Get rich schemes are anything but. They are contrary to God’s normative means of giving us prosperity WITH character. To want to be rich by means of a shortcut, is to reveal our greed. To want to waste our time in things which hold no true value – is to prevent our own selves from the very things we need and desire. These two always go hand in hand.
But this is not restricted to material things. It is just as true in spiritual matters. The one who will not apply him or herself to know the Word and seek God’s face will have a lean soul – period. We cannot ignore spiritual disciplines, and then hope to walk in the benefits of such as though they are somehow just dropped upon us from the sky. If we work hard at it, we’ll enjoy the fruit. If not, we will be impoverished.
Now the caution here against worthless pursuits can apply equally to those simply in pursuit of earthly riches, security, fame etc., and those who even as Christians pursue doctrine and spiritual experiences like hobbies.
I once knew a man, a good and earnest man, who loved the Lord and longed to teach His Word, but who also gave himself to countless hours trying to connect the Great Pyramid of Egypt to Biblical truth. Endlessly looking for hidden signs and symbols. Fascinated with arcane and supposed prophetic tie-ins. And in the meantime, paying less attention to understanding The Word better, and seeking to grow in the image of Christ. It all had the veneer of “spiritual” pursuit, but it ended in nothing of true value for the soul. In the end it was fruitless curiosity.
How many Believers today are immersed in seeking out secret conspiracies, shadow governments and hidden, nearly all-powerful cabals? Looking for secret prophetic knowledge. Investing all sorts of time, energy and angst prying out information they can ultimately do nothing about, and have no eternal, spiritual reward whatever.
How we need to re-calibrate our hearts and minds to be fixed on the truth of God’s Word, and anchored in His plans and purposes. Investing ourselves in the pursuit and building of His Kingdom. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” Once we’ve mastered that, then maybe we can move on to curiosities of all sorts. But until then, let us be about knowing and pursuing the Father’s business.
Work with what God HAS given to you, rather than pining after and chasing what He hasn’t. There is fruitfulness in His appointments.
And there is unfathomable fruit and blessing in pursuits that have eternal benefits.
Seek Christ! Col. 2:1-3 “For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions. Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.
Jonathan Edwards: “There is perhaps no part of divinity attended with so much intricacy, and wherein orthodox divines do so much differ as stating the precise agreement and difference between the two dispensations of Moses and Christ.”
From our text, note the following:
A – The Law is good IF it is used LAWFULLY or rightly.
B – The Believer stands in a new RELATIONSHIP to law than they did prior to trusting Christ.
1. The Law must be used LAWFULLY – It must be used for what it was intended.
2. [The] law is not made for a righteous person – The primary use of the Law is NOT for the man who has been made righteous with the righteousness of Christ
BUT: [It IS made] for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching,
3. The Believer is NOT “lawless” – Since the Law is NOT made for the righteousness man but for the lawless man – The Believer is NOT lawless, even though he is not “under” the Mosaic Law.
Titus 2:14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
1 Peter 4:3 For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.
Rom. 6:14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
The Gospel is meant for: The restoration of God’s OWN holiness to the HEART of the Believer – as it is re-inscribed there by the Holy Spirit in regeneration and energized by the indwelling presence of the Spirit and is now the PRINCIPLE under which the Believer lives.
Believers are not constrained by externals as much as they are now motivated by new internals – We have a new – underlying inclination.
We are – to use Paul’s words in 2 Cor. 5:14 – Constrained by love
1 John 5:1 “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments.”
The one who has been born again, loves the righteous and holy God they once rebelled against and ran from. They now see God’s righteousness as lovely, not distasteful. They love righteousness BECAUSE they love the righteous God who loved them.
But – Sure, I may now LOVE righteousness, but what exactly is my relationship to God’s Law?
And that IS the key word, RELATIONSHIP
The point is, that being born again and justified by His grace and indwelt by His Spirit – we now stand in a totally different relationship to the Law than we once did.
The Law didn’t change – WE DID!
The issue is one of a change of relationship.
THE LAW IS STILL EXACTLY THE SAME FOR THE LAWLESS – 1 Tim. 1:8
Illustration: Trespassing vs. Being a co-owner (or joint-heir)
While my parents were alive, I always knew that at any time, I could go to their house – and even if they weren’t home, I could raid the refrigerator, use the facilities, sack out on the couch, watch the TV and relax.
Now what is also true, is that I cannot do that just anywhere. If I go to stranger’s houses, the very same activities are in fact illegal and punishable by law.
If I become an heir, what did not belong to me now does – what attempting access to would once bring the charge of trespass, is now turned on its head. My relationship to it changed. I now have an entrance to the throne room of God which was once not mine to enter.
Illustration: NYS Driving age. Once I turned 16, the law that said I could not drive at 15, became the law that said I COULD drive. The law didn’t change, I did.
The Law is good IF it is used “lawfully”.
Classically – 3-Fold Purpose of the Law (Louis Berkhof) —
a. CIVIL: “The law serves the purpose of restraining sin and promoting righteousness. Considered from this point of view, the law presupposes sin and is necessary on account of sin. It serves the purpose of God’s common grace in the world at large.”
b. PEDAGOGICAL: “In this capacity the law serves the purpose of bringing man under conviction of sin, and of making him conscious of his inability to meet the demands of the law. In that way the law becomes his tutor to lead him unto Christ, and thus becomes subservient to God’s gracious purpose of redemption.”
c. DIDACTIC (or Normative): “The law is a rule of life for believers, reminding them of their duties and leading them in the way of life and salvation.” (Lutheran controversy)
Actually, while this is generally accepted, and nice and neat – it is nowhere near as full and complete as the Bible speaks.
The 7-Fold Purpose of the Law
The Bible itself articulates at least 7 reasons for the Law.
a. EXPOSES SIN / Rom. 3:20b: “since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”
Rom. 5:20: “Now the law came in to increase the trespass”
Rom. 7:7 “Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”’”
In this way, it is PURELY DIAGNOSTIC – Like an X-Ray machine.
Like an X-Ray machine for the soul, it can show you the broken bone, but has no power to MEND the broken bone.
b. INSTRUCTS / Ex. 24:12 “The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.”
In this way, the Law serves to help us know what God thinks about things – what He likes & dislikes, proscribes and warns against.
Looking at the 10 Words as ten revelations of our God Himself. Above everything else, it instructs us in a right view of God, self and life.
1 – God is God alone and must be recognized as such
2 – God is not to be reduced to an image, to anything tangible. It preserves His transcendence. Something desperately needed in our day too.
3 – God is not to be taken lightly – even in the use of His name
4 – God is to be worshipped (Calvin – Harmony of the Law – The object of this Commandment is that believers should exercise themselves in the worship of God; for we know how prone men are to fall into indifference, unless they have some props to lean on or some stimulants to arouse them in maintaining their care and zeal for religion.)
5 – Man is to be respected as created in God’s image – first with parents, and then with other authorities.
6 – Life is sacred before God. As created in His image, humankind, all members of the race are to be treated with dignity. None are to be simply disregarded, and in something like the case of abortion, as disposable.
7 – Sexual purity is required to love man.
8 – Man’s property is not to be violated.
9 – Man is not to sinned against even in the use of law.
10 – Contentment with God’s provision.
c. HUMBLES / Lev. 16:31 “It is to be a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, that you may humble your souls; it is a permanent statute.” (NAS95)
Whether we hold to a specific weekly “sabbath” or not, the principle remains the same: We need rest. We were created that way. And to ignore proper rest is to live apart from faith. It is outside the order He has created us to live in.
It reminds us that we are under His authority – not autocrats. In all places and at all times, He is the ultimate authority. And He need not give us reasons for His ordering of things. We are to trust that He is wisest and most loving and that He orders all things in life in accordance with His wisdom and love.
d. DECLARATIVE / Deut. 4:6-8 Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?
When we set ourselves properly under His authority to guide our lives and choices, we live out the Gospel in a most tangible way to those who observe us, even if they do not recognize it as such.
e. IDENTIFICATION / Same as Above – It shows we’re God’s people. We listen to Him, cherish His words, and live by His precepts.
f. PROPHETIC / Col. 2:16-17 “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”
g. PROTECTIVE / Gal. 3:19 “Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary.”
In this capacity, it is mainly protective against two things: The Wrath of God / Natural Consequences of our sins.
Also – Ga 3:24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.
MUCH MORE – I want to suggest to you that due to our change in relationship to the Law, the Law may be used “lawfully” (in respect to him or herself) by the Believer in the following three ways.
Col. 2 – Due to the fact that the decrees against us have been removed out of the way (i.e. Nailed to His cross) THEREFORE we are no longer to be judged concerning Sabbath days etc. – BECAUSE – they were shadows of that which was to come (i.e. Christ) and now that the substance is here – we no longer occupy ourselves with the shadows.
When the Believer is confronted with the Law of God, his first response ought to be to look at it as “having received double” – for his sins against God.
An infinite debt stamped – PAID IN FULL!
When we consider the 10 Words (as well as other places) we have His payment placarded before us.
This is what Jesus fulfilled for us in His obedience.
And this is what Jesus paid the penalty for for our every infraction.
2. Christ’s Imputed Righteousness / Rom. 3:21-26 “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
Not only has my infinite debt been canceled – this is what has been deposited into my account!
I am righteous with the righteousness of Christ Himself!
2 Cor. 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Rom. 5:19 For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. What Christ has done which is imputed to me.
He deals with me as though Christ’s own righteousness were mine!
What an unspeakable comfort!
3. The Glorious Promise / 1 John 3:1-3 “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.”
We will wake in His likeness
Those words: Thou shalt & Thou shalt not – are promises!
We can rightfully read them this way:
This is my promise, when I am done with you dear child you will –
love me with all your heart mind soul and strength and never have some other god before me.
I will preserve you from falling prey to any idols
You will not bear my name vainly – it will not be an empty thing to say you are God’s. To bear the name – Christian.
You will rest in the perfect rest of Christ’s completed work for ever.
You will honor your mother and father.
You will not murder any more.
You’ll never commit adultery again.
You will never steal.
You will never bear false witness against your brother or covert your neighbor’s wife or anything else he has.
Quotes:
Luther: we say that the law is good and profitable, but in his own proper use: which is, first to bridle civil transgressions, and then to reveal and to increase spiritual transgressions. Wherefore the law is also a light, which sheweth and revealeth, not the grace of God, not righteousness and life; but sin, death, the wrath and judgment of God. For, as in the mount Sinai the thundering, lightning, the thick and dark cloud, the hill smoking and flaming, and all that terrible shew did not rejoice not quicken the children of Israel, but terrified and astonished them, and shewed how unable they were, with all their purity and holiness, to abide the presence of God speaking to them out of the cloud: even so the law, when it is in his true sense, doth nothing else but reveal sin, engender wrath, accuse and terrify men, so that it bringeth them to the very brink of desperation. This is the proper use of the law, and here it hath an end, and it ought to go no further. Martin Luther, Commentary on Galatians (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 302.
Now the foolishness of man’s heart is so great, that when the law hath its office and terrified his conscience, he cloth not only not lay hold upon the doctrine of grace, but seeketh to himself more laws to satisfy and quiet his conscience. “If I live,” saith he, “I will amend my life. I will do this and that.” Here except thou do quite the contrary: that is, except thou send Moses away, with his law, and in these terrors lay hold upon Christ, who died for thy sins, there is no salvation for thee.
These things are easily said: but blessed is he which knoweth how to lay sure hold on them in distress of conscience, that is, which can say when sin overweighteth him, and the law accuseth and terrifieth him: What is this to me, O law, that thou accusest me, and sayest that I have committed many sins? Indeed I grant that I have committed many sins, yea and yet still do commit sins daily without number. This toucheth me nothing: I am now dead and cannot hear thee. Therefore thou talkest to me in vain, for I am dead unto thee. But if thou wilt needs dispute with me as touching my sins, get thee to my flesh and members my servants: teach them, exercise and crucify them, but trouble not me, not Conscience, I say, which am a lady and a queen, and have nothing to do with thee: for I am dead to thee, and now I live to Christ, with whom I am under another law, to wit the law of grace, which ruleth over sin and the law. By what means? By faith in Christ, as Paul declareth hereafter.
This sentence of Paul: “through the law I am dead to the law,” is full of consolation. Which if it may enter into a man in due season, and take sure hold in his heart with good understanding, it may so work, that it will make him able to stand against all dangers of death, and all terrors of conscience and sin, although they assail him, accuse him, and would drive him to desperation never so much. True it is, that every man is tempted: if not in his life, yet at his death. There, when the law accuseth him and sheweth unto him his sins, his conscience by and by saith: Thou hast sinned. If then thou take good hold of that which Paul here teacheth, thou wilt answer: I grant I have sinned. Then will God punish thee. Nay, he will not do so. Why, doth not the law of God so say? I have nothing to do with that law. Why so? Because I have another law which striketh this law dumb, that is to say, liberty. What liberty is that? The liberty of Christ, for by Christ I am utterly freed from the law. Therefore that law which is and remaineth a law to the wicked, is to me liberty, and bindeth that law which would condemn me; and by this means that law which would bind me and hold me captive, is now fast bound itself, and holden captive by grace and liberty, which is now my law; which saith to that accusing law: Thou shalt not hold this man bound and captive, or make him guilty, for he is mine; but I will hold thee captive, and bind thy hands that thou shalt not hurt him, for he liveth now unto Christ, and is dead unto thee.
John Bunyan: “Wherefore whenever thou who believest in Jesus, dost hear the law in its thundering and lightning fits, as if it would burn up heaven and earth; then say thou, I am freed from this law, these thunderings have nothing to do with my soul; nay even this law, while it thus thunders and roareth, it doth both allow and approve of my righteousness. I know that Hagar would sometimes be domineering and high, even in Sarah’s house and against her; but this she is not to be suffered to do, nay though Sarah herself be barren; wherefore serve it also as Sarah served her, and expel her out from thy house. My meaning is, when this law with its thundering threatenings doth attempt to lay hold on thy conscience, shut it out with a promise of grace; cry, the inn is took up already, the Lord Jesus is here entertained, and here is no room for the law. Indeed if it will be content with being my informer, and so lovingly leave off to judge me; I will be content, it shall be in my sight, I will also delight therein; but otherwise, I being now made upright without it, and that too with that righteousness, which this law speaks well of and approveth; I am not, will not, cannot, dare not make it my saviour and judge, nor suffer it to set up its government in my conscience; for by so doing I fall from grace, and Christ Jesus doth profit me nothing (Gal 5:1–5).
John Bunyan, The Trinity and a Christian (alternate Title: The Law and a Christian), vol. 2 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2006), 388.
These closing chapters of Numbers find Israel at a pivotal place. Aaron’s priesthood has been transferred to his son, and Aaron has died. Moses is told to commission Joshua as his replacement. Major transitions are happening in the life of God’s people. Now we encounter Moses carrying out his last responsibilities – not the least of which we see here in 28:1. It begs a very big question.
Why all these laws, especially the daily service, reiterated and spelled out over and over? I mean, they already have all this – right? It has already been written out and explained more than once. What is going on here?
Justin Martyr in his dialog with Trypho makes the point that the reason why all of these things were pressed upon the Jews, was because of their sinfulness. He explained it this way: If God did not appoint such things, they would not naturally maintain to serve and worship him as he desired. In sinfulness, we always devolve down. Apart from such patterns built into our lives, the right honor and service to God is left to whims, fancies, tastes and then eventually – utter neglect. This is how God kept his name and presence alive in the world.
And so with us. We are not to adopt holy habits of reading and praying and public worship because God is pleased by mere activities. He doesn’t demand ritualistic service. We cultivate holy habits to counteract the downward gravitational pull of the remnants of indwelling sin. We have to weed the garden of our souls with regularity, or it will not be long before we neglect holy things altogether. We do not want to pursue legalism, but we MUST be watchful over the self-deception that we will maintain fidelity to him without such measures. It is not to earn his favor. It is to keep our hearts alive before him. It is Paul’s admonition 2 Tim. 1:6 to “fan into flame the gift of God which is within” us. Like the need to trim the lamps in the Tabernacle twice a day – so the light in us will grow dim quite quickly if we do not pay attention to it.
What is interesting here, is that the whole nation (“the people of Israel”) is charged with making sure the daily sacrificial duties which are to be carried out by the Levites – is done. It is everyone’s responsibility to make sure the Leadership does not abandon their main responsibilities. This then, even when by their own demands the Leadership is asked to pay attention to some other “needs” the Congregation might deem desirable. As congregants, we are to be vigilant that our ministers give themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word. See: Acts 6:4.
We need the grace of Jesus’ death morning and night, weekly, monthly, and at special seasons throughout the year.
If we do not do this, we grow content in our sin, not recognizing the constant need for continual cleansing – for a perpetual dependence upon Christ and His atoning work. It is not as though we’ve been cleansed and go our way. We stay here, and live in the reality of it every minute. Such is our sinfulness, that even from morning till night, it escapes our view – and needs to be stimulated over and over and over with the utmost care.
What a warning that we cannot have “morning devotions” and then just our way. The memory will fade. The vividness will quickly wane.
Oh Father, forgive us! We do our holy “duty” and think little more of it after that. We are so prone to this horrid decline, and so lacking in careful, regular, incessant attention to it. And then we wonder why we sin at the rate we do in other things. Simply, because we are not paying attention to our actual need before you. You have provided a perpetual fountain of grace, and we take our sip and go our way and think we’re fine.
Let me be very clear at the outset here, that I speak for absolutely no one but myself in what follows.
1 – Rejoice: Whether you were a Charlie Kirk fan or not, it is right for us to rejoice that in his murder and memorial, many numbers were exposed to the Gospel and to contemplate its implications who had probably not done so before. This is a good thing, and we ought not minimize it in any way. God has used this opportunity in profoundly impactful ways.
Did many who spoke at his memorial articulate the Gospel well? No. Yet a number did. I am reminded of Paul’s comments to the Philippians when he wrote: “It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. The former, however, preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can add to the distress of my chains. What then is the issue? Just this: that in every way, whether by false motives or true, Christ is preached. And in this I rejoice. (Phil. 1:15–18, BSB)
Irrespective of the motives or defective presentations of the Gospel that were proffered – the Gospel did get preached.
No, that is not to be used as an excuse or an endorsement of poor articulation. It is to recognize God’s sovereign hand in using wondrously diverse means to make the Gospel known. We do really well to rejoice in that and what God might still do with it.
2 – Be Hopeful: It is right to be hopeful that the seeds of the Gospel however imperfectly sown can yet bring a great harvest of souls into the Kingdom.
A while back, a dear friend of mine and powerful co-laborer in the Gospel told me how in fact he was soundly converted to Christ through the preaching of one he knows now was a true heretic. How good is our God! Let us be truly hopeful that this occasion will yet yield tremendous results for the Kingdom.
In hearing accounts of how some were shaken and stirred by the murder and its aftermath I cannot but be hopeful. God works in all times, places and circumstances. Let us hope in Christ that there will be lasting results and not a mere temporary or quasi-revival like movement which will fade as quickly as it arose. Hope in how our God sovereignly moves.
3 – Be Prayerful: Pray that God magnifies the name of Jesus Christ in it all. Pray that those moved will find solid, Christ-centered churches to be planted in. Pray that the enemy’s attempts to distort the Gospel and turn this into a merely social, political or cultural movement be thwarted. Pray that Christ remain the focus, not men, not philosophies, not movements.
4 – Be Temperate: Just as spiritual growth in individuals is almost never the result of individual ecstatic experiences, neither is growth in Christ’s kingdom overall.
Just as there was only one death of Jesus Christ on the Cross, so there was only one Pentecost. We find our part in each, but they are not repeated.
There are certainly great pivotal moments in redemptive history – spiritual punctuations (if you will) like the Reformation. Notable course corrections. And Church history records many in different times and places. But such are anchored in the Church, not in the culture as the culture considered in itself. Certainly it will have cultural ramifications as more and more people are born into the Kingdom and live like it.
But a culture is not an entity. It is a composite. It is comprised of the prevailing nature of those who inhabit it.
Jumping on bandwagons only means we get carried away.
Following Christ is an entirely different thing. As individual Christians apply themselves more and more to growing in the image of Christ through the Word and the Spirit – that will influence our world more than anything any “movement” can ever do.
5 – Avoid Pronouncements: May there be something of true revival occurring right now in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s murder? For sure. But when you survey the great revivals in history, they typically are not marked by blending them with political movements. Though there is no question some sought to capitalize on them for those purposes. Such revivals may have had great impacts on politics and social reforms – but those impacts were the result of conversions, not hybrids in their nature. I will admit that this is a concern which looms largely in my mind. The aftermath of the revivalism of Charles Finney proves my point. Sweeping moral reforms followed his methods and preaching. But as one who lives in the “burned over district” I can tell you that in time, such breeds a Gospel resistance and hardness that is worse than what came before.
The entire Northeast, which was the hub of the Great Awakening is now the most Gospel resistant region in the United States today.
Is this a revival? Maybe yes, maybe no.
Is this a true “turning point” in America? Maybe yes. Maybe no.
Christ did not die either to create or preserve Americanism. He died to save the lost souls of men, and reconcile them to the Father through his cross.
If we want a more Christianly culture, we need more people truly born again by the Gospel. Anything else will prove to be a curse in time.
Avoid the “this is it” kind of thinking and talking. We do not yet know what this is or what the outcome will be. Don’t pronounce it to be anything, until we see where it goes.
Encourage what is Christ-centered and Christ honoring, reject what isn’t.
6 – Be Discerning: Conversion to conservatism is not the same as conversion to Christ.
When social and cultural reforms emerge from more people authentically serving Christ – amen and amen! But those need to be seen as by-products, not the goals. Reconciliation to God through the person and work of Jesus Christ is the end game. We dare not lose sight of this. But even in great revivals, such social and cultural reforms in every case (as near as I can discern) prove to be temporary. That is all they can be. Only reconciliation through the Cross is permanent.
If a worldview which is more closely parallel to true Christian values emerges in the general populace, glory to God! That is a good thing. It blesses many. As afar as it goes. But if a true apprehension of Christ is not at the foundation, it will grow corrupt rapidly and become a false Gospel unto itself.
Over the years I’ve interacted with a number of people who have become sober through programs like AA. Is it good that they are sober? Of course! At the same time, in deeper conversation with some of these, they confuse sobriety with salvation itself. And this is a deception even worse than before.
Jesus notes: “When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ 25On its return, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 26Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and dwell there. And the final plight of that man is worse than the first.” (Luke 11:24–26, BSB)
If we accept the reading of the Gospels that posits 2 cleansings of the Temple in this light, we find a most important principle: Mere outward reforms, even done in perfect righteousness, if not accompanied by the indwelling of a new Spirit, will leave the end condition of the one initially “swept” bound even worse.
A merely better moralized America will in the end, become a deception of the worst kind of bondage.
7 – Be Biblical: Just because something can be built on a Biblical passage, does not mean that is what the Bible actually teaches and emphasizes.
Prime example: Baptism for the dead in Mormonism, or foot washing as a sacrament.
No doubt some of the people in Elijah’s day thought the showdown on Carmel was “it!” Now its is happening (whatever “it” is.) Now there will be a huge turn around in the nation. But it wasn’t so.
When even Elijah saw that was not so, his heart fainted. He was no better than his father’s he said. But of course, God never asked him to be. So he is shown in his cave experience, the answer to the crying spiritual need of God’s people was not in mighty, miraculous demonstrations on the mountain. Not in the destruction of the false prophets. Not in earth shattering movements (earthquakes), not in sweeping winds of change (the whirlwind), not in the fire of great fervor, but still and only in the Word of God speaking to the hearts of man – preserved by his sovereign providence. Israel didn’t change for all of that.
The bottom line in it all must be – Jesus Christ. His plans. His purposes. His Kingdom propagated and built upon the preaching of his Gospel. And his kingdom is not of this world. If it were – as he himself said to Pilate: ““My kingdom is not of this world; if it were, My servants would fight to prevent My arrest by the Jews. But now My kingdom is not of this realm.” (John 18:36, BSB) That hasn’t changed.
Our pastor Matt Fletcher is currently preaching through the book of Esther. As we gathered in his home last evening for our “Growth Group” – our other “Matt” who led the discussion, had us consider Ps. 73 in light of the conflict between Mordecai and Haman in Esther 3.
Considering that powerful Ps. penned by Asaph, it drew me back to muse on the grand themes it explores, and jogged my mind once again. Below is the Psalm couched in verse. I pray it is blessing to you as you ponder it afresh today.
Surely the Lord our God is good Good to all his people Good to the mighty and the strong Good to the weak and feeble
But as for me, I almost fell Unsure my steps near stumbled My eyes were fixed on the arrogant On the wicked never humbled
It seemed to me they feared not death They dined, their hearts content And free from lives of burdened care Toward wickedness all bent
They wore their pride like jewelry And violence like robes Prosperous in iniquity With every blessing clothed
Their sinful thoughts ran unrestrained They mock and speak with scorn And threaten any they oppose Oppress, harass and warn
They speak against the heav’nly things Tongues strutting o’er the earth And justify among themselves Their careless life of mirth
In wickedness they dare to ask Can God know what we do? Do any think he knows our ways? He deigns our sins to view?
Considering this spectacle My heart was led to doubt Why had I walked in righteousness And sought my sins to rout?
What sense was there in keeping pure? Why turn from sin’s dark stains? Why suffer godly discipline? Why bother taking pains?
And yet I knew if thus I spoke That others may be harmed If by my doubts they strayed from God And by deceits were charmed
My mind still reeling, ill at ease Confused and not at rest I went to seek the face of God Would he my doubts address?
And there in prayer before his throne At last my eyes did see ‘Tis not the present circumstance That frames what’s yet to be
For these who walk without a care Forgetting God is there Are surely in a slippery place How will they finally fare?
The day will come when all are judged Both great and small will stand To give an answer for their lives Did they love God’s commands?
How suddenly they’re laid to waste All who reject God’s rule In judgment’s terrors swept away At last be proved the fool
How then my heart was pained within How senseless I had been With no more reason than a beast Deceived by my own sin
And then The Spirit reassured God’s hand held fast in mine His truth is truest counsel sure One day, with him I’ll dine
Oh Lord, whom do I have but you? In heaven or on earth? It’s true my heart and flesh may fail But you are all my worth
Those far from you will surely die The wicked you’ll destroy But you are my true refuge Lord Proclaiming you - my joy!
Most of us (if you are anything like me) tend to focus on short term goals. The older I get, the more that seems to reduce to just getting through today with no aggravations! Lofty – eh? (Lord help me!)
But then there are those among us who think in terms of a much longer timeline. Finishing High School, on to College, and then a chosen career. Good and fitting stuff. Such people tend to be more satisfied with life overall. No stones to be thrown here.
And then there some like the Apostle Paul. He had plenty of short terms goals; going to this community or that area to evangelize and establish a church, and then on to others. Wanting to be in Jerusalem at a specific time when about his other business, etc. You see it throughout the book of Acts and in his letters. Again, good stuff. Necessary stuff. Wise living.
But Paul was not lashed to his short-term goals either. So at times he changes course. Sometimes he plans to go to X and do Y, but is prevented by The Spirit or some other providence. And then he is led on to somewhere else and to serve in some other capacity. So we see that by the end of his life, his delight in evangelizing regions and planting churches is narrowed to evangelizing his immediate circle in Rome, and writing letters.
And then there is Paul’s revealed looooong-term goal. It comes out in Techi-color in his letter to the saints at Philippi – and most pointedly in the 3rd chapter of that letter.
Catch this: “More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.” (Phil. 3:8-13)
Here Paul reveals his ever-present preoccupation with searching out the unsearchable depths of what it means to have been saved by faith in Jesus Christ, Jesus himself, and the glory to come. Everything else he does comes under this umbrella. And we might summarize it like this:
1. To fully know Jesus Christ. His person and work – His faithfulness which purchased my salvation.
2. To fully know what has been bequeathed to me as a Believer by His resurrection – especially the power of the resurrection in the Spirit.
3. To embrace the finished work of His sufferings for my salvation, and thus to regard my own sufferings as an honor as a result.
4. To be as given up to the Father’s will, even unto death as He was. To share in that same devotion to the Father.
i.e. (12) I want to know, to investigate, to experience, to fully possess everything Christ was aiming at for me, in saving me.
There is a long-term goal which we will spend eternity aiming at. What a privilege then to be about it in the short term, so that our hearts and minds are anchored in eternal verities, rather than in the temporal chaos of this world. And we will never come to the end of it. It is indescribably deep and rich and wondrous. And how little we consider it or spend time meditating upon it and searching it out. No wonder the World finds us so easily distracted. Contrary to Paul we think we’ve already “obtained” it. That we know all there is to know about our salvation.
Lord Jesus, God incarnate True God, and truest man The two in one united To be Atonement's Lamb What praises can we offer To sing Thy worthiness? E’en Heaven’s songs will falter To match Thy blessedness
Dear Saving Son, Redeemer Forgive my faithless heart That fails in times of trial To trust in Whom thou art Thou sum of Love's perfections God's Word and Wisdom full Enlarge my soul's affection And end deception's pull
High Priest and Intercessor In all my weakness, plead Thy Spirit's keeping power According to my need Christ's light amid the darkness Christ's strength when I am weak Christ's succor in temptation Christ's words when e're I speak
Let praise and adoration O'er flow my heart and mind Till naught but all Thy beauty Remains for Thee to find Transform and full conform me Purge all that's base and mean And bring me to Thy glory Till Christ alone is seen
Let Christ be all in all
My Prophet, Priest and King
The Lamb of God in sacrifice
Yet Lord o’er everything
Let Christ be all in all
God's Word made flesh as man
Eclipsing all who came before
"Hear him!" Is God's command
Let Christ be all in all My interceding Priest Before the throne he ever pleads God's wrath in him now ceased
Let Christ be all in all My savior and my Lord Who reigns in flawless righteousness My heart bound by love's cord
Let Christ be all in all The sum of Heav’ns store God's richest jew'l and only Son Angelic hosts adore
Let Christ be all in all In him are all complete All prophecies and promises The lips of God did speak
Let Christ be all in all Blest Spirit make it so That he my richest treasure be In Heaven and below
Let Christ be all in all God's glory in his face Consume my heart and soul and mind Let nothing take his place
When one is devoid of the righteousness of Christ – even what they try to give God in their worship – even sacrifice, is detestable. When for those in Christ – not only is their worship acceptable, but as opposed to giving a sacrifice to God, their desiring things FROM God is His very delight. One seeks to give and is disregarded. The other seeks to receive and is delighted in.
And may our hearts grasp this truly. When we ask “what does God want from me?” We can answer with this bold assurance.
I had a position once where I reported directly to the President of a small company; and the man was impossible to read in regard to whether or not he was happy with my performance. It seemed no matter what I did, I never got an affirming hint.
One day, I went into his office and just asked – “are you happy with my performance? because I don’t know where I stand.” Puzzled, he looked up at me and said: “Until I tell you different, everything is fine.” And that was the way it was my entire tenure there. But it wasn’t comfortable.
Then I married Sky. Me, being me, and somewhat insecure, I was telling her constantly how much I loved her. Multiple times a day.
One day, she told me to stop doing that. That it felt like manipulation. Then she said: “look, I love you. That stands until further notice.” That blew a hole in my head – but when I finally simply settled into trusting her love, I found it a far more sweet and simple relationship.
Now unless I miss my guess, there is something of this dynamic which informs the relationship many Christians have with God. Some are looking for some sort of ongoing affirmation or assurance. Especially if we have actually or imagined that we’ve have sinned against Him. How do we measure our acceptance with Him?
And rather than fixing our gaze continually on the Cross – we fix it upon ourselves and our performance.
Did I read the Scriptures enough today? Pray enough? Was I kind enough, spiritual enough, did I “feel” His love? Did I tithe enough? etc. As though the word “enough” is even useful here.
This impacts above all – prayer.
In prayer, this insecurity often shows itself in how we feel we need to butter God up before we make any petitions. Like He needs us to somehow make Him feel good about Himself before we can get to OUR stuff.
We start off addressing Him with all kinds of titles and accolades to get Him in the right frame of mind to hear us.
The problems with that approach are too many for us to address here, but essentially, it is approaching Him as pagans do their idols.
If you find that factor has crept into your prayer life – it is a mark that there is a trust issue afoot. That we do not trust His love and the nature of our relationship together is not truly grace based and sealed in the Cross.
It springs from the unspoken insecurity that we just don’t know what God really expects from us. How can we be sure He’s on our side? And doesn’t this hit especially hard when go through some unexpected and severe trial or temptation?
Additionally, it is why both legalism and rituals are so attractive. If I have this specific list of do’s and don’ts, I can take my comfort based on how well I’ve ticked the boxes.
The result is, that when things seem to go awry in life, we start probing: Where have I missed the boat? Where did I fall down? Why is He letting this happen to me if everything between us is OK? I am missing the key metric. The key to knowing the nature of His love and attitude toward me.
As our text here says: “The prayer of the upright is his delight.”
What pleases God most? It is that God is believed in all that He has said, done and revealed, and trusted accordingly.
Let me repeat that – God wants above all else – to be believed, in all that He has said, done and revealed – and then trusted accordingly.
This is the faith He desires, and that pleases Him.
And this is basis of all prayer. That as we look to him in everything, he is delighted.
Would you delight your God today Christian? Look to him with your every need. And you will dwell in the warmth of his glorious smile.
Believe him. Trust him. Pray. This is ours, because of Christ Jesus.
ResponsiveReiding 