(Some of you who were at Camp Reunion, or who missed some of the talks had asked for notes of the talks. Here's the text of each of them. For those who weren't, and who haven't a clue what I'm talking about - these are three talks I gave at a young people's weekend on Keeping Christ the focus of our lives.)
General Intro to Camp Reunion
I remember once being in a car crash, and once everything had come to a stop, and we realised that we weren't dead, I felt around to try and find my glasses. I found them sitting on my lap, and put them on, and realised that everything was still blurred and I started to panic, I thought something really bad has happened. But it hadn't the force of the crash had caused my glasses to end up in the back, and a girl in the back seat's glasses to end up in my lap.
When I put on the right glasses everything was all right.
We're born into this world with spiritual short-sightedness. In fact, we are so hopelessly short-sighted that although biblical truth stares us in the face we can't see it. Although creation tells us that there is a God we can't see it. When we become Christians, we get a new pair of glasses that enables us to see things correctly. It's a whole new way of looking at life. We see things that we never saw before.
The problem is that sometimes we forget to put on the glasses, and we live life in a short-sighted daze of confusion and muddling about.
When I was asked to speak at camp reunion I was asked initially to deal with the problems that you have to deal with, and to show you how to deal with them from a Christian perspective - problems like temptation, living godly lives in an ungodly world, knowing where to draw the line, knowing what to do with our lives, guidance, relationships.
But the problem with dealing with each of those problems is that as soon as you get one sorted out, another problem arises. Its like moving obstacles out of the way of a short-sighted person. Its kind and helpful, but not much use in the long term. Its far better to get them a pair of glasses.
This weekend I want to get you to put on and keep on the glasses God has given us. In doing so we will see how then to deal with all those issues, and every other issue and decision you have to make in your life. We will see how not to waste our lives poking around in the things that we can see without our glasses.
The glasses that God has given us to put on, or the contact lens through which we are to view everything is Jesus Christ. Jesus is central. We start the Christian life with him, and we are going to be with him - the bit in between is all about him too.
What we are going to do over these talks is to look at Jesus, and then to look at three aspects of our lives, and see how this applies so that we will not waste our lives, either by:
· Fail to live for Christ
· Be a Christian, and loiter with sin
· Make the wrong thing your goal - such as relationships
Christ and the purpose of our lives
What do you want to do with your lives? Most of you are at a stage where you have choices to make. Some of you are finishing school and looking for a job, some of you are finishing university and looking for a job. What choices will you make? What governs those choices? If you aren't a Christian does it matter what choices you make, as long as you are happy? If you are a Christian, does it matter what choices you make as long as you are obedient?
It does matter. Because you and I only have one life. We are only here once. We get no second shot at living, and we can't afford to waste our one precious God-given life.
John Piper tells the story of a couple who "took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Florida, where they cruise on their 30 foot trawler, play softball and collect shells." At first, when I read it I thought it might be a joke. But it wasn't. Tragically, this was the dream: Come to the end of your life-your one and only precious, God-given life-and let the last great work of your life, before you give an account to your Creator, be this: playing softball and collecting shells. Picture them before Christ at the great day of judgment: "Look, Lord. See my shells." That is a tragedy… Don't buy it. Don't waste your life.
I hear parents talking about their sons and daughters:
"My son doing very well for himself - gone to university, doing really well." Or "My daughter has married a lovely young man, good job, nice house, great prospects, 3 lovely children."
"Where does they worship?"
"Doesn't go to church anymore actually."
Then they not doing remotely well-doing very very badly. On road to destruction. Who cares if road paved with nice houses & well-paying jobs? That's a wasted life.
Some of the greatest men and women who ever lived appear to have wasted their lives. Churchill. Marie Curie, Einstein, Napoleon, Agatha Christie, Conan Doyle, actors, actresses - Tom Cruise - Imagine the scene on the day of Judgment "Well what have you to show for your life?" Cruise - "Well I spent it pretending to be people who didn't really exist, so that other people could look at shiny bright coloured lights on a screen for a couple of hours." A whole life. Wasted.
Why is it wasted? Wasted because that is not what this life is for. It's like lining the cavity walls of your house with £1000 notes to increase the insulation. For two of those notes you could buy enough polystyrene to do the job. With 100 of them you could buy a new house.
And I want to say to you this evening that Christians can make exactly the same mistake. This isn't the starter talk for those who aren't Christians, and then tomorrow we'll get into the stuff for Christians. This is as much for you too.
What is this life for then?
John 17:3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
1 Corinthians 2:2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
Ephesians 1:17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
2 Peter 3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever! Amen.
1 John 5:20 We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true--even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
Knowing God is what life is all about. We're going to look at Phil 3:4-14 to see what this meant for one man. He's excited, I'm excited, I want you to be excited about following Jesus.
Looking together at v7,8
7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
There are two great lessons to learn and two great outcomes to anticipate
The most worthwhile thing we can do with our lives is to make Christ central
Most of us have our dreams and ambitions. When most preachers say that riches or fame, or success, or flying high aren't worth much, they aren't always speaking from personal experience. When they say Christ far outweighs all that this life can offer, not many of us have had the opportunity to test that theory. We know it is true because the Bible tells us; but we don't know from personal experience. Paul on the other hand does. He had it all. Look at v4-6
He was a leader of the church, sent on a vital mission by his superiors, entrusted with a task that was essential for the future of Judaism.
His family, as well as being devout Jews, were rich, rich enough to send their son to the top universities in the land. Rich perhaps because the tents made in the family business had been seen by the Commander of the Roman garrison at Tarsus, who had then placed the contract for his army with this Jewish firm. They were landowners, and Roman citizens. Paul stood to inherit the family business with its lucrative trade, and he was on course to becoming the top rabbi in Judaism. He was probably married, for you could not be a member of the Sanhedrin unless you were married.
It is this man who says about Jesus, "For whose sake I lost all things."
He lost his inheritance, he lost his prospect of fame as a rabbi with his own school of followers, he lost his status in the church, he lost his family, they would have mourned for him as if dead. His mother and father would never want to see him again. His wife would have divorced him. He lost his health, he was about to lose his life. He lost everything.
This is the man who stands before you this evening, and says, "I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ."
And these are not the words of a bitter man, who says like a child who doesn't get what it wants, "I didn't want it anyway." He doesn't say, "These things are rubbish," but "Compared with what I have in Christ, I consider these things as rubbish". When you add up all my losses they're not losses at all.
"I had everything" he says, "I know what it is to have it all, but let me tell you this evening, all those things are worthless, compared with having Christ."
Paul is not making some rash off the cuff statement here. The word 'consider' means to stack up and count coins. Paul has stacked up all that his life has lost, and he has considered it all, and he has come to a deep-seated conviction. He says to us, "I now see things clearly - all that this world had to offer me was worthless. Christ is all that matters."
Friends, I want you to grasp this truth - that there is nothing more worthwhile that you can do with your life than to be a Christian. Some of you here aren't Christians, and you think that to be a Christian is to miss out. Perhaps you are afraid to be a Christian because you'll lose friends, you'll lose face at school. Paul who lost everything, how do you think it felt to walk through the streets of Jerusalem and to have people turn and mutter to each other as you walked by? Or to have men who were once your colleagues try to murder you? That man says to you, "Its worth it."
Whatever else you rate more important than Christ pales into insignificance compared to Christ.
It's worth it because Jesus is so amazing
Look at Paul's words in v8
What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
"Christ Jesus, my Lord" - it's the only time Paul uses that phrase. There's a wonderful warmth about it. It is intensely personal. He piles up Jesus' titles, he gives him Lord and Messiah, but he calls him "Mine". And knowing this great Lord (A king who blesses and rewards his people and is supremely good) and Saviour (the only one who can save us), he describes as surpassing greatness. What I have now excels all the others. The relationship I have now outweighs everything - inheritance, family, wife. Money, friends and sex - Paul says his relationship with Christ far excels them all.
I've had it he says, and I am in a position to compare - one of 2 men in scripture who does this for us - the other is Solomon.
Think about it you can know God, the maker of heaven and earth. You, miserable little you and me can know God!
It's worth it because that is what this life is all about
Read Eph 1:9,10, 22, 3:10
Ephesians 1:9-10 And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfilment--to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.
This is what this whole universe was made for. That is why there are people and trees and flowers, and stars, and galaxies. So that God would be glorified by sinners turning to him. So that there would be people from every tribe nation and people praising him. And he sits on the Throne right at this very moment controlling all things in this universe for the sake of his people.
Churchill may have achieved much - victory, but if Christ was not central he wasted his life. Einstein. Neil Armstrong. Wasted lives. They missed the point. Tragic. For all eternity.
Friends the universe revolves around Christ. If we have any sense we will bring our lives to revolve around him too. Many are like the sad lonely child in the playground. The teacher is over here with the class engaged in something important … and they are sitting at the far side playing in the dirt. There is something tragic about a wasted life.
Does that not excite you fellow Christians - when you get up and sit down to read your Bibles, you are at the heart of what this whole universe is about. When you stand in church and worship God, you aren't some little group of weirdo whackos but you are at the centre of what this world is about.
It's worth it because it is the only thing that lasts into eternity
String illustration - Our lives are like this ball of string. This first centimetre is for this life, the rest is eternity. Which is the most significant bit? Which bit is worth investing all our energies in?
Conclusion
Some of you are perhaps afraid of what you'll lose or miss out on - listen to me, do you weep and wail when you take the rubbish out to the bin. Do you look at the bits of gunk that have been picked out from the plug hole? Paul says, the things you will lose out on are rubbish compared with the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ.
Some of you perhaps are half-way Christians - a Christian at home, and at church, but afraid to let it be known in public. You have a foot in both camps. You are sitting on the fence. People who sit on fences get splinters. And God doesn't bless those who sit on the fence. You can say goodbye to any real growth and blessing unless you commit your way entirely to God.
Put your focus on Jesus - see who he is, see what this world is about, see everything through him and don't be ashamed to be sensible. If this is what its about - then it makes sense to be doing what we are doing.
Some of you are Christians and perhaps discouraged and feeling as if they get all the fun, as if you are missing out. Paul says to you - no matter what else happens whether you achieve anything much in your life, you haven't wasted it. You have got the point. A life centred on Christ is never wasted.
Look at other people with their cars, and houses, or degrees, or whatever. Not filled with envy, they are missing the point of life.
Now I want to say something to you who are Christians, and perhaps have been Christians for some time.
The second lesson to learn from this is this:
Keep your life centred on Christ
Sometimes we treat Christ like a fire escape. Its great we've escaped from Hell, and now we can get on with our lives. Yes we'll do a few things out of gratitude for him. And so often having been purchased an expensive set of glasses that help us to see what is really important in the world, we take them off again. And we pick up the worlds values and goals.
Paul is saying that to be a Christian isn't just a mere adjustment in our thinking or way of life, or to incorporate another element into our lives. Christ isn't an extra battery pack. Like playing some of the old arcade games, Donkey Kong, had to leap over barrels and climb ladders to rescue a princess. Along the way you could pick up a hammer and use it to smash the barrels that were being hurled at you. But you were still in the same game. Sometimes as Christians we live like that. We have picked up the secret weapon, Christ, but we're still in the same old game.
That's not what the Christian life is about.
That's not what Paul tells us here.
Look at v7 & 8
7But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
In v7 Paul has been speaking about his attitude to the things that he lost in becoming a Christian. His conclusion was "I have considered them, and they don't compare." In v8 he wants to emphasise this, "Let me make it clearer - its not just the things that I lost out on when I changed my way of living that I consider loss. I still look at life and compare everything with Christ." The ESV accurately captures the tenses - "I counted" past tense, "I count" - present on going action. He is constantly looking at everything through these new glasses. And because of this continuously looking at the surpassing value of his relationship with Jesus he had a real life about him. You know there are people in our churches who in their day where real livewires for Christ, but now they have settled down into a routine and they have lost that zeal. Why? Because they have stopped evaluating everything compared to Christ. Other things have become important again.
Don't do it. Paul didn't do it. Listen to him in v10
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
And it doesn't happen when you get old. It happens gradually. Perhaps its happening to some of you at the minute. If I were to ask, you would tell me that Christ means everything to you, but when it comes to your plans for your life, what your goals are: Get married, get a job, get a house settle down, have kids. And perhaps these things are creeping up the ranking table again. Paul tells us, that this is not a temporary change of attitude, but a constant considering of everything. He wants us to be abundantly clear on this: Nothing is more important than our relationship with Christ.
Paul was a man who continually re-evaluated things - will this help to get to know Christ better? The key is not to look at things, but to look at Christ, and to see him for what he is. If he is wondrous, then we will not want anything to detract from that.
And if anything interferes with that no matter what it is we are to consider it as rubbish.
And how is it that we keep this perspective? Paul doesn't finish the verse focusing on what he does without, but he returns us to Christ. He calls us back to focus on what we gain in Christ.
Here is the ultimate goal that we have to keep in mind - we are here to know Christ. We are here to grow in our relationship with Christ.
Paul is writing this letter close to the end of his life. He is under house arrest. He is facing possible execution. And he writes to a group of young Christians who are concerned for him. And he tells them that because of the greatness of knowing Christ he has no regrets.
No regrets about losing his family.
No regrets about losing his inheritance
No regrets about being shipwrecked
No regrets about bring whipped and beaten
No regrets about the scars he has to bear
No regrets about following Jesus even though it meant that he was stoned, and left for dead. No regrets.
No regrets that it means that he is held captive
No regrets that it means he will probably be executed.
That's how you want to come to the end of your life - no regrets. You have allowed nothing to stand in the way of what you were placed here for. If you have Christ you have everything. If you don't have Christ, you have nothing.
And as he sits in that prison after all that has happened to him, and is happening to him, and will likely happen to him, he writes, "I still consider all these things worth nothing".
Let me show you how this applies:
If something is spinning, that can't take anything on board unless it is centred on what the top is centred on. If you put anything off centre the top with not spin properly. All that we do in life has to be centred on Christ otherwise we too will spin of course.
We need to ask the question what impact will this course of action have on my walk with Christ?
What are your goals in life? If the whole universe revolves around Christ? What does your life revolve around?
You have received the greatest thing in the universe. Christ. Is he still the greatest thing to you? Are you still looking at everything and holding it alongside Christ, and evaluating it? Or have you taken off those glasses, and are you looking at things as the world looks at them?
· Will taking on this job give me time to be at church, at the midweek? Or does this company expect me to work every hour of the day because the company is no1.
· If I pick this university course and have to go away from home, is their a good church nearby that I can be involved in, not because of what I can give, but because I need to be fed and encouraged.
· Do I stop going to Sabbath school because everyone my age has?
· If I share a house with these people who aren't Christians - how good will that be for me?
· If I take this job in the summer, is it because money is more important to me, than going on Go Teams, or camp?
· If I take this job - will the people I work with pull me down, and take me away in my walk with Christ?
· If I watch this TV programme late tonight, does that mean that I am not going to be able to spend time with my Saviour tomorrow before I head out?
· Will this job mean that I'm not near a church?
· What gifts has God given me that I could use - now where could I use them, that's where I'm going to be.
· Am I planning to head off around the world? What churches will I be visiting on the way - so that I can have fellowship and teaching?
· If everything is meant to revolve around Christ - what are your plans for this year as a Christian - what areas are you seeking to grow in, what areas are you seeking to develop in?
Two great lessons - from this craggy old man its worth it and its always worth it. But he has more for us.
Two great outcomes
The impact of a Christ-centred life
There is this idea in the church that unless you are going to be a minister then nothing else is that important. Don't make an idol out of ministers. The RP Church doesn't need ministers. It needs people like you who will be fired up for Christ to go out and live your lives everywhere, so that Christ is seen to be magnificent, that following Christ means that you have got something no-one else has. When people see the values that you have then they will know that Christ is precious. They will see how unaffected by the rat race you are.
That's what this church needs. People who live out Phil 3:8 in their schools, in their friendships, in their work places, in their universities, everywhere. How we spend our money, how we talk, what's important to us.
The outcome will be that you will lead eternity effective lives - what you do in Christ will last forever, what you do outside of Christ will never last.
The Reward of a Christ-centred life
This could all sound like a real burden, but look at the language Paul uses.
"gain Christ."
Later on - "to win the prize"
Earlier in epistle "To live is Christ, to die is gain"
Hebrews 11:26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.
Revelation 22:12 "Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.
There is a great reward in a Christ-centred life. To life for Christ here is to store for yourselves treasure in Heaven. More than that, it is to enjoy Heaven before you get there. To know Christ is Heaven, to be used by Christ in the work of his kingdom is joy beyond measure. And you can have a measure of that now.
And so often as Christians we rob ourselves of this. We're like someone who buys the latest digital camera, and then pokes their eyes out. How sad. If only we could see Jesus for who he is, and see what being with Jesus really means, and how wonderful being a Christian is, and to know his power at work in us, and to know that what we do will last forever - "What we do in life echoes in eternity."
You will enjoy this life immensely. Wholehearted commitment brings God's wholehearted approval.
I worry about some of you. I worry that some of you are in a very dangerous category. There is a reward for those who live in wholehearted commitment to Christ. But there are two Bible passages that speak of two other experiences on the day of judgment:
Matthew 7:21 "Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23 Then I will tell them plainly, `I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
Some of you think you are Christians, but maybe you aren't. You think that because you made a profession that that's it. You're free to live your life the way you want. I wouldn't be so sure.
1 Corinthians 3:11 For no-one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
Is what you are building going to last?
Assurance and reward in scripture are only promised to those who seek him with all their heart.
Conclusion
John Piper writes: "For me as a boy, one of the most gripping illustrations my fiery father used was the story of a man converted in old age. The church had prayed for this man for decades. He was hard and resistant. But this time, for some reason, he showed up when my father was preaching. At the end of the service, during a hymn, to everyone's amazement he came and took my father's hand. They sat down together on the front pew of the church as the people were dismissed. God opened his heart to the Gospel of Christ, and he was saved from his sins and given eternal life. But that did not stop him from sobbing and saying, as the tears ran down his wrinkled face-and what an impact it made on me to hear my father say this through his own tears-"I've wasted it! I've wasted it!"
This was the story that gripped me more than all the stories of young people who died in car wrecks before they were converted- the story of an old man weeping that he had wasted his life. In those early years God awakened in me a fear and a passion not to waste my life. The thought of coming to my old age and saying through tears, "I've wasted it! I've wasted it!" was a fearful and horrible thought to me."
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Food for thought - Does God believe in Irish People?
(My local newspaper column)
Sunday evening saw the first of a three part series "Is there anyone out there?" in which Anna Nolan looks at the state of spirituality in Ireland.
Taking to the streets of Limerick she asked if Irish people believe God really exists. One bookie was so certain that God doesn't exist that he offered odds of a million to one! He isn't the only one that is fairly sure that God either doesn't exist or is irrelevant. I remember seeing a leaflet some time back that claimed that 140,000 Irish people claimed to be atheists or non-religious, that's roughly the size of a county.
I always find it interesting that these programs are often made more for entertainment than for any serious purpose. They play with serious themes, but only succeed in trivialising them. Seldom do you see anyone interviewed that has something substantial or convincing to say. Those who do believe are often made to look foolish. It is made to look as if there is no evidence at all for God, whereas it more likely simply reflects the producer's bias - they didn't want to deal with anyone who had something coherent and rational to say.
The most direct proof for the existence of God is Jesus Christ. His existence is a historical fact. The facts of his life and the historical reliability of the gospels have yet to be seriously challenged, despite the efforts of popular writers such as Dan Browne in his "The DaVinci Code" (More of which in a later article). Jesus' claims to be God the Son, are well documented. His death is a historical fact. The evidence that he rose from the dead has proved to be a rock on which many serious-thinking atheists have floundered. That leaves us with a choice, in the words of Irish author CS Lewis:
"I'm trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say.
A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things that Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be the Devil of Hell.
You must make your choice: either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool; you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."
Perhaps a more significant question to ask is not, "Do Irish people believe in God?", but "Does God believe in Irish people?". Because, after all, we can sit with our head in a bucket and believe that it is nighttime, but that doesn't change reality one bit. If God exists then no amount of hiding will change that.
Mark Loughridge is the minister of Milford Reformed Presbyterian Church and Letterkenny New Life Fellowship.
Sunday evening saw the first of a three part series "Is there anyone out there?" in which Anna Nolan looks at the state of spirituality in Ireland.
Taking to the streets of Limerick she asked if Irish people believe God really exists. One bookie was so certain that God doesn't exist that he offered odds of a million to one! He isn't the only one that is fairly sure that God either doesn't exist or is irrelevant. I remember seeing a leaflet some time back that claimed that 140,000 Irish people claimed to be atheists or non-religious, that's roughly the size of a county.
I always find it interesting that these programs are often made more for entertainment than for any serious purpose. They play with serious themes, but only succeed in trivialising them. Seldom do you see anyone interviewed that has something substantial or convincing to say. Those who do believe are often made to look foolish. It is made to look as if there is no evidence at all for God, whereas it more likely simply reflects the producer's bias - they didn't want to deal with anyone who had something coherent and rational to say.
The most direct proof for the existence of God is Jesus Christ. His existence is a historical fact. The facts of his life and the historical reliability of the gospels have yet to be seriously challenged, despite the efforts of popular writers such as Dan Browne in his "The DaVinci Code" (More of which in a later article). Jesus' claims to be God the Son, are well documented. His death is a historical fact. The evidence that he rose from the dead has proved to be a rock on which many serious-thinking atheists have floundered. That leaves us with a choice, in the words of Irish author CS Lewis:
"I'm trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say.
A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things that Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be the Devil of Hell.
You must make your choice: either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool; you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."
Perhaps a more significant question to ask is not, "Do Irish people believe in God?", but "Does God believe in Irish people?". Because, after all, we can sit with our head in a bucket and believe that it is nighttime, but that doesn't change reality one bit. If God exists then no amount of hiding will change that.
Mark Loughridge is the minister of Milford Reformed Presbyterian Church and Letterkenny New Life Fellowship.
Monday, February 14, 2005
Link fixed
I think the link to "My King" should work now. You might have to right-click and select "Save-as" to download the file.
Sunday, February 13, 2005
I wish I'd said it - My King
I heard this years ago, and was reminded of it today as I worked on a sermon. I went looking on the web, and guess what? There it was. It's from almost a namesake - Dr SM Lockridge, and I wish I had said it! You can read it below, but trust me its well worth the listen (here).
My King was born King.
The Bible says He's a Seven Way King.
He's the King of the Jews - that's a racial King.
He's the King of Israel - that's a National King.
He's the King of righteousness.
He's the King of the ages.
He's the King of Heaven.
He's the King of glory.
He's the King of kings and He is the Lord of lords.
Now that's my King.
Well I wonder if you know Him. Do you know Him? Don't try to mislead me. Do you know my King?
David said the Heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament show His handiwork.
My King is the only one whom there are no means of measure can define His limitless love.
No far seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shore of supplies.
No barriers can hinder Him from pouring out His blessing.
Well, well, He's enduringly strong.
He's entirely sincere.
He's eternally steadfast.
He's immortally graceful.
He's imperially powerful.
He's impartially merciful.
That's my King.
He's God's Son.
He's the sinner's saviour.
He's the centrepiece of civilization.
He stands alone in Himself.
He's honest.
He's unique.
He's unparalleled.
He's unprecedented.
He's supreme.
He's pre-eminent.
Well, He's the grandest idea in literature.
He's the highest personality in philosophy.
He's the supreme problem in high criticism.
He's the fundamental doctrine of proved theology.
He's the carnal necessity of spiritual religion.
That's my King.
He's the miracle of the age.
He's the superlative of everything good that you choose to call Him.
Well, He's the only one able to supply all of our needs simultaneously.
He supplies strength for the weak.
He's available for the tempted and the tried.
He sympathizes and He saves.
He's strong God and He guides.
He heals the sick.
He cleanses the lepers.
He forgives sinners.
He discharged debtors.
He delivers the captives.
He defends the feeble.
He blesses the young.
He serves the unfortunate.
He regards the aged.
He rewards the diligent and He beautifies the meek.
Do you know Him?
Well, my King is a King of knowledge.
He's the wellspring of wisdom.
He's the doorway of deliverance.
He's the pathway of peace.
He's the roadway of righteousness.
He's the highway of holiness.
He's the gateway of glory.
He's the master of the mighty.
He's the captain of the conquerors.
He's the head of the heroes.
He's the leader of the legislatures.
He's the overseer of the overcomers.
He's the governor of governors.
He's the prince of princes.
He's the King of kings and He's the Lord of lords.
That's my King. Yeah. Yeah.
That's my King. My King, yeah.
His office is manifold.
His promise is sure.
His light is matchless.
His goodness is limitless.
His mercy is everlasting.
His love never changes.
His Word is enough.
His grace is sufficient.
His reign is righteous.
His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
Well. I wish I could describe Him to you, but He's indescribable. He's indescribable.
Yes. He's incomprehensible.
He's invincible.
He's irresistible.
I'm coming to tell you, the heavens of heavens cannot contain Him, let alone a man explaining Him.
You can't get Him out of your mind.
You can't get Him off of your hands.
You can't outlive Him and you can't live without Him.
Well, Pharisees couldn't stand Him, but they found out they couldn't stop Him.
Pilot couldn't find any fault in Him.
The witnesses couldn't get their testimonies to agree.
Herod couldn't kill Him.
Death couldn't handle Him and the grave couldn't hold Him.
That's my King. Yeah.
He always has been and He always will be.
I'm talking about He had no predecessor and He'll have no successor.
There's nobody before Him and there'll be nobody after Him.
You can't impeach Him and He's not going to resign.
That's my King! That's my King!
Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory.
Well, all the power belongs to my King.
We're around here talking about black power and white power and green power, but it's God's power.
Thine is the power. Yeah. And the glory.
We try to get prestige and honour and glory for ourselves, but the glory is all His.
Yes. Thine is the Kingdom and the power and glory, forever and ever and ever and ever. How long is that? And ever and ever and ever and ever. And when you get through with all of the evers, then,
Amen.
My King was born King.
The Bible says He's a Seven Way King.
He's the King of the Jews - that's a racial King.
He's the King of Israel - that's a National King.
He's the King of righteousness.
He's the King of the ages.
He's the King of Heaven.
He's the King of glory.
He's the King of kings and He is the Lord of lords.
Now that's my King.
Well I wonder if you know Him. Do you know Him? Don't try to mislead me. Do you know my King?
David said the Heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament show His handiwork.
My King is the only one whom there are no means of measure can define His limitless love.
No far seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shore of supplies.
No barriers can hinder Him from pouring out His blessing.
Well, well, He's enduringly strong.
He's entirely sincere.
He's eternally steadfast.
He's immortally graceful.
He's imperially powerful.
He's impartially merciful.
That's my King.
He's God's Son.
He's the sinner's saviour.
He's the centrepiece of civilization.
He stands alone in Himself.
He's honest.
He's unique.
He's unparalleled.
He's unprecedented.
He's supreme.
He's pre-eminent.
Well, He's the grandest idea in literature.
He's the highest personality in philosophy.
He's the supreme problem in high criticism.
He's the fundamental doctrine of proved theology.
He's the carnal necessity of spiritual religion.
That's my King.
He's the miracle of the age.
He's the superlative of everything good that you choose to call Him.
Well, He's the only one able to supply all of our needs simultaneously.
He supplies strength for the weak.
He's available for the tempted and the tried.
He sympathizes and He saves.
He's strong God and He guides.
He heals the sick.
He cleanses the lepers.
He forgives sinners.
He discharged debtors.
He delivers the captives.
He defends the feeble.
He blesses the young.
He serves the unfortunate.
He regards the aged.
He rewards the diligent and He beautifies the meek.
Do you know Him?
Well, my King is a King of knowledge.
He's the wellspring of wisdom.
He's the doorway of deliverance.
He's the pathway of peace.
He's the roadway of righteousness.
He's the highway of holiness.
He's the gateway of glory.
He's the master of the mighty.
He's the captain of the conquerors.
He's the head of the heroes.
He's the leader of the legislatures.
He's the overseer of the overcomers.
He's the governor of governors.
He's the prince of princes.
He's the King of kings and He's the Lord of lords.
That's my King. Yeah. Yeah.
That's my King. My King, yeah.
His office is manifold.
His promise is sure.
His light is matchless.
His goodness is limitless.
His mercy is everlasting.
His love never changes.
His Word is enough.
His grace is sufficient.
His reign is righteous.
His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
Well. I wish I could describe Him to you, but He's indescribable. He's indescribable.
Yes. He's incomprehensible.
He's invincible.
He's irresistible.
I'm coming to tell you, the heavens of heavens cannot contain Him, let alone a man explaining Him.
You can't get Him out of your mind.
You can't get Him off of your hands.
You can't outlive Him and you can't live without Him.
Well, Pharisees couldn't stand Him, but they found out they couldn't stop Him.
Pilot couldn't find any fault in Him.
The witnesses couldn't get their testimonies to agree.
Herod couldn't kill Him.
Death couldn't handle Him and the grave couldn't hold Him.
That's my King. Yeah.
He always has been and He always will be.
I'm talking about He had no predecessor and He'll have no successor.
There's nobody before Him and there'll be nobody after Him.
You can't impeach Him and He's not going to resign.
That's my King! That's my King!
Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory.
Well, all the power belongs to my King.
We're around here talking about black power and white power and green power, but it's God's power.
Thine is the power. Yeah. And the glory.
We try to get prestige and honour and glory for ourselves, but the glory is all His.
Yes. Thine is the Kingdom and the power and glory, forever and ever and ever and ever. How long is that? And ever and ever and ever and ever. And when you get through with all of the evers, then,
Amen.
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Book Review - Why does being a Christian have to be so hard?
Why does being a Christian have to be so hard?
Peter Golding
Evangelical Press
Don Carson was asked recently, "14 years ago you wrote a book on suffering and pain. Since then you've come through a lot of suffering yourself - would you change anything you wrote?" Carson's answer was most revealing, he said, "No, the whole point of the book was to get certain biblical truths thoroughly in place before you get kicked in the teeth, because if you live long enough you will suffer. If you don't have enough biblical thinking in place before things happen then you will suffer additionally from all the unbiblical fears and anxieties."
Now that's wise!
That's what this book by Peter Golding is like. When someone becomes a Christian very often things go smoothly for a time. But then trials come, and very often, no matter what stage we're at the in the Christian life, we can wonder, "What is happening?", "Has God abandoned me?", "Am I a Christian at all?", "Did I do something wrong?". And if we have not taken God teaching on board beforehand we will struggle.
Peter Golding focuses, in part, on the greatly ignored doctrine of adoption, which has a mine of blessing for struggling saints. He does so by taking us step by step through Hebrews 12:1-13 (also a book we often pass by) and gives wise pastoral council and demonstrates to us from scripture what is happening in trials and testing times.
He cuts through the simple solutions to problems, "Just pray about it", and gives good instruction - "[that] is not the New Testament method of dealing with trial and affliction, which never makes prayer and substitute for thought." And Golding does just that; he helps us to think biblically about these issues.
This is not so much a book on the problem of suffering in general, but pastoral advice to believers on how to prepare and cope when problems come. For that reason it is worth reading.
Peter Golding
Evangelical Press
Don Carson was asked recently, "14 years ago you wrote a book on suffering and pain. Since then you've come through a lot of suffering yourself - would you change anything you wrote?" Carson's answer was most revealing, he said, "No, the whole point of the book was to get certain biblical truths thoroughly in place before you get kicked in the teeth, because if you live long enough you will suffer. If you don't have enough biblical thinking in place before things happen then you will suffer additionally from all the unbiblical fears and anxieties."
Now that's wise!
That's what this book by Peter Golding is like. When someone becomes a Christian very often things go smoothly for a time. But then trials come, and very often, no matter what stage we're at the in the Christian life, we can wonder, "What is happening?", "Has God abandoned me?", "Am I a Christian at all?", "Did I do something wrong?". And if we have not taken God teaching on board beforehand we will struggle.
Peter Golding focuses, in part, on the greatly ignored doctrine of adoption, which has a mine of blessing for struggling saints. He does so by taking us step by step through Hebrews 12:1-13 (also a book we often pass by) and gives wise pastoral council and demonstrates to us from scripture what is happening in trials and testing times.
He cuts through the simple solutions to problems, "Just pray about it", and gives good instruction - "[that] is not the New Testament method of dealing with trial and affliction, which never makes prayer and substitute for thought." And Golding does just that; he helps us to think biblically about these issues.
This is not so much a book on the problem of suffering in general, but pastoral advice to believers on how to prepare and cope when problems come. For that reason it is worth reading.
Sunday, February 06, 2005
God's Providence
The small boy stood peering over the counter in the sweet shop, his mum busy looking at cards and flowers. Stretched out before him in magnificent array was an endless selection of midget gems, bon-bons, pear drops, fizz bombs and every other sweet imaginable.
The sweet shop owner looked at him and said, "Son, take a handful"
The lad looked longingly, but stood with his hands in his pockets. "Go on," said his mum standing nearby.
Still he stood with hands buried deep within the recesses of his trousers.
The owner took a bag and scooped a handful himself, and reached to him, "Here, take these, from me to you."
As they went out the door his mother asked, "Why wouldn't you take a handful of sweets yourself son?"
The little lad replied, "He had bigger hands mum."
"And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." - 2 Cor 9:8
So often we worry about the future, we worry about coping, we worry about what to say if someone asks us about the gospel. And we forget that our God has big hands. He gives his people all we need. At all times. For all situations.
So often we try with our hands, instead of going to the one with bigger hands. "You do not have because you do not ask" - James 4:2
The sweet shop owner looked at him and said, "Son, take a handful"
The lad looked longingly, but stood with his hands in his pockets. "Go on," said his mum standing nearby.
Still he stood with hands buried deep within the recesses of his trousers.
The owner took a bag and scooped a handful himself, and reached to him, "Here, take these, from me to you."
As they went out the door his mother asked, "Why wouldn't you take a handful of sweets yourself son?"
The little lad replied, "He had bigger hands mum."
"And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." - 2 Cor 9:8
So often we worry about the future, we worry about coping, we worry about what to say if someone asks us about the gospel. And we forget that our God has big hands. He gives his people all we need. At all times. For all situations.
So often we try with our hands, instead of going to the one with bigger hands. "You do not have because you do not ask" - James 4:2
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Food for thought - Suicide
(My local newspaper column)
It is with a growing sense of sadness that I write this column this week. Could any right thinking individual listen to the reports of suicide after suicide in our own county and not be burdened by the awful hopelessness that must overwhelm a man or woman, or young person so much so that they wish to take their life?
Can anyone fathom the thought processes and burdens that lead someone to this chasm of despair? Yes, I believe there are people who know exactly what it feels like, because they are standing on the brink of that chasm themselves.
It is to you I write this column. What has a minister to say on this subject? Is he going to lecture us?
What else can a minister say except what is in the Bible? So what does the Bible have to say on this subject?
"I have had enough, Lord. Take my life." Those were the words of Elijah the great Old Testament preacher. He knew what it was to stand on the brink. Job too wrote, "Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb? For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest." An unknown troubled soul wrote in Psalm 13, "How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day?". And in Psalm 116 another who knew the long dark nights of the soul wrote, "Death had its hands around my throat; the terrors of the grave overtook me. I saw only trouble and sorrow."
God's word does not paint a rosy picture of life. It deals with the harsh realities that we have to live through. And it provides hope where hope was gone, and promise where once there was only despair.
Suicide is often seen as the only way out: the only way out of a miserable existence, the only way out of love's shattered dreams, the only way out of pain, the only way to escape the hurt of the past or the burden of the future.
God, on the other hand, is portrayed as the one who shapes the future for the good of those who love him.
God is the one who can deal with the hurts of the past. A friend of mine, who has come through a past so horrendous that few of us could imagine, said of what God had done for her: "My past is my greatest asset in his hands." What had driven her to despair had been turned around by God and was now a means of bringing hope and blessing to others.
God's word shows us that we need not go through this life alone, that we are not made to go through this life alone. It holds out to us the promise of strength for every situation: "I can do all things through him who gives me strength" (Philippians 4:13). It holds out to us the promise of conquering our past, rather than letting the past conquer us: "in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us" (Romans 8:39). It holds out to us the promise of hope: "I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11).
The song writer in Psalm 116 who wrote, "Death had its hands around my throat; the terrors of the grave overtook me. I saw only trouble and sorrow" also went on to write immediately,
"Then I called on the name of the Lord: 'Please, Lord, save me!'
How kind the Lord is! How good he is! So merciful, this God of ours!
The Lord protects those of childlike faith; I was facing death, and then he saved me.
Now I can rest again, for the Lord has been so good to me.
He has saved me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
And so I walk in the Lord's presence as I live here on earth!"
This life is not easy, but we do not have to live it by our own strength. We can have the almighty power of God to help us. That's what Elijah, Job, and many others have found.
If anyone reading this wants to talk confidentially, please feel free to get in touch.
It is with a growing sense of sadness that I write this column this week. Could any right thinking individual listen to the reports of suicide after suicide in our own county and not be burdened by the awful hopelessness that must overwhelm a man or woman, or young person so much so that they wish to take their life?
Can anyone fathom the thought processes and burdens that lead someone to this chasm of despair? Yes, I believe there are people who know exactly what it feels like, because they are standing on the brink of that chasm themselves.
It is to you I write this column. What has a minister to say on this subject? Is he going to lecture us?
What else can a minister say except what is in the Bible? So what does the Bible have to say on this subject?
"I have had enough, Lord. Take my life." Those were the words of Elijah the great Old Testament preacher. He knew what it was to stand on the brink. Job too wrote, "Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb? For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest." An unknown troubled soul wrote in Psalm 13, "How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day?". And in Psalm 116 another who knew the long dark nights of the soul wrote, "Death had its hands around my throat; the terrors of the grave overtook me. I saw only trouble and sorrow."
God's word does not paint a rosy picture of life. It deals with the harsh realities that we have to live through. And it provides hope where hope was gone, and promise where once there was only despair.
Suicide is often seen as the only way out: the only way out of a miserable existence, the only way out of love's shattered dreams, the only way out of pain, the only way to escape the hurt of the past or the burden of the future.
God, on the other hand, is portrayed as the one who shapes the future for the good of those who love him.
God is the one who can deal with the hurts of the past. A friend of mine, who has come through a past so horrendous that few of us could imagine, said of what God had done for her: "My past is my greatest asset in his hands." What had driven her to despair had been turned around by God and was now a means of bringing hope and blessing to others.
God's word shows us that we need not go through this life alone, that we are not made to go through this life alone. It holds out to us the promise of strength for every situation: "I can do all things through him who gives me strength" (Philippians 4:13). It holds out to us the promise of conquering our past, rather than letting the past conquer us: "in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us" (Romans 8:39). It holds out to us the promise of hope: "I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11).
The song writer in Psalm 116 who wrote, "Death had its hands around my throat; the terrors of the grave overtook me. I saw only trouble and sorrow" also went on to write immediately,
"Then I called on the name of the Lord: 'Please, Lord, save me!'
How kind the Lord is! How good he is! So merciful, this God of ours!
The Lord protects those of childlike faith; I was facing death, and then he saved me.
Now I can rest again, for the Lord has been so good to me.
He has saved me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
And so I walk in the Lord's presence as I live here on earth!"
This life is not easy, but we do not have to live it by our own strength. We can have the almighty power of God to help us. That's what Elijah, Job, and many others have found.
If anyone reading this wants to talk confidentially, please feel free to get in touch.
Friday, January 28, 2005
Ever find it hard to ... Pray?
Dr. J. Sidlow Baxter once shared his own pastoral diary with a group of pastors who asked just this question. He began by telling how in 1928 he entered the ministry determined that he would be the “most Methodist-Baptist” of pastors, a real man of prayer. However, it was not long until his increasing pastoral responsibilities, administrative duties,and the subtle subterfuges of pastoral life began to crowd prayer out. He began to get used to it, making excuses for himself.
Then one morning a crisis came as he stood over his work-strewn desk and looked at his watch. The voice of the Spirit was calling him to pray. At the same time another velvety voice told him to be practical and get his letters answered - he ought to face up to the fact that he was not of the spiritual sort, that only a few people could be like that. That did it!
“That last remark,” said Baxter, “hurt like a dagger blade. I could not bear to think it was true.” He was horrified by his ability to rationalize away the very ground of his ministerial vitality and power. That morning Sidlow Baxter took a good look into his heart, and he found there was a part of him that did not want to pray and a part that did. The part that didn’t was his emotions, and the part that did was his intellect and will. This analysis paved the way to victory. In Dr. Baxter’s own inimitable words:
“As never before, my will and I stood face to face. I asked my will the straight question, “Will, are you ready for an hour of prayer?” Will answered, “Here I am, and I’m quite ready, if you are”. So Will and I linked arms, and turned to go for our time of prayer. At once all the emotions began pulling the other way and protesting, “We’re not coming”. I saw Will stagger just a bit, so I asked, “Can you stick it out, Will?” and Will replied, “Yes, if you can”. So Will went, and we got down to prayer, dragging those wriggling, obstreperous emotions with us. It was a struggle all the way through. At one point, when Will and I were in the middle of an earnest intercession, I suddenly found one of those traitorous emotions had snared my imagination and had run off to the golf course; and it was all I could do to drag the wicked rascal back. A bit later I found another of the emotions had sneaked away with some off-guard thoughts and was in the pulpit, two days ahead of schedule, preaching a sermon that I had not yet finished preparing!
At the end of that hour, if you had asked me, “Have you had a good time?” I would have had to reply, “No, it has been a wearying wrestle with contrary emotions and a truant imagination from beginning to end”. What is more, that battle with the emotions continued for between two and three weeks, and if you had asked me at the end of that period, “Have you had a ‘good time’ in your daily praying?” I would have had to confess, “No, at times it has seemed as though the heavens were brass, and God too distant to hear, and the Lord Jesus strangely aloof, and prayer accomplishing nothing.”
Yet something was happening. For one thing, Will and I really taught the emotions that we were completely independent of them. Also, one morning, about two weeks after the contest began, just when Will and I were going for another time of prayer, I overheard one of the emotions whisper to the other, “Come on, you guys, it’s no use wasting any more time resisting: they’ll go just the same.” That morning, for the first time, even though the emotions were still suddenly uncooperative, they were at least quiescent, which allowed Will and me to get on with prayer undistractedly.
Then, another couple of weeks later, what do you think happened? During one of our prayer times, when Will and I were no more thinking of the emotions than of the man in the moon, one of the most vigorous of the emotions unexpectedly sprang up and shouted, “Hallelujah!” at which all the other emotions exclaimed, “Amen!” And for the first time the whole of my being-intellect, will, and emotions-was united in one coordinated prayer-operation. All at once, God was real, Heaven was open, the Lord Jesus was luminously present, the Holy Spirit was indeed moving through my longings, and prayer was surprisingly vital. Moreover, in that instant there came a sudden realization that Heaven had been watching and listening all the way through those days of struggle against chilling moods and mutinous emotions; also that I had been undergoing necessary tutoring by my heavenly Teacher.”
(Taken from ‘Mark - Jesus, Servant and Saviour’, vol 2, p170, by R. Kent Hughes)
Then one morning a crisis came as he stood over his work-strewn desk and looked at his watch. The voice of the Spirit was calling him to pray. At the same time another velvety voice told him to be practical and get his letters answered - he ought to face up to the fact that he was not of the spiritual sort, that only a few people could be like that. That did it!
“That last remark,” said Baxter, “hurt like a dagger blade. I could not bear to think it was true.” He was horrified by his ability to rationalize away the very ground of his ministerial vitality and power. That morning Sidlow Baxter took a good look into his heart, and he found there was a part of him that did not want to pray and a part that did. The part that didn’t was his emotions, and the part that did was his intellect and will. This analysis paved the way to victory. In Dr. Baxter’s own inimitable words:
“As never before, my will and I stood face to face. I asked my will the straight question, “Will, are you ready for an hour of prayer?” Will answered, “Here I am, and I’m quite ready, if you are”. So Will and I linked arms, and turned to go for our time of prayer. At once all the emotions began pulling the other way and protesting, “We’re not coming”. I saw Will stagger just a bit, so I asked, “Can you stick it out, Will?” and Will replied, “Yes, if you can”. So Will went, and we got down to prayer, dragging those wriggling, obstreperous emotions with us. It was a struggle all the way through. At one point, when Will and I were in the middle of an earnest intercession, I suddenly found one of those traitorous emotions had snared my imagination and had run off to the golf course; and it was all I could do to drag the wicked rascal back. A bit later I found another of the emotions had sneaked away with some off-guard thoughts and was in the pulpit, two days ahead of schedule, preaching a sermon that I had not yet finished preparing!
At the end of that hour, if you had asked me, “Have you had a good time?” I would have had to reply, “No, it has been a wearying wrestle with contrary emotions and a truant imagination from beginning to end”. What is more, that battle with the emotions continued for between two and three weeks, and if you had asked me at the end of that period, “Have you had a ‘good time’ in your daily praying?” I would have had to confess, “No, at times it has seemed as though the heavens were brass, and God too distant to hear, and the Lord Jesus strangely aloof, and prayer accomplishing nothing.”
Yet something was happening. For one thing, Will and I really taught the emotions that we were completely independent of them. Also, one morning, about two weeks after the contest began, just when Will and I were going for another time of prayer, I overheard one of the emotions whisper to the other, “Come on, you guys, it’s no use wasting any more time resisting: they’ll go just the same.” That morning, for the first time, even though the emotions were still suddenly uncooperative, they were at least quiescent, which allowed Will and me to get on with prayer undistractedly.
Then, another couple of weeks later, what do you think happened? During one of our prayer times, when Will and I were no more thinking of the emotions than of the man in the moon, one of the most vigorous of the emotions unexpectedly sprang up and shouted, “Hallelujah!” at which all the other emotions exclaimed, “Amen!” And for the first time the whole of my being-intellect, will, and emotions-was united in one coordinated prayer-operation. All at once, God was real, Heaven was open, the Lord Jesus was luminously present, the Holy Spirit was indeed moving through my longings, and prayer was surprisingly vital. Moreover, in that instant there came a sudden realization that Heaven had been watching and listening all the way through those days of struggle against chilling moods and mutinous emotions; also that I had been undergoing necessary tutoring by my heavenly Teacher.”
(Taken from ‘Mark - Jesus, Servant and Saviour’, vol 2, p170, by R. Kent Hughes)
Sunday, January 23, 2005
The Sabbath Essay - Your God is Wise
We live in a society that does not generally appreciate wisdom. We praise knowledge. People are made to feel great if they know a lot. The more letters you can have after your name the better. But God's word says,
Proverbs 4:5 Get wisdom, get understanding… Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding"
What is wisdom? Wisdom is the ability to look at a situation and know the best possible way to bring about the best possible outcome. The best way to the best outcome. Wisdom is using knowledge for the highest and best results.
What do we learn from God's wisdom?
Your God is wise
It seems obvious to state it, but God is wise. He brings about the best ends, by the best means.
The Best Result
From his perspective the best result is that he is glorified. From our perspective the best result is that we can spend the longest possible time, in the greatest possible pleasure. God has a name for that - its called heaven. The greatest possible pleasure that will never end. Thankfully both these results come together, with God being glorified by the saints made perfect.
There is another aspect to this best of results. He makes us like the best and greatest human being ever to have lived - Jesus.
The Best Way
Now what is the best possible way? Is it just to take everyone there without exception?
No. Two great problems have to be overcome. Our sin. And God's wrath at our sin.
Can God display two contrary affections at the same time and in the one act? The greatest hatred of sin, and the greatest love to the sinner?
Here lies the wisdom of God that causes Paul to burst into a great chorus of praise in Romans 11. God has a solution where he will punish sinners, and he will allow sinners to delight in the glories of Heaven without ever knowing that punishment.
He, God, will provide a substitute, and in that substitute justice will find its satisfaction, wrath will be poured out. And mercy can be shown to the person who has been substituted.
But how could you have a substitute for each person going to Heaven? God's wisdom provides the answer: the one person will be a substitute for all those who enter Heaven. How does that work? How can one person pay the penalty for millions of believers? This is no ordinary person, it will have to be a person of infinite worth, so that justice will really be satisfied, a person who can bear in a short space of time, the sufferings of a multitude in eternity in Hell. This person will have to be more than man, he must be God.
But where could such a being be found? Here again we see the wisdom of God. God the Son takes on Human nature.
And that is one reason why Jesus is described as the wisdom of God. Because in Jesus Christ we see the wisdom of God. It is where the solution to the problem of God's mercy and his justice and our sin and his wrath all meet.
What supreme wisdom
In all this God punishes sin without ruining the sinner, and repairs the ruins of the sinner without indulging the sin.
Now that's wisdom. What a wise and glorious God, who gains for us the best end, by the best means.
And what is so good about the method that God has used?
Put yourself in God's place - if we can say such a thing. The great goal is to bring all sorts of people to Heaven. Children, adults of varying abilities, people who live in all parts and places in the world. What condition do you place on people that takes all this into account? Do you ask them to travel to a particular place, or to carry out a set of activities, or to live in a certain way?
What has God done? He has picked the best way. It is the simplest and easiest of demands - easy enough for a child. Easy enough for someone who hasn't much of an education. Believe.
How wise! All the work is done, we just have to trust.
But it is not enough to know that God is wise. It must make an impact on our lives:
"Unless you become familiar with the wisdom of God, you cannot make much real progress in the Christian life. True stability over an extended period of discipleship will often depend on trusting that God is wise in everything he does and in all his dealings with his children."
You can trust God's wisdom in all circumstances
God not only has the best and great goal in view for us, and not only is his means of getting us there the best means, but he takes the best route.
God's Wisdom means that nothing he does could be done better
Whatever circumstances you are going through, you can rest assured that this is the best path for you to get there.
He picks the best end and the best route. Whatever he is taking you through now, if you are seeking to follow him, it is the best way for you to be going. God is using it to do all sorts of things in your life. He always chooses what is best. You need to let that truth sink in, because there will be times when it doesn't seem like it.
Stephen Charnock writes: "We see the gardener pulling up some delightful flowers by the roots, digging up the earth, overwhelming it with dung; and ignorant person would imagine him wild, out of his wits, and charge him with spoiling his garden: but when the spring is arrived, the spectator will acknowledge his skill in his former operations."
Your God is wonderfully wise. And his wisdom is displayed in everything he does. God's wisdom is perfect. He needs no advice and He never makes a mistake. He knows what is best in every situation. And God always acts with perfect wisdom. He not only knows what is best: He always does what is best.
God's wisdom means you can be content with who you are and where God has placed you
Many people spend a lot of time wishing that they were someone else, somewhere else. Many Christians can fall into the same trap. Here is where we need to realise - God has made me who I am, for a good and wise reason, and that good and wise reason is for his glory and for my good, and therefore I need to get on with living and trusting God.
God has made you who you are because he has a role for you to play in his great plan for this world.
That doesn't mean that we aren't to try and grow as believers, but it does set us free from the tyranny of envy, and dissatisfaction. If fields longed to be mountains where would we get grain for bread? Where would cows feed to produce milk? But God in his wisdom has designed the surface of this planet for usefulness. So he has ordered his people in his kingdom for usefulness
God's wisdom means you won't understand everything
God's wisdom is sometimes, or most times, beyond our understanding. Often, because we do not know everything that God knows, we cannot understand His ways. Sometimes we watch situations develop and think that we could have come up with a better plan, but the God who is in control never gets it wrong.
His wisdom is infinite. His knowledge of the past, the present and the future is infinite. He knows all possible outcomes. He knows where every path he could take you down will go, and he has picked the best.
But our wisdom is tiny. Our knowledge is minute. There are decisions in life that are so complex and require so much wisdom to make that no matter how hard we try to explain them to our children we can't enable them to understand. And so we say to them, "just trust daddy - He knows what he is doing".
And there will be times when we will just have to say, "I can't see what you're doing God, but I'll trust you."
You can have wisdom from God
We need wisdom. We need wisdom to know how to bring up children. We need wisdom to pick a job that we will be able to do for the rest of our lives. We need wisdom to advise people whose lives have been wrecked by sin, and where there seems to be no way out of the mess that they are in. We need wisdom when we find ourselves having to make difficult decisions about family or the future.
And the great news is that if you are a Christian, Christ has bought for you the very thing you need most. God has promised to give his children wisdom to know what to do, what to say, what course of action to take that will be most God-glorifying.
James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
The great news for the believer is that you can have God's wisdom. Where do we get this wisdom?
When you ask God for wisdom, you will find that He has already spoken. He has recorded for you in the Bible all the wisdom you need and if you are looking for guidance that is where you should look.
That means it isn't enough to just read the Bible to get a verse or a thought that will help us through the day. We should study it carefully to become skilled in its use and store up its truth for future use. God's word needs to be studied, not just read. In the book of Proverbs, we are told to seek wisdom as silver, and search for it as for hidden treasures. We are to diligently search the Scriptures for help.
Wisdom comes through spending time with the wise God in his word, and being convinced that here is where wisdom is to be found, and then having enough confidence in His wisdom to follow it when the world around us thinks it foolish.
Whatever else you do - get wisdom. Wisdom will enable you to cope with difficulty, wisdom will enable you to live and walk with God. Get wisdom above all else.
Proverbs 4:5 Get wisdom, get understanding… Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding"
What is wisdom? Wisdom is the ability to look at a situation and know the best possible way to bring about the best possible outcome. The best way to the best outcome. Wisdom is using knowledge for the highest and best results.
What do we learn from God's wisdom?
Your God is wise
It seems obvious to state it, but God is wise. He brings about the best ends, by the best means.
The Best Result
From his perspective the best result is that he is glorified. From our perspective the best result is that we can spend the longest possible time, in the greatest possible pleasure. God has a name for that - its called heaven. The greatest possible pleasure that will never end. Thankfully both these results come together, with God being glorified by the saints made perfect.
There is another aspect to this best of results. He makes us like the best and greatest human being ever to have lived - Jesus.
The Best Way
Now what is the best possible way? Is it just to take everyone there without exception?
No. Two great problems have to be overcome. Our sin. And God's wrath at our sin.
Can God display two contrary affections at the same time and in the one act? The greatest hatred of sin, and the greatest love to the sinner?
Here lies the wisdom of God that causes Paul to burst into a great chorus of praise in Romans 11. God has a solution where he will punish sinners, and he will allow sinners to delight in the glories of Heaven without ever knowing that punishment.
He, God, will provide a substitute, and in that substitute justice will find its satisfaction, wrath will be poured out. And mercy can be shown to the person who has been substituted.
But how could you have a substitute for each person going to Heaven? God's wisdom provides the answer: the one person will be a substitute for all those who enter Heaven. How does that work? How can one person pay the penalty for millions of believers? This is no ordinary person, it will have to be a person of infinite worth, so that justice will really be satisfied, a person who can bear in a short space of time, the sufferings of a multitude in eternity in Hell. This person will have to be more than man, he must be God.
But where could such a being be found? Here again we see the wisdom of God. God the Son takes on Human nature.
And that is one reason why Jesus is described as the wisdom of God. Because in Jesus Christ we see the wisdom of God. It is where the solution to the problem of God's mercy and his justice and our sin and his wrath all meet.
What supreme wisdom
In all this God punishes sin without ruining the sinner, and repairs the ruins of the sinner without indulging the sin.
Now that's wisdom. What a wise and glorious God, who gains for us the best end, by the best means.
And what is so good about the method that God has used?
Put yourself in God's place - if we can say such a thing. The great goal is to bring all sorts of people to Heaven. Children, adults of varying abilities, people who live in all parts and places in the world. What condition do you place on people that takes all this into account? Do you ask them to travel to a particular place, or to carry out a set of activities, or to live in a certain way?
What has God done? He has picked the best way. It is the simplest and easiest of demands - easy enough for a child. Easy enough for someone who hasn't much of an education. Believe.
How wise! All the work is done, we just have to trust.
But it is not enough to know that God is wise. It must make an impact on our lives:
"Unless you become familiar with the wisdom of God, you cannot make much real progress in the Christian life. True stability over an extended period of discipleship will often depend on trusting that God is wise in everything he does and in all his dealings with his children."
You can trust God's wisdom in all circumstances
God not only has the best and great goal in view for us, and not only is his means of getting us there the best means, but he takes the best route.
God's Wisdom means that nothing he does could be done better
Whatever circumstances you are going through, you can rest assured that this is the best path for you to get there.
He picks the best end and the best route. Whatever he is taking you through now, if you are seeking to follow him, it is the best way for you to be going. God is using it to do all sorts of things in your life. He always chooses what is best. You need to let that truth sink in, because there will be times when it doesn't seem like it.
Stephen Charnock writes: "We see the gardener pulling up some delightful flowers by the roots, digging up the earth, overwhelming it with dung; and ignorant person would imagine him wild, out of his wits, and charge him with spoiling his garden: but when the spring is arrived, the spectator will acknowledge his skill in his former operations."
Your God is wonderfully wise. And his wisdom is displayed in everything he does. God's wisdom is perfect. He needs no advice and He never makes a mistake. He knows what is best in every situation. And God always acts with perfect wisdom. He not only knows what is best: He always does what is best.
God's wisdom means you can be content with who you are and where God has placed you
Many people spend a lot of time wishing that they were someone else, somewhere else. Many Christians can fall into the same trap. Here is where we need to realise - God has made me who I am, for a good and wise reason, and that good and wise reason is for his glory and for my good, and therefore I need to get on with living and trusting God.
God has made you who you are because he has a role for you to play in his great plan for this world.
That doesn't mean that we aren't to try and grow as believers, but it does set us free from the tyranny of envy, and dissatisfaction. If fields longed to be mountains where would we get grain for bread? Where would cows feed to produce milk? But God in his wisdom has designed the surface of this planet for usefulness. So he has ordered his people in his kingdom for usefulness
God's wisdom means you won't understand everything
God's wisdom is sometimes, or most times, beyond our understanding. Often, because we do not know everything that God knows, we cannot understand His ways. Sometimes we watch situations develop and think that we could have come up with a better plan, but the God who is in control never gets it wrong.
His wisdom is infinite. His knowledge of the past, the present and the future is infinite. He knows all possible outcomes. He knows where every path he could take you down will go, and he has picked the best.
But our wisdom is tiny. Our knowledge is minute. There are decisions in life that are so complex and require so much wisdom to make that no matter how hard we try to explain them to our children we can't enable them to understand. And so we say to them, "just trust daddy - He knows what he is doing".
And there will be times when we will just have to say, "I can't see what you're doing God, but I'll trust you."
You can have wisdom from God
We need wisdom. We need wisdom to know how to bring up children. We need wisdom to pick a job that we will be able to do for the rest of our lives. We need wisdom to advise people whose lives have been wrecked by sin, and where there seems to be no way out of the mess that they are in. We need wisdom when we find ourselves having to make difficult decisions about family or the future.
And the great news is that if you are a Christian, Christ has bought for you the very thing you need most. God has promised to give his children wisdom to know what to do, what to say, what course of action to take that will be most God-glorifying.
James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
The great news for the believer is that you can have God's wisdom. Where do we get this wisdom?
When you ask God for wisdom, you will find that He has already spoken. He has recorded for you in the Bible all the wisdom you need and if you are looking for guidance that is where you should look.
That means it isn't enough to just read the Bible to get a verse or a thought that will help us through the day. We should study it carefully to become skilled in its use and store up its truth for future use. God's word needs to be studied, not just read. In the book of Proverbs, we are told to seek wisdom as silver, and search for it as for hidden treasures. We are to diligently search the Scriptures for help.
Wisdom comes through spending time with the wise God in his word, and being convinced that here is where wisdom is to be found, and then having enough confidence in His wisdom to follow it when the world around us thinks it foolish.
Whatever else you do - get wisdom. Wisdom will enable you to cope with difficulty, wisdom will enable you to live and walk with God. Get wisdom above all else.
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Book Review - The Bond of Love
The Bond of Love
David McKay
Christian Focus Publications
"Could anything be more beautiful than the gracious covenant which the Lord makes with saved sinners?"
David McKay
Christian Focus Publications
"Could anything be more beautiful than the gracious covenant which the Lord makes with saved sinners?"
With that incentive, Prof. McKay invites us to join him on a journey from before time began, through history, and into eternity, tracing the outworkings of God's love for mankind as it is expressed in his gracious promise to save sinners.
This book is like a mini library on a vast array of topics. It starts with delving into the nature of God himself and moves through to a conclusion with the triumph of Christ's Kingdom and a look at the new heavens and earth. Throughout, the practical usefulness of covenant theology (or how we relate to God, and He to us) is brought to bear on a huge range of issues, from biblical issues like election, sanctification and the sacraments, to current issues such as feminism, New Age Movement and evolution. In doing so, Prof. McKay provides readers with the biblical tools to understand these many topics.
But this book is no cold academic exercise in some obscure area of Christian thinking. This is the very heart of our relationship with God. And it is a warm, living, beating, pulsating heart - the unfathomable mystery of God's love for unworthy sinners. Such a topic will inevitably stretch our finite minds. But if you are prepared to have your mind stretched, you will be greatly rewarded as you delve into this great subject.
Prof. McKay combines clarity, incisive thinking and warm practical application. As well as coming to a clearer understanding of many topics, I found myself with much material to deepen and enrich my own devotional times. He has a gift not only for anticipating and answering your questions or objections, but doing so in such a way as to fit it all into the whole framework of scripture.
This is a book to be read and studied carefully.
New Blog and an award to compete for
Adrian Warnock, over at www.adrian.warnock.info, has announced a new award for blogs. The 'Warnie' is for newish blogs, and is Adrian's initiative to give us small-fry a toe-hold on the cliff-face of the blogosphere.
The first winner is here - www.johnmarkreynolds.com
I think it's one of the best looking designs I've seen in a while.
The first winner is here - www.johnmarkreynolds.com
I think it's one of the best looking designs I've seen in a while.
Sunday, January 16, 2005
"This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."
"Well pleased" at what?
Have you ever wondered that? It's Matthew 3:17. It's only the start of Jesus' ministry. The hard work of calling and teaching the disciples hasn't begun yet. His atoning death is 3 years away.
What was there to be pleased about?
It is all too easy to skim over the whole of 33 years of Jesus' life and to see his saving work focused on just a few hours on the cross. Often we tend to think of his life in this way: for 30 years we are told nothing, so we learn nothing; for 3 years we try to learn from his example and teaching; and from 6 hours we learn about his redemptive work.
This is to slice and dice an event that God intended to be a lifelong event into a little cube of meat that doesn't fill and satisfy the way God intended.
For God designed the whole of Christ's life to be a unit. It is redemptive from beginning to end. To slice and dice is to rob Jesus of the glory due to him for a much greater work, and it is to rob ourselves of much comfort and blessing.
So we need to ask the question: What was Jesus life about? If all he had to do was die for our sins, why was there a delay of 33 years?
What was Jesus doing that provoked the Father's exclamation of pleasure at the Jordan?
For 30 years Jesus has lived carrying out his father's business, following the commands, living a holy life, learning obedience - not because he needed to learn it, but learning to obey in a sin-filled world, where temptation was rife. For 30 years he has carried himself through this hostile world with perfect obedience. And the Father looks at the Son and says, "I am pleased with you."
Right from the start one theme dominates Jesus' thinking. One word can be used to describe all of Jesus' life and ministry. It is the word 'obedience'. Jesus was here, not just to go to the cross, but to obey his father, to do his father's will.
This obedience characterises his whole life:
John 6:38 "For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me."
Christ's whole life was one of obedience, and that obedience wasn't just something incidental, it was a key part of his work as Saviour
Theologians often split Christ's obedience into two aspects: his active and his passive obedience.
These two are like strands in a rope. They go together and they cannot and should not be separated. But we have separated them. We usually focus on his passive obedience. It relates to his suffering throughout his life, and the culmination of that suffering on the cross. It refers to something he had to bear, that was laid on him from outside: his bearing our sins in his body to the tree, and his bearing our punishment. It is where he faces God's just wrath against our sins.
We could sum up Christ's passive obedience with the phrase: Christ's suffering pays our debt.
The term 'active' refers to his obedience to the law of God throughout his life. It is this active obedience that we often fail to consider.
Yet American theologian Gresham Machen's last words were, "So thankful for the active obedience of Christ. No hope without it."
Why is it so important?
We could sum it up with the phrase:
Christ's Active Obedience merits our place in Heaven
Christ's passive obedience releases us from the debt of punishment that we had to pay. But suppose that Christ had done only that for us, where would we be?
The slate would have been wiped clean, but that would be all. However, holiness isn't just the absence of sin, it's the presence of positive righteousness too. So we would be left needing to live a life of perfect obedience to the law of God. And one slip, like Adam, and it would be lost all over again.
But Christ has not done that. He has done abundantly more. He has not merely paid the penalty, but also He has positively merited for us eternal life.
Jesus Christ was your representative, not only on Golgotha's cross, but also throughout his life; in the Nazareth workshop, in the family home, in the conversation with friends and colleagues. For 33 years he was living the life of perfect obedience that God demands, and that we fail to deliver. He was our representative both in penalty paying and in law keeping.
It is this that makes us fit for Heaven. Now you can see why Machen was so thrilled by Christ's active obedience as he lay on his deathbed.
He was looking forward to Heaven and he knew that the door had been opened for him by Christ's obedience.
This is what Paul is saying in Romans 5:19
19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
We are so used to thinking of Christ's death on the cross in terms of substitution, but Paul is saying here that it was his whole life was the substitution. Adam's disobedience fouled it up for all mankind. Christ's life of obedience gains us the life that Adam lost, except better.
And because we are in Christ, it is his obedience and not ours that God sees when we stand before him.
What implications does this have for us?
Christ's Obedience Covers our Failures
It's so easy to lose sight of this and to focus on our own efforts. We know that salvation is all of Christ, but somehow we can think that some of it depends on us. And often we can think we are doing a pretty good job, and then we fall into sin and we become really disheartened.
Instead we need to look at ourselves more honestly, and realise that all we do is tainted by sin. And then we need to look to Christ who covers every single one of our sin-stained 'righteous' acts with his perfect obedience.
Here is how we should look at the unrecorded years, and the 3 years of his ministry. When you look at your life as a Christian and are discouraged by what you see, take up your New Testament and read.
Start with the words spoken at the baptism of Jesus. They sum up all he has done. For thirty years he has got up, and hour after hour, day after day, month after month, year after year, he has lived a perfectly holy life. He has been holy in his attitude to his parents. He has been holy in his work, in his conversation, in his free time, in his eating, in his laughing, in his friendships, in his use of money.
And when you hear the Father say, "This is my Son, with him I am well pleased," you can praise Jesus that his obedience in all these areas covers your failures. The days that you live which are covered by a multitude of blemishes from beginning to end, they are covered by Christ's perfect days.
Then take your New Testament and read of his holiness in the areas you fail in:
Each time Christ's obedience stands in the breach. It covers our failures completely. Watch him stand in our stead, and do what we could never do.
This is no excuse for sin, as Paul indicates after Romans 5:19
Romans 6:1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning, so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
Instead it is an opportunity for praise.
Christ's Obedience Brings us full assurance
If Christ has obeyed completely and consistently in every area, especially in those areas where I am conscious of my failure, then I have nothing to fear on the Day of Judgment. Even my most righteous acts are stained with the stench of sin. But it does not matter, for Christ has obeyed perfectly.
He has opened the door of Heaven and it will not be shut to me.
The words that were said to Jesus at his baptism, God will say to us because of Jesus' obedience, "This is my son (or daughter) whom I love; with him I am well pleased." And we don't have to wait to hear them; we can hear them now.
This frees me from fear and from lack of assurance. Where am I to look to for assurance? Not to my efforts, but to Christ. He has paid my debt to release me from Hell, and he has bought my entry to Heaven.
Christ's obedience frees us from the performance treadmill
Sometimes the Christian life can seem like a treadmill and we've got to do this and that and the other. And the implication is that if we don't, we'll fall off the treadmill. Somehow our activity has become the all-important factor.
We know that Jesus has saved us, but we somehow feel that the next bit is a 50-50 partnership. As if we've got to keep doing our bit.
We don't - Christ has done it all. It's his obedience that counts. And we are set free to live for and love Christ. We are set free to enjoy our relationship with Christ. We are set free to do these things, not because we must, but because we can. And because we want to, out of love for the one who has done everything.
He has done all that we should have done.
Here is the great truth of salvation - Jesus has paid for it all. There is nothing left for us to pay.
Now I hope you can see why Gresham Machen said, "So thankful for the active obedience of Christ. No hope without it."
Have you ever wondered that? It's Matthew 3:17. It's only the start of Jesus' ministry. The hard work of calling and teaching the disciples hasn't begun yet. His atoning death is 3 years away.
What was there to be pleased about?
It is all too easy to skim over the whole of 33 years of Jesus' life and to see his saving work focused on just a few hours on the cross. Often we tend to think of his life in this way: for 30 years we are told nothing, so we learn nothing; for 3 years we try to learn from his example and teaching; and from 6 hours we learn about his redemptive work.
This is to slice and dice an event that God intended to be a lifelong event into a little cube of meat that doesn't fill and satisfy the way God intended.
For God designed the whole of Christ's life to be a unit. It is redemptive from beginning to end. To slice and dice is to rob Jesus of the glory due to him for a much greater work, and it is to rob ourselves of much comfort and blessing.
So we need to ask the question: What was Jesus life about? If all he had to do was die for our sins, why was there a delay of 33 years?
What was Jesus doing that provoked the Father's exclamation of pleasure at the Jordan?
For 30 years Jesus has lived carrying out his father's business, following the commands, living a holy life, learning obedience - not because he needed to learn it, but learning to obey in a sin-filled world, where temptation was rife. For 30 years he has carried himself through this hostile world with perfect obedience. And the Father looks at the Son and says, "I am pleased with you."
Right from the start one theme dominates Jesus' thinking. One word can be used to describe all of Jesus' life and ministry. It is the word 'obedience'. Jesus was here, not just to go to the cross, but to obey his father, to do his father's will.
This obedience characterises his whole life:
John 6:38 "For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me."
Christ's whole life was one of obedience, and that obedience wasn't just something incidental, it was a key part of his work as Saviour
Theologians often split Christ's obedience into two aspects: his active and his passive obedience.
These two are like strands in a rope. They go together and they cannot and should not be separated. But we have separated them. We usually focus on his passive obedience. It relates to his suffering throughout his life, and the culmination of that suffering on the cross. It refers to something he had to bear, that was laid on him from outside: his bearing our sins in his body to the tree, and his bearing our punishment. It is where he faces God's just wrath against our sins.
We could sum up Christ's passive obedience with the phrase: Christ's suffering pays our debt.
The term 'active' refers to his obedience to the law of God throughout his life. It is this active obedience that we often fail to consider.
Yet American theologian Gresham Machen's last words were, "So thankful for the active obedience of Christ. No hope without it."
Why is it so important?
We could sum it up with the phrase:
Christ's Active Obedience merits our place in Heaven
Christ's passive obedience releases us from the debt of punishment that we had to pay. But suppose that Christ had done only that for us, where would we be?
The slate would have been wiped clean, but that would be all. However, holiness isn't just the absence of sin, it's the presence of positive righteousness too. So we would be left needing to live a life of perfect obedience to the law of God. And one slip, like Adam, and it would be lost all over again.
But Christ has not done that. He has done abundantly more. He has not merely paid the penalty, but also He has positively merited for us eternal life.
Jesus Christ was your representative, not only on Golgotha's cross, but also throughout his life; in the Nazareth workshop, in the family home, in the conversation with friends and colleagues. For 33 years he was living the life of perfect obedience that God demands, and that we fail to deliver. He was our representative both in penalty paying and in law keeping.
It is this that makes us fit for Heaven. Now you can see why Machen was so thrilled by Christ's active obedience as he lay on his deathbed.
He was looking forward to Heaven and he knew that the door had been opened for him by Christ's obedience.
This is what Paul is saying in Romans 5:19
19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
We are so used to thinking of Christ's death on the cross in terms of substitution, but Paul is saying here that it was his whole life was the substitution. Adam's disobedience fouled it up for all mankind. Christ's life of obedience gains us the life that Adam lost, except better.
And because we are in Christ, it is his obedience and not ours that God sees when we stand before him.
What implications does this have for us?
Christ's Obedience Covers our Failures
It's so easy to lose sight of this and to focus on our own efforts. We know that salvation is all of Christ, but somehow we can think that some of it depends on us. And often we can think we are doing a pretty good job, and then we fall into sin and we become really disheartened.
Instead we need to look at ourselves more honestly, and realise that all we do is tainted by sin. And then we need to look to Christ who covers every single one of our sin-stained 'righteous' acts with his perfect obedience.
Here is how we should look at the unrecorded years, and the 3 years of his ministry. When you look at your life as a Christian and are discouraged by what you see, take up your New Testament and read.
Start with the words spoken at the baptism of Jesus. They sum up all he has done. For thirty years he has got up, and hour after hour, day after day, month after month, year after year, he has lived a perfectly holy life. He has been holy in his attitude to his parents. He has been holy in his work, in his conversation, in his free time, in his eating, in his laughing, in his friendships, in his use of money.
And when you hear the Father say, "This is my Son, with him I am well pleased," you can praise Jesus that his obedience in all these areas covers your failures. The days that you live which are covered by a multitude of blemishes from beginning to end, they are covered by Christ's perfect days.
Then take your New Testament and read of his holiness in the areas you fail in:
- His resisting temptation
- His dealing with people who tried his patience
- His dealing with people who verbally abused him, and slandered his parents
- His understanding when he had been let down by people
- His patience when he was tired and exhausted and needing to go and put his head down, but people kept making demands.
- His trust when God seems to have abandoned him, or when God's promises seem empty.
- His love for the lost
- His love for the outcast
- His vigour against sin
- His desire to seek God's glory
- His gentleness with those who are all too aware of their sin
- His lack of interest in being well thought of by 'important' people
- His readiness to forgive
- His wholehearted obedience
Each time Christ's obedience stands in the breach. It covers our failures completely. Watch him stand in our stead, and do what we could never do.
This is no excuse for sin, as Paul indicates after Romans 5:19
Romans 6:1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning, so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
Instead it is an opportunity for praise.
Christ's Obedience Brings us full assurance
If Christ has obeyed completely and consistently in every area, especially in those areas where I am conscious of my failure, then I have nothing to fear on the Day of Judgment. Even my most righteous acts are stained with the stench of sin. But it does not matter, for Christ has obeyed perfectly.
He has opened the door of Heaven and it will not be shut to me.
The words that were said to Jesus at his baptism, God will say to us because of Jesus' obedience, "This is my son (or daughter) whom I love; with him I am well pleased." And we don't have to wait to hear them; we can hear them now.
This frees me from fear and from lack of assurance. Where am I to look to for assurance? Not to my efforts, but to Christ. He has paid my debt to release me from Hell, and he has bought my entry to Heaven.
Christ's obedience frees us from the performance treadmill
Sometimes the Christian life can seem like a treadmill and we've got to do this and that and the other. And the implication is that if we don't, we'll fall off the treadmill. Somehow our activity has become the all-important factor.
We know that Jesus has saved us, but we somehow feel that the next bit is a 50-50 partnership. As if we've got to keep doing our bit.
We don't - Christ has done it all. It's his obedience that counts. And we are set free to live for and love Christ. We are set free to enjoy our relationship with Christ. We are set free to do these things, not because we must, but because we can. And because we want to, out of love for the one who has done everything.
He has done all that we should have done.
Here is the great truth of salvation - Jesus has paid for it all. There is nothing left for us to pay.
Now I hope you can see why Gresham Machen said, "So thankful for the active obedience of Christ. No hope without it."
Saturday, January 15, 2005
Thanksgiving
Here's the third part of the ACTS acrostic on Prayer. Giving thanks isn't so difficult. It's the remembering to do it that is hard.
Sabbath
General
Monday
General
Tuesday
General
Wednesday
General
Thursday
General
Friday
General
Saturday
General
"In everything give thanks..."
"Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits" - Ps. 103:2
and forget not all his benefits" - Ps. 103:2
Sabbath
General
- Answered prayer
- Review events of past day
- God's eternal love
- Christ's life and death
- My conversion
- Sins forgiven
- Holy Spirit at work in my life
- The glory that awaits us (Heb 12:28)
Monday
General
- Answered prayer
- Review events of past day
- Parents/Grandparents
- Brothers/Sisters
- Husband/Wife
- Children/Grandchildren
Tuesday
General
- Answered prayer
- Review events of past day
- Teaching
- Fellowship
- Prayer support
- Spread of the gospel
- Evidence of growth in grace in members
Wednesday
General
- Answered prayer
- Review events of past day
- Ability to work
- Satisfaction
- Success
- Safety
- Witness
Thursday
General
- Answered prayer
- Review events of past day
- That we have it
- Read and understand it
- Helped, encouraged & challenged by it
- Unchanging & complete - all we need
- Holy Spirit to help us understand it
Friday
General
- Answered prayer
- Review events of past day
- Health & safety - travel, work, leisure
- Food & home
- Rest & enjoyment
- Friends
- Peace in our country
- Difficulties spared from
Saturday
General
- Answered prayer
- Review events of past day
- In the congregation
- Outside the congregation
- Used by God in our lives
- New Converts
"Give thanks in all circumstances,
for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
1 Thessalonians 5:18
for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
1 Thessalonians 5:18
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Confession - Searching the Heart
Following on from adoration, confession is another of prayer I find difficult. Not because I have nothing to confess, but because it is easy to focus on 'big' sins, the obvious ones, and to fail to search our hearts for hidden faults. These can lie undetected and cause all sorts of festering problems.
Here's a list I came across somewhere, called The A-Z of Hidden Sin. I've added to it, and you can do likewise. On my own copy I mark those that I am particularly prone to, and use it to help me search my heart.
I have also used various verses that highlight different issues that we need to be vigilant for:
2 Timothy 3:1 There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God- 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
Matthew 23:25 "You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
Mark 12:30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' 31 The second is this: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."
Merciful Lord,
Pardon all my sins of this day, week, year,
all the sins of my life,
sins of early, middle, and advanced years,
of omission and commission,
of thought, word and deed,
sins in private, in the family, in the neighbourhood,
in work and recreation,
in my relationship with you,
in my relationship and dealings with others.
Pardon all my sins, known and unknown,
felt and unfelt,
confessed and not confessed,
remembered and forgotten.
Good Lord, hear;
and hearing, forgive.
Here's a list I came across somewhere, called The A-Z of Hidden Sin. I've added to it, and you can do likewise. On my own copy I mark those that I am particularly prone to, and use it to help me search my heart.
An A-Z of Hidden Sin
Addiction
Anger
Animosity
Anxiety
Being negative
Being unwatchful for Satan
Bitterness
Boastfulness
Bringing dishonour to God's name,
Closed-mindedness
Complaining
Condemnation
Covetousness
Critical nature
Deception
Discord
Discouragement
Dissention
Dogmatism
Domination
Egoism
Envy
Failure to spur one another on
Failure to show Christian love
Fear
Gluttony
Gossip
Guilt
Hard-heartedness
Hatred
Haughtiness
Hostility
Idolatry
Immoral fantasies
Impatience
Impurity
Indifference
Inflexibility
Injustice
Insincerity
Intemperance
Jealousy
Judgmentalism
Lack of affection
Lack of concentration in worship/prayer
Lack of faith
Lack of forgiveness
Lack of zeal
Laziness
Materialism
Neglecting to study God's Word
Prayerlessness
Prejudice
Pride
Purposelessness
Quick temper
Rebellion
Resentment
Rudeness
Self-righteousness
Selfish ambition
Selfishness
Silence
Skepticism
Squandering
Stealing God's Glory
Time misspent
Unbelief
Ungratefulness
Untruthfulness
Vanity
Yielding to Satan's temptations
Zeal misplaced
Anger
Animosity
Anxiety
Being negative
Being unwatchful for Satan
Bitterness
Boastfulness
Bringing dishonour to God's name,
Closed-mindedness
Complaining
Condemnation
Covetousness
Critical nature
Deception
Discord
Discouragement
Dissention
Dogmatism
Domination
Egoism
Envy
Failure to spur one another on
Failure to show Christian love
Fear
Gluttony
Gossip
Guilt
Hard-heartedness
Hatred
Haughtiness
Hostility
Idolatry
Immoral fantasies
Impatience
Impurity
Indifference
Inflexibility
Injustice
Insincerity
Intemperance
Jealousy
Judgmentalism
Lack of affection
Lack of concentration in worship/prayer
Lack of faith
Lack of forgiveness
Lack of zeal
Laziness
Materialism
Neglecting to study God's Word
Prayerlessness
Prejudice
Pride
Purposelessness
Quick temper
Rebellion
Resentment
Rudeness
Self-righteousness
Selfish ambition
Selfishness
Silence
Skepticism
Squandering
Stealing God's Glory
Time misspent
Unbelief
Ungratefulness
Untruthfulness
Vanity
Yielding to Satan's temptations
Zeal misplaced
I have also used various verses that highlight different issues that we need to be vigilant for:
2 Timothy 3:1 There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God- 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
Matthew 23:25 "You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
Mark 12:30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' 31 The second is this: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."
Merciful Lord,
Pardon all my sins of this day, week, year,
all the sins of my life,
sins of early, middle, and advanced years,
of omission and commission,
of thought, word and deed,
sins in private, in the family, in the neighbourhood,
in work and recreation,
in my relationship with you,
in my relationship and dealings with others.
Pardon all my sins, known and unknown,
felt and unfelt,
confessed and not confessed,
remembered and forgotten.
Good Lord, hear;
and hearing, forgive.
Monday, January 10, 2005
Adoration - Approaching the Throne
There are many aspects of prayer that I find hard, but to make time for Adoration, before moving on to the other aspects which are more personal, is for me is one of the hardest. Here's an outline that I've put together to help me. It's only a starting point, but it helps me focus on the different aspects of God that I should be praising:
Sabbath - God in His Sovereignty
Monday - God the Father
Tuesday - God in His Vastness
Wednesday - God the Son
Thursday - God in His Holiness
Friday - God the Holy Spirit
Saturday - God in His Salvation
Sabbath - God in His Sovereignty
- King of highest Heaven, none like him, sovereign, in complete control, majestic in glory.
- Praise him for his providence - his governing all events in the world, in our lives - with all power and wisdom.
- Worship Him as our creator and sustainer.
Monday - God the Father
- Praise him for his inexhaustible goodness, kindness, and love.
- He has adopted us as his children. As father He gives us love, access, blessing, guidance, wisdom, inheritance. He will glorify us at the resurrection.
- Worship Him as "Our Father" and protector
Tuesday - God in His Vastness
- Infinite, eternal, unchangable. All wise. All knowing. All powerful. All present.
- His work of creation - its beauty, vastness, variety, detail. The power seen in it.
- This God is our almighty friend
Wednesday - God the Son
- Head over all things for the church. The way, the truth and the life. God with us. Light of the world.
- Freed us from sin. Took our punishment. Made us right with God. Building his church. Prays for us now.
- Our Brother, our High Priest, our King, our Shepherd.
Thursday - God in His Holiness
- Just, pure, holy, righteous. Anger at sin.
- His work as judge, punishing wickedness and declaring us innocent because of the work of Christ.
- He is our holiness - we have his righteousness
Friday - God the Holy Spirit
- Indwells Christians. Points us to Christ. Teaches us .
- His work in convicting us of sin; giving us new life. He guides us. He makes us more Christ-like. Enables us to pray. Applies His Word to our lives. Produces fruit in our lives.
- He is our Teacher, our downpayment, a guarantee of our salvation.
Saturday - God in His Salvation
- Merciful, gracious, forgiving, patient, slow to anger, abounding in love.
- Christ's work in His life, death and resurrection. The work of the Triune God in salvation - it is all of grace - we contribute only our sin.
- He is our Saviour.
Sunday, January 09, 2005
Food for thought - Chocolate Heaven
This week's column really is 'food for thought'. My wife has started making the most tremendous brownies. Now for those of you out there who aren't quite sure what a 'brownie' is, or for those of you who haven't been fortunate enough to taste one of these magnificent creations, let me introduce you to this luxurious taste sensation.
According to the dictionary a brownie is 'a small rich chocolate bun'. But since when could a dictionary ever convey the full experience of such pleasure? I have tasted many of these brownies in cafes, in homes, in restaurants, but on Friday evening as I sipped my coffee and nibbled on the brown square bun offered to me by my wife, I knew I had stepped into another world, this truly was chocolate heaven.
How words fail me as I would attempt to convey to you the exquisite succulent nature of this rich moist chocolaty delight! Imagine if you will a small chocolate sponge cake made with the best of chocolate, and the pores of the sponge, instead of being wasted pockets of air, exude a rich smooth, almost liquid, chocolate. And amidst this glorious chocolate creation lie hidden the occasional hunk of white or dark chocolate chip awaiting delighted discovery.
Excuse me a moment; the kitchen beckons…
Is it fair of me to gloat in this manner? Is it right to flaunt something that you will never taste? I have no problem - this recipe is no closely guarded family secret, handed down through the generations from mother to daughter. No, in fact it was broadcast to the world on television not so long ago in one of Nigella Lawson's cookery programmes.
Nigella Lawson has made no secret about this chocolate heaven or how to get there, she did her best to tell people - books, television, the internet, teletext, enthusiastic followers(!) - the works. Those who fail to make the most of it only have themselves to blame! I'm sure many knew the programme was on, but didn't watch it. I'm sure many watched it, but didn't write the recipe down. Others were content with their own recipe. And I wonder how many wrote down the recipe and haven't got round to trying it for themselves yet?
The same goes for the other good news about the other Heaven. Many have heard about it and yet do not show any interest. Some go to church or chapel, but haven't taken much in. Some have got hold of the wrong recipe (they think kindness, goodness, patience, etc. is all it takes). Some may even have understood the right recipe (asking for God to freely forgive your sin because of what Jesus did on the cross), but haven't yet got round to doing anything with it for themselves.
The ball is in your court. The opportunity is there for you to make the most of it.
"Today you must listen to God's voice, do not harden your hearts" - Hebrews 3:7,8
"Make the most of every opportunity" - St. Paul, Colossians 4:5
According to the dictionary a brownie is 'a small rich chocolate bun'. But since when could a dictionary ever convey the full experience of such pleasure? I have tasted many of these brownies in cafes, in homes, in restaurants, but on Friday evening as I sipped my coffee and nibbled on the brown square bun offered to me by my wife, I knew I had stepped into another world, this truly was chocolate heaven.
How words fail me as I would attempt to convey to you the exquisite succulent nature of this rich moist chocolaty delight! Imagine if you will a small chocolate sponge cake made with the best of chocolate, and the pores of the sponge, instead of being wasted pockets of air, exude a rich smooth, almost liquid, chocolate. And amidst this glorious chocolate creation lie hidden the occasional hunk of white or dark chocolate chip awaiting delighted discovery.
Excuse me a moment; the kitchen beckons…
Is it fair of me to gloat in this manner? Is it right to flaunt something that you will never taste? I have no problem - this recipe is no closely guarded family secret, handed down through the generations from mother to daughter. No, in fact it was broadcast to the world on television not so long ago in one of Nigella Lawson's cookery programmes.
Nigella Lawson has made no secret about this chocolate heaven or how to get there, she did her best to tell people - books, television, the internet, teletext, enthusiastic followers(!) - the works. Those who fail to make the most of it only have themselves to blame! I'm sure many knew the programme was on, but didn't watch it. I'm sure many watched it, but didn't write the recipe down. Others were content with their own recipe. And I wonder how many wrote down the recipe and haven't got round to trying it for themselves yet?
The same goes for the other good news about the other Heaven. Many have heard about it and yet do not show any interest. Some go to church or chapel, but haven't taken much in. Some have got hold of the wrong recipe (they think kindness, goodness, patience, etc. is all it takes). Some may even have understood the right recipe (asking for God to freely forgive your sin because of what Jesus did on the cross), but haven't yet got round to doing anything with it for themselves.
The ball is in your court. The opportunity is there for you to make the most of it.
"Today you must listen to God's voice, do not harden your hearts" - Hebrews 3:7,8
"Make the most of every opportunity" - St. Paul, Colossians 4:5
Saturday, January 08, 2005
Jerry Springer Opera & The BBC
Ok folks, so they went ahead and broadcast the Jerry Springer Opera on BBC2.
Thank you to those of you who responded and wrote, emailed or rang the BBC.
The next stage is to contact OFCOM, the Office of Communications Ofcom is the independent regulator for the UK communications industries, with responsibilities across television, radio, telecommunications and wireless communications services.
Here's their web address.
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/contact_ofcom/tv_radio/
They can only look into a situation once the programme has been broadcast, so write to them now and tell them if you contacted the BBC expressing your desire that Jerry Springer Opera would not be shown.
For those of you unfamiliar with the comings and goings. This is a musical parody of the Jerry Springer talk show. It is a blasphemous mockery which depicts Jesus as being 'a bit gay', takes place in Hell, and has God the Father and God the Son having a swearing match. When broadcast it will hold the record for most number of swear words broadcast in one programme. The BBC were contacted by numerous (at least 15,000; some say in the region of 45,000) emails, phone calls, letters and yet chose to ignore.
The BBC need to realise that they cannot broadcast this sort of blasphemy and get away with it.
Thank you to those of you who responded and wrote, emailed or rang the BBC.
The next stage is to contact OFCOM, the Office of Communications Ofcom is the independent regulator for the UK communications industries, with responsibilities across television, radio, telecommunications and wireless communications services.
Here's their web address.
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/contact_ofcom/tv_radio/
They can only look into a situation once the programme has been broadcast, so write to them now and tell them if you contacted the BBC expressing your desire that Jerry Springer Opera would not be shown.
For those of you unfamiliar with the comings and goings. This is a musical parody of the Jerry Springer talk show. It is a blasphemous mockery which depicts Jesus as being 'a bit gay', takes place in Hell, and has God the Father and God the Son having a swearing match. When broadcast it will hold the record for most number of swear words broadcast in one programme. The BBC were contacted by numerous (at least 15,000; some say in the region of 45,000) emails, phone calls, letters and yet chose to ignore.
The BBC need to realise that they cannot broadcast this sort of blasphemy and get away with it.
Your favourites
I meant to add this line to the previous post, but I forgot.
It's time to share - What preachers do you especially like, and where can you find online sermons by them?
It's time to share - What preachers do you especially like, and where can you find online sermons by them?
Friday, January 07, 2005
Favourite Preachers
Anyone and everyone seems to be putting sermons online these days, but how do you know who's good and who's not? Here are two of my favourites. There's enough material here to keep you listening for months:
Ted Donnelly, is Professor of New Testament Literature and Language at the Reformed Theological College in Belfast, and minister of Trinity Reformed Presbyterian Church. He has been my minister throughout my life.
This site has a number of conference addresses on the following topics:
Justification
Union with Christ
Heaven
Hell
as well as a few other individual sermons.
(Search for the sermons using the 'Search by Speaker" facillity)
You can also find sermons here.
The mark of great intelligence and great preaching is to take something profound and complex and make it clear and simple. Stuart Olyott is a master of this.
Here is an absolute mine of bible teaching from Stuart Olyott over 30 years.
You'll also find sermons by him here (you'll have to scroll down or use 'find')
Both men feature on this website
Listen and enjoy.
Ted Donnelly, is Professor of New Testament Literature and Language at the Reformed Theological College in Belfast, and minister of Trinity Reformed Presbyterian Church. He has been my minister throughout my life.
This site has a number of conference addresses on the following topics:
Justification
Union with Christ
Heaven
Hell
as well as a few other individual sermons.
(Search for the sermons using the 'Search by Speaker" facillity)
You can also find sermons here.
The mark of great intelligence and great preaching is to take something profound and complex and make it clear and simple. Stuart Olyott is a master of this.
Here is an absolute mine of bible teaching from Stuart Olyott over 30 years.
You'll also find sermons by him here (you'll have to scroll down or use 'find')
Both men feature on this website
Listen and enjoy.
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
Musings on our daily time with God
This was prompted by an excellent article over here, along with the fact that at the start of a year I try to re-evaluate my own personal daily time with God.
It’s something that every Christian should be doing, its something that we know we should look forward to doing, but often it becomes a drag and something to be done quickly and got ‘out of the way’ so that we can get on with the ‘real work’ of the day.
Here are a few thoughts that I’ve gathered together over the last few years. They’re my thoughts, not rules, so feel free to adapt, ignore, adopt. As you’ll see some of them appear contradictory, but hold opposites in balance and you’ll be able to walk the tightrope:
It’s something that every Christian should be doing, its something that we know we should look forward to doing, but often it becomes a drag and something to be done quickly and got ‘out of the way’ so that we can get on with the ‘real work’ of the day.
Here are a few thoughts that I’ve gathered together over the last few years. They’re my thoughts, not rules, so feel free to adapt, ignore, adopt. As you’ll see some of them appear contradictory, but hold opposites in balance and you’ll be able to walk the tightrope:
- Mornings are the best time – as someone said, “You don’t tune your instrument after the performance”
- The best helps for Bible reading are a pen, a notebook, and a brain determined to seek out what your Saviour is saying.
- Keep changing the format, so that you don’t get stuck in a rut. If you use reading notes, try a commentary. If you use a commentary, try using a blank notebook and a pen.
- Don’t feel you have to persevere to get a particular book of the Bible finished, if your only reason for keeping going is just to get it finished. Stop and go elsewhere, and then come back to it.
- Sometimes I read a section from a Puritan author to start with. Their godliness and love for Christ warms the heart and fans the embers into flames as you approach the throne.
- Pray Paul’s prayers for different people you know. This is a great help when you find yourself stuck in a rut, and praying the same old things for the same old people. Use a different prayer for each person, and change them around the next week. It also focuses us on asking for things that are really important.
- Don’t view your time with God as ‘quiet time’ or ‘Bible reading time’ or ‘personal devotions’. These focus on the act itself, rather than on God. It’s about relationship. He is your Father, who wishes to communicate with you. You are his child, who loves and is loved.
- Realise that it’s not primarily about what we get out of it; it’s about being with God, and worshipping him and delighting in him. As Tim Challies pointed out, “When I spend time with my wife, I don't think about what I can get out of it – I just enjoy spending the time.”
- At the same time, don’t use that as an excuse for not putting effort in to receive from God. He is generous and gives to all.
- Pray through your Bible reading. Turn information into worship, challenge into request for help, conviction into confession, provision into thanksgiving.
- Realise that you will get into a rut. Realise that you will go through dry seasons – I happens to all God’s saints. And God uses them to teach us. Be ready to be taught. And keep on persevering.
- When you miss your daily time with God, through no fault of your own, don’t mentally torture yourself. God is gracious and he understands. Utilise as many moments throughout the day as you can to be with him.
- Don’t use that as an excuse for not making an effort to spend time with him each day.
- Beware of holidays. A break in the routine is hard to cope with. You think you will have more time, but you won’t, unless you schedule carefully.
- Memorise scripture. It gives you something to chew on for the day.
- Don’t be disappointed if you can’t remember what you read last week, or two days ago. I can’t remember what I had for lunch two days ago, but it did me good at the time.
- Read big chunks of scripture. Don’t settle for one or two verses a day. Read chunks; meditate on smaller bites. Here’s a great Bible reading plan for the whole year – with slack built in.
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