When the church puts all of her gospel driven resources toward the physically poor, or one single segment of the population for that matter, all other spiritually bankrupt people go without the gospel all together.
Posts Tagged with the Gospel
The Sweetest News Of All
Take Every Thought Captive
Last night I began a new evening series entitled “How Do I Do That”.
The first topic we picked up from Scripture was a matter of controlling our tongue. The background text for this was James 3:1-12 where James warns of the massive damage the tongue can do. Humanity has learned to tame nearly every wild beast on the planet, yet cannot control his own tongue.
How do I do that? How do I live in such a way in this temporal day as to discipline my tongue?
This is a matter that the follower of Christ must take a personal examination to determine how much damage they are capable of with their tongue.
For example: When we find ourselves tempted to be rough and severe towards another, we should first think of the meekness and gentleness of Christ when in the days of His flesh. He is seen in all exchanges in acts of grace toward poor souls. While others spoke harshly of the apostle Paul, they thought ill thoughts of him and questioned his motives he showed that he had a disciple to behave like Christ, his Lord. We too should be sensible of our own shortcomings, think humbly of ourselves when others incite us or reproach us as they did our Savior.
In 2 Corinthians 10:1-6, the Apostle Paul reminds us that we are not separated from the world; we do worldly things altogether different that mere men. We do everything now under the lordship of Christ. Everything we think and say are kept under a crucified, mortified flesh. We must not seek to please the flesh. The flesh must be crucified. The doctrines of the gospel and the disciplines of the church are now our weapons. The old way is “Tit for Tat”. The new way is what I’ll call the “Gospel way.”
- The Gospel way is with patient truth not brute force.
- The Gospel way is with humility not “I know better than you, you dummy.”
- The Gospel way is not the natural way. It is now disciplined. Stop and think, consider, hear, process…
- The Gospel way doesn’t think highly of oneself.
- The Gospel way doesn’t shut the other person down in a conversation from thinking. The Gospel is not anti-thinking.
- The Gospel way doesn’t need a victory in the win column of keeping track. It rests upon truth.
The old way or the fleshly way depends upon ignorance, prejudices, loved lust, imaginations, carnal reasoning, conceits, self boasting.
NOTE: There are times the church needs to exercise sharp discipline with a false doctrine or false professor. But it is never a bully pulpit condition or reasoning. It even is a grace and a mercy of God, this too is the Gospel way.
2 Corinthians 10:5 “…take every thought captive…” is different than to simply modify a behavior.
If all you ever do is modify your behavior you will always be susceptible to doing what you do in your own strength and you’ll always find your flesh too weak to do what only God can do.
See this; your selfish thoughts will never be dealt with, disobedient thoughts are never subdued, worldly thoughts are never conquered, murmuring thoughts are rather encouraged. These are all springs of the outward evils that afflict and curse us.
The Gospel way address the thoughts first.
It addresses the heart. The heart will not give up naturally by brute force. It will require a total captivity of the heart, soul, and mind of man. Without it, all that will ever happen is a behavioral modification that may adjust for a few days but will grow restless under the new desire that never conquered the heart.
The Gospel way addresses the motive.
Here is the message I preached recently addressing this matter.
Sermon Excerpt
For Church and Family (009) the Lord’s Table
In this post I encourage parents to formally train their children about the Lord’s Table at home so that when they are at the church house and the gathered saints proclaim the Lord’s death in the corporate proclamation is something to watch. Teach them why they should wait to take it until they have made a confession of the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Tips for Church and Family.
- Parents:
- This is important because your sons and daughters are watching a people make confession about the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Explain what the cup and the bread represent.
- Explain why, especially if they are young and asking questions, who is able to take the bread and the cup.
- Point out that those who take this when it comes by have made Jesus Christ the Lord of their lives and submit to him as their Lord.
- Explain only those who professes this do this.
- With holding it from them is not abusive. It is actually eternally helpful, until they are old enough to understand what is actually happening and if they understand.
- Church:
- Treat this with seriousness.
- Heads of households, gather your family together when the pastor instructs you on the Lord’s Day and pray with your family. Your children will not think this strange if you do what the pastor instructs.
- When you pray, pray for salvation to come to those who are not yet redeemed.
- Pray for the boys and girls as they watch and listen to what is happening at this moment. The Gospel is being proclaimed.
The Evangel
Anyone who claimed September 23, 2017 as the end of the world and used the bible to prove their position should be viewed as a false prophet.
Church, discipline yourself to put our primary work in front of us and be faithful to the work of the evangel (the gospel). Date setting is no new thing and we should expect that as dates come and go that a more predictable pattern is that date setters will be required to adjust and reinterpret their claims.
Yes, we should give ourselves to reading Scripture and noticing that the time must be near, but be sure not to get distracted with that which will distract from the Gospel. Give yourself rather to living a life devoted to the Lordship of Christ in your life and speaking the grace of God in His gospel to all.
Date setting the unknown things of God is irresponsible evangelism.
Give yourself to responsible evangelism. Proclaiming the truth of God, the nature of humanity, the redeeming work of Christ, and the required response to this truth; this is our great duty.
Here are a few things I see that normally happens when the date setters gain popularity and their dates pass by…
- They will claim they overlooked a particular calculation.
- They will say “I didn’t actually say…”
- They will bring other verses into the conversation that they didn’t use or see previously.
- They will call planets stars or give vague dogmatic comments such as “this kind of connection gives me goose bumps just thinking about it.”
- They will eventually re-date to another date without any consideration to what God says about those who presumptuously speak on His behalf in Deuteronomy 18:22
“When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.” (Deuteronomy 18:22)
Give yourself to the advancing of the evangel (the Gospel).
A September 23 Caution
No doubt, everyone should take a moment and consider the rapid increase of natural phenomena and epic cataclysmic natural disasters. Try reading a news report anywhere that doesn’t show pain and suffering is wide spread and the unknown news of war and terror is eminently looming.
What should we do with such news? We should do something. We should pray, repent, prepare to respond with kindness and compassion. But this is for sure, we must especially think biblically and speak carefully.
There are some today warning of September 23, 2017 as a day of major devastation. Is it? Or is it yet another day that will come and go and many will look back on this as yet another reason to not listen to Christians?
I’m asked from time to time about why I don’t speak about end times. I’m willing to look at all things related to the authority of revealed Scripture. Are there things happening today that speak about end days? Sure. But I must give direction to how I’ll talk about things and what I’ll say about things before I say them. (Oh,I wish I could do this all the time in my life.)
I submit a few things I instruct my lips to say or not to say in days like this for consideration:
- Because we live in the era of the church, look for what pastors are saying. Not just any one who calls themselves a pastor, I’m talking about the kind of pastors that the bible identifies as biblically qualified and are held accountable to a local church. It is a right thing to examine what anyone reporting to be a pastor is saying with what his church says and then does his preaching and church agree with what the bible declares.
- Stick with what is known. The bible is the only source that can be trusted. Any extra biblical proof texting is dangerous and unreliable. We are people of the Bible. Lean on what is known and in agreement with the bible.
- Listen to what others are saying and weigh it against the Bible. The only authority that is reliable is the Bible. Stick with the Bible.
- Humbly read your bible to know how to live in days like this. Do all that you can to live like this.
- A weather model is not biblical authority.
- Pray for those in the path of disasters.
- Don’t forget that God is the active agent in all things. There is no storm path that acts out of the ruling authority of God.
- Consider the warning of the wrath of God and be found a faithful repenting follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Call on all people everywhere to repent not because of weather or astrological alignment of stars but because of the biblical truth that all men everywhere are called to repentance and turn to Christ for forgiveness. This is our biblical mandate. This is our biblical foundation. Be known as a gospel herald not a date setting guesser.
- Be disciplined to give attention to the public reading of Scripture. Let God speak to the nations.
When Hate Hates Hate
It didn’t take long to learn after returning from a remote weekend at Camp Perkins in central Idaho that hatred for others was the international headline from the Land of the Free, America. Many articulate articles, columns, interviews, and social media posts find me in agreement with many (Albert Mohler, Russell Moore, local radio, and a conversation with Renee).
I stand with Scripture that calls life a “very good” thing. God’s created order of all people everywhere is a right, holy, and beautiful reflection of the glory of God. It’s been said, and I agree, that the kind of behavior that was upon display in Virginia over the weekend is of a hellish kind. To treat another creation of God with such disrespect and hate is not godly and should be identified by all as such. And many, many people have spoken out against it.
Yet there seems to always be a massive disconnect when it comes to the issue of life in the womb. This kind of hatred is protected by laws, judges, congress, and governments of “civilized” people. Murder in the womb is defended by many of the people that many Christians are quoting on social media. This kind of disconnect is shocking. Think about it… some Hollywood not-a-hero says that what took place in Virginia on Saturday is appalling, and it was, but that same individual will be found on another day defending the right for a child in the womb to be hacked apart limb by limb.
Where is consistency today? Where is the exercise of discipline? Who is speaking today with disciplined consistency? This is what it looks like when hate hates hate?
When there is no pillar of truth in the community, people chase after all kinds of inconsistent voices.
Follower of Christ, discipline yourself with a consistent voice. Don’t confuse your friends by quoting from some Hollywood moral drifter and then within a few moments quote a Bible voice. If there is anything to say in a day like this it requires disciplined consistency. To be a pillar and buttress of truth, which your city needs, be part of the pillar and buttress not a confusing standard that is sure to crumble soon.
What if in your community you quoted your faithful pastor preaching sound timeless truths for all people everywhere rather than a flash of show lights from an industry that has as much hate, if not more, than what was shamefully displayed on the streets of Charlottesville.
There is a remedy to this; the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ as defined by the Holy Bible alone.
The Power of the Resurrection
What is needed most among the saints of God?
- Is it a need to rebrand our church or denomination so that we are more likable by this current generation?
- It is a fresh wind of innovation and creativity?
- or is it a need to go down the road of the ancient paths of Scripture?
It is critical that while on this ancient path that the church not abandon truths of old. The meaning of the words, terms, and phrases are obviously what must not be lost, but I fear we get closer to losing the richness in what these words, terms, and phrases mean when we abandon them in fear that we may appear out of touch, out of date, or traditional.
As we are on the precipice of the greatest day in the history of the world, the resurrection of our Lord, I’m convinced we need this ancient path in order to articulate the gospel to this current generation. It has always been the means of passing the gospel on from one generation to another. This is the way of Scripture, to use words to communicate to all generations.
My defense is not for the words for the sake of language. My defense is a matter of eternal weight, and needs words to communicate. In general conversation we may not use these rich words, but as ambassadors of Christ’s reconciliation we must communicate the whole gospel.
With that said… here are some of those rich words that I believe are needed as most urgent among gospel proclaimers. Get these words, understand these words, and communicate these truths.
Faith:
Justification:
Atonement:
Imputation:
Sanctification:
Propitiation:
Blasphemy
There are many in the land attempting to do what only God can do.
To think that one can achieve salvation through any means other than through Christ Jesus, the only begotten son of the Living God is a hope against hope.
It’s easy to look at the atheist and think how foolish their actions are. It’s easy to look at the cult followers as empty and heading to a dead end with no room to turn around. It’s easy to see the trappings of the religions of false prophets as of no help and filled with falsehoods.
Then there is the danger of practical blasphemy that some professors of Christ practice. To suggest that God needs anything from us or that we have any stake in how he should rule His created order is an equal act of blasphemy.
There is joy in the Lord. In the condition of helplessness we were once in, Christ came to us in our spiritual depravity and saved us from the deserved wrath of God that is fairly charged against us but was graciously placed upon our redeemer in our stay.
O for a thousand tongues to sing…