This is an excerpt from Martyn Lloyd-Jones' brilliant work,
"Studies in the Sermon on the Mount":
"The preaching and teaching of a false prophet does not emphasize repentance in any real sense. It has a very wide gate leading to salvation and a very broad way leading to heaven. You need not feel much of your own sinfulness; you need not be aware of the blackness of your own heart. You just "decide for Christ" and you rush in with the crowd, and your name is put down, and is one of the large number of 'decisions' reported by the press. It is entirely unlike the evangelism of the Puritans and of John Wesley, George Whitefield and others, which led men to be terrified of the judgment of God, and to have an agony of soul sometimes for days and weeks and months. John Bunyan tells us in his book Grace Abounding that he endured an agony of repentance for eighteen months. There does not seem to be much room for that today.
Repentance means that you realize that you are a guilty, vile sinner in the presence of God, that you deserve the wrath and punishment of God, that you are hell-bound. It means that you begin to realize that this thing called sin is in you, that you long to get rid of it, and that you turn your back on it in every shape and form. You renounce the world whatever the cost, the world in its mind and outlook as well as its practice, and you deny yourself, and take up the cross and go after Christ. Your nearest and dearest, and the whole world, may call you a fool, or say you have religious mania. You may have to suffer financially, but it makes no difference. That is repentance.
The false prophet does not put it like that.
He "heals the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly", simply saying that it is all right, and that you have but to "come to Christ", "follow Jesus", or "become a Christian". "
If there's one thing which strikes me as being a dramatic change between our understanding of salvation, and how that relates to our evangelism, and the understanding held by men like Martyn Lloyd-Jones, it's this: people nowadays emphasize, and use as proof and assurance of salvation, one's "decision" for Christ. The Holy Spirit gives us assurance that we are children of God, through many means. It's not so much that we must emphasize they "decide" for Christ, but that they truly be taught, and know, the holiness and wrath of God, their condition as fallen creatures (in light of the character of God), their need for a Savior, the lone means of salvation provided through the Sacrificial Lamb, and their need to forsake all else to follow Him. When we have labored to preach the Gospel, then we must trust in the sovereignty of God to teach and draw His own: "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws Him... All who have been taught and learned of the Father come to Me" (John 6:44-45). "For the Gospel is THE POWER OF GOD unto salvation" (Romans 1:16). Our part, after preaching the Gospel, is never to attempt to corner people into making their "decision". Again, we don't have the authority of the Pope here (which is absolutely heretical, and yet do we do no less?), and we cannot suppose it our duty to pronounce someone saved, possibly giving them false assurance, on the basis of their "decision". You will know them by their fruits, not their decision. When God saves them, He saves them. If they need further guidance, then we make that available to them; and we spend all night with them if necessary. Physical birth can take many hours, and the spiritual birth is no different (by that I refer to the time leading up to the actual moment God regenerates a person). God is sovereign in salvation, and He wants us to TREAT IT as though it were the most glorious and amazing work He does in the earth, not just give lip service to that fact.
By Grace Alone,
Thomas Karrer
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Time to Awaken
Oh how great it is to be alive at this point in history. With great fervor many seek a true revival. It is with soundness of mind, clearness of logic, and Spirit-led insight, that so many have been awakened to both, see and abhor the grave errors in doctrine and practice within evangelicalism today, and to sense and know that God isn't throwing up His hands ready to call it quits. It's inspiring to meet so many young people who are being converted and led by God to grasp and adore the theology of our Christian forefathers. What zeal for the LORD this stirs!
In contrast to that, it's sad to see how sick a state many "churches" are in. And why? Could it be because they settle for Christian clichés; and because they are not studying to show themselves approved? Could it be directly linked to their neglect of historical Christianity, as it relates to the attributes of God, and the Gospel, and the doctrine of regeneration (the weightiest of Scripture truths)? So many of our brethren in Christ, who were martyrs and scholars and passionate about Jesus and His Kingdom, have already set forth for us Scriptural boundaries as it relates to things which cannot be compromised on; things which evangelicals today call "essentials". It would be wise then for us to heed the counsel of Scripture: "Do not move the ancient boundary which your fathers have set" (Proverbs 22:28). But herein lies the problem...in our a-theological Christian culture, far too many professors of Christ spend no time whatsoever studying the works of men who God Himself gave to His Church to be our teachers: "He Himself gave some...to be teachers, to equip the saints" (Ephesians 4:11-12). Sadly, many of these same people claim the Spirit alone is their teacher. But how foolish! It is with certainty that I say that most "Christians" develop their hermeneutics, and their understanding of key Biblical doctrines, from somebody, and generally it's their Pastor. Therefore, wouldn't it be wise to be a student of history yourself to make sure your Pastor's teachings don't contradict the "ancient boundaries"? If God employed the Spirit in the way that many claim He has (and I don't deny the Spirit's work in guiding God's people "into all truth"), then why are their so many doctrinal disagreements?
True evangelical revival has already begun. I say that for this reason: it is, by and large, and to the best of my knowledge, disciples of Christ who are being awakened by God to sound theology, deeper spiritual convictions, and evangelistic zeal. God is birthing within the hearts of a multitude an emboldening passion for the glory of God. God is stirring many of His elect to retrace the steps of His ambassadors of old. In this note I want to write a bit on Jonathan Edwards; for his life and work seem to be just one example of someone God is making popular in this hour. Edwards lived in a spiritual climate very similar to ours. One key difference was that, rather than people thinking they were saved because they had walked an aisle or prayed a prayer, as is common in our day, many were deceived into thinking church membership and taking the sacraments equaled regeneration. Edwards was a man zealous for the truth and glory of God. To see so many false converts pained his soul. At a relatively young age he set out to go against the grain, and to lay down for his life certain resolutions, which can be read in their entirety by following this link: http://www.reformed.org/documents/Edwards/index.html?mainframe=/documents/Edwards/j_edwards_resolutions.html.
Two such resolutions were:
"Resolution 4: Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God; nor be, nor suffer it, if I can avoid it".
Resolution 7: Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life".
God greatly blessed the preaching of Jonathan Edwards, and to this day the revivals that broke out, consisting of mass conversions, as well as fire being lit, and depth being brought, in the lives of saints, have been regarded as the greatest this nation has ever seen. They are known as the Great Awakenings. Now I want to, very briefly, describe for you the terrible difference which exists between the mindset of men like Edwards, along with those today who would be considered likeminded with him, and the mindset of so many today within the visible church. Jonathan Edwards is, still to this day, considered by many to be America's greatest theologian ever. The man knew the Scriptures well, to say the least. It was his God-given understanding of the Bible that informed HOW he preached, and what he preached. Jonathan Edwards taught "the whole counsel of God". Today, unlike the preaching of men like Edwards, the Bible is dummied-down, the Gospel is watered-down, and the result is, false converts seem to abound everywhere you go. People major on doctrine that is man-centered, and neglect key and central truths of Scripture, such as the holiness, justice, righteousness, and wrath of God, the true evidences of regeneration, and the call for everyone who wants to follow Christ to first understand they must forsake all else, and be willing to be united with Christ in His death. I don't question motives. I just think that masses of "Christians" have bought into this doctrine (or lack of), which is absolutely foreign to the Scriptures, as well as to the writings and teachings of men like Edwards.
Let me quote a little from a Jonathan Edwards sermon for you (which by the way was used of God for the conversion of thousands):
"thus it is that natural men are held in the hand of God, over the pit of Hell; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced to it; and God is dreadfully provoked, his anger is great towards them...the bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow is made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing more than the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrows one movement from being made drunk with your blood. Thus all you that never passed under a great change of heart, by the mighty power of the Spirit of God upon your souls; all you that were never born-again, and made new creatures, and raised from being dead in sin, to a state of new, and before altogether inexperienced light and life, are in the hands of an angry God".
Men scarcely now even mention the judgment of God at all, let alone that His judgment is joined with great fierceness and fury (Isaiah18, 66:15, Revelation 19:15). But why do we withhold the words of God; the words HE CHOSE to speak out of the mouths of His prophets and apostles? Why do we preach nothing like the men of God recorded for us in Scripture? For doesn't God Himself say, "You thought I was just like you... now consider this, you who forget God, or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be none to deliver you"; and also, "If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword. His has bent His bow and has made it ready" (Psalm 50:16-22, 7:12). Friends, we withhold truth when we fail to warn the wicked that God is angry with them everyday (Psalm 7:11)! Equally though, we fail to employ the speech and methods of God Himself, and we raise ourselves up as being wiser in speech, and more tempered and loving in our approach than He. Don't you see that? Didn't Jesus say to His disciples: "I will tell you whom you should fear; fear God, who after He has killed has power to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him!" (Luke 12:5). And that was an exhortation to His disciples!
My point in all of this is that God is indeed raising up an army of saints who love His unchanging truth, and who are willing to be pleasers of God, rather than pleasers of men. These saints look nothing like the contemporary mold. They resemble their forefathers. God has been pleased to make it so. For this I greatly rejoice, and count myself unworthy to have been given the grace of enlightenment! The glory of God is the chief end of all things; and God is glorified when the truth of His Word is read, meditated upon, prayed through, loved, enjoyed, taken as sustenance, dug into as for treasure, and applied carefully. God is not glorified when men and women forsake the doctrine and principles and methodology found within His Word, and when they take it upon themselves to alter and "improve upon" them.
May Christ be ever-increasingly magnified in this world!
In contrast to that, it's sad to see how sick a state many "churches" are in. And why? Could it be because they settle for Christian clichés; and because they are not studying to show themselves approved? Could it be directly linked to their neglect of historical Christianity, as it relates to the attributes of God, and the Gospel, and the doctrine of regeneration (the weightiest of Scripture truths)? So many of our brethren in Christ, who were martyrs and scholars and passionate about Jesus and His Kingdom, have already set forth for us Scriptural boundaries as it relates to things which cannot be compromised on; things which evangelicals today call "essentials". It would be wise then for us to heed the counsel of Scripture: "Do not move the ancient boundary which your fathers have set" (Proverbs 22:28). But herein lies the problem...in our a-theological Christian culture, far too many professors of Christ spend no time whatsoever studying the works of men who God Himself gave to His Church to be our teachers: "He Himself gave some...to be teachers, to equip the saints" (Ephesians 4:11-12). Sadly, many of these same people claim the Spirit alone is their teacher. But how foolish! It is with certainty that I say that most "Christians" develop their hermeneutics, and their understanding of key Biblical doctrines, from somebody, and generally it's their Pastor. Therefore, wouldn't it be wise to be a student of history yourself to make sure your Pastor's teachings don't contradict the "ancient boundaries"? If God employed the Spirit in the way that many claim He has (and I don't deny the Spirit's work in guiding God's people "into all truth"), then why are their so many doctrinal disagreements?
True evangelical revival has already begun. I say that for this reason: it is, by and large, and to the best of my knowledge, disciples of Christ who are being awakened by God to sound theology, deeper spiritual convictions, and evangelistic zeal. God is birthing within the hearts of a multitude an emboldening passion for the glory of God. God is stirring many of His elect to retrace the steps of His ambassadors of old. In this note I want to write a bit on Jonathan Edwards; for his life and work seem to be just one example of someone God is making popular in this hour. Edwards lived in a spiritual climate very similar to ours. One key difference was that, rather than people thinking they were saved because they had walked an aisle or prayed a prayer, as is common in our day, many were deceived into thinking church membership and taking the sacraments equaled regeneration. Edwards was a man zealous for the truth and glory of God. To see so many false converts pained his soul. At a relatively young age he set out to go against the grain, and to lay down for his life certain resolutions, which can be read in their entirety by following this link: http://www.reformed.org/documents/Edwards/index.html?mainframe=/documents/Edwards/j_edwards_resolutions.html.
Two such resolutions were:
"Resolution 4: Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God; nor be, nor suffer it, if I can avoid it".
Resolution 7: Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life".
God greatly blessed the preaching of Jonathan Edwards, and to this day the revivals that broke out, consisting of mass conversions, as well as fire being lit, and depth being brought, in the lives of saints, have been regarded as the greatest this nation has ever seen. They are known as the Great Awakenings. Now I want to, very briefly, describe for you the terrible difference which exists between the mindset of men like Edwards, along with those today who would be considered likeminded with him, and the mindset of so many today within the visible church. Jonathan Edwards is, still to this day, considered by many to be America's greatest theologian ever. The man knew the Scriptures well, to say the least. It was his God-given understanding of the Bible that informed HOW he preached, and what he preached. Jonathan Edwards taught "the whole counsel of God". Today, unlike the preaching of men like Edwards, the Bible is dummied-down, the Gospel is watered-down, and the result is, false converts seem to abound everywhere you go. People major on doctrine that is man-centered, and neglect key and central truths of Scripture, such as the holiness, justice, righteousness, and wrath of God, the true evidences of regeneration, and the call for everyone who wants to follow Christ to first understand they must forsake all else, and be willing to be united with Christ in His death. I don't question motives. I just think that masses of "Christians" have bought into this doctrine (or lack of), which is absolutely foreign to the Scriptures, as well as to the writings and teachings of men like Edwards.
Let me quote a little from a Jonathan Edwards sermon for you (which by the way was used of God for the conversion of thousands):
"thus it is that natural men are held in the hand of God, over the pit of Hell; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced to it; and God is dreadfully provoked, his anger is great towards them...the bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow is made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing more than the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrows one movement from being made drunk with your blood. Thus all you that never passed under a great change of heart, by the mighty power of the Spirit of God upon your souls; all you that were never born-again, and made new creatures, and raised from being dead in sin, to a state of new, and before altogether inexperienced light and life, are in the hands of an angry God".
Men scarcely now even mention the judgment of God at all, let alone that His judgment is joined with great fierceness and fury (Isaiah18, 66:15, Revelation 19:15). But why do we withhold the words of God; the words HE CHOSE to speak out of the mouths of His prophets and apostles? Why do we preach nothing like the men of God recorded for us in Scripture? For doesn't God Himself say, "You thought I was just like you... now consider this, you who forget God, or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be none to deliver you"; and also, "If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword. His has bent His bow and has made it ready" (Psalm 50:16-22, 7:12). Friends, we withhold truth when we fail to warn the wicked that God is angry with them everyday (Psalm 7:11)! Equally though, we fail to employ the speech and methods of God Himself, and we raise ourselves up as being wiser in speech, and more tempered and loving in our approach than He. Don't you see that? Didn't Jesus say to His disciples: "I will tell you whom you should fear; fear God, who after He has killed has power to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him!" (Luke 12:5). And that was an exhortation to His disciples!
My point in all of this is that God is indeed raising up an army of saints who love His unchanging truth, and who are willing to be pleasers of God, rather than pleasers of men. These saints look nothing like the contemporary mold. They resemble their forefathers. God has been pleased to make it so. For this I greatly rejoice, and count myself unworthy to have been given the grace of enlightenment! The glory of God is the chief end of all things; and God is glorified when the truth of His Word is read, meditated upon, prayed through, loved, enjoyed, taken as sustenance, dug into as for treasure, and applied carefully. God is not glorified when men and women forsake the doctrine and principles and methodology found within His Word, and when they take it upon themselves to alter and "improve upon" them.
May Christ be ever-increasingly magnified in this world!
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
His sheep will hear His voice
"I am the Good Shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me... I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd" (John 10:14-17).
Have you ever read through these verses and considered the fact that Jesus says His sheep WILL hear His voice? The significance of this can be overlooked. Ponder that my friend. Whoever the sheep are; wherever the sheep are... they WILL hear His voice. Does that leave any possibility for one of the sheep of Christ to possibly fail to hear His voice? Have you ever pondered that before? The words of Christ inform us that God knows intimately who His sheep are: "I know My own and My own know Me" (10:14). Some of these He speaks of are not yet regenerated. The Spirit enlightens us to the reality of God's foreknowledge of His elect: "For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined", and also we are told that "these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified" (Romans 8:29-30). Thus we are taught that the sheep of Christ are foreknown intimately by their Father. We are also taught that the sheep of Christ, being foreknown by God, are predestined, called, justified, and finally glorified. This is an unbreakable chain that we read of. In fact, because God is outside of time, eternal, and omniscient, this redemption of His sheep is spoken of in the past tense: "He predestined...He called...He justified...He also glorified"!
Jesus already knows who all of His sheep are. The sheep of Christ were given to Him by the Father before Creation: "I do not pray on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom You have given Me", and again, Jesus praying to His Father says: "You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give them eternal life" (John 17:9, 3). The "all whom You have given Him" that Christ speaks of are the elect of God, the sheep. These people were given to Christ in eternity past.
The salvation of Christ's sheep is certain: "I MUST bring them also" (Christ said this of His Gentile sheep, who He would join together as "one flock" with His Jewish sheep). "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me" (John 6:37). Every one of them will come. And who can come but those who are born from above? "born, not of human blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:13).
This beloved is the why the Great Commission exists. This is HOW we can fulfill the Great Commission. This is why we can fulfill the Great Commission with absolute confidence in the sovereignty of saving grace. Christ's sheep will hear His voice. Paul said to the Thessalonians: "We give thanks to God for you...knowing brethren, beloved of God, His choice of you" (1 Thessalonians 1:2, 4). So how do Christ's sheep hear His voice? Paul continues: "for our Gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit, and with full conviction" (1:5). The Holy Spirit applies the redemption of Christ to the elect of God through the ministry of Gospel preaching. Paul says his Gospel didn't come "in word only". It's the Holy Spirit who produces the supernatural power of regeneration in a person, as He convicts them of their sin and draws them to Christ. This is the new birth (John 1:13, John 3:3). The Gospel which comes "in word only" isn't sufficient to convert a person. And this is the great hope in Gospel preaching. This is why we need not worry ourselves over our human weaknesses. God saves! And He has chosen to do so through the preaching of the Gospel of Christ. James also testifies that: "In the exercise of His will HE brought us forth BY the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures" (James 1:18). Notice it was His will that brought us forth, and that He did so by, or through, the word of truth.
So who are the sheep of Christ? The Scriptures don't inform us who they are, but they do instruct us in how we can recognize a sheep who has been born-again already. Though I won't go into detail on this point, we are taught that Christ's sheep, in being regenerated (born from above), are given a new nature (2 Corinthians 5:17). The disposition of their heart is changed. Christ has become their treasure. They're growing in their hatred for what God hates. 1 John 2:3-6 informs us that the practice of their life now is one of obedience and righteousness, rather than sin. They're no longer slaves to sin (John 8:34), but have been set free to serve Christ (John 8:36). However imperfect the sheep's love for God and hatred for sin may be, they characterize who they are in Christ (Romans 8:1-2, 4); and they're two characteristics of their lives that God will grow (Philippians 1:6, 2:13, Hebrews 12:6-10).
You who have already heard His voice and been saved, God has sheep out in the world who have yet to hear His voice. May we be burdened and inspired to reach them with the Gospel for His glory. Let us awaken our cold hearts and start getting after the Great Commission with Holy Spirit-wrought zeal! His sheep will hear His voice; and blessed are they who partake of the fruit of the salvation of souls. What further motivation do we need? For His glory friends! That the Lamb may receive the rewards of His sufferings!
If your chief motivation in missional living is that people's lives be improved, I urge you to forsake your humanistic tendencies. The Gospel is not all about man's life being improved. The Gospel is not all about man. The Gospel is about God's justice being vindicated! God has been wronged. God has been sinned against! And God's wrath abides upon sinners. Either they repent or they perish. Either they be converted or they burn in the lake of fire forever. God will draw His own to repentance. Let us be faithful to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ for God's glory, and not chiefly for man's sake. Let us be careful to not get discouraged when the masses don't seem to respond well. The sheep of Christ are but a remnant. Go out covered in tears from prayer, with the authority of God, in the power of the Holy Spirit, preaching the uncompromised message of repentance and faith, and with the confidence that Christ's sheep WILL hear His voice... and all this to the glory, and honor, and praise of the Lamb.
Have you ever read through these verses and considered the fact that Jesus says His sheep WILL hear His voice? The significance of this can be overlooked. Ponder that my friend. Whoever the sheep are; wherever the sheep are... they WILL hear His voice. Does that leave any possibility for one of the sheep of Christ to possibly fail to hear His voice? Have you ever pondered that before? The words of Christ inform us that God knows intimately who His sheep are: "I know My own and My own know Me" (10:14). Some of these He speaks of are not yet regenerated. The Spirit enlightens us to the reality of God's foreknowledge of His elect: "For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined", and also we are told that "these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified" (Romans 8:29-30). Thus we are taught that the sheep of Christ are foreknown intimately by their Father. We are also taught that the sheep of Christ, being foreknown by God, are predestined, called, justified, and finally glorified. This is an unbreakable chain that we read of. In fact, because God is outside of time, eternal, and omniscient, this redemption of His sheep is spoken of in the past tense: "He predestined...He called...He justified...He also glorified"!
Jesus already knows who all of His sheep are. The sheep of Christ were given to Him by the Father before Creation: "I do not pray on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom You have given Me", and again, Jesus praying to His Father says: "You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give them eternal life" (John 17:9, 3). The "all whom You have given Him" that Christ speaks of are the elect of God, the sheep. These people were given to Christ in eternity past.
The salvation of Christ's sheep is certain: "I MUST bring them also" (Christ said this of His Gentile sheep, who He would join together as "one flock" with His Jewish sheep). "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me" (John 6:37). Every one of them will come. And who can come but those who are born from above? "born, not of human blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:13).
This beloved is the why the Great Commission exists. This is HOW we can fulfill the Great Commission. This is why we can fulfill the Great Commission with absolute confidence in the sovereignty of saving grace. Christ's sheep will hear His voice. Paul said to the Thessalonians: "We give thanks to God for you...knowing brethren, beloved of God, His choice of you" (1 Thessalonians 1:2, 4). So how do Christ's sheep hear His voice? Paul continues: "for our Gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit, and with full conviction" (1:5). The Holy Spirit applies the redemption of Christ to the elect of God through the ministry of Gospel preaching. Paul says his Gospel didn't come "in word only". It's the Holy Spirit who produces the supernatural power of regeneration in a person, as He convicts them of their sin and draws them to Christ. This is the new birth (John 1:13, John 3:3). The Gospel which comes "in word only" isn't sufficient to convert a person. And this is the great hope in Gospel preaching. This is why we need not worry ourselves over our human weaknesses. God saves! And He has chosen to do so through the preaching of the Gospel of Christ. James also testifies that: "In the exercise of His will HE brought us forth BY the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures" (James 1:18). Notice it was His will that brought us forth, and that He did so by, or through, the word of truth.
So who are the sheep of Christ? The Scriptures don't inform us who they are, but they do instruct us in how we can recognize a sheep who has been born-again already. Though I won't go into detail on this point, we are taught that Christ's sheep, in being regenerated (born from above), are given a new nature (2 Corinthians 5:17). The disposition of their heart is changed. Christ has become their treasure. They're growing in their hatred for what God hates. 1 John 2:3-6 informs us that the practice of their life now is one of obedience and righteousness, rather than sin. They're no longer slaves to sin (John 8:34), but have been set free to serve Christ (John 8:36). However imperfect the sheep's love for God and hatred for sin may be, they characterize who they are in Christ (Romans 8:1-2, 4); and they're two characteristics of their lives that God will grow (Philippians 1:6, 2:13, Hebrews 12:6-10).
You who have already heard His voice and been saved, God has sheep out in the world who have yet to hear His voice. May we be burdened and inspired to reach them with the Gospel for His glory. Let us awaken our cold hearts and start getting after the Great Commission with Holy Spirit-wrought zeal! His sheep will hear His voice; and blessed are they who partake of the fruit of the salvation of souls. What further motivation do we need? For His glory friends! That the Lamb may receive the rewards of His sufferings!
If your chief motivation in missional living is that people's lives be improved, I urge you to forsake your humanistic tendencies. The Gospel is not all about man's life being improved. The Gospel is not all about man. The Gospel is about God's justice being vindicated! God has been wronged. God has been sinned against! And God's wrath abides upon sinners. Either they repent or they perish. Either they be converted or they burn in the lake of fire forever. God will draw His own to repentance. Let us be faithful to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ for God's glory, and not chiefly for man's sake. Let us be careful to not get discouraged when the masses don't seem to respond well. The sheep of Christ are but a remnant. Go out covered in tears from prayer, with the authority of God, in the power of the Holy Spirit, preaching the uncompromised message of repentance and faith, and with the confidence that Christ's sheep WILL hear His voice... and all this to the glory, and honor, and praise of the Lamb.
Loving the Brethren
A prophet "named Agabus stood up and began to indicate by the Spirit that there would be a famine all over the known world...And in the proportion that any of the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief of the brethren living in Judea. And this they did..." (Acts 11:27-30).
It is a great tragedy that in our nation today, multitudes of professing Christians live in abundance, and yet do so little to "send relief" to our brethren around the world, who live in absolute poverty. Some of you reading this may be uninformed, and to your credit your ignorance up until now may have been a means of justification for your inactivity in this regards. Others of you are fully aware of how destitute such a large number of our brothers and sisters in Christ live, materially speaking; even to the point of going without food, having but one meal a day, suffering winter weather without adequate clothing, walking miles and miles just to attend church services, walking barefoot on rough terrain, not having a roof to sleep under for seasons of their lives, etc. etc. etc. In light of that, let me be very frank with you: are you so shallow in your Christian experience that you just don't care enough about your brethren to send relief according to the available proportion of means you have? If you are convicted by this, I am all the more. I am not exempt here. I myself am not a super-saint, who fasts frequently from spending on vain pleasures in order to help relieve my precious family in Christ of difficulties. But I can tell you this, time and again God has revealed to me that it is selfishness alone which causes my memory of such realities, that my brethren suffer, to slip, as I save and spend on things which will be consumed on the Last Day.
Maybe you can relate: have you ever saved your money to buy something, and then when you finally got it you realized it wasn't all you hoped it would be? It didn't satisfy your soul as you subconsciously deceived yourself into thinking it would? I sure have. In fact, I stock my library with books and more books, the half of which I won't get to for at least a few years. Couldn't that money, the fruits of which I couldn't taste for a time anyways, be better spent? Buying great Christian literature is absolutely definable as living for eternity, but not when I buy in excess. If God has blessed us with an abundance, then is it not for the purpose of spending it for His glory, and not for mere vain, carnal pleasures? For Paul himself says, in the context of Christian Giving, "God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance FOR EVERY GOOD DEED" ( 2 Corinthians 9:8).
I want to bring to your attention a ministry that I love dearly, and hope God will inspire you to give to monthly. That ministry is called "The Voice of the Martyrs". You can find them on the web at: http://www.persecution.com/ This ministry, and my involvement in it, has tremendously blessed my life. One example...a young girl was walking to a church gathering in her village when her and two of her friends were attacked my masked Hindus. The Hindu men were yielding machetes; they killed this girls two friends. She was attacked brutally and left with severe damage to her head and face. Within a week she had been able to see a local Voice of The Martyrs doctor, who, because of the fundings available through the ministry, was able to operate on the girl and enable her to eat properly and talk with little to no pain (which things she wouldn't otherwise have been able to do because of the injuries). The Voice of the Martyrs doctors are funded by people like you and me. This is just one of the thousands of ministries they provide for Christians who live under difficult circumstances.
Their monthly newsletter leaves me in tears every time I read it for four reasons:
1. The situations and conditions of life that so many of our brethren face each day are difficult to say the least.
2. So few Americans are aware of, or pay any attention to, these people who are their brethren, and who they're called to love.
3. I am so self-centered, and so often fail to pray and provide (to the extent I am able to) for these brethren of mine.
4. These Christians have such powerful testimonies, which primarily reveal to us that the true treasures of eternal life have no connection to current material blessings and prosperity, and are experienced by these suffering believers in ways that provokes me to holy jealousy. Their love for Christ, and His faithfulness to manifest Himself to them, makes me cry tears of joy and thankfulness to God.
Let this stir you to seek out the heart of God for His people, and how you might manifest this glorious love through sacrificial giving. Friends, let this not hit you as a sweeping condemnation that I lay at the feet of the church in America. The VOM ministry itself testifies of the many saints of God who support His work through them. I know that God is faithfully using His people in America. But let me also say this, we have reason to examine our stewardship. When we live in luxury and abundance, while so many live in poverty, we must ask ourselves individually if we're truly loving our neighbors as ourself, if we're Biblically loving our brethren, and if we're truly reflecting the life and love of Jesus Christ, who "being rich, made Himself poor". We are susceptible to the temptations and vanities of this world. Be not enticed carnally to live for yourself and for this life, but instead store up for yourselves wealth and prosperity in heaven. Glorify God through giving, even sacrificially. Let the world stand judged for their selfishness, and let the children of God evidence the grace of faith given unto them by God their Savior, through being increasingly conformed to the image of Christ Jesus.
"If anyone does not forsake all that he has, he cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:33).
It is a great tragedy that in our nation today, multitudes of professing Christians live in abundance, and yet do so little to "send relief" to our brethren around the world, who live in absolute poverty. Some of you reading this may be uninformed, and to your credit your ignorance up until now may have been a means of justification for your inactivity in this regards. Others of you are fully aware of how destitute such a large number of our brothers and sisters in Christ live, materially speaking; even to the point of going without food, having but one meal a day, suffering winter weather without adequate clothing, walking miles and miles just to attend church services, walking barefoot on rough terrain, not having a roof to sleep under for seasons of their lives, etc. etc. etc. In light of that, let me be very frank with you: are you so shallow in your Christian experience that you just don't care enough about your brethren to send relief according to the available proportion of means you have? If you are convicted by this, I am all the more. I am not exempt here. I myself am not a super-saint, who fasts frequently from spending on vain pleasures in order to help relieve my precious family in Christ of difficulties. But I can tell you this, time and again God has revealed to me that it is selfishness alone which causes my memory of such realities, that my brethren suffer, to slip, as I save and spend on things which will be consumed on the Last Day.
Maybe you can relate: have you ever saved your money to buy something, and then when you finally got it you realized it wasn't all you hoped it would be? It didn't satisfy your soul as you subconsciously deceived yourself into thinking it would? I sure have. In fact, I stock my library with books and more books, the half of which I won't get to for at least a few years. Couldn't that money, the fruits of which I couldn't taste for a time anyways, be better spent? Buying great Christian literature is absolutely definable as living for eternity, but not when I buy in excess. If God has blessed us with an abundance, then is it not for the purpose of spending it for His glory, and not for mere vain, carnal pleasures? For Paul himself says, in the context of Christian Giving, "God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance FOR EVERY GOOD DEED" ( 2 Corinthians 9:8).
I want to bring to your attention a ministry that I love dearly, and hope God will inspire you to give to monthly. That ministry is called "The Voice of the Martyrs". You can find them on the web at: http://www.persecution.com/ This ministry, and my involvement in it, has tremendously blessed my life. One example...a young girl was walking to a church gathering in her village when her and two of her friends were attacked my masked Hindus. The Hindu men were yielding machetes; they killed this girls two friends. She was attacked brutally and left with severe damage to her head and face. Within a week she had been able to see a local Voice of The Martyrs doctor, who, because of the fundings available through the ministry, was able to operate on the girl and enable her to eat properly and talk with little to no pain (which things she wouldn't otherwise have been able to do because of the injuries). The Voice of the Martyrs doctors are funded by people like you and me. This is just one of the thousands of ministries they provide for Christians who live under difficult circumstances.
Their monthly newsletter leaves me in tears every time I read it for four reasons:
1. The situations and conditions of life that so many of our brethren face each day are difficult to say the least.
2. So few Americans are aware of, or pay any attention to, these people who are their brethren, and who they're called to love.
3. I am so self-centered, and so often fail to pray and provide (to the extent I am able to) for these brethren of mine.
4. These Christians have such powerful testimonies, which primarily reveal to us that the true treasures of eternal life have no connection to current material blessings and prosperity, and are experienced by these suffering believers in ways that provokes me to holy jealousy. Their love for Christ, and His faithfulness to manifest Himself to them, makes me cry tears of joy and thankfulness to God.
Let this stir you to seek out the heart of God for His people, and how you might manifest this glorious love through sacrificial giving. Friends, let this not hit you as a sweeping condemnation that I lay at the feet of the church in America. The VOM ministry itself testifies of the many saints of God who support His work through them. I know that God is faithfully using His people in America. But let me also say this, we have reason to examine our stewardship. When we live in luxury and abundance, while so many live in poverty, we must ask ourselves individually if we're truly loving our neighbors as ourself, if we're Biblically loving our brethren, and if we're truly reflecting the life and love of Jesus Christ, who "being rich, made Himself poor". We are susceptible to the temptations and vanities of this world. Be not enticed carnally to live for yourself and for this life, but instead store up for yourselves wealth and prosperity in heaven. Glorify God through giving, even sacrificially. Let the world stand judged for their selfishness, and let the children of God evidence the grace of faith given unto them by God their Savior, through being increasingly conformed to the image of Christ Jesus.
"If anyone does not forsake all that he has, he cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:33).
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