Isaiah 30:15
For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,
“In returning and rest you shall be saved;
in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”
But you were unwilling.
Isaiah’s prophecies often focus on the unwillingness of Israel to follow the commands of God and how the nation suffers for that unwillingness. We see this in the verse above. God called the people to trust in him, but the people instead ran to Egypt for support. Though God had proved himself to the people, they still failed to believe that he would be enough to keep them safe from their enemies.
The human unwillingness to let go of our own efforts and trust the power of God extends well beyond the borders of Israel. Take a look at every single world religion outside of Christianity to see examples. All world religions except Christianity demand that people do right things in order to find blessing or favor from the deity. Christianity is the opposite. In Christianity, God commands us to stop trying to make ourselves good before him. Instead of self-effort, all we can do is fall on the mercy of God that was purchased for us through the sacrifice of Jesus.
Even within Christianity, we see people sometimes forgetting God’s call to rest in Christ. Many of us think that we were saved by grace, but then still strive to earn favor from God through our lifestyle or our spiritual efforts. Indeed, spiritual discipline is good. However, when our work toward the disciplines becomes a sort of self-effort to improve our standing before God, we are woefully inadequate. We cannot be saved by grace and then perfected through self-effort. No, both our salvation and sanctification is of God, fully to the glory of Christ.
What then do we do? Do we work or not? Yes and no. We give our all to honor God, but not for the purpose of self-perfection. Instead, we work to honor God for the joy of his glory. We work to honor God because this is what makes us happy. We work to honor God, but all the while we recognize that our best efforts, apart from the grace of Jesus, are filthy in the sight of God. But we never work thinking that our work will buy us higher standing before the God who saved us by a grace that is completely his doing.
This is almost paradoxical, I realize. But realize, Christians, that this is the very tension that Paul ran into as he preached his gospel. Some people accused Paul of antinomianism (lawlessness) because of the grace-focus of his preaching. Yet Paul did not tolerate sin in his own life. Paul worked with all his might, yet he knew that God was working in him to perfect him (Philippians 2:12-13).
So, again, what do we do? We rest in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We acknowledge that our salvation is fully by grace alone through faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). Then we follow God for the joy that is before us, and we honor him as we acknowledge that all good in us is from him to begin with.
A Lion in the Road (Proverbs 22:13)
Proverbs 22:13
The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside!
I shall be killed in the streets!”
How many people do you know find themselves paralyzed by fear? They have an opportunity come their way, but, because they do not have a guarantee of everything being easy, they let good things pass them by. Do you know that fear is not always the problem here?
The proverb above tells us that the one who claims that danger is keeping him or her from moving may not be frightened at all. The proverb tells us that a sluggard, a brutally lazy person, will often use danger as an excuse for failing to take positive action. This does not honor God.
I can remember a guy from my hometown who always was out-of-work. For some reason, this guy just never held down a job. Also, when jobs came his way, he often turned up his nose at them, finding reason after reason why this particular job was not right for him. The problem was not that this guy had no skill or could not get a job; the problem was that he was lazy. He did not like to work. He did not want a job to cramp his plans for the day—plans which mainly involved eating other people’s food and sleeping a lot.
If we are not careful, however, we all can fall into the danger of allowing laziness allow us to see danger around the corner. Perhaps it is in sharing your faith. You have an opportunity cross your path, but you do not want to take the risk or have the potentially awkward conversation. It is very easy to allow your own lack of desire to do the spiritual work to prevent you from speaking. Sure, you might come up with a hundred reasons why this is not a very good time to talk about spiritual things, but often the bottom line, at least in my own life, is that we are simply unwilling to do the hard work of evangelism.
What opportunities are before you today? What might you be able to do for the glory of God and the advancement of the gospel? What excuses is your heart making on your behalf to get you out of doing the work of the kingdom? Battle spiritual laziness. Battle all forms of hiding from the hard work. Pray hard, trust God, and take action for his glory.
Squeaky Wheels (Proverbs 22:10)
Proverbs 22:10
Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out,
and quarreling and abuse will cease.
One of the dangers of our modern sensibilities is that we will place far too much power in the hands of the disgruntled, the attention-seeker, the complainer, or the scoffer. We have heard it said that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Sadly, this often means that we grant power and attention to individuals who ought not have such power in our lives.
Think for example of a family meal. Imagine that you have one person you know will make the event difficult. So, you bend over backwards to design everything to that person’s liking. Have you not noticed that this never works? The result generally tends to be that you deprive other, more positive, family members of what they like while still never managing to satisfy the complainer.
Of course, this is also true in churches. While congregations might be 85% positive and happy, pastors feel the emotional beating that they take from the small percentage of individuals who are never satisfied. If we are not careful, we pastors will find ourselves doing away with elements of church life that are making almost everyone in the church happy for the sake of the complaints of a tiny yet vocal group.
Even in the most recent news, we have seen the world focus its attention on one crackpot pastor who wants to burn copies of the Quran for the sake of a publicity stunt. This is one guy leading one congregation; he ought not have garnered the attention of national news. Yet, we love to give more attention to people like this than they deserve, and we mess up the world in the process.
We must be loving. We must care about others. We must try our very best to help others to live together in peace. However, we also need the wisdom to hear the proverb above. Sometimes we need to send the scoffer away instead of giving him or her the power to change everything for the rest of the group. We need to avoid giving power to scoffers, and in doing so, we will see quarrels die down.
Wouldn’t it be nice if this were easy? Of course it is not. We must pray more fervently. We must love more deeply. But we must do what we can to do things for the glory of God and the good of others without being driven by the few negative folks who would like to center the world on themselves.
Sympathetic High Priest (Hebrews 4:15-16)
Hebrews 4:15-16
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
The fact that Jesus, the Son of God, became a human being is a stunning reality. For eternity past, the holy trinity of Father, Son, and Spirit have existed. God has always been, and has always been in spirit form. Yet, in accord with God’s eternal plan, for God’s eternal glory, and for the sake of the salvation of mankind, Jesus, God the Son, took upon himself human form. God became flesh.
There are so many things about this truth which are amazing. Jesus stepped down from heaven, lowering himself, pouring himself out (Phil 2:5-8), in order to redeem for himself a people, to reveal himself to a people, and to do so much more than we can imagine. One of the purposes of the humanity of Christ, a purpose that makes Christianity vastly different than any other world religion, is what we see in Hebrews 4:15-16. Jesus became human, in part, to identify with his creation, to truly understand by experience our struggles, joys, pains, pleasures, and hardships.
Christians, ponder these thoughts. Your God knows what it feels like to be hungry. Your God knows what it feels like to stand at a mother’s side at the funeral of an adopted father. Your God knows what it feels like to rejoice with a bride and bridegroom at a wedding feast. Your God knows what it feels like to witness government corruption. Your God knows what it is like to live a real, honest, happy, and sad human life.
We do not have a high priest who does not understand what we go through. Our God is not confused by our struggles. Our God is not mystified by our joys. God knows us, because the Son of God knows what it is like to take upon himself true humanity.
How do we respond to this truth? We draw near to God with confidence. When you sin, when you fail, when you hurt, you run to the throne. If Jesus knows what it is like for you, you need not fear that he will cast you out. No, he will not excuse your failure. Instead, he will do something far better. If you will trust in him, Jesus will forgive your failure because he already died and rose again to redeem you from that failure. When you have joy, you run to the throne, because Jesus knows what it is like to celebrate with humanity. When you hurt, you run to the throne, because Jesus knows what it is like to feel real human pain.
Christians, our God is beyond compare. No other religion in the world has a deity who is both holy, above and beyond us, as well as being able to totally identify himself with his creation. God is beyond creation and, because of the humanity of Christ, connected to his creation. Jesus draws us to the throne of God because of his shared experience with humanity and his perfectly holy love.
Jesus, the Creator (Colossians 1:16)
Colossians 1:16
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
All things were created by Jesus, through Jesus, and for Jesus. Which things? All things. Things in heaven, things on earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created by Jesus.
The first thing this tells us is that Jesus is not created. If Jesus were created, then not all things were created by Jesus. Jesus created all physical things. Jesus created all spiritual things. Jesus is not created, he is the Creator.
The fact that all things exist by Jesus, through Jesus, and for Jesus tells us that Jesus is not only the Creator, but he is also the ultimate power behind creation and the ultimate purpose for creation. You exist by Jesus, through Jesus’ power, and for Jesus’ glory. If there is no living Jesus, there is no you. If you rebel against Jesus, you rebel against the very one who created you and against the very reason for your existence.
Ask yourself this one simple question: Could you possibly be happy fighting against the purpose for your existence? Of course not. We will be most happy when we do what we exist to do. We exist for Jesus; thus the thing that will make you most happy is when you realize that you exist for Jesus and then you submit to Jesus and live for his glory. Jesus is our Creator and our purpose.
Jonah and Not Liking God (Jonah 4:1-3)
Jonah 4:1-3 (ESV)
1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
“I just can’t accept that God would…” As a pastor, I hear that line begin more sentences than one might think. As people study the Scripture and see the true revelation of the God who created us, people often find God’s picture of himself difficult to swallow. “I just can’t understand why God…” is often the precursor for an explanation of how we think God should do things instead of the way that God has done them.
For an example of this, take a look at Jonah. God sent him to Nineveh. Jonah rebelled and ran away. God took action and sent Jonah to Nineveh with his message. Jonah reluctantly preached. The people of the city repented. God relented and rescued the people. And Jonah, for his part, was angry.
Look at the words above. God’s salvation of a huge population of people, people who were not nice people, infuriated Jonah. Jonah, in accusing God, says that he knew God would do something like that. Jonah knew that God had revealed himself as merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. In this case, Jonah simply did not like who God was and what God chose.
If you can’t figure Jonah, remember that the city of Nineveh represented a brutal empire. The Assyrians were known for overrunning their enemies, conquering other nations, burning, torturing, and destroying. The Ninevites were a godless people, a people whom Jonah thought ought to be destroyed. So, when God has compassion on them, Jonah simply does not like it.
Where do you decide that you do not like how God has revealed himself? Where do you act like Jonah, actually turning up your nose from God’s description of his plans and his ways? Do you hate the concept of hell? Does God’s chasing after a people from all nations bother you? Is it election and predestination that draws your ire? Is it the fact that God’s commitment is to his glory and not to our wealth? Is it God’s standard of holiness? Do you love the New Testament but not the Old? Which part of God do you, Christian, not like?
Don’t think, by the way, that you can escape this being true of you somewhere. We all have things we wish that God had done differently. We all have things that we read in Scripture that we simply cannot grasp. We all have commands of God that we battle against or simply ignore. But in doing so, we prove that our hearts are not yet fully devoted to the person of God as he has revealed himself in Scripture. A major part of our sanctification is our learning to embrace who God is as he has revealed himself and to embrace what God commands. After all, God’s commands and his actions are the very reflections of his heart. God commands us to love him, and that requires that we treasure all that he is and all that he does, even when his ways are higher than ours.
Today, it would be good to think about who God has revealed himself to be. As you think about God, ask God to help your heart to truly love him as he is. Ask God to help you to submit to the Scriptures and to embrace all that God has done. Command your own heart to love God, even when you cannot yet grasp why he does what he does. If God does something you cannot understand, assume that God is right and that your heart needs to learn to see things from a more God-honoring perspective. Instead of being a Jonah, being angry enough to die because of who God is, ask God to soften your heart and make you embrace all that our perfect, righteous, merciful, holy God has revealed.
Jesus, the Only Way to God – A Review
Is it necessary for a person to have actual, conscious faith in Jesus Christ in order for them to be reconciled to God? Do those who either refuse Jesus or who simply never hear of Jesus spend an actual eternity in hell under the wrath of Almighty God? In Jesus, the Only Way to God, John Piper addresses these questions in his inspiring, helpful, and typically thorough style.
Positive
Simply put, Piper nails this issue with the word of God. He is not arrogant, belittling of others, or sensationalistic in this work. Piper simply goes to the Scripture to explain what Christians have believed from the word of God for centuries.
Negative
In chapter 5, Piper addresses the question of whether or not Cornelius was already saved before Peter came to tell him the gospel. Piper eventually argues that Cornelius represents a special kind of person in the world, one who seeks after God in an extraordinary way. Piper then illustrates this idea by quoting a story of missionaries in Ethiopia. It is strange, then, that Piper does not explain this conclusion about lost God-seekers in the light of Romans 3:11 which declares that no one seeks after God.
Recommendation
People in our churches are actually asking whether or not one must have conscious faith in Jesus in order to be reconciled to God; thus, we need a work like this one from Piper to answer them. While the brevity of the work leaves a question or two unanswered, Piper does an outstanding job of answering what needs to be answered with biblical soundness, thoroughness, and readability. If you have any struggles with the question of the exclusivity of Christ and the necessity of conscious faith for salvation (or if you know someone who has these struggles), this book is an excellent resource for you.
Audio
I received an excellent copy of the audio recording of this work from ChristianAudio.com. The narration was very well-done and quite easy-to-listen-to.
A Prayer for Strength (Colossians 1:11)
Colossians 1:11
May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy,
This prayer request Paul makes for the Colossians is that they “be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might.” Paul is praying that God, by God’s infinite and mighty power, give the Colossians strength.
This request is no surprise. We all want strength. We all want to be strong, healthy, successful. We want to be able to beat the bad guys, serve our families, and take whatever good opportunities present themselves to us.
But, this is not the kind of strength that Paul prays for the Colossians. Look at the why of Paul’s Prayer for their strength. Paul asks that they be strengthened “for all endurance and patience with joy.” The strength that Paul prays for is not for them to live long, prosper, and get rich with perfect health. No, the strength that Paul prays for the Colossians is strength to endure hardships with patience and joy. Christians, this is what we should pray for ourselves too.
We will suffer hardships. The idea of trusting Christ leading to lives of comfort and ease is not a biblical idea at all. Jesus promised us persecution. The world hated him, and they will hate us too.
John 15:18-21 (ESV)
18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.
The prayer is not that we would have easy lives, but that God would give us the strength to patiently keep going. When things get hard, we pray that god will give us the faith we need to endure that hardship. And God wants us not only to endure suffering, but to do so with the joy that marks a true child of God.
Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV)
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus endured the cross, the ultimate of suffering, why? He did so for the joy set before him. When we have hardships, we are to learn from Jesus. There is joy for the child of God who walks through suffering and trusts in God the entire way.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (ESV)
16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
Yes, this world will be hard. Do not ever kid yourself about that. In fact, the world will reject and despise you if you truly try to serve Jesus faithfully. But, also never forget that God is there to strengthen you, keep you, preserve you, and eventually reward you with joy. So pray that God will strengthen you to endure hardships for joy.
Airing Your Own Opinion (Proverbs 18:2)
Proverbs 18:2
A fool takes no pleasure in understanding,
but only in expressing his opinion.
Hey look, it’s another blog post. By definition, this is one person airing his own opinion. While we can learn much on the Internet, there is a great danger of having many folks, uninformed and foolish, spouting off bad ideas left and right. And, the temptation will be for more of us to join them in that practice than to learn from their mistakes.
It is far better to learn than to speak. Anyone, absolutely anyone, can tell everyone what they think. But not everyone learns.
But wait, it is not simply in the world of blogging that this is a problem. When you are in conversation with others, do you listen or speak? When others are speaking, do you listen to understand their point, or are you always formulating your next line? What about learning from people with whom you totally disagree? Can you listen to the opinion of somebody you can’t stand and still look for the occasional nugget of truth?
I’d say more, but it’s probably better for me to go find something of value to read instead.
The Danger of Privacy (Proverbs 18:1)
Proverbs 18:1
Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire;
he breaks out against all sound judgment.
Have you noticed how much value people are placing on privacy these days? Whether it be “right to privacy” talk or simply church members trying to keep to themselves, privacy is a huge part of our society. The problem is, the love of privacy that our society is embracing is unbiblical and extremely dangerous.
Proverbs 18:1 helps us to see with simple biblical wisdom the danger of the love of privacy. To isolate yourself is to allow yourself only to focus on your desire and to ignore all wise counsel. Eventually, everything you want will seem like it is right, no matter how foolish it really is. When we are alone, we fall prey to our lowest desires.
God simply did not design mankind to be alone. In the garden, God pointed out that it was not good for Adam to be alone. Moses found out from his father-in-law that it was not good for him to try to carry the burden of judging all of Israel on his own. Jesus surrounded himself with disciples. The establishing of the church was God’s wisdom for us to live life-on-life, in true fellowship. None of these things promotes individual privacy.
In my own experience, I have never run across a Christian who fought fervently for privacy who was not either already in sin or soon to fall into deep and destructive sin. Every time I have tried to shield my life from the scrutiny of others, I have been in sin or soon fallen into sin. Simply put, privacy is not godly; it is dangerous.
Look at your life right now. Who has access to your private moments? Who knows you? Who knows what you are struggling with? Who knows what tempts you? Who can speak into your thought processes and raise real, important questions? If nobody is there, you need to connect with brothers and sisters in Christ and truly open yourself to the biblical fellowship that we are designed to live in.
Pastor Travis Peterson 