The twentieth-century British pastor D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, "If we only spent more of our time in looking at Christ we should soon forget ourselves." Fixing our eyes on Christ is the first step and the entire path of the Christian life. We don't look to Christ in faith to be saved and then look to ourselves to persevere. We trust Christ alone as our Savior and look to Christ alone and follow Him as our Lord. In order to look to Christ as our Savior and Lord, we need new eyes and a new heart. We are born spiritually dead and blind in sin, with our eyes fixed on ourselves and our own glory, but God the Holy Spirit strips the inherited blindfolds from our eyes and graciously rips out our hard hearts and gives us new hearts that love Him and new eyes that see Him. Yet even as Christians who have been declared righteous by God the Father through faith in the perfect life and sacrifice of God the Son, Jesus Christ, we remain sinful this side of heaven and daily struggle against the world, our flesh, and the Devil. In our struggle against our own self-centered sin, it might seem like an obvious remedy to focus our eyes on the sin itself in our attempt to deal with it. Yet, God says otherwise.
The author of Hebrews writes "Let us lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God" (12:1-2). As we grow in the grace and holiness of our Lord, being enabled by God's free grace to die more and more unto sinand live unto righteousness, we're called neither to fix our eyes on ourselves not to fix our eyes on our own sins that entangle themselves around our ankles. We're called to run with endurance by looking to Jesus, who is the author and perfecter of our faith. We are united to Christ an are made able and willing to turn our eyes upon Jesus - away from ourselves - so that by looking to Him, we are motivated to joyful, cross-bearing obedience as we "walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him...for all patience and longsuffering with joy"(Col. 1:10-11). For when we take our eyes off our Lord and set our eyes on ourselves, the Christian life becomes not only miserable but impossible.
Our greatest need before conversion is the gospel of Jesus Christ, and our greatest need after conversion is the same gospel. We never move on from the gospel, only deeper into the gospel, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes(Rom. 1:16). As we continue to believe the gospel, our eyes remain centered on Christ, and if they are centered on Christ, they are centered on God Himself, who is not simply at the top of our priority list, but the fountain and center of every priority in all of life.
-Burk Parsons
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Cast your burden on the LORD!
“Cast your burden on the LORD, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved”
(Psalm 55:22).Scripture constantly exhorts us to commit our ways unto the Lord, to cast all our burdens and cares upon Him, and to be anxious for nothing as we struggle against the world, the flesh and the Devil in this life. To commit our way unto the Lord means we humbly follow where He leads being confident that His way is one of wisdom and everlasting love in Christ. If we could determine our own way through this world, we would always be careful to avoid adversity, sickness, and trials. Yet, the Lord often leads His children in ways of darkness and distress, anguish and agony. Therefore, we need constant grace to commit our way to the Lord. How blessed it is to have this grace! And when we do commit our way to the Lord we are free from anxiety and we rejoice in the Lord, and that joy is abiding! Do you have abiding joy in the Lord in the midst of this dark world…this vale of tears that we must limp through? Our only hope, joy, and rejoicing is found when we look directly to Christ and “Cast our burden on the LORD…” (Psalm 55:22). What about you? Are you bearing your burdens or have you cast them at the foot of the cross? Yes, life is difficult…struggles abound…there’s much heartache, death, destruction and disappointment. Nevertheless, the Word of the Lord tells us to “cast all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). And when we do we have the precious promise of the Lord that “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).
-Pastor S. Henry
Sunday, March 11, 2012
How God deserves to be worshiped
The purpose of our public worship is to bring glory to God's name. This is demonstrated by the two NT words for worship. The first word "proskuneo" means "to kiss the had of" or " to bow down towards". It signifies humble adoration. The second main word "latreuo" means "to render honor" or "to pay homage". Both of these words carry the idea of giving something to God. The Anglo-Saxon word from which we get our English word "worship" is weorthscipe, which is tied to the concept of worthiness. In other words, worship is declaring the worthiness of our great God to receive glory, honor, praise, adoration and humble, obedient service. Psalms 145:3 "great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable." 2 Sam 22:4 "I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised..." Revelations 5:11 "You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created."
It must also be noted that worship is something we give to God. Worship must be God-centered, not self-centered. When people complain that they didn't get anything out of the worship service they have completely missed the point of worship. Rather, we ought to say, "what did I give to God in worship?" When we gather together for worship we com to give praise, honor, glory, adoration and service to God. Yes, we should receive from the Lord during the worship service, but primarily we come to give. Ps 29:1-2 "Give unto the Lord, O you mighty ones, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; Worship the Lord in the beauty of His holiness."
We are to worship:
-Obediently-John 14:15, Micah 6:8
-Reverently- 1 Tim 3:14-15, 1 Cor 14:33, Acts 2:42
-Fearfully- Isa 66:1-2
-Confessionally- We must confess what and how God has told us in His word. We must confess our sinfulness and rely completely upon the life and death of Jesus Christ as the only way, truth and life. Jesus is the only means of salvation. (Acts 4:12)
-Faithfully- Heb 10:25
-Attentively- We must engage our minds during the worship of our Lord.
Preaching: Rom 10:13-17, Martin Luther once said that "the highest worship we can give to God is the preaching of His word."
-Prayerfully- Eph 6:18, 1 Thess 5:18
-With song- Psalm 95, 96, 100
-Stewardship: using our spiritual gifts to give back to God. Also giving up of our time, talents and treasures.
It must also be noted that worship is something we give to God. Worship must be God-centered, not self-centered. When people complain that they didn't get anything out of the worship service they have completely missed the point of worship. Rather, we ought to say, "what did I give to God in worship?" When we gather together for worship we com to give praise, honor, glory, adoration and service to God. Yes, we should receive from the Lord during the worship service, but primarily we come to give. Ps 29:1-2 "Give unto the Lord, O you mighty ones, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; Worship the Lord in the beauty of His holiness."
We are to worship:
-Obediently-John 14:15, Micah 6:8
-Reverently- 1 Tim 3:14-15, 1 Cor 14:33, Acts 2:42
-Fearfully- Isa 66:1-2
-Confessionally- We must confess what and how God has told us in His word. We must confess our sinfulness and rely completely upon the life and death of Jesus Christ as the only way, truth and life. Jesus is the only means of salvation. (Acts 4:12)
-Faithfully- Heb 10:25
-Attentively- We must engage our minds during the worship of our Lord.
Preaching: Rom 10:13-17, Martin Luther once said that "the highest worship we can give to God is the preaching of His word."
-Prayerfully- Eph 6:18, 1 Thess 5:18
-With song- Psalm 95, 96, 100
-Stewardship: using our spiritual gifts to give back to God. Also giving up of our time, talents and treasures.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Chosen!
Eph 1:4, 11 - According as he hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world...being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.
We see here from Eph 1 the God "worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" Basically, what we see happening on a day to day basis in this world is not just a matter of chance, accident or coincidence. Things do not just work out the way they do for no reason at all. There definitely is a reason for everything. And the ultimate reason for everything is the great plan of God. "For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever," (Rom 11:36) Sometimes we tend to forget that God has planned every that happens. And all that is happening to the elect is working towards our justification, our sanctification and our edification. "And we know that all things work together for good, to them that love God. To them who are the called according to His purpose." (Rom 8:28) God also tells us through the prophet Isaiah "the end from the beginning...My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure" (Isa 46:10) As for us humans, God speaks through Job, "his days are determine, the number of his months are with Thee, thou hast appointed His bounds that He cannot pass" (Job 14:5) Also we read in Proverbs "the Lord hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil" (Prov 16:4)
A false inference that generally comes from one hearing "God has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass" is that 'if God predestined everything than He must be the author of sin as well'. It is a very difficult concept to grasp, to say the least. For, if we say that God has planned everything, we connot leave sin out. God has planned sin too, and if God has planned sin, it would almost seem that God must be the author of it. But this is just one of many places in which we must just accept what the Scriptures say instead of following what seems reasonable to us. Just because we cannot understand something spiritual with our finite minds does not give us the right to deny the Scriptures. God created both angles and men. But they were good when He first made them. Somehow (and we do not know how) sin arose in these creatures. God's plan included this, but not in such as way as to make Him the author of sin.
Another falsity is, that we are compared to pawns on a chessboard. It is true that God has already determined the destiny of every man. Some will be saved, as God has appointed. And some will be lost, as God has decreed. We see in Jude that "certain people....who long ago were designated for this condemnation," But "God hath not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation" (1 Thess. 5:9)
The Bible clearly teaches the those who are finally lost, do not really want to be saved. They are lost because of their own choice. And apart from God's grace everyman would be lost. Before Christ comes to those whom He has elected and changes their heart and quickens their dead spirit, we too would choose damnation over salvation. The decree of God does not in any way, shape or form, weaken or destroy the responsibility of us a humans.
We see here from Eph 1 the God "worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" Basically, what we see happening on a day to day basis in this world is not just a matter of chance, accident or coincidence. Things do not just work out the way they do for no reason at all. There definitely is a reason for everything. And the ultimate reason for everything is the great plan of God. "For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever," (Rom 11:36) Sometimes we tend to forget that God has planned every that happens. And all that is happening to the elect is working towards our justification, our sanctification and our edification. "And we know that all things work together for good, to them that love God. To them who are the called according to His purpose." (Rom 8:28) God also tells us through the prophet Isaiah "the end from the beginning...My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure" (Isa 46:10) As for us humans, God speaks through Job, "his days are determine, the number of his months are with Thee, thou hast appointed His bounds that He cannot pass" (Job 14:5) Also we read in Proverbs "the Lord hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil" (Prov 16:4)
A false inference that generally comes from one hearing "God has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass" is that 'if God predestined everything than He must be the author of sin as well'. It is a very difficult concept to grasp, to say the least. For, if we say that God has planned everything, we connot leave sin out. God has planned sin too, and if God has planned sin, it would almost seem that God must be the author of it. But this is just one of many places in which we must just accept what the Scriptures say instead of following what seems reasonable to us. Just because we cannot understand something spiritual with our finite minds does not give us the right to deny the Scriptures. God created both angles and men. But they were good when He first made them. Somehow (and we do not know how) sin arose in these creatures. God's plan included this, but not in such as way as to make Him the author of sin.
Another falsity is, that we are compared to pawns on a chessboard. It is true that God has already determined the destiny of every man. Some will be saved, as God has appointed. And some will be lost, as God has decreed. We see in Jude that "certain people....who long ago were designated for this condemnation," But "God hath not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation" (1 Thess. 5:9)
The Bible clearly teaches the those who are finally lost, do not really want to be saved. They are lost because of their own choice. And apart from God's grace everyman would be lost. Before Christ comes to those whom He has elected and changes their heart and quickens their dead spirit, we too would choose damnation over salvation. The decree of God does not in any way, shape or form, weaken or destroy the responsibility of us a humans.
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