On Sunday afternoon at the dinner table the scene is predictable. All the children have gathered around the table and the parents are at the ends of the oblong table, and sometimes there are guests interspersed between the children or an extra table is pulled up to accommodate the overflow from the dinner table. There is the usual serving of differing foods, pouring of drinks, rumbling of voices, and the movement of chairs as everyone readies themselves for a feast. With the prayers having been said the feast begins and the usual expressions of enjoyment and delight meet the cook(s) through expressions of thanksgiving. Then the anticipated question comes from the end of the table, “How did the Lord use his means of grace this Lord’s Day in your life?” The answers and discussion then are focused upon the earlier feast that occurred at church in worship by faith around God’s Word and Sacraments. This is an ordinary Sunday afternoon at our home.
However, what is ordinary is based upon an extraordinary ongoing work that God does in the lives of his children through his means of grace. The grace of God is poured out into the lives of his children through certain means. God does work immediately upon the sinner through the finished work of Christ by the operation of the Holy Spirit to give the fallen sinner all the grace of salvation in a new life. However he has chosen to work by his special ongoing grace in the life of the redeemed sinner by certain means. Therefore the means of grace are the ordinary elements that God has chosen to use to communicate his grace to his redeemed sinners to bring them to their final salvation in Christ.
What are the ordinary means of grace? In a strict sense the Word of God and the sacraments are the ordinary means of grace. God uses his church, providence, gifts of his saints, conversion, faith and prayer working through the Holy Spirit to gather the elect and build up the body of Christ to salvation in justification, sanctification and glorification in Christ. However, all these cannot be properly considered as the ordinary means of grace. As Louis Berkhof says, “Only the Word and the sacraments can be regarded as means of grace, that is, as objective channels which Christ has instituted in the Church, and to which He ordinarily binds Himself in the communication of His grace.” Therefore, though everything is from him, through him and to him for his own glory (Romans 11:36), God has chosen to use objective ordinary means in his church to bring his children to completion in Christ. This is evidenced by the early church in Acts 2:42 when we see them gathered together daily around the Word of God taught by the apostles, prayer and the breaking of bread.
The Presbyterian and Reformed confessions also agree with this understanding of the ordinary means of grace though differently in their wording. The words of the Shorter Catechism in Question 88 asks: “What are the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption?; Answer: The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption, are his ordinances, especially the word, sacraments, and prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation.” Here the ordinary means of grace are defined as God’s Word, sacraments and prayer. The Westminster divines include prayer in the similar question and answer in the Larger Catechism 154. This opening of the ordinary means of grace beyond Word and sacrament to include prayer goes beyond the “objective channels” as stated by Berkhoff. However, he is not saying that God does not use prayer to communicate his grace, but that in the strict sense of the ordinary means it should not be included. The Heildelberg Catechism echoes this thought in question 116 in the section on gratitude when it asks: “Why is prayer necessary for Christians?”; Answer. Because it is the chief part of thankfulness which God requires of us: and also, because God will give his grace and Holy Spirit to those only, who with sincere desires continually ask them of him, and are thankful for them.” The catechism does not ask this question in the grace and salvation section on the Word and sacraments but in the Christian living section on gratitude. The Westminster divines were using the term “means of grace” more broadly, but we can conclude that the ordinary means of grace are the Word and sacraments that God makes effectual to his children through the Holy Spirit to bring them to salvation in Christ.
Therefore the ordinary conversation on an ordinary Sunday afternoon at our home is in the context of the ordinary means of grace. By faith we are expecting God to work extraordinarily in our lives through the Holy Spirit to bring us to completion in Christ through his ordained means.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
The Cleveland Cavaliers Tell the Truth
It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. I prefer words over image but in the case of the Cleveland Cavaliers recent video shoot their pictures are worth a thousand words about our present culture. I watched this video clip with my children this week and laughed, and then I lamented about the truth it tells about us. Watch the clip for yourself and then return to this post and think about the truth it portrays.
Cleveland Cavaliers Playoff Spoof
The video is a spoof of a Heineken commercial that is presently aired on T.V. But whereas the beer commercial pits male beer drinkers against females with a shoe fetish. The Cavaliers spoof is a more telling tale of American culture. The women in the spoof are rightly ecstatic about the fact that one of them has been engaged to be married. The engagement being a picture of a man's commitment to lead this woman into the covenant bond of marriage. Marriage is a mystery but it is God's doing that it may be a theater for the display of his covenant love toward his church through Christ Jesus (Genesis 2:18-25; Ephesians 5:22-32). Therefore the picture of their excitement over the engagement is a picture of the church who rejoices over the new covenant love God displays toward her in making her his own forever by cleansing her and promising to glorify her.
Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all the peoples. - Psalm 96:1-3
However their delight expressed in shouting is soon drowned out by the shouting and screaming coming from the locker room over new shoes for the playoffs. Labron James and teammates are then pictured in a frenzied joy over having received new shoes. Suddenly the glory of man and his crowning shoes have overcome the women's joy. But this to is a picture of man exalting himself with his pride of life and possessions that define him in the earth. It is a clever and funny spoof, but it is also a clear picture of our culture. We are living in the joy of the glory of man and whatever he can attain for himself to make more of himself. Therefore we are forfieting true joy by shunning the Lord of Glory and the giving of himself to us for the true satisfaction of our souls.
The Cavaliers are making themselves ready to accomplish their goal of winning by putting on new shoes. The church is the bride of Christ who is to be continually making herself ready a bride awaiting the appearing of her bridegroom. She should be rejoicing in his covnenat love toward her in worship while living before him ever ready for his appearing through repentance and faith. While she delights in him he will give her the desires of her heart, and those desires being his desires will never fade, rust or rot. Does the church look like our culture or does she look like a bride that loves only her husband and therefore is effecting culture?
Cleveland Cavaliers Playoff Spoof
The video is a spoof of a Heineken commercial that is presently aired on T.V. But whereas the beer commercial pits male beer drinkers against females with a shoe fetish. The Cavaliers spoof is a more telling tale of American culture. The women in the spoof are rightly ecstatic about the fact that one of them has been engaged to be married. The engagement being a picture of a man's commitment to lead this woman into the covenant bond of marriage. Marriage is a mystery but it is God's doing that it may be a theater for the display of his covenant love toward his church through Christ Jesus (Genesis 2:18-25; Ephesians 5:22-32). Therefore the picture of their excitement over the engagement is a picture of the church who rejoices over the new covenant love God displays toward her in making her his own forever by cleansing her and promising to glorify her.
Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all the peoples. - Psalm 96:1-3
However their delight expressed in shouting is soon drowned out by the shouting and screaming coming from the locker room over new shoes for the playoffs. Labron James and teammates are then pictured in a frenzied joy over having received new shoes. Suddenly the glory of man and his crowning shoes have overcome the women's joy. But this to is a picture of man exalting himself with his pride of life and possessions that define him in the earth. It is a clever and funny spoof, but it is also a clear picture of our culture. We are living in the joy of the glory of man and whatever he can attain for himself to make more of himself. Therefore we are forfieting true joy by shunning the Lord of Glory and the giving of himself to us for the true satisfaction of our souls.
The Cavaliers are making themselves ready to accomplish their goal of winning by putting on new shoes. The church is the bride of Christ who is to be continually making herself ready a bride awaiting the appearing of her bridegroom. She should be rejoicing in his covnenat love toward her in worship while living before him ever ready for his appearing through repentance and faith. While she delights in him he will give her the desires of her heart, and those desires being his desires will never fade, rust or rot. Does the church look like our culture or does she look like a bride that loves only her husband and therefore is effecting culture?
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Thoughts on the Shack
The Shack has climbed to the heights of the Christian fiction bestsellers list. My first thought is that this is not an indictment on the book but on the church in America. In our postmodern and relativistic church story trumps truth. The Shack is a fictional story that aims at reshaping the truth about God in the minds and hearts of God's church. Many Christians are moved by the story and it has seemingly had a positive effect upon a lot of people. But my question is, "Who is measuring the positive effect?". A positive effect upon the American church is that we learn to think correctly about God and ourselves from Scripture. Certainly the church has re-directed our thoughts about God by distorting his glory through our sinful lives. But this does not give Christians the excuse to shape him into an image that we would better relate to in the telling of a tale. We must let our minds and hearts be shaped by who God is truly from his Word. Then when Christians spin a tale the reality of God will shine truthfully through the story. As C.S. Lewis quipped, "We do not need more people writing Christian books, what we need is more Christians writing good books." The Shack is a bestselling book among "Christians" not because it speaks the truth about the God of the Bible, but because it touches the sentiments of the flesh through story. The church is not interested in a God who is infinite and majestic in holiness and therefore cannot understand how the true God can at the same time be merciful and gracious in goodness. I would not recommend to Christians the reading of The Shack, even out of curriosity. However, I would recommend reading Mary Kassian's article on the book, and listenting to Albert Mohlers broadcast on the book.
Who is Your Real Pastor?
Real is the people who live in the context of your everyday life in flesh and blood. This includes your pastor. At Pyromanics there is a must read post entitled Porn and Paper Pastors. It is not about Pornography, but about the unreality of pornography and the parallel unreality to having pastors that are not your local pastor. Take a look and read for yourself.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
What is Worship in Spirit
In reformed theology we speak of the “regulative principle” of worship. We believe it is right to worship God in the way he commands in Scripture and wrong to worship God in anyway that is not commanded in Scripture. As important this principle is to worship we must also stress to ourselves and others the importance of worshiping God in and by his Spirit. Jesus tells the woman at the well in Samaria, God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth (John 4:24). Coming to God in worship as he prescribes in his Word is objective. But how do I know when I am worshiping God in and by his Spirit? It is possible to worship in and by the Spirit with a range of emotions, but I do not think that our range of emotions can be a strict determining factor of worship that is pleasing to God in and by the Spirit.
In John 15:5 Jesus tells us we can nothing apart from him. And in 15:8 he tells us the reason for abiding in him is that he may produce fruit through us for the Father’s glory. So by ourselves we are impotent and unable to do anything for the Father’s glory, but when we are in Christ then his strength works through us. This is why Paul can say, But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me (2Corinthians 12:9). His weakness is the place and presentation of Christ’s power. So worship is one of the all things that Paul can do through Christ who strengthens him (Philippians 4:13). Therefore, though we are weak and impotent to worship God in the way he prescribes, because we can know what he prescribes we can still perform the duty of worship. But it is not pleasing to him until it is stamped with the Spirit. The Spirit indwells those who abide in Christ as the Helper. Therefore there is help to know the truth about how God should be worshiped and help for the strength and affection to worship. The Spirit that dwells in us works in us the fruit as we live by faith in Christ. There will be the fruit of love and joy, peace and patience, as he brings us to his throne to worship. Therefore to worship in Spirit is to live by faith in Christ through the grace of the Spirit being acted upon by the Spirit in the duty of worship. He is the strength of the upright (Pr.10:29) for what is pleasing to him in worship.
When we come by the Spirit to worship our hearts will be changed through the means of grace. If the means of grace are not being effective in our hearts in worship then we are probably not worshiping in and by the Spirit. This is why people think they need a different preacher or each Sunday’s worship is judged by how well the preacher did or did not do. If the preacher is expounding God’s Word then he is doing what he is called to do, and this God uses as a means of grace to build up his church (2Tim.4:1; Eph.4:11-13).
When we worship in and by the Spirit we will be carried through dark and difficult times enduringly. God will draw near to you as you are able to draw near to him and he will be the lifter of your head, the strength of your weak knees, and the one who levels your paths. But if we are not worshiping in the strength of the Spirit we will look for another church because this or that church just does not do it for us anymore. When we worship by the Spirit we know that the night will pass and God will enlighten your heart with his glory. There may be a time of dullness but you carry out worship knowing that even in the dullness he is working in your hearts. There will be others who have glad hearts in worship while you do not and you are glad for them though you experience the dark clouds of God’s providence. There will be times when the brightness of his glory shines through the clouds and he lifts you up but another is struggling. But you will be able to see God working in them and on them though they may be dull in participating in worship.
When we worship in and by the Spirit of God we will be strengthened to be constant in worship. Those who act by their own strength will find their desire for God and his worship to wane in time. He may give up on the duty of worship slowly over time or leave it altogether at once. Or, he may look for greener pastures where things are more lively and exciting to stir him up because he knows he is missing something. But those greener pastures may just become other pastimes as church once was. Those who worship in the strength of the Spirit will be constant knowing that their buckets and bread baskets are empty and need to be filled by the rivers of living water and the bread of life. The Spirit of God is working in those to glorify Christ and their Father who though they may have times of dullness will yet remain persevering in love.
When we worship by the Spirit of God we will delight in the prescribed duties of worship because they bring us into communion with God. We will look forward to them and think on how we can better prepare ourselves for them. We will think to the depth and the height of them and the reasons why we perform them. This we will do because it brings us into a communion with God who is our continued strength, peace and delight. At times you will pray, read, confess, sing, and listen with difficulty or coldness or even indifference, but even then you know that there is through the Spirit a communion with God. You look back at the course of day after day and week after week and see that he is bringing you into deeper communion with himself. But those who worship by their natural efforts will enjoy more the communion with the people inside or outside of the church as they will with the God who made them and sustains them. So they will put more effort and time upon relationships and events than worship because the communion there is not as rich and sweet. Those who worship by their natural efforts will prize an emotion sought that is mistaken as communion with the living God. The emotion can be achieved outside of right and truthful thoughts of God and held by a favorite song or a song sung to a favored tune. But this can be very distant from communion with God through his prescribed duties in worship.
Those who are acted upon by the Spirit in worship will groan if they do not meet deeply with him. They will groan because they feel weak having waded in shallow waters or destitute having traversed in dry and parched lands. But those who worship not by the Spirit will be content with will worship wherever they find themselves or with taking a break for a time. Those who worship in Spirit will groan over their dullness and indifference or in the secret heart groaning over the indifference, dullness, and lightness of those who lead them in worship.
Those who are acted upon by the Spirit in worship will have the strength given them to carry out the duties of worship. There will be strength to meet often with him, enduring strength to long to meet with him and a growing strength of faith to be satisfied in him again and again in the ordinary means of grace. But those who worship in truth by their natural selves will find strength in having “learned something”, having a pet doctrine or issue upheld, and by having themselves upheld in their own thoughts of themselves.
There is much more to be said about worshiping God in and by the Spirit. We should be willing to judge our worship in accord with God’s Word and how we are carrying out our duties in worship each day and week. Examination of ourselves is necessary in this regard for God is calling us to the height of his throne in worship where he is glorified in worship that he prescribes and worship that he strengthens us for by his Spirit through faith in Christ.
In John 15:5 Jesus tells us we can nothing apart from him. And in 15:8 he tells us the reason for abiding in him is that he may produce fruit through us for the Father’s glory. So by ourselves we are impotent and unable to do anything for the Father’s glory, but when we are in Christ then his strength works through us. This is why Paul can say, But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me (2Corinthians 12:9). His weakness is the place and presentation of Christ’s power. So worship is one of the all things that Paul can do through Christ who strengthens him (Philippians 4:13). Therefore, though we are weak and impotent to worship God in the way he prescribes, because we can know what he prescribes we can still perform the duty of worship. But it is not pleasing to him until it is stamped with the Spirit. The Spirit indwells those who abide in Christ as the Helper. Therefore there is help to know the truth about how God should be worshiped and help for the strength and affection to worship. The Spirit that dwells in us works in us the fruit as we live by faith in Christ. There will be the fruit of love and joy, peace and patience, as he brings us to his throne to worship. Therefore to worship in Spirit is to live by faith in Christ through the grace of the Spirit being acted upon by the Spirit in the duty of worship. He is the strength of the upright (Pr.10:29) for what is pleasing to him in worship.
When we come by the Spirit to worship our hearts will be changed through the means of grace. If the means of grace are not being effective in our hearts in worship then we are probably not worshiping in and by the Spirit. This is why people think they need a different preacher or each Sunday’s worship is judged by how well the preacher did or did not do. If the preacher is expounding God’s Word then he is doing what he is called to do, and this God uses as a means of grace to build up his church (2Tim.4:1; Eph.4:11-13).
When we worship in and by the Spirit we will be carried through dark and difficult times enduringly. God will draw near to you as you are able to draw near to him and he will be the lifter of your head, the strength of your weak knees, and the one who levels your paths. But if we are not worshiping in the strength of the Spirit we will look for another church because this or that church just does not do it for us anymore. When we worship by the Spirit we know that the night will pass and God will enlighten your heart with his glory. There may be a time of dullness but you carry out worship knowing that even in the dullness he is working in your hearts. There will be others who have glad hearts in worship while you do not and you are glad for them though you experience the dark clouds of God’s providence. There will be times when the brightness of his glory shines through the clouds and he lifts you up but another is struggling. But you will be able to see God working in them and on them though they may be dull in participating in worship.
When we worship in and by the Spirit of God we will be strengthened to be constant in worship. Those who act by their own strength will find their desire for God and his worship to wane in time. He may give up on the duty of worship slowly over time or leave it altogether at once. Or, he may look for greener pastures where things are more lively and exciting to stir him up because he knows he is missing something. But those greener pastures may just become other pastimes as church once was. Those who worship in the strength of the Spirit will be constant knowing that their buckets and bread baskets are empty and need to be filled by the rivers of living water and the bread of life. The Spirit of God is working in those to glorify Christ and their Father who though they may have times of dullness will yet remain persevering in love.
When we worship by the Spirit of God we will delight in the prescribed duties of worship because they bring us into communion with God. We will look forward to them and think on how we can better prepare ourselves for them. We will think to the depth and the height of them and the reasons why we perform them. This we will do because it brings us into a communion with God who is our continued strength, peace and delight. At times you will pray, read, confess, sing, and listen with difficulty or coldness or even indifference, but even then you know that there is through the Spirit a communion with God. You look back at the course of day after day and week after week and see that he is bringing you into deeper communion with himself. But those who worship by their natural efforts will enjoy more the communion with the people inside or outside of the church as they will with the God who made them and sustains them. So they will put more effort and time upon relationships and events than worship because the communion there is not as rich and sweet. Those who worship by their natural efforts will prize an emotion sought that is mistaken as communion with the living God. The emotion can be achieved outside of right and truthful thoughts of God and held by a favorite song or a song sung to a favored tune. But this can be very distant from communion with God through his prescribed duties in worship.
Those who are acted upon by the Spirit in worship will groan if they do not meet deeply with him. They will groan because they feel weak having waded in shallow waters or destitute having traversed in dry and parched lands. But those who worship not by the Spirit will be content with will worship wherever they find themselves or with taking a break for a time. Those who worship in Spirit will groan over their dullness and indifference or in the secret heart groaning over the indifference, dullness, and lightness of those who lead them in worship.
Those who are acted upon by the Spirit in worship will have the strength given them to carry out the duties of worship. There will be strength to meet often with him, enduring strength to long to meet with him and a growing strength of faith to be satisfied in him again and again in the ordinary means of grace. But those who worship in truth by their natural selves will find strength in having “learned something”, having a pet doctrine or issue upheld, and by having themselves upheld in their own thoughts of themselves.
There is much more to be said about worshiping God in and by the Spirit. We should be willing to judge our worship in accord with God’s Word and how we are carrying out our duties in worship each day and week. Examination of ourselves is necessary in this regard for God is calling us to the height of his throne in worship where he is glorified in worship that he prescribes and worship that he strengthens us for by his Spirit through faith in Christ.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Easter is Over, What Now?
When we come to events in our lives, we live up to them then we come down from them. We live up to an anniversary or birthday, building up to the special day with planning culminating in celebration and then we clean up and come down from the event. We live up to Christmas with shopping, parties, advent devotions, and probably in this order, we reach the day and then it is over. We clean up, eat leftovers and feel the hangover from all the gluttony of self. Easter has come and gone. We visited family, hunted eggs, ate a big meal and went to church hearing another sermon on the resurrection of Jesus. And now we are back at the daily work and labor of our lives. There is always a coming down.
Are your lives any richer because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ? There is always a coming down from an event, but this coming down should be different for the church that lives out of the resurrection. Certainly there is always the everyday work and labor, the weekly sameness. But living in the richness of the resurrection allows the Christian to see all of this in the context of everything being made new and heading to a culmination of all things in newness. As one theologian said, "The great question for us all is not whether we shall believe or disbelieve the resurrection as a single historic event, but whether we shall maintain or surrender the character of Christianity as a resurrection -religion- a religion able to bring life out of death, both here and herafter."(Geerhardus Vos, Grace and Glory). The church is seeing God bring life out of death here and with a certain hope for the future. Everyday you are living in the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He has been raised and he has ascended, he is Lord as you have passed this significant day into the sameness of everyday. He is establishing his kingdom making all things new using the hearts and hands of his church for his own glory. Therefore, though there is a coming down, all coming down is actually a building up when you live in the context of the resurrection.
"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3:1-4)
Are your lives any richer because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ? There is always a coming down from an event, but this coming down should be different for the church that lives out of the resurrection. Certainly there is always the everyday work and labor, the weekly sameness. But living in the richness of the resurrection allows the Christian to see all of this in the context of everything being made new and heading to a culmination of all things in newness. As one theologian said, "The great question for us all is not whether we shall believe or disbelieve the resurrection as a single historic event, but whether we shall maintain or surrender the character of Christianity as a resurrection -religion- a religion able to bring life out of death, both here and herafter."(Geerhardus Vos, Grace and Glory). The church is seeing God bring life out of death here and with a certain hope for the future. Everyday you are living in the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He has been raised and he has ascended, he is Lord as you have passed this significant day into the sameness of everyday. He is establishing his kingdom making all things new using the hearts and hands of his church for his own glory. Therefore, though there is a coming down, all coming down is actually a building up when you live in the context of the resurrection.
"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3:1-4)
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Preparing for Worship
Preparation is a part of our lives. We prepare for going to work and class, we prepare for vacations and exams, we prepare to have people in our homes, we prepare for relationships and for carrying out responsibilities in those relationships. We prepare because it will be easier to carry out our duties and experience the goodness of those duties. But do we prepare for our highest calling, the fulfilling of our duties in worshiping the LORD God Almighty?
Maybe you do not consider the worship of God a duty, and so you are uncomfortable with the thought of preparing for worship as a duty. The Scriptures command us everywhere to worship God as responsible creatures of our Creator (Psalm 95:6; 96:9; Romans 12:1; Hebrews 12:28-29; Revelation 15:4). And they tell us that the wrath of God is being revealed against all those in the earth who will not carry out their responsibility to worship Him (Romans 1:18-32). But this duty to Worship God is turned into a delight as it allows us to come into his presence to be satisfied in who God is, what he has done, and who and what he promises to be for us in Christ (Psalm 37:4; 73:25-26). But the duty of preparation is necessary for the duty of worship in God’s presence being a delight.
God has set his own apart from the world for himself by his grace. Those who are dead to sin and alive in Christ have become a kingdom of priests to himself, and these honored sons and daughters then must live in this grace by preparing for the privilege and duty in his presence on the Lord’s Day. The Psalmist Asaph tells us that those who are far from God will perish. Therefore he can say, “it is good for me to be near God” (Psalm 73:27-28). How is that they are far from God? They have been “unfaithful”(v.27b) to God. They are like a wife who in marriage has been well provided for and served in love by her husband, but she goes away and gives herself to her neighbor’s husband in unfaithfulness. If we have been separated unto God through his covenant love for the glory of his name in worship then we must not let anything hinder us from the goodness of being near to God. But if it is good for us to be near to God in worship on the Lord’s Day then it is necessary that we prepare to find that goodness. How should we make these due preparations as we anticipate corporate worship?
First, we must labor to get our minds and hearts into a proper frame. We need to be rightly thinking on the majesty and mercy of him who we worship, so that our hearts will rightly apprehend him who calls us into his presence. We should spend time meditating upon who God is as revealed in his Word. You might take a Psalm, one of the prophets or a New Testament passage like Ephesians 1 or Colossians 1 and read with thought and pause thinking about who God is. You could also take the Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 2, the Larger Catechism questions 6-12 or the Shorter Catechism questions 4-12 and read with thought looking up the Scripture that corresponds to each description or answer.
Second, we must labor to put off sin from our minds and hearts. We must make it our aim to come to the living God with our gaze of love upon him and not as those who pretend faithfulness while we are committing spiritual adultery in our hearts by entertaining known sin. Coming to worship on the Lord’s Day is a process of sanctifying or setting ourselves apart unto God. Therefore we must set ourselves apart from sin and stretch out our hearts and hands to the Lord in worship in cleanliness. Come near to Christ and be washed by him who is the advocate of the children of God and find mercy and grace and God’s faithfulness to forgive you of your sins as you confess them to him (1John2:1-2; 1:9).
Third, we must labor to set our lives apart from our common callings for the extraordinary privilege and duty of worshiping God. All week God calls you into the common for the glory of his name in the earth. But on the Lord’s Day, which he sets apart, he calls you to the glory of the uncommon. And we must with all our efforts strive to put off all the common so that we can come unhindered to his throne. There will be works of necessity and mercy to participate in, but we must strive to put all else aside. I will prepare for my wife’s and mine anniversary by putting away the everyday to experience the delight of celebrating our covenantal union on this special occasion. If this covenantal union points to Christ and his church then how much more every week should I prepare by setting aside the common to participate unhindered in the worship of the only true and living God.
Fourth, we must labor to prepare for worship in prayer. God calls us to the holy duty of prayer as worship. Worship on the Lord’s Day is a service of prayer where we dwell continually in his heavenly presence by faith through a heart of prayer. But if our hearts are not tuned for this time of prayer in preparation we forfeit the delight of his presence. In preparation by prayer we become as nothing and God becomes all to us. And our minds and hearts are then fit for the worship of God. If my daughters sit down to delight us with a piece of music played on their strings, and have not made due preparations by tuning those strings we will miss the goodness and beauty of their playing. We must wait on the Lord in prayer as we prepare to come into his presence in worship.
Fifth, we must labor for a ready expectation of being in the presence of God’s majesty and mercy. In Acts 1 the disciples were charged by Jesus to go to Jerusalem and wait for the promised Holy Spirit so that they would be his witnesses. They waited with expectation in prayer and fasting for the promise to be fulfilled and the result was that they became witnesses. God promises us his presence in worship when we come by faith (Hebrews 12:22-29). Therefore, we must make ourselves ready with an expectation that he will fulfill his promise and give us the privilege of his glorious presence here on the earth. We must tune our hearts to this expectation by looking to God’s promises in his Word.
Preparation for worship on the Lord’s Day is a necessity for those who are called to set themselves apart for the glory of God’s name in his ordained worship. As you begin to do this on Saturday night and Sunday morning you will find yourself saying with the Psalmist, “But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of your works.” (Psalm 73:28). These are reflections taken from Gospel Worship by Jeremiah Burroughs.
Maybe you do not consider the worship of God a duty, and so you are uncomfortable with the thought of preparing for worship as a duty. The Scriptures command us everywhere to worship God as responsible creatures of our Creator (Psalm 95:6; 96:9; Romans 12:1; Hebrews 12:28-29; Revelation 15:4). And they tell us that the wrath of God is being revealed against all those in the earth who will not carry out their responsibility to worship Him (Romans 1:18-32). But this duty to Worship God is turned into a delight as it allows us to come into his presence to be satisfied in who God is, what he has done, and who and what he promises to be for us in Christ (Psalm 37:4; 73:25-26). But the duty of preparation is necessary for the duty of worship in God’s presence being a delight.
God has set his own apart from the world for himself by his grace. Those who are dead to sin and alive in Christ have become a kingdom of priests to himself, and these honored sons and daughters then must live in this grace by preparing for the privilege and duty in his presence on the Lord’s Day. The Psalmist Asaph tells us that those who are far from God will perish. Therefore he can say, “it is good for me to be near God” (Psalm 73:27-28). How is that they are far from God? They have been “unfaithful”(v.27b) to God. They are like a wife who in marriage has been well provided for and served in love by her husband, but she goes away and gives herself to her neighbor’s husband in unfaithfulness. If we have been separated unto God through his covenant love for the glory of his name in worship then we must not let anything hinder us from the goodness of being near to God. But if it is good for us to be near to God in worship on the Lord’s Day then it is necessary that we prepare to find that goodness. How should we make these due preparations as we anticipate corporate worship?
First, we must labor to get our minds and hearts into a proper frame. We need to be rightly thinking on the majesty and mercy of him who we worship, so that our hearts will rightly apprehend him who calls us into his presence. We should spend time meditating upon who God is as revealed in his Word. You might take a Psalm, one of the prophets or a New Testament passage like Ephesians 1 or Colossians 1 and read with thought and pause thinking about who God is. You could also take the Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 2, the Larger Catechism questions 6-12 or the Shorter Catechism questions 4-12 and read with thought looking up the Scripture that corresponds to each description or answer.
Second, we must labor to put off sin from our minds and hearts. We must make it our aim to come to the living God with our gaze of love upon him and not as those who pretend faithfulness while we are committing spiritual adultery in our hearts by entertaining known sin. Coming to worship on the Lord’s Day is a process of sanctifying or setting ourselves apart unto God. Therefore we must set ourselves apart from sin and stretch out our hearts and hands to the Lord in worship in cleanliness. Come near to Christ and be washed by him who is the advocate of the children of God and find mercy and grace and God’s faithfulness to forgive you of your sins as you confess them to him (1John2:1-2; 1:9).
Third, we must labor to set our lives apart from our common callings for the extraordinary privilege and duty of worshiping God. All week God calls you into the common for the glory of his name in the earth. But on the Lord’s Day, which he sets apart, he calls you to the glory of the uncommon. And we must with all our efforts strive to put off all the common so that we can come unhindered to his throne. There will be works of necessity and mercy to participate in, but we must strive to put all else aside. I will prepare for my wife’s and mine anniversary by putting away the everyday to experience the delight of celebrating our covenantal union on this special occasion. If this covenantal union points to Christ and his church then how much more every week should I prepare by setting aside the common to participate unhindered in the worship of the only true and living God.
Fourth, we must labor to prepare for worship in prayer. God calls us to the holy duty of prayer as worship. Worship on the Lord’s Day is a service of prayer where we dwell continually in his heavenly presence by faith through a heart of prayer. But if our hearts are not tuned for this time of prayer in preparation we forfeit the delight of his presence. In preparation by prayer we become as nothing and God becomes all to us. And our minds and hearts are then fit for the worship of God. If my daughters sit down to delight us with a piece of music played on their strings, and have not made due preparations by tuning those strings we will miss the goodness and beauty of their playing. We must wait on the Lord in prayer as we prepare to come into his presence in worship.
Fifth, we must labor for a ready expectation of being in the presence of God’s majesty and mercy. In Acts 1 the disciples were charged by Jesus to go to Jerusalem and wait for the promised Holy Spirit so that they would be his witnesses. They waited with expectation in prayer and fasting for the promise to be fulfilled and the result was that they became witnesses. God promises us his presence in worship when we come by faith (Hebrews 12:22-29). Therefore, we must make ourselves ready with an expectation that he will fulfill his promise and give us the privilege of his glorious presence here on the earth. We must tune our hearts to this expectation by looking to God’s promises in his Word.
Preparation for worship on the Lord’s Day is a necessity for those who are called to set themselves apart for the glory of God’s name in his ordained worship. As you begin to do this on Saturday night and Sunday morning you will find yourself saying with the Psalmist, “But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of your works.” (Psalm 73:28). These are reflections taken from Gospel Worship by Jeremiah Burroughs.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Parenting, Gate Keeping
Someone left the gate unlatched. The rains came hard in south Georgia yesterday and the goats stayed tucked away in their shelter most of the day, but at some point late in the day the gate swung open and out they walked. Their care giver came home late in the day to find that they had not gone far, still in the yard grazing close by their fenced in pen. Lottie and Dolly were easily rounded up and lead back into the pen for the night. However, at 2:30 AM I was awoken by my lovely wife with a penetrating question, “Do you hear the goats?” I had not heard goats nor seen sheep nor anything else since my head had hit the pillow 3 ½ hours ago until I heard her voice calling me awake. I climbed out of bed and went to the dinning room to open a window to listen for the goats, hearing nor seeing anything I went back to bed. Several minutes later I sat up straight in bed at the sound of loud and distorted bleating coming from the goat pen. I quickly pulled on my jeans and headed out to the goat pen in the dark of 2:45 AM reminding myself to never purchase a rechargeable flashlight. I arrived at the pen and found Lottie and Dolly in the pen with no visible intruders nor any apparent problems. I spoke with them a few minutes and returned to bed and spent the rest of the night uninterrupted by the bleating of goats.
With the light of day when all good people should be up I ventured out to the goat pen to hopefully get a clearer picture of what happened in the early morning hours. I found Lottie and Dolly lying in the goat pen with their heads tucked away in sleep. I had a difficult time waking them and when I finally got them free from their slumber they looked at me as though from a drunken stupor they were being stirred. At this point I realized that I was witnessing goats being goats. When the gate swung wide and they went free they apparently ate themselves sick upon something that goats should not eat. Their bleating through the night was a result of their upset stomachs and their stupor the next morning was the outcome of having been sick all night. What did I expect, I was standing in the presence of goats.
We have six children in our home of which all differ from one another greatly, and we have animals in and around our home of many different types. We have chickens that lay eggs and chickens that don’t lay eggs and get eaten for supper. We have a rabbit that stays outside and is often brought inside but has no inside manners to speak of. We have two dogs, one large and one small, both female, one with a masculine name, “Burton”, and one with a very feminine name, “Precious”, which I feel a little ridiculous calling while standing in our front yard. And we have two goats which I am promised will soon yield young and give us milk and cheese. But like the Israelites in the wilderness all I hear and see at this time is bleating. You may be wondering why I put the children in our home in the same paragraph with all the animals. To some of you with a more distorted way of thinking this may seem quite natural. My children have care of all these animals at our home, although I sure felt alone out in the yard at 2:45 AM this morning. But that brings me to my point. I and my wife have care of our children and in that care we are the gatekeepers. No, I do not see my children as goats until they jump over the fence by their own free will to become sheep. I see them as sheep who have been called into the sheep pen by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and he has put my wife and I in the gate to care for and nurture them in the salvation that God has wrought for them through Jesus Christ. In this responsibility I cannot leave the gate unlatched or open to let them freely walk about to “learn for themselves” so that they can learn who they are and how they must express themselves in this world. We must be diligent everyday to talk with them of their Lord while we sit with them, stand with them and walk by the way with them. We must do this with them until it is God’s time for them to leave our home to go the way he calls them for his own glory, so that when they walk out the gate they are following Christ as their Shepherd in the way of his will revealed to them through his Word. As parents there is an urgency about keeping the gate of the pens where dwell our Lord’s sheep that he has entrusted to us. Don’t leave the gate unlatched or open but keep the gate and lead them to their Lord and Savior where they will find that he is holy and merciful and his will is good.
With the light of day when all good people should be up I ventured out to the goat pen to hopefully get a clearer picture of what happened in the early morning hours. I found Lottie and Dolly lying in the goat pen with their heads tucked away in sleep. I had a difficult time waking them and when I finally got them free from their slumber they looked at me as though from a drunken stupor they were being stirred. At this point I realized that I was witnessing goats being goats. When the gate swung wide and they went free they apparently ate themselves sick upon something that goats should not eat. Their bleating through the night was a result of their upset stomachs and their stupor the next morning was the outcome of having been sick all night. What did I expect, I was standing in the presence of goats.
We have six children in our home of which all differ from one another greatly, and we have animals in and around our home of many different types. We have chickens that lay eggs and chickens that don’t lay eggs and get eaten for supper. We have a rabbit that stays outside and is often brought inside but has no inside manners to speak of. We have two dogs, one large and one small, both female, one with a masculine name, “Burton”, and one with a very feminine name, “Precious”, which I feel a little ridiculous calling while standing in our front yard. And we have two goats which I am promised will soon yield young and give us milk and cheese. But like the Israelites in the wilderness all I hear and see at this time is bleating. You may be wondering why I put the children in our home in the same paragraph with all the animals. To some of you with a more distorted way of thinking this may seem quite natural. My children have care of all these animals at our home, although I sure felt alone out in the yard at 2:45 AM this morning. But that brings me to my point. I and my wife have care of our children and in that care we are the gatekeepers. No, I do not see my children as goats until they jump over the fence by their own free will to become sheep. I see them as sheep who have been called into the sheep pen by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and he has put my wife and I in the gate to care for and nurture them in the salvation that God has wrought for them through Jesus Christ. In this responsibility I cannot leave the gate unlatched or open to let them freely walk about to “learn for themselves” so that they can learn who they are and how they must express themselves in this world. We must be diligent everyday to talk with them of their Lord while we sit with them, stand with them and walk by the way with them. We must do this with them until it is God’s time for them to leave our home to go the way he calls them for his own glory, so that when they walk out the gate they are following Christ as their Shepherd in the way of his will revealed to them through his Word. As parents there is an urgency about keeping the gate of the pens where dwell our Lord’s sheep that he has entrusted to us. Don’t leave the gate unlatched or open but keep the gate and lead them to their Lord and Savior where they will find that he is holy and merciful and his will is good.
Church, Bear Witness to the Resurrection
Does the church today bear witness to truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ? The whole of the New Testament bears witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ and how many churches today cry, “We want to be a New Testament church.”. But when we turn to the preaching of the contemporary church where is Christ preached as resurrected and ascended except in some pulpits at Easter?
The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John bear witness to the certainty of the resurrection of Christ (Mt.28:1-20; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-53; John 20:1-21:25). The book of Acts is the unfolding of the disciples and apostles ministry of proclaiming Christ as raised from the dead and reigning in heaven. “The Epistles depend entirely on the assumption that Jesus is a living, reigning Savior who is now the exalted head of the church, who is to be trusted, worshiped, and adored, and who will some day return in power and great glory to reign as King over the earth.” (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology)
If we preach Christ then we must preached Christ as raised and reigning and if we worship Christ then we must worship Christ as raised and reigning. As the apostle Paul says, “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” (1Cor.15:14)
Is this just an old story or a doctrine that promotes the churches comfort, joy and courage? Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield in his sermon, “The Risen Christ”, says, “O the comfort, O the joy, O the courage, that dwells in the great fact that Jesus is the Risen One, of the seed of David; that as the Risen One He has become Head over all things; and that He must reign until He shall have put all things under His feet. Our brother, who has like us been acquainted with death, He it is who rules over the ages, the ages that are past, and the ages that are passing, and the ages that are yet to come. If our hearts should fail us as we stand over against the hosts of wickedness which surround us, let us encourage ourselves and one another with the great reminder: Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, of the seed of David! (2Timothy 2:8)
The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John bear witness to the certainty of the resurrection of Christ (Mt.28:1-20; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-53; John 20:1-21:25). The book of Acts is the unfolding of the disciples and apostles ministry of proclaiming Christ as raised from the dead and reigning in heaven. “The Epistles depend entirely on the assumption that Jesus is a living, reigning Savior who is now the exalted head of the church, who is to be trusted, worshiped, and adored, and who will some day return in power and great glory to reign as King over the earth.” (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology)
If we preach Christ then we must preached Christ as raised and reigning and if we worship Christ then we must worship Christ as raised and reigning. As the apostle Paul says, “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” (1Cor.15:14)
Is this just an old story or a doctrine that promotes the churches comfort, joy and courage? Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield in his sermon, “The Risen Christ”, says, “O the comfort, O the joy, O the courage, that dwells in the great fact that Jesus is the Risen One, of the seed of David; that as the Risen One He has become Head over all things; and that He must reign until He shall have put all things under His feet. Our brother, who has like us been acquainted with death, He it is who rules over the ages, the ages that are past, and the ages that are passing, and the ages that are yet to come. If our hearts should fail us as we stand over against the hosts of wickedness which surround us, let us encourage ourselves and one another with the great reminder: Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, of the seed of David! (2Timothy 2:8)
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