How Greatly He Exults

"O LORD, in your strength the king rejoices,

   and in your salvation how greatly he exults!

²You have given him his heart’s desire

   and have not withheld the request of his lips. 

³For you meet him with rich blessings;

   you set a crown of fine gold upon his head.

⁴He asked life of you; you gave it to him,

    length of days forever and ever.

⁵His glory is great through your salvation;

    splendor and majesty you bestow on him.

⁶ For you make him most blessed forever;^[a]

   you make him glad with the joy of your presence.

⁷For the king trusts in the LORD,

   and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved."

Psalm 21:1-8

In this psalm, David exults greatly in the salvation of the Lord. David rejoices that God has richly blessed him. He rejoices that God has given him life. He is overwhelmed by the joy of God's presence with him. 

My prayer this morning is that our life would be an exultation of the greatness of God. How wonderful are His works! Though we were once far off, hostile to God, alienated from His presence, without life and joy, though there was once a great dividing wall between us and our Creator, though we did not formerly belong to His beloved people, the Son of God descended from heaven and became man to give us salvation. He is Immanuel, God with us. Though humanity was wrecked, though our shame ran deep, His grace runs deeper. I exult in God because of His great love. Jesus came to earth to give us new life. Christ's death on the cross and His resurrection has now brought us near. At the cross, the hostility was crushed. If we believe in Him, we are no longer aliens, but sons. Through the Son, our life is being restored. Through Him, the dividing wall has been shattered once and for all. This truly is good news!

Like David, I rejoice in the strength of the Most High. I exult greatly in God's salvation because it is by His strength, not my might. Jesus said that he came to give us life to the full, or life abundantly (John 10:10) and to give us fullness of joy (John 15:11). Because we are united to Christ, we now have access to true life and true joy. Jesus is restoring to us life as it is intended to be. It is meant to be lived in fellowship with him. What a great salvation that God has made this possible!

Jesus Our Benefactor

From 'Valley of Vision'.

My dear Lord,

I depend wholly on thee,

wean from me all other dependencies.

Though are my all, thou dost overrule all and delight in me.

Thou art the foundation of goodness,

how can I distrust thee?

how be anxious about what happens to me?

In the light of thy preciousness the world

and all its enjoyments are infinitely poor:

I value the favor of men no more than pebbles.

Amid the blessings I receive from thee

may I never lose the heart of a stranger. 

May I love thee, my benefactor, in all my benefits,

not forgetting that my greatest danger arises from all my advantages.

Produce in me self-despair that will make Jesus precious to me,

delightful in all his offices,

pleasurable in all his ways,

and may I love his commands as well as his promises.

Help me to discern between true and false love, 

the one consisting of supreme love to thee, the other not,

the former uniting thy glory and man's happiness

that they may become a common interest,

the latter disjointing and separating them both,

seeking the latter with neglect of the former.

Teach me that genuine love is different in kind 

from that wrought by rational arguments or the motive of self-interest,

that such love is a pleasing passion affording joy to the mind where it is.

Grant me grace to distinguish between the genuine and the false,

and to rest in thee who are all love. 

A great prayer for this morning. That we would lean more wholly upon Christ and trust in His benefits and that Jesus would be increasingly precious to us. 

Martin Lloyd-Jones on Preaching and the Gospel

A few lessons Tim Keller has learned from Martin Lloyd-Jones.

"The lesson I eventually learned from him was—don't preach to your congregation for spiritual growth thinking everyone there is a Christian—and don't preach the gospel evangelistically thinking that Christians cannot grow from it. In other words—evangelize as you edify, and edify as you evangelize. These are two different by intimately related ideas, and we will tackle one in each of the next two posts."

You can read the rest of the article here.

You Alone Can Rescue

A great contemporary song we've been singing @ The Journey

Lean on Him

"I seemed to depend wholly on my dear Lord, wholly weaned from all other dependencies. I knew not what to say to my God, but only lean on His bosom, as it were, and breathe out my desires after a perfect conformity to Him in all things...God was so precious to my soul that the world with all its enjoyments was infinitely vile. I had no more value for the favor of men than for pebbles. The Lord was my ALL; and that He overruled all greatly delighted me...I saw Him such a fountain of goodness that it seemed impossible I should distrust again, or be any way anxious about anything that should happen to me."

-The Life and Diary of David Brainerd, edited by Jonathan Edwards

....

So often am I overwhelmed that I have no idea what to say to God. I'm too exhausted to speak, but I desperately need Him...To catch me...To let me rest in Him...To let me give my biggest sigh of relief, knowing that He has got me, because of Christ. He does catch us. It is not based on how great our faith is, but how great He is. Simply trust He will catch you. He will. Those moments filled with grace wipe anxiety away like nothing else.

Christ, The Only Mediator

A post-worthy quote from Augustine's Confessions. What a beautiful reminder that Christ is the only one by whom we may be reconciled to God. Neither religion, nor morality, nor spirituality, nor rituals may mediate sinful humans to a good and holy God. Only Jesus. He is the one True Mediator. He alone is sufficient to mediate man to God.

"Who could be found to reconcile me to you? Was I to beg the help of angels? What prayer should I use? What sacred rites? Many have tried to return to you, and have not had the strength in themselves to achieve it, so I have been told. They have attempted these methods and have lapsed into a desire for curious visions, and have been rewarded with illusions. For in their quest they have lifted up by pride in their high culture, inflating their chest rather than beating their breast. Through an affinity in heart they attracted themselves as associates and allies of their pride....They sought a mediator to purify them, and it was not the true one......But a mediator between God and the human race ought to have something in common with God and something in common with humanity....


The true Mediator you showed to humanity in your secret mercy....He is the mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. He appeared among mortal sinners as the immortal righteous one, mortal like humanity, righteous like God. Because the wages of righteousness are life and peace, being united with God by his righteousness he made void the death of justified sinners, a death which it was his will to share in common with them. He was made known to ancient saints so that they could be saved through faith in his future passion, just as we are saved through faith in his passion now that it is past. It is as man that he is mediator. He is not midway as Word; for the Word is equal to God and with God.


How you have loved us, good Father; you did not spare your only Son but delivered him up for sinners. How you have loved us, for whose sake he did not think it a usurpation to be equal to you and was made subject to the death of the cross. He was the only one to be free among the dead. He had power to lay down his soul and power to take it back again. For us he was victorious before you and victor because he was victim. For us before you he is priest and sacrifice, and priest because he is sacrifice. Before you he makes us sons instead of servants by being born of you and being servant to us. With good reason my firm hope is in him. For you will cure all my diseases through him who sits at your right hand and intercedes with you for us. Otherwise, I would be in despair. Many and great are those diseases, many and great indeed. But your medicine is still more potent."

Dr. Phil Ryken on Year One at Wheaton College

I am very thankful that Dr. Ryken is at Wheaton College and for the kind of gospel-centered leadership he offers the school. I think he is just what Wheaton College needs.


Pastor-President Ryken on Year One at Wheaton from The Gospel Coalition on Vimeo.

The Measure of Friendship

"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you."

John 15: 13-15

"A friend loves at all times,

   and a brother is born for adversity."

Proverbs 17:17

"By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, 

and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers."

1 John 3:16

Biblically, friendship is defined by sacrifice. It is measured by what someone is willing to give up for the other. In both verses written by John, we see the utmost display of friendship is seen in the giving of ones life. From these criteria, we can see how Jesus is the ultimate friend. Here is a prayer that I wrote this morning.

Jesus, I praise and thank You for being the ultimate friend. You have unconditionally loved the loveless. You alone have loved me at all times. I confess to you Lord both my undeserving state of this friendship, and my self-justifying attempts to make myself appear worthy of this friendship. Yet, I rejoice in the truth that my union with You in completely contingent upon Your grace. You are the true friend, who at my very need your life did spend. And in what manner did you spend your life? You spent your life for me in the most extravagant way. For man or woman could lay down their life for me in order to preserve my temporal life here on earth, but only You could lay down your life in order to atone for my sins and to give me fullness of life. Jesus, you are the ultimate friend because you paid the ultimate cost. For you humbly left your glorious throne, you left your exalted position, and stooped down to my level. You saw your friends in dying need and you laid aside your glory, becoming man, being born in a manger, living among the filth which we caused, and died the death you didn't deserve, in order to save your friends. You have saved me from the ultimate adversity.There is no greater sacrifice. There is no greater friend. More so, you did not do so grudgingly, but out of gladness and joy. You are the pinnacle of friendship.

Jesus, I also praise you for the earthly friends which you have given me. Though imperfect and weak, their friendship gives me a faint, yet beautiful glimpse at your perfect friendship. Hints of Your radiant glory shine forth through their selfless love and raise my yearning to better know you, the true friend. I marvel at Your grace, as seen in the gift of friends. May we continue to sharpen each other, and to help each other more clearly behold the beauty of you, Lord Jesus. 

Taste and See that the Lord is Good

Psalm 34 Promises

Vs. 4 "I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears."

Vs. 6 "This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles."

Vs. 7 "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them."

Vs. 18 "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit."

Vs. 19 "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all."

Vs. 22 "The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned."

....

The good news of the gospel is that Jesus Christ came to save sinners.

He came to rescue the SCARED, the POOR, the TROUBLED, the HUMILIATED, the BROKENHEARTED, the CRUSHED, the AFFLICTED and those LOW IN STATURE.

Gospel promises are made manifest in the lives of repentant sinners. Sinners who claim nothing of their own, but simply claim Jesus Christ. He is the power and perfect fulfillment of every saving promise. Because of his life, death, resurrection and ascension to the right hand of God, we are united to Him by grace through faith, and are promised the gift of being raised from our lowly state to His TRIUMPHANT state in eternal glory. If that isn't freeing, I don't know what is.

"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!" Psalm 34:8

Christ Is The Point

An excellent article from Tullian Tchividjian's blog on the Gospel Coalition site. The article is written by Mark Galli who is the senior editor at Christianity Today. Mark has written a book entitled, God Wins: Heaven, Hell, and How the Good News is Better Than Love Wins, which as you can imagine, is a response to Rob Bell's recent book, Love Wins. This article is excellent.

Christ Is The Point

The Authentic Happy Life

"Far be it from me, Lord, far from the heart of your servant who is making confession to you, far be it from me to think myself happy, whatever the joy in which I take my delight. There is a delight which is given not to the wicked (Isaiah 28:22), but to those who worship you for no reward save the joy that you yourself are to them. That is the authentic happy life, to set one's joy on you, grounded in you and caused by you. That is the real thing, and there is no other. Those who think that the happy life is found elsewhere, pursue another joy and not the true one. Nevertheless, their will remains drawn towards some image of the true joy."

Saint Augustine, Confessions, page 198-199

The Wonderful Grace of Jesus

A hymn by Haldor Lillenas written in 1918 called 'The Wonderful Grace of Jesus'

The wonderful grace of Jesus, greater than all my sin;
How shall my tongue describe it, where shall its praise begin?
Taking away my burden, setting my spirit free;
The wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.

The wonderful grace of Jesus, reaching a mighty host,
By it I have been pardoned, saved to the uttermost,
Chains have been torn asunder, giving me liberty;
The wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.

More patient than my fight, more faithful than my doubt,
Persistent though I run, O how his grace abounds!
Broader than my sin, deeper than my shame,
Stronger than my evil, O praise Jesus name!

The wonderful grace of Jesus, reaching the most defiled,
By its transforming power, making him God’s dear child,
Purchasing peace and heaven, for all eternity;
The wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.

More patient than my fight, more faithful than my doubt,
Persistent though I run, O how his grace abounds!
Broader than my sin, deeper than my shame,
Stronger than my evil, O praise Jesus name!

The wonderful grace of Jesus, greater than all my sin;
How shall my tongue describe it, where shall its praise begin?

How Men Change

The following is by Ray Ortlund, Pastor of Immanuel Church in Nashville, from a recent small group setting a few weeks ago. Attending Immanuel this summer has been so transforming in my understanding of "how we change in light of the gospel". Thanks, Ray.

....

"What steps do we men often walk through to get out of the shadows and into the light?

1. Keeping up appearances successfully, even unconsciously.
2. Failure, followed by brokenness. 'Brokenness' is not dysfunction, but a willingness to be real at the foot of the cross. Unbroken men MUST look good. Broken men need a Savior too urgently to care any more about appearances. The walls fall down. The need comes out.
3. Confession. The proof that our confession before God is sincere is that we are candor about our own sins with one another. Real confession is not general and vague, but detailed and up-to-date.
4. Prayer, forgiveness and cleansing. The biblical response to one another's confession is not therapy, but prayer for healing. All the promises of the gospel converge on the sinner who repents and confesses before God and others.
5. Refreshment, joy, and witness. Whenever people hear fresh stories of God's real mercy to real sinners, they marvel, they are drawn in, and the light spreads."

....

1 John 1: 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

....

Jesus is in the light. Jesus is the light. We can have forgiveness, healing and life by running to the light (openness and confession with God and others), as we fix our eyes, and throw our lives onto Jesus.

The Delight of Eternity

"But, as it is written,

'What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,

nor the heart of man imagined, 

what God has prepared for those who love him.'"

1 Corinthians 2:9

"The conversation led us towards the conclusion that the pleasure of the bodily senses, however delightful in the radiant light of this physical world, is seen by comparison with the life of eternity to be not even worth considering."

Saint Augustine, Confessions, page 171. 

Missional Community?

With the recent resurgence in gospel-centered church plants from groups such as ACTS 29, Sovereign Grace and Redeemer, the word 'missional' has become exceedingly trendy. Churches love to label themselves as 'missional', or love to call their small groups 'missional communities'. All this really means is that the church sees itself as part of God's mission. A missional church is a community of Christians who live and experience life together, who are united together in the gospel, meeting regularly to worship, speak biblical truth to each other, to build up, encourage, rebuke, and to partake in the Lord's Supper together. It is also a group that considers its purpose not only to inwardly build each other up and experience life among each other, but to share their lives with those outside the church. Missional churches are serious about living and proclaiming the gospel outside the church walls. They long to see the redemption of all things, and being indwelled with the Holy Spirit, are partakers in this mission. Yet, they do this together. They do this as a community of believers.

The reason I am posting this is because this term 'missional' seems to be so modern and trendy, but it is really an ancient idea. In fact, Israel was called to be a 'missional' community. They were to be a holy nation that mediated God's presence to the rest of the world. They were called to be a blessing to the rest of the world. Also, Saint Augustine mentions the idea in his Confessions. In this quote, Augustine had just recently become a Christian along with a few of his close friends. The next step? They were to move back to Africa together, live together in 'missional' community, so that they be of whatever service the Lord saw fit for them. That is 'missional' community.

"'You make people to live in unanimity' (Psalm 67:7): So you made Evodius a member of our circle, a young man from my home town. When he was a civil servant as an agent in the special branch, he was converted to you before we were. He was baptized and resigned his post on taking up your service. We were together and by a holy decision resolved to live together. We looked for a place where we could be of most use in your service; all of us agreed on a move back to Africa."

Saint Augustine, Confessions, pg. 166

Grace More Abundant

"My sins are more than the wide sea's sand, but where sin abounds, there is grace more abundant. Look to the cross of thy beloved Son, and view the preciousness of his atoning blood; Listen to his never-failing intercession, and whisper to my heart, 'Thy sins are forgiven, be of good cheer, lie down in peace'."

- Valley of Vision, The Prayer of Love

The First Christian Sermon

Following Christ's ascension, the Holy Spirit came upon the 12 disciples during the festival of Pentecost. It was during this time that the first ever Christian sermon was given.

"But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words." Acts 2:14


There are a few things we can learn from Peter's first sermon in Acts 2.
First, it is Christ-centered. The culmination of his words are to proclaim Jesus as Lord and Christ. His death and resurrection are the climax.

"this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it." Acts 2: 23-24

"Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified." Acts 2: 26

And Peter finishes his sermon with how we are to respond to this good news.

"Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself." Acts 2: 38-39

Pretty simple.

That Which Does Not Perish

"When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?" Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." Then they said to him, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."

John 6:25-29

A couple things.....

1) We all labor for some form of food

         No, this passage is not primarily talking about physical food, but rather what we fill our souls with. Every person on the planet tries to fill their lives with something. We all look to something to find our purpose, significance, security and life. We all look to find satisfaction in something. Here, Jesus confronts his audience by putting a fork in the road.

          In one direction, is the life in pursuit of perishable food.  This could be a number of things. Especially prevalent in American culture are financial security, academic prestige, vocational success, physical appearance, a care-free life, and happiness. For many of us, we look to these things daily. We eat of them daily with the hope that they will give us life; with the hopes that they will give us purpose, meaning, significance and security. The perishable food we pursue often time takes the form of obvious sin, but it is important to realize that not all perishable food has a marred appearance. In fact, many of the perishable things we pursue can be good things. Many of us look to relationships, to family, to love in order to fill us. These things certainly make a good appearance. However, they are in fact perishable. They do not give life. They do not satisfy. They only end in death. Imagine the crowd following Jesus in this story. They continued to follow Jesus because he miracously provided them with physical bread. Yet, they completely failed to realize the purpose of this miracle. It was to point them to Jesus the Savior, the only one who could give them real life. The crowd was completely ignorant to this and foolishly followed Jesus hoping to get more physical food. That is why Jesus asks them why they are seeking perishable food when imperishable food is offered to them. We are the same way. We ignorantly pursue perishable food, hoping it will satisfy us, hoping it will give us life. But we fail to realize that the Bread of Life has himself been given to us, to fill us, and to give us life as it was intended. 

2) Jesus as the Bread of Life

         Later in John 6, Jesus refers to himself as the Bread of Life. He himself is the imperishable food. Someone who eats or fills themselves with imperishable food eats of it, and it is never enough. They come back again and again. It doesn't stick. It doesn't fill the void. In Jesus' interaction with the following crowd, he offers himself as the source of this imperishable food. Jesus freely offers himself to those who seek him. Why then would we eat of anything else?

3) Jesus is only one qualified 

          How is it that Jesus is the one who can satisfy the hearts of men? Well, he answers this very question. Because the Father has set His seal on Him. Since Adam, mans heart has been restless. We have been trying to fix this, but something just isn't quite right. No matter how much success, comfort, prestige, happiness we have, we still are empty. Like Adam and Eve in the garden, we try to cover our shame. Deep down, we all know that there is lack of true life in us. That is because we are out of the fellowship for which we were created. Jesus is the only one qualified to restore this all-satisfying fellowship. All our desires and wants in this life only point to the one true desire for which we were created, and which will truly bring us satisfaction. Jesus gives true joy, true hope, true peace, true life. He is qualified to give this because from eternities past, the Father has set His seal on Jesus to be the Savior of the world. He is the one who is to restore the earth. He is the one whom the Scriptures speak of. THe Old Testament tells of His coming. By Christ's life, death and resurrection, a return to an all-satisfying fellowship is possible. This is what we were made for. We were made to eat of this food. Why tarry?

4) How do we eat this bread?
           Jesus tells us what it means to do the work of God. Actually, the answer is sort of contradictory. Doing the work of God is actually believing in the One whom he has sent (Jesus). It is our human tendency to think what we can actively be doing to be right with God. However, Jesus tells us to do the work of God, is to believe in Him. It is a resting in Jesus. We eat of this bread by trusting in Christ and the work he has done. There is no work we can do to earn this imperishable bread. Therefore, to labor for imperishable food is to believe and trust in Jesus. Doing the work of God means to lean more heavily upon the Break of Life. 

Joy Comes in the Morning

Psalm 30:5

"Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning."

....

We meet every qualification to deserve the eternal wrath of God on us, and condemnation in hell. In short, Christ absorbed his Father's anger for us on the cross. Our heavenly Father now looks at us in utter delight in every moment, because He sees his perfect Son united to our hearts by faith, clothing us with every favorable thing. All of grace.

Not Mere Improvement

I am continually struck at the vivid language the Bible uses to describe the transformation that a Christian undergoes. The Gospel is not mere improvement, it is a complete overhaul. It is complete newness. It is an eternal change in identity. It is a sad reality that many life long church goers have not experienced this eternal identity change. For the most part, Christianity is merely viewed as an elevated moral code or a set of guidelines for an improved life. Both of these rob the Gospel of its radical call to new life.

One doesn't need to search hard to find the Bible's elicit use of transformational language. Notice the vivid contrasts, the complete newness, the eternal identity change. A Christian is one who, by the Gospel was

Dead in their trespasses but now made alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:5)

an enemy of God, but now reconciled (Romans 5:10)

alienated from God, far off, but now brought near (Colossians 1:21, Eph. 2:13)

walking in darkness, but now is in the light (Isaiah 9:2)

orphaned, but now adopted (Romans 8:15)

under condemnation, now free (Romans 8:1-2)

a slave to sin, but is now redeemed (John 8:34, 1 Peter 1:19)

guilty, but now justified (Romans 3:10, Galatians 2:16)

spiritually bankrupt, but now filled with the riches of God's grace (Eph. 1:7)

hungry, but now satisfied (John 6:35)

The list goes on.....

The Admiral

I love this video. To consider the culture and context of playing in the NBA, it is so sweet to see a man (David Robinson) characterized by humility, love and Jesus, during his Hall of Fame speech.

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An Open Letter To Mr. Grace-Loving Antinomian

A great post on Tullian Tchividjian's blog .... An Open Letter To Mr. Grace-Loving Antinomian

There seems to be a fear out there that the preaching of radical grace produces serial killers. Or, to put it in more theological terms, too much emphasis on the indicatives of the gospel leads to antinomianism (a lawless version of Christianity that believes the directives and commands of God don’t matter). My problem with this fear is that I’ve never actually met anyone who has been truly gripped by God’s amazing grace in the gospel who then doesn’t care about obeying him. As I have said before: antinomianism happens not when we think too much of grace. Just the opposite, actually. Antinomianism happens when we think too little of grace.

Wondering whether this common fear is valid, my dear friend Elyse Fitzpatrick (in C.S. Lewis fashion) writes an open letter to Mr. Grace-Loving Antinomian–a person she’s heard about for years but never met–asking him to please step forward and identify himself.

Enjoy…

——————————————————————————————————————————————-

Dear Mr. Antinomian,

Forgive me for writing to you in such an open forum but I’ve been trying to meet you for years and we just never seem to connect. While it’s true that I live in a little corner of the States and while it’s true that I am, well, a woman, I did assume that I would meet you at some point in my decades old counseling practice. But alas, neither you nor any of your (must be) thousands of brothers and sisters have ever shown up for my help…So again, please do pardon my writing in such a public manner but, you see, I’ve got a few things to say to you and I think it’s time I got them off my chest.

I wonder if you know how hard you’re making it for those of us who love to brag about the gospel. You say that you love the gospel and grace too, but I wonder how that can be possible since it’s been continuously reported to me that you live like such a slug. I’ve even heard that you are lazy and don’t work at obeying God at all…Rather you sit around munching on cigars and Twinkies, brewing beer and watching porn on your computer. Mr. A, really! Can this be true?

So many of my friends and acquaintances are simply up in arms about the way you act and they tell me it’s because you talk too much about grace. They suggest (and I’m almosttempted to agree) that what you need is more and more rules to live by. In fact, I’m very tempted to tell you that you need to get up off your lazy chair, pour your beer down the drain, turn off your computer and get about the business of the Kingdom.

I admit that I’m absolutely flummoxed, though, which is why I’m writing as I am. You puzzle me. How can you think about all that Christ has done for you, about your Father’s steadfast, immeasurable, extravagantly generous love and still live the way you do? Have you never considered the incarnation, about the Son leaving ineffable light to be consigned first to the darkness of Mary’s womb and then the darkness of this world? Have you never considered how He labored day-after-day in His home, obeying His parents, loving His brothers and sisters so that you could be counted righteous in the sight of His Father? Have you forgotten the bloody disgrace of the cross you deserve? Don’t you know that in the resurrection He demolished sin’s power over you? Aren’t you moved to loving action knowing that He’s now your ascended Lord Who prays for you and daily bears you on His heart? Has your heart of stone never been warmed and transformed by the Spirit? Does this grace really not impel zealous obedience? Hello…Are you there?

Honestly, even though my friends talk about you as though you were just everywhere in every church, always talking about justification but living like the devil, frankly I wonder if you even exist. I suppose you must because everyone is so afraid that talking about grace will produce more of you. So that’s why I’m writing: Will you please come forward? Will you please stand up in front of all of us and tell us that your heart has been captivated so deeply by grace that it makes you want to watch the Playboy channel?

Again, please do forgive me for calling you out like this. I really would like to meet you. I am,

Trusting in Grace Alone,

Elyse

Fighting for Time?

"My soul often mourned for want of more time and opportunity to be alone with God. In the spring and summer following, I had better advantages for retirement and enjoyed more comfort in religion. Though indeed my ambition in my studies greatly wronged the activity and vigor of my spiritual life. Yet this was usually the case with me that 'in the multitude of my thoughts within me, God's comforts principally delighted my soul'; these were my greatest consolations day by day."

-The Life and Diary of David Brainerd, Edited by Jonathan Edwards

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I really resonated with this, and it's always encouraging to know you are not alone in fighting for time to spend with the Lord. I pray that God's promises to us will be the focus and high point of each and every day regardless of the day's events!

Exodus, then Law

"The covenant law comes after the exodus. That is, we have eighteen chapters of salvation in Exodus before we have a single chapter of law. Only after the story of salvation do we come to Sinai (Ex 19), the ten commandments (Ex 20) and the making of the covenant (Ex 24). The Sinai covenant, like all covenants, is founded on God's grace and motivated by God's mission. That is to say, it looks back to what God had already done for Israel out of his love and grace in delivering them from slavery, and it looks forward to God's purpose within history through Israel - to make them the instrument of his blessing to the nations."

- Christopher J.H. Wright, Salvation Belongs to Our God

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In the same frequency, the gospel says, "I'm accepted; therefore, I obey."

Finish the Mission: For the Joy of All Peoples, Bringing the Gospel to the Unreached and Unengaged

A preview of this upcoming year's Desiring God National Conference.

You Just Gotta Know

The lyrics from a Lecrae song 'You Just Gotta Know'

And I just gotta know that even though I'm a misfit 
I'm still worth more than calamity's French kiss 
Yes I'm loved, and I'm pursued 
And though I can't feel it, still I know that it's true 
Somebody woke me up, and yeah, I know it was you 
And yet I keep tryin' to steer clear of your view 
Cuz if you get me, I know that you got me 
But I'm so insecure I can't believe that you want me 
But then I heard you went on your way to adopt me 
Well you can have my all if you swear you won't drop me 
Cuz I gotta know (yeah) 




God. The only one who loves us perfectly even though we are misfits. The only one who ultimately went out of his way to adopt us. These are things I need to know. 

Good Discussion

Per Kevin DeYoung's blog on the TGC website and Tullian Tchividjian's blog on the TGC website. This are a couple of articles in a very insightful discussion by guys that are much smarter than I am, and guys who love Jesus. I love discussion and learning. Each of these articles has caused me to think about the two wonderful doctrines of justification and sanctification, and of God's incredible grace toward sinners!

Certain Victory

From Valley of Vision,

"O LORD,

I bless thee that the issue of the battle between thyself and Satan

has never been uncertain,

and will end in victory.

Calvary broke the dragon's head, 

and I contend with a vanquished foe,

who with all his subtlety and strength

has already overcome.

When I feel the serpent at my heel

may I remember him whose heel was bruised,

but who, when bruised, broke the devil's head. 

My soul with inward joy extols the mighty conqueror."

This morning I praise God for decisively defeating Sin at calvary. My mind cannot understand the kind of faithfulness God has demonstrated. Though I cannot comprehend, my heart rejoices that God was faithful to His promise in Genesis 3:15. In this life, I will never fully understand the depth of grace that was displayed in fulfilling Genesis 3:15. I do not realize how truly undeserving I am, and what it meant for the infinitely holy, good, perfect, creator God, to die for hateful sinners who consistently choose to malign His name rather than rejoice in their Creator. Yet, in what my finite mind can comprehend, I rejoice and glory in the grace of God. My mind cannot comprehend the intricacy of God's providential sovereignty. From the beginning of time, God has been bringing His plans to pass. I rejoice that God has sovereignly chosen to reveal His glory by granting salvation to a People. I rejoice that before the foundations of the earth, God predestined me to be a vessel of mercy, to be adopted into His family, and not to be a rightful vessel of His wrath. Lastly, I cannot comprehend a love of this kind. In this life I will never truly understand the profundity of the Son becoming man and suffering on the Cross. I am amazed how a God infinite in wealth, put aside His fame and limited himself to a human body, experiencing life in a broken world. The One who deserves ultimate praise, the One who is the highest, emptied himself of everything, and became the lowest. All of this to fulfill His promise in Genesis 3:15. The only way for God to crush the head of Sin was for himself to be bruised. This is love, that God became man, took upon the himself the shame, burden and punishment for Sin that His people rightfully deserve, and finished it once and for all at the Cross. I pray that I will be 'strengthened with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.' (Ephesians 4:18-19)

Through the Abundance of God's Steadfast Love

"For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;

   evil may not dwell with you.

The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;

   you hate all evildoers.

You destroy those who speak lies;

   the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,

   will enter your house."

Psalm 5:4-7

Only through the steadfast love of God is man able to enter His house. Not by works or good conscious. If evil may not dwell with God, and He destroys those who lie, that leaves every man completely dependent upon an act of God's grace. Because we have all rebelled, we deserve to be outsiders. But this is where it gets interesting. Jesus Christ, the 2nd person of the trinity came to earth, became an outsider, took upon himself the just punishment for all of God's people, for their evil and rebellious hearts, and for every lie spoke. Now, those who trust in Christ may enter His house. Only through the abundance of God's steadfast love can we enter His house. The Apostle John captures how the Cross is the manifestation of this steadfast love. God has ultimately made a way for wrath deserving sinners to come to Him and dwell in His house. 

"In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. ¹⁰In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

1 John 4:9-10

Don't Add On

Gospel + Nothing = Everything

Dirty. Nuff said.

There is Only One Good Guy

A great post from my close friend Dan Orr

My little guy Isaac loves playing good guys vs. bad guys.  The game usually ends up with him tackling Lily, his little sister. For whatever reason, he talks about good guys and bad guys all the time.  Here’s a gospel truth that I share with him that you’ll hopefully be encouraged by:

1. We’re all bad guys.
2. There was only one truly good guy that has ever lived.
3. That one good guy has declared that his bad guys are now good, and he’s now on a mission to make them good like himself.

Salvation as a Story

"Salvation is not just a doctrine we believe in, or a condition we find ourselves in. Salvation is a story we participate in - the story of what God initiated through Abraham and accomplished through Christ."

"[The law] was given to the Israelites after God had saved them, on his own initiative and out of his own grace and love. It was only after he had brought them out of Egypt that he called them to keep his covenant and obey his law. God acted first. Israel's obedience was to be a response to their salvation - not the means of achieving it, still less deserving it...It is a fundamental mistake to think that in the Old Testament blessing or salvation came as something earned through obedience...Blessing is the fruit of being saved by God, and obedience is the means by which those who have experienced God's salvation continue to enjoying that fruit."

- Christopher Wright, Salvation Belongs to Our God

....

God's work of salvation is one story from Abraham to Jesus, and it extends to us through faith. It has been the same covenant from day 1. It is founded on God's faithfulness to His people, and is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ, who brings peace with God to all those who believe in Him.

Allow Me to Re-Introduce the Christ

A video from P4CM (Passion for Christ Movement). I can't get enough of these. Check them out on youtube if you haven't already. I rejoice in how God has gifted people to creatively write, speak and perform like the people at P4CM. God glorifying truth.

Allow Me to Re-Introduce Christ.....

Getting God Himself part II

Last post I shared a quote from Augustine in which he talked about the Gospel providing the only real satisfaction to our longings by connecting us to God himself. Along the same lines, I thought it would be fitting to share these verses from Revelation. The end goal of the Gospel is for God's people to be with God in the new heavens and new earth. God, through Jesus' life, death and resurrection, is redeeming the entire world from Sin. The new heavens and the new earth are the restored, glorified creation. As members of God's covenant people, we will also be fully redeemed and restored from sin, and be given new glorified bodies, completely free from any form or effect of Sin. I can't even image how awesome it will be to be in the presence of God, without my Sin being a hitch. We will see Him for who He truly is, and it will be magnificent. God will walk among us as He did in Genesis with Adam and Eve. He has restored the goodness of His creation. He has rescued His people from Sin. Here, the Gospel comes to full fruition, as God fully establishes His Kingdom on earth and in the hearts of men. All things have been made new, and God himself will dwell with us for eternity.

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more, neither shall there be any mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.' And he who is seated on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.'" Revelation 21:1-5

The Gospel Equals Getting Jesus Himself

As I've been reading Saint Augustine's 'Confessions', I am blown away by his understanding of grace and his satisfaction in God. In describing his early years, specifically his education, Augustine recalls how he had a hunger in his soul, but instead of being fed with what his soul really longed for (God himself), he was fed with different forms of religion. In this specific quote, it is astrology. He was being fed God substitutes.

This makes me ask myself, "What am I feeding myself with rather than God?" What do I look to to fill my soul other than God himself? As Augustine asserts, religion, regardless of what form it takes, is a 'halluination'. It is not the real thing. It has the appearance of godliness without any connection to the real source. It is phony. Like Augustine says, everything in this created order isn't an end in itself, rather it points to the source. The good things in this life aren't meant to satisfy us. Only God, and God himself can do that. Check this quote out.

"Those people used to sound off about You to me frequently and repeatedly with mere assertions and with the support of many huge tomes. To meet my hunger, instead of you, they brought me a diet of sun and moon, your beautiful works, but they are your works, not you yourself, nor indeed the first of your works. For priority goes to your spiritual creation rather than the physical order, however heavenly and fully of light. But for myself, my hunger and thirst were not even for the spiritual creation but for you yourself, the truth. The dishes they placed before me contained splendid hallucinations.....You were not those empty fictions, and I derived no nourishment from them, but was left more exhausted than before."

The Gospel is good news because in it, we receive God himself. Religion doesn't get us to God. We can't get to God through ideologies, good works, tolerance, moralism or church stuff. Only the Gospel gives us God himself. Why would we settle for anything less? Why would we eat on stale bread crumbs when the most extravagant feast is placed before us?

He is THE Saving God

Mike, I as well am excited to have settled into a summer routine finally, and look forward to reading and sharing what we are learning. Here's something I stumbled across, which serves as such a simple reminder to me.

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"On the one hand, 'salvation belongs to ... God.' That is, salvation is God's property, not ours. And on the other hand, 'salvation belongs to our God.' That is, salvation is part of God's identity - he is the saving God (as no other god is)...According to the Bible, religion saves nobody. God does...We are saved because God has acted, in Christ, to accomplish salvation for us...Our Christianity is the response we make, in faith and life, to the saving acts of God."

Christopher J.H. Wright, Salvation Belongs to Our God

Text: Revelation 7: 10

"Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."

The Act of Recollection

From Augustine's Confessions,

"I intend to remind myself of my past foulness and carnal corruptions, not because I love them but so that I may love you, my God. It is from love of your love that I make the act of recollection. The recalling of my wicked ways is bitter in my memory, but I do it so that you may be sweet to me, a sweetness touched by no deception, a sweetness serene and content. You gathered me together from the state of disintegration in which I had been fruitlessly divided....

At one time in adolescence I was burning to find satisfaction in hellish pleasure. I ran wild in the shadowy jungle of erotic adventure. 'My beauty wasted away in your sight I became putrid' (Daniel 10:8), by pleasing myself and by being ambitious to win human approval.

The single desire that dominated my search for delight was simply to love and to be loved....I travelled very far from You, and You did not stop me. I was tossed about and split, scattered and boiled dry in my fornications. And You were silent. How slow was I to find my joy!.......

Your intention was that I should seek delights unspoiled by disgust and that, in my quest where I could achieve this, I should discover it to be in nothing except you Lord, nothing but you."

Though I Once Embraced the Darkness

I know I've pretty much been MIA the last month or so, but now that summer is settling in I'm planning on returning to consistency. Here is a hymn written (both music and words) by one of my close friends David Gill. David has been a tremendous blessing in my life and has enriched my time here at seminary. At the bottom, I've left links for downloads for both a recording of the son, and for the music. Enjoy!

"Though I once embraced the darkness, loved my sin and self alone,
was opposed to Christ's own mission, lived for glory all my own:
Yet my God who loved me freely saw my sin, my guilt and shame,
saw my unrepentant spirit, still ordained me live again.

Live for Christ, in Him, forever, trusting Him and Him alone.
Resting not on my obedience: saved by works but not my own!
Christ obeyed the law completely, gave me standing pure and true,
fellowship that can't be broken by my will or what I do.

To the Father, Son and Spirit, I make this my earnest prayer:
Keep me close, surround me, guide me to Your side and to Your care.
To Your name and to Your glory, I now freely bend my knee;
Cause me now to know Your mercy; of your saving love for me.

Daughters, Sons, await His coming, when we'll see Him face to face.
Robes washed white with Christ's own bleeding, ruling with Him endless days!
He has set for us a banquet, giving us as Jesus bride;
all the blood bought saints around Him: these, for these has Jesus died. "

Download

download the recording

Going Into Retirement Age

A wonderful article from Desiring God on both John Piper and Don Carson turning 65. Also included is a letter my Greek professor from Covenant (Dr. Bob Yarbrough) wrote to both Piper and Carson.

Not Smoking Could Even Give Us an Edge on Schlatter!

Caution About Preaching Christ In All the Scriptures

A post from Justin Taylor's blog.

A helpful TGC Asks with answers from Tim Keller, Don Carson, and David Murray to the question, “How would you caution teachers intent on preaching Christ in the Old Testament?”

Here is Keller’s answer:

1. Don’t “get to Christ” so soon in the sermon that you don’t unfold the meaning and application of the text to the original hearers. If you “jump to Christ” too soon that often means you inspire people but you don’t give them concrete application for how they are supposed to live.

2. Don’t “get to Christ” so late in the sermon that he seems like an add-on, a mere devotional appendix. If you wait too long to get to Christ listeners won’t see how Jesus’ work is crucial if the listeners are going to obey or heed the text.

3. Don’t get to Christ artificially. This is a big subject of course, but I believe two of the best ways are (a) by identifying in your text one of the many inner-canonical themes that all climax in Christ (Don Carson’s language), and (b) identifying in your text some “Fallen Condition Focus,” some lack in humanity that only Christ can fill (Bryan Chapell’s language).

Two Opposing Paradigms

"Imagine two people, both trying to obey the law of God, yet they operate from these two opposing paradigms. Both want to keep the Sabbath day, but in one case the obedience is a burden, an enslavement; while in the other it's a delight, a gift. How can that be? One paradigm is religion, which - as we observed before - is fundamentally advice. The other is the gospel of Jesus Christ, which begins and ends with news. These are two completely different things."

- Tim Keller, King's Cross

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When I think of advice, I think of something I need to do or not do in the future. When I think news, I think of the newspaper. You are reading about what is already done. The Scriptures are revealing to us NEWS about what Jesus has already done for us what we could never do. That is awesome.

What is Sin?

From Cornelius Plantinga Jr.'s 'Not the Way It's Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin'

"Sin is always a departure from the norm and is assessed accordingly. Sin is deviant and perverse, an injustice or iniquity or ingratitude. Sin in the Exodus literature is disorder and disobedience. Sin is faithlessness, lawlessness, godlessness. Sin is both the overstepping of a line and a failure to reach it-both a transgression and a shortcoming. Sin is a missing of the mark, a spoiling of goods, a staining of garments, a hitch in one's gait, a wandering from the path, a fragmenting of the whole. Sin is what culpably disturbs shalom. Sinful human life is a caricature of proper human life."