For The BIBLE Tells Me So

  I recently had the opportunity to share the gospel with a man who had confessed to me that he had asked God to save him on several occasions and still had a desire to be saved but God just wouldn’t do it, to this i asked him if he believed what the bible said about all who believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will be saved, his answer was that he didn’t believe anything in the bible. He went on to tell me that the bible was nothing but a book of fables written by men. I admit i was somewhat dumbfounded that a man claims to have a desire to be saved by God yet has no trust in the book that confirms their is a God who saves. This really made me think about true belief and faith, if your trust is in the things of this world instead of the “foolishness of the cross” there can be no real faith in God. No amount of historical facts or pleading will give a man faith, only God can take a heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh and make a new creation. So what does real faith in Jesus Christ and belief in the Holy Scriptures look like? In 1961 Dr. Karl Barth of Germany, one the world’s most famous living theologians, was in a press conference held in the student lounge of Princeton Theological Seminary and he was asked by a New York Times reporter, “What is the greatest theological statement ever made?” The reporter evidently expecting some extensive quote by some famous theologian that could more that likely convince the hardest of hearts of the authenticity of scripture and the sovereignty of God must have been somewhat shocked when Dr. Barth paused for a moment and said the greatest theological statement ever made is “Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so.”

We must believe in the inerrancy of the Holy Scriptures to trust in the mercy of a Holy God.

Contribution or Commitment?

  I recently read a book called “Radical Christian Living” by Richard Booker and in this book he deals with being a disciple. I love the distinction that he makes between being a christian who just makes a contribution and one who makes a commitment, he tells a funny little story for an example of what this means, he says “There was a chicken and a pig who were good friends. One day as they were walking together, the chicken notices an advertisement in the window of a restaurant. The advertisement read, “Bacon and Eggs – All you can eat for $1.00.” Feeling somewhat generous, the chicken turned to the pig and said, “Let’s go in and make a contribution.” To that, the pig replied, “You are only going to make a contribution, but I’ll have to make a commitment.”

He goes on to compare the contributions or “the laying of a few eggs” to the religious activities that seem to give us some accomplishment of duty, However Jesus does not call us to just make a contribution, He calls us to make a commitment, to give every aspect of our lives, or perhaps even our life, to Him for His glory and His purposes.

Father help me to be a “commitment” Christian and not just a “contribution” Christian!

 

Matthew 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Who Raised Jesus from the Dead?

Acts 2:24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

Acts 3:15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.

Acts 10:40 but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear,

John 2:19-21

(19) Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

(20) The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?”

(21) But he was speaking about the temple of his body.

The point I’m trying to make here by asking the question is that this is yet another proof that Jesus was God, God the Son, Part of the Trinity of God. He was not the Father, He was not the Holy Spirit, but He was God. Jesus is of the the same substance of the Father and the Spirit. He was Very God of Very God. Yet 100% man as well.

 This is a revealed thing. The Bible tells me so!

Loving My New Book

My wife bought me Meet The Puritans by Joel Beeke & R.J Pederson for my birthday and all i can say is “what a great book”. I’m really enjoying reading about the lives and writings of these great men. It has over 800 pages and i dont think it’s going to take me very long to read it cause i can’t put it down…..highly recommend it for anyone who loves the Puritans.

Books to Encourage and Motivate You for Evangelism

“Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God” by J.I. Packer – This book is a wonderful help in rightfully understanding God’s Sovereign Power over the salvation of His elect and our part in Evangelism.

“The Gospel & Personal Evangelism” by Mark Dever – This book will instruct and challenge you to proclaim the Gospel in a real way throughout your everyday life. It is an easy read with enjoyable illustrations and practical applications.

“Don’t Waste Your Life” by John Piper – This book becomes an instant favorite by many who read it. When you read this book you will be challenged to live this life for the reason you were placed here, specifically the glory of God and the fulfillment of His purpose.

“God Is The Gospel” by John Piper – If you desire to have a greater understanding of what the gospel is and how God is glorified through the gospel, you will want to read this book. You will better understand that God’s gift of Himself is the greatest news of the Gospel and the ultimate expression of His love.

Resurrection Sunday

John 2:19-21

 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body.

         Matthew 28:2-7

And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women,

“Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”

The resurrection of Christ is one of the foundation-stones of Christianity. It was the seal of the great work that He came on earth to do. It was the crowning proof that the ransom He paid for sinners was accepted, the atonement for sin accomplished, the head of him who had the power of death bruised, and the victory won.

~ J.C. Ryle

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1985], 358.

 

Proverbs 1:8-19

Meditations through the Proverbs

 

Proverbs 1:8-19 

(8)  Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching,  (9)  for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.  (10)  My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.  (11)  If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without reason;  (12)  like Sheol let us swallow them alive, and whole, like those who go down to the pit;  (13)  we shall find all precious goods, we shall fill our houses with plunder;  (14)  throw in your lot among us; we will all have one purse”–  (15)  my son, do not walk in the way with them; hold back your foot from their paths,  (16)  for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood.  (17)  For in vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird,  (18)  but these men lie in wait for their own blood; they set an ambush for their own lives.  (19)  Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain; it takes away the life of its possessors.

            An old method for catching raccoons is to place a piece of foil inside a small barred box that is staked to the ground. When a raccoon comes by, he reaches his paw into the box to get the foil. But, once he has grasped the foil, his paw changes shape and will not fit back through the bars on the box. Many times the raccoon would rather give up his freedom and perhaps his life – just for the sake of a shiny but useless piece of foil.

The person described in Proverbs 1:8-19 and this raccoon sound an awful lot alike. It sounds safe to say it like that but really me and that raccoon sound an awful lot alike and perhaps you find yourself in that picture as well. How easy it is to get side tracked by the things of this world and the greed in our hearts and it is only by the grace of God we don’t take as far as the person described in this proverb. Consider the wisdom presented here in this proverb, the things of this world are temporary and in light of eternity they are as worthless as a piece of shiny foil, yet they entice us. The bible tells us this is not our home, that we are travelers in a foreign land, and not to lay up our treasures in this world but in the world to come. So let us heed the words of this proverb and keep our eyes on the real prize and not the shiny foils of this world, lest we are unable to let go and suffer the fate of one who really never had his eyes upon the real prize.

The bible tells us in Romans 8:38-39 that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord but the bible also tells us in 1 John 2:15-17 “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world–the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions–is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” So then let us pray that the Lord would loosen our grip on the things of this world and tighten our grip on Him that we may abide with Him forever, this is the real prize.

Proverbs 1:1-7

Meditations through the Proverbs

 Proverbs 1:1-7

(1)  The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:

(2)  To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight,

(3)  to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity;

(4)  to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth–

(5)  Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance,

(6)  to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles.

(7)  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

 One morning the young new president of a bank made an appointment with his predecessor to seek some advice. He began, “Sir, as you well know, I lack a great deal of the qualifications you already have for the job. You have been very successful as president of the bank and I wondered if you would be kind enough to share with me some of the insights you have gained from your years here that have been the keys to your success.”

The older man looked at him with a stare and replied: “Young man, two words: good decisions.”

The young man responded, “Thank you very much, sir, but how does one come to know which is the good decision?”

“One word, young man: experience.”

“But how does one get experience?”

“Two words, young man: bad decisions.” ^[1]

I think it’s pretty clear the point being made here is that one must live life and learn from his mistakes in order to grow wise, and for sure this is one way to gain wisdom, but the bible tells us other ways to gain wisdom. Consider verses 2 through 4, they tell us wisdom is gained by receiving instruction in many things. This thought is taken further in verses 5 and 6 by the wise hearing, increasing in learning and obtaining guidance. All this is wrapped up with verse 7 in that the beginning of knowledge is the fear of the Lord.

So what is the point that is to be taken from this? The point may well be that we do learn from experience, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be our experience, it can be the experience of those who have went through it before us. I must argue that this is a better way to gain wisdom, at least a less painful way. That is what these proverbs are for according to verse 6, we are to understand these proverbs and learn from their wisdom so that according to verse 7, we are not a fool.

As I think through a few events in my life I must admit that most of the wise things I have learned have been learned the hard way, which is by living through some bad decisions. I hope that as I meditate on these scriptures those old ways of growing wise will become less common and I will conform to a better way, the way of learning from others. This is also my prayer for others especially my children, how painful a thing it is to see your children take on the way of learning through bad experiences, but to that I say if that brings wisdom than it is better than being a fool.

James 1:5 says “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” Do you believe that? Do you believe the words of God? Then let’s trust and ask and receive!

1. Illustrations for Biblical Preaching, Michael P. Green, Baker Book House, 1992, “wisdom” 1464

Egg or a Potato?

Today I had one of those days when nothing seemed to go right and it left me wondering why? I believe in a sovereign God and I know we have days like this for a reason and while dwelling on this I recalled a sermon I once heard, the question was asked “When you are facing lifes troubles are you going to be an egg or a potato?’ meaning that eggs and potatoes react differently to boiling water, eggs become hard and potatoes become soft. The troubles we have in this life are like boiling water, do we become an egg and let life harden us and make us bitter or do we become a potato and soften to the things of the Lord, bowing down to Him in humility, knowing He is our strength and our provider and that He is indeed sovereign over ALL things…..Lord, let me be a potato!

Holiness For the Glory of God

I want to tackle a subject that I believe has a great impact on the way we live our lives as a Christian and that is our understanding of what it is to walk in holiness.This may seem like an open and shut case for to walk in holiness must mean to not sin, and while that is true it is also somewhat deeper than that. Some denominations focus on the freedoms we have in Christ while others border or even cross the border on legalism in their view of holiness. I do believe we can take either of these views to the extreme and go against the biblical intent of these teachings. So when the Bible speaks of holy living that looks like a life of sacrifice and then speaks of our christian liberties is this a paradox or a syllogism? Obviously i don’t believe it is a paradox because it is my conviction and in fact it’s the claim of the Bible itself that it does not contradict itself, but a syllogism is a deductive reasoning in which a conclusion is derived from two premises, so if we take the premises of Christian freedoms and the apparent restrictions of holy living then what is our deduction? The deduction is “do all for the glory of God.”

I first want to discuss the teaching of holiness, the question would arise; is there a way in which “apparent” holy living wouldn’t bring glory to God? The answer is yes, in more than one way. When a person starts to believe that his holiness bears some impact on his salvation or the maintaining of his salvation, this would take away from the glory of God and make less of Christ’s work on the cross. Another way in which this takes away from God’s rightful glory is when one lives holy for the purpose of putting the focus on themselves, in other words they want people to talk about how holy they are and not how holy God is. So what is the right way to live holy? This is not just about action but also about motive. What is our motive for living holy? The first thing we should keep in mind is that we don’t walk in holiness so we can be saved but we live holy because we are saved. So what does it mean to be holy? For mankind to be holy means to do the very best we can, to live according to what God has revealed to us. Another question that may arise is if we are saved than what is our motivation for holy living? Our number one motivation should be that we are commanded to be holy. Secondly we should do so because it pleases God and after what He has done for us we should want to please God. A third reason we should do so is because if done with right motives it brings glory to God, it causes the world to notice something different about the Christian and ask questions that can lead to salvation which also brings glory to our Lord. This is all said to say this – we are called to be holy and we should strive for holiness everyday, but how does this balance with the freedoms we have in Christ? That is what we will discuss next.

So what about freedom in Christ? I think it’s fairly obvious that this could be taken to an extreme that would not only not bring glory to God but bring shame. So where are the boundries? Well, again it comes down to the glory of God. We are most definitely bound by scripture at the very least, what i mean by this is that if the scripture says not to do something then we shouldn’t do it, if we do, it is sin and sin is always outside the boundries of our freedoms. We also find in scripture that we are bound in our freedoms by our conscience, if we go against this God given warning system than we are sinning. But does it go further than that? I believe it does. We see in a few places in scripture where we are told to give up our freedoms for the purpose of unity within the body of Christ. For example the Apostle Paul said that is was well within his freedom to eat meat dedicated to idols, after all idols are nothing, but if it causes an issue with a weaker brother than he would give up eating meat for good. Also we see that in Acts 15 the gentile believers were told to not eat meat dedicated to idols for the purpose of unity with the Jewish believers who would have trouble with it. The unity of the body brings glory to God and it is worthy of this sacrifice of freedom. In other places in scripture we see freedoms being sacrificed for the sake of evangelism. All of this is for the Glory of God.

The conclusion to this for me and I hope for you as well is prayer – “Heavenly Father, help me to serve You in holiness with the right motives while enjoying the freedoms you have given me. Please grant me the wisdom and the discernment to know the limits and see when it is necessary to make sacrifices of freedoms. In the name of My Lord Jesus the Christ I pray!”