The word of the LORD is upright

Psalm 33:4-5

For the word of the LORD is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness.
He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD.

God is faithful therefore He is trustworthy. Do you trust Him? No, I do not merely mean, “Do you believe Him?” I mean, do you TRUST Him? Do you trust Him with your very life?

I heard someone recently say that when our future is uncertain we should still have faith in God. Well, that is not exactly correct. You see, as a Christian, our future IS secure because it has been secured by Christ. He is a sovereign LORD whose every plan will com to pass (Isaiah 46:10). And when He sends forth his Word, He will accomplish everything He intends (Isaiah 55:11).

We are able to trust Him because his word is upright… trustworthy. EVERYTHING He does is in faithfulness! When He makes promises to us we can be confident that God will come through.

This is why worry is a sin. Worry is consumed with the details of the future. Since the future is unknown to us, we assume wrongly that we need to know exactly what the future holds in order to have peace. This is wrong. We have peace about the future because our confidence is in the God of the future.

“He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD.” So, He is faithful and trustworthy, and He loves us.

If God is for us, then what do we have to worry about?

Sunday sermon review - Put on Meekness

I am not a big fan of telling jokes in my sermons, but in my sermon reviews they are fine! So, here is a little humor for you…

A grizzled old man was eating in a truck stop when three Hell's Angels bikers walked in.

The first walked up to the old man and pushed his cigarette into the old man's pie, and then he took a seat at the counter.

The second walked up to the old man and spit into the old man's milk, and then he took a seat at the counter.

The third walked up to the old man and turned over the old man's plate, and then he took a seat at the counter.

Without a word of protest, the old man quietly left the diner. Shortly thereafter, one of the bikers said to the waitress, "Humph, not much of a man, was he?"

The waitress replied, "Not much of a truck driver, either. He just backed his truck over three motorcycles."

Yesterday, we learned about meekness. Most of us have learned that meekness is power under control, which is true, of course. However, the main point of the sermon yesterday was that meekness very often in Scripture is the companion of truth, especially when one is proclaiming truth to those who have denied it.

Today, I want to take a little time to develop a little further that meekness is to replace our anger, which is why I shared this little funny.

The man in this story seems very meek while he patiently endures the mistreatment of the bikers, but he gets his revenge when he is out of reach of those guys! So, he is really not very meek at all. I think we all know this.

Meekness is gentleness. Meekness exercises self-control over the power of our words and deeds.

But my question for us is: why is what he did so bad? What is wrong with standing up for yourself? What is wrong with righting a wrong?

Here are two answers…

1. God tells us that He is the Righteous Judge (Psalm 96:13). He will execute judgment, not us (Romans 12:19). When we respond to mistreatment with wrath or anger, we are putting ourselves in God’s place and executing judgment on those who have hurt us. That is not our responsibility. We must remember that every sin will be dealt with, every sin will be punished by God. Either God’s wrath for a particular sin was poured out on Christ on the cross for those who believe in Him or his wrath will be poured out on each person who refused to believe in him. That’s it. When we return evil for evil, it is like double jeopardy. It is not our responsibility.

2. Our anger does not lead people to righteousness. Read James 1:19-21...

19Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

We must put on meekness instead of anger and wrath because our goal is to lead people to righteousness. Verse 20 states very clearly that our anger does not accomplish that!

In this context I am thinking primarily of us fathers and husbands. It is really easy to think that a little scary wrath goes a long way in leading our families to submit to our authority. But dads, you cannot force your children and wives into following your leadership. Meekness is what is needed. A gentle, loving prodding with the gospel, pointing them to Jesus is what they need.

So, let’s put on the meekness of Christ by his grace and trust God to take up our defense when we are wronged. Let’s gently love people to Christ.

SBC Annual Meeting - MORE Hope for the Future!!!

The following is a recap of the SBC annual meeting from Tom Ascol. He is the head of the head of the SBC Founders Minstries.  I was going to type one up, but his is better : ) 

Dr. Al Mohler's motion to commission a task force passed tonight at the Southern Baptist Convention. Specifically, the motion requests that

the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting June 23-24, 2009 in Louisville, Kentucky, authorize the President of the Southern Baptist Convention to appoint a Great Commission Task Force charged to bring a report and any recommendations to the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting in Orlando, Florida June 15-16, 2010, concerning how Southern Baptists can work more faithfully and effectively together in serving Christ through the Great Commission.

There was brief public opposition during the time for debate. The most rancorous opposition came from a pastor who is convinced that the problem with the SBC is the rise of Calvinism in our ranks. He likened it to the Primitive Baptist movement and blamed all the ills the convention on the revival of the doctrines of grace in the convention. His comments were inflammatory and unfounded. They did not carry the day.

A substitute motion was put forward but was fortunately voted down, allowing for an overwhelming affirmation of Dr. Mohler's original motion. The Parliamentarian, Dr. Barry McCarty, later said that the vote was at least 95%-5% in favor.

This was a good move that bodes well for the future of the SBC. Of course, it is just the beginning. Johnny Hunt must now appoint a committee that will take up the responsibility of this assignment. Pray for him and for those whom he appoints. The last thing that the SBC can afford at this point is a study and report that fall short of serious analysis and recommendations. While these recommendations will not be binding on any entity in the SBC just because a task force recommends them, they can become rallying points for the way ahead in marshaling our cooperative efforts more energetically and efficiently in the work of the great commission.

Though in the big scheme of things this vote is not all that important, I believe that it is a harbinger of better days on the horizon. In fact, today is the best day that I have ever spent at a Southern Baptist Convention. In no particular order, following are some of the reasons that I say that.

1. Danny Akin. Dr. Akin spoke at the Founders Breakfast at 6:30AM, the Baptist21 luncheon at noon, at the SBC giving a theme interpretation at 3:30PM and at the 9Marks after-meeting at 10:00PM. No doubt he is tired! But his weariness is reason for Southern Baptists' encouragement. In each assignment, he knocked it out of the park, communicating great insight in a personable, humble and courageous manner. He is the kind of leader that Southern Baptists desperately need right now, and the demands on his time indicate that he is willing to answer the call.

2. Johnny Hunt. He has proven to be a remarkable leader for Southern Baptists this last year. Dr. Hunt makes it very hard not to love him. He is gracious, humble, transparent and enthusiastic in his leadership. He has demonstrated a willingness to work with all Southern Baptists who are willing to unite around the gospel and press forward in the great commission. He has been very gracious and kind to those with whom he disagrees at certain points, setting a tone of genuine love and respect in the SBC that we have needed for a long time. Some have been less than thrilled with his leadership but, from my vantage point, their antipathy has more to do with his unwillingness to tow anyone's party line than with him personally. His love for Christ, pastors and for the conversion of unbelievers is contagious and I, for one, want to catch what he's got! I look forward to his next year of leadership and will continue to pray for him privately, in my home and in our church.

3. Though I have not heard all of the sermons from the pastors' conference or that were preached today at the convention, what I have heard has left me more encouraged about the state of preaching in the SBC than in a long time. There have been wonderful messages preached. Sell your blood if you must, but be sure to purchase the CD of David Platt's sermon from last night at the pastors' conference. It was incredible.

4. The IMB. Everyone has heard of the financial shortfall that will result in the decrease in our missionary force by the end of the year. Of the $16 billion that Southern Baptist churches collected last year, less than 2.6% went to the IMB. But that message seems to be rallying Southern Baptists to renew our commitment to getting the gospel to the unreached peoples of the world. I was deeply moved by the IMB report tonight of what God is doing and what the needs yet are. Jim Richards of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention presented Jerry Rankin with a $100,000 check to help start making up for the shortfall. The pastors' conference took up a special offering to assist with it as well. I believe that Southern Baptists will rally and that this financial crisis will provoke the kind of self-examination that we need at this time in order for us to re-order our priorities.

5. The growing humility within the SBC. I heard agency heads, featured preachers and seasoned pastors saying publicly what has needed to be said for a long time. God doesn't need the SBC. The SBC can fail and be thrown onto the ash heap of ecclesiastical history and the kingdom of God will march on victoriously. It is that kind of awareness and humility that breeds the kind of perspective on the SBC that may well lead us to see our brightest days in the future. Until we get over the SBC we will not be in a position to utilize it for kingdom purposes as we ought.

So, I am hopeful. It seems to me that a fresh wind is blowing. If it is the wind of God's Spirit then may we recognize His work and redouble our efforts to be faithful in following wherever He leads.

SBC Pastors Conference - A Fresh Wind Blowing!!

Yesterday was the second day of the Southern Baptist Convention Pastors conference. I went into it with modest expectations.  I am here in Louisville with my Director of Missions and friend, Ken Mostella (who is a hole lotta fun to travel with!!!). We both thought it could be good, but it ended great!

I know many of you don’t know the guys I am about to talk about or care all that much about this topic. But I think this is important, and today we have seen the first glimmer of hope for our denomination in quite some time. Here’s what is going on.

The SBC is in decline. Baptisms are down. Membership is down. Giving is down. For more than two years now. If 3 consecutive quarters of negative financial growth means a recession for our economy. Then these two years in the SBC means we have passed plateau and are now in decline. It is time we are honest as a denomination and admit it. 

There are many potential reasons for this. And I really don’t want to start naming names because ALL Southern baptists are at fault, so I would have to list all of us… although that would not take as long as would have two years ago! Anyway, many of our current leaders think that the problem is that we are not as committed to evangelism and missions as we have been in the past. That is a very possible cause for our situation and certainly deserves our attention. In fact, we probably are less committed to evangelism. But the deeper and more important question is WHY????

I think that today’s pastors conference (SBCPC) may shed some light on the answer for us. 

The SBCPC is designed to encourage our pastors with speakers from our convention (mostly other pastors). There were a total of TEN sermons preached over the last two days. The theme this year was on unity of mind, love, spirit, and purpose. The lineup of speakers was varied and quite good. 

But here is the thing. It is usually only attended by a bunch of old guys who have been coming to this thing for 50 years, and the attendance has been dropping over the years because young guys were bored or in some ways ostracized because of their youth. 

The pastors conference this year was VERY well attended. In fact, I saw more young guys like myself today, than I have in previous years. I don’t know that there were more of us , but it seemed like it. It seems to be a fresh wind blowing in the makeup of the convention. 

This is so important because the leadership of the SBC is really ancient. From the perspective of many of the younger generation, myself included, it seems to just be a network of the good ol’ boys who still insist on doing things the way they have always been done. 

And now… we’re declining. All things must change. A question was posed today by Ed Stetzer, “When will the pain of staying the same over come the pain of change so that we will act?”

Ouch! We have been doing the same thing since 1954… “A million more in ’54!” was our battle cry in order to increase Sunday school enrollment. Well, guess what? We now have 16 million members, but we can’t find 10 million of them on Sundays. So, we accomplished our goal, but we didn’t do anything with it. 

Here’s where the preaching yesterday was so telling. 

The day concluded with David Platt, pastor of Brook Hills here in Birmingham, and Johnny Hunt, SBC president and pastor of Woodstock Baptist in GA. 

David went first. His sermon was… AMAZING!!! If I had to grade it I would give it a 99.5% with a slight deduction because I know he is not perfect, so there must have been something wrong with it!!! He walked to the pulpit in a suit, which I have never seen him in btw. Without any fanfare and with all humility he quotes about 4 psalms… not 4 verses; 4 whole psalms!!! I recognized 149 and 150 for sure, but there could have been even more. The point though was that we are to praise the LORD!!! Wave after wave of powerful Scripture washed over us beating our hearts into submission before God’s glory… then as we have been simultaneously humbled and exalted up into the glory of Christ, he starts his sermon. He is SO humble! You can truly feel the Spirit of God working and moving. 

The psalms are not even his text! He reads Hebrews 13:11-14. I will spare you the play by play recap of the whole thing, but the question he asked us was “Do want to die in your religion or die in your devotion?” He used Numbers 13 to illustrate. This is the story of the spies going into the promised land and how Israel responded. 

His point was that Israel retreated from their mission… and they died wandering in the desert. So, are we going to retreat from our mission? Or are we going to repent, and risk everything to die taking the gospel to the nations?

He went on about how DESPERATE the world is for the Good News of Jesus! 

Even before he finished, we are all so humiliated over how easily our selfish materialism has reigned in our hearts and prevented us from finishing our mission. 

His application was simple… Are we going to repent and be faithful to that which God called us? 

Most of us were too stunned to respond as he walked off the stage, staggered by the conviction of the Spirit.

We sang a song that I can’t even remember, then Johnny Hunt took the stage.

What Dr. Hunt said was true enough, but you could immediately sense that something was different.  There was not the same gravitas or weightiness that David’s sermon had. I don’t like speculating about a preacher’s heart or holiness, but it certainly seems that David was “anointed with the Spirit” while Dr. Hunt’s sermon seemed very… ordinary. Every time he tried to wow the crowd with some cliched line, it fell flat. Oh, there were a couple of half-hearted “amens” sprinkled throughout, but it just did not have the same impact. And when it came time to conclude, he went round and round having some trouble landing. At least three times he said, “Now this is my final point” and when the crowd would not get all emotionally moved by his “final” point, he would just try another one. He eventually concluded after there were some sniffles over the story of his brother’s conversion. 

I am not trying to criticize Dr. Hunt. He has a great ministry and has been a good president. But he and his friends have had their time leading the convention. It is time for some new faces, especially ones that preach the Word in spirit and power. 

This is what I THINK we have been missing. Not to question anyone’s love of God, but it seems that we have been a convention of bureaucrats and politicians more than a gathering of passionate worshipers of Jesus Christ. I want to follow men who are burning white hot for GOD, not burning hot for the COOPERATIVE PROGRAM. And yes, there is a BIG difference. 

There was definitely a passing of the baton last night. David Platt and others like him are the future of our denomination. I hope the guys handing it off will let go so they can run with it. 

Sunday sermon review - Instruction Manual for Fathers

Being a father is a high-risk, high-reward job. Once that little bundle of joy is placed in your arms for the first time, your joy is unmatched. You immediately begin to think of all that this little life could become as you marvel at God’s handiwork. 

Before too long reality sets in. “Wow, I am responsible for this little life. I have to protect her. Care for him. Make sure they grow to adulthood.” It requires sacrifice and service of the highest caliber. You must risk your very life in order to faithfully fulfill your fatherly duties. You do not know if you will be successful of even if this little person will love you the way you love her. He may reject you at every chance. 

But the reward is so sweet! The first time she grabs your finger and won’t let go. Those first words, first steps, even the first time he spits up all over you are precious moments. Then comes the first day of school, playing sports, recitals, family trips, graduation, college, marriage. Then before you know your little baby is having babies of her own. 

Fatherhood is challenging. But take heart!! God is rich in grace and mercy toward his children. We need not fear this most high calling. He will go with us. He will keep us. He will generously grant wisdom to all who ask without doubting. 

Fathers, we have a great responsibility once that little life is placed in our care, but we have a greater Father who generously graces us with what we need to see fatherhood through.

Look to Jesus. Trust in Him. Point your children to Him. Teach them the Word. 

Hebrews 13:20-21

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Some internet thoughts for today

* Proclaiming the Kingdom… 

Here are some great thoughts about our proclamation of Christ's kingdom

It is tragic, is it not, that we have to use illustrations of secular organizations with exceedingly trivial enterprises as a standard that ought to be of those identified with the church of Jesus Christ.  We have a far greater mission–one that is guaranteed to be accomplished–that should cause us to risk all, go hard, and employ every lawful means in the spirit of being sent and spent for the advancement of the Church Jesus promised to build.

Read more here...

* Some Advice from Spurgeon 

“Make a point, whenever you receive a promise from God, to get all you can out of it. If you carry out that rule, it is wonderful what you will gain. Some go on the principle of getting as little as possible out of God’s word. Such a plan may be wise with a man’s word, but God’s word is to be understood at the maximum, for he will do exceedingly abundantly above what you ask or even think.”

- Charles Spurgeon, Christ’s Glorious Achievements (Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus 2003), 59

Book Report - Just Do Something

I have just finished reading Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God’s Will. I would love to give you a full review today, but I have been a little busy with VBS this week and trying to get most of my sermon work done for next week since I will be in Louisville for the SBC Annual Meeting most of next week. 

I promise I will get to it next week… At least I want to promise that. I may still be a little under the gun next week too, but I will definitely have some time to formulate at least a few coherent thoughts about it. 

Let me just whet your appetite a little with a question: How do you go about “finding God’s will for your life?” If you have to make a major decision that is not a moral decision, what process do you typically follow in order to know what to do? If you have a new job opportunity, or a house to buy, or are trying to decide who to marry, what do you do?

I think most of us would say that we pray about it. That’s good!

But what exactly are you expecting from God in return? How do you expect to discern the answer?

This is where many of us would probably stray into non-biblical responses. 

Me? I have usually relied on some kind of “peaceful, easy feeling” to arise over one particular answer before I will act. You know, I keep praying and fretting until I finally feel all warm and fuzzy about one choice. This is the right house! This is the perfect job! This is the right spouse for me! 

Then I pounce… scared the whole way that I may still be missing God’s perfect will. 

Well, if you are like me, then this book is going to rock your “will-seeking” world. I learned that I am doing it all wrong when I seek God’s will this way. The premise of this book is that it is unbiblical to seek God's will in a way that makes Him seem like a magic 8-ball. 

I will take time next week to flesh this out a little more. In the meantime, if you love challenges and think that you may disagree with me on this, search the entire Bible and see if you can find just ONE verse that says God has some secret will of direction (for non-moral decisions like picking a job) He expects to figure out BEFORE we are to act. 

Good hunting : )

Doctrine of the Day: The Gospel - Part 6

O how rich is God’s grace and love toward those who believe in his Son! He forgives all our sin, gives us the righteousness of Christ, and welcomes us into his presence for eternity! God has chosen to magnify his glory supremely in his Son’s death, burial and resurrection, and we are the beneficiaries of that display of glory! He gets all the glory and we get the joy of redemption and salvation!! Wow. The Gospel is amazing…

So, how do we call people to respond to this wonderful news? Our final word then is faith. People are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8). But what does saving faith look like? Let’s examine what the Bible says…

• Faith
  

I think it is important for us to think of faith in response to the Gospel as “saving faith” because of the question posed in James 2:14ff. Saving faith is more than just believing in the facts of who Jesus is and what He has done. So what is it about saving faith that is more than just mental assent ?

As we look at Scripture I think we can identify four ways faith is described to us to help us understand what we mean by saving faith.

1. Saving faith = believing He will keep his promises

When we say “believe in Jesus,” what do we usually mean by that? Part of believing IN Him has to include actually believing HIM! In other words after we tell people that God will save those who have faith in Him, they must believe that promise will be kept by God. We have faith that God will do what He says He will do. This is a major, first step for people in turning away from their radical self-centeredness: trusting God instead of themselves. 

Peter’s response to the crowd when they asked what they must do in response to hearing about their sin was to cal them to repent and be baptized, and he added, “For this promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself” (Acts 2:39). They were believing a promise from God that He will forgive when we faithfully repent, turning to Him. Psalm 119:154 says, “ Plead my cause and redeem me; give me life according to your promise!”

This is the cry of saving faith: “Give me life according to your promise!”

2. Saving faith = resting in Him

A popular illustration of saving faith goes like this: 

Joe: ‘Stan, do you believe this chair will support you?’

Stan: ‘Yeah.’

Joe: ‘Well, if you truly believe that, you will sit on the chair.’

Stan sits.

Joe, to his youth group: ‘See THAT is having faith in Jesus.’

It really is a good illustration because it shows that must “exercise” our faith so to speak by actually letting Christ be our strength and support and life. Jesus gave this call to faith in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me… rest in me…” 

Saving faith ACTUALLY trusts Jesus to the point of believing his promises then acting on them by letting his grace be sufficient for us (2 Corinthians 12:9).

3. Saving faith = being satisfied by Him

I love John 6:35. Of all the “I AM” statements Jesus makes in John, this is my favorite: “I AM the bread of life.” Jesus wants us to see Him as bread!!! That is so cool… but what does it mean??? Jesus is flour, butter, fat, sugar, and water all mixed up and baked in an oven??? What does that mean???

Of course he is not the ingredients in bread because He is not literally bread. The point is that what bread does for our bodies, He does for our spirit. To satisfy your hunger you eat bread. To satisfy your heart’s greatest longing you believe in Jesus. Is that cool or what???? 

     ***ATTENTION*** 

I am about to make the most important point in this whole “doctrine of the gospel exercise” right here. This is the payoff you have been waiting for…

The gospel message of salvation is not merely about receiving the forgiveness of sins and going to Heaven. Forgiveness and redemption are the means to a greater end. That “end” is God Himself. 

Jesus died in order to bring us to God! (1 Peter 3:18) When you trade in your sin by confessing and repenting and believing, what you get in return is God! This is why we must present a gospel that crucifies the flesh and magnifies God because He is the “end.” 

In calling people to believe in Jesus we are calling them to value Christ above everything the world offers to satisfy their hearts desires. 

The best picture of this part of saving faith is the parable Jesus told in Matthew 13:44. When a man discovered a treasure buried in a field, he was happy to go sell all his worldly possessions in order to buy the field and possess the treasure!!! In his JOY he sold everything! This is saving faith. Treasuring Christ above everything else. 

When someone gets saved, what they really get is Christ, the Son of God. 

4. Saving faith = following Him as LORD

This is very important!!! We are saved by God’s grace. NOT by our works. 

However, there is a crucial part of saving faith that we sometimes leave out because it SOUNDS like “works salvation.” It is this part about following Jesus. Some would say, “If you tell people they have to follow Jesus, then means they have to DO something in order to be saved. That’s not faith.” 

I admit this sounds tricky, but it really isn’t if we will let God’s word direct us. 

Jesus said in Luke 9:23, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

This aspect of saving faith that says we must follow Him is really nothing more than saying that we must repent of our sin. Jesus is describing the process of repentance. What we sometimes fall into is the mistake of exalting confession and forgiveness and minimizing repentance. We tell people that God loves them and will forgive all their sin but leave out the part where they have to forsake that sin and live holy lives from this point on.

The real issue here is submission to Christ as LORD. We MUST preach submission to  his LORDship as part saving faith. There is no forgiveness of sins without repentance… Let me say that again: There is no forgiveness of sins without repentance. 

Repentance means forsaking sin, turning to Christ and following Him. Therefore, saving faith submits to Jesus as LORD by forsaking sin and turning to Him.

Conclusion

So here is how I would summarize saving faith, meaning the response someone must have to the gospel in order to be saved:

Saving faith is believing and trusting the promises of God for forgiveness and salvation, resting in his grace and treasuring Him above the world by forsaking all sin and following Him LORD. 

Sure it is long and cumbersome, and I am not saying that this is a definition of saving faith. It is just a description of what it encapsulates.

I think this is enough for this week. 

Next week I will summarize the gospel for you again in 111 words and talk about how to share this with our friends and loved ones. 

Sing a new song

One of my favorite hymns is Be Thou My Vision. The entire hymn is fantastic, but I think this is my favorite verse:

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,

Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:

Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,

High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

The really cool thing about this song is that it is old.  I mean really old. Many of you probably already know this, but this was originally an Irish song written in either the 6^th or 8^th century depending on who you believe. Mary Byrne translated it into modern English in 1905. It remains a favorite to many believers today… me being one. 

But its “oldness” is not what makes it a favorite. What makes it so cool to me is its God-centeredness. Just in this one verse I have included you can sense a very strong passion to make God supreme and central to the author’s life. This is what makes great worship music for the Church. 

But at one point this very old song was new. It was new in the 8^th century. It was new again in 1905 when it was translated into English. I am so thankful for whoever wrote this song, for singing a new song to the LORD that I am now able to sing as well. 

Why is it important to sing new songs? Well, the Bible commands it.

Psalm 33:3

Sing to him a new song;
   play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

Not only are we commanded to sing new songs, but we should have skilled people playing instruments and we should join them with loud shouts! But let’s stick with the thought of a new song for now…

God wants us to sing new songs to Him… Why???

I think there are two reasons each corresponding to these two words: ‘new’ and ‘song.’

Why new? Because God is always doing new things. Every generation of his people has experienced God in a different way than the generation before. And a recurring theme in the Bible is that each generation must teach and proclaim his works to the next (Psalm 71:17-18 and Psalm 78:1-8). So, these old song we sing are invaluable to us because they teach us how God interacted with previous generations of believers. We should ALWAYS sing old hymns in church. Each successive generation needs to learn from the previous one. 

But just as Be Thou My Vision is old today, it was once new. So, we must continue to write new songs about God and the wonders He has done in THIS generation (Psalm 78:4). And we should ALWAYS sing these new songs in church. We proclaim God’s past faithfulness and we proclaim his present faithfulness. 

Why songs? In other words why do we need new songs versus new teachings. Why can’t we keep all our old traditional songs, and just tell kids stories of the new things God has done? Because singing is our primary medium for speaking praise to God. We are to glorify God in all we do. But it is through singing that we explicitly express our praise to God for what He has done. 

Besides, these commands to sing a new song and proclaim God’s wonders to another generation are in the psalms… the song book of the Bible! 

And for whatever reason, we can memorize stories better when we sing them. Songs are musical stories and praise that we pass on to our children.

So, let’s continue to proclaim the wonders of God to another generation through great, old songs like A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. And let’s continue to sing new songs like In Christ Alone…

There in the ground His body lay,

Light of the world by darkness slain;

Then bursting forth in glorious day,

Up from the grave He rose again!

And as He stands in victory,

Sin's curse has lost its grip on me;

For I am His and He is mine—

Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

Sunday sermon review - Put on Humility

Is there a more difficult component of Christ’s character to “put on” than humility??? First of all it is difficult to get a really solid understanding of what humility is. Does it mean we put ourselves down all the time? Or should we constantly defer to others’ ideas and opinions? Are humble people the ones who are go around constantly talking about God like they are selling Him on an infomercial? 

Humility is a tough trait to nail down. 

God’s word is clear on its importance though…

1 Peter 5:5

Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

Wow. God opposes the proud… He sets his forces against them. BUT He gives grace to the humble. 

So it would be great if we knew how to clothe ourselves in humility! 

This is where Philippians 2:1-11 comes in. It is, I think, the best passage we have to display Christ’s humility. Jesus washing the disciples feet is another great look at humility, but nothing can top the completeness of the humiliation process like this passage in Philippians. Because we both parts of humility: the willing humiliation of Jesus and God’s subsequent exaltation in response. 

No one has ever been brought so low as Christ. From the infinite, eternal love relationship amid the Godhead to taking on the nature of his creation and becoming a curse (Galatians 3:13) and to be sin (2 Corinthians 5:21) and die taking ALL of God’s wrath meant for his people (1 John 2:2). 

But neither has one ever been exalted as high as Jesus because of his obedience to the Father. As low as He humbled Himself, God exalted Him above all things!!!

We have the same promise from God in 1 Peter 5:6. We will be exalted proportionately if we humble ourselves willingly before his mighty hand. 

So, what is humility? By following the example of Christ we would have to define it this way…

Be obedient to the Father through the grace of Christ by willingly lowering yourself to meet the needs of others. 

I pray that all us Christians will learn from Christ and put on humility. A lost world is desperately needing to see and receive the gospel from such a humble people. 

Doctrine of the Day: The Gospel - ADDENDUM

Before I get to our fifth word (Faith) on the gospel next week, I want to go back and explain a little more about the fourth word, Christ. One thing I did not spend time on is the love of God in sending his Son to die. I mentioned John 3:16 in passing but did not make it the central focus for understanding or communicating the gospel. 

So here is a legitimate question some may have: Don’t we need to talk about God’s love in sharing the gospel with the lost? Don’t we need to tell them that his love for us is why Jesus died? 

Well, that is actually two questions. But they both need answering because they are both very important. These are difficult, deep issues! The answers do not come easily nor are they easily understood. Let me start by answering the second question.

1. The reasons Jesus died

John Piper has a little book called The Passion of Jesus Christ: Fifty Reasons Why He Came to Die. So, suffice it to say there are a bunch of reasons Jesus came to die, one of which is certainly that He loves us. So in choosing which of the many reasons to share with the lost, we need to be careful which reason we put at the top of the list. But they are all valuable!!!

So, let me ask a follow up question. Is God’s love for us the reason that is at the top of God’s list for why Jesus died? That is a tricky question. 

If you say “Yes, God’s love for us is the primary and supreme reason He died” then it sounds like God is placing us, his creation, in a place of preeminence. That WE are the most valuable thing to Him. That He obviously was willing to do anything to save his creation. That his own Son is not as important as the ones created in his image. 

If you say “No, God’s love for us pales in comparison to the other reasons Jesus died” then it sounds like… hmm. It sounds like God’s love for us is not as important as we thought. That there is something more important in God’s heart than us, his creation. But what could occupy the place of preeminence in God’s heart if not us??? Are we not the apple of his eye (Deuteronomy 32:9-11)??? The Bible clearly says that He loved us and gave his Son up for us (Romans 5:8). That kind of love has to be the primary reason Jesus died. What else could be more important than God’s love of us?

John 17:1-5 gives us a very helpful insight into Christ’s heart and motivation as He is going to the cross.

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”

Jesus would go on to pray for the disciples (John 17:7-19) and even the future church (John 17:20-26) but it is clear from the beginning of his prayer that his primary concern is with the Father restoring his glory. His focus is on his obedience to the Father in accomplishing a task: saving people! It is an amazing, grace-motivated task that rebounds greatly to us, but it is still a command from the Father that Jesus had to obey. It is a task that garnered the glory He had before the incarnation, that He deserved (Philippians 2:6-11). Jesus’ obedience to the Father is most important to the Father and the Son.

It is important for us to remember that we are created for God’s glory. Therefore we are going to be saved for God’s glory. That certainly does not diminish God’s love for us one bit!! But it does mean that the highest reason Jesus came to die is to glorify the Father and have his own glory magnified by obeying the Father.

If you have to pick a reason to tell people Jesus died, this is the “best” one.

2. Sharing God’s love in sharing the gospel

Now, what about telling people God loves them when we share the gospel? Before I give a definitive answer on that, let’s look at the Bible. 

I searched the four Gospels and the book of Acts examining the evangelistic encounters there just to see what content was shared. I discovered a couple of interesting things...

A. Not once in the Gospels or in Acts is God’s love for us mentioned to lost people as a means to convert them. Once in Mark 10:21 it says that Jesus loved the person He was talking to about following Him, but He did not tell the man that God loves him. There are references to the Father loving the Son (John 3:35; 5:20) and Jesus loving specific people (John 11:5; 13:35) but nowhere does anyone say “God loves you… therefore follow Christ.”

B. The word “love” is not used in the book of Acts… at all!! The book that records the early evangelistic efforts of the church and how the church was formed does not mention God’s love even one time; much less in any of the many evangelistic encounters that are recorded. 

Now these are just observations. But these observations about the Bible have to instruct us on how we share the gospel. While there is no single, perfect way taught in the Bible, I do find it interesting that God’s love is not used as a motivation for calling people to follow Jesus in any example. 

What can we learn from this? 

I think there is one caution that should arise in our minds and hearts about speaking of God’s love in sharing the Gospel. 

We need to share the gospel in a God-centered, Christ-exalting way. This is God’s primary purpose in creation: to be central and glorified above all things. So, we must be careful that we do not make people the central focus of the gospel, but most assuredly we are to share the gospel to save people!

Here’s what I mean. 

The problem of every person who has ever lived (except One!) is that we are sinners. The very nature of our status before God is as rebels. We are selfish to the core. We have offended a holy God by ignoring Him and his commands in order to go our own way. We deny his LORDship over our lives and stubbornly make ourselves lord of our lives. We deserve hell. 

If we make the gospel all about God’s blessings to us and go on about how much God loves us making statements like “Look how far God went to get you back,” that is not going to challenge the rampant selfishness that infests our heart. It will serve to magnify our selfishness… “Look how great and valuable I am that God would do such for me!!” Our presentation of the gospel must include a call to make God central, not us. 

Instead if we will reveal the sin we all have by displaying a glorious God who created us in order to reflect that glory, then there will be conviction. Then as people cry out “Woe is me, I am a sinner!” Then we can direct them to the cross. 

We can say things like “Hey, I have Good News! God wants to magnify his mercy in his Son, so He sent Jesus to die to take away his wrath from those who believe in Him and and give them eternal life with Him when they decide to submit to Him and follow Him as LORD.” 

In doing this we are declaring God’s love in a way that still keeps Him central and allows the gospel to do its work in crucifying “self” and magnifying Christ. 

This week's news

* Our need for theology

We need our churches to be filled with theologians. Yes, that means you : ) 

* Christian Music in Trouble

I am not a big “music person.” I love to listen to inspiring Christian music of many genres, but I do not keep up with current trends and the newest groups. It appears however that the Christian music industry may be in trouble. 

* Sunspots and global warming

I am one of the few weirdos who thinks that global warming is not due to man’s influence. Oh I believe in being responsible with the environment, but our carbon emissions are not the cause of the recent rise in average global temperatures. In fact, this story is one of several that postulate a different theory about the change in temperature over time. Very interesting to say the least.

* What’s wrong with “seeker-sensitive” churches? 

For the past quarter century there has been a movement in some churches to try to make church more appealing to lost people. That movement has spawned the current “emerging church” which seeks to attract the post-moderns. Here is what these churches do to reach people. You tell me how that’s going… 

 

* Weird world… 

I really don’t know what to say about this...