John Newton:
"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.
’Twas He who taught me thus to pray,
And He, I trust, has answered prayer!
But it has been in such a way,
As almost drove me to despair.
I hoped that in some favored hour,
At once He’d answer my request;
And by His love’s constraining pow’r,
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.
Instead of this, He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart;
And let the angry pow’rs 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 find thy all in Me.”
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Look Within, But Be Careful About Morbid Introspection
It is ever the Holy Spirit’s work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus; but Satan’s work is just the opposite of this, for he is constantly trying to make us regard ourselves instead of Christ. He insinuates, “Your sins are too great for pardon; you have no faith; you do not repent enough; you will never be able to continue to the end; you have not the joy of his children; you have such a wavering hold of Jesus.” All these are thoughts about self, and we shall never find comfort or assurance by looking within. But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self: he tells us that we are nothing, but that “Christ is all in all.” Remember, therefore, it is not thy hold of Christ that saves thee—it is Christ; it is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee—it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrument—it is Christ’s blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to thy hand with which thou art grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to thy hope, but to Jesus, the source of thy hope; look not to thy faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of thy faith. We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul. If we would at once overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by “looking unto Jesus.” Keep thine eye simply on him; let his death, his sufferings, his merits, his glories, his intercession, be fresh upon thy mind; when thou wakest in the morning look to him; when thou liest down at night look to him. Oh! let not thy hopes or fears come between thee and Jesus; follow hard after him, and he will never fail thee.
“My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness:
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.”
Spurgeon, C. H. (2006). Morning and evening : Daily readings (Complete and unabridged; New modern edition.). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Sermon Notes 6/26/2011
Text: Genesis 10-11:1-9
Sermon Title: Whose Kingdom Come? Whose Will be Done?
Scripture Reading: Psalm 127
Explain that Genesis 10 (the genealogy denotes a new section) is an overview and Genesis 11 explains details that happened in the context of chapter 10 (Genesis 10 is to Genesis 11 as Genesis 1 is to Genesis 2-3) – Overview and then details.
Read Genesis 11:1-9.
Read Genesis 9:1, “And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” Look also in 9:7 and contrast with 11:1-4 (lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth). Babel (Babylon) was man’s attempt to usurp the authority and command of God (be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth) by building man’s Kingdom on earth instead of God’s Kingdom on earth.
Below, in red, are comments from Voddie Baucham’s Sermon “The Centrality of the Home.” Keep in mind that Dr. Baucham is a Southern Baptist pastor and all statistics are given in the context of the Southern Baptist Convention. The SBC is the largest protestant denomination in America.
Depending on where you look, we are losing somewhere between 75 and 88% of our young people by the end of their freshman year in college. For that low number you can look at Glen Shultz’ work on kingdom education and for that high number, the 2002 Southern Baptist Council on the Family.
In America for the first time, our birth rate is below replacement rate. Replacement rate is 2.1 children per family. We are at 1.9.
Now we are not as bad as much of the industrialized world. For example, in France I think they are around 1.5 children per family.
In Italy they are somewhere around 1.1 children per family. Now, in case you don’t understand what that means, what that means is we are not having enough children for our culture to continue to survive. Our culture is dying one generation at a time.
Now, let me put skin on that for you. In France, they have a birth rate of about 1.5. However, there are North African Muslims and Arab Muslims who have emigrated into France. Their birthrate is about six children per family, which means in two generations, France will be a Muslim nation by sheer numbers alone.
Southern Baptists are consistent with the cultural average in America. It is an unwritten rule that you can only have two kids. However, there is one exception to the unwritten rule where you can have a third child and that is if your first two children were the same sex you get to try one more time for the other.
We despise children in the Southern Baptist Convention. You don’t believe me? Find a woman with six or seven kids and follow her into a Southern Baptist Church and watch the way we mock her. Watch the way people who don’t even know her come up to her and say, “Haven’t you guys figured out how that happens yet?”
Now let me put these two statistics together. We lose 75 percent… let’s take the most optimistic number. We are losing 75 percent by the end of their freshman year in college. We average two children per family. That means it currently takes two Christian families in this generation to get one Christian into the next. Let me make it even more plain. There’s 16 million Southern Baptists on paper. By these numbers, next generation, four million; third generation, one million; fourth generation, 250,000. More than numbers now, aren’t they? Oh, but that’s ok. We’ll just replenish those numbers through evangelism.
Interesting. In order to replenish those numbers through evangelism alone what we would have to do is reach three lost people for every one Christian. Currently we only reach one lost person for every 43 Southern Baptists. Now, let me make it plain and bring it home. Christianity in America is dying one generation at a time, one a home at a time.
The fruit of the womb is a reward. And it all goes back to prosperity. The poorest nations in the world see children as a blessing. In richest nation in the world, we talk about children in terms of how many we can afford.
In the Bible, fruitfulness in marriage is repeatedly described as a virtue to be sought after and is viewed as a blessing once obtained (Exodus 23:26; Deut. 7:14; Psalms 113:9; 127:4-5; 128:3-4). Families in the Old Testament viewed barrenness as a reproach (Genesis 30:1, 22-23; Isaiah 4:1; 47:9; 49:21).
We always talk about how we want more souls in the kingdom. If we were honest, here is what we would say. “We want more souls in the kingdom, as long as we don’t have to birth them, raise them and feed them” (Voddie Baucham).
Everybody is trying to figure out how to make men excited about church again. Everybody is figuring out how do we challenge our men, how do we get our men involved? God has got an answer. “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4)
And when I said that I told them that after we found out that she wasn’t I said, whew, we had a close call.” “Maybe you’ll have a boy this time and you’ll be done.” “Are you in trouble?”
Child-Free by Choice – A June 2011 Article on AOL.com
By Madeline Vann, MPH
Medically reviewed by Pat F. Bass III, MD, MPH
Studies suggest that a child-free marriage might be more satisfying for some because the arrival of children often creates a crisis for the couple involved. Yet this long-term decision requires serious conversation before it is set in stone.
Ten years ago, when Dave and Jacqui Alegria first tied the knot, their large Hispanic family eagerly anticipated a baby within the first year of their marriage. And the family waited. And worried. And waited.
“Our families are pretty much used to it by now,” says Louisiana resident Dave Alegria, now 32 years old. “Back in the day, every time we’d visit, they’d say ‘When will you have kids?’” But the newlywed Alegrias were determined to live child-free.
In actuality, their decision to be childless was not fully articulated at the beginning of their marriage. “We thought that ‘not right away, but soon’ we’d have kids,” he explains. “We kept putting it off and putting it off. We said, let’s have fun and have kids afterward — we’ve been enjoying ourselves.” He and Jacqui, also 32, continue to enjoy their childless lifestyle — vacationing with other child-free couples, sleeping in, and spending money as they like.
Alegria appreciates spending time with the children in his wide circle of friends and relations, but says he also enjoys sending them back to their parents at the end of a visit. Meanwhile, he and his wife are free to fly off to Disney World, the Caribbean, and any other destination they want to visit. They recently spent New Year’s weekend in Key West with friends, a trip that he knows wouldn’t have been the same with children.
The Alegrias’ feeling that their marriage would be changed by children is accurate. Intuitively, most couples know this. What comes as a surprise to many is that the change may be, in fact, a negative one. A recent study of 218 couples during the first eight years of marriage provided evidence that marital satisfaction decreases with the arrival of a child and can take a long time to return, if it comes back at all.
Alegria agrees. “Don’t let anybody influence you,” he advises. Although he acknowledges there may never be a perfect time to have children, he says that almost everyone he talks to has regrets about the timing of their children or the number of children. But he and his wife have no regrets about the way they have managed their child-free marriage. “Choose your own life, whether it be to have children or not,” he suggests.
The conclusion I aim to prove from Scripture:
- The family is God’s primary engine for fulfilling the Great Commission: evangelism and discipleship.
- The biblical purpose of parenting is to impress the hearts of children for the heart of God.
- One reason we do not have children or more children (when it is our choice) is because we prioritize building a Kingdom of our own, rather than the Kingdom of God.
Supporting Evidence (we want to be driven by what Scripture teaches):
1) First commandment God gave to humans: Genesis 1:26-28
2) Read Genesis 6:5, “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” What was God’s plan to restore man? Notice that God did not save one man, but one family. Read Genesis 9:1, “And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” Look also in 9:7 and contrast with11:1-4 (lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth).
3) Genesis 12:1-4 - How? - Read Genesis 18:17-19. God had a global mission for Abraham.
4) Read Deuteronomy 6:1-6 and discuss – then read the “how to” of vv. 7-9.
5) This would imply they are having children and that they are home. The home is central to God’s plan of establishing His Kingdom through evangelism and discipleship.
6) Read Deuteronomy 32:44-47 (the last words of Moses before his death)
7) Read II Kings 17:34-41
8) Read Malachi 2:13-16
9) Read Malachi 4 (The closing scene of the Old Testament)
10) The first scene of the New Testament: Luke 1:16-17 Do not mistake me saying you have to be married and have children to fulfill God’s plan for your life: Jesus and Paul were not married (Matthew 19:13-15; Luke 17:1-3; Matthew 18:10-14).
11) Matthew 28:16-20 is not PRIMARILY about the guy at the water cooler and third world countries – it is first about your family.
12) Ephesians 6:4 – The primary attack points of Satan on the church today is that dads define their duty as the provider, be physically there, serve in the church, have his family at church.·If you have served, provided, loved, fed, clothed, worked in the church, tithed, cut your grass – but at your funeral if your children cannot say, “My father/mom/guardian was the PRIMARY spiritual influence in my life. He taught me MOST of what I know about God,” than I would submit to you WE HAVE MISSED THE BOAT.
Back to Genesis 11 – What are you building?
Application
- Having Children through Birth, Adoption, and Foster Parenting
Psalm 127
- Christian Education (Luke 6:40; Psalm 1)
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) Every Christian family ought to be as it were a little church, consecrated to Christ, and wholly influenced and governed by his rules. And family education and order are some of the chief means of grace. If these fail, all other means are likely to prove ineffectual. If these are duly maintained, all the means of grace will be likely to prosper and be successful.
- Family Worship
Rev. M. Simpson, 1882 - The Influence of Family Worship
Family Worship increases the spirit of reverence for God and His Word. Children copy their Parent’s spirit and example. If parents begin the day by invoking God’s blessing, by consecrating the early hour to His service, they show their estimate of the value of worship. If business, society, wealth, and pleasure are deferred for worship, the youth feels that the claims of society are above all other claims. Parents thus show that they can do nothing rightly without the divine blessing, and that Divine approval is far more precious than the approval of men.
Matthew Henry – Commentary (1662-1714)
Masters of families, who preside in the other affairs of the house, must go before their households in the things of God. They must be as prophets, priests, and kings in their own families; and as such they must keep up family-doctrine, family-worship, and family-discipline: then is there a church in the house, and this is the family religion I am persuading you to. You must read the scriptures to your families, in a solemn manner, requiring their attendance on your reading, and their attention to it: and inquiring sometimes whether they understand what you read.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)
First, let us begin by emphatically declaring it is parents (fathers in particular) and not the church who are given the primary responsibility for calling the next generation to hope in God. The church serves a supplementary role, reinforcing the biblical nurture that is occurring in the home. It is not the job of “professionals” at the church to rear the children of believers in the faith.
Richard Baxter (1615-1691) We must have a special eye upon families, to see that they are well ordered. If we suffer the neglect of this, we shall undo all. Therefore, if you desire reformation, do all you can to promote family religion.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Capture Idle Time
Song of Solomon 2:15 -Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards,for our vineyards are in blossom.
Yet we cannot expect to see a tone of healthy spirituality without an industrious habit. The religion of an idler is of a very questionable character. Seneca has long since taught us, that time is the only thing of which it is a virtue to be covetous. But here we should be like the miser with his money -- saving it with care and spending it with caution. It is well to have a book for every spare hour, to improve the 'parentheses' or interludes of time, which, coming between more important engagements, are wont to be lost by most men for want of a value for them (don't squander idle time - be prepared - always have a book or your Scripture handy). Facebook, the internet, idle conversations are not of themselves evil, but are certainly robbers of our most precious asset: time. And since goldsmiths and refiners sweep their shops all year long because they may contain in them some filings or dust of those richer metals, gold, and silver; I see not, why a Christian may not be as careful not to lose the fragments and lesser intervals of a thing incomparably more precious than any metal -- time.
To balance the thought: Do not study books more than you study yourself. However, do not excuse disorganization and lack of planning, the squandering of time, with a "not enough time." Diligence, planning, and striving in reading and prayer will build you as a strong soldier of Christ.
Some application:
1) Download sermons on CDs and make the most of your time in the car. I have a 50 minute round trip to the Church. This affords me the opportunity to listen to 15-25 messages per week. Download free sermons and podcasts.
2) Always have a book or Scripture written on an index card. Even if you have 7 minutes in the waiting room or someone is 4 minutes late meeting you for lunch, be aggressive in capturing your time. If you had idle time of only 5 minutes per day, instead of looking at apps or checking your email or checking your facebook, if you could read 3 pages a day in your idle time, that would amount to 3-5 books per year.
3) Fast from technology - take one week off of facebook; cancel the internet on your phone for one month; refuse to turn on your television for two weeks. During this time pay attention to the hunger of your heart. How your heart thirsts for these things shows how they seek to control you.
4) Fight with the grace given from God -- I am praying for you and love you all.
Song of Solomon 2:15 -Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards,for our vineyards are in blossom.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Family Worship by Joel Beeke
Turn with me to Joshua 24:14-24. This is part of Joshua’s farewell address to Israel. Look at also at Deuteronomy 6:4. I don’t know where you are at in family worship, but just as in private worship, we all fall short—as in private prayer and reading, so in family prayer and reading. My prayer is that those who are engaged in strong, regular family worship will grow. And those who struggle in it or have never engaged in family worship would learn how and be encouraged to start worshiping as a family regularly.
The Necessity of Family Worship
In my family growing up, we would pray before and after the meal. My father would also read Pilgrim’s Progress with us on Sunday evenings. However, we would never discuss or engage each other in family worship. So when I was asked once to speak on family worship, I was convicted that I had not been leading my family in worship how I ought. My siblings and I all have agreed that we are most grateful for my mother’s prayer life and my father’s reading of Pilgrim’s Progress and teaching us from it. Family worship time is the most important thing I do in my life. I wouldn’t miss it for anything in the world. It isn’t perfect but it is critical.
The commander of Columbia shuttle that disintegrated in mid-air was so devoted to family worship that he recorded eighteen videos for his family, one for each day that he was supposed to be gone. How valuable do you think those videos are to his family now? What a legacy he has left.
As pastors, we need to lead the way in family worship so that when people come into our homes, they see what family worship is like. We must strive to have our families be mini-churches, which function as the backbone of the local church. I want to lay out for you a paradigm for leading family worship, … , challenge you to commit to leading your church in family worship, and encourage you to train men in leading their families.
The Puritans saw family worship so foundational that they would bar a man from communion if he failed to lead his family in worship. Family worship is the foundation of child rearing. As family worship goes, so will go the family. The Puritans thought family worship was the whole backbone of society.
Our God is a family God. He is a triune God. He is an intra-trinitarian relationship. That is the basis of family relationships. We ought to emulate him in family worship. The head of the family in leading his family in covenant faithfulness to God is perhaps the most significant way God has used as a means of saving grace.
The Duty of Family Worship
Joshua concludes the passage I read with “We will worship the Lord.” Joshua enforces the service of God in his whole family by his own example. Joshua is going to die but he is so confident in his influence in his family that he says, “We will worship the Lord.” He says it is a future reality because of his example. Now look at Joshua 24:31. Most of the nation followed his example for at least one generation. Joshua’s example pervades throughout Israel for a whole generation. Would that everyone of us would say tonight with conviction, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” It is possible for God to bless our families and our children if we have failed in this, but it is his normal operation to bless those families who are regular in family worship.
There are three aspects of family worship. First, daily instruction. That means reading daily from the Bible and explaining it. We should instruct our families with the same earnestness that we preach with on Sunday.
Second, daily prayer to the throne of God. We must engage in prayer with our family. It doesn’t matter when but we must seek to bring our families into heavenly places and rain down heavenly benediction upon them through prayer.
Third, daily singing the praise of God. The Lord is to be worshiped daily by the singing of psalms and hymns in our homes (cf. Colossians 3:16).
Dear brothers, we must implement and teach our congregations and families to implement family worship in our homes. God requires it of us as heads of our families. Your family owes its allegiance corporately to God. You have a position of authority in your family not as their buddy or friend but as their prophet, priest and king, showing them the way to God. As pastors, we must lovingly inform the heads of households in our congregations to lead their families in worship.
The Implementation of Family Worship
Family worship does require some preparation. It requires some forethought. Choose a text to read, a place to meet, a song or hymn to sing and be ready. Expect everyone to be there. Family worship is to be jealously guarded.
Aim for brevity. Ten minutes in the morning and twenty minutes in the evening is sufficient for most families. Don’t over do it. Don’t do forty-five minutes on Monday and skip it on Tuesday. Do it every day.
Don’t make excuses to avoid family worship. When you get home and you’re tired, don’t make excuses to skip it. If the Lord Jesus was not too tired to die for him, you shouldn’t be too tired to live for him. If you just got angry at your children, don’t skip family worship—that is the best time to do it! Ask for forgiveness and get beyond it.
Lead with a firm, fatherly hand and a soft, penitent heart. Encourage warmth and abiding love. Talk naturally with your children.
Daily Instruction
Now for some more specifics. In regards to the reading of Scripture, have a plan and be sure to read the whole Bible. Perhaps read ten to twenty verses from the Old Testament in the morning and ten to twenty from the New Testament in the evenings. Do account for special occasions in your plan. Involve the whole family in the reading. And as each reads, teach them how to read out loud.
For biblical instruction, be plain in meaning. Involve your children. Ask them how a text applies. Don’t ask the same question to each child lest they begin to compete or feel insecure. Don’t ever make them feel belittled. And if you don’t know an answer, have a commentary or two beside you to reference.
Be pure in doctrine.
Be relevant in application. Explain how a text as affected you in your life or church history. That will give your children the feeling that the Bible is a real book with real applications.
Be affectionate in manner. Show them the way to fear, delight in and love the Lord. Our children need to feel that we love our children but that we love their soul. Pray earnestly for their salvation out loud in front of them. Little children see you as a God-figure and that is a profound responsibility. Embrace your children in the way God embraces sinners.
Require attention. As loving as you are, never allow slouch behavior. No one ever answers the phone. We are in family worship and God requires our attention.
Daily Prayer
In prayer, be short. Three to five minutes is sufficient. Don’t teach in your prayers. Be simple without being shallow. Be direct—plead your case before God. Ask your children what to pray for and bring all those things in prayer. When your children know that you want to know what their needs are and that you will pray for them, they will come to you with their needs for prayer. The power of that is when they get older and are tempted to sin, maybe the power of prayer and your example will hold them back, even if they are not saved yet.
Be varied in your prayers as well. Teach your people to use the “A.C.T.S.” acronym—Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication. Pray for the congregation.
Train your children how to pray. Start by having them repeating you.
Daily Singing
Sing doctrinally pure songs and don’t forget the psalms. The psalms were the original hymnbook. If a child doesn’t want to sing, have discipline for not singing. At the end of the night, pray with your wife.
Objections to Family Worship
Here are some objections to family worship. “We don’t have time.” Well, you may need to have two family worship times or you need to teach your family priorities. “Our family is too small.” “Where are two or three are gathered in my name, I will be with them.”
“Our family is too diverse to profit.” You tailor make it to each one. “I’m not good at leading family worship.” Get a cyclical book on family worship and teach your people to read one. Start small and build. You can do it. The problem is not ability but commitment to do it.
Motivations for Family Worship
Why should we do family worship? God may use it to save souls. Do you want solid young men and women to grow up in your church? Then teach your congregation to engage in family worship. God uses family worship to draw people to himself. Remember that at every gathering of family worship, you are ushering your family into the presence of God.
The satisfaction of a good conscience is another motivation. Teach and pray with your family so that when you are on your deathbed, you have a free conscience, knowing you have done your best to raise your children in the fear of the Lord.
Third, family worship assists in child rearing. It makes a family able to speak more openly about anything. Talking with each other becomes normal. It helps you have more open communication.
Fourth, the shortness of time calls for it. The time when your children are in your house will fly by. See everyday as a gift of God to bring the Word of God to your children.
Start Today
In conclusion, I want to address two things. Some might say, “What if I failed?” Begin today. Confess to your wife; confess to your children. If you have adult children, equip them to lead their families. Start leading your grandchildren in worship. Family worship will set the tone for your entire home.
Second, I want to read something to you from John Paton. He said that his father is the one who had such significant influence on him. God blessed his father’s family worship.
Friday, June 10, 2011
The Program-Driven Problem...
How Not to Grow a Healthy Church
Jun 10, 2011 | Jonathan Leeman
How do you grow a church?
A couple of days ago I was speaking with a pastor who had a man in his congregation who wanted to plant a motorcyclists' church. The idea was that all those leathered-up, Willie Nelson-looking dudes who roam the nation’s interstates like motorized buffalo are turned off by the chorus-singing, khaki-wearing assemblies. Some of these riders even call themselves Christians but prefer to “worship God on their bikes.” How do we reach those guys and their non-Christian counterparts? Answer: with a motorcyclists’ church. The pastor wanted to know how to respond.
My counsel: tell him that it will work. His motorcyclists’ church will attract motorcyclists.
I said more than that, but let’s start with why I said this much. Beauty attracts. Humor attracts. A hipster’s couture attracts. If you’re a motorcyclist, a line of low riders parked out front attracts. This is the way of the world. Madison Avenue gets it. Hollywood gets it. And for several decades now, church leaders have been getting it.
People have eyes, ears, and the desire to feel good about themselves. Figure out what bolsters their self-image or satisfies a felt need, and you have an easy recipe for drawing a crowd. For growing a church.
So point one: it will work. But another point followed: you will likely have a shallow and unhealthy church.
Yes, we must seek to understand our cultures in order to communicate well and remove barriers to the gospel. That's biblical. But that's not the same thing as relying on the power of niche marketing. A number of individuals will join for the motorcycle culture and stay for the motorcycle culture. Maybe they’ll get baptized and call themselves Christians. Maybe they will clean up their acts a bit. But it won’t have been the Spirit and the Word doing the work; it will have been the sociological powers of attraction. After several years their lives will begin to show it, and they’ll drift away. Only now they will be inoculated against the real gospel.
Others will really get saved. Praise God! But since they’ve been drawn in and kept through the power of culture, not through the power of Word and Spirit, their growth will remain stunted. Their lives, too, will soon show it.
Well-Meaning Drift
Friends, am I just carping? I hope not. Please hear my heart. I look around evangelical America and see well-meaning people drift in and out of churches, attracted by one well-meaning church leader after another. They remind me of Paul’s words about spiritual infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. I trust you see this, too.
It doesn’t have to be like this. We could have healthy churches, churches filled with new converts and old saints, motorcyclists and motor-homers alike. These churches might not grow as quickly, but they will grow for the long-haul, like redwoods not rosebushes. Which would you prefer—a bush that blooms tomorrow and wilts the next day, or the majesty that rises skyward over a generation? Take your pick.
Just about every church leader and Christian I know would affirm the doctrine of the sufficiency of God’s Word. But this is an easy box to check in the morning and forget in the afternoon, particularly when you’re sitting in Tuesday’s church staff meeting making decisions about next Sunday. One of the legacies of Mark Dever in my life is the lesson that growing as both a Christian and as a pastor means growing continually in my understanding of the Bible’s sufficiency and power. Believing in this is a faith proposition that needs feeding and nurturing, just like a belief in God and the gospel.
This is especially important for church leaders, who are going to build their congregations on one thing or another. Your beliefs about the Bible are not a box to check. The faithful pastors whom many of us admire are the men who, over the years, grow and grow and grow in knowing the Bible's power.
Here were my concluding words for this pastor: Tell this man to plant his church, and tell him to be himself. Wear leather. Expose the tattoos. Park his hog in the space with the little “Pastor” sign. Whatever. But be excited about Jesus and his Word. Don’t stop talking about the Bible and the gospel. Grab the hand of everyone who walks through the door of your church, smile at them, and tell them how amazing Jesus is. Who cares what they’re wearing or how they drove there. Let them know that you would drive your bike into the lake if that’s what it took to hear what Jesus had to say. His words are that precious and powerful. Build your church on him and the power of his mighty words.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Sermon Notes 6/5/2011
Title: Generous Justice Part 2
Genesis 7:11 (8:14)
Unrestrained outpouring – burst forth
The first and last dates given make the flood last exactly one year and eleven days (Gordon Wenham). Talk about Mrs. Marie’s comments about the flood lasting so long and for God taking so long to let the waters subside (God’s timing). “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake His way, and the unrighteous man His thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:6-9).
Notice what is repeated, “the waters prevailed” (vv. 18, 19, 20, 24). The word “prevailed” is a military word for succeeding in battle. “So Moses said to Joshua, ‘Choose for us men and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.’ So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed” (Exodus 17:9-11). “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (I Peter 5:5b; James 4:6). “Opposes” is pronounced “antitasso,” which means “to rage in battle against.”
Not only is it repeated, but gets progressively worse: greatly; greatly greatly.
The Hebrew expression indicates action based on a previous commitment (9:15; 19:29; 30:22; Exodus 2:24; 6:5; Luke 1:72-73) – referring back to the covenant.
This is the hinge of the narrative (turning point). This passage reminds me of Ephesians 2:1-10 with the hinge of v. 4a.
- How hard were the winds blowing to cause the waters to subside? We often cry out for God to rescue us from hardship, when our hardship is designed to rescue us from us.
- The Ark “rested.” This is a play on Noah’s name and what Noah’s father hoped for “rest.”Notice that rest came through toil. Hebrews 4:11a, “Strive therefore to enter into rest.”
THE DAY FOR WHICH ALL OTHER DAYS WERE MADE is what William S. Plumer (1802-1880) called the Day of Judgment.
I do not see how any pastor could neglect this theme in Scripture with a clear conscience (John Piper).
One reason I preach on this theme is that for some people the fear of judgment may be the only motivation to consider trusting Christ as Savior. Now, to be sure, there are better reasons to come to God than to escape hell. But if fear is the only thing that will shake a person loose from his bondage to sin and cause him to consider Christ, then, for love's sake, so be it. There are better reasons for a child to obey his daddy than the fear of a spanking. But if that fear is the only thing that will keep him out of the street, then, for love's sake, so be it. I am not as hesitant as some to let people feel fear, for I have ringing in my ears the words of Jesus:
Do not fear those who can kill the body and afterwards have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who after He has killed has authority to cast into Hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him. (Luke 12:4-5).
Jude 14-24 -Three thousand years after Enoch, Jude found no fitter words by which to warn daring sinners of their coming doom than those just quoted from the prophet.
The doctrine of a judgment is a familiar theme among inspired writers of both testaments. It is taught in the Law, in the Prophets, in the Psalms, in the Gospels, and in the Epistles.
The Day of Judgment is a fixed day. The time for it is set by God Himself: “He hath appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained” (Act 17:31).
It is unchangeably determined by God.
We seem more interested as to how or when it will happen than convinced and affected by its certainty.
It will also be a day when secrets are exposed. Read 1 Timothy 5:23-25. “For God will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:14).
The Day of Judgment will also be a day of separation and sentencing. Read Matthew 13:30 and Matthew 25:31-34, 41.
To many of those separated, it will be a surprise: See that Matthew 7:21-22; Matthew 13:30; Matthew 24-25; Luke 13:22-30 point out that many who think God is their Father are mistaken.
Edwards:
IT WAS PROPER THAT HE WHO IS APPOINTED KING OF THE CHURCH SHOULD RULE UNTIL HE SHOULD HAVE PUT ALL HIS ENEMIES UNDER HIS FEET (1Co 15:24-25).
Jesus is the King of the Kingdom of God. For those outside Christ, who live their lives as mini-kings of their own kingdom, they are enemies of Christ. In the pursuit of your individual kingdom and purposes, you make war against the Kingdom of God.
IT IS FOR THE ABUNDANT COMFORT OF THE SAINTS THAT CHRIST IS APPOINTED THEIR JUDGE.
The works of both righteous and wicked will be rehearsed.
Though the righteous are justified by faith and not by their works, yet they shall be judged according to their works (Matthew 12:36-37; Romans 14:12; Revelation 20:12-13). Works shall be brought forth as the evidence of their faith. Their faith on that Great Day shall be tried by its fruits.
“I am he who searches the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works” (Rev 2:23). Nor will only positive sins be brought into judgment, but also omissions of duty, as is manifest by “For I was hungry, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink” (Mat 25:42-45).
If His love is so great, think of how fierce His wrath must be.
Use Piper’s Illustration of being in the Ark: Reverence and Awe
Romans 1:28-2:11, and the first question we should try to answer from this text concerning final judgment is, who will be judged? Paul gives the answer in verses 5 and 6, "According to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and the righteous judgment of God who will render to each person according to his deeds." The simple answer is: everybody will be judged.
Which brings us to our second question: On what basis will the final judgment be made? What are the real issues of life? Paul sums it up in Romans 2:6, "God will render to every man according to his deeds." Verses 9 and 10 are more precise about what sort of deeds: "There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil ... but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good."
But wait a minute. Is that the way Christianity talks? What about the promise: "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved"? What about grace and mercy and the justification of the ungodly? Didn't Paul say in Titus 3:5 "God saved us not on the basis of works done by us in righteousness, but he saved us according to His mercy through the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit"? And in Ephesians 2:8, "By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." How can it be that we are saved by grace, through faith, not by deeds, and yet will be judged according to our deeds in the final judgment?
Let's take one more example from Jesus because this one gives the clue to our problem how we can be saved by grace through faith and yet final judgment still be according to works. In Matthew 12:34-37 Jesus says to the Pharisees:
You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil speak what is good? For from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks; the good man out of his good treasure brings forth what is good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth what is evil. And I say to you that for every careless word that men speak, they shall render an account in the Day of Judgment. For by your words you shall be justified and by your words you shall be condemned.
Here is the crucial clue: on judgment day we will be judged according to our deeds, including the acts of our tongue, because deeds are the infallible sign of what fills the heart. "From the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks." You can judge a tree by its fruit and you can judge a heart by its deed. The issue is not really, are we saved by faith in Christ or by good deeds? The issue is, on the judgment day how will God make manifest that His judgment is just? And the answer is, He will certify to the world that we have saving faith by calling our deeds to attest to its reality.
Our deeds do not earn, they exhibit our salvation. Our deeds are not the merit of our righteousness; they are the mark of our new life in Christ. Our deeds are not sufficient to deserve God's favor, but they do demonstrate our faith (John Piper).
Noah lived for later.
John Cotton (1693-1757)
"My flesh trembleth for fear of Thee; and I am afraid of Thy judgments"
"The Lord is known by the judgment which He executeth" (Psalm 9:16).
"They shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty, when He ariseth to shake terribly the earth" (Isaiah 2:19).
This should make us serious about killing our sin.
This should make us aware of the character of God.
This should make us evangelistic.
This should cause us to better understand the love of Christ towards us.
This should cause us to cherish holiness above all things.
We should not be discouraged when the wicked prosper.
We should not become bitter or seek revenge. All public and private injustice will be made right on The Day of the Lord.
It is interesting to note that the Prophets and Christ talked about Judgment to people that the Holy Spirit knew would not live to see it (to see Revelation 14 before their death). This is to show that the Doctrine of Judgment should shape our lives and thinking today (not just the announcement of a coming event).
If you are here and outside of Christ and leave without severe conviction, this is reason for great distress.
“Men may refuse subjection to God as a lawgiver. They may shake off the yoke of his laws by rebellion. Yet they cannot withdraw themselves from his judgment. Although they will not have God for their lawgiver, yet they shall have him for their judge (Jonathan Edwards).
“God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?” (Job 9:4).
Closing
Seriously consider, if you live in the ways of sin, and appear at that day with the guilt of it upon you, how you will be able to endure the sight or the hearing of these things, and whether horror and amazement will not be likely to seize you, when you shall see the judge descending, and hear the trump of God. What account will you be able to give, when it shall be inquired of you, why you led such a sinful, wicked life? What will you be able to say for yourselves, when it shall be asked, why you neglected such and such particular duties, as the duty of secret prayer, for instance? Or why you have habitually practiced such and such particular sins or lusts? Although you are so careless of your conduct and manner of life, make so light of sin, and proceed in it so freely, with little or no dread or remorse; yet you must give an account of every sin that you commit, of every idle word that you speak, and of every sinful thought of your hearts. Every time you deviate from the rules of justice, of temperance, or of charity; every time you indulge any lust, whether secretly or openly, you must give an account of it. It will never be forgotten, it stands written in that book which will be opened on that day.
Let such consider that for all these things God will bring them into judgment. Secrecy is your temptation. Promising yourselves this, you practice many things, you indulge many lusts, under the cover of darkness, and in secret corners, which you would be ashamed to do in the light of the sun, and before the world. But this temptation is entirely groundless. All your secret abominations are even now perfectly known to God, and will also hereafter be made known both to angels and men. Luke 12:2, 3, “For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light: and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets, shall be proclaimed upon the house-tops.”
God has, in his word, forbidden all deceit and fraud in our dealings one with another, Lev. 11:13. He has forbidden us to oppress one another, Lev. 25:14. But how frequent are practices contrary to those rules, and which will not bear to be tried by them! How common are fraud and trickiness in trade! How will men endeavor to lead on those with whom they trade in the dark, that so they may make their advantage! Yea, lying in trading is too common a thing among us. How common are such things as that mentioned, Prov. 20:14, “It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer; but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.”
Many men will take the advantage of another’s ignorance to advance their own gain, to his wrong.
Wherefore let everyone take heed that he be not deceived concerning himself.
Also frequently beg of God, the judge, that he would search you, try you now, and discover you to yourselves, that you may see if you be insincere in religion. And that he would lead you in the way everlasting. Beg of God, that if you be not upon a good foundation, he would unsettle you, and fix you upon the sure foundation. The example of the psalmist in this is worthy of imitation. Psa. 26:1, 2, “Judge me, O Lord, examine me, and prove me; try my reins and mine heart.” And Psa. 139:23, 24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts. And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” God will search us hereafter, and discover what we are, both to ourselves and to all the world. Let us pray that he would search us, and discover our hearts to us now. We have need of divine help in this matter; for the heart is deceitful above all things (Edwards).
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