The human body is an amazing creation. It’s in the little moments of life that I am often amazed at the intricate design of God. Last night when arrived home, my four boys met me at the door with grins on their faces and devilish glimmers in their eyes. I know those look all too well. It is my cue to drop my briefcase and follow them to our basement. What ensues next is definitely not for the faint of heart. It is our nightly routine of knock down, drag out, four on one (me being the “one”) no holds barred wrestling. Imagine four ravenous wolves viciously attacking a piece of fresh meat and you’ll get the picture.

After about thirty minutes of non stop body slams and headlocks, my five-year old son Luke called a time out. He was thirsty, and I was thankful for a moment to catch my breath. Luke’s little body had a desperate need. The feeling of thirst was his body’s way of telling him that he was lacking in water.

Now imagine for a moment that Luke acknowledged his thirst, but neglected to get water. I bring him a glass of water, but he refuses, saying, “I don’t have time to drink, Ill eventually get rehydrated.” Sounds foolish right? It is impossible for the human body to rehydrate itself without water. Not only is that line of thinking foolish, but if acted upon it would lead to physical death.

In our pursuit of the Lord, we will no doubt enter into seasons of spiritual dryness. During these times our hearts seem to be more enamored with the things of the world and less with the Lord. This is a warning sign spiritual thirst. When our hearts seem to feel far from God, this is an indication that our soul is in a dire need of revitalization.

Yet tragically, many times this type of thirst is all together ignored. And far too often, when people enter into spiritual droughts in their lives, they tell themselves, “Ill eventually get my passion for God back.” As if one day they actually think they will just wake up and have a rehydrated soul by doing nothing at all.

Granted, it is not man who can set his soul a fire with a flame for the Lord. This is a work of the Lord. However, we must be obedient to tend to the spiritual drought of our lives by drawing near to the only one who can supply spiritual water to our dry souls.

“But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” John 4:14.

A dying man in the desert doesn’t have water come to him in order to relieve his thirst. Tired and unmotivated as he is, he must fight against the desire of his flesh to just do nothing and exert effort to find a true oasis. Jesus uses the analogy of water to describe Himself. The comparison is striking. When our souls are spiritually dry, He is the only means to revitalization. And the effectual call goes out to the children of God to come freely.

“Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink–even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk–it’s all free!” Isaiah 55:1.

God speaking through the prophet Isaiah extends refreshment to the parched soul. Come and drink, and nothing is required except your willingness to take a step of obedience. If you are experiencing spiritual thirst, here are some ways to rehydrate.

1. Prayer

If there is any man in the Bible that we can easily identify with, it is King David. There were seasons of David’s life where he was a thirst for God, and it was evident by the surmounting sins in his life. Whenever I feel far from the Lord in my own life, the first prayer I think of is the prayer of King David in Psalm 42.

“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” Psalm 42:2-3.

Notice the desperation in his plea. King David compares himself to a dying, dehydrated animal that is panting for life giving water. David essentially asks the question in his prayer, “When will my relationship with the Lord be restored?” David realizes this thirst of his soul and asks perhaps in anger or in an accusing state, “Where is God?” Although in reality, it was not God who had walked away.

I remember when my oldest son Andy was young, he loved to go to Walmart with me because we would always make our way to the toy section. One particular outing to Walmart, he was more excited than normal to see the toys. Andy kept trying to run away from me to go to the toys, and I would call him to stay with me. He listened to my command for a few times, and then eventually decided to bolt to the toys.
As I followed him, I intentionally hung back a bit to see when he would notice that I wasn’t around (even though he never left my sight). It wasn’t long until he looked around and didn’t see me. Andy began to panic and tears began to flow as he cried out for his father. I made my way over to my son and picked him up. “Daddy, why did you leave me?” he said. I looked into the tear filled eyes of my son and I said, “It was you who ran away from me, but I never took my eyes off of you.”

Such is the case with God and His children. We are the ones who run from God. And at times, the Lord will withdraw His presence in our lives so that we feel the void. But for the true children of God, He never takes His eyes off of them. And when we begin to cry out for our Heavenly Father, He shows Himself faithful.

“In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.” Psalm 18:16.

2. Reading His Word

Often when I counsel people who seem to be floundering in their relationship with the Lord, they will say something like, “I just feel like Ive lost my way.” I love the book Pilgrims Progress by the great John Bunyan. In this allegorical tale of the believer’s life, Christian, the main Character of the story, at one point strays from the path that leads to the Celestial City. When he notices that he is lost, he begins to panic until Evangelist shows up and points him back to the correct path.

“Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” Psalm 119:105.

The only way to cure a soul that has no desire to spend time in the word of God is to actually spend time in the word of God. I recall when my wife and I were dating, we were hanging out with some friends at a local park one afternoon. The girls were sitting around talking, and us guys were playing football. It was smoldering hot that afternoon, and about forty minutes into the game, Lacy brought me over a bottle of water. I said to her that I was fine, but she insisted that I at least take a drink. As soon as the ice cold water hit my lips, I was surprised at how good it was. I was thirstier than I thought, and ended up chugging the entire bottle.

Ive found it to be very much the same in seasons of spiritual thirst. At times, we don’t realize how much in need of God we actually are until we make the effort to spend time in His word. I have found in my own life that the more I read the scriptures, the more I feel drawn into them. The more of myself I give to God, the more I feel my soul stirred for Him. It was Leonard Ravenhill who once said, “Five minutes inside eternity and we will wish that we had sacrificed more, wept more, bled more, grieved more, loved more, prayed more, given more.”

“The instructions of the LORD are perfect, reviving the soul.” Psalm 19:7.

3. Contemplating God’s Goodness in All Things

Lacy and I have this thing we do with our children. We try to point everything in their lives back to God. For example, my middle son Lincoln love strawberry oatmeal. The other morning as we sat at the breakfast table, I asked Lincoln, “Where do you think oatmeal comes from.” Lincoln said, “From oats.” “And who makes the oats that grow in the field?”, I asked. After a moment of thought, Linc replied, “God did!”

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31.

We do this with things like the weather, our house, and even the boys toys that they play with. This practice with our kids has bled into my own thought life. The sweetest time that I have with the Lord aside from marveling at His word is driving in my car looking at the things we take for granted such as trees, the sky, and just the air that Im breathing.

Dwelling on these realities fills my heart with abundant gratitude for our God who created all things. Why would we not want to know this God who has blessed mankind with so many common graces? It also presses me into desiring to know the Lord more deeply in a personal relationship. Paul reminds us in Romans chapter 1 that God has clearly shown Himself to us through ordinary things in creation. So if we neglect to follow after Him, it is we who will stand without excuse.

More than anything, consider the cross. Think of Jesus, and how although He was worthy of all things, he considered himself as nothing. Martyn Lloyd Jones said on his death bed, “I am a great sinner. But Christ is a great savior.” This could be said of every man. Remember the greatness of your sins, and how we were owed nothing but separation from God.

But in love, God sent His only Son to die and have our sins imputed to Him, and His perfect righteousness placed upon us. Not only does the blood of Christ quench our spiritual thirst, but it also quenched the wrath of God that we so rightly deserved. Why is it that we should want to live for Him? Because He died for us. God saved us. What more motivation should we need to pursue Him daily?

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21.

Next Sunday we will conclude our expositional study through the book of James at Christ City Church. I have had the privilege of preaching verse by verse through this epistle each week, and the Lord has used it to to open my eyes to so many important and often overlooked truths. There is a difference between merely reading the scriptures and actually taking them personally. To consider the weightiness in the level of commitment that we as Christ followers are called to as laid out in the book of James is absolutely staggering to the mind. If we consider the implications of what James is actually saying, our proper response should be one of conviction and repentance.

Simply considering the context that the letter was written only serves to increase our clarity of what it means to be a Christian. James writes his letter to Jewish Christians who had been scattered (or dispersed) throughout the Mediterranean world due to persecution.

“To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:” James 1:1.

During this time period, secular culture was extremely hostile towards Christianity. Believers were being driven from their homes for their faith. And due to this persecution, the churches were tempted to compromise or even depart from the faith. James writes to these persecuted churches in order to strengthen them in their faith and admonish them to remain patient in times of trial. And in his encouragement, James reminds the churches that persecution is allowed in the lives of God’s children in order to mold them more into the steadfast and perfect image of Jesus Christ.

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,  for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4.

The epistle of James is broken up into sections that address important topics pertaining to true faith. James address what true religion looks like in chapter 1:1-27. James examines genuine faith in chapter 2:1-3:12. And he concludes the letter by looking at genuine wisdom in chapter 3:13-5:20. James is passionate about encouraging the saints and pressing them into true Christian living.

When we begin to examine the background to the book of James, one thing is extremely apparent. James never got over seeing the resurrection of his older brother Jesus. This event radically changed his life. So much so that it wasn’t until approximately 70 years after Jesus rose from the grave that James penned his letter to the churches. And 70 years later, James was still a man who could honestly say, “Jesus is my life.” Prior to the resurrection, Jesus younger brother James did not believe in the deity of his older brother. In fact, he once thought that Jesus claims about being the Messiah bordered on insanity.

“For not even his brothers believed in him.” John 7:5.

“When His family heard about this, they went out to take custody of Him, saying, “He is out of His mind.” Mark 3:21.

Then something happened that changed everything about the way James thought. Jesus was crucified, and three days late He rose from the grave.

“Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.” 1 Corinthians 15:7.

History records that James went on to become the first leader of the Jerusalem church. He spent the remainder of his life professing to others how wrong he had been. Jesus was not just his brother, but He is God in flesh! James devoted his life pouring into the church, preaching the Gospel and discipling believers in their faith. James died a martyrs death in his latter years. He was tossed off of a high temple mount after refusing to denounce Christ as Lord. When it was seen that the fall did not kill him, James was beaten to death. Historians say that one of his final statements before death was, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

James never got over the resurrection. 

It never became common place to him. It was never just something extraordinary that happened that made little impact on his life. The reality of this event changed every aspect of his thinking. And the same should be true of all believers today. The question we must ask of ourselves is, “Have we gotten over the resurrection?” Or has the phrase ‘Christ is Risen’, become all but common place to us. Is Christianity merely a moralistic code that we begrudgingly abide by in order to avoid the fires of Hell? Or like James, has the reality of the price that Jesus paid impacted every aspect of our lives?

Before the resurrection, James had his doubts. Afterwards, his thinking changed. That is a picture of true salvation. Before we knew Christ, we all thought one way. Our lives were built around the evil trinity of me, myself, and I. But for the person that truly comes to faith in Jesus, they look back on their former life and can say with James, “I was wrong.”

The Apostle Paul is another example of one who never got over seeing the resurrected Christ. Paul thought Jesus was a false teacher. Thats what he thought. Paul thought that what was right was to exterminate and kill all of those who followed Him. Thats what Paul thought. But then Jesus revealed Himself to Paul on the road to Damascus, and everything that Paul once that was proved to be wrong.

In our church culture today, it is quite easy to play the church game and say all the right words. We can even fool ourselves into thinking that we have a real relationship with Jesus based on a few religious things that we do. But the true test of faith, as James pointed out, is seen not in our words, but in our actions. Has the resurrection of Christ totally wrecked your former way of life? Or do you still cling to the ways of the world while you profess that Jesus is Lord?

“‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;” Matthew 15:8.

For the true believer, it is impossible to get over the resurrection. It shakes us to our very core. It obliterates any trace of pride that formerly existed within our hearts. And the reality of our risen Savior makes it utterly impossible for a believer to walk in a consistent manner of sin. Because our hearts now break at the knowledge of the price Jesus paid for our sin. If you want to know what true Christianity looks like, read the book of James. And do not just give it a passing glance. Take it personally. And allow the God inspired words of Jesus little brother to drive you into repentance, and ultimately into an unearthly joy in fellowship with Christ.

My life looked totally different before I married my wife. I was single and living the life of a bachelor. In college, I stayed out as late as I wanted, I dated around without getting into a serious committed relationship with anyone, and I spent all my money on myself. I was living life for the unholy trinity of me, myself, and I.

Then I met Lacy, and I was immediately captivated by her. Eventually we ended up going on our first date. I was young, selfish, and extremely immature. I remember inviting her to a party I had planned on attending, and she knew that some of the people that I was associating with who would be there were just as self-absorbed as I was.

I remember her answer to my invitation shocked me. She said, “That is not the kind of lifestyle I want for myself.” And then came the punch in the gut as she went on to say, “And I certainly would not want that kind of lifestyle for my future spouse, whoever that may be.”

I immediately felt ashamed. I wanted to be better. I wanted to be that “whoever” that she spoke of in terms of being her future spouse. And I was willing to give up being foot loose and fancy free in order to have her. Whatever it took, I was willing to change, because I wanted a life with Lacy more than my former life.

And I gladly wanted to change my life. Because she brought me greater joy than this bachelor lifestyle I’d been living. In the course of the next year, we began to plan our marriage. And I gave up my former way of life in exchange for a better life with Lacy. And I have never regretted it. Outside of Christ, I have found no greater joy than life with my beautiful wife and our five children.

Now imagine for a moment that I made the decision that I wanted to marry Lacy. We got married, and yet nothing in my life changed. I still went out to the parties. I still wanted to hang out with all the girls Id previously dated. And I still spent my money on only myself. What if as a married man, I still coddled my old bachelor lifestyle and just expected my wife to deal with it?  Odds are I wouldn’t be married for long.

Lacy would not have seen me as her husband, but rather as an enemy and a liar. If I were to live an adulterous life, then it would prove that my profession of love for Lacy was never real to begin with. I would have not changed my life or sacrificed anything. I would have just added Lacy to my universe that revolved around me.

In the same way, many Christians have a misunderstanding of what it means to enter into a covenant relationship with the Lord. For some, if you were to examine their lives before Christ, and then after their profession of faith, you would see very little difference. They want to still be friends with world whom was once their mistress, while professing to be in a covenant relationship with God.

Currently we are walking through the book of James verse by verse at Christ City Church. And James addresses this issue in-depth.

“You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” James 4:4.

Earlier in his epistle, James addresses issues in the church such as being a hearer of the word of God and not being a doer as well as mere cognitive belief in God with no active wisdom to follow. James is addressing people who would say they were Christians, but were living their lives as if they were not. And in the verse above, James uses harsh words to call them out. ‘YOU ADULTEROUS PEOPLE!’

Within the spiritual union between God and His church, this doesn’t sound like a happy marriage. In verse 4 of chapter 4, James goes on to say that one that is friends with the world is an enemy of God. This is not talking about being friends with non Christians. This friendship James speaks of is a friendliness with the evil world system. James is addressing the person who would still hold close their sins, with no turning…no repentance, and yet they still confess friendship with God.

However, James states that God does not consider them to be friends, but rather enemies. A person who is labeled an enemy of God does not sound like a person who is saved. This does not sound like a person whom God would consider one of His children.

I once knew a man who lived like this. He was a church goer on Sunday mornings, but during the week he would curse like a sailor, get drunk most days of the week, and live for the sins of his flesh. Yet when the next Sunday rolled around, he was right back in church professing his love for Christ.

This man wasnt trusting in a relationship with Jesus to save him, he was trusting in religion. He was behaving no differently than a married man who would run around on his wife. And according to James, God would look down on this type of person and label him an enemy.

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.” James 4:8-9.

James calls this wayward church to repent of their sins and to draw near to God. Claiming to be friends with the world and with God at the same time is called ‘double-minded.’ James commands the church to lay aside their adulterous, sinful ways. And then he presses even further. James says don’t merely lay aside your sins, but also how you feel about them needs to change.

There is a growing trend in our world today for some professing Christians to make extremely light of sin. I saw a t-shirt from an online Christian store that had written across the front, “I’m a Christian….I just cuss a little.” This is making light of sin. More than that, this is borderline boasting in it! This is laughing at sin. This is spiritual adultery.

But James says that is not the appropriate reaction to our sins. At least not for the true believer. He says when we sin, and we surely will,  our hearts should be broken. James says our sins should not be something we joke about, but rather we should mourn over.

A friend of mine called me a months ago broken-hearted. He went on to tell me that he had been unfaithful to his wife. He was not bragging to me that he had been with another woman. He was devastated at his betrayal. He didn’t call me to make light of it. He was in a state or mourning. Because he truly loved his wife, and he had messed up badly. The next day, he immediately confessed his transgression to his wife, and through tears vowed to do anything it took to mend the relationship.

This is the picture James paints of our own transgressions against God. When we sin against the God that we proclaim to love, James says that it should break us because the true Christians love for Him is so strong that the reaction to their sins is extreme shame and repentance. To not be broken over our sins is to prove that we never truly love Him to begin with. It is to be seen as enemies of God.

The apostle Paul calls for us to examine ourselves to see if we are truly in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5). One of these self examinations is to consider how we treat sin in our lives. Is sin something that we make light of? Do we laugh at it as if it is some trendy badge of honor all the while professing to have committed our lives to Christ? Or when we fall into sin, does it cause us to mourn and weep because we know that we have transgressed against the God whom we love?

“No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.  By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God,” 1 John 3:9-10.

John says it very plainly. No one who has truly been born again makes a practice of sinning. That is to say, no one born of God can willingly continue to coddle a sinful life void of repentance because God’s Spirit now abides in them. The people who fall and are broken over their sins make it evident that they are born of God. And those that laugh at sin and continue to intentionally walk in them prove that they are not. We are all sinners, but it is only the broken-hearted that prove their election as being sure and are pleasing to the Lord.

If our hearts have truly been captivated by the love of God, then we will see that the joy He brings is far greater than the fleeting happiness that was gained from a life of sin. When we truly see God in all of His splendor, it is no longer a task to put to death sins in our lives (Colossians 3). Because pursuing this greater love in Christ has now become our passion.

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Psalm 51:17.

Octavius Winslow once said that of all the idols, man finds the worship of himself the hardest one to abandon. Marriages are under extreme attack in our world today. And the root problem is two fold. First, there is a wide spread lack of the understanding of the holiness of our Lord. And secondly, we prize our selfish desires far above our friends, family, and God. The heart of man is by default so wicked and self centered that in his sin nature, he cares not who is hurt by his sin, so long as he get what he wants.

This is seen most clearly in the low value our society places on marriage, even among professing Christians. Within the past two months, five couples whom my wife and I are close with have decided to call it quits on their marriage. We love these couples dearly. And because we love them, our hearts break with them.

Some of these couples say the reason is that they never really loved the other. Others say that they are not treated like they want to be treated. Still others claim that they have been unhappy for way too long. But all of these claims are merely ways of skimming the surface without addressing the painful truth.

All of these statements could be wrapped up in a more truthful statement. In essence, they are basically saying, “I am the center of my own universe, and you are not meeting the expectations of my universe.” Not only is the marriage destroyed, but so are the lives of potential children and family members. Divorce leaves a trail of heart ache that spans generations. It creates a ripple effect of destruction.

Divorce exists because a proper knowledge of God and the Gospel does not.

The Apostle Paul paints a breath taking birds eye view of God’s intentions when He created marriage. In Ephesians chapter 5, Paul says that wives are to submit to their husbands as the church submits to Christ. In like manner, the husbands are charged to love their wives as Christ loves the church.

Suddenly, we begin to see that the union of marriage has much bigger ramifications that merely being about the happiness of two individuals. Marriage is not about our happiness. Marriage is not about our satisfaction. It never was. Marriage is a living portrait. It is a three dimensional sketch of Jesus Christ and His church.

What did Christ do for His bride, the church? He died for her. While she was in her worst state. While she was unattractive. While she was undeserving. He kept no score card, and He took not into account how He was being treated by her. Putting the good of His bride before Himself, Jesus gave His life for her.

On that final day, at the wedding supper of the Lamb, how will the church respond to the sacrifice of her husband? In glad submission that has been birthed from a heart that is overwhelmed with His love for her despite the hideous way she had treated Him. This is not a forced submission.

As Christians, are the church. We are collectively His bride. We have no doubt been unfaithful. We have served other Gods and worshipped mortal idols, mainly ourselves. And Christ took our place, and instead of rejection offered instead mercy and grace.

“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” Romans 5:8.

Marriage is a radiant picture of the Gospel. It is the very image of this mysterious union between God and the church. It is a portrait of very lengths that Christ went to in order to secure and love His bride. The word ‘Christian’ literally means “little Christ’s.” And God takes marriage and divorce extremely seriously. Because to destroy the union of marriage is to quite literally spit on the cross of Christ.

If we truly understand and have been pierced by what Christ has done for us through the cross, then we will view our marriage very differently.

Selfishness will be unheard of, because we understand His grace.

Falling out of love would not be a question, because we understand that His love was not a feeling, but a choice.

Hardships in marriage would not warrant abandonment of giving up, because He forgave us.

The feeling of entitlement would be abolished. Because we understand He gave up everything to die for us.

So in the trials and imperfections of marriage, we begin to be molded into the very image of this God we worship. We learn to forgive, as He has forgiven. We learn to show grace and mercy, as Christ has show it to us. Through marriage, we learn how to die to self in favor of our spouse, and thus we become like Jesus Christ! The point of marriage is to conform us to the image of Christ.

The reason divorce exists is because we no longer have a proper understanding of the Gospel. The reason divorce exists is due to self worship. We look down upon the Israelites when we hear the story in Exodus of them making a golden calf to worship in place of God. But we do the very same thing today. Only we place our own feelings and fleeting emotions in place of the golden calf. It is self that we worship. And it is this perverted worship of self that the forces of darkness use to destroy the beautiful image of the Gospel.

For those couples who are going through hardships, Satan will plead with you to put your feelings center stage. The Gospel says take your eyes off of yourself and place them on Christ. Gaze upon the bloody cross, and the price that was paid by the Savior, knowing that it was we who should have been hanging there. Choose to mirror Jesus. Choose to love when love is not deserved. Choose to serve when you are not being served.

For those couples who are considering divorce, do not buy into the lie. It is the same lie Satan placed before Adam and Eve in the garden. It is the lie that happiness will be found outside of the will of God. Instead, place your eyes upon Jesus. John Piper once said that the one way to know if you married the right person was to look at the marriage certificate. God does not make mistakes.

“What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” Mark 10:9.

And when you are rejected or hurt, know that this is an image of how you have treated Christ. Yet His choice to love His bride never wavered. That is the example folks. That is the mystery of marriage. And when you have a husband and a wife who are both looking to Christ as to how they should treat one another, divorce would be an impossibility. Before you cast stones at your marriage, look to the glorious Gospel. He can make all things new. Don’t give up.

Towards the end of last week, I sat in my office, numb with disbelief. Within 48 hours, I had received news that two different couples who are dear friends of ours were having serious marital troubles. In both cases, there were outside influences involved. In both cases, marriage had become routine and dull, and eyes began to wander to entertain thoughts of being with other people.

My heart is broken for these families.

In Ephesians 5 we see Paul making the connection that the husband represents Christ and the wife represents the church in the marriage relationship. Marriage was not created for our personal happiness, but rather to be a mirror image to the world of Jesus Christ. Therefore, marriage was created by God to be an image of Christ to the world.

Satan has declared war on marriages. Why?

Because he desires to destroy the very image of Christ.

From the very beginning, Satan has declared war on marriage, seeking to destroy this living image of God. It began with Adam and Eve. God gave the commands for them to live by to not eat of the fruit of the tree. And Satan the first husband and wives eyes off of the commands of God and placed them on themselves.  Satan approached the woman first.

“He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.” Genesis 3:2-6.

Adam and Eve had a good life before the fall. They had everything they could ever want. But the fruit that is forbidden is always the most tempting. Regardless of all that Adam and Eve had in the garden, Satan began to take their eyes off of everything that was good and began to make Eve think that something forbidden would make her happier than she currently was.

Satan blinded her eyes from the blessings in her life with the lie of a more fulfilled life if only she would ignore the commands of God. And Satan does the same thing today. There is no reason for him to change his strategy because humanity keeps falling for the same deception over and over again. Satan’s plan for wrecking marriages has not changed one bit. Because we keep falling for the lies.

In the garden, it was the lure of forbidden fruit that Eve thought would promise a better life. Today, it is the lure of other people outside of marriage. Satan begins to dull a husband or a wife to the blessings of family, and begins to elevate an awareness of selfish needs that they falsely think will make them happier.

As in the garden, but more in a 21st century context, Satan lies and whispers to a husband or wife, “Did God really say, “What God joins together let no man separate?” Surely there is a loophole for your situation. Surely God wants you to be happy, and right now you are not happy. Not to mention your spouse is currently not living up to your expectations in marriage! And you deserve better!” Then ever so coincidentally, Satan will guide the eyes to someone else with the lie that this person will make their world complete.

And just as our first parents in the garden, so many couples buy this lie…hook, line, and sinker. With no regard or thought to the devastating consequences that will follow. They don’t consider the emotional scaring that will be inflicted upon their children. Ive spoken with many adults who were products of parents who divorced, and all of them that Ive met have admitted that they were negatively and emotionally effected by divorce even up to their adult years. They don’t consider the consequences because in their spiritually blindness, the can see nothing but the flaws of their spouse and the lust of their flesh.

“So these nations feared the LORD and also served their carved images. Their children did likewise, and their children’s children—as their fathers did, so they do to this day.” 2 Kings 17:41.

Carved images are anything other than God and His Word that we look to for fulfillment. And when a husband and a wife replace the commands of God with their own carved images, they set an example for their children, and their children’s children. The choice to destroy a marriage has a ripple effect that has the power to span generations. If Satan can destroy one marriage, then he potentially scars the image of Christ within the family line for years to come.

At its core, Satan deceives husband and wives by distorting their image of the cross. Jesus prayed in the garden in regards to His impending crucifixion, (Matt 26:39) “Father if you are willing take this cup from me. Yet not my will, but yours be done.”  There was nothing in Jesus that felt like taking upon Himself all the sins of the world and then enduring the wrath of God that you and I deserved. It has been said that if Jesus were to have called upon the Father to just take Him to Heaven and had refused to die for our sins, He would have been justified in His actions and we would have been deserving of our damnation.  Yet Jesus said, “Not my will, but yours be done.” Not what I feel like. Jesus made the choice to give His life for sinners who did not deserve it.

The irony in the christian life today is that everyone says they want to be like Jesus. Every Christian would attest that we should seek Christlikeness.

We worship God for His mercy upon us. Yet we refuse to show our spouse mercy.

We worship God for His forgiveness to us. Yet we refuse to forgive our spouses for hurting us.

And we worship God for His grace and faithfulness. Yet we refuse to show grace to our spouse and hinge faithfulness upon the hook and measure of our own fulfilled happiness.

The question every couple must ask is this. Am I growing more Christlike on the easy days of marriage when my spouse is meeting all of my expectations. Or am I growing more Christlike in the hard seasons. When Im having to dig deep.

God gives you an imperfect spouse so you will learn how to give grace.

God gives you a spouse that will need to be forgiven so you will learn forgiveness.

God will give you a spouse who does not meet all of your expectation so you will learn how to love unconditional. Thus, you become like the God you Worship!!

The lie in the culture is that the vow of “For better or for worse” really only means, “Until Im not happy anymore.” The gospel truth is that marriage was designed by God and was never created for the purpose of fulfilling your happiness. Marriage is a grace of God and a means of sanctification. Marriage was designed by God to point to His own relationship with His people and to grow us in Holiness. Marriage was designed by God to make us more like Jesus.

I heard a pastor once say that if the grass ever begins to look greener on the other side, its only because you haven’t been there yet. Because what is the common denominator of every soiled field you have lived upon….it is you.

For all of those reading who are going through a rough patch in marriage, I plead with you not to give up. And if you are a Christian and know someone who is believing the lies of Satan pertaining to marriage, fight will them through using prayer and the word of God. To give in to the lies of Satan is to doubt that God can indeed make all things new for those who are in Him. The saying “Put your trust in Jesus” has become so cliché in our world today that it has literally been gutted of its meaning.

Do we really believe that Christ has the power to heal all things? Do we really believe that our marriages, especially in the hard times, are God given graces to make mold us more into the image of Christ? Do we look at marriage, as the apostle Paul did, as being a glorious mystery that embodies the marvelous truths of the Gospel? Or is marriage merely a worldly contract designed to meet our ever changing desires. Will we as believers give in to the Satanic lies of self centeredness and therefore willingly sacrifice every previous blessing as well as any future graces God desired to bestow to us in marriage? Or will we choose to love our spouses, even on the hard days.

If you are letting your feelings lead your actions, you are allowing the enemy to deceive you as was Eve in the garden. And your actions will lead to heartache and misery. Your emotions will follow your actions. If you choose to love even when your feelings may tell you otherwise, then in time, loving emotions will follow. And if you put your trust in the all powerful King and Lord of all things, your scars from the hard patches will serve as beautiful reminders of truth of the Gospel, thus making your marriage stronger than it ever was. Don’t give up, and put your hope in Christ. For He is able.

“He (Satan) was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44.

When you are a pastor, pressure and anxiety can come in numerous forms stemming from many varying circumstances. Preaching the funeral of an unsaved person, or delivering a sermon in front of a larger than normal audience both rank at the top of the list. Not to mention the day to day problems that may or may not arise. However, Ive recently found that one of the greatest pressures Ive had to face in my career in ministry is….wait for it….delivering a message to kids during the week of Vacation Bible School.

Some may snicker at this fear of mine. Many pastors would view the week of VBS as a place  of relaxed down time on the yearly calendar. At surface level, the duties of the pastor during this week are very minimal. They usually are asked to give a very short closing sermonette on the theme verse or saying of the day that is stated in the VBS workbooks. Seems simple enough, right? Then why the pressure?

Because as preachers and teachers of the word, we always have two choices. The first choice is the most popular. That is to make the lessons as fluffy as possible. When I say this, I don’t mean relatable. I believe even the most complex truths found in scripture can be taught to children in an easy to understand manner. What I mean by fluffy is that in an attempt not to be offensive, we end up watering down the gospel. And when this happens, we paint the picture to the children that are listening that they are the apex of the Gospel story, and Jesus sort of like their biggest cheerleader or a genie in a bottle. This is the easy way.

The second choice is actually the road less taken. Because it requires more thought, and because it is anything but fluffy. The second choice is that we stand on truth. The second choice requires that we take our children out of the center of the story and place Jesus front and center. And the second choice is offensive to our flesh.

Case in point, we are in the midst of VBS week as I write this blog. We are using a great workbook to provide lessons and activities for our teachers to go by this week. Our parents and teachers are, aside from Jesus, the heroes of this week. They are outside in the hot sun playing games and teaching the Gospel to our children all week long for four to five hours a day. Our volunteers and teachers are amazing and I am so thankful for them!

My only job this week is to give the closing sermonette to the children at days end.

Each day, there is a theme statement being taught to the kids along with a Bible story that highlights that statement. Yesterdays theme statement that I had to teach is actually what prompted many of my thoughts. The theme statement yesterday that I was to each on was this; “Jesus Knows Your Worth.”

At first glance, I thought this would be easy. I would just stand in front of the kids, and I would tell them that they Jesus saw them so worthy that He gave his life for them. It sounded great. It sounded encouraging and sweet. And just as soon as the thought had entered my mind, an alarm bell went off in my soul letting me know that I was about to make a grave error. Unfortunately I was about to focus on tickling the ears instead of expounding Gospel truth. You see, the easy way would have been to elaborate to the children of their great worth to God. The harder route would be telling the truth as given in scripture.

It is absolutely true, Jesus does indeed know our worth. But this truth should humble us, not elevate us. The truth is that by nature, we are children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3). The truth is that because of our sin we are separated from our Holy God.

“but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.” Isaiah 59:2.

And due to the fall of Adam and sin nature we inherited, we are separated in sin from the womb.

“The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies.” Psalm 58:3.

The person who is apart from Christ can be a model citizen who does nothing but good works and helpful deeds, but without Jesus, he is worthless.

“And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;” Isaiah 64:6.

We have no bargaining chips with God. Apart from Christ, our worth is absolutely bankrupt. God saw nothing in us that He would send His one and only son to die in the place of wretched sinners like us. There was no redeeming qualities that we had to cause the Lord to look our way. Salvation is a sheer act of His amazing grace and mercy towards undeserved sinners like us. That is the amazing truth of the Gospel! That we have no worth before God.

But God sent His Son Jesus to die in the place of sinners so that we might have His righteousness. Jesus takes our sins upon Himself, and places His sinless, spotless record upon the believer. Therefore, when God looks upon those who are in Christ, He sees no worth innately within the person. Rather, when God looks on a justified sinner, He sees not the sin, but the blood of His son covering that sinner.

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21.

It’s not merely that Jesus knows our worth. Because again, we have no worth to boast of in and of ourselves. Rather, Jesus IS OUR WORTH!! It is Jesus who cleanses our wicked hearts and makes us a new creation that is WORTHY of right standing before our Holy God!

Lets go back to our two choices in presenting to children the statement, “Jesus is our Worth.” The first choice is to tell our children that God saw something worthy in them, and therefore just had to have them because of their great value. This sounds nice, but it actually steals glory from God and places that Glory upon us.

The second choice is to paint the picture of the Biblical far-reaching consequences of sin, and how due to our rebellious nature we are rightly criminals before God with no worth within ourselves. Yet in our spiritually dead and worthless state, God made a way to justify sinners through the sacrifice of His son Jesus.

God doesn’t save sinners because of the great worth in us. God saves sinners IN SPITE of the lack of worth in us. God didn’t save us because we are so great. He saves sinners because he is so great. His own grace and mercy were the only catalysts for God choosing to save spiritually dead sinners like us.

And this great truth not only humbles, but it rightly teaches our children to ascribe endless thankfulness, praise, and Glory to our Lord Jesus Christ! By taking them off the throne, we show them Jesus truly as Lord of all! This creates a yearning and desire within them for the worthiness that only Christ can bring! And it magnifies the amazing grace of God, that saved not a worthy man, but a wretch like me. Soli Deo Gloria!

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.b But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved” Ephesians 2:1-5.

Preaching is not something that requires skill so much as it requires faith. As soon as I knew that God had called me to be a preacher of His precious word, I became a connoisseur  of sermons. I couldn’t get enough of listening to other preachers. Proof of the new creation Paul spoke of in 1 Corinthians 5:17 can definitely be seen in my conversion. Where as before God called me I was reading and listening to sports related books and shows, my life as a new creation in Christ consisted of books on preaching and listening to sermon podcasts.

I was desperate and hunger for the knowledge of God. But I was also a student of the art of preaching and communication. I wanted to be polished. I wanted to develop a preaching style that would captivate my future congregation with engaging stories that could be applied to the Word of God.

I wanted people to know this great God of the Bible and I wanted them to marvel at the wonderous grace of God. And as a new preacher, I felt the full weight of this high calling. More than that, I trembled at the thought of it, because I felt that it was up to me to make God successful. If I wasnt polished enough, or entertaining enough to captivate the attention of my hearers, then I would have failed God.

Did I not believe in the sovereignty of God? I absolutely did! But there was a disconnect between what my head knew and my heart believed. Even early in my conversion, I could recite to you the Five Sola’s of the reformation and easily defend the providence of God over all creation as easily as breathing. But when it came to the ministry that God had given me, I doubted the Biblical truths that I vowed to defend with my life.

And so, early in my ministry I began to mold my preaching style. At times, I sought to be relevant and captivating at the expense of being scripturally orthodox with my exegesis. Life application would often times overshadow the spoken word of God. And being culturally relevant in order to pander to my audience became a crutch for my lack of faith in the sovereignty of God in and through salvation.

Although God had instilled within my heart a love for the in-depth yet applicable unveiling of scripture, the nominal Christian world seemed to be shouting for entertainment rather than exposition. I had seen many successful pastors lean more on comedy to get the attention of their congregations. Or perhaps they would read one verse at the beginning of their sermon and spend the next forty minutes telling personal stories as to how the verse tied in.  As a new pastor, I naturally assumed that in order for people to be saved, God needed my help. So therefore, I better use my own skills to get the attention of the church was my thought.

But if God was truly sovereign, wouldn’t it stand to reason that He alone would save through the preaching of His word? If God is truly sovereign, would this reality not eradicate the need for human eloquence? For if the salvation of men were dependent in part on the flesh, then salvation would not be of the Lord as Jonah 2:9 says, but of God and man together in partnership.

This was the tension I lived in during the first few years of my time in ministry. And due to this man centered burden I carried, my preaching style began to focus more on what would entertain rather that simply relying on God to work through focusing mainly on the text at hand. When I preached a sermon that was less than up to par, I took it very personally. And as any entertainer would do, I simply worked on ways to change my act before the next Sunday.

That was my folly. My error was not in my lack of love for the scriptures or belief in the sovereignty of God. Because I loved the word with all my heart and staked my claim upon the hill of total divine sovereignty. My error was in trusting more in myself than in Gods power to accomplish His will. My error was a lack of faith. I was fully trusting in me, and partially trusting in God. Then I stumbled upon this verse;

“For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.” Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present. Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.” 2 Corinthians 10:10-12.

Paul was speaking these words in verse 10 about himself. The writings of Paul were a force to be reckoned with. However, Paul was no great preacher in and of himself. He didn’t even have a commanding presence. The same words Paul wrote by letter, he spoke in person. But it was not his commanding presence that captivated his hearers. It was not his ability to entertain the masses or be culturally relevant that aided men in coming to faith. It was strictly the spoken and written word of the Lord! Paul literally had nothing to boast in! Paul could not pat himself on the back after a sermon, because by the worlds standards, he was nothing to look at or listen too! There was no pandering for an audience or reliance upon self! Paul put his sole trust fully and completely in the word of God!

What a comfort this was to my soul! What a relief! It became utterly apparent that through attempting to entertain, I may captivate a room of hundreds of people. But if they themselves were not drawn by the word of God alone, then my words were falling on dead ears. If my listeners preferred a captivating sermon over the exposition of Gods word, then my efforts were done in vain! And the biggest breath of fresh air came from the realization that the salvation of men doesn’t depend on the preacher delivering the perfect sermon. But rather, only the faithful attention to the text of scripture. It is the word of God that supernaturally saves, not the eloquence of man!

“Doctrinal preaching certainly bores the hypocrites, but it is only doctrinal preaching that will save Christ’s sheep. The preachers job is to proclaim the faith, not to provide entertainment for unbelievers. In other words, to feed the sheep rather than amuse the goats.” -J.I. Packer.

To echo Paul’s words from the above verse, I was full of head knowledge, but without understanding when I based my ministry upon the reaction of man rather than faith. The best explanation of how God saves is found in a passage that I’ve referred to many times in this blog. Ezekiel 37 in the Valley of Dry bones experience of Ezekiel. Ezekiel did not play a part in bringing the dead bones to life. He couldn’t rely on human eloquence or cunning to give them breath. Ezekiel simply read the word of the Lord, and God through His spoken word, supernaturally brought them to life.

In Nehemiah chapter 8, it was Ezra who stood on the platform above the people getting ready to preach. He didnt open with an amusing story or personal antidote. Ezra opened the scriptures as the people stood in reverance and recited the word of the Lord.

“And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood.  And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.” Nehemiah 8:5-6.

As preachers, we are merely the messengers. We are due no glory of our own. Our job as JI Packer so richly put it, is not to entertain, but rather to it is to feed the sheep His food that He has required, which is His word. Is it wrong for a preacher to be relevant? To resort to a comedic comparison every now and then? Absolutely not! Paul and even Jesus used comedic sarcasm in order to make their points at times. The prince of preachers, Charles Haddon Spurgeon was known for his relevance to the common man and witty preaching style.

Spurgeon, arguably the greatest preacher since the apostle Paul, would actually tremble as he stepped into his pulpit each Sunday. He knew how weak and fallible he was. And as he would climb the steps into the pulpit, he would recite to himself, “I believe in the Holy Spirit”, to remind himself that he was totally dependent on the Spirit of God speaking through him.

There is nothing wrong with relating to our audiences. However, the thrust and purpose of our message is not so that we may reap the accolades of men. Rather, we use relevance only as a means to drive home their point. God uses the personality traits of men to communicate His word. And it is the raw, unaltered word of God alone that saves the souls of men.

“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Romans 10:17.

It is important for a preacher to relate to his audience. But that relevance in and of itself has no power to save. God does not need our help in accomplishing His saving purposes.

“He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” Luke 19:40.

I have much to learn as a preacher of God’s word. And I know that this learning process will not come to an end under I have drawn my last breath. Any preacher that would deny this about himself is self decieved. But I am thankful that still as a young man, God has relieved me of the burden of self reliance. What a joy and relief it is to know that my job as a pastor is simply to be obedient to delievering Gods word. And in this, the joy of seeking Him more fervently daily is mine to be had. It is the hearing of scripture that God uses to save. So when it comes to preaching, I am in agreeance with the words of John the Baptist. My sermons should always be filled with more of Him, and less of me.

“He must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:30.

There is a disconnect between most of modern day Christianity in our culture and Biblical and Historical Christianity. I really began to be bothered by this extreme many years ago. I was raised in the church. Taught the scriptures. And had an understanding that Jesus Christ is Lord. I had the correct information regarding the Gospel. And I looked like most other Christians in my church at the time. I tried to be good, went to church on Sundays and Wednesdays, and listened to Christian music and wore Christian t-shirts. I said my prayers before eating and bedtime, read my Bible when there was literally nothing else to do. But that was the extent of my Christianity! Other than these staple moments during my day, I rarely thought about God. Yet I didn’t see this as abnormal, because again, almost every other Christian in my life operated the same way.

But although I didn’t yet realize it, there was a problem. And the faith that I was living was more or less routine rather than genuine. This is the current state of Christianity for the most part in our country present day. We’ve come to believe that if we do certain things or have our names written on a church role, then we are Christians. We have slowly let culture define what it means to be a Christian rather than studying the scriptures and church history. Pragmatism has become a substitute for passion.

It wasn’t until I began truly reading my Bible that serious questions began to arise. Particularly from reading the many definitive statements in the scriptures. Take for instance Psalm 105:4.

“Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!” Psalm 105:4.

Surely God doesn’t mean exactly what He says! Surely what God means by “seek His presence continually” is once or twice a week attendance to the church building and trying to be a good person! Continually would mean to have God at the forefront of my mind in all that I do throughout my day. I would have to be obsessed with God! In order to seek God in that way I would have to be enamored and captivated by His beauty so much so that He was my ultimate desire above and beyond all worldly things!

Exactly.

What about 1 Corinthians 10:21?

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31.

Do all things to the glory of God? Surely all things doesn’t mean ALL THINGS! But Paul gives very detailed directions. No matter if you are eating a sandwich, or drinking a glass of wine, glorify God. Paul then concludes by saying whatever you do it is to be done to the glory of God! Again, this is a far cry from twice a week Christianity! The commitment level is extremely high! I once heard a pastor ask his congregation, “When is the last time you simply thanked God for the air that you are breathing?”

What about Jesus final command to His disciples before the ascension?

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19-20.

If Jesus final command was for His followers to go and make other disciples, and to teach others all of the commandments of God, why isn’t this happening on a large-scale? Shouldn’t disciple making be the one of the utmost goal of our lives in seeking to glorify Christ? Sadly, most professing Christians have never made a disciple in their lives. And it’s because they fear man more than God, and because they cannot teach others what they don’t know themselves.

Why don’t we think about God like this? Why doesn’t an examination of Biblical Christianity cause us to examine ourselves? Why is He not our all-encompassing obsession? Why do most professing believers associate Christianity with a church building, moral activities, or their personal denomination?

If the description of a true believer is one that is called to be in a constant, imperfect as it may be, pursuit of God, why does present culture redefine a Christian as one who merely attends church?  In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus described the Christian as being like a man who stumbled upon a treasure in a field. And upon finding this treasure, he went and sold all that he had in order to get the treasure (Matt. 13:44).

But that is not the description of a Christian today. Christ is seen not as a treasure, but a burden. Most professing Christians cannot fathom talking to their next door neighbor about Jesus, because their treasure is acceptance and not God. They can’t entertain the thought of going overseas on mission, because their treasure is comfort and not God. They easily suppress the need to pray and press into the scriptures daily, because their treasure is social media and not God.  We refuse to gaze upon the treasure that is Christ because we are too mesmerized by the things of the world.

To tell this to a professing Christian living in this manner would greatly offend them. “You can’t judge me” seems to be the mantra of our world today. But even this is taken out of context. In Matthew 7 when Jesus commands believers not to judge, the context is to look down upon a person due to their sin. We should never do that because we all fall into sin. However, this verse is not talking about knowing if a person is saved.

“You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.” Matthew 7:16-20.

Jesus said that it is possible to tell if a person is truly a believer or if they are one who is merely going through the motions. We can have this type of discernment or judgement. How can we tell if a person is a genuine believer? By their fruits. By comparing the fruits of their lives by what the scriptures say about a true believer. There is an old saying, “If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck.” In the same way, the Christians nature is defined by the Bible, not culture.

There was a time in my life where, by cultures standards, I would have been considered a Christian. I attended church, professed to love Jesus, and tried to be good. But there was no passion for Christ. There was no desire to seek Him in His word. There was no real burden for the lost. There was no hunger for the Knowledge of God in my life. I was merely satisfied that I had been baptized and had a Bible. Yet this description of a Christian was not found in the Bible!

The Apostles sacrificed having a life of ease in exchange for proclaiming the Gospel. They gave their lives for this, because Jesus was the whole point of their existence. Throughout history, men like Polycarp, John Hus, William Tyndale, John Rogers, and countless others were killed because they devoted their lives to proclaiming the Gospel. Men like Martin Luther sacrificed reputation and risked death so that Christ would be glorified over the traditions of men. These men echoed the words of the apostle Paul with their lives.

“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” Philippians 3:8.

A few verses before this one, Paul tells a bit about His life before becoming a follower of Jesus. He details his religious accomplishments and accreditations. Paul was highly respected as a religious teacher in Jerusalem, and had the admiration of the most devout Jews in the land. And when he dedicated his life to Christ, Paul lost all of that respect, fame, and adoration. Paul was despised and hated for his proclamation of Jesus as Lord. And looking back and comparing his former life of worldly accolades to His new life of persecution in Christ, Paul says this…..

“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.”  Philippians 3:7.

Where are these types of men today? If this is the Biblical and historical model of Christianity, why do we seem to live out such a watered down version? And if one is living a passionless Christianity where in they are more enamored with the things of this world than the word of God, can they truly call themselves a follower of Christ? If our standard of measure is other so-called Christians around us, then we have nothing to be concerned about. But if our standard of measure is the Bible, and we find ourselves looking nothing like the original followers of Christ, we prove to be living in ignorance and without understanding.

“But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.” 2 Corinthians 10:12.

There is a reason as to why our culture no longer holds a high view of God. And it is because we no longer measure ourselves by the scripture, but rather we measure ourselves by one another. We fill our lives with materialism and worldly things and call them the blessings of God upon our lives rather than seeing that they are actually robbing our affections from God.

Charles Spurgeon once said, ““I believe that one reason why the church of God at this present moment has so little influence over the world is because the world has so much influence over the church.”  

These words are an accurate description of our culture today. Satan doesn’t mind that we go to church, that we live moral lives, or that we proudly claim to be a Christian. As long as our profession doesn’t match up with Biblical Christianity. He is perfectly content for us to live deceived lives and treasuring all of the many distraction of the world. Satan is fine with a person saying they love Jesus. As long as they love themselves more. And the proof of self-love is seen in our lack of pursuing the knowledge God. And it is seen in our pursuit of comfort rather than mission.

When is the last time you read the Bible? I mean really, intentionally read it? Francis Chan once posed the question that if you were stranded on a desert island with nothing but the Bible to read year after year, and then suddenly you were rescued and brought to America to witness Christianity in our culture, would what you see in American Christianity match up with what you had read? We are not called to live lives of perfection. But we are called to live with a passion for Christ. And this passion is to be so strong because of the thankfulness we have in our hearts due to the grace of God, that it makes all other loves pale in comparison. Don’t compare yourselves with each other. Don’t gage your Christianity by what other so-called Christians do. Measure yourself by the scriptures.

True Christianity is not defined by Christian culture, but by Christ alone.

“‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;” Matthew 15:8.

We live in a postmodern culture, now more than ever. The postmodern world view is built upon and supported by the assumption that there can be no absolute truth in the universe.  Everything boils down to individual opinions, therefore truth is ever-changing and completely subjective. Crucial topics of our day such as abortion, sexuality, and religion are no longer black and white issues, but rather are grey and blurred. Truth is no longer defined by reality, but it is now defined by emotion and personal feelings.

Sadly, this extremely popular world view is even seeping into the church. Many professing believers are now claiming that Jesus is not the only way into the Kingdom of God. They say there are many ways. It’s the old, “All roads (or God’s) lead to paradise” ideology.

“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” 1 Timothy 2:5.

They would rather deny the truth of God’s word than to be offensive in any way. Political correctness and social acceptance have become the golden calves of our day. Modern day culture has molded God into their own image. It is an image that is not offensive and is accepting of sinful rebellion. And it is not the God of scripture.

Truth has become arbitrary. Even within the most orthodox churches, there are professing Christians who will say things like, “Well we can never truly know the mind of God, so therefore we cannot make absolute statements about God.” This way of thinking is most predominately seen in Bible Studies or sermons in which the teacher will ask his listeners what they think a verse means to them rather than telling them what the scripture is actually saying.

To justify their lack of reliance of solid truth, many will misquote verses like Deuteronomy 29:29 saying, “Well remember ‘The secret things belong to the LORD our God,’ so we can’t really understand what the scripture is really saying.”

But they neglect to continue reading the verse;

“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”

There are secret things that God has not revealed to man and we cannot know. However, the revealed things belong to us, that being His Holy Word. We can know the Word of God and we can understand the truth within it. Verses like Deuteronomy 29:29 are used as an excuse for people having a lack of Biblical insight or understanding. Because when we press into the scriptures, seeking the knowledge of God with all our hearts, His truth will be found, and it is in no way ambiguous or up for interpretation.

Lets take for example the miracles of Christ. In the Gospel of John, only seven significant miracles of Christ were recorded. However, there were countless other miracles that Jesus performed that were not recorded.

“Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” John 21:25.

John claimed that if all the great things Christ did were to be recorded, the world could not contain all the books that would have been written. So why were the seven miracles John recorded the ones chosen by the disciple from all the countless miracles to be included in his Gospel? For the sake of brevity, lets examine just two of these miracles. Namely Jesus turning water into wine and the feeding of the five thousand.

What was so important about Jesus turning the water into wine in John 2:1-11 and Jesus feeding the five thousand in John 6:5-14? Were these miracles done randomly just to impress the crowds? Was Jesus merely showing off with magic tricks? Or was there a purpose and intent behind these miraculous works?

To answer these questions, one would have to be a student of their Bible. Back in the days of Jesus, most of the Jews differed from our modern-day Christians in that they actually studied and were familiar with their Old Testament, which was all they had at the time seeing that the New Testament was currently being fulfilled in Christ. The first century Jews didn’t rely on pop Christian radio and pithy religious t-shirts for their theology, but rather they were seekers of God’s truth, and not allergic to reading.

When Jesus turned the water to wine at the wedding in Cana, He was intentional about what He was doing. First of all, the pots Christ had the water drawn from were for ceremonial cleansing, and not for drinking. The Pharisees and all the Jews did not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thus observing the traditions of the elders; and when they came in from the market place, they did not eat unless they cleansed themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots. (Mark 7:3–4)

The Jews used stone water pots to hold the water used for ritual purification because they believed that, unlike earthenware pots (Lev. 11:33), they did not become unclean. Unlike the smaller one used by the Samaritan woman to draw water from a well (4:28), these pots at the wedding were large pots, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. Such a large amount of water was needed not only to accommodate the guests, but also because the cooking and eating utensils had to be washed (Mark 7:4).

But Jesus cleansed the water, purifying it and turning it into wine. It was a subtle way of Jesus saying that there was no longer a need for these religious and ceremonial cleansing methods. Because soon He Himself would become the only method of purification required for cleanliness before God.

So why did Jesus turn the water to wine? Why not milk or grape juice? And while we are on the topic of food and drink, why did Jesus feed a feast to five thousand people up on that mountain? Both of these questions can be answered by the prophet Isaiah. Four hundred years plus prior to the birth of Jesus, Isaiah prophesied about the coming Messiah.

“On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples; a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.” Isaiah 25:6.

This would have reminded the witnesses of these miracles about the Lord who was written about in Isaiah 25. When Jesus turned the water into wine at the wedding and multiplied the fish and loaves into a feast on the mountain, this would have drawn His audience’s mind to the scriptures. The Jews were awaiting the fulfillment of the Torah and the coming of the Messiah that had been foretold by the prophets like Isaiah.

The miracles of water turned to wine and an abundant feast being prepared for the people were both fulfillments of the words written by Isaiah centuries before. Isaiah was telling the people what to look for clearly as signs pointing to Messiah. Both of these miracles were fulfillments of the Isaiah 25 prophecy. Jesus, in performing these miracles was letting the Jews know that the Messiah you have awaited is here. These were not merely impressive magic tricks. These were Christ’s statements of His Divinity.

When we take the time to be seekers of truth, we go way beyond the scriptures being nice little Sunday school type stories and the reality literally shakes us to our very foundations. Truth becomes undeniable. Bible stories we have heard all of our lives we begin to see as being less about us and more and more about Him. The Bible is not a self-help book, but the revelation of Christ and the very breath of God. And the authority and purpose behind every action of Jesus becomes a clearly seen message given to reveal His foretold Deity. All scripture is absolute truth. And absolute truth can be found only in Christ alone.

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,” John 5:39.

“The real test of our worldview is seen in what entertains us.” -Al Molher

This can also be said of our view of God. That in which we find our pleasure tells us much about how we personally view God. It is quite easy to determine if a person holds a high view of God or a low view of God based on the kind of entertainment they seek. A person that claims to love God yet fills their leisure time with television shows and movies that glorify sensuality, vulgarity, and self exaltation exemplifies holding a very low view of God. There is no pursuit of righteousness in desiring the things of the world more than God. And there is no love and fear of the Holiness of God.

This is not to say that all television and movies are bad. But the question we must ask is within our seeking of pleasure, is there any desire to fill our leisure time with the pursuit of the Lord? All good Christians verbalize that they aspire to be like Christ, but do we really mean that? The world today captivates our minds and robs us of  our time with television, movies, social media, and material pursuits. Is there ever a time in your day when you simply disconnect from all the lures of our culture and joyfully devote time to pursuing the knowledge of God?

John Piper once said that the best way to combat sin in your life is to love God more. The implication is the more you love God, the less you will love the things of the world. But in order to cultivate a love for God, there must be a natural separation from the things of the world. Intentional changes must be made in the things we pursue on a daily basis. You will never cultivate a love for God if you avoid filling your mind with the things of God.

The Apostle Paul had a love of books. In fact, when he was imprisoned in Rome, Paul wrote to young Timothy and asked him to bring some things to comfort him. His books were one of a few things listed.

“When you come, be sure to bring the coat I left with Carpus at Troas. Also bring my books, and especially my papers.” 2 Timothy 4:13.

Besides the Bible and communion with the Lord, there is no better way to ignite a flame for the love of God than reading about things of God. Martyn Lloyd Jones once said that next to daily Bible reading, there was no better way to spend time than reading a good Christian Biography.  In choosing a book, not just any “Christian” book will do. In our selection choice, we want books that will point us to scripture, and direct our affections towards the Lord Jesus.

I want to issue a challenge and an invitation to those who are reading this blog.

My wife Lacy and I are about to embark on a journey in hopes of intensifying our passion for and knowledge of the Lord. We have chosen a few books to begin reading weekly, and have laid out a reading schedule to follow. We will attempt to read these books together, and hold one another accountable for our readings if our weeks get busy.

The goal is to read one chapter or in some instances two a per week, and to discuss them together at week’s end. If you choose to join us on this journey in seeking the Lord, I will list below the schedule we have devised as well as the name and author of the books we have chosen thus far. You can order all of the books from Amazon.com.

Reading List & Calendar

The Gospel Focus of Charles Spurgeon: Steven Lawson

August 1 – Chapter 1
August 8 – Chapter 2
August 15 – Chapter 3
August 22 – Chapter 4
August 29 – Chapter 5
Sept. 5 – Chapter 6

What He Must Be To Marry My Daughter: Voddie Baucham (Family Discipleship)

Sept. 12 – Chapter 1
Sept. 19- Chapter 2
Sept. 26- Chapter 3
October 3- Chapter 4
October 10- Chapter 5
October 17- Chapter 6
October 24- Chapter 7
October 31- Chapter 8
November 7- Chapter 9
November 14- Chapter 10

The Holiness of God: R.C. Sproul

November 21- Chapter 1
November 28- Chapter 2
December 5- Chapter 3
December 12- Chapter 4
December 19- Chapter 5
December 26- Chapter 6
January 2- Chapter 7
January 9- Chapter 8
January 16- Chapter 9
January 23- Chapter 10
January 30- Chapter 11

Of course, we will add on to this reading plan as the months progress. Again, these are books that my wife and I desired to read and hold each other accountable for together to aid us in our joyful pursuit of the Lord. Granted, no book should ever take the place of the Bible. With any book we read, we are to be sure to have our Bible on hand as these books press us into and towards scripture.

Once again, I invite you to join us in this endeavor. And if you are led, devise your own reading plan with your spouse and commit to a reading plan and hold one another accountable. We all lead very busy lives, and the thought of reading a 200-300 page book can seem overwhelming. But as the old adage goes, the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. It may cut down your television and social media time, but reading one chapter a week is extremely doable. Godliness is never attained without a conscious effort. Let’s strive together towards the goal of the knowledge of the Lord.

“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:14.