“For the time that is past suffices…”

“Send them out of my sight, and let them go!” (15.1b)

God will not always dwell with us if we continue to disobey. This is the danger both corporately and individually. This is why we shouldn’t continue in sin so grace should abound (Romans 6.1). I know that this fear long tormented my soul. We must understand this so we don’t continue to live in the arrogance of our sins, assuming God won’t afflict us.

“I am weary of relenting.” (15.6b)

Wow! I hope to never hear this!

“Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.” (15.16)

I hope everyday to be able to receive and internalize God’s Word to have faith in what I’ve heard through it, and delight in all that’s been revealed. Let me never have a heart which rejects your word, no matter how hard, but help me always stand on the sufficiency of your voice.

“And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the LORD.” (15.20)

Fed on God’s Word I will be made to stand firm for his purpose on earth. God will protect me. Though the world may hate me God will deliver me. All I need do is stay faithful to his word. This must be the passion and desire of my heart everyday, stepping out in courage that in the end God may make me more than a conquerer (Romans 8.37).

“And when you tell this people all these words, and they say to you, ‘Why has the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? What is our iniquity? What is the sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?’ 11then you shall say to them: ‘Because your fathers have forsaken me, declares the LORD, and have gone after other gods and have served and worshiped them, and have forsaken me and have not kept my law, and because you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, every one of you follows his stubborn, evil will, refusing to listen to me.” (16.10-12)

God’s decree and reasoning are clear. We are not stricken without course. How arrogant is it to have his warning before us and not care. There must be change in the land. People must fall to their knees before God, starting with myself, before God brings us to our knees through suffering and loss. We must be about making God’s name known and working so that his Spirit may be unleashed on the nations through us. I pray that God may use me to start reform in the church. Show me God what needs cleansed so that you can use me in such a manner. Break me so that I may be used to break others!

“Can man make for himself gods? Such are not gods!” (16.20)

We cannot make gods, through we try. All that ever comes out are vein worthless idols. Help me not to make idols.

” . . . and they shall know that my name is the LORD.” (16.21b)

God won’t leave any stone unturned. Everyone shall know that he is Lord. That he alone has authority. The attitude today is for none to have authority, but thankfully one day God will make it known to all that he has always ruled. How much better it will be on that day if we were to recognize his Lordship beforehand.

“For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” -Romans 8.13

If you have been reading my recent posts on Jeremiah and others you may have noticed occasional references to John Owen and the idea of “mortifying sins.” These thoughts have been coming out of an amazing book I read recently by Owen titled Of the Mortification of Sins in Believers. The words in this treatise really cut to the center of my idea of how a Christian should view the handling of their own forgiven sins. The phrases and ideas, which came from the mid-17th century, were incredibly pertinent to me here in the early 21st century. It truly is a wonder how God-filled works have this ability!

Because of the effect this book has had on me I would first like to recommend it to you guys and then lay out some quotes which I found particularly strong. The book, which is available in various forms, I would like to recommend as a part of the volume Overcoming Sin & Temptation, which contains two other Owen works on sin as well, and was compiled and notated by Justin Taylor and Kelly M. Kapic a few years back. Many people will complain about the difficulty of Owen’s writings, but if you are ever to read him, this volume would certainly be the best place for you to go. The editors did an excellent job of smoothing language and providing helpful footnotes to ease the reader through various rough spots.

Now, onto some quotes:

“Unless a man be a believer- that is, one that is truly ingrafted into Christ- he can never mortify any one sin.“

This is very challenging. So frequently we see our friends in need of help with some sort of addiction or harmful lifestyle choices and we want to help. However, the truth of the matter is that unless that person is a genuine disciple of Jesus Christ they stand no chance of ever truly killing off that sin.

“There is no death of sin without the death of Christ.“

This is so easy to forget and so often denied these days, but is there any honest argument which shows it to not be true? Of course not. Thus, we must be convinced and humbled by this amazing reality.

“Do you think he will ease you of that which perplexes you, that you may be at liberty to that which no less grieves him? No. God says, ‘Here is one, if he could be rid of this lust I should never hear of him more; let him wrestle with this or he is lost.’“

The fact that God sometimes leaves difficult sins with us in order to further our sanctification and obedience to him cannot be denied. There are many smaller sins which I have noticed as a result of the battle I have fought with the larger ones, that I probably would have just glossed over otherwise.

“Such a man as opposes nothing to the seduction of sin and lust in his heart but fear of shame among men or hell from God, is sufficiently resolved to do the sin if there were no punishment attending it.“

Ooo, this hurts! What is my motivation to avoid a sin? Is it my desire to be obedient to God or is it my desire to avoid the adverse consequences of my actions? This seems such an easy answer, but in practice it is so hard. I have to be focused always on maintaining the right motivation in my adherence to God’s commandments.

“Lust is such an inmate as, if it can plead time and some prescription, will not easily be ejected. As it never dies of itself, so if it be not daily killed it will always gather strength.“

This gets to the heart of the issue. If there is a sin which I still struggle with, I must be in the habit of daily killing it because otherwise it won’t just go away but will only grow stronger with each moment spent ignoring it. When the first inkling comes to sin I must be prepared to kill it or else soon my flesh will grow weary of fighting the temptation and would rather give in than be obedient. Be killing sin or else it will be killing me!

(This post is the next in a series of posts containing my first blush reactions to passages I come across in the reading of Scripture. I am currently going straight through the book of Jeremiah and will be sharing with you which verses the Spirit causes to jump out at me and the unrevised, unpolished feelings which they invoke.)

“I myself will lift up your skirts over your face, and your shame will be seen.” (13.26)

There is so much shame associated with sin. I do things and have done things willingly, sometimes eagerly, and yet afterwards was so ashamed and fearful that anyone would find out. Why do I do such things? I especially see this when I lie to perfect strangers. I am so concerned about how people perceive me that I put my image before God’s command. I set myself up as an idol, that obedience to God is secondary to serving my own interests. What great shame it would be to see all of my sins replayed in front of people! Knowing this, why would I provoke God in such a way? If the Spirit is convicting otherwise then why am I not terrified to just do my own thing? A lack of fear is such a dangerous thing to suffer from.

“How long will it be before you are made clean?” (13.27b)

There is so much frustration in feeling like I have utterly killed a sin and then stumbling over it again. I fear losing the connection I have with God. I fear wasting all of the amazing things he has revealed to me and that I see he has planned. How long will it be till I no longer fail? I know I will not attain perfection (Philippians 3.12) but there must be certain sins that I should rise above eventually, right? And yet I feel as if I fall into sins which I should have killed off years ago! I can never stop, it is never complete. Owen is right that mortification is a constant process. I must not lay off actively seeking to kill certain sins or else they will bounce back to hinder me once again.

“Why should you be like a man confused, like a mighty warrior who cannot save?” (14.9a)

We get so angry when God does not protect us from hard times and sufferings. We run from him endlessly and yet when we stumble, fall, turn around, and see he’s not there, we cry foul. Why do we think we’re so good that God should always protect us? Our appeal should be for forgiveness and restoration, not that God has been faithless. Of course, God answers where he is in verse 10: “They have loved to wander thus; they have not restrained their feet; therefore the Lord does not accept them.”

“And the LORD said to me: ‘The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds.’” (14.14)

How many prophets are out in the Church today who are prophesying lies in God’s name? This is so dangerous. Their lies pull the hearers away from the truth, their deceit inhibits repentance which will lead to restoration. We must be vigilant against such speakers. We must search the Spirit to test the validity of those who preach in our presence (1 John 4.1-3). This is such a burden on my heart. When I see these false prophets I want to scream. I get so angered at how they manipulate God’s Word and use it as a weapon of destruction, facilitating lies and guiding men safely to hell. We have to be responsible and well educated in the Word so that when these wolves arise we can beat them away before they ever take hold. Titus 1.9 is so necessary here.

“And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword, with none to bury them- them, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. For I will pour out their evil upon them.” (14.16)

The hearers of lying prophets are not safe either, for they should have known to test the message they received. Thus they are guilty and will be punished alongside the deceiver. That is why we must not tolerate the crap that people want to publish and preach about these days!

(This post is the next in a series of posts containing my first blush reactions to passages I come across in the reading of Scripture. I am currently going straight through the book of Jeremiah and will be sharing with you which verses the Spirit causes to jump out at me and the unrevised, unpolished feelings which they invoke.)

“For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, Obey my voice.” (11.7)

I can hear God speaking, but do I respond. There is very little, if any, sin that I commit in which the Spirit does not direct me otherwise from the start. And so my sin is not only sin in disobeying God, but is also the rejection of the Spirit’s conviction prior to my sin. I spit in God’s face so much, responding in anger, bitterness, or harsh words when I know he’s calling me to peace. I must follow John Owen in making the pleasures of God more attractive than the pleasures of sin.

” . . . but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.” (11.8b)

No matter how much enlightenment or liberalness of thought a man claims, the heart which moves in contradiction to God’s commandments is not open but stubborn. The great fallacy of Americans is that our learning has set us free, but instead our suppression of the Truth is as bad if not worse than all those who’ve come before.

“Though they cry to me, I will not listen to them.” (11.11b)

We must be aware that not every affliction is intended to bring genuine repentance, for the unbeliever who cries to God only because they are unhappy is not guaranteed an audience with the King. God desires for broken hearts, not broken bones, to be the motivator for his presence.

“Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?” (12.1b)

It is so discouraging to see people who live with no regard to Christ being successful and stress-free, and it is so easy to let this distract from my call. It is a constant need to rest on Romans 8.28 and Genesis 50.20, knowing that through my submission God’s will can be done through me, and that is the greatest blessing of all.

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” -John 1.14

I have to admit, I am addicted to listening to sermons and conference messages through my iTunes. However, with so many great resources available (and certainly a number of not so great ones as well) it would be a shame if Christians in the 21st century did not take advantage of this wonderful blessing.

That said, the most recent conference I listened to was the 2008 NYC Dwell Conference which was put on this past April by the Acts 29 church planting network featuring the likes of Tim Keller, Mark Driscoll, D.A. Carson, and others. In my opinion, each one of the messages presented was a home run. Because of this I wanted to share with you guys the link to where you may download the lectures yourselves, so that hopefully you can be as blessed by it as I was.

Two messages in particular which I would recommend are the one by Eric Mason of Epiphany Fellowship in Philadelphia, PA, entitled “Dwelling Incarnationally,” and the one by Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian in New York City, entitled “Dwelling in the Gospel.” Both of these presentations cover very important and pertinent topics, especially with keeping in mind the popular movements making their way through emerging church culture right now. These two guys give solid, biblical arguments for their positions and offer intelligent criticism and commentary on ways that we are dealing with these topics incorrectly in the church right now.

Please, if you can make the time I would strongly suggest listening to what was said at this conference and has been recorded for our further edification.

2008 NYC Dwell Conference Multimedia

(This post is the next in a series of posts containing my first blush reactions to passages I come across in the reading of Scripture. I am currently going straight through the book of Jeremiah and will be sharing with you which verses the Spirit causes to jump out at me and the unrevised, unpolished feelings which they invoke.)

“Everyone deceives his neighbor, and no one speaks the truth; they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves committing iniquity.” (9.5)

It sometimes surprises me the things I lie about. And it seems so natural, so little guilt associated with it. God, I pray that my heart would be broken over the slightest alteration of truth. Make me to desire truth above any false gain.

“Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit, they refuse to know me, declares the LORD.” (9.6)

How much harder do I make things on myself by constantly turning to my weaknesses instead of the strength of the almighty God? My pride leads me into avenues which harm both my witness and my communion with God.

“With his mouth each speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he plans an ambush for him.” (9.8b)

God isn’t looking for us to pay lip-service to each other. This is not love. How closely does this action mirror my own worship sometimes.

“Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (9.23-24)

How often do I boast in the perfect attributes of God? Or am I timid to speak of the wonderful things which God has revealed to me? Timidity is not of God (2 Timothy 1.7). Let me praise him aloud before men, even if they declare me a fool and disrespect my name. Because it’s not about my name, but his that I serve.

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh.” (9.25)

It doesn’t matter if your a good person. God doesn’t care about the flesh because all flesh is corrupt and contemptible. Therefore, it is in mercy that God will look at our hearts which are circumcised with Christ (Colossians 2.11), by the Spirit that our hearts are softened (Ezekiel 11.19, 36.26). If our trust is in the works of the flesh then we are doomed, but if our faith be in Christ who died for us then we shall gain eternal life.

“Every man is stupid and without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, for his images are false, and there is no breath in them. They are worthless, a work of delusion; at the time of their punishment they shall perish.” (10.14-15)

It is so true, that final line, that the moment of punishment is the death of idols. This is even so in trials. How often do we see people, ourselves, running back to God when things go wrong? When it’s smooth we glory in our handiwork, in our material idols and self-gratifying pleasures. But as soon as things get tough we condemn our idols and appeal to God for relief. God, I pray that I wouldn’t waste my time constructing vain statues to my own sin! Let every work of my hands be glorifying to you!

“But I said, ‘Truly this is an affliction, and I must bear it.’” (10.19b)

It is my propensity to flee from afflictions, to seek refuge as soon as hard times arise. But Jeremiah’s soul is calm, his heart is determined, that he must bear this pain. It is the same thing I see in Hebrews 13.13; willingly we should take on a portion of the suffering which Christ bore himself on our behalf. The Gospel has always been spread by the blood of believers (Acts 8.1-4), and though I pray against death, I know that whatever harms come they will serve Christ better than my arrogance in good health and spirits. God’s power is made perfect in my weakness (2 Corinthians 12.9). Make me submissive to this understanding.

“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.” -Romans 13.1-7

Recently we celebrated the 232 birthday of our country (at least those of you joining me from America did!) and to mark the occasion a discussion was brought up on the blog called Out of Ur concerning how we, as Christians, should view ourselves in respect to patriotism and allegiance to a national citizenship. Continuing on in discussion about this led to the eventual conflict and question of just how actively should Christians pursue to have biblical convictions translated into law. It is not my desire currently to flesh out my convictions on this subject here (though you may read a number of them in the comments in the Out of Ur thread), but in response to a question brought up as to how I would defend my stance as a Christian, I would like to link you guys to a sermon by Dr. John Piper which I believe accurately represents the totality of how I feel on this issue.

The message is the fourth in a series of four sermons concerning the balance between a Christian’s responsibilities to God and their responsibility to government, based on Romans 13.1-7. I would recommend all of the four messages, as I feel that, in typical John Piper fashion, the point gets hammered home in each, but, specifically speaking to my views on how a Christian should engage politics in an American-type democracy, I want to offer up this piece. Enjoy!

John Piper- “Subjection to God and Subjection to the State, Part 4″

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.” -Ephesians 1:3-6

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” -Romans 8:28-30

“Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” -2 Timothy 2:10

I make no secret of the fact that I consider myself a Calvinist. Be it online in message boards in blogs, on campus at school, or in the pew at church, I am not ashamed of the convictions which God has given me in regards to his work of salvation (or soteriology, as the theologians call it. That’s our big word for today). However, one of the most common criticisms I get from people in regards to my Calvinistic beliefs is that they feel that Calvinists are arrogant and judgmental, always wanting to tell people who’s in and who’s out. To be honest, this criticism drives me crazy because when it comes down to it, Calvinists, because of the dynamics they hold to between God’s role and man’s role in salvation, should be the least arrogant of all believers.

With that in mind, the one point of Calvinism which I think draws the most criticism from the “Calvinists are arrogant” crowd is that of Unconditional Election, and so, I want to, sporadically over the next couple of weeks, perform a deep look into the biblical teachings on election, how election proceeds, and why the eventual conclusion should not be the cause for arrogance in anyone. I am really pumped about doing this and I hope that as we go that this can be a very beneficial conversation for all everyone who reads it. I’ll see you soon.

(This post is the next in a series of posts containing my first blush reactions to passages I come across in the reading of Scripture. I am currently going straight through the book of Jeremiah and will be sharing with you which verses the Spirit causes to jump out at me and the unrevised, unpolished feelings which they invoke.)

“The wise men shall be put to shame; they shall be dismayed and taken; behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, so what wisdom is in them?” (8.9)

This seems to parallel the wonderful passage in Romans 1. It is so pandemic today, as it has been for all times, that men look upon their own intellect as the supreme end of wisdom and yet they display their ignorance through an open rejection of what has been revealed. This is the challenge of atheism today and is a battle that we are losing. We must fight for the Truth courageously in the power of the Spirit in hope that no more people will die under condemnation for devoting themselves to this foolishness.

“They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.” (8.11)

I cannot allow myself to be deceived by a partial healing of the injuries which sin has caused to my spirit and to my relationship with God. It must be a full healing and a complete restoration, which is sought through struggles and tears and repentance and longing for God. There are no quick fixes for indwelling sin. I must be killing it daily or it will kill me.

“My joy is gone; grief is upon me; my heart is sick within me.” (8.18 )

I struggle so much with being ungrieved by the lostness of others. I become judgmental of those who do evil in their ignorance of the light and so my heart is hardened against their condemnation instead of being moved to tears as it should. I long to be able to ache with the lost, to be moved to action by their hopeless state, to lose my jadedness at their condition. If the Lord had not shown me mercy I wouldn’t be here. Let me show mercy and go forth to fulfill the commandments of my Lord.

(This post is the next in a series of posts containing my first blush reactions to passages I come across in the reading of Scripture. I am currently going straight through the book of Jeremiah and will be sharing with you which verses the Spirit causes to jump out at me and the unrevised, unpolished feelings which they invoke.)

“Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’-only to go on doing all these abominations?” (7.9,10)

My own arrogance sometimes, and the arrogance of Western Christianity in general, astounds me as we go about doing “whatever the hell” we want to, only to show up on Sunday and say “God, you are great!”, yet just as quickly run back into our earlier deeds. God’s grace is good and is unmerited, but what assurance of faith can I have if a “love” for God and a knowledge of his commandments does not compel me to obedience? We are so quick to tell others not to judge us, but how can we even bear our own judgment in doing these things if truly we are Christians?

“Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel.” (7.12)

God’s Word gives testimony to his wrath so that I can know what awaits a disobedient life. There is a sense in which we can go overboard and attribute all affliction as active punishment for sin, but at the same time there is a very real way in which God’s wrath is poured out on unrighteousness. We have the Bible for a reason. There is an extent to which God is saying “Obey or else!”, and far from being an evil despot, God’s judgment is just against us and all our iniquity.

“And I will silence in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, for the land shall become a waste.” (7.34)

God commands that the Gospel be taken all places but he never directs that it must persist there. Thus we should be aware that it is possible for God to remove his presence from a people and voice from a community if hearts are hardened in disobedience against him. We should not be so arrogant as to assume that God’s hand of blessing will always stay on us. We must constantly be in an act of worship and devotion, of obedience and killing of sins in the flesh, so that God’s name will be revered and not reviled in our land. It is the complacency and lukewarmness of our hearts which spiral us into the position of occupying God’s contempt.