The Blacktown Care Group Weblog

No DIY Restoration for This Broken Down House

2010-10-31T08:46:00.006+11:00

Many thanks to the fine folks at Sovereign Grace Church Sydney for the heads up on the works of Paul David Tripp. Dr Tripp is the president of Paul Tripp Ministries; Minister at Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Professor of Pastoral Life & Care at Redeemer Seminary in Dallas, Texas as well as the Executive Director of the Center for Pastoral Life & Care in Fort Worth. In 2009, his book "Broken Down House" was published.

In the short video below, Dr. Tripp describes the broken down house our lives and our world have become as a result of sin, but that Jesus, the Divine Carpenter has entered the house to restore us to a house that God is building. A Shepherd Press release. www.shepherdpress.com A FIlm by Craig Claudin. 4 min.

"So one of the things that God's Spirit does... He reveals to us the degree of our own brokenness. God begins to open my eyes to the condition of my own heart: my selfishness, my greediness, my bitterness, my self-righteousness, my lust, my anger. And what He's doing is calling me away from that self-righteousness that tells me, "I'm okay just the way I am."

"Look, I am the broken down house. I need to be restored. It's not just the world around me.... "

As Christians, we should be the saddest community on earth... because our eyes should be opened and we should know how broken we are and how broken our world is. But that sadness is harmonized by notes of celebration, because although we realize that we're terribly broken and our world is terribly broken... we know that the Divine carpenter has entered the house with His tools of restoration and there's hope for us and there's hope for our world." - Paul David Tripp

"...Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." - Paul (Philippians 1:6, NIV)

Praise our gracious God for His faithful work in His children!

Happy Reformation Day! Grace & Peace to you all!

Tim Keller on the Gospel

2010-05-23T12:07:00.011+10:00

Timothy Keller, Redeemer Presbyterian Church NY, speaks at NewFrontiers UK, on Preaching the Gospel as opposed to preaching mere religion or morality. The main message lasts for about 43 minutes & 43 seconds. A Q&A session then follows. Posted by Newfrontiers on Vimeo.

Adrian Warnock of Jubilee Church in London posts the same video in his weblog with his notes here. (Please right-click on the links for the option to open them in a new window. Many thanks!)

"To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'

"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'

"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." - Luke 18:9-14

Maundy Thursday meets April Fool's Day: In Awe of God's Amazing "Foolishness"

2010-04-01T23:37:00.011+11:00

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:

"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." (Isaiah 29:14)

"Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.

"Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written (in Jeremiah 9:24): "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."

- Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians (Chapter 1, verses 18 to 31; New International Version)

"...(T)he gospel centers on the crucified and risen Lord. The gospel we preach is the wisdom of God because it doesn't praise our intellects or advertise our strengths. It causes us to fall on our knees and acknowledge our weakness, our dependence, our terrible need. It causes us to look up to God as the great Savior... The gospel teaches us that our righteousness, our sanctification, our redemption and our wisdom are all gifts from God. The message of the gospel scuttles human pride because it reminds us that our life did not start with our choosing God, but His choosing us. Therefore, all the glory is God's."

- Excerpts from The Foolishness of the Cross (article in pdf format) by Thomas R. Schreiner (Professor & Associate Dean, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; Preaching Pastor, Clifton Baptist Church Louisville, Kentucky; Author of Paul, The Apostle of God's Glory in Christ)

A gift to church-planters (and would-be church-planters) in Australia, who need a Push...

2009-12-26T23:24:00.012+11:00

From their website:

What we do

The Geneva Push exists to recruit, coach and unleash church planters on an Australia that is desperately in need of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

1. Recruit

The Geneva Push provides an expanding collection of reliable online resources for men investigating church planting and Christian leadership in a uniquely Australian context. It offers free contact services to ensure Christian leaders can stay up to date with formative thinking and relevant resources.

The Geneva Push will also run regular national and state-based training and recruitment events involving the best home-grown and international speakers.

Members of The Geneva Push join a national community dedicated to seeing the Gospel go out to unchurched Australians. They have access to the web site's forums and contact list, as well as the ability to engage in 'commented' discussions on the best uses of the site's resources.

Click here to investigate The Geneva Push's online resources

Click here to view upcoming national and state events

Click here to apply for membership of The Geneva Push

2. Coach

Men who are keen to take on the task of church planting are encouraged to apply for assessment of their suitability by The Geneva Push. This extensive process involves the input of proven, mature Christian leaders and church planters familiar with first-hand experience of working in the Australian culture. Candidates emerge with a detailed understanding of their strengths and weaknesses as well as an evaluation of their church planting goals.

Assessment planters accepted by The Geneva Push are also eligible for a wide degree of on-going support, including:

Access to exclusive resources including the Church-In-A-Box starter's kit, containing all of the legal and technical documents necessary for starting a congregation in Australia
On-going one-to-one coaching from a proven Australian church planter
Support to attend regular training events run by The Geneva Push and partner networks

Click here to apply for assessment by The Geneva Push

3. Unleash

The Geneva Push works in partnership with networks and denominations across Australia to connect church planters with the regions that desperately need to hear the Gospel.

Assessment planters will have access to an online bulletin board listing opportunities to work with and receive support from a wide range of Christian denominations and networks.

Planters will also have the opportunity to make the same denominations and networks aware of their own availability and desire to work in key growth areas.

The Geneva Push is committed to raising up a new generation of church planters who aim to evangelise churches into existence across Australia. If God has inspired you to plant a church for Him, we want to help you reach your goal.

We can do more working together than in competition.

Visit The Geneva Push website to learn more. Many thanks to Pastor RJ & Pastor Dave for the heads up by becoming Geneva Push fans on Facebook. (Please right click on the links for the option to open them in a new window. Many thanks & God bless!)

Celebrating CHRIST Jesus:

2009-12-25T15:00:00.010+11:00

Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

-- The Apostle Paul (Philippians 2:6-11, New International Version)

Disturbing Christmas: The Manger and the Horrors of the Cross

2009-12-24T23:54:00.007+11:00

by C.J. Mahaney
President, Sovereign Grace Ministries
12/21/2009 10:21:00 AM

The days before Christmas can be a tiring season of preparation, planning, shopping, and wrapping. But I think as we prepare for the Christmas celebrations, dinners, travel, and gift giving, it’s equally important that we pause and prepare our souls for Christmas.

During this time of year, it may be easy to forget that the bigger purpose behind Bethlehem was Calvary. But the purpose of the manger was realized in the horrors of the cross. The purpose of his birth was his death.

Or to put it more personally: Christmas is necessary because I am a sinner. The incarnation reminds us of our desperate condition before a holy God.

Several years ago WORLD Magazine published a column by William H. Smith with the provocative title, “Christmas is Disturbing: Any Real Understanding of the Christmas Messages will Disturb Anyone” (Dec. 26, 1992).

In part, Smith wrote:

Many people who otherwise ignore God and the church have some religious feeling, or feel they ought to, at this time of the year. So they make their way to a church service or Christmas program. And when they go, they come away feeling vaguely warmed or at least better for having gone, but not disturbed.

Why aren’t people disturbed by Christmas? One reason is our tendency to sanitize the birth narratives. We romanticize the story of Mary and Joseph rather than deal with the painful dilemma they faced when the Lord chose Mary to be the virgin who would conceive her child by the power of the Holy Spirit. We beautify the birth scene, not coming to terms with the stench of the stable, the poverty of the parents, the hostility of Herod. Don’t miss my point. There is something truly comforting and warming about the Christmas story, but it comes from understanding the reality, not from denying it.

Most of us also have not come to terms with the baby in the manger. We sing, “Glory to the newborn King.” But do we truly recognize that the baby lying in the manger is appointed by God to be the King, to be either the Savior or Judge of all people? He is a most threatening person.

Malachi foresaw his coming and said, “But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.” As long as we can keep him in the manger, and feel the sentimental feelings we have for babies, Jesus doesn’t disturb us. But once we understand that his coming means for every one of us either salvation or condemnation, he disturbs us deeply.

What should be just as disturbing is the awful work Christ had to do to accomplish the salvation of his people. Yet his very name, Jesus, testifies to us of that work.

That baby was born so that “he who had no sin” would become “sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” The baby’s destiny from the moment of his conception was hell—hell in the place of sinners. When I look into the manger, I come away shaken as I realize again that he was born to pay the unbearable penalty for my sins.

That’s the message of Christmas: God reconciled the world to himself through Christ, man’s sin has alienated him from God, and man’s reconciliation with God is possible only through faith in Christ…Christmas is disturbing.

Don’t get me wrong—Christmas should be a wonderful celebration. Properly understood, the message of Christmas confronts before it comforts, it disturbs before it delights.

The purpose of Christ’s birth was to live a sinless life, suffer as our substitute on the cross, satisfy the wrath of God, defeat death, and secure our forgiveness and salvation.

Christmas is about God the Father (the offended party) taking the initiative to send his only begotten son to offer his life as the atoning sacrifice for our sins, so that we might be forgiven for our many sins.

As Smith so fitly concludes his column:

Only those who have been profoundly disturbed to the point of deep repentance are able to receive the tidings of comfort, peace, and joy that Christmas proclaims.

Amen and Merry Christmas!

The article above was originally posted by C.J. Mahaney at the Sovereign Grace Ministries Blog and can also be enjoyed at Christianity.com

John MacArthur tackles the same issue in his article (disturbingly) entitled "The Ugliness of Christmas." (Please right-click on the links for the option to open them in a new window. May the LORD continue to open peoples' eyes to how badly we all need The Sovereign Saviour Jesus Christ in our lives. Happy Holidays & God Bless!)

A Request for Prayer...

2009-10-10T19:19:00.009+11:00

Philippine flood death toll mounts

From The Sydney Morning Herald. October 10, 2009 - 5:54PM

Floodwaters from tropical storm Parma receded in much of the northern Philippines on Saturday but the toll from heavy rain rose further as more bodies were recovered, officials said.

A total of 265 people were confirmed dead in landslides and flooding caused by Parma in the past two days, civil defence and local officials said.

This brings the death toll from two weeks of killer storms to at least 602 with about 301,000 still crammed into makeshift evacuation centres since tropical storm Ketsana struck two weeks ago, the civil defence office said.

Civil defence spokesman Ernesto Torres said that among the latest fatalities were three firemen who were carrying out rescue operations at the landslide site.

In the northern Mountain Province, which had been hit hard by landslides, Governor Maximo Dalog made an appeal for medicine, food and sniffing dogs, "so we can find the bodies."

Dalog said there were 35 dead in his province alone with at least 16 others still missing after heavy rain brought on by Parma caused huge landslides that buried houses late Thursday to Friday.

The mountain resort city of Baguio remained inaccessible as rockslides had cut off all major roads, said Mayor Peter Rey Bautista.

"The past two days have been very hard for the whole city and surrounding areas. But we are finally seeing the sunshine," he said in a television interview.

In the farming region of Pangasinan to the southwest of the provinces where the landslides occurred, floodwaters that had swamped the area had largely gone down but they left a sea of mud that made travel difficult.

Dagupan, a major city in Pangasinan, was still flooded, with people forced to wade through waters, while roads remained impassable to small vehicles.

Parma, which first hit the country as a typhoon on October 3, sat off the northern Philippines for a week before dumping huge rains on the region on Thursday and Friday.

It finally moved away late Friday and was charted 250 kilometres (155 miles) northwest of Dagupan on Saturday, slowly moving west into the South China Sea, the government weather station said.

Parma had hit just a week after Ketsana struck the capital and surrounding areas, causing massive floods. Some low-lying areas remain flooded two weeks later.

Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro was quoted by ABS-CBN television as saying he was halting offensive operations against communist insurgents in the south so the army could concentrate on rescue and relief efforts in the north.

The succession of storms has overwhelmed government resources and forced the Philippines to ask for more foreign aid.

This story was found at: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/philippine-flood-death-toll-mounts-20091010-grj0.html

God is our refuge and strength,

an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way

and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam

and the mountains quake with their surging.

Selah

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

the holy place where the Most High dwells.

God is within her, she will not fall;

God will help her at break of day.

Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;

He lifts his voice, the earth melts.

The LORD Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Selah

Come and see the works of the LORD,

the desolations He has brought on the earth.

He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;

He breaks the bow and shatters the spear,

He burns the shields with fire.

"Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth."

The LORD Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Selah

-Psalm 46:8-11 (NIV)

The First of a Series from Matthias Media: Guidebooks for Life

2009-08-01T13:59:00.006+10:00

A Sinner’s Guide to Holiness
by John Chapman

As Favourably Reviewed by Kamal Weerakoon...

Holiness is one of those topics that’s easy to make people feel guilty about (the other two are prayer and daily Bible reading…!)

Because it’s so easy to make Christians feel guilty about holiness, it’s also tempting to offer quick solutions.

I’m sure anyone could publish a book titled “ten practical steps to sure-fire holiness”, and the Christian public would gobble it up.

John Chapman’s book is nothing like that. He refuses to play the guilt card. Nor does he give you ten easy steps to holiness.

This book has four sections.

First, Chappo shows us how a life of holiness begins with repentance and faith in Christ.

Second, he shows how a life of holiness consists of continued repentance and continued faith in Christ.

Third, he gives us the glorious vision of our future with Christ.

Hmmm… looks like Chappo thinks that holiness is about Christ.

It’s not about our efforts, it’s not about trying harder or going through some second experience of God‘s holiness or anything like that.

In the fourth section of the book, Chappo warns us against such attractive short-cuts, and exposes them as dead-ends.

Holiness is found in Christ – enjoying his benefits, and becoming more and more like him. If you get nothing else from this book, understand that.

This, I think, is the big idea of Chappo’s book: holiness is all about Christ.

Chappo has a gift for making complicated things really simple.

This book is no exception. It’s short and very easy to read.

Chappo writes with his classic easy-going style, with plenty of verbal illustrations and a couple of roll-on-the-floor-laughing stories.

One thing, though. This book doesn’t have detailed instructions about how to overcome particular sins or unhelpful habits.

It’s full of exhortations, but remains at a fairly general level.

So, if you feel trapped in some sin, and you’re discouraged by your own weakness, and you come to this book looking for fast answers… you might be disappointed.

It’d be a good thing to have a book that tells us how to deal with particular sins and sinful habits.

Vanity, greed, pornography… they need to be discussed, and we need to learn strategies to avoid them.

But that’s not what this book sets out to do.

It’s meant to give you the broad biblical framework for the subject, and helps you work out for yourself what it means, without pretending to have quick, easy answers.

To this end, the book comes with extensive Bible quotes in the text itself, and a discussion guide at the back.

The best way to use this book, I think, is to read it with one other Christian brother or sister whom you trust, and discuss frankly with each other what changes the two of you need to make.

Husbands and wives, perhaps you could read it together, and think about your family life – what would it mean for the two of you, and your children, to be holy?

This is the first of a new series from Matthias Media, Guidebooks for Life.

Guidebooks are meant to take you places.

This book will take us on an exciting, dangerous journey – a journey of being more and more holy, more and more like Christ.

Review taken from:
http://www.sydneyanglicans.net/life/resources/a_sinners_guide_to_holiness_john_chapman/

Enjoy a free sample of John Chapman's book "A Sinners Guide To Holiness," in pdf format by clicking here. (Kindly right-click for the option to open the link in a new window.)

Many thanks to MatthiasMedia.com.au

Greg Johnson's eye-opening "Freedom from Quiet Time Guilt"

2009-07-11T19:57:00.011+10:00

This provocative and challenging article by Greg Johnson is entitled, "Freedom from Quiet Time Guilt".

It is not entitled, "Freedom from Quiet Time," and for good reason.

Please read it carefully to find out why.

May the Lord use this so that we can enjoy more wholeheartedly, the beauty and majesty of Jesus Christ as we discover more of Him in His Word. --Boms

Freedom from Quiet Time Guilt

The Rare Beauty of Weakness Christianity
by Greg Johnson, St. Louis Center for Christian Study

1. The Diagnosis: Quiet Time Guilt

I recently watched as a congregation I love was spiritually raped. A Christian ministry came into the church for a three-day program whose purpose was to encourage believers to pray more. During one of the breakout sessions, a man expressed his frustration with unanswered prayer. He had faithfully prayed with and for his daughter for years, and still she was not walking with God. He was broken, depressed, perhaps more than a little ashamed. How does God in his grace speak to this man? A bruised reed was crying out for help.

“You need to try harder. You need to pray more.” That was the message he was given. I was enraged.

Having known this church for many years, I was horrified. What I was hearing was what one seminary professor calls sola bootstrapa. Self-reliance: We pull ourselves up by our own spiritual bootstraps. The teachers who said such things surely meant well. The problem was not a lack of sincerity on their part. The diagnosis is far more severe. The problem was heresy. Any heresy wounds the soul.

When I look upon the evangelical world today, I see millions of sincere believers who are loaded down with false guilt by teachers who fail to grasp the basics of biblical prayer.

To sharpen the point slightly, Christ’s sheep have been lied to. They have been told that prayer is a work that we must perform in order to get God to bless us. As heresies go, this one is often subtle. Prayer has become a work rather than a grace. The result has been a loss of joy in prayer.

And prayer is not the only grace we’ve turned into a work.

Personal Bible study has become a source of bondage as well. A whole generation of Christians has been told that God will bless them if they read their Bibles every day, as if the act of reading the Scriptures were some kind of magic talisman by which we gain power over God and secure his favor. This is not the religion of the Bible.

This pervasive belief that God gives us grace as a reward for our devotional consistency is antithetical to the religion of Jesus Christ. Prayer and Bible study—what evangelicals for the past century have called the “quiet time” have become dreaded precisely because they have been radically misunderstood.

It’s ironic, but the Quiet Time has become the number one cause of defeat among Bible-believing Christians today.

At one time or another, nearly every sincere believer feels a deep sense of failure and the accompanying feelings of guilt and shame because he or she has failed to set aside a separate time for Bible study and prayer. This condition is called Quiet Time Guilt. And it’s a condition with many repercussions. The shame of Quiet Time Guilt manifests itself in even deeper inability to fruitfully and joyfully study Scripture. Prayer becomes a dread; Bible study a burden. The Christian suffering from Quiet Time Guilt then despairs of seeing God work in his or her life, until finally he or she simply gives up. He may continue outward and public Christian commitments like church attendance, but secretly he feels like a hypocrite. What is the root of Quiet Time Guilt?

2. The Culprit: Legalism

The root of Quiet Time Guilt is legalism. Often when we think of legalism, we think of the petty man-made rules that have so often strangled the churches—rules against dancing or drinking or makeup or ‘secular’ music. But these legalistic rules are merely an outward sign of a deeper legalism of the heart.

When prayer and Bible study are thought of primarily as duties (‘disciplines’) rather than as grace, both prayer and the study of Scripture become unfruitful in our lives.

We put ourselves on a performance treadmill and cease relying on God’s grace to sustain us. We trust in ourselves and our consistency, becoming proud if devotionally successful—or despairing because of our inconsistency. Either way, our spiritual self-reliance short-circuits the inexpressible joy of life in Christ. The quiet time becomes a human work whereby we think we gain—or lose—God’s daily favor. When we’ve started our day with Scripture, we presume that God’s blessing will rest upon us because of it. When we fail in our quest for devotional consistency, we feel we’ve short-circuited God’s grace in our lives. Quiet-Time Guilt.

If this describes you or anyone you know, the situation is far worse than you think. Jesus condemned the Pharisees for this very attitude about Bible study.

“You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me” (John 5:39).

Yes, that’s what Jesus said. Bible study can be a sin.

The Pharisees assumed the Bible was a book of rules or principles for living, but failed to grasp it as a story about God’s love for His people. The quiet time can drive you far from God if you fail to understand that the Scriptures are a story about grace.

The Scriptures are a story about Jesus Christ, the man of grace. His works—not our works—are the center of the biblical story. And this Jesus gives grace daily to those who fail Him. How you approach the Bible—as needy sinner or as self-reliant Pharisee says a lot about the state of your soul.

Just like Bible study, prayer too can be sinful. Remember what Jesus said about the Pharisee and the tax collector. The one saw prayer as a work, the other as an expression of need. The one who merely expressed his neediness to God—the expression of our neediness being the heart of true prayer—that one went home right with God.

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:9-14).

Often we assume that if we really had it together and could approach God without sin, without failing, with only pure spiritual successes to offer, then God would somehow delight in our prayer more. The opposite is true. If you approach God in that manner, you approach him as his enemy.

We are all fallen. If we presume to approach him as something more than needy, dependent sons and daughters, God rightly takes offence. There’s nothing more dangerous than the pride of devotional consistency.

3. The Remedy: Weakness Christianity

There are two religions calling themselves evangelical Christianity today: Strength Christianity and Weakness Christianity. (These are sometimes also referred to as the Theology of Glory and the Theology of the Cross - Boms)

Strength Christianity is that religion which places both feet squarely on the Bible and proclaims, “I am strong. I sought the Lord. I’m a believer. I’ve turned away from sin. I read my Bible and pray every single day. I’m for God!”

Weakness Christianity, by contrast, places both knees squarely on the Bible and says, “I am weak, but the Lord has sought me. I believe, but help now my unbelief. I fail and am broken by my continued sinfulness. Have mercy on me, Lord, and grant me favor, for apart from you I can do nothing.”

Those who pursue Strength Christianity will never find joy in God, for they will never find God. Our Father refuses to be approached in that manner. They will find only increasing religious pride and secret hardness of heart. On the outside, they will project a picture of righteousness. They’ll have it all together. They’ll be spiritual. But only on the outside.

For those who stumble across the rare jewel of Weakness Christianity, however, there is provision beyond what we can possibly imagine. Our suffering, our failures, our weaknesses and disappointments all gain an incredible spiritual significance.

God never says He’ll be glorified in our religious accomplishments. But He does promise that His power will be made perfect in our weakness (2 Cor 12:9).

Neediness is the heart of Biblical religion. When we honestly lay our brokenness before God, we’re surprised to see a radically different message in the Bible.

While we had perhaps expected a to-do list from Holy Writ, a program to make us righteous, or a divinely sanctioned self-help book, we instead see a shocking message that centers on our God and His grace to His broken people, not about us and our performance and expected rewards.

And when we approach God in brokenness—Weakness Christianity—we find a radically different vision for prayer.

Prayer is not something we do—a performance designed to get something from God. Instead, it’s merely a free and honest confession of our neediness to God and our spoken reliance upon Him for each and every blessing. When you stumble upon Weakness Christianity, you realize that true religion is all about God’s grace, not about our devotional consistency.

4. The Shocker: Grace for the Christian

This grace is for you right now, now and tonight and tomorrow and next week and forever.

The deadly assumption made too often among those who claim to heed the Scriptures is that grace is only for non-Christians. Grace is what God offers to people who don’t know Christ. Grace is what makes us Christians; but once we’re Christians, we live by our own resources.

This is why advocates of Strength Christianity so often sound like evangelical Christians. They really do believe that God offers grace to unbelievers who will turn to God through Jesus Christ. And they’re right on that. What they wrongly assume, though, is that the Christian life begins by grace, but continues by human works.

I’ve seen this confusion many times. I found it ironic that the very same prayer program that so hurt the church that I love, included within it an absolutely wonderful children’s program. This at first puzzled me. The children who attended were pointed to Jesus, reassured of God’s love for them, and encouraged to rest in God’s mercy and total acceptance in Christ. In the adult activities, by contrast, people were told to try harder, to persevere, to do better, to be more consistent and to pray more, so that God could bless them. The children heard, “God did it,” while the adults were told, “Just do it.”

Why the difference? The difference was simple. These teachers were assuming that the children of the church were not yet Christians (…an assumption I would question). God offers non-Christians grace. The adults, however, were committed Christians. The Christian’s relationship with God rests not upon God’s grace, but upon his or her performance, particularly the performance of the ultimate devotional duty, the daily quiet time. This assumption that "grace isn’t for Christians" is spiritual venom, which is keeping millions of Christians in bondage to self-reliance, guilt, shame, and despair. Quiet Time Guilt is the great epidemic among Bible-believing Christians today.

If you think the purpose behind this little tract is to absolve you from the call to pray or the need for Scripture, think again.

My purpose is to free you to desire prayer—to desire God. I want you to long for the pure message of the gospel, spelled out on page after page of the Bible, and to find the joyous freedom found in Christ. Prayer is a grace, not a work. It is a confession of our neediness to God, not a proof that our “relationship with God” is going well.

If you think that God will not bless you today because you missed your quiet time, this has been for you. If subtle legalism has left you in bondage so that you no longer hunger for God’s word or freely call out to him in prayer, then hear this: God has already chosen you, pronounced you righteous, adopted you into his family, and promised to finish his work in you. Perhaps you have been lied to in the past. Now it is time for the truth to set you free. Free to be needy. Free to fail. Free to approach God without dread. Free to delight in him rather than in your performance.

But I have a few more theological reflections to share before you leave. Keep reading.

5. The Surprise: The Quiet Time is Optional

Imagine for a moment you’re meeting a Christian friend. “How’s your relationship with God going?” they ask you. “Well, I’m struggling with my attitude about my job—but God is teaching me to be content and to not gossip when people rub me the wrong way.” A silent stare greets the words, your inquisitor’s eyes staring you up and down. After a moment of awkward silence, the question comes again, “But how is your relationship with God?” Hmm. What wrong with this picture?

Perhaps this has never happened to you. But I’ve found contemporary Christians are often more concerned about my ‘relationship with God’ than with my relationship with God. Whose idea was it to define the sum total of my relationship with God as my devotional consistency? Your quiet time is not your relationship with God. Your relationship with God—or, as I prefer to say, God’s relationship with you—is your whole life: your job, your family, your sleep, your play, your relationships, your driving, your everything. The real irony here is that we’ve become accustomed to pigeonholing our entire relationship with God into a brief devotional exercise that is not even commanded in the Bible.

Yes. That’s what I said. The daily quiet time—that half hour every morning of Scriptural study and prayer¾is not actually commanded in the Bible. And as a theologian, I can remind us that to bind the conscience where Scripture leaves freedom is a very, very serious crime. It’s legalism rearing its ugly little head again. We’ve become legalistic about a legalistic command. This is serious.

But don't misunderstand what I’m saying. My goal isn’t that we pray and read the Bible less, but that we do so more—and with a free and needy heart.

Does the Bible instruct Christians to call out to God in prayer? Absolutely. “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Th 5:16-18). But this isn’t a command to set apart a special half-hour of prayer; it’s instruction to continually call upon God. Elsewhere the Apostle calls us to pray: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:6-7). But notice that the focus here is not on the performance of a devotional duty, but on approaching God for grace—for our heats and minds to be guarded by him. Paul’s burden is that we would rely upon God in every circumstance and therefore have peace, rather than relying on ourselves and finding ourselves captive to the anxiety that accompanies self-reliance.

Does the Bible command us to read our Bibles every day? No. Not really.

What Scripture actually instructs is that we meditate on God’s word all the time. Consider the Godly man in Psalm 1. “His delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night” (Ps 1:2). This is not exactly the same thing as reading the Bible every day. Personal Bible reading is one—and only one—way we to meditate upon God’s word.

At this point it’s helpful to consider the difference between a good idea and a Biblical mandate. A Biblical mandate is something that God explicitly or implicitly commands in Scripture. Loving your neighbor is a Biblical mandate (Mt 5:43). Moving to Philadelphia to work in a homeless shelter, by contrast, is not a biblical mandate. Rather, it’s a good idea, a wonderful possible application of the Biblical mandate to love your neighbor. But moving to Philly isn’t the only way you can love your neighbor. Similarly, meditating on God’s word is a Biblical mandate. The daily quiet time, by contrast, is a good idea, a wonderful possible application of the mandate of Biblical meditation.

It may surprise you to know that the concept of the quiet time as a command is a modern invention. It’s only in recent centuries that Christians have been able to actually own Bibles—the printing press and cheap paper have given us more options so far as Biblical meditation is concerned. But remember that most Christians throughout history have not owned Bibles. They heard the Bible preached during corporate worship. They were taught the Bible in the churches. They memorized the Bible profusely—a first century rabbinic saying stated, “If your rabbi teaches and you have no paper, write it on your sleeve.” But for most Christians through history, Biblical meditation took place when they discussed the Bible with family and friends, when they memorized it, when they listened very carefully to God’s word preached. The concept of sitting still before sunrise with a Bible open would have been very foreign to them.

We have so many options today, why do we get hung up on the quiet time? Listen to Christian teaching tapes. Invest your time in a small group Bible study. Have friends over for coffee and Bible discussion. Sing and listen to Scripture songs. Read good theology. Tape memory verses to the dashboard of your car. And pray throughout your day. I always reserve the drive to church on Sundays as a time of uninterrupted prayer for my pastors and elders, for those leading worship, and for the peace and purity of the church. Certain landmarks around town remind me to pray for certain churches, Christians I know, or causes God says are important. I suspect I spend more time praying in my car than on my knees. (Though I love praying on my knees as a concrete display of my dependence on God, I can’t do this in my car without causing an accident.)

If you have a regular quiet time, don’t stop. You’ve found a wonderful way to meditate on Scripture. You’ve set aside a specific time to call upon God in prayer. But if the quiet time doesn’t work for you, that’s okay. You should not feel guilty since you have not broken a commandment. The quiet time is an option, a good idea—not a Biblical mandate. If the quiet time isn’t working for you, there are other options as well.

The key is to rely on God to accomplish His plans, a reliance expressed in prayer and fed in Scripture. You have all kinds of opportunities to call upon God in prayer and to meditate upon His Word. He loves you and delights in your expressions of weakness and dependence. He is glorified in your weakness.

6. The Theology of Prayer: Means of Grace

So what exactly does prayer do? That’s the question I’m often asked. There are several wrong answers to this question. Some assume that prayer furnishes God with the information he lacks. God doesn’t view it that way. He not only knows what’s going on now, he knows what will be going on next week. Indeed, he even ordained what will be going on next week¾the Bible speaks of “the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:11).

Neither is prayer an attempt to convince God to do what he wouldn’t otherwise do. He will grant our requests only insofar as they accord with his eternal purpose—his will. “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him” (1 John 5:14-15).

And I hope we’ve dismissed the idea that prayer shows God how much we love Him! It’s not a work, but a grace! But often we think that prayer is something we do to obligate God to bless us. This is the subtlest of errors, for it resembles the Biblical teaching. Indeed, it is a caricature of the Biblical picture of prayer. Grace-empowered, grace-motivated prayer does bring blessing, but prayer isn’t a work we do that obligates God to give blessing. It’s a subtle difference, but an important one. Prayer is a means of grace, not a work to merit grace.

Theologians have classically called prayer and Scripture (along with the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper) means of grace—highways along which the Holy Spirit tends to travel. The means of grace are the normal instruments God uses to accomplish His saving work in and through us. Does prayer change things? Yes, because God changes things, and prayer is an expression of our reliance upon Him to accomplish his purposes.

I remember about six months ago calling upon God in prayer about my finances. Starting a not-for-profit teaching ministry is hard work, and church missions committees would often rather support a missionary doing evangelism than one who is training believers. One evening I called out to God with great urgency. After a year of support raising and teaching, I could still only afford to teach half-time while working another job, and even the funds that had enabled that year of half-teaching were almost all gone. “Father, this is your ministry, not mine. If you have raised me up for this, then something must change. I cannot go without food. I cannot fail to pay my rent. If you wish me to teach, you must grant the resources to do this. If you do not enable me to teach, I will not teach. Apart from you I can do nothing.”

Was I manipulating God by threatening to stop teaching? No. And being a sovereign God, He wouldn’t have been impressed. Rather, I was confessing to God my utter and total dependence on Him to fund my work.

The next day, after eight months without any new support, a new friend took me out for coffee and told me he felt compelled to support me at $100/month. That same day, I received a note from an old friend in another part of the country pledging monthly financial support. When I checked my email, I had received a message from a member of my church who had since moved away, telling me a $1200 check was in the mail.

Did my prayer force God’s hand? No. All of this was already in the works long before I prayed. But when I confessed my neediness to God, He was pleased to provide for me. Prayer was the means of grace, not a work I offered for reward. And God was glorified in my weakness.

God is faithful to hear our prayers, and He delights in answering them. Prayer is one of the basic freedoms Christians have, and freedoms aren’t given to leave us in bondage. There is a cure for Quiet Time Guilt. That cure is the Gospel of Christ, in whom we have redemption. Gospel—our need and God’s provision—is the heart of Biblical prayer. God will care for us. We belong to Him.

Pls enjoy more of Greg Johnson's work at GregsCouch

Author Tim Challies also wrote an article entitled "Quiet Time Performance" (citing Greg Johnson) which can be enjoyed here. Many thanks and God bless!

Sanctification through Christ Alone, in Christ Alone

2009-07-11T16:24:00.004+10:00

Sanctification via Union With Christ by John Hendryx

(Please see the original post along with any comments at ReformationTheology.com. Thank you!)

God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." (1 Cor 1:28-31)

I often think that our sanctification is very much like our original conversion experience. The more we grow in grace, the more we lose all confidence in ourselves. It seems, somewhat ironically, that as Christ works sanctification in us, the greater is our recognition of our own sinfulness. And it seems this is done for a purpose, for as we come face to face with our own corruption, we are driven to Christ as our righteousness, holiness and redemption, our all in all...our only hope before God. So sanctification is not so much about our own spirituality as it is about Christ and Him becoming greater.

Christ commanded us to partake of Communion "till He come" and perhaps the reason for this is to continually focus our eyes less on what we do for Him, and more on what He has done for us and relish it. What we do in response to Him is only penultimate or secondary.

The most critical error we make as believers is to look in ourselves for something that can only be found in Christ.

The principal means of the believer’s sanctification is union with Christ.

We are united to Christ in his death and resurrection in which He, as its first fruits, inaugurated the new creation. The Age to come presses in to this Age in such a way as to bring kingdom benefits to those united to Him. We do not grow in our sanctification when we are overly focused on our own spirituality. It comes as we gaze on the beauty and excellency of Christ. We are united to Him in such a way that his death is viewed as our death and his resurrection ours. (Rom 6:1-11) The identification is complete in Christ, who is our life! We must, therefore, never separate the Benefactor (Jesus Christ) from benefits of redemption, including our sanctification.

Dr. Sinclair Ferguson explains that "Union with Christ in his death and resurrection is the element of union which Paul most extensively expounds...if we are united to Christ, then we are united to him at all points of his activity on our behalf. We share in his death (we were baptized into his death), in his resurrection (we are resurrected with Christ), in his ascension (we have been raised with him), in his heavenly session (we sit with him in heavenly places, so that our life is hidden with Christ in God), and we will share in his promised return (when Christ, who is our life, appears, we also will appear with him in glory) (Rom. 6:14; Col. 2:11-12; 3:1-3). This, then, is the foundation of sanctification in Reformed theology. It is rooted, not in humanity and their achievement of holiness or sanctification, but in what God has done in Christ, and for us in union with him. Rather than view Christians first and foremost in the microcosmic context of their own progress, the Reformed doctrine first of all sets them in the macrocosm of God's activity in redemptive history. It is seeing oneself in this context that enables the individual Christian to grow in true holiness."

As long as we live in this world of sin, we should let it drive us to Him. The Scripture clearly states that Christ is our sanctification. The whole of Christ’s life, death, resurrection and ascension have provided to us a deposit of His own sanctified life, from which all our needs can be supplied. So we feed on Him in the Eucharist as a visible gospel, where He communes with us in a spiritual way. Because of our union with Him, we partake of His resources. That is why he can "become for us" sanctification, just as he is also our wisdom, righteousness and redemption (I Cor. 1:30).

With this in mind, John Calvin once said:

"We see that our whole salvation and all its parts are comprehended in Christ [Acts 4:12]. We should therefore take care not to derive the least portion of it from anywhere else. If we seek salvation, we are taught by the very name of Jesus that it is ‘of him’ [I Cor. 1:30]. If we seek any other gifts of the Spirit, they will be found in his anointing. If we seek strength, it lies in his dominion; if purity, in his conception; if gentleness, it appears in his birth. For by his birth he was made like us in all respects [Heb. 2:17] that he might learn to feel our pain [compare to Heb. 5:2]. If we seek redemption, it lies in his passion; if acquittal, in his condemnation; if remission of the curse, in his cross [Gal. 3:13]; if satisfaction, in his sacrifice; if purification, in his blood; if reconciliation, in his descent into hell; if mortification of the flesh, in his tomb; if newness of life, in his resurrection; if immortality, in the same; if inheritance of the Heavenly Kingdom, in his entrance into heaven; if protection, if security if abundant supply of all blessings, in his Kingdom; if untroubled expectation of judgment; in the power given to him to judge. In short, since rich store of every kind of good abounds in him, let us drink our fill from the fountain, and from no other."(2.16.18.)

We grow in grace by looking to Christ, not ourselves for our spiritual nourishment. We would exhaust oursleves very quickly on our own resources. God requires holy perfection from us but we always fall short. Since all we do has mixed motives and we seldom if ever love others as we should, we can confidently say that we do not bring anything of additional worth to our relationship with God. He is fully satisfied in Christ.

Yes... we are declared righteous because of our union with Christ but few consider that we are also sanctified in the same way.

The gospel not only justifies us but is what we run back to in order to sanctify us. Justification, where God has already fully accepted us based on Christ's alien righteouness is what he has done for us, but sanctification is what He progressively does in us. This is also a gift of grace appropriated by faith. The difference in our standing before and after salvation is that we have the Spirit indwelling us constantly newewing our affections which delight in His law and drive us to feed on Christ.

The power of the Holy Spirit working in us is never to be the basis of our relationship with God because the imputation of Christ's righteousness already sees us as holy before Him. Thus when you long for His acceptance just look to Christ, whose blood of the covenant "reminds God" not to treat us as our sins deserve. You will never be holy enough, even for an instant, on your own. Christ alone is your righteousness.

But each day subjectively the Spirit is also uniting you to the nourshment of Christ, who imparts life to you from the root. God desires that you grow in conformity to Jesus Christ. He even "predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son" (Rom 8:29) He purifies you so that you would be eager to obey and delight in Him. As we lose confidence in self, we gain confidence in Christ and the Spirit experientially imparts life to us daily so that we might see more of our own unrighteousness and be willing to forsake it in glad obedience to Him. This is as much a gift of grace as is our justification. We respond, yet the response is wrought by the life of grace that we now partake of in Christ. "His commands are not burdensome"(1 john 5:3) because in Christ we now view them as holy and good (Rom 7:12).

The prophet Ezekiel, inspired by the Holy Spirit, expresses it thus:

"And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules." (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

The Word as a Means of Grace

It is we who obey yet it is because of the new Spirit put in us that we have the heart to do so. The Holy Spirit has conquered our hatred of the light and moves within us to desire His law. To grow into His likeness more and more, let us constantly feed ourselves on the reading of the Word, and put ourselves before good exposition of the Word for this is the outward means the Spirit uses to bring us greater understanding. This means taking our eyes of of self and our own spirituality. Let us always pray that the Spirit removes our faithlessness and illumines our minds that we might to grow in out Knowledge of Him in the Revelation He has given us. Again John Calvin said,

"Indeed the Word of God is like the sun, shining upon all those to whom it is proclaimed, but with no effect among the blind. Now, all of us are blind by nature in this respect... Accordingly, it cannot penetrate into our minds unless the Spirit, as the inner teacher, through his illumination makes entry for it." (Calvin's Institutes 3.2.34.)

Only the Holy Spirit is equal to the task of sanctification in us. We are commanded and are indeed responsible to put on and act out Christlike character, but these are fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:22). That means they work themselves out in us as the Spirit unites us to Christ, not through sheer willpower or exertion. While responsible to obey, we are also dependent on Him to obey. All spiritual blessings are ours in Christ (Eph 1:3)

Now many persons have asked me if sancification is monergistic in the same way regeneration is. I am rather hestiant to say yes because the term monergism is used in regeneration because God alone acts upon someone who is dead. We do not respond to become regenerated, but are regenerated in order to respond. A believer already has the Spirit indwelling so He is in fact responding to somehting God does in him. God still initiates and moves us to obedience but we actually act. One of the classic texts for sanctification is, "work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." Phil 2:12b,13.

God makes us will and work in a particular direction, but Paul nontheless commands believers to act on it. There is never a command to be regenerated, as it is never spoken of in the imperative. The new birth is something God does and God alone.

A. A. Hodge once said,

"It must be remembered that while the subject is passive with respect to that divine act of grace whereby he is regenerated, after he is regenerated he cooperates with the Holy Ghost in the work of sanctification. The Holy Ghost gives the grace, and prompts and directs in its exercise, and the soul exercises it. Thus while sanctification is a grace, it is also a duty; and the soul is both bound and encouraged to use with diligence, in dependence upon the Holy Spirit, all the means for its spiritual renovation, and to form those habits resisting evil and of right action in which sanctification so largely consists."

"Dependence" is the key word here. The more we depend on Christ, the less we do on self, and our own resources. So sanctificaiton is all about Christ becoming greater and we becoming less. It is worthwhile to rememeber that sanctification does not earn merit for us. Christ's merit alone is sufficient. He is "our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption."

-JWH

Originally posted by John W Hendryx on April 21, 2006 12:16 PM at http://www.reformationtheology.com/2006/04/sanctification_via_union_with.php

Sanctification by Grace Alone

2009-07-11T14:10:00.013+10:00

Sola Gratia & Sanctification by Rich Gilbert

©1990 Modern Reformation/Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals
(Kindly right-click on the links for the option to open them in a new window. Thanks!)

Sola Gratia, Grace Alone. This Biblical concept was one of the central themes of the Reformation. Simply stated, it is the teaching that men are justified, apart from anything they can do to cooperate, solely by the grace of God.

But what does this have to do with sanctification? Everything; for it is precisely this teaching which is the basis for the sanctified life.

Over the centuries (from the first century A.D. in fact! See Romans 6:1) this doctrine has been charged with being injurious to good moral behavior i.e., if it is true that we do not have to do good works in order to be saved, and indeed that we cannot do any, no one will ever try to live a holy life.

Not true. In fact, it is only when we have despaired of our own efforts to save ourselves, that good works even become possible. How so? The first and greatest commandment is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." (Matthew 22:37). Anything done apart from this pure motive is therefore impure (since its origin is impure "a bad tree cannot produce good fruit." (Matthew 7:18). None of us is able to love God perfectly as He requires, and without this pure motive even our "good" works are like "filthy rags." (Isaiah 64:6).

So, despairing of his own efforts to save himself, man turns to Christ and learns that for the sake of His (Christ's) work the sinner is graciously accounted righteous through faith in Christ's work. Now he no longer feels the weight of the law pressing down with its threats to any who don't perfectly keep its demands (see Galatians 3:10 & James 2:10). Now he is free to obey and does good works spontaneously out of love and gratitude.

There is also a sense in which we can say that sanctification (like justification) is "Sola Gratia."

Everything relating to sanctification, every aspect of it is the work of God in us and on our behalf. Our sanctification owes its beginning to God's recreative act in us. Ezekiel 11:19,20 tells us that it is God who removes our hearts of stone and gives us hearts of flesh and that it is this that enables us to keep His commandments (This teaching is so important that it is repeated in Ezekiel 36:25-27 - Boms).

1 Peter 1:3 says that God has caused us to be born again. (This teaching is so important that Peter repeats it in 1 Peter 1:23 and is echoed in passages such as John 1:13, John 3:6, John 6:65, John 17:2, Romans 9:16, Ephesians 1:4-6, Ephesians 2:4-5, James 1:18, 2 Timothy 1:8-9 just to mention a short few. Heaven help us if we ever dare contradict or water down such a fundamental Biblical Gospel truth - Boms)

The beginning of sanctification, its origin, is the work of God.

The righteousness that becomes ours in sanctification is the obedience Christ rendered to the law. Romans 5:10 refers to this when it speaks of being saved by His life. Christ lived the life of perfect obedience that we were incapable of living and our sanctification is the imparting of that righteousness to us.

Although our will is active and cooperates in sanctification, it is the Holy Spirit that spurs us on to do good works. This is what Paul means in Philippians 2:13 where he says "it is God at work in you, both to will and work for His good pleasure." If the Holy Spirit were to withdraw His assistance, we would no longer continue and progress in sanctification.

Scripture often speaks of sanctification in two ways, as an already accomplished fact and as a continuing process. In 1 Corinthians 1:2 we are said to have been sanctified in Christ Jesus. In chapter 6 vs. 11 it again says we were sanctified. God looks at us through Christ's perfect life and for the sake of His life and death on our behalf, and in light of this, He graciously accepts our works, deficient and impure as they are, as holy on account of faith in Christ.

We are sanctified already in that God has called and separated us out of the world for His purposes to be His people.

In fact, it is because we are already sanctified that we are called to live accordingly and to grow in sanctification. In all of Paul's letters where he has an exhortation to live holy lives, it is always based on the preceding section which explains what we already are in Christ. Then he says "therefore" we ought live accordingly.

The clearest passage showing this is Ephesians 2:10. Here we are told, 1) that we are created in Christ Jesus for good works, 2) the good works were prepared beforehand by God, and 3) that we have merely to walk in them (just as the Sovereign Gracious LORD causes us to! Please see Paul's encouragement to the less than perfect church in Corinth: 1 Corinthians 12:5-6 and 11 - Boms).

Finally, no treatment of sanctification would be complete without discussing a Christian's failings. It is an unfortunate reality that Christians do still sin (please see 1 John 1:8-10 and notice how John writes "we" - Boms).

There will always be a remnant of the Old Adam in us warring against the New. This is what Romans 7 is all about. (Paul writing in the present tense in Romans 7:14-25 - Boms.)

Here Paul speaks of the conflict still within him (not before he was a Christian, for the desires of the New Man are not active in the non-Christian) as he wrote his letter to the Romans. He says that the good he would do is what he does not do, but rather, winds up doing the evil that he doesn't want to do. This is perhaps where grace has its most significant relationship to sanctification.

It sometimes seems that there is plenty of grace for you if you are not a Christian, but when you become a Christian then there are all sorts of laws you must obey and you feel like you were better off before you were converted. But the good news for Christians is that the death of Christ was a death for your sins, too. Christ died for the sins Christians commit, even after they become Christians. He is still your mediator and His sacrifice is bigger than your transgression. In Him is your justification. In Him is your sanctification. In Him is your peace. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Soli Deo Gloria.

Rich Gilbert is a freelance Lutheran writer for Modern Reformation

Please see the original article here. Many thanks & God bless!

The Great Mystery of Godliness

2009-06-06T15:30:00.007+10:00

"Indeed, to every saved man it is the greatest miracle of all that he is, himself, a believer. When I come to look at the truths upon which I rest, they are very simple indeed and, yet, around them so many doubts are cast by the evil of my own heart that I stand amazed that my faith retains her hold. I believe that Christ died for my sins with much more assurance than I believe anything else. No fact in history is one-half so certain to me, and yet, at times, it is so hard to believe that it is clear to me that true faith is not of man, but is a fruit of the Spirit."

--Charles H Spurgeon (delivered on the Lord's Day morning, Decemeber 22, 1867)

Please enjoy the whole message in pdf format here, compliments of RecoverTheGospel.com (Kindly right-click on the links for the option to open it in a new window.)

Thank you and God bless!

May This Unworthy Post Lead Us to HIM Alone Who is Infinitely Worthy...

2009-04-13T11:56:00.009+10:00

Grace & peace to you all!

Once again I have been caught slacking off in updating this poor old neglected weblog.

As a very quick update on what the Blacktown Care Group has been up to:

Straight after finishing the series of lessons based on John MacArthur's book "How to Survive in a World of Unbelievers," we jumped into and are now in the middle of a series of lessons based on John Piper's book "Don't Waste Your Life."

We praise and thank God for allowing us access to such engaging, challenging and provocative lessons from very Christ-centred Biblical Pastors such as John MacArthur and John Piper.

May others be encouraged to go through these preachers' materials as well.

Many of Pastor John MacArthur's resources are freely available at the Grace To You Ministry website: gty.org.au

(Please right-click on any of the links for the option to open them in a new window.)

And pretty much all of Pastor John Piper's resources are freely available at DesiringGod.org

Pastor Piper's many books and study guides can be accessed free of charge in pdf format at the DesiringGod website.

I hope to update thís weblog with a rough summary of our current series of lessons sometime, um... soon. (I just realised that I haven't even finished summarising our lessons on John MacArthur's book yet, as well!)

In the meantime, please enjoy this very classic message, by Jonathan Edwards entitled "The Excellency of CHRIST."

Be blessed, dear beloved!

"And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?

And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.

And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.

And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.

And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

Saying with a loud voice,

"Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing."

Revelations 5:2-12

Celebrating The Birth Of True Righteousness

2008-12-25T11:13:00.011+11:00

...Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised (righteousness or right-standing with God), being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.

Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

...So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

-From The New International Version of Paul's Letter to the Galatians (3:22-4:7, 5:16-18)

May our Holy Gracious Heavenly Father continue to make us yearn for His Righteousness to be manifested more and more, in the lives that He has given us.

May those around us witness His Almighty hand transforming us and declare, "God is GOOD!"

May His Holy Spirit move in their lives just as He moves in ours, causing us all to desire Jesus above all else... and to truly celebrate Christmas throughout forever.

In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

Surviving John MacArthur's How To Survive In A World Of Unbelievers

2008-10-04T16:04:00.044+10:00

Grace & Peace in abundance to you all, through the knowledge of our God, Jesus Christ our Lord!

It's been quite a while since the last weblog entry and I must apologise for not having been able to update the weblog more regularly.

The Care Group has just wrapped up a very interesting and engaging 6-month (?) series of (fortnightly) lessons based on John MacArthur's book entitled, "How to Survive In a World of Unbelievers." (Many thanks to Kuya Glenn and Ate Dodie C of the Padstow Care Group for helping us obtain copies of this rare book, which has been out-of-print here in Australia for quite some time.)

Sadly, I have been unsuccessful in obtaining permission to reproduce excerpts of the book from publishers Thomas Nelson. However, most of the chapters from the book are freely available online at Pastor John MacArthur's Grace To You Ministry website and at The Bible Bulletin Board website for your review. (Please right-click on the links for the option to open it in a new window.)

If I am not mistaken, each chapter was originally a sermon message by Pastor John at Grace Community Church, in Sun Valley California. These were then compiled and edited to produce the book. A study guide was then developed to accompany it, to help facilitate group discussions.

Here's a very humble basic/bare-bones summary of what we've discussed:

"How To Survive in a World of Unbelievers" by John MacArthur is a series of lessons based on Christ’s most intimate teachings to his handpicked disciples, during the Last Supper. This was just a few short hours before Jesus knew that He would be betrayed and be given over to the Sanhedrin. These were Christ’s heart-felt instructions on how His true disciples should act under His authority and how they were to faithfully represent Him in this unbelieving world.

In the Introductory discussion prepared and led by Elder Rob V, we learned that the Last Supper occurred during the Jewish festival of Passover. Passover was one of many Jewish feasts (see Leviticus chapter 23) which included Pentecost and Tabernacles/Tents, that trace their beginnings to Israel’s Exodus from Egypt. In their Exodus from Egypt, God revealed Himself as the unfailing rescuer of His chosen people: no matter how undeserving they were, God was faithful to His promise to cleanse and save a people unto Himself. And this same God is still His people's faithful, unfailing Saviour today.

In Chapter 1, “The Humility of Love,” we learned how during the Last Supper (in Luke 22), after Christ’s triumphant entry to Jerusalem, a dispute arose among the disciples about who would be the greatest in the Kingdom. Jesus settled this dispute by declaring, “the one who is the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules, like the one who serves.” Christ graphically demonstrated the kind of humility that He was talking about, by washing the disciples feet. The important point in this was not the washing of the feet per se, but rather the incredible humility (the utter absence of self-pride or self-interest) that it took to wash the disciples' dirty, dusty, smelly feet. It is this kind of humility (a word that shares the same root as the word humiliation) that results in selfless loving service to God and to others. It is this kind of humility that characterizes The One who is The Greatest in The Kingdom. In Luke 22:27b, Jesus said, “I am among you as one who serves.” Christ’s love and humility are inseparable (John MacArthur p5). May Christ's humility be seen more and more in us, as God continues to work in our lives.

In Chapter 2, “Unmasking the Betrayer,” we learned how shocked the disciples were to hear how one of them (one handpicked by Christ Himself) would betray Jesus that very night. None of them would have had a clue, hadn't Jesus revealed this to them. Yet Jesus reassures them that all of these things have been foreshadowed in the Old Testament (David’s Psalms 41 & 55 and Zechariah 11), in effect saying that all of these were going exactly according to God's plan (not Satan's, nor Judas' nor the Sanhedrin's, but God's plan). As Jesus said in John 13:18-19, “...I know those I have chosen... this is to fulfill the scripture… I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am He.” (The word “He” in this passage is often italicised in many English Bible translations because it does not actually appear in the original Greek manuscripts. Thus, a much better way to read verse 19 would be, “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I AM.”) May the chapter, “Unmasking the Betrayer” cause us to focus not so much on the betrayer, but rather to focus more on the Unmasker--the Great I AM.

In Chapter 3, “The Marks of a Committed Christian,” John MacArthur lists 3 vital distinguishing characteristics that should identify every genuine believer (based on John 13:31-38): an Unending Preoccupation with God’s Glory; an Unfailing Love for the Children of God; and an Unswerving Loyalty to Jesus Christ. Each one is the mark of an active personal God, working in the individual lives of His true followers as they represent Him in this world.

In Chapter 4, “The Solution to a Troubled Heart,” we learned how upset the disciples were, since Jesus would soon be betrayed into His enemies' hands and because Jesus would be leaving them in just a while. Jesus thus taught the disciples that they were to trust in His Presence (even when He does not seem to be there); to trust in His Promises (even when everything seems to be going wrong); and to trust in His Person (even when we don’t seem to understand Him).

In Chapter 5, “Jesus Is God,” we learned how Jesus could not have been merely a good teacher or just another prophet. Anyone who made the divine claims that Jesus made was either telling the truth or he was a liar (liars do not make very good teachers). Jesus Christ is God the Son, uniquely one with, but distinct from God the Father. Jesus Christ is God incarnate, God in the flesh. This is all too much for the human mind to truly comprehend, as the disciples themselves showed how lacking their understanding of Christ’s deity was. Only God's Divine work in a person's life will cause that individual to acknowledge Jesus Christ as God the Son. This is why we need the third person of the Trinity, God the Holy Spirit…

In Chapter 6, "The Ministry of the Holy Spirit," we learned how the Bible's imperatives (the laws & commands, all our responsibilities) are ever rooted in the Bible's indicatives (the declarations, proclamations and promises of our sovereign, gracious, eternally faithful, holy God actively accomplishing His work, in His people's lives). The Biblical imperatives and indicatives (law & gospel) should never ever be seen or taught as divorced from each other. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to actively, particularly/personally and consistently cause God's saints (former sinners, former rebels, former objects of God's righteous wrath) to become obedient to God. Nothing else and nothing less than the Holy Spirit's gracious and effectual sovereign work in our lives will result in us becoming truly Godly: truly Christ-like. All the glory belongs to God!

In Chapter 7, "The Gift Of Peace (aka The Peace of Christ)," we learned how the peace that comes from Christ is different from the "peace" that the world has in mind. The world's idea of peace is the absence of trouble or conflict. The peace that comes from Christ is a quiet blessed assurance that not only isn't affected by whatever trouble or conflict that the world throws its way, but rather even turns around the troubles and conflicts that it comes across for the glory of Christ. It is the peace that surpasses all human understanding. It is the peace that comes only from God because it is the peace of God. And this peace of God can only be experienced by those who have peace with God. And peace with God is only attainable through Jesus Christ. It is this peace of Christ that the disciples direly needed to rule in their hearts, as their Master Jesus prepared them for His date with the cross.

In Chapter 8, "What Jesus' Death Meant to Him," as the time of Jesus' betrayal drew closer and as Jesus made it clearer to the disciples that He would be leaving soon, we learned how hard it would have been for the disciples to comprehend how God could accomplish anything good from everything that's now happening. The disciples left their families, careers and belongings to follow Jesus. They hoped Jesus would soon march into Jerusalem to kick out their Roman occupiers and reestablish David's Kingdom, perhaps making them very high ranking officials. Instead, Jesus reveals how everything that has been going on, will soon result in Him being betrayed and nailed to a Roman cross. Jesus thus needed to reassure them that everything was going exactly according to plan--Christ's predictions of what will be happening were not guesses based on probabilities, but were revelations based on certainties. Believe it or not, acknowledge it or not: Only God can take upon Himself the ugliest, most brutal, most torturous and humiliating death penalty ever instituted by a world power... and use it to secure eternal victory, all according to His plan.

In Chapter 9, "The Vine & The Branches," we learned that while Jesus would be physically away from His disciples, they can rest in the fact that Christ would be their Eternal Vine, in whom every true disciple (past, present and future) had been supernaturally grafted into. We are His branches and apart from Christ, we can do nothing. He is central to everything that we are. Those who do not remain or abide in the vine are cast out by the Vine Dresser, God the Father. All true believers remain or abide in the Vine (keeping the Vine central to everything in their lives) and will bear much fruit. Some may bear more fruit than others, sooner than others, or more evident than others. But Christ's precious nourishing through the Holy Spirit and God the Father's careful pruning (as painful as it may be at the time), all assure that the genuine branches will bear fruit.

In Chapter 10, "The Benefits of Life in Christ (aka Abiding in Christ," we learned how the gracious Lord Jesus further encouraged His now confused, fearful, down-hearted disciples. Apart from the divine promise of bearing eternal fruit (in the previous chapter), Christ assured His chosen disciples of answers to their Godly prayers, abundant lives that overflow with God's "uncontainable" glory, joy and their eternal security in Him... only in Him. (In the end, Christ Himself is every true disciple's greatest encouragement. Christ Himself is our greatest benefit.)

(The last 2 chapters were unavailable on the Internet at the time of this posting, but their outlines with discussion questions can be enjoyed by clicking on the links below. Please right-click on the links if you would like the option to open them in new windows. Many thanks!)

Chapter 11, "How to be a Friend of Jesus"

Chapter 12, "Hated Without a Cause" Part 1 and Part 2.

John MacArthur Videos

2008-10-04T16:00:00.004+10:00

An Interview with John Piper & John MacArthur

From the series entitled, "Does The Truth Matter Anymore" from CrossTV

The Apathy Of The Modern Church Part 1

The Apathy Of The Modern Church Part 2

Sinclair Ferguson on Focusing on CHRIST, Rather than on our own Religiosity

2008-06-22T17:50:00.020+10:00

The Christians who are most focused on their own spirituality may give the impression of being the most spiritual... but from the New Testament's point of view, those who have almost forgotten about their own spirtuality because their focus is so exclusively on their union with Jesus Christ and what He has accomplished are those who are growing and exhibiting fruitfulness. Historically speaking, whenever the piety of a particular group is focused on OUR spirituality that piety will eventually exhaust itself on its own resources.

Only where our piety forgets about ourself and focuses on Jesus Christ will our piety (be) nourished by the ongoing resources the Spirit brings to us from the source of all true piety, our Lord Jesus Christ.

--Sinclair Ferguson (Quoted from Monergism.com's Gospel-Centered Life page)

Watch Out! Watch This...

2008-04-26T12:36:00.014+10:00

Watch Out for Those Who Lead You Away from the Truth
by John Piper (November 5, 2006)
(Please right-click on the link above for the option to open in a new window.)

Romans 16:17-20:

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. Such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

I recall talking to a wise leader of a large missions organization about doctrinal faithfulness. He said something to this effect, “It’s crucial. And so is unity. Some people emphasize one, and some the other. Our organization is made of two kinds of people: purity boys and unity boys.” The unity boys naturally emphasize the preciousness of personal relationships and tend to neglect an emphasis on truth. The purity boys naturally emphasize the preciousness of truth and tend to neglect the nurture of personal relationships.

In fact, you could probably categorize people and churches and denominations and institutions and movements in the evangelical church today (or even in society in general) along these lines: There are those who emphasize doctrinal purity, and there are those that emphasize relational unity.

Loving People and Loving Truth

I hope you are feeling uncomfortable with that description. A good impulse inside of you would be saying right now: “Do we have to choose? Can’t it be both? Can’t you love truth and love people?” In fact, it would be an even more biblical impulse if you found yourself thinking, “I don’t even think you can love people if you don’t love truth. How can you do what is ultimately good for people if you don’t have any strong convictions about what is ultimately good?”

And yet there is no escaping the reality that people and churches and denominations and schools and even whole periods in history lean one way or the other. I think the period of history we live in is not an easy time to be a lover of truth. The most common criticism, if you stand for an important truth and imply by that stand that others should believe it, is that you are arrogant, which is the opposite of being loving (1 Corinthians 13:4), and therefore you are undermining relationships.

For many thoughtful people today the only path to peaceful relationships in a pluralistic world is the path of no truth that deserves assent from everyone. It seems on the face of it to make sense. If no one claims that what he believes deserves assent from anyone else, then we can live together in peace. Right? So peaceful pluralism and diminished truth claims go hand in hand.

But it doesn’t work like that. When there is no truth that deserves assent from everybody, the only arbiter in our competing desires is power. Where truth doesn’t define what’s right, might makes right. And where might makes right, weak people pay with their lives. When the universal claim of truth disappears, what you get is not peaceful pluralism or loving relationships; what you get is concentration camps and gulags.

Purity for the Sake of Unity

I want you to see from the Bible—and feel in your bones—the importance of being a purity boy for the sake of being a unity boy. I want you to see and feel how out of step this text is with today’s Western culture. It pictures a way of thinking and living that most of our fellow Americans would consider offensive, unloving, fundamentalistic, and out of date. It’s mainly a purity text—a text calling for vigilance in matters of truth and doctrine. But it’s not only that. In a striking way, it is a unity text. The goal of the vigilance for right teaching is to avoid Christ-belittling, self-exalting dissension.

So my hope in preaching from verses 17 and 18 is that you will be freed from any blindness or bondage to this truth-diminishing period of time in which we live. And I pray that, because of this liberty, you would know what it is to love your adversaries and that you would have fresh power from the gospel to magnify Christ in showing that love.

Let’s read again Romans 16:17-18,

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

Verse 17 gives two commands that seem contradictory, but they are joined by a phrase that shows why they are not contradictory. And verse 18 gives two reasons why these two commands are so crucial. Let’s look first at the commands in verse 17.

Watch Out for Those Who Cause Divisions

The first command in verse 17 is to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles or stumbling blocks. “I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles.” So it is clear from this command that Paul is concerned about unity. He wants to promote unity. Watch out for those who cause divisions. These are enemies of unity. Watch out for them. I don’t want them to have that effect on you.

Avoid Them

The second command in verse 17 is to avoid these people. The last phrase in the verse: “Avoid them.” Stay away from them. Now the reason I said these two commands sound contradictory is that the first one is driven by a passion for unity: Watch out for those who cause divisions. And the second one is, in fact, a call for division. When you spot such a division-causing person, divide from him. Avoid him.

The Dividing Line of Doctrine

What is it then between these two commands that helps us see how they are not in fact contradictory? It’s Paul’s reference to doctrine. Verse 17: “I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught.” The issue here is not the same as in chapter 14 where Paul is dealing with different convictions about non-essential things. There he said, in verse 5, “Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.” There was no talk in chapter 14 about avoiding people. The whole point was to help the strong and the weak Christians live together in mutual respect and understanding.

But now here in Romans 16:17, the approach is dramatically different. Here Paul says: Avoid them. Divide from them. Why? Because they are promoting doctrine contrary to what they had been taught. Now Paul’s response to this could have been: Well, nobody has all the truth, and everybody has a piece of it, and unity is more important than truth, and so don’t divide. And we would say: That impulse would not be all bad, would it? Unity is a good thing. Paul cares about it. His first command is: “Watch out for those who cause divisions.”

Truth-Based Division for the Sake of Truth-Based Unity

But that is not the way he responded to this situation. Instead, for the sake of unity—that is, truth-based unity—Paul calls for truth-based division. Avoid them. I don’t know how Paul could make any clearer how he relates doctrine and unity. For Paul, doctrine is the basis of unity. Without the common doctrine they had been taught, the unity would not have been Christian unity. So he is willing to call for truth-based disunity (“Avoid them.” “Divide from them.”) for the sake of truth-based unity.

In other words, when a person departs from the doctrine that the apostles had taught, Paul sees this as a greater threat to unity than the disunity caused by avoiding such people. If we say: How can that be? How can dividing from a false teacher who rises up in the church promote unity in the church? The answer is that the only unity that counts for unity in the church is rooted in a common apostolic teaching. Isolating false teachers—avoiding them—is Paul’s strategy for preserving unity that is based on true teaching.

Joy in the Truth Is Dominant

Now let’s pause here before looking at the reasons for these commands in verse 18. I want to make a clarifying comment about both of these commands and the doctrine that connects them.

First, with regard to the command to “watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught,” it is possible to go overboard on this. I hesitate even to say it, since I don’t think this is the temptation of most churches or most Christians today. But it is possible, and there are churches and people that do go overboard.

What I mean is that they become so obsessed with spotting doctrinal error that they lose their ability to rejoice in doctrinal truth. They’re like dogs that are trained so completely to sniff out drugs at the airport, that even when they’re off duty they greet everybody that way. It doesn’t make for a very welcoming atmosphere.

The book of Romans does not make this mistake. Periodically Paul warns against doctrinal or ethical error. But most of Romans is a glorious display of the work of Christ for us and in us. So let’s ask the Lord to help us get the balance right here. We must do this: “Watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught.” But this is not the main thing we do. Vigilance over error is necessary, but joy in the truth is dominant.

There Is a Defined Body of Doctrine

Second, with regard to the doctrine, don’t miss the obvious: There is such a thing—a body of doctrine that someone can go against. Verse 17: “Watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught.” There is a doctrinal standard. There is something you can depart from. Paul refers to it in several ways. In Romans 6:17, he calls it the standard of teaching: “[You] have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed.” In 2 Timothy 1:13-14, he calls it the pattern of sound words and the good deposit. “Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.” In Acts 20:27, he calls it the whole counsel of God. “I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.”

So there is a body or standard or pattern of sound doctrine. The caution here, of course, is that we must not put every minor opinion about hundreds of Bible verses in this category so that there is no room for any disagreement at all (cf. Philippians 3:15). The pattern of sound doctrine would be a faithful summary of biblical essentials determined by how crucial they are in expressing and preserving the history of redemption, the nature and condition of man, the nature and work of Christ, the nature and word of the Holy Spirit, and the nature and work of God the Father. One of the greatest challenges in the quest for unity is deciding what belongs in this body of doctrine when Paul says, if someone departs from it, avoid him. That’s part of what the elders were working on last year in the baptism question. And which we are still working on.

Leave Room for Enemy Love

Third, with regard to the second command at the end of verse 17 (avoid them), we need to be sure we leave room for obedience to the teaching in Romans 12 that says we should “Bless those who curse you” (v. 14), and, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (v. 18), and so on.

Avoiding someone does not mean: Stop caring about him, or stop praying for him, or even stop talking to them. When Peter acted contrary to the gospel in Galatians 2, Paul did not first avoid him. He first confronted him with a view to winning him back. That kind of contact is not forbidden. What Paul commands with the words avoid them, is not no contact at all, but the kind of contact that communicates life can go on as usual between us. It can’t. If you, as a professing Christian, persist in departing from the doctrine the apostles taught, we can’t simply hang out together like we used to.

False Teachers Seem Nice

That brings us finally to verse 18 and the two reasons Paul gives for why doctrinal vigilance is so important. Verse 18: “For such persons [that is, the persons who depart from the doctrine] do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.”

Let’s take the second one first. Verse 18b: “By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.” The word for flattery is simply blessing. And smooth talk doesn’t necessarily mean manifestly slippery. It just means pleasant and plausible. So the reason we must be so vigilant over biblical doctrine is that those who depart from it take simple people with them by pleasant, plausible speech that presents itself as a blessing. False teachers don’t get a following by being rough and harsh. They get a following by being nice.

Just take two examples from history: Arius (d. 336) and Socinus (d. 1604)—both of whom denied the deity of Christ. Parker Williamson describes Arius like this:

Here was a bright, energetic, attractive fellow, the kind of citizen whom any Rotary Club would welcome. Singing sea chanties in dockside pubs and teaching Bible stories to the Wednesday night faithful, this was an immensely popular man. His story reminds us that heresy does not bludgeon us into belief. We are seduced. (Parker T. Williamson, Standing Firm: Reclaiming the Chastain Faith in Times of Controversy [Lenoir, North Carolina: PLC Publications, 1996], p. 31.)

And another writer describes Socinus like this:

He was a gentleman. His morals were above reproach and he distinguished himself by his unfailing courtesy. Unfailing courtesy was remarkable in an age when even the great Protestant leaders, Luther and Calvin would use vile street language when arguing with their opponents.

This means that it will seldom be popular to resist false teachers in the church because they are almost always perceived as bringing a blessing and speaking with winsome words. They are gentlemen. And Paul says the innocent are carried away. Hence he says, “Watch out for them. And avoid them.”

False Teachers Serve Their Own Appetites

The other reason why doctrinal vigilance is so crucial, Paul says, is (verse 18a) because “such persons [the false teachers] do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites”—literally their own belly. In other words, the issue in false teaching is not a simple intellectual mistake. Behind the plausible speech and the smooth gentlemanly demeanor is idolatry, and the idol is the belly—the appetite for food or sex or human approval. Behind serious false teaching, we almost always find not merely intellectual mistakes, but worldly passions enslaving the mind.

Watch Out

So I close with a pointed call to vigilance: Watch out for smooth talkers who pastor large churches, write many books, lead wide ministries, and do not manifestly prize above their earthly good the whole counsel of God.

© Desiring God

Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be approved by Desiring God.

Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org

IF You Truly Love CHRIST Then You Will Truly LOVE Sound Biblical Doctrine...

2008-04-26T11:51:00.005+10:00

Find out WHY. Watch this video from CrossTV.com, an excerpt from their mini-series entitled, "The True Christian's Love For The Unseen Christ." Watch it! Watch it! Watch it!

You can also watch this excerpt at GodTube.com (Please right-click on the link for the option to open in a new window.)

The Message of Easter

2008-03-24T13:14:00.004+11:00

Please enjoy this article by Pastor Darryl Dash of Richview Baptist Church in Toronto Canada. He also runs the Theocentric Preaching website, where this entry originally appears and has graciously granted permission to have it reproduced it here. Pray that we may all take heed of its simple yet powerful message.

I used to subscribe to the tape ministry - remember the days before digital downloads? - of a large church. I remember getting the Easter Sunday message one particular year. The main idea of the sermon was something like, “You’re good, but you could be better.” The preacher used the illustration of Tiger Woods’ golf swing. It was good, but Tiger went back and and learned a new swing to be even better. We can do the same with our lives when we come to Christ, he said.

I remember being shocked. The message of Easter isn’t that we’re good but Christ came to make us a little bit better. Earl Creps has said that Jesus didn’t come to make bad people good, or good people better. He came to make dead people live. I agree. Dead people need the message of Easter, and nothing else will do.

At Easter we get to proclaim the timeless story of God in Christ taking the place of sinners so that we who were dead could live. There are so many riches within this story, so many angles, so much depth, that we don’t have to drift from the meaning of Easter to be relevant.

Let’s stick with the message of Easter. It’s far better than any other message we could offer, and it’s one that people desperately need to hear.

I can't help but get a little naughty here, but if Emergent Pentecostal Earl Creps (of the AOG!) can get that one right, then the rest of us simply have no excuse. No excuse at all. Ooh, yeah!
Grace & Peace --Boms

Celebrating the Holy Gracious RISEN LORD Jesus our Saviour, Forever and Ever!

2008-03-23T06:38:00.003+11:00

"Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you— unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures...

"But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep."

--Paul the Apostle, 1st Letter to the Corinthians 15:1-4, 13-20

Hoshana!
הוֹשִׁיעָה נָּא
הושענא
ὡσαννα
Please save, we pray...
In Christ's name, Amen.

By Grace Alone...

2008-03-22T15:46:00.008+11:00

"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." --The Apostle Paul's Letter to the Ephesians 2:1-10 (ESV)

"Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God."--The Apostle Paul's 2nd Letter to the Corinthians 3:5 (ESV)

GRACE ALONE
©1998 Maranatha! Music.
Words and Music by Scott Wesley Brown, Jeff Nelson

The Sensuous Christian...

2008-03-22T08:13:00.003+11:00

It was a happy occasion when I received an email from Ligonier Ministries, granting permission to reproduce here an excerpt from Dr. R.C. Sproul’s book “Knowing Scripture” (Intervarsity Press, 1977), entitled “The Sensuous Christian.”

A Sensuous Christian is someone who relies more on feelings rather than the correct handling of God's Word. Heaven knows I need to be less and less of a Sensuous Christian. May the Lord use this to keep us all from becoming one, or to transform us from being one—not just during each Lenten Season.

Ligonier Ministries was established in 1971 to equip Christians to articulate what they believe and why they believe it. Our foremost desire is to “awaken as many people as possible to the holiness of God by proclaiming, teaching, and defending His holiness in all its fullness.”

You can help support Ligonier Ministries by visiting their website http://www.ligonier.org/
(Pls. right click on the link for the option to open it in a new window.)

What is a Sensuous Christian? One dictionary defines sensuous as, “pertaining to the senses or sensible objects: highly susceptible to influence through the senses.” The sensuous Christian is one who lives by his feelings rather than through his understanding of the Word of God. The sensuous Christian cannot be moved to service, prayer or study unless “he feels like it.” His Christian life is only as effective as the intensity of present feelings. When he experiences spiritual euphoria, he is a whirlwind of Godly activity; when he is depressed, he is a spiritual incompetent. He constantly seeks new and fresh spiritual experiences and uses them to determine the Word of God. His “inner feelings” become the ultimate test of truth.

The sensuous Christian doesn’t need to study the Word of God because he already knows the will of God by his feelings. He doesn’t want to know God; he wants to experience him. The sensuous Christian equates “childlike faith” with ignorance. He thinks that when the Bible calls us to childlike faith it means a faith without content, a faith without understanding. He doesn’t know that the Bible says, “In evil be babes, but in your thinking be mature” (1 Corinthians 14:20). He doesn’t realize that Paul tells us again and again, “My beloved brethren, I would not have you ignorant” (see, for example, Romans 11:25; or 1 Corinthians 10:1, 12:1; 1 Thessalonians 4:13—Boms).

The sensuous Christian goes his merry way until he encounters the pain of life that is not so merry and he folds. He usually ends up embracing a kind of “relational theology” (that most dreadful curse on modern Christianity) where personal relationships and experience take precedence over the Word of God. If the Scripture calls us to action that may jeopardize a personal relationship, then the Scripture must be compromised. The highest law of the sensuous Christian is that bad feelings must be avoided at all cost.

The Bible is addressed primarily though not exclusively to our understanding. That means the mind. This is difficult to communicate to modern Christians who are living in what may be the most anti-intellectual period of Western civilization. Notice, I did not say anti-academic or anti-technological or anti-scholarly. I said anti-intellectual. There is a strong current of antipathy to the function of the mind in the Christian life today.

To be sure, there are historical reasons for this kind of reaction. Many laymen have felt the result of what one theologian has called “the treason of the intellectual.” So much skepticism, cynicism and negative criticism have spewed forth from the intellectual world of theologians that the laymen have lost their trust in intellectual enterprises. In many cases there is the fear that faith will not hold up under intellectual scrutiny so the defense becomes the denigration of the human mind. We turn to feelings rather than to our minds to establish and preserve our faith.

Christianity is supremely intellectual though not intellectualistic. That is, Scripture is addressed to the intellect without at the same time embracing a spirit of intellectualism. The Christian life is not to be a life of bare conjecture or cold rationalism; it is to be a life of vibrant passion. Strong feelings of joy, love and exaltation are called for again and again. But those passionate feelings are a response to what we understand with our minds to be true. When we read in Scripture, “Take courage; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33), “ho hum” is not an appropriate response. We can be of good cheer because we understand that Christ has indeed overcome the world. That thrills our souls and sets our feet to dancing. What is more precious than to experience the sweetness of the presence of Christ or the nearness of the Holy Spirit?

God forbid that we should lose our passion or go through the Christian pilgrimage without any experience of Christ. But what happens when there is a conflict between what God says and what I feel? We must do what God says, like it or not.

Reflect for a moment. What happens in your own life when you act according to what you feel like doing rather than what you know and understand God says you should do? Here we encounter the ruthless reality of the difference between happiness and pleasure. How easy it is to confuse the two! The pursuit of happiness is regarded as our “unalienable right.” But happiness and pleasure are not the same thing. Both of them feel good, but only one endures. Sin can bring pleasure, but never happiness. If sin were not so pleasurable, it would hardly represent a temptation. Yet, while sin often “feels good,” it does not produce happiness. If we dot know the difference, or worse yet, do not care about the difference, we have made great strides to becoming the ultimate sensuous Christian.

Learn more about correctly handling the Word of God. Rely less on feelings to interpret the Holy Bible. Read Dr. R.C. Sproul’s book “Knowing Scripture” (InterVarsity Press, 1977). Copies should be available at the following online booksellers:

Ligonier Ministries
InterVarsity Press
Koorong
Word
The Reformers Bookshop, Stanmore Baptist Church

(Pls right-clink on the links for the option to open each one in a new window.)

Humanism v. The Centrality of God

2008-02-24T21:13:00.033+11:00

Chairman Justin led our discussion the fortnight ago (February 9), on the first of his series entitled “End Time Deception in the Church.” We learned that the term “end times” pertain to the times of Paul and the early church, to now, all the way until The Lord Jesus Christ returns physically.

Websters-Online dictionary defines Deception “a misleading falsehood.” In other words, it is falsehood that will mislead. If it were an obvious falsehood, it would not be so deceptive. That’s why this subject of Deception in the church can be very tricky.

Sometimes we will sound like we’re just splitting hairs. Sometimes, it will challenge us to question teachings or doctrines that we thought were right or correct.

This is why we desperately need God's Holy Spirit to ground us firmly in the Bible: For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12; written to Jewish followers Christ, who were being tempted/encouraged to return to Judaism or at least to water down their belief in the absolute supremacy/Lordship and sufficiency of Jesus Christ.)

Let's pray that these difficulties will convince us of how insufficient we humans really are and how badly we all need to depend on God, always.

The primary text that Justin used was 2 Thessalonians chapter 2: 1-4. (Please right-click on the link for the option to open in a new window.) This passage clearly instructs its readers not to believe false reports about Christ (particularly about His “early” return) that seem so believable. Verses 3 and 4 commands:

“3Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for (that day will not come) until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God.”

Note how this “man of lawlessness” intends to put himself at the very center of all that is worshipped. Yet shouldn’t God alone be at the very center of our worship (worth-ship)?

"For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy." (Colossians 1:16-18)

Should anything else be of greater concern to us than Christ’s Lordship? Christ’s Supremacy over all things? Should we have a greater passion for anything else than Christ’s Dominion and Authority?

Chairman Justin’s original plan was then to talk about the deception or falling away that will happen, as manifested in particular movements or groups: Liberation Theology/Social Gospel (which stresses freedom from neediness and injustice); Prosperity Gospel/Name-It-And-Claim-It/Word of Faith Movement (which stresses how God wants you to be happy); Ecumenical Movement (stresses unity above doctrinal purity); the New Age Movement (stresses how mankind can benefit from the powers of nature/creation) and so on.

(Due to unexpected changes in work schedules, Justin had to beg off developing and leading the second study for this Friday night. So I was assigned to prepare this night's session, picking up where we last left off.)

What we noticed with all of the groups mentioned above (Liberation Theology, Prosperity Gospel, Ecumenical Movement, etc.) was that their errors (as well as whatever errors we may have, ourselves) can be traced to “Humanism,” or putting mankind/ouselves above everything else; or putting mankind’s interests as our Number One priority, instead of Jesus Christ’s Lordship.

Merriam-Webster.com defines Humanism as “a doctrine, attitude, or way of life centered on human interests…”

It’s as if, what matters to man (mankind) is what matters the most.

Even worse, we might sometimes be led to believe that we are truly being Godly when we put mankind first. (Ever notice how some people are regarded as “good” or "truly Godly" Christians by how good they are with people, regardless of whether they actually believe that Jesus Christ rose from the grave or not? Or whether they believe in the Trinity, or Jesus' Virgin Birth or not? or in Christ's glorious physical return or not?)

By the way, the term "humanism" was coined in 1808. It was based on the 15th century Italian term umanista, which was used to designate teachers or students of classic non-religious literature. Humanism in the West has since evolved into philosophies and movements "placing the human being as the central value and concern, in such a way that nothing is above the human being and no human being is above another." (Please right-click on the link for the option to open in a new window.)

However, “humanist” philosphies can be traced back to Confucius, and of course, all the way back to the Fall of Man in Genesis 3 (when Adam & Eve put their interests over & above their obedience to God, their gracious Creator).

Remarkably, “Humanism” isn’t just for humanists (atheists/agnostics). Religious leaders themselves can have attitudes or doctrines that are centered primarily on human interests.

Read Matthew 22:15-40 for our discussion. (Please right-click on the link for the option to open it in a new window.)

What comes to mind when you hear the word Pharisee? Who were the Sadducees? What is a Herodian? What were they experts on?

The Pharisees – Religious leaders and experts on both the written and oral Jewish laws. They were mostly looked up upon by the Jewish masses as the preservers and guardians of Jewish heritage and traditions, upholding the purity of Jewish identity in the light of their occupation by the Hellenistic and pagan Romans. Generally, they were more egalitarian, popular and democratic than the aristocratic Sadducees. This is exemplified by their assertion that "A learned mamzer takes precedence over an ignorant High Priest." (A mamzer, according to the Pharasaic definition, is an outcast child born of a forbidden relationship, such as adultery or incest, in which marriage of the parents could not lawfully occur. The word is often, but incorrectly, translated as "illegitimate" or "bastard.") Anyone could join their group as long as they shared the same passion for upholding Jewish laws and traditions, equating these as love for God. Jesus however, exposed their preoccupation with law, tradition, duty and performance in the name of God, as hypocrisy.
http://www.ovrlnd.com/GeneralInformation/Pharisees_Sadducees.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharisees#Relationship_to_other_movements

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=252&letter=P
http://bible.org/seriespage/pharisees

(Please right-click on the links for the option to open them in a new window.)

The Sadducees – Religious leaders and experts on the Torah, the five books of Moses that make up the first five books of the Old Testament. Generally speaking, the Sadducees were more conservative (or strict) in their religiosity, but more liberal (or progressive) in their politics, than the Pharisees. They were very strict in rejecting beliefs (both oral and written) that cannot be found in the five books of Moses. This is why they did not believe in the resurrection of the dead nor were they expecting any sort of Messiah. They espoused a very literal interpretation of the Torah. To the Sadducees, when the Torah says “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” they will literally expect an eye as the only legitimate replacement for a plaintiff’s injured eye. (The Pharisees though would be more practical in pointing out that what this passage was trying to say was that all punishment must fit the crime: an injured eye should be compensated with something of equal value, but not necessarily a literal eye. Of course, it was how Jesus put this subject in its proper perspective that should remind us of how much we need God's Holy Spirit, to do what is truly right.) While they were less popular with the masses and were a much smaller group than the Pharisees, the Sadducees came from very aristocratic families and were more financially powerful than the Pharisees. This made them very influential in the Sanhedrin. Because they came from the upper classes, they could afford to enjoy the finer things in life. Their "sophistication" meant that they were more appreciative of Greek history, art and philosophy (just like their Roman conquerors), than the Pharisees. Caiaphas, the High Priest at the time the Sanhedrin interrogated Jesus before his crucifixion, was a Sadducee.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadducees#Beliefs
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-73415/biblical-literature
http://bible.org/seriespage/sadducees
(Please right-click on the links for the option to open them in a new window.)

The Herodians – Priestly sect of political opportunists, supporters and cronies of King Herod’s dynasty, the puppet leader of Israel under Roman occupation. They were legal and political experts who collaborated with their Roman conquerors, who in turn made the Herodians very influential in government and society (even if they were largely despised by the Jewish masses).
http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/HERODIANS
(Please right-click on the link for the option to open it in a new window.)

What were the concerns that these people were confronting Jesus with? Can you see the difference in priorities between the Pharisees, Herodians and Sadducees on the one hand, and Jesus Christ on the other?

Taxes? International and interpersonal politics? The use of Mosaic law to try and disprove the resurrection? Legalistic priorities?

How does Jesus Christ respond?

When asked about paying taxes to oppressive foreign conquerors, did Jesus engage them with the intricacies of geo-political relationships? Or did He use their question to point them back to God? (“Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's.”)

When asked a silly question to try and disprove the resurrection, Jesus again used their query to point them back to God. (“…Have you not read what God said to you, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”)

When asked about what a legalist's priorities should be, Jesus does the same thing again: use the question to point people back to God. (“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment.”)

Whatever their differences, the Pharisees, Herodians and the Sadducees shared a desire to entrap and humiliate Jesus by using subjects and topics that they were comfortable with. What Jesus did however, was to expose how far away from God their interests really were.

Interestingly, in v. 36-40, Jesus was only asked which one of the Commandments is the greatest. But he makes a very important distinction by instructing us on the 1st and 2nd Greatest Commandments. Why do you think he makes this distinction between loving God first and foremost with everything you’ve got on the one hand, and loving others as you love yourself on the other?

We should not confuse the two, or neglect one for the other. We do not fulfill the 1st and Greatest Commandment by concentrating on the 2nd. Rather, obeying the 1st should result in us being humbled into observing the 2nd. The Greatest Commandment is to love the LORD your GOD with ALL your heart and with ALL your soul and with ALL your mind. Loving your neighbor as you love yourself, is very important. Jesus would not have mentioned it if it weren’t. But it is still only secondary. What Jesus was telling the man-centered religious leaders was that they should be GOD-CENTERED: Stop treating God as if He were a given or just a footnote in the background. God has center stage—not us!

Anytime God is not central in our lives, we are guilty of Idolatry. The main problem with Humanism is that it is a form of Idolatry—something or someone else has become the center of our interests, concerns, thoughts or feelings besides the Lord Jesus Christ.

Does being God-centered mean we shouldn’t care for our fellow man as much as we used to, anymore? (Think carefully before you answer…)

When the Gracious Sovereign Provident God of the Bible—the same Holy God who reigns over the minutest details of our lives, the God who works in us to both will and do of his good pleasure, the God whose love compels us—whenever He is at the center of our hearts and minds… that’s usually when we find ourselves less afraid to become vulnerable to our fellow man and to love our enemies… that’s when we become less timid about doing to others what we would have them do to us… to forgive the most painful wrongs done to us… to share the most remarkable truths revealed to us by God in His Word. Being truly GOD-centered should not result in apathy towards our fellow man. Being God-centered does not mean that we love others less, but that we love God even more--more than anyone or anything else, anytime, anywhere.

Does this seem unreasonable? Only if you're god doesn't really deserve that much adoration, maybe.

Does this seem humanly impossible? Exactly! May the Holy Spirit use the weight of these great commandments to bring us down to our knees before God, fully convinced that whatever God the Father requires, only God the Son Jesus Christ can truly fulfill! And may He graciously fulfill it in us for His glory!

The God-Centeredness of God’s Word: Reading The Bible with God at its Center (Application)

According to the International Bible Society-Send The Light website (www.Biblica.com), the Bible is:

▫ A guide for living… It gives us a road map for the perilous journey of life…
▫ A storehouse of wonderful stories for children and grownups.
▫ A refuge in trouble. People in pain, in suffering, in prison, in mourning, tell how they turned to the Bible and found strength there in their desperate hours.
▫ A treasury of insight as to who we are... We did not come about by chance…
▫ A sourcebook for everyday living... providing standards for our conduct…

But first and foremost, they say that “The Bible is the account of God's action in the world and His purpose with all creation.” (Pls. right-click on the link, for the option to open it in a new window.)

Welsh theologian Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) said: “The Bible is not a book with just an appeal to us to do this, that, or the other—to accept certain ideas and put them into practice… It's not a book teaching morality or ethics or anything else… I'll tell you what it is—it's not a book, I say, that asks us primarily to do anything—it's a great announcement of what God has done! It's God acting!”

He did not say that there is no appeal in the Bible for us to do what we ought to; he did not say there were no commands to follow; he did not say that we cannot learn ethics or morality from the Bible. What he was trying to say was that the Bible is primarily about God. It is God-centered. It is about the God who reveals to us what is right, what is wrong; what is good, what is evil. It is about God revealing His Holiness, His Grace, His Power, His Love, His Wrath, His Dominion, His Lordship, His Authority that knows no end. This is what we should always humbly keep in mind whenever we open our Bibles. It is not about us or what we have to do "for God." Rather, it is about God and what He is doing in all that He created.

"...O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand." (Isaiah 64:8)

The Bible is above all else, about the All-Mighty All-Knowing Holy GOD, the Creator and Sustainer of all things; who is Graciously revealing Himself and patiently gathering unto Himself the objects of His Righteous wrath, to bless or dispense with as He wisely planned. The Bible is God’s written revelation of Himself. Keeping this in mind should result in us becoming just a bit more God-centered… which should result in us being able to better discern truth from error… which should result in us seeing how desperately far away from God mankind really is… which then should cause us to reach out to people with The Way, The Truth and The Life, even more.

While being more God-centered ought to humble us into becoming more forgiving of errors, this is no excuse for us to become more tolerant of errors: sinfulness, self-centeredness and disregard for Christ’s absolute Lordship, Supremacy and Sufficiency in all things. Being more forgiving is not the same as being more tolerant. In fact, God-centeredness should make us even more passionate in proclaiming and contending for God's truths: His everlasting Dominion, Authority and Lordship as clearly revealed in Scripture!

Being humble does not make us more God-centered. Being more forgiving, more patient, more passionate in reaching out to others do not make us any more God-centered either. Rather, these traits are merely among the results of being made able to see the centrality of God in all things (that all things and events revolve around Him who caused them into existence for His purpose and Glory). God-centeredness is by grace. A not-so-positive result of becoming God-centered though, is seeing how un-God-centered we all really are--yes, including ourselves. All of us need to become more and more God-centered, moment by moment. It is a life-long learning experience, and it can be a very tumultuous heart-breaking process. Becoming more and more God-centered is not very popular in this man-centered world that we live in.

"Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness. Why do the nations say, 'Where is their God?' Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him." (Psalm 115:1-3)

"Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please." (Isaiah 46:9-10)

"Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgements, and his path beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his councilor? Who has ever given to God, that Gos should repay him? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen." (Romans 11:33-36)

Ignacio Lacsina

The First of 2008

2008-02-04T21:35:00.004+11:00

The Caregroup held its first meeting for the year 2008, at Dr Jerome and Ate Mayet's.

We used the occassion to enjoy dinner together and to try to figure out what topics to take up this year. Among the choices were:

1) A series based on John MacArthur's book "How to Survive in a World of Unbelievers" (Word, 2001; out of print)

2) A series based on John Piper's book "God Is The Gospel" (Crossway, 2005)

3) A series based on Randy C Alcorn's "Heaven" (Tyndale House, 2004)

4) A series based on Chairman Justin's research on "Deception in the Church" (We lovingly call him "Chairman" because he is the church council chairman at PBC)

We were very thankful to have as special guests at our gathering Glenn and Dodie C of the Padstow Caregroup. They have already gone through a study based on John MacArthur's "How to Survive in a World of Unbelievers" and we were so encouraged by their inputs--specially on how and where to possibly obtain copies of John MacArthur's out-of-print book.

Hopefully, whatever topics we do eventually take up, we will be able to use them to better train ourselves to automatically read God's Word more analytically--whether we read it together as a group, or individually during our private quiet times.

Some basic questions to keep in mind when reading the Bible are:

Who was the writer of the passage? What was he like? What is the mood of his message?

Is he expressing his feelings in the form of poetry? Or is he defending or explaining a misunderstood theological concept? Is he recording specific historical events for posterity? Or is he noting down general observations in everyday life?

Who was the writer’s intended audience? What was their world like at that time? Was there an issue (or problem) that the writer was trying to address or explain to his intended audience? What was the point that he was trying to make in the whole passage, the whole chapter, the whole book?

To what similar issues or problems can the writer’s text be applied to, today? Am I applying what the writer was saying in a way that the writer intended his readers to do? Or am I using it to address an issue that may not really be related to what the writer was trying to address?

What forms of speech or idioms did the writer employ to clarify his message? Am I treating a figure of speech too literally? Or am I treating it the other way around?

Am I getting so carried away with what the passage seems to be implying that I’m missing what the passage is explicitly proclaiming? Am I drawing conclusions from this passage that contradicts what is explicitly taught in other passages?

How does the passage I am reading relate with the passages before and after it? How does it relate to the totality of the Bible’s God-centeredness?

Does the text I am reading provide the answers to the above questions? Or should I consult other passages, cross-references, commentaries?

As the Caregroup was very blessed with Chairman Justin's zeal and passion in his research regarding "Deception in the Church," it was decided to take up that topic first, for the next few fortnights.

May we all grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

The Son of Man-The Son of God Came to Serve, NOT to be Served...

2007-12-25T11:57:00.001+11:00

Hope you enjoy this GOD-Glorifying sermon by John Piper, dated December 17, 1995. Dated, yet timeless! It is for everyone who seriously wants to be a faithful disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. Pastor John's message can also be downloaded and listened to at DesiringGod.org. You can also support DesiringGod Ministries by going here. (Pls right-click on the links for the option to open each one in a new window)

(WARNING: Like most of Pastor John's messages, you'll need to read it very carefully and all the way to the end, to get the most out of it. You will be blessed... be very blessed, indeed!)

"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

--Mark 10:45

Introduction: Christmas Is About . . .

Today and next Sunday I want to meditate with you on Mark 10:45. It is a very important Christmas text.

Christmas is about the coming of Christ into the world.

It's about the Son of God, who existed eternally with the Father as "the radiance of his glory and the exact representation of his nature," taking on human nature and becoming a man (Hebrews 1:3).

It's about the birth of a man by a virgin conceived miraculously (not sexually) by the Holy Spirit so that he is the Son of God, not the way you and I are sons of God, but in an utterly unique way (Luke 1:35).

It's about the coming of a man named Jesus in whom "all the fullness of deity was pleased to dwell" (Colossians 2:9).

It's about the coming of the "fullness of time" that had been prophesied by the prophets of old that a Ruler would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2); and a child would be born called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6); and a Messiah, an anointed one, a shoot from the stem of Jesse, a son of David, a King would come (Isaiah 11:1–4; Zechariah 9:9); and, according to our text today, Christmas is about the coming of the Son of Man who "came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).

This brief expression of Christmas in Mark 10:45 is what I hope God will fix in your mind and heart this year so that your faith in future grace will be strengthened and so that you will have a clear, short word of explanation that you can refer to when you are talking to others about what Christmas really means.

So we will take it one step at a time and make sure that the words are clear and that we understand why Jesus said them in this context.

Whoever Wishes to Become Great . . .

Let's get the story clear: James and John, two of Jesus disciples—the sons of thunder—came up to him and said (in verse 35), "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." And Jesus said to them, "What do you want me to do for you? And they said to him, "Grant that we may sit in your glory, one on your right, and one on your left." But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking for. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" And they said to him, "We are able." And Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. But to sit on my right or on my left, this is not mine to give; but it is for those for whom it has been prepared."

What James and John Got Right

James and John get one thing right here, and most everything else wrong. They are right in verse 37 when they say that Jesus is destined for glory—"When you sit in your glory." And that is a good thing to be right about. There are some people in this room who are not yet right about that. Here's how you can tell. If you know that a company's stock is going to take off and go through the roof, you buy that stock and not the competitor's. If you know this building is going to stand after the storm and no others, you get in this building, and not the others. And if you know that Jesus is going to reign in glory in the end over every rival, then you follow Jesus and not his rivals. And some are not following Jesus and so don't have it right yet about his glory. You're not yet as far along as James and John.

They had that right. Jesus would take his kingly seat in glory someday and rule the world. Nobody really believes this who isn't following Jesus.

What James and John Got Wrong

But they probably didn't understand the cup and the baptism that Jesus was talking about in verse 38: "Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" They said yes. But did they know? What was he talking about?

What is this cup? In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus pleaded with his Father, if there was another way besides the horror of crucifixion and abandonment, would he please take that way. But these were the words he used, Abba! Father! All things are possible for you; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what you will. (Mark 14:36)

The cup was the death he was about to endure. So he was saying to James and John: if you want to rule with me in my glory the way you are asking, then you must die with me—you must drink the same cup.

And did they understand the baptism? "Are you able to . . . be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" In Luke 12:50 Jesus said, "I have a baptism to undergo, and how constrained I am until it is accomplished!" Jesus saw his death not only as a bitter cup to drink but an immersion—a baptism—in suffering. He said, in effect, my pathway to glory and to kingship is through suffering and death. If you want the kind of honor you are asking for, you must follow me in my suffering and death.

But there will be others who will follow like this, and I have only one right hand and one left hand. Who shall sit there? Verse 40: the one for whom it has been prepared by my Father. God the Father has decided this. It is not mine to change now.

So what he has done is take their desire for glory and show them that the path to glory is a pathway through suffering and death. That is what Christmas means: on Jesus' pathway from glory to glory, he came here to pass through suffering and death. Now he says, "Do you want to be great in glory with me? Walk with me on this path of suffering."

The Same Response to the Other Disciples

What happens, then, is that the other disciples get bent out of shape because of James and John's aggressive claim on the places of honor in the kingdom. What will Jesus say to them? He says basically the same thing he said to James and John, only with different words. Watch how he does it. Verse 41 says they are indignant with James and John. So Jesus calls them all around and says (in verse 42), You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. 43) But it is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; 44) and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all.

Now that is the same as saying to James and John: if you want to be great with me in my glory, you must drink the cup of my suffering. If you disciples want to get in on the greatness, you must be a servant, and if you want to be first, the way James and John asked about the first places, you must be slave of all. But what does slave of all mean?

What It Means to Become Slaves of All

In the next verse, (10:45) he gives an example of what he means, namely, himself. "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many." Notice the point here is serving that results in dying—a giving up of his life. So in verse 38, when he showed James and John the way to glory, he said that they would need to drink his cup and share his baptism, namely, death. And here in verse 45, when he shows the rest of the disciples the way to greatness, he gives his own death as an example: "the Son of Man came to give his life as a ransom for many." In both cases he is giving his death as an example of the kind of suffering and service that the disciples are called to.

That's the context of verse 45. It is part of a very radical call to discipleship. If you want to follow me and seek the glory of the kingdom, be prepared to suffer. That is the way I go, and those who follow me go the same way. I don't take the hard road while you take the easy road. The road that leads to life is hard and few there be that find it (Matthew 7:14). We take the same road. "He who would come after me must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" (Mark 8:34).

The Radical Call to Be Served by Jesus

Now in that context Jesus gives a powerful Christmas promise of future grace. As far as I know, no other religious leader in the history of the world has done what Jesus promised here.

He says in effect in verse 45 that this radical call to discipleship—this call to come and drink the cup of suffering and service—this is not a call to serve Jesus, but a call to be served by Jesus as we serve others and to be ransomed by Him from death. Let me say this again, to be sure you hear it correctly: the Good News (the Good News of Christmas) is that the radical call to Christian discipleship is NOT a call to serve Jesus, but to be served by Jesus as we serve others, and to be ransomed by Him from death.

You see this in verse 45: "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."

At first this only sounds like an example to follow, right? Don't lord it over your fellows; serve them. Why? Because the Son of Man set you an example: he serves. He gives his life. So at first the verse sounds like an example to follow.

Much, Much More Than an Example

But then you ponder for a few moments and it hits you. Wait a minute! This is not just an example for me to follow. He is not just saying, "Serve the way I serve." This is the Son of Man--the Son of GOD--serving me! Ransoming me from my sin and my death! Refusing to be served by me. Insisting on being the Servant and the Savior in my life.

This is not just another teacher with some rules about how to live, gathering some radical disciples to live the way he lives and stir up a revolution.

This is a man (and more than a man!) telling his disciples that he has come into the world to serve them; he does not want them to serve Him; and He will lay down His life so that their lives can be ransomed from sin and death.

This is unheard of. You need to feel how wild this is. No man ever spoke this way—except maybe in a mental hospital. No respected religious leader ever spoke this way. Either Jesus is above every ordinary teacher, with some supernatural power and dignity, or he is a lunatic.

When he calls for radical, self-sacrificing discipleship, he gives a reason in verse 45: "For [note the word!] even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom of many." Yes, this is a call to act the way he acted. But, O, so much more!

The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve! Not to be served by whom? Whom does he not want to be served by? Answer: the very disciples that he is calling to drink his cup and endure his baptism and to be the slave of all.

"Be My Disciples—Don't Serve Me"

He is saying: Yes, drink my cup. Yes, share my baptism. Yes, serve others. Yes, be the slave of all. This is what it means to be my disciple. But don't serve me! I have not come to be served. I will not be served like this. I will be the servant. I have not come to be served, but to serve. In your relationship with me, I will be the servant. I will serve you. I will work for you.

Do you think you can drink this cup without my help and service? Do you think you can endure the suffering of my baptism without my serving you and helping you? Do you think you can become the kind of person that renounces fame and human status to serve all other people without my serving you—day and night all the days of your life?

No you can't.

Do you recall what Jesus said in John 15:5?

I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from me you can do nothing.

Apart from me you can do nothing. You cannot drink my cup. You cannot endure my baptism. You cannot serve each other. You cannot become the slave of all. To do any of this, you must "abide in me and I in you."

You must trust me to serve you. Abiding in the vine and being served by Jesus are the same thing. And both are the same as living by faith in future grace.

A Christmas Demand and Promise

Jesus is saying, "Christmas means that the Son of Man comes. And when he comes, he demands something and he promises something. He demands your life. All of it. He demands that you take on a life-style that sacrifices everything for the sake of serving others (Luke 14:33). This is hard. In fact, it is impossible. That's what Jesus said to the disciples in Mark 10:27 when they said, "Who then can be saved?" He said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God." It is impossible to drink the cup of suffering. It is impossible to become everybody's servant. UNLESS . . .

That is what verse 45 is all about. The great UNLESS . . . Unless the Son of Man is serving you day and night.

Mark 10:45 is what turns Christianity into Gospel (Good News). If Christianity were only a great and radical teacher calling for the sacrificial obedience of radical disciples, it would not be good news. It would be just another ideology. Another philosophy. Another moral improvement program.

If Christmas only meant that a man appeared on the scene of history to call others to be servants, it would not be good news.

We know that already. We know intuitively that we are to love and serve and sacrifice, rather than boast and seek our own status and lord it over others. We don't need a Messiah to tell us that.

What we need is salvation from guilt and death and hell. And we need power to drink the cup of suffering in the path of service. We don't need another religious leader to say, "Follow me." We don't need another prophet, like Mohammed. We don't need another philosophical Buddha or Confucius, or another political organizer like Karl Marx or Mao Zedong. We don't need any more New Age mysticisms or psychological self-help strategies.

What we need is Someone who can forgive our sins and ransom us from guilt and death and the wrath of GOD, and who can give us a new life with the power to die for each other in the service of love.

That is what Christmas is all about. That is what Mark 10:45 is all about. Jesus does not merely come as another teacher or philosopher or politician or mystic.

He comes to do two things.

One: to give his life as a ransom for many. (We will dig into that great work next week.)

And he comes, secondly, to serve his disciples—to serve all those who will stop trying to earn his approval by serving him, and will humble themselves like little children and let Him serve them.

This is the help we need and the power we need. He is our Redeemer from guilt and death and hell. He is our helper day in and day out as he serves us by the power of his Spirit.

I commend him to you for your trust. For your enjoyment this Christmas.

Becoming Like Children on Christmas

Our new daughter, Talitha Ruth, arrived in our home Friday night at 9 1/2 weeks old. She smiled. She cooed. She ate. And she fell asleep in her crib. And slept for seven hours. She did not serve us at all. She is totally dependent on being served by us. If she insists on serving us rather than our serving her, she will die. This is why Jesus said, "Unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3).

It's almost Christmas. Open your heart to receive the best Christmas present imaginable: Jesus giving himself to die for you and serve you, all the rest of eternity. Receive this. Turn away from self-help and sin. Become like little children. Trust him. Trust him. Trust him with your life.

The Son of Man Came to Serve by John Piper
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"How Great Is Our GOD!"

2007-12-20T22:12:00.009+11:00

So sorry for the delay in posting this...

Several weeks ago, the Care Group was treated to a showing of an outstanding DVD featuring American speaker Louie Giglio, over at Kuya Rob and Ate Joy's home. The title of the DVD was "How Great is Our GOD," documenting highlights of the concert tour of the same name and based on the song popularised by Chris Tomlin. It wass a follow up to their earlier DVD entitled "Indescribable."

It was both extremely humbling and uplifting to watch Mr. Giglio show how the wonders of creation give glory to its one and only Creator. Be prepared to be awestruck.

Please enjoy the video below, thanks to YouTube user "thepaulrussell"

If you're in Australia, please contact your nearest Koorong bookstore to find out if they still have copies of this remarkable DVD in stock.

"You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being."

-Revelations 4:11

"Becoming A True Encourager"

2007-11-14T22:33:00.000+11:00

Watch Bro. Manuel M's message on what it means to be a true encourager, whatever the circumstances. (Delivered at Punchbowl Baptist Church in Sydney Australia, one Sunday morning in October 2007.)

Reading from 1 Thessalonians 5:1-14.

Please click on the thumbnail above to enjoy the message, care of Google Video (new window opens). May our LORD JESUS CHRIST's Grace and Peace be with you all!

"Our Main Responsibility To The Church"

2007-11-04T19:08:00.000+11:00

Watch Elder Robert V's Sunday morning message, delivered at Punchbowl Baptist Church, Sydney Australia (24th of September 2007) from Hebrews 10: 24-25.

Please click on the thumbnail below, to view the message at Google Video (new window).

Be Stirred up... Be Provoked... Be Blessed!

“Acting Out” Acts

2007-09-09T21:37:00.002+10:00

The Lord Jesus Christ was again gracious to the Care Group, blessing us with riches upon riches bursting forth from His Holy Word. God's Word contains more riches than all of the world's economies put together!

We had a grand time at Kuya Ding and Ate Fleur’s home the other night, as Kuya Ding led the group in “re-enacting” Acts, chapters 6 and 7. That’s right. Kuya Ding had the men of the caregroup (including himself, of course) “act out” Acts 6, while the women “acted out” Acts 7 (the stoning of Stephen, no less!).

While no one won any acting awards that evening, everyone went home with a greater appreciation of the importance of being continually and consistently grounded in God’s Holy Word.

Acts 6 taught us how the apostles did not allow themselves to be distracted from prayer and the “Ministry of the Word,” even when “practical” demands were threatening to divide the early church.

The poor apostles had to deal with complaints, murmurings, allegations of neglect and discrimination in the allocation of food among the neediest of the flock. There were mounting pressures for them to concern themselves with more “practical” matters, at the expense of time and energy that should be completely devoted to prayer, the proper study and the correct teaching of Scripture: Sound Doctrine—what some Christians today may find as being “too spiritual” or too “inward looking” or "too divisive."

It would not be unrealistic to think that some well-meaning church leaders may have tried to convince the Apostles that they should spend more time and energy on more "practical" matters. The Apostles were probably told: "No one is saying that we should stop studying Scripture... The Scriptures will always be there for us to study... What was true in the Scriptures before, would still be true tomorrow... But we live in the REAL world right now... a REAL world where people need to eat... a REAL world where people's needs must be met... a REAL world where the church needs to be more practical to make an impact this world and not just study Scripture..."

In the face of such challenges, the apostles bravely declared, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God.”

To the Apostles, nothing was more important, useful and practical than being immersed in Scripture and in correctly handling the Word of GOD: they loved Jesus and so yearned to feed Christ’s flock with the choicest meat and purest milk of God’s Word—nothing less would do! They did not allow anything to distract them from what was and still is, truly important: the Ministry of God’s Word.

God's Word is what the REAL Church in the REAL world needs most of all. Sadly, it is also what the REAL world considers as foolishness.

So instead, the Apostles chose among the flock seven men, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom (that is, Godly or “Theo-logical” knowledge, as “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,” Proverbs 1:7a). These men were to be responsible for the practical needs of the church. This allowed the apostles to continue concentrating on the most important matter: the church’s spiritual growth (what Pastors and Elders are supposed to be concerned about). While in the meantime, the other men who were also full of God’s Holy Spirit and theological wisdom, were put in charge of the physical needs of the church (what Deacons are supposed to be concerned about).

What was the result? Acts 6:7 says “So the word of God spread. The number of disciples (committed life-long student/followers) in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.”

All Glory to God for His mighty Word!

The latter portion of Acts 6 to the end of chapter 7, then teaches us about one of these seven men, full of the Holy Spirit and Wisdom, who was tasked with providing for the physical needs of the church: a young man named Stephen. Even as Stephen’s primary concern was looking after the physical concerns of Christ’s flock (such as the serving of food to the church’s neediest members--yes, he was pretty much a delivery boy), this did not mean that he was a theological lightweight!

Back in the days when they still did not have the NIV Study Bible or GodTube.com, Stephen’s mastery of Holy Scripture would have put many of today’s “God-is-love-and-that’s-all-the-world-needs-to-know” Christians to shame.

When Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia began to argue with Stephen, they realised that they could not stand up to his wisdom or to the Holy Spirit by whom Stephen spoke—All Scripture is of God’s Holy Spirit!

So in their frustration, they framed Stephen and falsely accused him of blasphemy against Moses, against Moses’ laws, against the Jewish synagogues, and ironically against God himself.

But instead of shying away from the challenge, Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, seized this magnificent opportunity to correctly explain what was written in Holy Scripture about the Glory of God: the Glory of God appearing to Abraham; the Glory of God in His promises; the Glory of God over historical events (as in Israel’s history); the Glory of God even in the persecution of His chosen people (Joseph and his brothers, the Jews as slaves in Egypt and how God rescued them); the Glory of God over earthly superpowers (Egypt/Pharaoh) and worldwide natural calamities (such as famine); God’s glory in raising up Moses under the most unusual circumstances; God’s glory even in how the Israelites rejected and opposed Moses time and time again…

God’s glory in cleansing out and bringing to Himself a disobedient nation; God’s glory in raising up Joshua then driving out the other nations before them. God’s glory in raising up David and then Solomon who built the Great Temple in Jerusalem, with nearly unlimited funds. Yet even this temple in all its splendour could not do justice to God’s glory: The Most High does not live in houses made by men: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? Says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all of these things?”

Then, speaking the truth in love (or better yet, speaking the truth out of love—especially out of love for Christ), Stephen says, “You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet whom your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One:” Jesus Christ—the only One whose Righteousness is pleasing to the Father.

So they dragged Stephen out of the city and they violently stoned him to death. Yet, Stephen was received by Christ with the peace that surpasses all understanding.

May the Holy Spirit give us more and more opportunities to proclaim what God’s Word clearly teaches: that Jesus Christ is, was and always will be LORD. He was LORD even before any of us were born or conceived—LORD even before He created the galaxies and the universes… and LORD even long after heaven and earth shall pass away.

As we “reach out to the lost,” may we not shy away from proclaiming the truth of God’s Glorious Lordship: His Sovereignty over Heaven and Hell; Life and Death; Good and Evil; the Cross and the Tomb; the Past, the Present, the Future and beyond all Eternity. Jesus Christ’s Eternal LORDSHIP—His Everlasting Dominion: His Rule, Authority and Sovereignty—is the very heart and core of the Good News: Behold, the Kingdom of God (His Lordship, Dominion, Authority and Sovereignty) is at hand!

This is what Jesus Himself told His disciples to proclaim, as they neared the city of Jerusalem, before He was betrayed, crucified and rose again!

The Gospel is no gospel (or “good news”) at all, if it is not about Christ’s Eternally Righteous Lordship and Sovereign Grace.

Sometimes, perhaps under some pressure to make Jesus more “likeable” or “approachable,” we tend to portray Jesus as a god who is asking for our decision to make him lord. Let us not forget that it was He who made us: He is the Uncreated One who does not need any of us to make Him into anything. He needs no permission to rule from any of us.

Nowhere in the Bible does it teach us to ask others to “make Jesus lord.” This is because according to God’s Word: HE ALREADY IS LORD! Whether people like it or not, accept it or not, or understand it or not. Mankind’s problem is that, if the Holy Spirit does not graciously open our humanistic hearts and man-centred minds to this truth, none of us will ever humbly acknowledge God’s Lordship over all.

Some Christians might say that this message may not seem relevant or appealing or practical enough to today’s unchurched target audience. They might argue that the church today needs to address more practical issues instead, such as “self-esteem” or “healing broken relationships” or “living victoriously” or “finding the job God wants you to have” or "understanding your teeanagers" to attract more unbelievers into the church.

What the Bible unabashedly instructs us though is to “Seek first the Kingdom of God (to behold above all things His Lordship, His Dominion and His Sovereignty) and His righteousness, and all these things (yes, all these “practical” things) will be added unto you.”

Like Stephen, may we always remain faithful to the truths about God’s Eternal Everlasting Dominion and LORDship, as clearly proclaimed in His Word… even if it costs us our friends, our families, our possessions, our self-esteem, even the very lives that God has graciously given us.

All Glory to Jesus Christ alone. Amen!

The Grace and Peace of Christ to you all!

Dr. James Kennedy Tribute Site

2007-09-08T20:31:00.002+10:00

Please click on the image above to view The Life & Legacy of the late Dr. D James Kennedy (Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, Westminster Academy, Knox Theological Seminary and author of Evangelism Explosion)

Read Dr. Kennedy's article "Sanctification," at SoundofGrace.com

Bad News about Good Works?! A Short Discussion on Galatians 3

2007-08-18T22:27:00.003+10:00

SHORT BACKGROUND

During his first missionary journey (46-48 A.D.), Paul together with Barnabas had the opportunity to establish several churches in the Roman province of Galatia (Acts 13:14-14:23). On his second trip (49-52 A.D.), Paul and Silas visited them again (Acts 16:1-5). Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians is now commonly believed to be addressed to these churches, as opposed to the churches in Northern Galatia (which Paul supposedly helped establish during his 2nd missionary journey, though no mention of it exists in Acts.)

In any case, this letter of Paul to the Galatians (whether North or South) were for:

 “Churched” believers of Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:26; 4:6-7) who have already been Justified (declared Righteous) by faith (Gal. 3:26); Paul already considered them as “saved.”

 Galatians were “running a good race” (Gal. 5:7); they desired to please and serve the Lord and did not seem to be complaining about suffering for their faith.

 Problem: Though already Justified by their faith, they were then misled by certain "teachers" (Gal. 1:7) into thinking that they now need to “attain their goal” (of either Holy living/Sanctification or of somehow “completing” their Justification?) by human effort (Gal. 3:3 NIV or “by the flesh” in KJV, ESV, NASB) in this case, through mandatory circumcisions (see Acts 15 for more background info).

OVERALL LOGIC: If human effort or good works cannot even justify you, what makes you think that you can now depend on good works to “attain your goal”—of either Holy living/Sanctification or of somehow “completing” your Justification?

Trying to become Holy (or Sanctified) by works is as useless as trying to be Justified by works. Good works do not result in us becoming Holy. It is GOD who makes us Holy and this results in good works.

CHAPTER ONE: Introduction; Greetings & Salutation; Warning against false gospels; Paul’s Credentials/Qualifications for Apostleship: Received Gospel by Divine Revelation, not “man-made;” Former Persecutor who was graciously set apart by God and accepted by the Apostles in Jerusalem.

CHAPTER TWO: Paul's opposition to “Judaizers” (Christians pushing Jewish traditions on others) while he was in Jerusalem with the apostles, who agreed with Paul. Paul was chosen to minister to the Gentiles. Paul's concern for the Gentiles even resulted in him rebuking Peter when he (Peter) separated himself from Gentile converts in favour of mingling with Jewish converts. Paul’s point: man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.

CHAPTER THREE: Justification is by Faith, not by Law (remember Abraham?); So why are you now trying to “attain your goal” by observing the law, which could not even Justify you? The Law condemns us of sin and thus leads us to Christ. Now that we are in Christ, why are you trying to go back under the law?

CHAPTER FOUR: God’s children are no longer slaves to the law. Like Paul, do not alienate yourselves from the Good News you have already received. Using Sarah & Hagar (Gen. 21) as illustration, let us appreciate our position in Christ.

CHAPTER FIVE: Christ set us free from sin and the law, not so that we can indulge in sin nor in the law again—but so that we may live by the Spirit of God. Those who think that Christ set us free from the law so that we can be free to sin do not have the Spirit in them and will not inherit the kingdom of God—what they do is obviously the opposite to what the Spirit causes believers to do.

CHAPTER SIX: (Application) Carefully help the Weak and Sinful. Freely share with those who instruct you. Trust God, who knows those who are still secretly living by their sinful natures (God cannot be mocked or tricked by people pretending to be “moral”). Seize every opportunity to do good. These are the genuine words of Paul, who then condemns those who want to boast about what is done in the flesh. Benediction.

PLS. READ GALATIANS CHAPTER THREE (v. 1-29) then discuss:

1) What seems to be Paul’s mood when he wrote the opening passages of chapter 3 and why do you think was Paul feeling that way? Was Paul correct to feel and write the way that he did?

2) Gal. 3:1b (NIV) says, “Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.” What do you think is the significance of this? What was it like to be crucified (remember Passion of the Christ)? How does Christ being brutally tortured and crucified for our sins, compare with people being circumcised to please God?

3) How do you think the Gentile Galatian Christians felt when they compared themselves to the Jewish Christians? How should Gentile Christians have seen themselves based on 3:8-9; 3:26-29?

4) The Galatian Christians seem to be very willing to suffer and lose even their happiness, for their faith (3:4a; 4:15; 5:7a). Is there a right way and wrong way to suffer for our faith? How can we tell the difference? How can we tell if God’s imperatives (or commands) to us, are being taught in their proper Biblical context or not?

5) When someone reads Biblical passages out of context, how does this affect their testimony and witness to others, especially to non-believers? How do you feel when you hear someone teach God’s Word out of context, especially to non-believers and new Christians? How do you think Paul would deal with this problem today?

6) In 3:6-18, what covenant (agreement) did God make with Abraham? Who else did God make this covenant with (3:16)? Who among the parties to this agreement is the most trustworthy (someone we can truly have faith in)? (Many thanks to Elder Rob V for elaborating on this further, by using Hebrews 6!)

7) If sinners are Justified (proclaimed Righteous) by faith, what then is the purpose of the law (3:19-25)? Are Christians now free to be immoral (breakers of God’s laws)? How should Christians now see and conduct themselves, based on 3:26-29?

Paul, The Galatians and the "C"-word

2007-08-18T22:20:00.002+10:00

Circumcision was a very important issue to the Jews. They viewed it as their part in their Covenant with GOD. Circumcision distinguished them from all the other nations around them. It was a sign that they were GOD’s Chosen people. When Goliath started challenging the army of Israel in 1 Samuel 17, young little David declared, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living GOD?”

The Jews trace circumcision to events described by Moses in Genesis 17: Abram was 90 years old and GOD had already declared him righteous because of his faith (Gen. 15:6).

In Genesis 17 though, GOD appears again to Abram (“exalted father”) and commands him to change his name to Abraham (“father of multitudes” or “father of many nations”).

But there was more. Let’s read Gen. 17:9-14… and then let's get an idea of what some legalistic Jewish Christians were preaching to the Gentiles in Acts 15:1…

Now imagine hearing that as a 1st century Galatian Christian, wishing to please GOD. Imagine hearing it from someone who has been a Christian longer than you have. Imagine hearing it from someone who has been a Christian longer than you have and who was a biological descendant of Abraham. They did not have the internet, the printing press or the NIV. Many did not understand how the Old Covenant (Testament) was a shadow to lead us to the New Covenant. So what would you do?

PAUL was not speaking out or writing against circumcision per se. Paul did not proclaim that getting circumcised, in and by itself, was bad. What ticked him off though, was the false teaching that circumcision was essential to one’s salvation; and how the Galatians’ zeal for God were exploited by this false teaching.

Circumcision was an ordinance that was supposed to be a physical symbol, sign or token of a person’s faith in the invisible GOD and His Promises to come. Today, we have ordinances like Baptism and the partaking of the LORD’s Supper. These are the physical symbols, signs and tokens of our faith in the GOD who has made Himself visible in the flesh, in CHRIST--and His promise to return in Glory.

So yes, we should encourage all believers to never tire of doing good, to be Baptized and to partake of the LORD’s Supper in a worthy manner. But if we should ever suggest that any these ordinances or good works are necessary for one’s salvation, then we insult the Gospel… we insult GOD’s Grace… we insult CHRIST and His sacrifice on the cross.

  
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  

Sinners are saved by GRACE Alone, through FAITH Alone, in CHRIST Alone, as taught in SCRIPTURE Alone, all for the Glory of GOD Alone.

More Bad News about Good Works? Galatians Chapter 5

2007-08-18T22:06:00.001+10:00

We had a very blessed time meeting together at Kuya Vic and Ate Connie's on Friday night (July 6). The Care Group was able to discuss Paul's writings in Galatians 5 and the proper place of "good works" in the life of believers.

PLEASE READ GALATIANS CHAPTER FIVE (v. 1-26) THEN DISCUSS:

1) Sin alienates us from GOD. But in verse 4, what does Paul claim to alienate us from CHRIST?

2) Now, I’m confused. I know that we cannot be Justified by our good works, but doesn’t the Bible teach us to Sanctify ourselves by good works (or does it)? What exactly is the proper role or place of good works in the life of believers? Please explain…

3) Elsewhere in the Bible, Paul says, “we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works.” (Eph. 2: 10) Does that mean that good works should be our ultimate goal, our chief end? The very reason that mankind was created? (According to Christ, what is the work that God requires in John 6:25-40?)

4) If someone who professes to be a Christian does not seem to be doing enough good works, what do we do?

A Few Thoughts, While Reading Galatians...

The Gospel is not just concerned with Justification by Faith (which is a very important part of the Gospel). The Good News is much greater than that. The Gospel is about the Holy Sovereign GOD of all creation, having Chosen and Elected us “in Him before the foundation of the world” (Eph 1:4), GOD purchasing His people from sin with the blood of Christ: GOD imputing His righteousness to His Children; GOD Justifying us (Rom. 4:5), GOD Sanctifying us (1 Thess. 5:23; 2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2), GOD Glorifying us (Rom. 8:30; Col. 3:4; 2Thess. 2:14; Heb. 2:10; 1 Pet. 5:1, 4) and GOD allowing His children to spend eternity with HIM.

This is why the Gospel is not just for non-believers, but also for those who already believe. This Good News is eternal because it's all about our eternal Sovereign Almighty GOD!

1 Peter 1:25 (KJV): “But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”

This is “the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures” (Rom. 1:2). John also writes about an angel in Rev 14:6, “he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people.”

Salvation is by Grace alone, through Faith alone, in Christ alone, as taught in Scripture alone, all for the glory of God alone. If we forget this, we might end up resorting to our own means all over again.

The Galatian churches needed to be told that “They are sanctified not by legalistic works but by the obedience that comes from faith in God’s work for them, in them and through them by the grace and power of Christ and the Holy Spirit.” (Book Introduction to Galatians, Zondervan NIV Study Bible ©2002, http://www.ibs.org/niv/studybible/galatians.php)

This eternal Gospel proclaims the Lord’s gracious provision for us to be like Him, as opposed to man’s self-centered way to be “like God” (as was encouraged by the serpent in Genesis 3).

Man thinks that he can be godly by trusting in “knowledge” and so ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Man thinks that he now has the knowledge or an “own understanding” to rightly judge what is good and what is evil—“like God, knowing good and evil.” (This was the serpent’s lie in Gen. 3:5.) This is confidence in the flesh (ala Phil. 3).

Sadly, the mere concept of true Holiness is too much for our finite human minds to understand. Man, being naturally “man-centered” can only recognize things as being moral or immoral. He thinks that if something is not moral then it must be immoral. This was probably why the moralistic Pharisees confused Jesus with Beelzebub (Matt. 12:24).

The best that mankind can do is try to be moral (conform to laws/rules). While many today equate morality with godliness or Christ-likeness, morality only deals with how good we can be to our fellow human beings—-it is “man-centered.” Morality is nice, but God has something much greater in mind for His children: HOLINESS.

(To the Most Holy Righteous God, mankind's morality/mankind's righteous acts are no better than filthy rags.)

When God opened our eyes to His righteousness, we ought to have become ashamed of our immorality (obviously, Gal. 5:19). May God reveal to us now even more of His righteousness, so that we may now also become discontent with our own morality—not so that we can slip back down to immorality—but so that we may yearn for what God wants us to be: Holy, just as the Father is Holy!

We have been freed from the Law which condemns us of sin, so that former slaves to sin can now be free—not just to be good, or moral or pious—but to be Holy… Godly… CHRIST-like!

True Holiness surpasses mere morality and thus, cannot be attained by mere mortals being more moral. True Holiness is of God. We are sanctified (separated from the rest) by God, for God.

Comments? Clarifications? Corrections?

To GOD alone be the Glory, in CHRIST’s name. Amen!

The Four "R's" in Galatians 6

2007-08-18T21:20:00.000+10:00

The Care Group had a wonderful session at Chairman Justin and Ate Marilyn’s new address, where Elder Robert V. continued our review of Paul’s Letter to the Galatians. Our discussion for the evening concentrated on Chapter 6 and used parts of the book “Free for All: Galatians,” by Phillip Jensen and Kel Richards (Matthias Media).

Elder Robert divided Galatians Chapter 6 into 4 sections: verses 1-5; verse 6; verses 7-10 and verses 11-18:

Galatians 6:1-5 and the theme of

“RESTORATION”
(Pls. click and drag on the blank space within the “quotation marks” above.)

What does verse 1 prove about us? Do you think we lose our salvation if we sin?

How is being “spiritual” described in verses 1-5?

How do we fulfill the law of Christ by carrying each other’s
burdens (verse 2)?

Discuss verse 3. Have you experienced a spiritual low in your life? How did you handle it?

Is verse 5 a contradiction of verse 2? How do we look at these in context?

How would a legalist deal with a brother (or sister) in Christ who falls into sin?

Galatians 6:6 and the theme of
“REPAYMENT OR RESTITUTION”
(Pls. click and drag on the blank space within the “quotation marks” above.)

What does Paul mean when he instructs believers to “share all good things with your his instructor (teacher or pastor)?”

What would a legalist consider as appropriate in “sharing good things?” (All? Some? 10% before or after taxes?)

Galatians 6:7-10 and the theme of
“REAPING”
(Pls. click and drag on the blank space within the “quotation marks” above.)

Discuss verse 7: Is there anything (desire, thought, plan or action) that we can
keep secret from God?

What is our encouragement in verse 9 to
continue “doing good?”

Galatians 6:11-18 and the theme of
“REGENERATION OF SINNERS IS OF GOD,

BY GOD AND FOR GOD’S GLORY ALONE!”
(Pls. click and drag on the blank space within the “quotation marks” above.)

As opposed to Paul, where do Legalists (or Moralists) find their fulfillment?

What is the most important sign that someone is a true disciple
of Christ?

Dr. Harold O.J. Brown, 1933-2007

2007-07-15T18:59:00.000+10:00

Harold O.J. Brown, John R. Richardson Professor of Theology and Philosophy at Reformed Theological Seminary, Charlotte, North Carolina was born July 6, 1933 in Tampa, Florida to Dr. Harold Ogden and Mary Bakas Brown.

Brown earned four degrees from Harvard University and Harvard Divinity School. He received the Bachelor of Arts in Germanic languages and biochemical sciences, the Bachelor of Divinity in theology, the Master of Theology in church history and the Doctor of Philosophy in Reformed studies. He also studied at the University of Marburg, Germany, and the University of Vienna, Austria, and taught courses in Basel, Switzerland, and Yeotmal, India.

In 1975, Brown founded the Christian Action Council with former United States Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, M.D. The Christian Action Council was the leading evangelical pro-life action group and an educational and service ministry, which he served as charmain until 1998. The Christian Action Council is currently known as Care Net, Inc. He was the director of the Center on Religion and Society at the Rockford Institute and taught in the International Seminar on Jurisprudence and Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.

Brown's areas of expertise included systematic theology; right-to-life issues; ethics, especially ethical and family values; journalism, public affairs; and political philosophy. He is a member of the American Theological Society, and the Turnerschaft Saxonia Marburg.

Brown received several awards, including many for his pro-life work. He received Fulbright and Danforth awards and was voted Faculty Member of the Year at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School where he held the Franklin Forman Chair of Christian Ethics and Theology and was professor of biblical and systematic theology. He taught at Trinity as a visiting professor in 1971 and 1975 and served as associate professor of systematic theology from 1976 to 1983. After four years as a pastor in Switzerland, Brown returned to the Trinity faculty in 1987. He joined the faculty of Reformed Theological Seminary on its Charlotte, North Carolina campus in the summer of 1998 and remained a vital part of the community until his passing.

Brown served on the editorial staff of Human Life Review and Christianity Today and served as contributing editor for Christianity Today and Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. He was editor of The Religion and Society Report and wrote numerous articles over the last 40 years in such magazines as National Review, Eternity, Hemelios, Human Life Review, and publications in Germany, Austria, and London. His books include The Protest of a Troubled Protestant (Zondervan, 1969), Christianity and the Class Struggle (Arlington House, 1970), Death before Birth (Thomas Nelson, 1977), The Reconstruction of the Republic (Arlington House, 1977), and Heresies: The Image of Christ in the Mirror of Heresy and Orthodoxy from the Apostles to the Present. His most recent books are Sensate Culture (Word, 1996) and Heresies: Heresy and Orthodoxy in the History of the Church (Henderson, 1998).

Brown and his wife, Grace, had two children, Cynthia Brown Erb and Peter E.H. Brown. In his spare time, Brown enjoyed crew, skiing and mountaineering.

Harold or 'Joe' as many of us called him was a rich blessing to RTS, not only in his solid scholarship and classroom excellence but also in his personal relationships and care for students, staff, and other faculty. He had a European "dry wit" and a great sense of understated humor. Even though slowed by poor health in his later years, he was always challenging in his teaching and tender in his thoughtfulness to others. We will miss him but we rejoice in the heritage he left to us and in his presence with our Savior.

--Dr. Robert (Ric) C. Cannada, Jr., Chancellor of Reformed Theological Seminary

Heaven Help Us In The WAR on ERROR...

2007-07-08T13:58:00.000+10:00

"Heaven help us, whenever we think that good Christian Theology can be separated from good Christian Practice.

"Heaven help us, whenever we think that good Christian Practice can be separated from good Christian Theology.

"May we all realise that good Christian Theology is the mother of all good Christian Practices, from which all other good Christian Practices are born."

***

"We need to study every Bible passage in their proper context. Otherwise we will fail to appreciate our lives, together with everything else that God created, in their proper context. All things must be seen in the light of God, with the proper understanding of His inerrant Word."

Ignacio Lacsina, jnr. (08 July 2007)

Ligonier Ministries on the Australian Christian Channel

2007-07-03T23:00:00.000+10:00

Conference Highlights - Giving you front row seats to some of the best Christian conferences from around the world.

Ligonier Ministries – Orlando 2001 Conference Collection - "The Holiness of God"

In this series of lectures from Ligonier Ministries 2001 National Conference Alistair Begg, John MacArthur, R Albert Mohler Jr, RC Sproul, provide a comprehensive overview of the holiness of God. The speakers discuss holiness as an attribute of God’s character, holiness as an attribute of revelation, and explain how holiness is to inform our worship, our piety, and our family life.

July 3rd - John MacArthur

July 10th - Questions and Answers (with Alisair Begg, Sinclair Ferguson, John MacArthur and RC Sproul)

July 17th – Alistair Begg: Holy Devotion

July 24th - R Albert Mohler Jr: Living in an unholy world

July 31st - RC Sproul

Screening Times

Tuesday 22:00
Wednesday 5:00
Wednesday 15:00
Saturday 14:00

Avoiding Superficial Bible Interpretation

2007-06-25T12:16:00.000+10:00

"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12)

So please use it wisely.

See more engaging videos by OldTruth.com, at GodTube.com.

The Importance of Context...

2007-06-25T11:55:00.000+10:00

A thoroughly thought-provoking message from Cross.TV.
A "MUST-WATCH" video for all who take God's Word seriously.

See more of their videos at GodTube.com, by clicking here.

The Solution to a Troubled Heart - Gospel of John 14:1-6

2007-06-02T14:48:00.000+10:00

Elder Robert V led the Bible study last Friday night at Chairman Justin and Ate Marylin's home. He recounted one of Steve F's messages at PBC, based on Mark chapter 6, on how to deal with experiences of rejection, struggles of finding acceptance and most importantly, on WHO'S acceptance it is that really matters.

We then read John 14:1-6. The accounts in John chapter 14 occured during the Last Supper, after Christ's triumphant entry to Jerusalem and before his betrayal by Judas (and later by Peter) and before the "scattering of the sheep."

Q1: What should be the basis of our comfort, according to John 14:1?

The Assurance of His (pls click and drag cursor to see answer...)

"PROMISE"

Q2: What does our Lord mean when He says, "Believe in God, believe also in me"? What is the Old Testament basis that the Jews are familiar with about God? See Deuteronomy 31:1-6; Joshua 1:1-5; John 20: 29; 1 Peter 1:7-8; John 16:13-14 for reference (then, please click and drag on blank space below to see answers).

"Jesus and the Father are... One. He is the same God who promised to never leave or forsake Israel. Even when it seems like God is dead, He's not. Everything is going according to His plan."

Q3: What is the future hope of comfort in John 14: 2-3?

The Assurance of His (pls click and drag cursor to see answer...)

"PRESENCE"

Q4: What are the common New Testament pictures/descriptions of heaven and their emphases? See Hebrews 11:16; Heb. 12:22; Revelations 3:12 for hints (then, please click and drag on blank space below to see answers).

"Heaven is sometimes referred to as the City of God, or the Country of God or the Kingdom of God or the New Jerusalem."

Q5: What is the significance of Christ’s description of heaven in John 14:2-3? (Please click and drag on blank space below to see answers).

"Jesus likens heaven to an intimate family dwelling place or home. Jewish homes at the time of Jesus were like compounds, where extended families lived closely together. Each family in the clan lived in their own room (or "house"), within this home. Family ties were very closely knit."

Q6: Did Thomas ask Jesus a valid question in John 14:5? Why or why not? What assurance do we get from Christ’s answer in John 14:6?

The Assurance of His (pls click and drag cursor to see answer...)

"PERSON"

The solution to a troubled heart is to focus on Jesus Christ—The Way, The Truth and the Life—who will never leave or forsake His people.

A Date with Martha and Mary...

2007-05-21T10:59:00.000+10:00

"It was the Friday night before Mothers' Day Sunday. The Care Group also wanted to celebrate Dr. Jerome's and Ate Mayet's birthdays, so off we all went on a group dinner date..."

Appetisers: What comes to mind when you hear the names of sisters Martha and Mary? What do you remember about these sisters in the Bible?

They were sisters of Lazarus, the man whom Jesus raised from the grave in John 11. Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus (John 11:5).

Mary poured expensive perfume on the Lord. John 12:1-3. (There is much speculation that this is the same event recorded in Matt 26:6-13, Mark 14:3 and perhaps Luke 7:37-38.)

Main course for tonight: Please read Luke 10:38-42 and discuss your observations regarding the passage...

What qualities of Martha stand out in this passage?

(Martha means “the Lady” in Judæo-Aramaic מַרְתָּא Martâ)

What qualities of Mary stand out in this passage?

(Is the woman in John 12:1-3, the same woman in Matt 26:6-13, Mark 14:3 and in Luke 7:37-38? Maybe? Maybe not?)

What qualities of Jesus stand out in this passage?

Did Jesus have anything against Martha as a person? Or for working so hard? Why do you think Jesus had to “correct” her?

Regardless of their differences, Martha and Mary were sisters—sisters in Christ, no less. Each of them had a place and purpose in God’s Kingdom.

Jesus did not “correct” Martha because of all the hard work that she was doing. But the problem seems to be that Martha became distracted: Her thoughts (worried), feelings (upset) and focus (self at work) were not where they should have been, even if it was only for a moment.

“Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” —Luke 10:40 NIV (Emphasis mine)

Distraction can lead to destruction. (Remember this the next time you drive!)

Martha started out doing things unto the Lord, which was fine… until what she was doing unto the Lord, became her lord: Martha became subject to what she was doing. Even worse, she thought that Jesus should also be subject to what she thought were the priorities: Application, before Sound Doctrine.

This is perhaps one of the saddest cases of putting the cart in front of the donkey, because Application must be based on Sound Doctrine.

Application is the "living out" of Sound Doctrine (not the "leaving out" of Sound Doctrine because it seems too theoretical or impractical)--and Doctrine can only be sound if it is continually leading us to Christ--the Alpha and the Omega; the author and finisher of our faith; in whom we live, move and have our being. Knowing Jesus Christ more and more is our first priority. All else will follow after that.

What is our most reliable source of sound doctrine on Jesus?

Is it possible to know the true Jesus of the Bible “too much”?

A Toast:

May the more we study Scripture, the more we realize how little we know Him. May the more we feed on God’s Word, the more we realize how famished we all really are.

May our “date” with Martha and Mary cause us to hunger for and feed on God’s Word, more and more. And may the sheer goodness of God’s Truth make us gladly share it among ourselves… and others!

Related resources on the web (Dessert):

Doctrine and Devotion (Part 1 and Part 2) by Ernest Reisinger; excerpt:

"Doctrine is to Christian experience what bones are to the body. A body without bones would be a lump of "glob"utterly useless. Likewise, Christian experience without roots is like cut flowers stuck in the ground--they may look pleasant for awhile, but ultimately they will wither and die..."

Does Doctrine Really Matter? (click here) by John MacArthur; excerpt:

"Sound, biblical doctrine is a necessary aspect of true wisdom and authentic faith. The attitude that scorns doctrine while elevating feelings or blind trust cannot legitimately be called faith at all, even if it masquerades as Christianity. It is actually an irrational form of unbelief."

Doctrine Is Practical (click here) also by John MacArthur; excerpt:

"No ministry activity is more important than rightly understanding and clearly proclaiming sound doctrine."

Practical Holiness

(click here) by John Piper; excerpt:

"If a pastor wants to see his people become more holy, more pure, more pleasing to God in their kitchens and bedrooms and offices and backyards, what should he say to them? How should he preach?"

Why Doctrine Matters (Part 1 and Part 2) by Albert Mohler; excerpt:

"Those who sow disdain and disinterest in biblical doctrine will reap a harvest of rootless and fruitless Christians. Doctrine is not a challenge to experiential religion; it testifies to the content of that experience. The church is charged to call persons to Christ and to root them in a mature knowledge of Christian faith."

Loving God with our Minds (click here) by John Samson; excerpt:

"When the beginning point in our thinking is a correct understanding of God, the ripple effect is a right understanding of all other doctrines, which is a central component in loving God with all our minds."

Watch John Piper teach about the place of application in his preaching.
Please click on the thumbnail below to view the video in a new window.
(Take-Away...)

(This video excerpt is from "Lionhearted and Lamblike: The Christian Husband as Head, Part 1.")

Ignacio Lacsina jnr.

Donate Bibles For India, this May at Koorong!

2007-05-04T12:39:00.000+10:00

Speaking the Truth In Love - Ephesians Chapter 4, Verses 14-16, 25

2007-04-29T17:49:00.000+10:00

The Group enjoyed our fellowship at Kuya Ding and Ate Fleur's home last Friday night. Kuya Ding led our discussion on "Speaking the Truth in Love." Our text came from Ephesians 4:14-16, 25.

The Zondervan NIV Study Bible's Introduction to the Book of Ephesians (at the International Bible Society's website) gives us the following very helpful insights to this "Queen of the Epistles:"

Author, Date and Place of Writing

The author identifies himself as Paul (1:1; 3:1; cf. 3:7,13; 4:1; 6:19–20). Some have taken the absence of the usual personal greetings and the verbal similarity of many parts to Colossians, among other reasons, as grounds for doubting authorship by the apostle Paul. However, this was probably a circular letter, intended for other churches in addition to the one in Ephesus... Paul may have written it about the same time as Colossians, c. a.d. 60, while he was in prison at Rome...

The City of Ephesus

Ephesus was the most important city in western Asia Minor (now Turkey). It had a harbor that at that time opened into the Cayster River (see map, p. 2429), which in turn emptied into the Aegean Sea (see map, p. 2599). Because it was also at an intersection of major trade routes, Ephesus became a commercial center. It boasted a pagan temple dedicated to the Roman goddess Diana (Greek Artemis); cf. Ac 19:23–31. Paul made Ephesus a center for evangelism for about three years (see note on Ac 19:10), and the church there apparently flourished for some time, but later needed the warning of Rev 2:1–7.

Theological Message

Unlike several of the other letters Paul wrote, Ephesians does not address any particular error or heresy. Paul wrote to expand the horizons of his readers, so that they might understand better the dimensions of God’s eternal purpose and grace and come to appreciate the high goals God has for the church.

The letter opens with a sequence of statements about God’s blessings, which are interspersed with a remarkable variety of expressions drawing attention to God’s wisdom, forethought and purpose. Paul emphasizes that we have been saved, not only for our personal benefit, but... to bring praise and glory to God. The climax of God’s purpose, “when the times will have reached their fulfillment,” is to bring all things in the universe together under Christ (1:10). It is crucially important that Christians realize this, so in 1:15–23 Paul prays for their understanding (a second prayer occurs in 3:14–21).

Having explained God’s great goals for the church, Paul proceeds to show the steps toward their fulfillment. First, God has reconciled individuals to himself as an act of grace (2:1–10). Second, God has reconciled these saved individuals to each other, Christ having broken down the barriers through his own death (2:11–22). But God has done something even beyond this: He has united these reconciled individuals in one body, the church. This is a “mystery” not fully known until it was revealed to Paul (3:1–6). Now Paul is able to state even more clearly what God has intended for the church, namely, that it be the means by which he displays his “manifold wisdom” to the “rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms” (3:7–13). It is clear through the repetition of “heavenly realms” (1:3,20; 2:6; 3:10; 6:12) that Christian existence is not merely on an earthly plane. It receives its meaning and significance from heaven, where Christ is exalted at the right hand of God (1:20).

Nevertheless, that life is lived out on earth, where the practical daily life of the believer continues to work out the purposes of God. The ascended Lord gave “gifts” to the members of his church to enable them to minister to one another and so promote unity and maturity (4:1–16). The unity of the church under the headship of Christ foreshadows the uniting of “all things in heaven and on earth” under Christ (1:10). The new life of purity and mutual deference stands in contrast to the old way of life without Christ (4:17—6:9). Those who are “strong in the Lord” have victory over the evil one in the great spiritual conflict, especially through the power of prayer (6:10–20; see note on 1:3).

The 4th Chapter of Ephesians opens with Paul urging his readers to individually and corporately (as a church) “live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”

God has graciously drawn many very different people into His church, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. As children of God, we are called to work together in the church’s various ministries and build each other up—“until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

Ephesians 4:14-16 speaks of the wonderful blessings of Christian maturity, wherein disciples who are able to discern the truth from error, will proclaim what is right and true--and expose what is wrong or false; so as to lovingly guide, equip, encourage and unite the church in its spiritual growth.

God’s children should no longer live as if they were still the world’s brats. Our calling is “to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” This is the reason we should now speak truthfully; not to let our anger get the best of us; not give the devil more opportunities to condemn us. Christians who used to lead lives of crime now need to work honestly and share with those who are in need.

We must watch our language and use it to bless those around us. Let us not offend God’s Holy Spirit by going against all the good work that He is completing in us. We need to “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

The care group was blessed by all the sharing and personal insights from everyone, as we tried to extend the application of Ephesians 4:14-16, 25 to see how it can guide us in speaking truthfully, in a consistently loving way, to those around us—just as Eph. 4:25-32 would have us do.

Finding "Meaning" in what's "Meaningless" – Ecclesiastes 1

2007-04-27T13:32:00.000+10:00

Chairman Justin T led the Care Group last Sunday afternoon (22/04/2007), at Kuya Vic & Ate Connie's. It was especially interesting, as the Care Group's children (young and not-so-young) were invited (ordered?) to join and participate in our short study and discussion, based on the first chapter of Ecclessiastes. (One of the most difficult books in the Old Testament, to interpret and understand!)

According to BasicTheology.com's Introduction to Ecclessiastes:

“Ecclesiastes seems at first glance to be a collection of apparently random themes.”

Ecclesiastes was written to the cynic and skeptic, to those who have become disillusioned with the world and its empty promises for fulfillment.

The same themes that at first glance may appear incongruent, such as vanity and enjoyment of simple pleasures, meaninglessness and wisdom, the hopelessness of death and purpose in life, upon careful, contextualized investigation work together to serve the author’s purpose of directing the reader to God for ultimate meaning in life.

Ecclesiastes takes the reader through the highs and lows of life on this earth, from hedonism to nihilism, finally arriving at a conclusion that is perfectly at home within Old Testament theology: fear God and keep His commandments.

Here are some of the discussion points that we tried to tackle:

"Everything is Meaningless – Ecclesiastes 1:1-18"

What would you say is the purpose of life?

What sweeping statement did Solomon make about life? (v. 2)

What conclusion did Solomon reach about everything he had seen and done? (v. 13-14)

What conclusion did Solomon reach concerning wisdom and folly? (v. 17-18)

To what sort of meaningless activities do people commit their lives to?

Is there anything in your life that you feel is meaningless?

Do you need to rethink the purpose and direction of your life?

Thoughts on the Book of Ecclesiastes:

As long as we see things and events from mortal man’s point of view, everything will appear meaningless. What’s the use of anything if we’re all going to die anyway? Even if the world makes us heroes and honors us with statues and streets named after us, what use would they be to us, in our graves? And when the world passes away, all the statues, memorials and streets named after us will just disappear into ashes! So what’s the point of our day-to-day existence in the cosmic scheme of things?

Unless we see God’s sovereign hand, working in everything according to His very own will, purpose and plan, then everything will seem meaningless, pointless and wearisome (or "boring," as someone commented) to our finite minds.

When we realize that the supremely awesome God is working in all things according to His good purpose and will, life becomes meaningful—perhaps not in ways that we can understand, but rather in ways that will help us rest and delight in the Sovereign LORD, even during inexplicable trouble and tribulation.

Life becomes purposeful, not because of our purpose--but because it is God's purpose that shall stand. Whether you like it or not, everyone and everything is part of God's plan.

Can anything, any event or circumstance, any thought, any emotion exist and come about if it were not a part of God’s plan, purpose and will?

Mind you, the world goes against God’s commandments all the time, and this breaks our hearts! But do not be deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows, so shall he reap. God is not shocked or surprised by how mankind breaks His laws and commandments. In fact, God mercifully revealed to us His laws and commandments to shock and surprise mankind as to how sinful and unrighteous we all really are.

Everything is all going according to God’s plan and purpose, and nothing—absolutely not a single solitary thing is exempt.

There are no surprises that can catch our God off-guard: not the Fall of man; not the murder of Abel; not Sodom and Gomorrah; not Israel’s enslavement by the Egyptians; not David and Bathsheba; not the splitting of Israel and Judah; not the conquest of the Assyrians and Babylonians; not Hitler and the Holocaust; not even 9-11 nor even the Virginia Tech shootings.

Not even Satan, our enemy, our accuser and our tormentor—to whom we should never give a foothold—the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient, not even he is exempt from God's plan. Satan could not sift Peter as wheat without Christ’s permission. Satan himself could not touch Job without God’s consent. So let us not be surprised if Satan himself cannot even scratch his own nose, if it is not according to God’s plan!

"We turn to God when our foundations are shaking, only to learn that it is God who is shaking them." --CHARLES WEST.

“Happy the man who sees a God employed in all the good and ill that chequers life.” --WILLIAM COWPER

“A firm faith in the universal providence of God is the solution of all earthly problems. It is almost equally true that a clear and full apprehension of the universal providence of God is the solution of most theological problems.” --B. B. WARFIELD, God's Providence Over All

"Jesus Christ is the center of everything, and the object of everything, and he that does not know Him knows nothing of nature and nothing of himself." --BLAISE PASCAL

There is not an inch of any sphere of life over which Jesus Christ does not say, "Mine." --ABRAHAM KUYPER

So, is your God in full and total control over all things, or is he only partially in control?

More excerpts from BasicTheology.com, regarding the Message of the Book of Ecclesiastes:

The book of Ecclesiastes is masterfully composed to reveal the vanity of trusting in wisdom, pleasure, wealth, or any other human endeavor for satisfaction in this life. It is within the genre of wisdom literature to stretch the readers mind to grasp broader understanding through the employment of paradox, irony and hyperbole.

Qohelet (The Teacher/Editor) walks the reader through the numerous vain endeavors of man in order to illustrate that trust in one’s own ability to discover existential meaning in life apart from God will inevitably lead to bitterness, cynicism, and hopelessness. This book proclaims that God makes possible the pleasures that may be enjoyed in this life, for He is good and generous. Ultimate meaning and fulfillment in life is only possible by fearing God, keeping His commandments, enjoying His gifts for today and believing that He will reconcile all things in the future.

The importance of understanding the theological message of the book of Ecclesiastes must not be understated. One must interpret each verse in light of its literary style and the message of the book as a whole. As Greg Parsons has noted, “In no other book of the Old Testament is this guideline more crucial.” The editor’s conclusion provides the answer for the overall purpose of the work. The editor offers the essential summation to life’s purpose and message of Ecclesiastes, “The conclusion, when all has been heard: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).

For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

--Colossians 1: 16-17

Ignacio Lacsina jnr. (27/04/2007)

Prayer Request from Pastor Marbz...

Hi to All our Church Family,

My sister and brother-in-law, Grace and Louie, asked me to pass this message to our church family for prayers and as they want you to know, because as a church we stand together.

Their son Daniel has been in hospital since Monday (23/04/2007), due to a lump that was found on his leg a while ago. A biopsy was done on the lump and it was found to be malignant. Daniel has a cancer which looks like have stemmed from the bone. It is a cancer which the doctors have said to be aggressive and therefore will be treated aggressively. Further tests on the tumor will confirm the exact type of cancer he has and the treatment will be adjusted accordinglyto defeat it. These tests take a few days.

He is also undergoing some test to confirm if the cancer has spread to any other parts of his body. He will undergo an operation to remove the cancer on his thigh in the next few days, and will be on drugs to start the treatment. He will then start with the chemotherapy cycles/course.

Grace and Louie have kindly asked to please give them space in the next couple of weeks as they are still letting it sink in plus trying to find a way to tell the kids. This means visitation is only for family, for now. They know you care a lot and would like to be updated so they have asked if you could direct all calls, text messages, questions and best wishes to me and I will gladly pass it on. They just need some space and intimate time with their family right now.

To all the parents and people who have loved ones, you can imagine what a difficult time this is for them so please keep them in your prayers. We all know God can heal and He is a God of miracles so please pray for that... BUT, most importantly, please pray that we will be brave, strong and open to accept HIS WILL whatever that may be. We have a great sovereign God! And HE is VERY GOOD... there will be no doubt there!

May our tongues and hearts always sing 'Blessed be the name of the Lord!'

"God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it."
1 Corinthians 10:13

In His Love and Grace,

Marbz (0413491260, if you need to call or text)

“Life is Unfair!?” - Psalm 37

2007-04-24T14:16:00.000+10:00

Elder Robert V's Sunday Message
Punchbowl Baptist Church
22 April 2007

Introduction

Painful events happen to us without any valid explanations. They could range from major events such as the loss of a loved one, etc. to the ordinary day to day things when we feel that we have been unfairly treated.

Human instinct is to seek revenge - to return at least the same treatment as what we have received. The Old Testament seems to support this in Lev 24:19-20:

If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him.

However, this was the Old Testament system to ensure that justice is served without any partiality; without favoring the rich or powerful.

The worst feeling is when the other party gets away with what they have done and leaves away unpunished. It’s a time when we feel like shouting ‘Life is unfair’!

Whether we agree or disagree with this statement depends on how we see life:

a) If we consider that the world and everything around us happens by chance or revolves around who is in power at any given time, then we can truly say that ‘Life is Unfair’. We can probably add that ‘Life is Hopeless’ and so therefore, ‘Help yourselves because no one else will’.

b) If we consider God to be in control of everything through his power, wisdom, and love, then we can be assured that ‘Life is as God wills it to be’!

Read Psalm 37-1-9 (NIV)

1 Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; 2 for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.

3 Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. 4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the LORD trust in him and he will do this: 6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret l when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.

8 Refrain from anger o and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. 9 For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.

1. Instructions from the Psalm

Although there is no definite pattern in the Psalm, one can see that David, the author of this Psalm, aims to show the contrast between the wicked/evil men and the righteous/blameless.

The Psalm does not deny the reality of life’s seeming unfair events but confirm the fact that oftentimes-evil men prosper while the righteous ones suffer.

David also shows the final outcome of the wicked and the righteous. And so, he gives the reasons for his instructions to the righteous and the basis for living righteously.

1 Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; 2 for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.

A. The opening verse is a straight to the point instruction. Both the words ‘fret’ and ‘envious’ are words that portray intensity. ‘Fret’ is described as ‘burning or heated anger’; ‘Envious’, which has the same intensity, is described as ‘jealousy with zeal’. In other words, David says, do not let your heart burn from jealousy and anger when evil men do you wrong. In verse 2, he somehow gives a comforting word that evil men are only as temporary as grass and so their wrongdoing will soon come to a stop.

Fret - charah (חָרָה, 2734), “to get angry, be angry.” This verb appears in the Bible 92 times. In the basic stem, the word refers to the “burning of anger” as in Jonah 4:1. In the causative stem, charah means “to become heated with work” or “with zeal for work” (Neh. 3:20). [1]

B. Verses 8-9 provides more substance to verses 1-2 in that David now gives further reasons why we should not fret and be envious of evil men.

8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret p —it leads only to evil. 9 For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.

1) Because feeding one’s heart with anger and jealousy only leads to evil. In doing so, the abused also becomes an abuser.

2) Because, aside from the temporary nature of evil men, they will also be cut off, meaning denied of anything good, in contrast to those who trust in the Lord who will receive their inheritance from God.

C. If verses 1-2 is the ‘what not to do when evil men do wrong and prosper’, verses 3-7 gives us the instructions of ‘what to do’. The believer’s life is not just characterized and confined by ‘not’ doing bad things, but is more motivated by ‘doing’ good things. And if we want to succeed in stopping envy and jealousy over the prosperity of the wicked, we have to focus more on these 4 things:

3 Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. 4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the LORD trust in him and he will do this: 6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. 7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret l when men succeed in their ways, m when they carry out their wicked schemes.

If the words ‘fret’ and ‘envious’ signify evil intensity, the words in this group of verses signify godly intensity. In addition, while the description of the words ‘fret’ and ‘envious’ looks inwardly and feeds the heart with anger and bitterness which further leads to evil, the words in this group of verses all look outwardly and seeks the Lord.

1) Ps 37:3 Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

Ø The word ‘trust’ figuratively means to be boldly confident to the point of carelessness. This is total trust in the Lord.

Trust - baw-takh' - A primitive root; properly to hie for refuge (but not so precipitately as H2620); figuratively to trust, be confident or sure: - be bold (confident, secure, sure), careless (one, woman), put confidence, (make to) hope, (put, make to) trust. [2]

2) Ps 37:5 Commit your way to the LORD trust in him and he will do this:

Ø The word ‘commit’ shows the idea of leaving or departing. In essence, this means to bring your cares and leave them all to him.

Commit - galah (גָּלָה, 1540), “to leave, depart, uncover, reveal. [3]

3) Ps 37:7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret l when men succeed in their ways, m when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Ø The word ‘be still’ or ‘rest’ is not merely a partial pause, but a feeling of fully still and silent. Literally speaking, it is to die or be destroyed. As still as being lifeless.

Be still (Rest) - 1826 דָּמַם, דָּמַם, דָּמַם [damam /daw·man/] v. A prim root [compare 1724, 1820]; TWOT 439; GK 1957 and 1958 and 1959; 30 occurrences; AV translates as “silence” six times, “still” six times, “silent” four times, “cut off” three times, “cut down” twice, “rest” twice, “cease” twice, “forbear” once, “peace” once, “quieted” once, “tarry” once, and “wait” once. 1 to be silent, be still, wait, be dumb, grow dumb. 1a (Qal). 1a1 to be silent. 1a2 to be still, die. 1a3 to be struck dumb. 1b (Niphal) to be silenced, be made silent, destroyed. 1c (Poal) to make quiet. 1d (Hiphil) to make silent (cause to die) [4]

4) Ps 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Ø This may be the greatest antidote that is available to us to ward off the evils of anger and jealousy over the wicked. This is the refreshing water that cools down the heart. It is when we fill our hearts with delight in the Lord that anger and jealousy will have no more place to stay.

Ø Further, this defines the true believer from the false ones. The true believer delights in God n the midst of his or her trials in life. It is his or her delight in God that makes the journey a joyful, instead of a painful one.

Ø May I also suggest that the motivation for us in trusting the Lord, committing our every care to him, and truly resting in him is because we delight in him.

2. Guarantees from the Psalm

ð The purpose of David’s instructions is 2-fold:
i) To take away the burden from us once we start feeling angry about our situations and leave the judging and avenging part to God.

ii) To make us more godly rather than turning into the same evil as the wicked.
ð The Lord is our Judge and he knows best when and how the sentence is carried, whatever that may be.

ð Evidence of this comes from the following:

I. Through the testimony of David (& God’s children)…

25 I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. 26 They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed.

35 I have seen a wicked and ruthless man flourishing n like a green tree in its native soil, 36 but he soon passed away and was no more; though I looked for him, he could not be found.

ð David is a great example of what he wrote in this Psalm. Even after knowing that he was the anointed king, he never forced himself to be king while Saul was still the King over Israel. David always said that he would not touch the Lord’s anointed. In due time, the Lord rewarded David of the kingship he was promised.

In the same way, if we trust the Lord as David did, the Lord will see us through our trials. I am confident that the Lord has delivered you out of trying situations and have given you justice in due time. This is not a one-off thing but should be our way of life – trusting God!

II. …that is made real through God’s promise

Notice that when you read the whole Psalm, it is literally the Lord who takes care of those who trust in him and is summarized in the concluding verses of the Psalm:

39 The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD, he is their stronghold in time of trouble. 40 The LORD helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.

ð The Psalm does not teach us to escape our situation but to go through it by God’s power.

ð It is not those who help themselves that God helps but those who take refuge in him.
3. Summary - Is Life really unfair?

There are several implications when we say, ‘Life is unfair!’

1) We do not believe that God is in control of everything
2) We do not believe that God can be trusted
3) We do not believe that God cares
4) We do not believe in the testimony of David
5) In other words, we rather believe what our hearts tell us
6) We believe that evil men are more powerful than God
7) Therefore, we might as well believe that God is not truly God.

The next time we are tempted to say, ‘Life is unfair!’, take time to think if we are being fair at all in believing that life is unfair. If we call ourselves children of God, shame on us.

Instead, we should always say, ‘Life is what the Lord wills it to be’, and because we trust him, then, ‘Life is the way it should be’ – because if we do it right like David, the ‘unfair’ situation can turn into an opportunity to be Christ-like and to remind ourselves of our many blessings.

Count Your Blessings
Words by Johnson Oatman, Jr., 1856-1922Music by Edwin O. Excell, 1851-1921

Verse 1
When upon life's billows You are tempest tossed,

When you are discouraged Thinking all is lost,

Count your many blessings Name them one by one,

And it will surprise you What the Lord hath done.

Chorus:
Count your blessings Name them one by one.

Count your blessings See what God hath done.

Count your blessings Name them one by one.

Count your many blessings See what God hath done.

Verse 2
Are you ever burdened With a load of care,

Does the cross seem heavy You are called to bear.

Count your many blessings Every doubt will fly,

And you will be singing As the days go by.

Verse 3
When you look at others With their lands and gold,

Think that Christ has promised You His wealth untold.

Count your many blessings Money cannot buy,

Your reward in heaven Nor your home on high.

Verse 4
So amid the conflict Whether great or small,

Do not be discouraged God is over all.

Count your many blessings Angels will attend,

Help and comfort give you To your journey's end.

Amen…

God bless us all!
Robert Viuya

[1]Vine, W. E., Unger, M. F., & White, W. 1996. Vine's complete expository dictionary of Old and New Testament words . T. Nelson: Nashville

[2]Strong, J. 1996. The exhaustive concordance of the Bible : Showing every word of the test of the common English version of the canonical books, and every occurence of each word in regular order. (electronic ed.) . Woodside Bible Fellowship.: Ontario

[3]Vine, W. E., Unger, M. F., & White, W. 1996. Vine's complete expository dictionary of Old and New Testament words . T. Nelson: Nashville

v v: verb
TWOT Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
GK Goodrick-Kohlenberger
AV Authorized Version

[4]Strong, J. 1996. The exhaustive concordance of the Bible : Showing every word of the test of the common English version of the canonical books, and every occurence of each word in regular order. (electronic ed.) . Woodside Bible Fellowship.: Ontario

The High Priestly Prayer: John 17

2007-04-02T14:40:00.001+10:00

Since we are in the midst of the Lenten Season, it seems appropriate for us to review some passages taken from the accounts of the Last Supper by John.

According to B. W. Johnson's "Introduction To The Gospel Of John":

John the son of Zebedee was a former Galilean fisherman. He was a follower of John the Baptist, before becoming a disciple of Jesus. John, together with his brother James and Simon Peter became the three disciples closest/most intimate with Jesus. (John sat beside Jesus at the Last Supper; he was the only disciple at the crucifixion; he was entrusted with the care of Jesus’ mother and was the first male disciple to reach Christ’s empty tomb.)

The Gospel According to John differs in some respects from the others. It alone follows the chronological order of events. It gives an account of the Judean ministry of Jesus. It tells us that his ministry lasted for over three years and gives it the account of the resurrection of Lazarus.

It omits much with which the church was already familiar through the other Gospels and presents much that they had not recorded. It recognizes certain false doctrines which had begun to circulate; and it gives us the most detailed account of Christ’s wonderful discourse to the disciples, the night that he was betrayed.

It is the gospel of the Incarnation, of Love, and is regarded as the most Spiritual of the four Gospels. It alone unfolds fully the great doctrine of the Comforter, The Holy Spirit. And in the Apostle’s own words, it was “written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:31)

The Apostle John's account of the Last Supper goes from chapters 13 to 17. In this study, we will discuss Christ’s prayer at the Last Supper, in John 17.

The Last Supper was held during the Jewish Feast of Passover, commemorating the night when God rescued Israel from Egypt in Exodus 12:

On that night in Exodus 12, each Israelite household were to slaughter a year-old male lamb with no defects, at twilight. They were then to take some of the lamb’s blood and apply it on the sides and tops of their doorframes. On that same night, God passed through Egypt, striking down every firstborn—both men and animals—of every household that did not have the blood of the lamb on their doorframes. “The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.” (Exodus 12:13)

In some Bibles (NASB, ESV), John 17 is referred to as the “High Priestly Prayer.” The High Priest is the one sanctified/set apart to intercede for sinners before the Most Holy Righteous God. Here, we read of Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, the Chosen One, interceding in prayer for his flock (past, present and future).

(Short recap of previous chapters. Chap. 13: Jesus washed disciples’ feet; commands Judas to go; foretells Peter’s denials. Chap. 14: Jesus is the only way to the Father; Christ and the Father are one; Jesus is going away; Father is sending the Holy Spirit. Chap. 15: Abide in Christ like branches on a vine; “I chose you to bear much fruit to the Father’s glory;” the world’s hatred for Christ’s chosen ones. Chap. 16: Persecution; The Holy Spirit working in believers; Knowing how all things, good and bad, are going according to God’s plan, will turn the disciples’ grief into joy.)

Read John 17, then discuss the following:

(Note—Discuss does not necessarily mean Resolve. A few discussion points below are still being hotly debated by the most prominent theologians today. Remember, "Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good." 1Thessalonians 5:19-21 ESV. Are the comments being expressed Biblical? Unbiblical? Extra-biblical? In context with what the Bible consistently teaches? Allow Scripture to interpret Scripture--do not rely on mere opinions. Whenever we are stuck for answers, Elder Robert V reminds us that this should humble us, before our All-Knowing God. May it also drive us to search & study His Holy Word even further!)

“Father, the time has come… glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” –Jesus Christ

Human beings are affected by time. Time often dictates what we have to do (due to deadlines); and often determines what we are able to do (due to age). But what about Jesus? Do you believe that events and circumstances determine what God does? Or are events and circumstances determined by what God does?

(Jesus was no victim of circumstance. All the on-going events and conditions from before the world began, have been planned/scheduled and worked out to a climactic point by God—not by the Roman government nor the Sanhedrin nor by Judas, not even by Satan himself: see John 14:30.)

Glorify means to Lift Up/Exalt; Magnify; Honor; to Acknowledge with great approval. How important is it for us to glorify God? How relevant is the Glory of God in your everyday live?

John 17:2 says that the Father gave the Son authority over… what? The Father gave the Son authority to give… what? The Father gave the Son authority to give this to ALL of… whom?

What is so special about eternal life? Do we accept Jesus just so that we can have eternal life? Just so that we can get to heaven? Or do we accept Jesus because of Jesus himself?

(See John 17:3. Eternal life is all about knowing the gloriously Everlasting God Jesus, more and more. As Elder Robert commented: Eternal life is not enough time to fully know our limitless God.)

How did Jesus glorify/honor/acknowledge the Father? (John 17:4)

(Compare John 17:4 with John 19:30, where Christ proclaims: “It is FINISHED!”)

In v. 5, Jesus prays to be glorified in the presence of the Father. Is this selfishness or appropriate? What right does Jesus have to ask for this?

According to v. 6-8, how can we tell if a person belongs to God?

What distinction does Christ make in v.9-10? Who is Jesus praying for? Does this mean that we should only pray for fellow believers?

(Christians should pray for everyone. We do not know whom He will cause to become believers or not. “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…” Matt. 5:44)

Jesus prays for the protection of the believers by the Father, for what reason (v. 11)?

(Christ specifically prayed for believers because He knew that He would be leaving them in a world that hates them—where believers need to stand as one. Is unity in the church possible without God?)

Should Christians be surprised that the world hates them (John 17:14 and also John 15:8-John 16:4)? Does the thought that the world’s hatred and persecution of believers seem to be all part of God’s plan trouble you, or does it give you comfort and joy?

Christians are not of this world. To be Sanctified is to be set apart or separated from the rest. How are believers Sanctified (v. 17-19)?

Christ prayed for all his believers (past, present, future) to be one, just as the Father and the Son are one (v. 20-23). Is this level of intimacy humanly possible? How can this come about (v. 23)? What will it result in?

What does Jesus want his disciples to see, or to behold in John 17:24? Can you think of anything better to see or to behold than what Jesus wants us to see?

Is it possible to know God and yet not love Him?
The Way to know God is through…? (John 14:6-7)

Christ is our intercessor to the Father.
Christ and the Father are One.
Christ’s plea to the Father is that we be as one in Christ,
just as Christ is one with the Father.

May all of God’s children be one in giving
All the Praise, Honour and Glory to the Lord Jesus Christ!

Ignacio Lacsina jnr. (02/04/2007)

"Doing" or "Being?"

2007-03-16T12:34:00.000+11:00

Elder Robert V led the Care Group last Friday (09/03/07) at John and Jenny M's home. Kuya Rob used the opportunity to share an article by Robert L. Gallagher, Assistant Professor of Missions & Intercultural Studies at Wheaton College Graduate School. The article is entitled "From Doingness to Beingness."

We hope that the excerpts below will encourage every one of God's faithful servants to view the full pdf article by clicking here. Below are the opening paragraphs of Robert L. Gallagher's "From Doingness to Beingness:"

Zeal for the church’s mission nearly cost me my marriage. Ten years after being filled with the Holy Spirit, I entered full-time ministry in an Australian Pentecostal church. In less than five years, full of youthful energy and vision, I helped create numerous church programs: a Christian elementary school, an international magazine, a radio program, two bible schools, leadership training seminars, and various evangelistic outreaches. In a hurricane of activity, my young family was swept aside by my all-consuming zeal for the local church to grow.

Ignoring the pleas of my spouse and friends, I believed that every single minute of my day should be spent working for God. There was little time for prayer and the study of God’s word, let alone time for the family. There were no periods of rest and recuperation, no time spent playing with my two young daughters in the park, no afternoons of sitting with friends over a cup of coffee. The time was short, the mission immense, the laborers few, and too much work to be done for such frivolous activities. My imbalanced notion of God’s mission dominated my life. Ministry, I believed, flowed from doing things for God, not from a relationship with him. I had uncritically accepted the corporate business model for church life as the norm. Western society, rather than the word of God, influenced my concepts of mission.

This paper chronicles some of my journey that brought correction to this distorted picture of God’s mission. Over a period of two years, God graciously brought scripture, people, and literature into my life that caused a paradigm shift in my thinking towards mission and ministry1—that God’s mission does not come from doing a host of activities, but from a prayerful relationship with him through the empowering of his Spirit. In simpler terms, mission flows from beingness rather than doingness.

Professor Gallagher's webpage at Wheaton College can also be accessed by clicking here.

Elder Robert V's Study Handout:

Blacktown Care Group

9 March 2007

Acts 4:23-31 -- The Disciples' Prayer

1. Background: Prof. Robert L. Gallagher's article (in pdf).

2. The Disciples' Prayer in sections: (Pls click and drag cursor over blanks to see answers...)

A. Recognition of God's Sovereignty or LORDship, over (see Acts 4:24, disciples quoting Exodus 20:11) :
CREATION

B. Recognition of God's Sovereignty over (Acts 4:25-28, disciples quoting Psalm 2:1-2) :
HUMANITY

C. Recognition of God's Sovereignty over (Acts 4:29-30) :
PRESENT SITUATIONS

Disciples' 3 requests to the Sovereign LORD God:
i. For God to consider their opponents' threats/Disciples surrendering of their opponents' fate to God
ii. For Boldness of Speech
iii. For Miracles/Signs that will point more people to CHRIST

3. Results of their Prayer (Pls click and drag cursor over blanks to see answers)

A. UNITY OF HEART, MIND/SOUL (Acts 4:32)
B. BOLDNESS TO WITNESS (Acts 4:33)
C. MIRACLES, SIGNS/WONDERS (Acts 5:12)

4. Application: (Closing paragraphs of Prof. Robert Gallagher article. Pls click and drag cursor over blanks to see answers:)

"...the life of Jesus in mission is not one of striving or struggling for bigger, or better. There was a pattern of beingness with God that is missing in Christian circles today. "But the news about him was spreading even farther, and great multitudes were gathering to hear him and to be healed of their sickness. But he himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray"(Luke 5:15-16). A rhythm of spirituality is evident in Jesus whereby every major event in his earthly life is soaked in prayer. Luke records the importance of prayer in the life of Jesus like no other gospel writer. Luke sees Jesus in prayer at his baptism (Luke 3:21), in selecting the twelve (Luke 6:12), at Peter’s confession of faith (Luke 9:18), at the mount of transfiguration (Luke 9:28-29), before the teaching of the Lord’s prayer (Luke 11:1-2), at Gethsemane (Luke 22:41), and at Calvary (Luke 23:34, 46). Prayer surrounds every important event in Jesus’ ministry. Prayer is the means whereby God directs Jesus’ mission of salvation to "lost" humanity. It is the way Jesus apprehends the dynamic power of the Spirit for salvation history. The Messiah’s redemptive work flowed from his relationship with God in prayer, not from his many deeds.

In the same way, Luke records in the Book of Acts the early church having this pattern of prayer, Spirit and mission. The believers’ prayer in Acts 4 is just one example of the church praying and seeking the power of God before accomplishing mission. The prayerful disciples followed Jesus’ paradigm of mission flowing from beingness. They prayed to their sovereign Messiah and he refilled them with his Holy Spirit. Only then did they begin to advance to the next stage in the Kingdom’s mission of expansion from Jerusalem to Rome. The church today needs to re-evaluate its methods of mission. Scriptures teach that mission flows from beingness rather than doingness, but secular Western culture teaches that only by hard work can anything be accomplished. This attitude is summarized by Benjamin Franklin’s axiom: "God helps those that help themselves." Like the early believers in Acts 4, contemporary Christians must choose to follow Jesus’ model, and not the model of the world.

Also Interesting:

"Gospel-Driven Sanctification" (pdf) by Jerry Bridges, warning us against 'Performance-based' discipleship.

Our Dependence on God

2007-02-10T16:49:00.000+11:00

Reading from Deuteronomy 8:3-4 (NIV), Moses speaking to the Israelites, during the last month of their final year of wandering in the wilderness:

“He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.”

Comment: God tested Israel in the wilderness to reveal how faithless and proud their own hearts truly were.

We people often think that we are independent creatures. We think that we can take care of ourselves and be in control of our world. This is usually why Christians are taken through “wilderness” experiences.

When the Lord sets his love upon you, He shows you truth. The truth is that we are all dependent on God—for air, water, food and ability; for every heartbeat and reflex; for His mercy and grace, righteousness and holiness; for life on earth and for life eternal.

God alone is ascient (self-sustaining).

How did Moses survive forty days of fasting without water (Exodus 34:28)? God sustained him.

How could the nation of Israel wander for 40 years in the desert? The Word of God brought water from the rock, manna from the sky, and kept their clothing from wearing out.

When we realize this fact of total dependence on God, we are humbled. It is not even up to us to decide whether we shall depend on God or not. Like it or not, we already do.

The question now is, shall we accept the truth or not? Interestingly, even the ability to accept God's truths can only come from God Himself. (Matt.11:25-27; 16:17; John 14:26; 16:12-15; 1Cor. 2:10-16)

The effect of this humbling truth, that we are totally dependent on God, should change the way we speak and act if we are to accomplish anything of lasting value.

Reflect: The trials of life are to humble us and to show us of our need for God always.

Prayer: Almighty God, thank you for continuing to make us realize how truly dependent we are on You, for everything... even for the desire to glorify you.

We confess Dear God, that all of our best and finest words and superlatives, deeds and intentions will never do justice to your greatness, holiness, goodness and love. Only You and You alone know the full extent of Your limitless power and grace, righteousness and might. Only You and You alone can do justice to your blessed name, not us.

So please glorify yourself in our midst, Dear Abba Father!

Manifest and magnify your glory through us, in all that you would have us think, feel and do. In Christ Jesus’ name we humbly pray. Amen.

Adapted From http://www.daily-devotions.net/cgi-bin/devotionbydate.cgi?date=03-31

The Word Became Flesh!

2006-12-25T11:57:00.001+11:00

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' " From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.

--From the Gospel According to John, Chapter 1, Verses 1-18 (NIV)

"Glory to GOD in the Highest

and on earth Peace to men on whom

HIS FAVOR RESTS."

--Luke 2: 14 (NIV)

*

"May the Grace and Peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all!"

--The Blacktown Care Group, at Kuya Vic's & Ate Connie's;
First few hours of 25/12/2006.

Photo courtesy of Noli & Linda at Tri-A Photoworks.
See more of Noli's work at http://www.triap.smugmug.com/
Email Noli at ptl_gby@yahoo.com.au

October 31...

2006-10-31T17:11:00.000+11:00

Sometime this day, but only 489 years ago…

The people of Europe were preparing for All Saints Day… converging on the major cities to attend the churches so they could receive special blessings by looking on the relics, attending Mass, and by doing various kinds of penance. There was a special sale of indulgences which could be purchased excusing the buyer from various kinds of sins. Those superstitions had come to dominate the church.

It greatly troubled a monk in the German university city of Wittenberg. On the eve of all saints day he posted 95 theses for debate on the public bulletin board on the door of the castle church. In those 95 statements he challenged the church to debate its teachings and to question the biblical foundation for some of its beliefs and practices.

http://www.girs.com/library/sermons/refday3.html

It was in 1517, when on October 31st Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. This event marked the beginning of what has come to be known as the Protestant Reformation.

Luther had identified some teachings and practices in the church which had no foundation in the Bible. He wanted those things discussed and academically debated. He wanted the church to submit its beliefs and practices to the authority of Scripture. But his goal was not only academic. He knew that ideas and practices that are not true and right, are serious dangers. They deceive and hurt needy people who are seeking Christ's help and happiness.

http://www.girs.com/library/sermons/refday1.html

“The Ninety-Five Theses” were a call for debate, although a debate never took place. This call did, however, shake the people of Germany. Luther’s challenge went unnoticed for some time by the established Church, but the people did not let it die. Through the providence of God, a call to look to Scripture as the Christians’ sole authority began to ring throughout Germany and other parts of Europe. This movement… was a movement back to the Bible. The motto became Sola Scriptura (Latin for Scripture Alone) and these rebels of God began to spread the Gospel message once again to the world.

With the spread of the Reformation… we see the next great impact of the Gospel in 17th century England. It is here that we begin to see the seed bed of the Baptist movement.

http://www.reformedreader.org/history/pbh.htm

Then, sometime between then and now…

…Multitudes of English Christians were demanding reform in their church. They sensed that the church had become corrupt and selfish, and that it had largely left the simple message of the Bible. Several factors contributed to this clamor for reform: the teachings of such great reformers as Martin Luther in Germany and John Calvin in Geneva; the new translations of the English Bible which allowed the common people once again to read the Word of God; and social and political changes which led people to want more participation in their church.

Several English rulers in the sixteenth century sought to reform the Church of England to some extent. However, none of these reforms went far enough to satisfy those who wanted to return to the simple teachings and practices of the Bible.

One militant group within the Church of England genuinely desired to recover biblical teachings and practices. Deeply influenced by the reforms of John Calvin, they became known as "Puritans," perhaps because they insisted upon more purity of doctrine and practice in the church.

Another group seeking reform was called "Separatists." Most of the Separatists were frustrated Puritans who had given up hope of reforming the church from within. Separatists decided to separate from the Church of England and form their own independent congregations. By 1600, there were already several of these congregations in England, and they mushroomed by 1625.

The Separatists included many groups holding a variety of views. Some of them later helped populate such diverse churches as Quakers, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and assorted independents and nonconformists. Some of these Separatists, studying the Bible, adopted believer’s baptism and became known as Baptists.

Our best historical evidence says that Baptists came into existence in England in the early seventeenth century. They apparently emerged out of the Puritan-Separatist movement in the Church of England. Some of these earnest people read the Bible in their own language, believed it, and sought to live by it. They formed separate congregations which accepted only believers into their membership, and they baptized converts upon their profession of faith. Their opponents nicknamed them "Baptists," and the name stuck.

Many people assume that Baptists got their name from John the Baptist. This is not the case. Like most religious groups, Baptists were named by their opponents. The name comes from the Baptist practice of immersion.

Perhaps the most startling practice of early English Baptists was their total immersion for baptism after 1640. Crowds would often gather to witness a Baptist immersion service. Some ridiculed… the Baptists as people who "plung’d over head and eares." The nickname "Baptist" was given to describe the people who practiced this strange form of baptism.

The first known reference to these believers in England as "Baptists" was in 1644. They did not like the name and did not use it of themselves until years later. The early Baptists preferred to be called "Brethren" or "Brethren of the Baptized Way." Sometimes they called themselves the "Baptized Churches."
http://www.baptisthistory.org/baptistbeginnings.htm

No definite starting place can be ascribed to the Baptists of the Reformation. For they sprang up in many countries all at once. It is impossible to trace them first of all to any one place, for they appeared in many countries at the same time (J.C. Fusslin, Beitrage zur schweizerischen Reformations geschichte, I. 190; II. 64, 65,265, 328; III. 323. Zurich, 1754).
http://www.reformedreader.org/history/christian/ahob1/ahobc07.htm

The great reformers of Christianity—Martin Luther of Germany and Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin, both of Switzerland—advocated a drastic return to scriptural authority in the teachings and practice of Christian churches—a significant reform but not a total one.

Some of Zwingli’s students, heartened by his teachings from the Greek New Testament (and not, significantly, from just the passages approved by the Roman church), kept reading and applied biblical precepts to their lives and ministries far beyond the reforms of their teacher. One of these more radical reforms was the practice of believers’ baptism.

Zwingli swerved violently away from the Catholic teaching that baptism has a regenerative effect. Baptism was, to him, merely a sign of joining the Christian society. He equated it with the circumcision of Jewish baby boys and further identified God’s chosen within his Zurich parish with spiritual Israel.

This understanding of baptism was as extra-biblical as the Catholic one, though perhaps not as damaging to the doctrine of salvation. His radical students were pejoratively called “Anabaptists,” or “re-baptizers.” They hated the term because they did not consider any baptism but believers’ baptism valid.

The term did associate them with an earlier heresy though, and cast them into the role of outcasts in the minds of many Germans and Swiss.
http://www.sbtexas.com/default.asp?action=article&aid=2651&issue=3/20/2006

Baptists enjoy the enviable distinction of having excited the hostility and suffered from the oppression of every dominant religious party in England, from the days of Henry the Eighth to the days of the Revolution in 1688.

It is not difficult to understand how this has happened. The Baptists argued that the Church of God should be a community of godly men; that faith is the gift of God, and not to be compelled by force of arms; that only those rites sanctioned or commanded by Christ and His Apostles are binding upon His people; and that the only Lawgiver of the Church is Christ Himself.

Each party had, therefore, its own reason for hating the Baptists; and as each had yet to learn the true nature of religious freedom, each oppressed and persecuted in turn.

http://www.baptistpillar.com/bd0636.htm

The Baptists have suffered, in common with other Christian denominations, at the hands of wicked rulers, and of the Roman hierarchy. They have also suffered by themselves for their peculiar views as Baptists, at the hands of Lutherans, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and Congregationalists; and for no one thing more than their rejection of infant baptism.

In Germany they were plundered, thrust into dungeons, banished, and numbers of them beheaded or burned alive. Torture was frequently employed to wring from the sufferers the names and abodes of their associates, or to force them to renounce the faith.

In Switzerland, in 1526, it was ordered that if any baptized others, or submitted to baptism (re-baptism, they called it), they should be drowned without mercy. Many Baptist ministers were drowned; and they held their meetings in secret, in the woods, and under cover of the night. Finally, they left the country in large numbers, going to Moravia, where, for a season, they were tolerated; but at length a law was passed expelling them, and they left, some going to Hungary, some to Transylvania, some to Wallachia, and others to Poland.

In the Netherlands, the hand of oppression was heavy on the Baptists. In 1532, three were burned at the Hague. By edicts, published in the following year, all persons were forbidden to harbor Baptist preachers in Holland; and Baptists refusing to recant were to be slain. The torture was constantly resorted to. The victims were stretched on the rack, or thumb-screws were employed, or a similar instrument applied to the ankles. No regard was paid to sex, station, or age. Under Bloody Mary, a good proportion of the martyr blood that flowed was from the veins of Baptists; and many passed to heaven through the fire.

In the early settlements of America, Church and State were united by law, and the Church sustained by taxation and State appropriations in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Virginia; and persecutions against Dissenters were violent and severe.

http://www.baptistpillar.com/bd0629.htm

With the ("Bloodless" English) Revolution of 1688, and the passing of the Act of Toleration in 1689, the history of the persecution of Baptists, as well as of other Protestant dissenters, ends.
http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Baptists

Sir Isaac Newton, one of the greatest men who ever lived, declared it was "his conviction that the Baptists were the only Christians who had not symbolized with Rome" (Whiston, Memoirs of, written by himself, 201).
http://www.reformedreader.org/history/christian/ahob1/ahobc07.htm

From Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptist

Baptist churches do not have a central governing authority, resulting in the wide range of beliefs from one Baptist church to another. Baptist distinctives are beliefs that are common among Baptist churches, some of which are also shared with many other post-reformational denominations. Some historically significant Baptist doctrinal documents include the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith (Also in Tagalog-Boms), the 1833 New Hampshire Baptist Confession of Faith, and the Southern Baptist Convention's Baptist Faith and Message, which are often used as the "official" doctrinal statements of individual local Baptist churches or the starting point for an official statement.”

See also: List of Baptist Confessions or Doctrinal Statements

The following acrostic backronym, (or ‘backrostic’) spelling of BAPTIST, is used by some Baptist churches as a summary of Baptists' distinguishing beliefs:

“B” for Biblical authority. Baptists emphasize authority of the Scriptures, or sola scriptura, and therefore believe that the Bible is the only authoritative source of God's truth. This view contrasts with the role of Apostolic tradition in the Roman Catholic Church and personal revelation in charismatic circles. Any view that cannot be tied to scriptural exposition is generally considered to be based on human traditions rather than God's leading, and though they may be accurate, such views are never to be elevated to or above the authority of Scripture. Each person is responsible before God for his or her own understanding of the Bible and is encouraged to work out their own salvation.

“A” for Autonomy of the local church. Congregationalist church governance gives autonomy to individual local churches in areas of policy, polity and doctrine. Baptist churches are not under the direct administrative control of any other body, such as a national council, or a leader such as a bishop or pope. Administration, leadership and doctrine are usually decided democratically by the lay members of each individual church, which accounts for the variation of beliefs from one Baptist church to another.

“P” is for Priesthood of all believers The doctrine of "priesthood of all believers" states that every Christian has direct access to God and the truths found in the Bible, without the help of an aristocracy or hierarchy of priests. This doctrine is based on the passage found in 1 Peter 2:9 and was popularized by Martin Luther during the Protestant Reformation and John Wycliff's Lollards before Luther. Baptists are encouraged to discuss scriptural and other issues with their minister and other Christians when appropriate. Ultimately the individual Christian is responsible for understanding the Bible and its application to the individual. The Baptist position of the priesthood of all believers is one column that upholds their belief in religious liberty.

“T” is for Two ordinances (baptism and the Lord's Supper) Generally, most Baptist churches recognize only two sacraments or ordinances that are to be performed on a regular basis by churches: baptism and communion. Some Primitive Baptists and Free Will Baptists also practice foot washing as a third ordinance.

“I” is for Individual soul liberty. The basic concept of individual soul liberty is that, in matters of religion, each person has the liberty to choose what his/her conscience or soul dictates is right, and is responsible to no one but God for the decision that is made. A person may then choose to be a Baptist, a member of another Christian denomination, an adherent to another world religion, or to choose no religious belief system, and neither the church, nor the government, nor family or friends may either make the decision or compel the person to choose otherwise.

“S” is for Separation of Church and State. Baptists who were imprisoned or died for their beliefs have played an important role in the historical struggle for freedom of religion and separation of church and state in England, the United States, and other countries. In 1612 John Smyth wrote, "the magistrate is not by virtue of his office to meddle with religion, or matters of conscience". That same year, Thomas Helwys wrote that the King of England could "command what of man he will, and we are to obey it," but, concerning the church, "with this Kingdom, our lord the King hath nothing to do." In 1614, Leonard Busher wrote what is believed to be the earliest Baptist treatise dealing exclusively with the subject of religious liberty. Baptists were influential in the formation of the first civil government based on the separation of church and state in what is now Rhode Island. Anabaptists and Quakers also share a strong history in the development of separation of church and state.

The original objection was opposition of the monarchy or government setting religious agenda for churches or a "National Church" and did not imply a retreat by Christians from the political realm or involvement in the political process.

“T” is for Two offices of the church (pastor and deacon). Generally Baptists only recognize two Scriptural offices, those of pastor-teacher and deacon. The office of elder, common in some evangelical churches, is usually considered by Baptists to be the same as that of pastor, and not a separate office; however, some churches, especially those in other countries such as Australia, acknowledge the position of elder, and others even dispose of the position of deacon altogether. The office of overseer or bishop is always considered to be the same as that of pastor or presbyter.

Baptists today are the second fastest growing Christian denomination in the world after the Pentecostals; largely due to the growth in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe in the last century.

So, back to today…

May we thank our Lord Jesus Christ, the Sovereign ruler over all eternity… past, present and future… for bringing us from where we’ve been… nurturing us where we are… and sending us where He wills. May we thank Him for the rich heritage of our church’s past, and for the ever more exceeding riches that He has prepared for His church’s eternal future: No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him, and We love because He first loved us.

May Heaven help us if we value the denomination of our money, more than we value the denomination of our churches.

May we thank Him for His Word and His Holy Spirit who opens our hearts and our minds to The Way, The Truth, The Life.

We thank Him for our blessed times at church and for the feeding and fellowship that we enjoy at our Bible study groups.

And then back to last Friday…

Last Friday night, Elder Robert V. led the Blacktown Care Group through Romans 16, wrapping up our 8-9 month study on the Book of Romans. We all pretty much agreed that we should all go back through it again some day, in even finer detail.

We’d like to encourage everyone to discover and keep rediscovering the gloriously humbling "righteousness from God," that Paul wrote about in this most remarkable letter.

Please click on the link below to enjoy the Summary/Highlights of our study. God bless!

http://blacktowncaregroup.blogspot.com/2006/09/summary-of-our-studies-on-romans.html

"Hey, My Brains!" (And A Few Other Stuff...)

2006-10-31T10:35:00.000+11:00

"The man who never reads will never be read; he who never quotes will never be quoted. He who will not use the thoughts of other men's brains, proves that he has no brains of his own."
--Charles Spurgeon

Happy the man who sees a God employed in all the good and ill that chequers life. --WILLIAM COWPER

We turn to God when our foundations are shaking, only to learn that it is God who is shaking them. --CHARLES WEST

A firm faith in the universal providence of God is the solution of all earthly problems. It is almost equally true that a clear and full apprehension of the universal providence of God is the solution of most theological problems. --B. B. WARFIELD, God's Providence Over All

I have no hope at all but in thy great mercy. Grant what thou commandest and command what thou wilt. --AUGUSTINE

God promises to deliver us from the penalty of sin (justification), the power of sin (sanctification) and the presence of sin (glorification). --DAVE BROWN

Grace substitutes a full, childlike, and delighted acceptance of our Need, a joy in total dependence. We become like Jolly Beggars. --C.S LEWIS

The greatest judgment which God Himself can, in this present life, inflict upon a man is, to leave him in the hand of his own boasted free-will. --AUGUSTUS TOPLADY

I do not believe we can preach the gospel... unless we preach the sovereignty of God in His dispensation of grace; nor unless we exalt the electing, unchangeable, eternal, immutable, conquering love of Jehovah; nor do I think we can preach the gospel unless we base it upon the special and particular redemption of His elect and chosen people which Christ wrought through the Cross; nor can I comprehend a gospel which lets saints fall away after they are called. --CHARLES SPURGEON

Jesus Christ is the center of everything, and the object of everything, and he that does not know Him knows nothing of nature and nothing of himself. --BLAISE PASCAL

There is not an inch of any sphere of life over which Jesus Christ does not say, "Mine." --ABRAHAM KUYPER

The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are not worthy of Him. --A. W. TOZER

So many Christians interpret Christ's words to witness rather than to be a witness. And they see it as an activity instead of what it really is; the state of our being--what you do emerges from who you are. --CHUCK COLSON

We pursue God because, and only because, He has first put an urge within us that spurs us to the pursuit. --A.W. TOZER

Just as the sinner's despair of any hope from himself is the first prerequisite of a sound conversion, so the loss of all confidence in himself is the first essential in the believer's growth in grace. --ARTHUR W. PINK

Preaching "duty," is preaching the Law; preaching the free grace of God, and salvation by Christ, is preaching the Gospel; to say otherwise, is to turn the Gospel into Law and to blend and confound both together. --JOHN GILL

Whoever marries the spirit of this age will find himself a widower in the next. --WILLIAM RALPH INGE

Everyone may be entitled to his own opinion but everyone is not entitled to his own truth. Truth is but one. --DOUG GROOTHIUS

I've learned to hold everything loosely because it hurts when God pries my fingers from it. --CORRIE TEN BOOM

The great paradox of faith is that we find our perfect freedom only when become slaves--slaves to God... In the ancient world, slaves judged their self-worth in relation to the importance of their masters. The greater the social status of a master, the greater the esteem of the slave. Christians are slaves of the greatest and kindest Master of all... --ALISTER McGRATH

An ineffably holy God, who has the utmost abhorrence of all sin, was never invented by any of Adam's fallen descendants. --A. W. PINK

We may think God wants actions of a certain kind, but God wants people of a certain kind. --C. S. LEWIS, Mere Christianity

The world invents its own good works and persuades itself that they are good. But Paul declares that good and right according to the world are to be judged by the commandments of God. --JOHN CALVIN

Sheep and swine can both end up in the mire. Yet the essential difference in their two natures is quiet visible from the reaction each has to its fallen condition. While sheep do stray and stumble into the mire, they quickly loathe the situation and struggle to get free. They may be dirty, but they desire to be clean. They may be stuck, but they bleat for their shepherd to come and save them out of the muck. But swine, in keeping with their nature, wallow in the muck, content to stay there all day. --JOHN ENSOR

It ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bothers me, its the parts I do understand. --MARK TWAIN

"Christ is either Lord of all, or He is not Lord at all."
--J. Hudson Taylor

Quotes mostly taken from:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/3505/WebPageQuotes.html