“The very heart of worship, as the Bible makes clear, is the business of expressing, from the depths of our spirits, the highest possible honor we can offer before God.”
– R.C. Sproul
Showing posts with label Worship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Worship. Show all posts
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Quote of the Day
“The very heart of worship, as the Bible makes clear, is the business of expressing, from the depths of our spirits, the highest possible honor we can offer before God.”
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Not Number One, The Only One
JD Greer writes about the First Commandment:
“You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3
Sounds simple enough, right? The Hebrew, often translated as “besides me” or “before me,” means “in my presence.” The point is that nothing else can qualify as god in your life. The true God is not only to be number one but the only one.
In our day, we don’t like narrow, exclusive options. We might think God is constraining and restricting our choices. But isn’t this how love is expressed? Imagine if I were to tell my wife, “Baby, you’re number one. No matter how many other wives I take, you’ll be my first.” That might make for compelling reality television, but that’s not going to be a good marriage. Love demands exclusivity. My wife doesn’t want to be number one; she wants to be the only one—not because she doesn’t love me but because she does.
So love and exclusivity aren’t at odds with each other. God’s demand for loyalty is God’s display of love.
First Place
Why is it appropriate for God to demand first place in our lives? Is it appropriate for us to demand this kind of allegiance from those around us? Why or why not?
Some of you may look at this first commandment and think, I can check this one off. I don’t call anything or anyone else “God” in my life. I don’t bow down to or worship anything or anyone else. I don’t pray to anything or anyone else. And I don’t have any little statues or shrines in my house. Let’s move on. But here’s where we need to explore more deeply the meaning of putting other things or people before God. And this is where we come to a key biblical concept—idolatry.
What is an idol? It is anything or anyone we put in the place of God in our lives. An idol is anything or anyone we consider so central, so fundamental, so essential to our life that we couldn’t imagine life without it, him, or her. An idol is anything or anyone we love more than God, trust more than God, or obey more than God.
Here are some diagnostic questions to discover what you worship:
Breaking the first commandment leads to breaking the others because idolatry is the gateway to all other sins. If you look deeply into the ways you disobey God, you’ll usually find idolatry at the root.
The areas in your life where you are breaking the commandments are like smoke from a fire. Don’t focus on the smoke. Follow the trail of smoke back to the fire and you will arrive at the altars of the idols you are worshiping.
Sin and disobedience can’t be fixed by changing behavior. We must go back to the attitude that leads to the action, the idolatrous heart that leads to the idolatrous action. Worshiping something or someone else other than God leads us into sin. Therefore, to truly escape the harmful effects of sinful behavior, we must go back to what we worship. And the first commandment is all about God being first.
“You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3
Sounds simple enough, right? The Hebrew, often translated as “besides me” or “before me,” means “in my presence.” The point is that nothing else can qualify as god in your life. The true God is not only to be number one but the only one.
In our day, we don’t like narrow, exclusive options. We might think God is constraining and restricting our choices. But isn’t this how love is expressed? Imagine if I were to tell my wife, “Baby, you’re number one. No matter how many other wives I take, you’ll be my first.” That might make for compelling reality television, but that’s not going to be a good marriage. Love demands exclusivity. My wife doesn’t want to be number one; she wants to be the only one—not because she doesn’t love me but because she does.
So love and exclusivity aren’t at odds with each other. God’s demand for loyalty is God’s display of love.
First Place
Why is it appropriate for God to demand first place in our lives? Is it appropriate for us to demand this kind of allegiance from those around us? Why or why not?
Some of you may look at this first commandment and think, I can check this one off. I don’t call anything or anyone else “God” in my life. I don’t bow down to or worship anything or anyone else. I don’t pray to anything or anyone else. And I don’t have any little statues or shrines in my house. Let’s move on. But here’s where we need to explore more deeply the meaning of putting other things or people before God. And this is where we come to a key biblical concept—idolatry.
What is an idol? It is anything or anyone we put in the place of God in our lives. An idol is anything or anyone we consider so central, so fundamental, so essential to our life that we couldn’t imagine life without it, him, or her. An idol is anything or anyone we love more than God, trust more than God, or obey more than God.
Here are some diagnostic questions to discover what you worship:
- What do you feel you need in order for life to be good?
- What makes life worth living?
- When you dream about the future, what do you dream about obtaining?
- Where do you go for comfort?
Breaking the first commandment leads to breaking the others because idolatry is the gateway to all other sins. If you look deeply into the ways you disobey God, you’ll usually find idolatry at the root.
The areas in your life where you are breaking the commandments are like smoke from a fire. Don’t focus on the smoke. Follow the trail of smoke back to the fire and you will arrive at the altars of the idols you are worshiping.
Sin and disobedience can’t be fixed by changing behavior. We must go back to the attitude that leads to the action, the idolatrous heart that leads to the idolatrous action. Worshiping something or someone else other than God leads us into sin. Therefore, to truly escape the harmful effects of sinful behavior, we must go back to what we worship. And the first commandment is all about God being first.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Worship Is More
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
—Romans 12: 1–2
Popular opinion these days often limits worship to singing. Music leaders are called “worship leaders.” So the congregation “worships” for a while, and then hears a sermon, possibly followed by more “worship.” True worship, however, includes so much more. Most obviously, it includes the entire activity of the church as she assembles for worship each Lord’s Day, especially the reading and exposition of the Word. But even that is only a small portion of the worship that God expects of us.
Popular opinion these days often limits worship to singing. Music leaders are called “worship leaders.” So the congregation “worships” for a while, and then hears a sermon, possibly followed by more “worship.” True worship, however, includes so much more. Most obviously, it includes the entire activity of the church as she assembles for worship each Lord’s Day, especially the reading and exposition of the Word. But even that is only a small portion of the worship that God expects of us.
Worship does not only occur in public services and assemblies. It should occur in the Christian’s daily living. So Paul exhorted the Christians in Rome, “Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” Theology lived out in responsible action and obedience is worshipping God. When performed in faith, all the duties of the Christian life commanded in Scripture are means of worshipping God. “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Worship of God is the supreme end of the Christian church, whether considered locally or universally, or in the individual lives of its members.
—Mark Dever, The Church: The Gospel Made Visible
Saturday, June 1, 2013
The Difference Between Congregational Worship and a Concert
John Piper, writing in 2008:
Thirteen years ago we asked: What should be the defining sound of corporate worship at Bethlehem, besides the voice of biblical preaching?
We meant: Should it be pipe organ, piano, guitar, drums, choir, worship team, orchestra, etc. The answer we gave was “The people of Bethlehem singing.”
Some thought: That’s not much help in deciding which instruments should be used. Perhaps not. But it is massively helpful in clarifying the meaning of those moments.
If [our church] is not “singing and making melody to the Lord with [our] heart,” (Ephesians 5:19), it’s all over. We close up shop. This is no small commitment.
James K. A. Smith, writing last year, made a similar point. While there may be a few exceptions to what he says here, I think he’s exactly right with regard to the main thrust of Christian congregational worship.
1. If we, the congregation, can’t hear ourselves, it’s not worship.
Christian worship is not a concert. In a concert (a particular “form of performance”), we often expect to be overwhelmed by sound, particularly in certain styles of music. In a concert, we come to expect that weird sort of sensory deprivation that happens from sensory overload, when the pounding of the bass on our chest and the wash of music over the crowd leaves us with the rush of a certain aural vertigo. And there’s nothing wrong with concerts! It’s just that Christian worship is not a concert. Christian worship is a collective, communal, congregational practice–and the gathered sound and harmony of a congregation singing as one is integral to the practice of worship. It is a way of “performing” the reality that, in Christ, we are one body. But that requires that we actually be able to hear ourselves, and hear our sisters and brothers singing alongside us. When the amped sound of the praise band overwhelms congregational voices, we can’t hear ourselves sing–so we lose that communal aspect of the congregation and are encouraged to effectively become “private,” passive worshipers.
2. If we, the congregation, can’t sing along, it’s not worship.
In other forms of musical performance, musicians and bands will want to improvise and “be creative,” offering new renditions and exhibiting their virtuosity with all sorts of different trills and pauses and improvisations on the received tune. Again, that can be a delightful aspect of a concert, but in Christian worship it just means that we, the congregation, can’t sing along. And so your virtuosity gives rise to our passivity; your creativity simply encourages our silence. And while you may be worshiping with your creativity, the same creativity actually shuts down congregational song.
3. If you, the praise band, are the center of attention, it’s not worship.
I know it’s generally not your fault that we’ve put you at the front of the church. And I know you want to model worship for us to imitate. But because we’ve encouraged you to basically import forms of performance from the concert venue into the sanctuary, we might not realize that we’ve also unwittingly encouraged a sense that you are the center of attention. And when your performance becomes a display of your virtuosity—even with the best of intentions—it’s difficult to counter the temptation to make the praise band the focus of our attention. When the praise band goes into long riffs that you might intend as “offerings to God,” we the congregation become utterly passive, and because we’ve adopted habits of relating to music from the Grammys and the concert venue, we unwittingly make you the center of attention. I wonder if there might be some intentional reflection on placement (to the side? leading from behind?) and performance that might help us counter these habits we bring with us to worship.
You can read the whole thing here.
Thirteen years ago we asked: What should be the defining sound of corporate worship at Bethlehem, besides the voice of biblical preaching?
We meant: Should it be pipe organ, piano, guitar, drums, choir, worship team, orchestra, etc. The answer we gave was “The people of Bethlehem singing.”
Some thought: That’s not much help in deciding which instruments should be used. Perhaps not. But it is massively helpful in clarifying the meaning of those moments.
If [our church] is not “singing and making melody to the Lord with [our] heart,” (Ephesians 5:19), it’s all over. We close up shop. This is no small commitment.
James K. A. Smith, writing last year, made a similar point. While there may be a few exceptions to what he says here, I think he’s exactly right with regard to the main thrust of Christian congregational worship.
1. If we, the congregation, can’t hear ourselves, it’s not worship.
Christian worship is not a concert. In a concert (a particular “form of performance”), we often expect to be overwhelmed by sound, particularly in certain styles of music. In a concert, we come to expect that weird sort of sensory deprivation that happens from sensory overload, when the pounding of the bass on our chest and the wash of music over the crowd leaves us with the rush of a certain aural vertigo. And there’s nothing wrong with concerts! It’s just that Christian worship is not a concert. Christian worship is a collective, communal, congregational practice–and the gathered sound and harmony of a congregation singing as one is integral to the practice of worship. It is a way of “performing” the reality that, in Christ, we are one body. But that requires that we actually be able to hear ourselves, and hear our sisters and brothers singing alongside us. When the amped sound of the praise band overwhelms congregational voices, we can’t hear ourselves sing–so we lose that communal aspect of the congregation and are encouraged to effectively become “private,” passive worshipers.
2. If we, the congregation, can’t sing along, it’s not worship.
In other forms of musical performance, musicians and bands will want to improvise and “be creative,” offering new renditions and exhibiting their virtuosity with all sorts of different trills and pauses and improvisations on the received tune. Again, that can be a delightful aspect of a concert, but in Christian worship it just means that we, the congregation, can’t sing along. And so your virtuosity gives rise to our passivity; your creativity simply encourages our silence. And while you may be worshiping with your creativity, the same creativity actually shuts down congregational song.
3. If you, the praise band, are the center of attention, it’s not worship.
I know it’s generally not your fault that we’ve put you at the front of the church. And I know you want to model worship for us to imitate. But because we’ve encouraged you to basically import forms of performance from the concert venue into the sanctuary, we might not realize that we’ve also unwittingly encouraged a sense that you are the center of attention. And when your performance becomes a display of your virtuosity—even with the best of intentions—it’s difficult to counter the temptation to make the praise band the focus of our attention. When the praise band goes into long riffs that you might intend as “offerings to God,” we the congregation become utterly passive, and because we’ve adopted habits of relating to music from the Grammys and the concert venue, we unwittingly make you the center of attention. I wonder if there might be some intentional reflection on placement (to the side? leading from behind?) and performance that might help us counter these habits we bring with us to worship.
You can read the whole thing here.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Quote of the Day
Corporate worship is designed to fill your heart with such excitement and contentment with God's glory that no other glory can compete.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Quote of the Day
“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t.”
– John Piper
Friday, April 26, 2013
Scripture In Worship
Let's do this!
From joethorn.net:
Over the past 23 years I have experienced a wide variety of worship gatherings within different denominations and theological perspectives, and one thing I have always found concerning is how little Scripture is used in corporate worship. Of course there are many exemplary churches that use Scripture well in their gatherings, but the liturgy of many churches--especially in my Baptist circles--seems to give much less time and space to the reading of Scripture.
I write this as an encouragement to those churches who have not yet discovered the value of incorporating more of the Bible into their worship services. Because God's word is what revives the soul, makes us wise, enlightens the eyes, and is the means by which God sanctifies us (Ps. 19; Jn. 17:17), we should be eager to give it a prominent place in our worship. While it is common to read the Scripture with the sermon and before the Lord's Supper, I want to suggest 5 more places in worship where the word of God can be lifted up.
The Call to WorshipI know you are tempted to start making all kind of announcements at the beginning of the service, but try to keep those to a minimum, and jump into a reading from a Psalm that sets the minds of the people on God. At Redeemer we begin with a brief greeting to the people and any newcomers, and go straight for a Psalm that was chosen in light of the passage being preached from later in the service. For us this reading can be an entire Psalm or a portion of one.
Leading into Hymns/Songs
Scripture is very helpful for making transitions between portions of the liturgy. I'm not saying we should use Scripture as filler, but as an aid in helping the congregation track with the flow of the service. For example, this morning at our worship service 1 Tim. 1:12-17 was read after one song and led us into another, "Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise." This obviously leads well into the song, but also was "on point" with the focus of that particular worship service.
Before the Offering
The offering in many baptist churches is only preceded by a prayer. But Scripture is a great aid in this act of worship. We should use it to draw our attention to the grace and generosity of God to all men, and particularly to what he has given us in his Son. This also becomes a teachable moment where the congregation is reminded about the nature of biblical giving, as well as the motive for our giving.
As a Corporate Reading
By "corporate reading" I mean reading a text aloud, together or responsively. This is not only another opportunity to hear the word of God, but to stand together and confess the truths contained therein. By the way, check the back of your Baptist Hymnal. Look at that! Responsive readings!
As a Benediction
A benediction is a short blessing that concludes the worship gathering. This is either taken directly from Scripture, or summarizes the truths of certain passages of Scripture. Perhaps the most famous benediction in the Bible is found in the book of Numbers.
“The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”
— Numbers 6:24-26
There are other ways of incorporating Scripture into our worship gatherings. It was common for the Puritans to read a chapter from the Old Testament and a chapter from the New Testament in their services. Find what will work best for your congregation, and bless them with more of the word.
From joethorn.net:
Over the past 23 years I have experienced a wide variety of worship gatherings within different denominations and theological perspectives, and one thing I have always found concerning is how little Scripture is used in corporate worship. Of course there are many exemplary churches that use Scripture well in their gatherings, but the liturgy of many churches--especially in my Baptist circles--seems to give much less time and space to the reading of Scripture.
I write this as an encouragement to those churches who have not yet discovered the value of incorporating more of the Bible into their worship services. Because God's word is what revives the soul, makes us wise, enlightens the eyes, and is the means by which God sanctifies us (Ps. 19; Jn. 17:17), we should be eager to give it a prominent place in our worship. While it is common to read the Scripture with the sermon and before the Lord's Supper, I want to suggest 5 more places in worship where the word of God can be lifted up.
The Call to WorshipI know you are tempted to start making all kind of announcements at the beginning of the service, but try to keep those to a minimum, and jump into a reading from a Psalm that sets the minds of the people on God. At Redeemer we begin with a brief greeting to the people and any newcomers, and go straight for a Psalm that was chosen in light of the passage being preached from later in the service. For us this reading can be an entire Psalm or a portion of one.
Leading into Hymns/Songs
Scripture is very helpful for making transitions between portions of the liturgy. I'm not saying we should use Scripture as filler, but as an aid in helping the congregation track with the flow of the service. For example, this morning at our worship service 1 Tim. 1:12-17 was read after one song and led us into another, "Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise." This obviously leads well into the song, but also was "on point" with the focus of that particular worship service.
Before the Offering
The offering in many baptist churches is only preceded by a prayer. But Scripture is a great aid in this act of worship. We should use it to draw our attention to the grace and generosity of God to all men, and particularly to what he has given us in his Son. This also becomes a teachable moment where the congregation is reminded about the nature of biblical giving, as well as the motive for our giving.
As a Corporate Reading
By "corporate reading" I mean reading a text aloud, together or responsively. This is not only another opportunity to hear the word of God, but to stand together and confess the truths contained therein. By the way, check the back of your Baptist Hymnal. Look at that! Responsive readings!
As a Benediction
A benediction is a short blessing that concludes the worship gathering. This is either taken directly from Scripture, or summarizes the truths of certain passages of Scripture. Perhaps the most famous benediction in the Bible is found in the book of Numbers.
“The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”
— Numbers 6:24-26
There are other ways of incorporating Scripture into our worship gatherings. It was common for the Puritans to read a chapter from the Old Testament and a chapter from the New Testament in their services. Find what will work best for your congregation, and bless them with more of the word.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
When God Is Not Enough
“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you” (Augustine, Confessions).
“There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus” (Blaise Pascal, Pensées).
Certain of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. And the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces… . Therefore speak to them and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: Any one of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart and sets the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him as he comes with the multitude of his idols, that I may lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel, who are all estranged from me through their idols.’” (Ezek. 14:1–5)
The new hearts we have in Christ are yet-to-be-perfected hearts, and when God is functionally “not enough,” our anxieties and fears take over; then we go on the hunt for designer gods and pseudosaviors. What does this look like?
At the beginning of Ezekiel 14, we get to eavesdrop on a fascinating conversation that took place between the prophet and God. Here’s the back story: Instead of showing and telling God’s story of redemption to the nations, Israel had progressively been drawn into the worship of the gods of the surrounding nations.
Israel’s drift into idolatry didn’t happen because the people became bored with the liturgy of their temple, enamored with the music of the worship bands in pagan temples, or impressed with the oratory of the new Canaanite prophet who had just moved into the neighborhood. No one in Israel went looking for a new worship service, but for new gods to service them. The center of their worship shifted from God to themselves. They began to worship worship more than they worshiped God—that is, their relationship with God became utilitarian rather than doxological.
When the glory of the one true living God is no longer our principal passion in life, worship becomes a pragmatic vehicle for fulfilling two basic quests in life: provision and protection. Instead of living for God’s glory and looking to Him to meet our needs, we exist for our glory and look for gods who will meet our demands.
How does God respond? Three phrases jump out at me in this pivotal passage—each of which highlights just how tenaciously God loves us in Christ and how relentlessly He pursues our hearts’ affection.
God’s Lament: “These men have set up idols in their hearts.”
We are quite capable of setting up physical idols anywhere. But whether it’s a golden calf in the courtyard or a new car in the driveway, the main real estate of idolatry is the heart. The works of our hands and the words from our mouths are simply the overflow of what’s gong on in the sanctuaries of our hearts. God’s cry, and command, to us is always, “My son, give me your heart” (Prov. 23:26). He will have our hearts, because God alone deserves our hearts.
God’s Promise: “I the Lord will answer him myself in keeping with his great idolatry.”
Though His patience is limitless, God’s love for His people moves Him to act powerfully and, if need be, painfully. How does God answer us in keeping with our idolatry? God allows us to taste the often destructive consequences of trusting idols. Only when our idols fail us will we begin to understand the futility and insanity of idolatry (Isa. 44). Idolatry carries a blinding and binding power. Only a power as great as the grace of God can possibly cut through the delusions and destroy the entrapments of idolatry.
God’s Hope: “I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all deserted me for their idols.”
As I have been led, and at times dragged, into the process of gospel transformation, few words of hope have meant more to me than these. Why does God make life painful for us at times? Why does God often write stories we would never pen; observe a time line we would never choose; and answer our prayers in ways that feel like He is rejecting us? He gives us His answer: “I will do this to recapture the hearts of My people, who have all deserted Me for their idols.” No one loves us like God does in Jesus—even if it takes a Babylonian captivity to convince us.
God’s jealousy for our love is the greatest compliment He could ever pay us, but it’s also the costliest gift He could ever give us. It was costly to God because it required the life and death of His Son; it is costly to us because it means God’s love will never let us go. That can get very disruptive and messy. Sometimes we proclaim, “Nothing will ever separate me from the love of God,” not fully realizing everything implied. The God of love will not tolerate our love of idols. Hallelujah, and brace yourself.
“There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus” (Blaise Pascal, Pensées).
Certain of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. And the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces… . Therefore speak to them and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: Any one of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart and sets the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him as he comes with the multitude of his idols, that I may lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel, who are all estranged from me through their idols.’” (Ezek. 14:1–5)
The new hearts we have in Christ are yet-to-be-perfected hearts, and when God is functionally “not enough,” our anxieties and fears take over; then we go on the hunt for designer gods and pseudosaviors. What does this look like?
At the beginning of Ezekiel 14, we get to eavesdrop on a fascinating conversation that took place between the prophet and God. Here’s the back story: Instead of showing and telling God’s story of redemption to the nations, Israel had progressively been drawn into the worship of the gods of the surrounding nations.
Israel’s drift into idolatry didn’t happen because the people became bored with the liturgy of their temple, enamored with the music of the worship bands in pagan temples, or impressed with the oratory of the new Canaanite prophet who had just moved into the neighborhood. No one in Israel went looking for a new worship service, but for new gods to service them. The center of their worship shifted from God to themselves. They began to worship worship more than they worshiped God—that is, their relationship with God became utilitarian rather than doxological.
When the glory of the one true living God is no longer our principal passion in life, worship becomes a pragmatic vehicle for fulfilling two basic quests in life: provision and protection. Instead of living for God’s glory and looking to Him to meet our needs, we exist for our glory and look for gods who will meet our demands.
How does God respond? Three phrases jump out at me in this pivotal passage—each of which highlights just how tenaciously God loves us in Christ and how relentlessly He pursues our hearts’ affection.
God’s Lament: “These men have set up idols in their hearts.”
We are quite capable of setting up physical idols anywhere. But whether it’s a golden calf in the courtyard or a new car in the driveway, the main real estate of idolatry is the heart. The works of our hands and the words from our mouths are simply the overflow of what’s gong on in the sanctuaries of our hearts. God’s cry, and command, to us is always, “My son, give me your heart” (Prov. 23:26). He will have our hearts, because God alone deserves our hearts.
God’s Promise: “I the Lord will answer him myself in keeping with his great idolatry.”
Though His patience is limitless, God’s love for His people moves Him to act powerfully and, if need be, painfully. How does God answer us in keeping with our idolatry? God allows us to taste the often destructive consequences of trusting idols. Only when our idols fail us will we begin to understand the futility and insanity of idolatry (Isa. 44). Idolatry carries a blinding and binding power. Only a power as great as the grace of God can possibly cut through the delusions and destroy the entrapments of idolatry.
God’s Hope: “I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all deserted me for their idols.”
As I have been led, and at times dragged, into the process of gospel transformation, few words of hope have meant more to me than these. Why does God make life painful for us at times? Why does God often write stories we would never pen; observe a time line we would never choose; and answer our prayers in ways that feel like He is rejecting us? He gives us His answer: “I will do this to recapture the hearts of My people, who have all deserted Me for their idols.” No one loves us like God does in Jesus—even if it takes a Babylonian captivity to convince us.
God’s jealousy for our love is the greatest compliment He could ever pay us, but it’s also the costliest gift He could ever give us. It was costly to God because it required the life and death of His Son; it is costly to us because it means God’s love will never let us go. That can get very disruptive and messy. Sometimes we proclaim, “Nothing will ever separate me from the love of God,” not fully realizing everything implied. The God of love will not tolerate our love of idols. Hallelujah, and brace yourself.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Breakthrough Power
Harold O. J. Brown, The Sensate Culture
In our day of exhausting hype, a church with modest resources has all the potential for breakthrough power that the church of Acts 2 experienced – the felt presence of the risen Christ, according to the gospel. Simplicity and honesty are advantages.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Quote of the Day
“A time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, the church will have clowns entertaining the goats.”
– C.H. Spurgeon
Friday, March 9, 2012
Quote of the Day
“So what is the right way to listen to a sermon? With a soul that is prepared, a mind that is alert, a Bible that is open, a heart that is receptive, and a life that is ready to spring into action.”
– Phil Ryken
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Whole hearted Worship
As Dr. David VanDrunen has pointed out in his book Living in God’s Two Kingdoms: A Biblical Vision for Christianity and Culture, many Christians today view the public worship of the church as if it were a huddle in the middle of a football game or like a gas station stop on a road trip: it is a time to regroup or refuel for the “real action” which occurs elsewhere. Worship is seen as a means to another end, a mere preparation for the “real action” of the Christian life that occurs out in the world during the rest of the week. But as Dr. VanDrunen argues, “The church’s worship and fellowship are ends in themselves. Nothing that we do in this world is more important than participation in these activities” (p. 133).
John Calvin made the same point in his Institutes of the Christian Religion. He observed that in the summary of God’s absolute, unchanging Moral Law, the Ten Commandments, the first four Commandments all have to do with worship. That the duty of man to worship God is stated first is no accident: God was revealing by that order that “the first foundation of righteousness is the worship of God” (II. viii. 11).
But worship is not just the primary duty of all men; it is also the highest privilege of all believers. Standing as they do in Christ’s perfect righteousness, Christians have access to God’s holy presence in which they can even now rejoice (Rom. 5:1-11). And the best part about worshiping God under the New Covenant is that we can enter into that presence of God directly and with confidence, with no need for any mediator, any priest (Israelite or Roman Catholic), other than Jesus Christ Himself (Heb. 10:11-25).
But if all of this is true – that worship is both our primary duty and our highest privilege – then we need to ask ourselves, “Do we take our worship of God as seriously and engage in it as whole-heartedly as we should?” The Puritan “Directory for Public Worship” states that it is the responsibility of every person present, once the public worship of the church has begun, “wholly to attend upon it,” that is, to give it his undivided attention and to participate in it fully. Pastors are not priests: they cannot worship God for us. They can only lead us in worship: it is the duty of each one, then, to follow and to worship God for himself.
May God help us all to be more intentional and more engaged in every aspect of our corporate worship, to “wholly to attend upon it”; and may He draw out from our churches and from each one of us worship that is true and heartfelt, for such worship is indeed our primary duty and our highest privilege.
Jason Walter, Pastor
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Six Ways to Pray for the Pastor
Prayer is a significant aspect of your involvement in your local church’s worship every Lord’s Day. As you spend time today, preparing for tomorrow’s assembly, remember to pray for your pastor’s preaching. Take some time to look up the following Scriptures and let them influence how you pray. Your pastor will appreciate it more than you know.
- Pray for the Lord to open the hearts of the hearers just as He did for Lydia (Acts 16:14).
- Pray for the Lord’s victory over Satan’s opposition (Lk 8:12; 2 Cor 4:4)
- Pray for boldness and guidance in his choice of words (Eph 6:18-19)
- Pray for the Holy Spirit’s work of conviction & illumination in the hearts of listeners (Jn 16:8-11; 1 Cor 2:14)
- Pray for the power of the gospel to be unleashed (Rom 1:16; 2 Thess 3:1)
- Pray for the drawing power of the Father (Jn 6:44)
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Mercy
Mercy is God withholding the just punishment of sin from those who deserve it. While grace lavishes on; mercy puts off, or holds back. God’s mercy is propelled into motion by His love:
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us (Eph 2:4).
The love of God—His goodness in action—moves Him to not give us what we deserve. This mercy, not our goodness or works, is what leads to our regeneration, salvation, and justification:
“He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:5-7), and causes the new birth: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of JesusChrist from the dead” (1 Pet 1:3).
The Apostle Paul put himself forward as an illustration of one who was rescued from spiritual blindness and the tragic consequences of unbelief by the mercy of God and for the glory of God.
“And yet for this reason I found mercy, in order that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience, as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life” (1 Tim 1:16);
“…even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. And yet I was shown mercy, because I acted ignorantly in unbelief” (1 Tim 1:13).
The conversion of any sinner is sheer mercy.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Self Examination and Resolutions
Before a believer takes communion, he is to “examine himself” (1 Corinthians 11:28). Paul, in a rebuke to the Corinthians, told them to “examine yourselves” (2 Corinthians 13:5). Colossians 3 presents a pattern of putting off sin and putting on conduct becoming of those who love the Messiah. And in Colossians 3, Paul culminates his description of sanctification with this charge: “whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Colossians 3:17).
Normative Christian living contains self-examination. There is a morbid introspection that goes too far; we all know those who are Christian Eeyores, moping about, striving to uncover any hidden motive behind every action. That sort of spiritual depression is not what I am talking about. But there is a healthy self-examination that should be part of the Christian life. Self-assessment can be extremely beneficial in our quest for godliness.
For that reason, I find that an annual spiritual inventory more helpful than daily spiritual contemplation. I ask myself, “How am I doing this year? What have I read this year in the Bible? How did I lead my wife this year? What was my prayer life like? What sins have I battled this year? Am I putting to death the deeds of the flesh, or is sin winning the battle?”
This kind of annual approach avoids the normal ups and downs common in this fallen world. Excuses are muted by the wide angel lens of looking over the past twelve months. Failures are more obvious, and scapegoats more scarce.
The prophet Haggai confronted Israel when they were in the middle of a 14-year spiritual skid. The demands of daily post-exilic life had stifled the initial excitement of temple building. Israel, over a decade after their return to the land, had imported a Persian consumerist mindset, and they cultivated materialism reminiscent of America.
Haggai stepped into this world of paneled houses and lined pockets, and demanded something of the people. Four times in the tiny book of Haggai, the prophet implores the Israelites to “consider” their ways. They were to look at how they were living, look at the abandoned scaffolding of the temple, and to ask themselves “how am I living? Is God pleased?”
They were not merely to consider the past, but Haggai pointed them forward. He told them “Consider carefully from this day forward…” and he told them about the future. In light of God’s promises, how were they supposed to live?
My personal application of Haggai’s sermons is to look at the last year of my life, and ask if I am going in the right direction. What can change, how can it change, and who can help me? If I see areas of success and triumph in Christ, I mark them in my heart with mental Ebenezers. Where there are failures, I repent, and pray for grace to do better this year. And where there are possibilities, I make goals and I plan in my heart how to make the most of where God has led me over the past year.
How about you? What do you do for New Year’s resolutions? Do you make them, or mock them?
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Questioning Your Pastor
Mark Altrogge: “Help your pastor. Help him preach more accurately. Help him see how to lead and care for people better. Encourage him. And if you have questions, feel free to ask.”
Monday, December 26, 2011
The Ordinary Means of Grace
While doing some study this week I came across this wonderful little quote from Thomas Chalmers. Here he discusses the central role of the very ordinary means of God’s grace.
________________________________________
In bygone days when God’s covenant people sought to strengthen their piety, to sharpen their effectual intercessions, and give passion to their supplications, they partook of the means of grace in all holiness with humble prayer and fasting.
When intent upon seeking the Lord God’s guidance in difficult after-times, they partook of the means of grace in all holiness with humble prayer and fasting.
When they were wont to express grief—whether over the consequences of their own sins or the sins of others—they partook of the means of grace in all holiness with humble prayer and fasting.
When they sought deliverance or protection in times of trouble, they partook of the means of grace in all holiness with humble prayer and fasting.
When they desired to express repentance, covenant renewal, and a return to the fold of faith, they partook of the means of grace in all holiness with humble prayer and fasting.
Such is the call upon all who would name the Name of Jesus. Such is the ordinary Christian life.
________________________________________
In bygone days when God’s covenant people sought to strengthen their piety, to sharpen their effectual intercessions, and give passion to their supplications, they partook of the means of grace in all holiness with humble prayer and fasting.
When intent upon seeking the Lord God’s guidance in difficult after-times, they partook of the means of grace in all holiness with humble prayer and fasting.
When they were wont to express grief—whether over the consequences of their own sins or the sins of others—they partook of the means of grace in all holiness with humble prayer and fasting.
When they sought deliverance or protection in times of trouble, they partook of the means of grace in all holiness with humble prayer and fasting.
When they desired to express repentance, covenant renewal, and a return to the fold of faith, they partook of the means of grace in all holiness with humble prayer and fasting.
Such is the call upon all who would name the Name of Jesus. Such is the ordinary Christian life.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
The Significance of the Virgin Birth
At this point in Matthew’s narrative, we know two indisputable facts. One, Mary is pregnant, and two, Joseph is not the father of the child. A third crucial fact comes by way of angelic revelation. The child in Mary’s womb was conceived by the Holy Spirit. That means Mary is still a virgin.
But what was the significance of Mary’s pregnancy even though she had not had relations with Joseph or any other man? Joseph likely would have spent some time puzzling over that question if the divine messenger had not immediately clarified his pronouncement with these words, “‘And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins’” (Matt. 1:21).
The angel tells Joseph that Mary will actually bear a son. And not just any son, but Jesus, who “will save His people from their sins.” God chose the name Jesus for His Son because its basic meaning defined the fundamental, overarching purpose for the Son’s coming to earth. Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew Joshua, Jeshua, or Jehoshua, each of which means “Jehovah (Yahweh) will save.” The baby Mary had conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and would give birth to in the plan of God would grow up to testify to the Father’s salvation and would Himself be that salvation. By His own sacrificial death on the Cross and triumphant Resurrection from the grave He would save His own—all those who are drawn from sin to repentance and who receive faith to embrace His atoning work.
Here’s the significance of the virgin birth: Since Jesus was conceived by the agency of the Holy Spirit, God was His Father; His lineage was a holy one. Therefore, Jesus was able to save His people from their sins. That’s the good news of Christmas. Rejoice in it!
Friday, December 23, 2011
God Became a Man
God became a man. That foundational gospel truth is pictured in every manger scene you’ll see around town this Christmas. Though the incarnation is culturally familiar, it’s utterly foreign to the unbelieving world.
Unfortunately, a heart attitude of unbelief concerning Jesus’ identity has characterized the majority of men and women since the Fall. The Jews who opposed Christ vividly illustrated that attitude on more than one occasion (John 5:18; 7:28–30; 10:30–39). But such hostility and lack of faith should not discourage us or deter us from embracing and defending the truth of Christ’s virgin birth. The apostle Paul reminds us, “For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar” (Rom. 3:3–4, 10:16; Isa. 53:1). The world’s opinion, popular as it might be, is rarely a reliable source of truth.
Undoubtedly, therefore, the Holy Spirit acted with significant purpose in devoting an early passage from the Gospel of Matthew, at the front of the New Testament, to establish right away the humanity and deity of our Lord. His incarnation, properly understood, is foundational to Christianity. There could have been no genuine work of redemption apart from the fact of God becoming man and, by being both completely God and completely man, reconciling people to Himself through His substitutionary death and physical resurrection. If Jesus had not been both human and divine, there would be no gospel.
Many skeptical New Testament commentators will concede that Matthew and other authors of Scripture sincerely believed and taught that the Holy Spirit conceived Jesus without any assistance from a human father. But such interpreters nevertheless glibly discount the validity of Scripture’s claims by immediately asserting that its writers were naive, uneducated, and subject to the myths and superstitions of ancient times. According to the critics, the Gospel writers merely adapted some of the familiar virgin birth legends to the story of Jesus’ birth.
But nothing could be further from the truth. Matthew’s account, for example, reads as history, but it is history he could know and record only because God revealed it and accomplished it by miraculous intervention. Matthew’s words are far superior to the immoral and repulsive nature of the secular stories he and the other writers allegedly drew from. Here is his clear, uncomplicated narrative of the Incarnation:
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus. (Matthew 1:18–25)
Matthew declares Jesus’ divine lineage in that passage and reveals five aspects of His virgin birth: its first announcement, Joseph’s response to it, the angel’s clarification of it, its connection to prophecy, and its actual occurrence.
Unfortunately, a heart attitude of unbelief concerning Jesus’ identity has characterized the majority of men and women since the Fall. The Jews who opposed Christ vividly illustrated that attitude on more than one occasion (John 5:18; 7:28–30; 10:30–39). But such hostility and lack of faith should not discourage us or deter us from embracing and defending the truth of Christ’s virgin birth. The apostle Paul reminds us, “For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar” (Rom. 3:3–4, 10:16; Isa. 53:1). The world’s opinion, popular as it might be, is rarely a reliable source of truth.
Undoubtedly, therefore, the Holy Spirit acted with significant purpose in devoting an early passage from the Gospel of Matthew, at the front of the New Testament, to establish right away the humanity and deity of our Lord. His incarnation, properly understood, is foundational to Christianity. There could have been no genuine work of redemption apart from the fact of God becoming man and, by being both completely God and completely man, reconciling people to Himself through His substitutionary death and physical resurrection. If Jesus had not been both human and divine, there would be no gospel.
Many skeptical New Testament commentators will concede that Matthew and other authors of Scripture sincerely believed and taught that the Holy Spirit conceived Jesus without any assistance from a human father. But such interpreters nevertheless glibly discount the validity of Scripture’s claims by immediately asserting that its writers were naive, uneducated, and subject to the myths and superstitions of ancient times. According to the critics, the Gospel writers merely adapted some of the familiar virgin birth legends to the story of Jesus’ birth.
But nothing could be further from the truth. Matthew’s account, for example, reads as history, but it is history he could know and record only because God revealed it and accomplished it by miraculous intervention. Matthew’s words are far superior to the immoral and repulsive nature of the secular stories he and the other writers allegedly drew from. Here is his clear, uncomplicated narrative of the Incarnation:
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus. (Matthew 1:18–25)
Matthew declares Jesus’ divine lineage in that passage and reveals five aspects of His virgin birth: its first announcement, Joseph’s response to it, the angel’s clarification of it, its connection to prophecy, and its actual occurrence.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
The Extraordinary Birth of Jesus
Extraordinary births are certainly not unprecedented in biblical history. As part of the Abrahamic Covenant, God promised to send a son to Abraham and Sarah (Gen. 17:19–22). They were both beyond normal childbearing ages and laughed at the prospect of being parents, yet they ultimately witnessed the miraculous arrival of their son, Isaac (Gen. 21:1–3). In Judges 13, an angel of the Lord told Manoah and his barren wife that they would have a special son. True to the heavenly messenger’s words, Samson entered the world and for a time delivered the Israelites from the oppression of the Philistines.
Samuel, the first prophet, final judge, and anointer of kings, also demonstrated in his birth the providential power of God. He was the answer to the faithful, persevering prayers of his godly mother, Hannah, who had remained childless until then. John the Baptist’s mother, Elizabeth, was also unable to have children until God graciously intervened when she was in her sixties or seventies and made her the mother of the forerunner of Christ (Luke 1:15–17, 76–79). But none of those special births was as amazing as the virgin birth of the Son of God, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Even though the fact of Jesus’ virgin birth is clearly and concisely stated in Scripture, the unconverted mind of sinful humanity, as with all essential doctrines of the Christian faith, resists embracing the truth of His unique birth.
First of all, ancient mythologies and world religions counterfeited Christ’s virgin birth with a proliferation of bizarre stories and inaccurate parallels. These stories undercut and minimized the uniqueness and profound impact of our Lord’s birth. Satan has propagated many legends, all with the purpose of undermining the nature of Christ’s birth and deceiving people into seeing it as just another myth or nothing exceptional.
In addition, the scientific age and the emergence of modern and postmodern theologies during the past two centuries have eroded many professed believers’ confidence in the reality of the virgin birth. (Along with that trend has been a noticeable decline in the percentage of “Christians” who believe in the deity of Christ.) But such skeptical thinking is foolish and directly contrary to the explicit teaching of all four Gospels, the Epistles, and the historical testimony of the entire early church that Jesus was none other than the virgin-born Son of God.
Samuel, the first prophet, final judge, and anointer of kings, also demonstrated in his birth the providential power of God. He was the answer to the faithful, persevering prayers of his godly mother, Hannah, who had remained childless until then. John the Baptist’s mother, Elizabeth, was also unable to have children until God graciously intervened when she was in her sixties or seventies and made her the mother of the forerunner of Christ (Luke 1:15–17, 76–79). But none of those special births was as amazing as the virgin birth of the Son of God, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Even though the fact of Jesus’ virgin birth is clearly and concisely stated in Scripture, the unconverted mind of sinful humanity, as with all essential doctrines of the Christian faith, resists embracing the truth of His unique birth.
First of all, ancient mythologies and world religions counterfeited Christ’s virgin birth with a proliferation of bizarre stories and inaccurate parallels. These stories undercut and minimized the uniqueness and profound impact of our Lord’s birth. Satan has propagated many legends, all with the purpose of undermining the nature of Christ’s birth and deceiving people into seeing it as just another myth or nothing exceptional.
In addition, the scientific age and the emergence of modern and postmodern theologies during the past two centuries have eroded many professed believers’ confidence in the reality of the virgin birth. (Along with that trend has been a noticeable decline in the percentage of “Christians” who believe in the deity of Christ.) But such skeptical thinking is foolish and directly contrary to the explicit teaching of all four Gospels, the Epistles, and the historical testimony of the entire early church that Jesus was none other than the virgin-born Son of God.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)