically concern.....it is below.

"In the history of Christian theology, the word heresy has been most properly applied to what the church has recognized as false and unbiblical teachings concerning the doctrines most closely related to Christ and the Trinity. The word heresy should properly be reserved for teachings that directly reject what the Bible reveals and the Church has confessed concerning the person and work of Christ and the reality and integrity of the Trinity. There are any number of false teachings and erroneous doctrines, but the term heresy should be restricted to those most central to the Gospel itself."

You can read the article in its entirety by clicking here.

How Does The Wrath Of Man Praise God?

Psalm 76.10 "For the wrath of man shall praise Thee; With a remnant of wrath Thou shalt gird Thyself."

Please read Albert Barnes' commentary below on this verse.

"The "wrath" of the invading host had given occasion for this manifestation of the divine perfections; or, in other words, his character would not have been displayed in this manner if it had not been for these wicked purposes of people. It is not that there was anything in the wrath itself, or in their plans or intentions, that was in itself "adapted" to honor God; but that it was overruled by him, so that he took "occasion" from it to display his own character.

The wicked conduct of a child is an "occasion" for the display of the just character and the wise administration of a parent; the act of a pirate, a rebel, a murderer, furnishes an "occasion" for the display of the just principles of law, and the stability and power of a government. In like manner, the sins of the wicked are made an occasion for the display of the divine perfections in maintaining law; in the administering of justice; in preserving order.

But there is another sense, also, in which the wrath of man is made the occasion for glorifying God. It is, that since there is such wrath, or since there are such wicked purposes, God makes use of that wrath, or of those wicked purposes, as he does of the powers of nature - of pestilence, disease, and storms, as instruments to accomplish his own designs, or to bring about great results. Thus he made use of the treasonable purpose of Judas, and the mad passions and the angry feelings of the Jews, in bringing about the work of redemption by the death of his Son...."

Even in the wrath of man, the glory of God is brilliantly seen in His divine character to uphold law, justice and order in the world. The wrath of man also displays the divine perfections for providing One who has taken upon Himself the punishment for our breaking His law, thus we clearly see His justice for our sin and to establish a spiritual order that is tethered to His gospel.

"And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach" ~ Colossians 1.21-22

Charles Spurgeon On The Bridge Of Grace

“The bridge of grace will bear your weight, brother. Thousands of big sinners have gone across that bridge, yea, tens of thousands have gone over it. I can hear their trampings now as they traverse the great arches of the bridge of salvation. They come by the thousands, by their myriads, e’er since that day when Christ first entered His glory.

They come and yet never a stone has sprung in that mighty bridge. Some have been the chief of sinners and some have come at the very last of their days but the arch has never yielded beneath their weight. I will go with them, trusting to the same support. It will bear me over as it has for them.”

~ Charles Spurgeon

(HT: Of First Importance)

Are You Holy? It May Not Be What You're Thinking!

“The holiest Christians are not those most concerned about holiness as such, but whose minds and hearts and goals and purposes and love and hope are most fully focused on our Lord Jesus Christ.”

~ J.I. Packer, Keep in Step with the Spirit

(HT: Of First Importance)

Are You Paying Attention To The Way The Enemy Wants To Destroy Your Faith In Christ?

Today I preached on Colossians 2.8-10.

Here in these verses the Apostle Paul is engaging himself in spiritual battle over the souls of those who were being lured away from their faith in the Deity of Christ and the sufficiency of Christ to save.

The choice weapon of the enemy was: philosophy!

For the Colossian Christians it was a particular hybrid of philosophies of the day. But nevertheless, it was the very weapon that the enemy used to try and destroy the faith of Christians. Belief in anything that seeks to diminish the Deity of Christ and the sufficiency of Christ to save is empty deception and a false system of belief.

We are bombarded by this kind of philosophy all day long in our own culture. The enemies sole desire is to rob, kill and destroy our faith and Christianity. Therefore we must stay tethered to the true gospel. We must stay tethered to the truth about Jesus Christ, that He is the fullness of God manifest in the flesh and because of His deity, He has the power to save and sustain anyone for Himself.

My aim: That we would take seriously Paul's exhortation to flee any kind of man-centered teaching that goes against the truth about Jesus Christ and the sufficiency of the gospel to save and to satisfy.

How Do You Protect Yourself From Exchanging Grace For Merit?

Last Sunday Pastor Brent Wells, from our mother church Lakewood Baptist, preached in my absence. He preached on Hebrews 12.8-25.

In this passage there is the contrast between Mt. Sinai and Mt. Zion. Both have God. Both have the people of God. And both have God's holiness all over it. But one you can physically touch while the other is physically untouchable. One you can physically pursue, while the other pursues you. One has never been intended to save, the other is intended to save. One does not have a mediator, while the other has a Mediator!

The non-believing Hebrews tried to use Mt. Sinai and the law to approach God. They simply would not put the rights, rituals, and ceremonies down. They wouldn't put the old down for the New. Thus they never understood the full purpose of the law and did not embrace God's grace over merit.

Application for the church today.....How do you protect yourself from exchanging grace for merit?

First let me say, we're not talking about falling from grace, but getting tangled and encumbered with striving to earn God's love even within the Christian life.

How can we have our quiet times without doing it for merit sake?
How can we attend church without doing it for merit sake?
How can we witness to the lost without doing it for merit sake?
How can men pastor their families without doing it for merit sake?
How can women follow their husbands and train their children in righteousness without doing it for merit sake?

In the context of Hebrews 12 we should preach the gospel to ourselves. We should constantly put God's Word before us and examine the ways that He has shown Himself to be holy, righteous, perfect and good. We should constantly see ourselves as helpless and hopeless apart from God. We should constantly make ourselves aware of the fact that we are in desperate need of a Mediator between us and God. We should constantly look to the cross to see how God has provided the way for us to be reconciled to Him through the Mediator....Jesus Christ!

This is the kind of Christian approach to protect ourselves from doing things for merit sake. One is totally from the heart that longs to see Christ glorified. While the other is stoic with no affections for God whatsoever and for a season looks good on the outside, but is nothing more than a tomb on the inside.

We simply must be intentional and aggressive with the gospel!

A Recent "Tweet" From Piper

Here is a line from Piper on Twitter.....

"The reputation of Christianity in the wildly successful first century: “Everywhere it is spoken AGAINST.” (Acts 28:22)."

It's tough to deal with rejection, no doubt, but maybe it's time we have a wildly successful century of Christianity again and be spoken against for the right reasons.

The American Revolution....A Justified War?

After spending some time away on vacation I'm catching up a bit on what I've missed in the blog world. The 4th of July is my wedding anniversary so any time I see something about the 4th I'm all eyes.

I ran across a blog post from Denny Burk. He answered a question about the justification for the American Revolution, he quoted John MacArthur on why the American Revolution may not have been a just war according to the biblical principle in Romans 13.

Burk--I’d like to jump into this fray with a quote from John MacArthur.

MacArthur--“Over the past several centuries, people have mistakenly linked democracy and political freedom to Christianity. That’s why many contemporary evangelicals believe the American Revolution was completely justified, both politically and scripturally … But such a position is contrary to the clear teachings and commands of Romans 13:1-7. So the United States was actually born out of a violation of New Testament principles, and any blessings that God has bestowed on America have come in spite of that disobedience by the Founding Fathers. (Why Government Can’t Save You, pages 6-7)”

Burk--I’ve heard that there are some who justify the rebellion by saying that England was in violation of the Magna Carta.

Burk--As for me, it’s hard for me to believe that Paul and Peter (1 Pet 2:13-17) would have told the colonists to revolt when they told people living under governments just as evil (or more so, think: Nero) to submit.

Wow!

The Very Highest Worship Of God

"There is no other honor equal to the estimate of truthfulness and righteousness with which we honor him whom we trust. Could we ascribe to a man anything greater than truthfulness and righteousness and perfect goodness? On the other hand, there is no way we can show greater contempt for a man than to regard him as false and wicked and to be suspicious of him, as we do when we do not trust him. So when the soul firmly trusts God’s promises, it regards him as truthful and righteous. Nothing more excellent than this can be ascribed to God. The very highest worship of God is this that we ascribe to him truthfulness, righteousness, and whatever else should be ascribed to one who is trusted.”

~ Martin Luther, On Christian Liberty

(HT: Of First Importance)

What Is The Glory Of God?

This was a question asked to John Piper and in his response he basically says that that's a good question and since we use the phrase so often we should know what it means when we say it.

So, John Piper, what is the glory of God?

"What is it? I believe the glory of God is the going public of his infinite worth. I define the holiness of God as the infinite value of God, the infinite intrinsic worth of God. And when that goes public in creation, the heavens are telling the glory of God, and human beings are manifesting his glory, because we're created in his image, and we're trusting his promises so that we make him look gloriously trustworthy.

The public display of the infinite beauty and worth of God is what I mean by "glory," and I base that partly on Isaiah 6, where the seraphim say, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. The whole earth is full of his—" and you would expect them to say "holiness" and they say "glory." They're ascribing "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. The whole earth is full of his—" and when that goes public in the earth and fills it, you call it "glory."

So God's glory is the radiance of his holiness, the radiance of his manifold, infinitely worthy and valuable perfections."

Our vision statement for New Life Church reflects this understanding from Piper:

"New Life's Vision is to fulfill God's eternal purpose for creating the church, by living our lives in such a way, that we accurately display God's wisdom and glory to all of creation."

Our prayer is that God 'will' manifest His glory in Eads, Tennessee through His Church, and that becomes a reality by living our lives in such a way that will accurately display His glory.

Pray for accuracy!

Jerry Bridges On 2 Corinthians 3.18

Here is a good perspective on gospel preaching.....preach it to yourself everyday!

I read this great quote below by Jerry Bridges from Tullian Tchividjian.

2 Corinthians 3.18
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed.

"Bridges reminded me of just how important it is to “preach the gospel to ourselves everyday” if we are going to be transformed into the likeness of Christ. He writes:

"The glory that has a transforming effect on us is the glory of Christ revealed in the gospel, the good news that Jesus died in our place as our representative to free us not only from the penalty of sin but also from its dominion. A clear understanding and appropriation of the gospel, which gives freedom from sin’s guilt and sin’s grip, is, in the hands of the Holy Spirit, a chief means of sanctification…Our specific responsibility in the pursuit of holiness as seen in 2 Corinthians 3:18, then, is to behold the glory of the Lord as it is displayed in the gospel. The gospel is the mirror through which we now behold His beauty. One day we shall see Christ, not as in a mirror, but face to face. Then, “we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). Until then we must preach the gospel to ourselves everyday."

This is a good reminder to me about how God desires to impress the gospel deeper into my life in order to send the gospel further out of my life for the glory of Christ. I really needed this reminder in this season of my life!