Category: Devotional

Devotional thoughts for my benefit and yours from here, there, and everywhere

C.J. Mahaney on Encouragement

~ fundyreformed ~ 7 Comments

C.J. Mahaney will be preaching for us at Bethlehem Baptist Church for the next three weeks. As I explained before in this post, the theme for our messages during the five months Pastor John Piper is on Sabbatical is “Toward all the Fullness of God through Jesus Christ”. This month the sub-theme is “Toward Fullness of Love for One Another”. C.J. Mahaney and the churches affiliated in his Sovereign Grace Ministries, are particularly marked by their mutual love and care for one another, and thus it is fitting that he will preach for us on this topic.

His message yesterday was very, well, encouraging! And thus, I wanted to share it with you all. He preached from this text:

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. (Eph. 4:29 ESV)

His topic this week was encouragement and he insisted no text was as suitable to that topic than this verse. He emphasized that the message of Eph. 4:29 can literally transform your Christian life. Here are his simple three points:

“Œ1. Encouraging Words – v. 29a.

The text is first of all, a command. And it covers every word you speak. None are to be corrupting (Greek word for rotting or perishing food) words–words which corrupt others. All are to be edifying words–words which build up others. Eph. 4:25, 31, and 5:4 are all contextual examples of corrupting words. To edify others we must know them and speak about the evidences of grace in their lives to them. We should especially be telling the gospel to one another often, as nothing is more encouraging, he said.

“Œ2. Appropriate Words – v. 29b.

“As fits the occasion”. Our words must be appropriate–suitable to the situation and the individual. We need to know the person or study them to determine what kind of encouraging words best fit the occasion. 1 Thess. 5:14 lists appropriate responses to differing kinds of people, and the rest of Scripture can help us as well.

“Œ3. Purposeful Words – v. 29c.

The ultimate aim and purpose for our words should be giving grace to the hearers. Remember this command is universal and thus every interaction we have with anyone should be purposefully used to give grace through appropriate and encouraging words. Everyone needs grace, and God graciously allows us all as believers to be means of grace–channels of blessing–to one another, and even the lost.

My summary does not do justice to the sermon, but shortly you will be able to find a link to the audio sermon here. May God help us to strive to be grace-giving, encouraging speakers (and bloggers) making every attempt to use all of our daily average of 25,000 spoken words (and all our written ones) for God’s glory and the benefit of our brothers and neighbors.

∼striving for the unity of the faith for the glory of God∼ Eph. 4:3,13 “¢ Rom. 15:5-7

A Musical Antidote to Legalistic Thinking

~ fundyreformed ~ 12 Comments

Legalism is a dangerous problem. As an IFB, I always thought of legalism as strictly a works-based-justification approach to salvation. The only legalists I knew were Roman Catholics, eastern religionists, and some cultists.

But since I came away from IFB/IFBx circles, I have come to understand legalism as applying to sanctification not merely justification. I was a legalist, in many respects. Why? Because I felt my standing with God, on a day to day (sanctification) basis, depended upon my performance. I could be definitely not right with God, and more right with Him, than at other times. Often, the solution to struggling against sin was provided as merely gritting one’s teeth, and working harder. Character was the means to accomplishing my moralistic goals. How could I not see this as so contradictory to the gospel of salvation by grace?

IFB/IFBx churches stressed the importance of duty. But they did not address the question of human inability and depravity, so much. We all could do it, and if we didn’t we weren’t filled with the Spirit enough. Blame and guilt was applied as a means to motivate us to do right. Worship was wonderful when I was performing well, and horrible when I was not. Sometimes going through the motions was all I felt I could do.

Now, granted, this kind of thinking is not singular to IFB churches–any church is susceptible to it. And it has a grain of truth. We are called to live holy lives. Absolutely! But we are not to depend on ourselves or glory in our accomplishments. We are to boast only in the cross! (See this post along these lines.) Since knowledge affects our experiential walk so much (as the NT epistles constantly stress), misunderstanding the relation of our spiritual and Christian duties and the accomplishment of Christ on the cross can severely impact our personal enjoyment of Christ and His love and consequently hinder our walk with Christ. Without clear teaching that Christ is our only means of righteousness (ultimate and practical/daily), duty and resolve become first in our life, and delight and dependence are minimized. This is a danger still for me, and I think it is for all of us. But we must remind ourselves that our favor with God is solely due to Christ’s glorious work being accepted by God as sufficient for us and Christ’s constant and successful intercession for us. Anything good we do is only on account of God’s grace working in us (1 Cor. 15:10, Phil. 2:13).

Well, I was spurred on to thinking about these things again when I heard the following song on the radio this morning. It has blessed me and challenged me time and again. I put forth the lyrics here with the hope they will challenge you to see the glorious and awe-inspiring truth of God’s grace for us in Christ.

 

What If

By Jadon Lavik

What if I climbed that mountain? What if I swam to that shore?
What if every battle was victorious, then would You love me more?
Would You love me more?

What if I were everyone’s first choice? What if I went farther than before?
What if I stood high above the rest, then would You love me more?
Would You love me more?

You say I belong to You apart from the things I do.
You say I belong to You, I’m in awe of why You do,
Why You do, why You do. I’m in awe of You, ooh.

What if I ignored the hand that fed me? What if I forgot to confess?
What if I stumbled down that mountain, then would You love me less?
Lord, would You love me less?

What if I were everyone’s last choice? What if I mixed in with the rest?
What if I failed what I passed before, then would You love me less?
Lord, would You, would You love me less? Oh no, oh no, oh no.

You say I belong to You apart from the things I do.
You say I belong to You I’m in awe of why You do,
You do, You do, You do.

What have I done to deserve your Son sent to die for me?
What can I give? I want to live, give me eyes to see.
In a world that keeps changin’ there’s one thing that I know is true.
Your love is stayin’ there’s nothing else I’ll hold onto.

You say I belong to You apart from the things I do.
You say I belong to You I’m in awe of why You do,
Why You do.

You say I belong to You apart from the things I do.
You say I belong to You I’m in awe of why You do.
I’m in awe of You, I’m in awe of You.

The way You love me, the way You do.
The way You do, the way You love me, You love me, You love me.
The way You do, the way You do, the way You love me.
The way You love, You love, You love.

Lavikmusic ASCAP

 

You can listen to a song sample here, from the author Jadon Lavik’s website.

The Redemptive Historical Hermeneutical Approach to the Book of Proverbs

~ fundyreformed

I just finished reading another excellent post on redemptive historical hermeneutics by my friend Nathan Pitchford. He has written an excellent article dealing with the interpretation of the book of Proverbs for Reformation Theology Blog. In the post, he argues for the personified Wisdom being seen as redemptive Wisdom and pointing to Christ Himself, while the “strange woman” represents the world system opposing Christ later known as the whore and Babylon of Revelation besides merely the actual enticement of any prostitute or adulteress. He also argues against a moralistic view of the Proverbs, rather encoraging us to view all of the proverbs in the light of the gospel of Christ. Let me provide his first paragraph here, and then encourage you all to go read the article, here.

“The two outstanding characteristics of the Proverbs with which I associate my childhood, neither legitimate but both having a pervasive influence in my surrounding circles, are fragmentation and moralism. The former of which gave rise to the latter: as long as the individual proverbs were seen as disconnected and de-contextualized, that is, as long as they were seen as a series of random thoughts, it was easy to make such character qualities as honesty, industry, and diligence the foundation and fountainhead of the Christian life. When will God be pleased with me? When I am honest and industrious. How do I encounter God’s blessings? By being honest and industrious. And so the reasoning ran. The more foundational question, “How can I, a depraved sinner, hope to become honest and industrious?” , if acknowledged at all, was glibly passed off with an exhortation to try harder. I found all of this exceedingly confusing, as it appeared to contradict everything that was said when one was speaking of the gospel — but considering it a necessary and appropriate shift when dealing with a corpus of “practical” material, I managed by compartmentalizing my conception of Christianity to muddle along without serious reservations, albeit equally without any precision of thought concerning justification, sanctification, and the relationship between the two.”[Read the entire article!]

The Cross of Christ: Central and Singular

~ Bob Hayton ~ 2 Comments

Happy Easter

This Easter morning, I am thinking of the cross. And I wonder that I do not think of it more. Around Easter time it is easy to think of the cross, but we should not leave such thoughts to Easter time alone. The cross is the heart of the Christian faith, but in all the doctrinal discussions and practical considerations, in all the preaching and praying and studying and living, in all the ministry and fellowship and missions and evangelism, in all we as God’s church are called to do, do we minimize or marginalize the cross? Directly or indirectly, neglect of the cross is all too common in my life and yours. I pray these thoughts will be fodder for further meditation. I pray that we will ponder these things and focus our gaze more intently and more enduringly on the cross of Christ–today, tomorrow, and beyond.

The cross of Christ is clearly central. In a great post on the nature of the gospel, C.J. Mahaney points out that while the gospel is the “good news of God’s saving activity in the person and work of Christ” (a definition he borrows from Jeff Purswell) it focuses more particularly on the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. And more specifically still, he asserts, the gospel is summarized by the cross–“For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” 1 Cor. 2:2. The resurrection is essential, for without it the cross’s message would be pointless, but the cross is where the gospel is seen most clearly.

The cross, then, proclaims the message that God became man to take upon Himself the punishment for our sins. Further, the perfect and righteous life of Christ–the God Man–enables God to give us the righteousness of Christ graciously and freely. This transaction occurs to those who believe on Jesus Christ and is wholly of grace and not in any way deserved by man. The cross shows the seriousness of sin–in that God would sacrifice His own Son because of the weight of our sins; and it also shows the magnitude of God’s mercy–that God would offer up His Son for us who in no way deserve mercy.

Further, the cross is seen as central in that it is the pinnacle of history, for it is the ultimate display of God’s glory–which is the ultimate purpose for God’s creation and all of its subsequent history. (I would encourage you to check out my friend Nathan Pitchford’s “Meditation for Good Friday” posted over at Reformation Theology Blog which deals with the centrality of the cross in all of history.)

But the cross is not only central to our faith, it is singular. Or rather it should be. What do I mean? Look at these verses:

“For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (1 Cor. 2:2)“May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Gal. 6:14)

The cross–and the Christ of the cross–should be our single treasure, our single pursuit, our single love. Every boast should only be in the light of the cross. Our only boast should be the cross. John Piper put it like this:

“Only boast in the cross of Jesus Christ. This is a single idea. A single goal for life. A single passion. Only boast in the cross. The word “boast” can be translated “exult in” or “rejoice in”. Only exult in the cross of Christ. Only rejoice in the cross of Christ. Paul says, Let this be your single passion, your single boast and joy and exultation.” (from pg. 49 of Don’t Waste Your Life–available as an online book here)

All of life should be viewed through the view of the cross. And as Piper points out later in that book, we can only boast singularly in the cross when our lives are crucified by and on that cross (notice Gal. 6:14b). Everything we do should be as a result of or a reflection of the cross. C.J. Mahaney points this out well in his book The Cross Centered Life. Our struggle to be pure in this world and our struggles to provide for our family–every aspect of our lives is touched by and should be shaped by the cross.

Let us aim to appreciate the centrality and significance of the cross of Christ, and endeavor by God’s grace to make it our single affection, joy, and boast!

"How Great is Your Love" (How High and How Deep) by Mark Altrogge

~ fundyreformed ~ 14 Comments

Last week, we sang a song I have come to treasure–“How Great is Your Love” by Mark Altrogge, which is more popularly known by the first phrase of its chorus–“How High and How Wide”. Below are the lyrics to the whole song, but let me stress the phrase which always arrests me: “Objects of mercy who should have known wrath…” This brings me to tears nearly every time I sing it. It fills me with amazement at the magnitude of God’s mercy and the greatness of His grace. May that thought, and the message of the whole song, captivate you and enthrall you that much more with the wonder of God’s great love.

 

How Great is Your Love

by Mark Altrogge

No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
No mind has ever conceived
The glorious things that You have prepared
For everyone who has believed
You brought us near and You called us Your own
And made us joint heirs with Your Son.

Chorus:
How high and how wide,
How deep and how long,
How sweet and how strong is Your love.
How lavish Your grace,
How faithful Your ways,
How great is Your love, oh Lord.

Objects of mercy who should have known wrath
We’re filled with unspeakable joy.
Riches of wisdom, unsearchable wealth,
And the wonder of knowing Your voice.
You are our treasure and our great reward,
Our hope and our glorious King.

CCLI# 1360011
Mark Altrogge,  ©1991 Integrity’s Praise! Music/PDI Praise

 

The musical score for the song is available online for 99 cents here. And for a sampling of the melody, click here and scroll down till you find the song title (How High and How Wide) and merely click on one of the links to whichever music player you prefer.

∼striving for the unity of the faith for the glory of God∼ Eph. 4:3,13 “¢ Rom. 15:5-7