For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)
Question 4: What is God?[i] Answer: God is Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth. The answer to question 4 is a head full, but then again how does one sum up God in one sentence? The difference between infinite and eternal is that “eternal” has do with the fact that God has no beginning or end. “Infinite” has to do with the fact that God is not limited in any fashion. Hence, he is all-knowing, all-powerful, and omni-present. There is nothing God cannot do. But all the attributes described above can be described with one word. It’s what theologians call transcendence. God is transcendent. It means that God is far above our comprehension or understanding. In Isaiah 55:8-9 God says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” God is beyond our human understanding. This is simply because we have no frame of reference for fully understanding God. We have no idea what it means to be eternal, to have no beginning or end. Everything we know of has a beginning, and all things come to an end. Nothing lasts forever. We have no idea what it means to be all-knowing. The idea that God knows every human thought of every mind on the face of the planet, past, present, and future, and that none of it is confused in the mind of God, is a complete mystery to us. But that is God. This is the God we serve and pray to, and this is the God who cares about us, so much so that he sent his Son into the world to die on the cross for sinners when he did not have to. That God is beyond our comprehension is not something that should create fear or uneasiness within us, but should bring us great comfort, knowing that our lives are in the hands of someone who is not just a bigger version of ourselves, but in the hands of the one who spoke the universe into existence by the power of his word. [i] “A Catechism with Proofs” by Charles Haddon Spurgeon
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The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. (Ecclesiastes 12:13)
Question 3: What do the Scriptures principally teach?[i] Answer: The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man. In our church statement of faith, we say we believe scripture has “God for its author, His glory for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.” For the purpose of this discussion, the point is that all scripture has God’s “glory for its end;” that is, the ultimate goal of scripture is to exalt the glory of God, and that Christ is “the focus of divine revelation;” that is, all scripture is about Christ from beginning to end, Genesis 1 to Revelation 22. It is all about Him. Christ walks through the pages of all of scripture. In John 5:39 Jesus says to his Jewish audience, “You search the [Old Testament] Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me.” The Old Testament is all about Jesus. And to be even more clear, he then says to them that “if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me” (v.46). Moses wrote the first five books of the Old Testament (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) and Jesus says those books are about him. Thus, the scriptures “principally teach what man is to believe concerning God [specifically Christ], and what duty God requires of man.” Ecclesiastes 12:13 says, “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” The whole duty of man, the thing that we should strive for most, our main goal and purpose in life, should be to “fear God and keep his commandments.” Toward this end all our prayers and striving should be. [i] “A Catechism with Proofs” compiled by Charles Haddon Spurgeon All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, [notice] that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
Question 2: What rule has God given to direct us how we may glorify him?[i] Answer: The Word of God which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify God and enjoy him. The Bible makes clear that everything needed for us to know God and to know how to please and glorify God is given to us in the pages of scripture. This is why it is so vitally important that Christians read, meditate on, and memorize God’s word every day. We are told in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, [notice] that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” To be fully prepared, fully equipped, for everything life throws at us, everything we need to know can be found in God’s word. This is because all scripture is “breathed out by God.” Those four words in the Greek New Testament are actually just one word--theopneustos. It is a compound word derived from two Greek words, theos: God + pneustos: breath. Thus, every word of scripture is the very breath of God. Scripture is God speaking to us in the here and now. It is for this reason Paul instructs the church in Corinth “not to go beyond what is written” (1 Cor. 4:6). Everything we need to know about living life in this world and living a life that glorifies and honors God is to be found in the study of God in the pages of God’s word (2 Peter 1:3). A great example of this is when Jesus successfully fends off the attacks of the devil during his wilderness temptations. He does so by quoting scripture to the devil. This works because God’s word is a weapon, “sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow” (Heb. 4:12, Eph 6:17). God’s word is an offensive weapon for the believer against the devil, but we can’t quote scripture to the devil if we don’t know scripture, if we have not hidden God’s word in our hearts that we might not sin against Him (Ps. 119:11). [i] “A Catechism with Proofs” by Charles Haddon Spurgeon “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). Question 1: What is the chief end of man?[i]
Answer: Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. In Isaiah 43:6-7 God says, “I will say to the north, ‘Give up,’ and to the south, ‘Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory.” All people have been created for God’s glory; that is, all people exist and were created by God for the expressed purpose of living a life that honors Him and worships Him as the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. He is the one who has not only saved our soul from hell (if you are a believer), but is the one from whom all blessings come into our lives. It is for this reason Paul writes, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). In everything we do, say, and think, we should strive to glorify and honor God, for that is why we were created and exist. And in light of all that God has done for us, he deserves our worship and honor and glory. But not only were we created to glorify God, but that in glorifying God, we might come to truly enjoy God and find our greatest joy and delight in God. The psalmist says in Psalm 16:11, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” God wants us to be joyful. He simply desires that we find and experience fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore in Him. The Christian life is not about obedience to God’s commands, about living your life by a list of rules. It’s about glorifying God and finding your greatest joy and delight in him. [i] “A Catechism with Proofs” by Charles Haddon Spurgeon Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Rom 12:2) As a young believer, one of the ways I learned a tremendous amount about God and the Bible was through the reading of historical confessions of faith, such as the 1611 and 1689 London Baptist Confessions of Faith and the Westminster Confession of Faith. I also learned a great deal through the reading of historic catechisms such as the Westminster and Heidelberg catechisms. One of those I was very blessed by was a Baptist catechism compiled by the 19th century British preacher, Charles Spurgeon. And in light of the past five Daily Thoughts, I thought I would share my experience with all of you and every day, over the next eighty-two days, take us through each question of Spurgeon’s catechism. I was greatly blessed the first time I went though it. I am sure I will be doubly blessed going through it again. If you are not familiar with reading catechisms, you can download Charles Spurgeon’s here. Many Christians tend to shy away from catechisms, believing they’re a hangover from Roman Catholicism. But throughout Church history catechisms and catechizing have been used to teach not only children but adults as well. The word "catechize" simply means to instruct systematically, especially through questions, answers, and explanations. And scripture makes clear that sanctification is the process by which the Holy Spirit transforms our minds first, which then leads to a transformation of character. In Romans 12:2 scripture says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Sanctification occurs by first having our minds informed, and then the Holy Spirit does the rest. Thus, I hope you will join me in being transformed by the renewal of our minds through the word of God.
As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: (1 Pet. 4:10) If you have read the last four posts regarding “Basics of Spiritual Maturity,” then you may be thinking you’re doing all right. You pray regularly, read God’s word regularly and strive to memorize and meditate on it, and you faithfully attend church every week. Where many regularly church attending, Bible reading, prayer warriors drop the ball is in the fourth area—serving. Like church attendance, many Christians think serving within the church, serving the body of Christ, is optional. Thus, for years they treat church like it’s a spiritual sauna. They attend church every week for years, laying back, soaking up the worship music, the prayers, and the message preached, all the while giving nothing in return. It’s for this reason it has often been said that church ministry is like a football game where you have twenty-two men on the field desperately in need of rest being cheered on by 50,000 spectators desperately in need of exercise. Yet, the Bible commands Christians to be actively serving the body. First Peter 4:10 says, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace” (emphasis added). Notice that Peter assumes every believer has received a gift he can use “to serve one another.” He says, “As each has received a gift…” He does not say, “if you have received a gift” but “as each has received a gift.” Every Christian has a gift (whether they realize it or not), an ability, a talent, they can use to serve the greater body of believers. Thus, every believer should find a place within the local body to serve the broader body of believers. But how does this benefit us? How does serving within the church help us grow in our sanctification and Christian character? Since we are all members of the same body (1 Cor 12) then as we minister to the body of believers, we are ministering to our own body. We are ministering to ourselves. And as each member seeks to serve the body and to help the body become healthy and strong, then we all become healthy and strong together. It’s a group effort with reciprocal benefits. If you love yourself and if you love the body, the body of Christ, the bride of Christ, then you should want to serve the body and help the body reach spiritual maturity (Eph 4:11-16).
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Heb. 10:24-25) As we continue discussing the four basic elements for reaching spiritual maturity, the third element is fellowship. While this seems very elementary, there is this dangerous idea that has been moving like wildfire throughout evangelical churches during the past half century that seeks to undermine this vitally needed ingredient, that is the idea that we don’t need anyone else to worship God and be in a right and healthy relationship with God, that all we need is a Bible in our hands and the Holy Spirit in our hearts, and we’re doing just fine. This idea has been exacerbated by the Covid pandemic with many churches having to provide Sunday services online, now that the pandemic is lifting, many Christians are thinking they’ll just continue “doing worship” at home. It’s convenient. It’s easy. And it works just as well as being in church in person. The only problem is that it’s not biblical and it’s not healthy. Attending church in person is not optional. It’s commanded. However, we never want to follow God’s commands solely out of a sense of obligation. But it is worth noting that when God issues commands to his people, they are what is best for them. God’s commands are good and helpful to us. Thus, in Hebrews 10:24-25, scripture says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Notice how we are to consider, think about, stirring up one another, encouraging and motivating one another, “to love and good works.” By “not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some.” When the author says, “not neglecting to meet together”, he is not speaking about mid-week home Bible studies or getting together for lunch. In New Testament times, ninety percent of the population was agrarian. In fact, the idea of a forty-hour work week was non-existent. Most people worked their farms from sunrise to sunset, seven days a week. However, Christians began breaking away from their farms on Sunday mornings to gather for worship. Thus, when scripture commands us to not neglect to meet together, as is the habit of some, but instead to encourage one another, it is specifically talking about corporate worship on the Lord’s Day. But this does not mean we should limit our fellowship time with the saints to just Sunday’s. Scripture tells us in many places that if we walk with the wise, we will become wise (Prov 13:20), iron sharpens iron (Prov 27:17), we should look out for each other (Gal 6:1), and we need and are dependent on each other (1 Cor 12:12-26). Regular fellowship (i.e., friendship with believers, hanging out with Christians) is incredibly important to reaching spiritual maturity.
You do not have, because you do not ask. (James 4:2) Among mature believers, prayer most often is the one area they tend to struggle with most. Having a strong consistent prayer life often eludes them. If this is true for mature Christians, then having any semblance of a prayer life is usually nonexistent in young or spiritually immature believers. Yet often this is a prime reason many struggle with life-long nagging sins. The battle with sin, the battle to mortify our sin nature and become more like Christ in our behavior, attitude, and outlook, is a spiritual battle. It is a battle of the heart, mind, and soul. And the only one who has the power to truly fix that is God, and yet so often we fail to go to God consistently and ask for help. James says, “You do not have, because you do not ask” (4:2). It’s a simple concept. We struggle with certain sins because we do not come to God in prayer and ask him to help us with those sins. And among those believers who do pray regularly, often they are good at praying for the needs of others but rarely pray specifically for themselves. Rarely do we pray, “Lord, help me to be more humble. Help me to possess and display humility. Help me to be more patient, more loving, more kind. Lord God, help me to be like Christ in every way.” Thus, James tells us that our problem is that we do not ask and even when we do ask, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” In other words, even when we do ask God for help, our prayers are not answered because we ask with sinful motives. We want to be more like Christ so that others will think better of us, so that we’ll be asked to be an elder or deacon within the church, so my husband will do what I want him to do. God will not answer those kinds of prayers. There is only one legitimate reason to ask God to help us mortify our sin and become more like Christ—for the glory of Christ. That Christ might be honored and glorified on our lives. To reach spiritual maturity we need to spend quality time in God’s word every day, and we need to spend deep time in prayer every day, pleading with God to help us mortify our sin and make us more like Christ.
Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4) Whenever someone comes to me for counsel regarding some spiritual struggle they are dealing with, the first question I always ask is: What is your daily Bible reading like? To my amazement they most often respond with an answer like, ‘Not very good,’ ‘sporadic’ or ‘nonexistent.’ Even though Jesus made clear that “man does not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matt 4:4), many Christians rarely engage in daily Bible reading. But if we understand the importance eating physical food every day to maintain good physical health, then it stands to reason that we should be consuming spiritual food (God’s word) every day to sustain good spiritual health. No one would think to eat just two or three times a week, so also we must not read God’s word just two or three times per week—but daily. Everyday we need to be reading, meditating on, and memorizing God’s word. The Bible tells us that God has “granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us” (2 Pet. 1:3). Everything we need to know for living life in this world and for godliness; i.e., for preparing for the next life, comes to us through the “knowledge of him who called us;” i.e., through the knowledge of God. So also, the Bible tells us that all scripture comes to us from God and is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work”--complete and equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17). Yet, even those who do read their Bibles every day, often skip around, reading their Bibles in bits and pieces, here and there, as though the Bible were a potpourri of wisdom saying without any rhyme or reason to their order. However, the Bible is designed to teach us about Christ and tells the story of redemptive history from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22. Thus, the Bible should be read in order. Not necessarily from cover to cover, but at least from the end of one book to the end of that same book. I recommend new believers read the gospel of John first, one chapter at a time. Then they should go to the beginning of Matthew and begin reading one chapter at a time, reading every day, through the entire New Testament. Then when they are done with the New Testament, they should start in Genesis, but not read the entire Old Testament straight through, but read two books from the Old and one from the New; i.e., Genesis, Exodus, Matthew, Leviticus, Numbers, Mark, and so on and so forth. But whatever method one employs, entire books of the Bible need to be read from start to finish, the Bible needs to be read every day, and one should spend more time in the New Testament than in the Old.
For everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. (Heb. 5:13-14) More and more I come across Christians who have been believers for years and yet have never been given basic discipleship instructions. The result is that they flounder in their faith, struggling to grow in their sanctification, never moving beyond infantile Christian maturity. They have been walking with the Lord for years, and yet they live as though they got saved just last week. Thus, today and over the next four days, my daily thoughts will cover some basic discipleship principles. And it’s not complicated or difficult to grow in one’s sanctification. There are really only four basic principles to follow. Like the four basic food groups (meat, grains, dairy, fruits/vegetables) which keep our physical bodies healthy when consumed in a balanced manner, so also there are four basic spiritual food groups which need to be taken in equal proportions to keep our souls spiritually healthy and growing. These are God’s word, prayer, fellowship, and serving. We will talk about each of these over the next four days, but the basic premise is this, when God saves us, when we become born again, we are given new life (John 3:3-8). Like a newborn babe, we need to eat in order to feed our souls and grow healthy and strong. But we also need to eat a well-balanced diet. An infant who is only given milk and is never eventually introduced to proteins, grains, fruits, vegetables, etc., will not grow healthy and will not survive very long. So also, the baby Christian who only engages in one of the four basic spiritual food groups, to the neglect of the other three, will not be spiritually healthy and will never reach spiritual maturity. This is what the author if Hebrews discusses when he writes, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (5:12-14). It is fine to start with milk as baby Christians, but eventually it is necessary to move on from that in order to reach full spiritual maturity.
Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. (1 Pet. 2:13-14) We live in a day and age when Christians can really struggle with submitting to our government. This is especially true in the United States where the government is becoming more and more anti-Christian and more amoral every day. I hear Christians talk of refusing to pay taxes, of refusing to wear Covid masks in places where signs are clearly posted, of refusing to register their firearms in states where it is required, and a host of other subtle forms of rebellion. Yet, the apostle Peter writes in 1 Peter 2:13-14, “Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.” What is interesting is that Peter writes this during a time when the Roman government was actively persecuting Christians (see 1 Peter 1:1). What is also interesting to note is the reason he gives they should be willing to submit to the Roman government— “for the Lord’s sake.” This is because the fruit of the Spirit, the evidence of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, the evidence of the transforming power of the gospel, is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23), not hate, anger, rebellion, intolerance, hostility, rudeness, insubordination, harshness, and divisiveness. When Christians think and behave the way the world thinks and behaves, it brings dishonor to God and discredits the gospel. Thus, Peter goes on to say, “For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.” That is, honor the current President of the United States. Honor the current Speaker of the House. Respect and submit to the government God has placed over us. We do this “for the Lord’s sake.”
For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. (Ps. 62:1-2) So often when we go through difficult times in life our first instinct is to react, to do, to begin figuring out how to solve the problem. Yet when David found himself going through turmoil, through some sort of tribulation, he writes things like Psalm 62:1, “For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.” His soul waits in silence for God. He remains still. He focuses on God. He goes to God in prayer and through his word. He finds rest and peace and comfort in knowing that his salvation, his rescue, comes from God. It’s the imagery of be out in the middle of the Pacific, stranded on a boat whose engine has died leaving you adrift at sea. But then being told over the radio the U.S. Navy knows your location and is on its way. The fretting and worrying would immediately cease. You might even decide to make lunch, lay out on the deck. There is nothing to do now but simply relax and wait for them to arrive. David is so confident that God is looking out for him, that God will take care of him, that he simply “waits in silence.” How is this possible? “He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken” (v.2). David sees himself as standing on the Rock of Gibraltar while the storm rages around him. Yes, there is a storm raging, the wind is howling, the sea is pounding, but David is standing on the solid rock who is God. Thus, he will not be “greatly shaken.” He might be a little shaken, as much as we would be if we were standing on the Rock of Gibraltar in the middle of a raging storm. The wind is sure to move us some and make it difficult to stand, but so long as we are standing on that rock we will survive the storm. Thus, so long as we are standing on the rock of God, the winds of life may pummel us and push us around a bit, but we will survive the storm.
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:6-7) In the book of 1 Peter, the apostle is writing this letter to Christians who have been persecuted and are suffering for their faith. They have had to flee from their home cities and so he addresses them as the “elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” (1:1). But whether we are experiencing suffering for our faith or simply because we live in a fallen world and thus are experiencing the suffering of pain, disease, death of a loved one, financial ruin or anything else, suffering is never easy and always unpleasant. Yet one benefit from suffering is that it vindicates and fortifies our faith. This is the point Peter is hoping to get his readers to see when he writes, “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (vv.6-7). Peter encourages them to rejoice in their suffering because when the genuineness of their faith is tested by fire and shown to be pure and true, it will “result in praise and glory and honor” to Christ. Thus, when God brings us through difficult times, when he brings us through suffering, and we cling to Christ and remain faithful and true to him, and we do not abandon him, and he brings us through on the other side, the result is twofold: (1) it proves the “genuineness of your faith” and shows that you truly belong to God, and (2) it brings “praise and glory and honor” to Christ by showing to the world that God is real and faithful and true.
Therefore the LORD brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon. (2 Chr. 33:11) There is an interesting story found in 2 Chronicles 33, and it’s the story of Manasseh ascending to the throne of Judah (southern Israel). We are told there that Manasseh was a horrible king, very wicked. He did everything he was not supposed to do, and nothing he should have done. “He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD” (v.2). The result is that we are told that God caused the army of Assyria to invade the kingdom of Judah and capture Manasseh and lead him away in chains to Babylon. But then we are told that when Manasseh “was in distress, he entreated the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God” (vv.12-13). God brought physical misery and suffering into his life and Manasseh humbled himself before God, turned to the Lord, and came to recognize that the LORD is God. While suffering in this life is not always the punishment of God for sins (e.g., Job), suffering always has the effect of turning our attention toward God. It causes us to look within ourselves and ask the question, ‘Is there something wrong in my life?’ ‘Is there some sin I need to repent from?’ Asking these sort of questions is never a bad thing. We should always be examining our own lives and seeing whether or not we are walking in line with God’s word, whether we are walking with the Spirit or resisting the Holy Spirit. In short, suffering is really a blessing, be it spiritual, emotional, or physical anguish, because it forces us to look outside of ourselves, to look to God for aid, comfort, and strength. Without suffering we would have no need for God.
Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger (James 1:19) Pastor John MacArthur once rightly said, “A proud self-esteeming ego is easily angered.” This is the reason we tend to get so easily angered when others insult us, offend us, say hurtful words to us, or simply speak to us, look at us, or treat us in a way or with a tone we don’t think we should be treated with or want to be treated. Most, if not all, people have an overinflated opinion of themselves. We believe we deserve to be treated or spoken to in a certain way, and we are not only offended when others do not treat us or speak to us in the way “we know” we should be treated, we are offended they do not hold the same lofty opinion of us that we do of ourselves. Thus, James says “let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” (1:19). But why? “For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” In the Bible we see God getting angry on many occasions, but God is holy and pure and righteous and just. Thus, when God gets angry, it is always for a good and just reason. Humans, by contrast, are unholy and sinful and wicked and unjust. Thus, when we get angry, it is almost always for sinful, ungodly, unrighteous, and unholy reasons. This is why James says the “anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” Nothing good rarely comes from the anger of man—the anger of sinful humans. “Therefore,” he goes on to say, “put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” Anger almost always stems from filthiness and wickedness in our hearts, and we need to put these things aside and humbly bow before God’s word and receive God’s word in our hearts. To deal with anger, we need more of God’s word.
For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. (James 3:7-8) In James chapter 3, he spends most of his time talking about the tongue and how it needs to be controlled. Yet he is not just talking about cursing people, though he is certainly including that (v.9). He is also talking about using our tongue, our speech, our words, to lash out at people, to hurt people, to gossip about or slander people. He rightly says “the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness” (vv.5-6). The tongue is a volatile, dangerous, and powerful weapon. In fact, much of the chaos and turmoil we are witnessing in the world today is the result of an untamed tongue. All wars in the history of the world, and all social and cultural unrest have been brought about by the communication of ideas—ideas which cause division, create enemies, and promote violence. Thus, James says that “every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison” (vv.7-8). This deadly poison has become even deadlier in the age of social media and the internet. Now every person with a smartphone has the potential to reach millions of people with their divisive and hurtful words and ideas. But before we think this blog post does not apply to us because we don’t ever get on social media, how often do we hurt those closest to us, those within our own family or homes, with our tongue, our hurtful words and ideas? We need to keep in mind what James is reminding us of, that when we hurt others with our words, we are hurting those “who are made in the likeness of God” (v.9). To insult or hurt with our words those who are made in the image of God is to insult God himself.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. (Matt. 22:37) I meet people all the time who tell me they are Christian, that they said the “sinner’s prayer” and were baptized. And yet, after getting to know them, it becomes evident that there is little to no evidence of the transforming power of the gospel in their lives. There is no discernable difference between how they live and how the rest of the world lives. But Jesus said that the first and greatest commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind,” and then he says in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Love for God manifests itself in a life lived out in obedience to God’s word. This does not mean that we earn our way to heaven. Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. No good works are necessary. However, as the Reformers were so fond of saying, “Salvation is by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone.” If we have truly acknowledged our sin to God, if we have truly experienced remorse for our sin and have repented from those sins, and if we have truly believed and embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ for ourselves, then we will have a natural heartfelt desire to study God’s word, to know God, and to live in obedience to God’s word and for the glory of Christ. Once we comprehend what Christ has done for us, the true believer cannot help but desire to pour himself or herself out in service to Christ.
My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. (James 2:1) Today there is a lot of talk about racism and anti-racism and Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality and the problem of racism within the church and what is to be done about it. How do we as the Church deal with it? Where do we find the answer to root it out? Do we need to go outside of scripture? The Bible and the Church have been around for a long time and yet racism has not been eradicated, even within the Church. Some argue this is because the Bible does not explicitly deal with the problem of racism. Or, does it? In James chapter two, scripture says, “My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ while you say to the poor man, ‘You stand over there,’ or, ‘Sit down at my feet,’ have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” While James is using as an example the problem of showing preferential treatment to those of higher economic class and treating with disdain those of poor economic standing, this is just an example he is using. What cannot be missed is that as believers, within the church and outside of the church, we are commanded to “show no partiality” and to make no “distinctions” among people based on economic status, education, race, ethnicity, gender, or appearance (i.e., tattoos vs. no tattoos, coat and tie vs. casual clothing, clean vs. dirty, etc.). The second Great Commandment is to “love your neighbor as yourself.” Thus, to violate the second Great Commandment is to violate the first Great Commandment. In other words, you cannot truly love God with all your heart, mind, and soul if you do not truly love your neighbor as yourself.
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,... (James 1:2) We don’t have to live long before we begin to realize that life is a constant uphill climb. We talk about mountain tops and valleys but for many, life in the valley is the norm and mountain top experiences are the exception, and becoming a Christian does not always change that. Quite often becoming a follower of Christ can increase the number of valleys we go through and the length of time we spend there. To be fair, there are times when these valleys are man-made, when we create the hole we are in. Nevertheless, the struggle is real; the hole is deep, and the future looks bleak. These are the times when holding to a high view of scripture matters. Because if scripture is not the authoritative and trustworthy word of God, then there is no place to go, no place to turn. But if it is--and it is—then we can go to places like James 1:2-4 and find great comfort and encouragement for living life in the here and now. There we are told to “count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” The Greek word for 'steadfastness' is an interesting word as it is the word hupomoné and carries the meaning of strength, perseverance or endurance. Thus, like the long-distance runner, the more we run, the farther we run, the stronger we become and the farther we are able to keep going. But getting in shape to be a long-distance runner takes time and suffering and pain. Ultimately this is what God is doing in us. He is strengthening our faith and trust in him so that we can go further and endure more. And thus, we are told to “let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” By “let steadfastness have its full effect,” James means that we should not resist or murmur against what God is doing in us and through us and for us, so that we might be “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? (Psalm 13:1-2) We can all struggle with bouts of depression from time to time. Falling into a time of grief or sorrow or depression or discouragement does not necessarily mean a person lacks faith. Throughout the history of the church there have been great and godly men who have had bouts with depression from time to time (e.g., Jonathan Edwards and Charles Spurgeon). We even see examples of this in the Bible among the saints of God’s people. Psalm 13 is just such one example. There David writes, “How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day?” We can’t know for certain what David was struggling with, but one thing is for certain, he feels as though God has forgotten him and he is wondering how much longer this will go on. How much longer must he take counsel in his own soul or have sorrow in his heart? He then cries out to God and says, “Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,…” David fears he is slipping into a dark place from which he may never return. So what does he do about it? What is his response to this dark place he finds himself in? “But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me” (vv.5-6). Three things he will do. First, he will trust in the steadfast love of God. Regardless of what he is going through, he knows God still loves him and is looking out for him. Second, he will rejoice in the Lord’s salvation. If nothing else, he knows he can be thankful that this life is not all there is, that when this life is over, whenever that is, he will spend eternity in the presence of the living God. And third, he will reflect on the many ways God has dealt bountifully with him. He will count his blessings. He will choose to focus on the positives God has brought into his life and not focus on the negatives.
He will be like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. (Psalm 1:3) Life can be described as moving from one challenge to another. It has often been said that just when you think you are getting ahead of the rat race…the rats get bigger. The result is that life often seems like a vicious cycle of ups and downs, eb and flow, mountain tops and valleys. We read about having joy and contentment in the Christian life, but somehow these things always seem illusive to us, always just beyond our reach. This is where Psalm 1 can be so incredibly helpful. There the psalmist writes, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.” In other words, blessed, happy, joyful, content, is the man who does not live like the rest of the world, who does not try and keep up with the Jones’, but instead immerses himself in God’s word “day and night.” When he does this, the end result will be that he will be “like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.” That is, even when the driest of life’s droughts come our way, when life seems to be leading us through the Sahara Desert, in the midst of life’s dry and cracked barren land, those who meditate on God’s word both day and night will be “like a tree planted by streams of water.” Lush, green, and healthy. We will stand tall and firm, with our roots sunk deep into the promises of God from which we cannot be moved.
Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not? (Mk. 12:14) We live in a world and in a nation where our government is becoming increasingly more evil at a blinding rate of speed. They advocate for and are pushing through legislation which promotes the murder of over a million unborn babies every year in the United States alone, laws which seek to protect and promote abortion clinics, which promote and push for the homosexual agenda, desiring to teach homosexuality in schools to the youngest of children, laws which create racial tension rather than heal it, laws which seek to suppress religious freedom rather than protect it. The result is that it is becoming more difficult for Christians to support our government through loyalty and finances. It’s times like these that make Jesus’ words even more poignant. In Mark 12 we read the story of the Pharisees coming to Jesus and asking him if they should pay taxes to Caesar or not? Keep in mind, in first century Israel the Roman army was an occupying force who were using the Jewish tax dollars to maintain their army in Israel, to desecrate the Temple, and to stifle Jewish freedoms. And yet Jesus says to them, “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it” (v.15). When they do, he asks them whose “likeness and inscription” is on it? They say to him, “Caesar's.” And then Jesus says to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” He does not tell them not to pay taxes. He does, however, essentially tell them they should worry less about their tax dollars, and be more concerned about how they spend their time and how they live their lives. Give the government their taxes, as it has been instituted by God (Rom 13:1) and give God the whole of your life as you have been created in his image.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. (Psalm 1:3) Life can be described as moving from one challenge to another. It has often been said that just when you think you are getting ahead of the rat race…the rats get bigger. The result is that life often seems like a vicious cycle of ups and downs, eb and flow, mountain tops and valleys. We read about having joy and contentment in the Christian life, but somehow these things always seem illusive to us, always just beyond our reach. This is where Psalm 1 can be so incredibly helpful. There the psalmist writes, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.” In other words, blessed, happy, joyful, content, is the man who does not live like the rest of the world, who does not try and keep up with the Jones’, but instead immerses himself in God’s word “day and night.” When he does this, the end result will be that he will be “like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.” That is, even when the driest of life’s droughts come our way, when life seems to be leading us through the Sahara Desert, in the midst of life’s dry and cracked barren land, those who meditate on God’s word both day and night will be “like a tree planted by streams of water.” Lush, green, and healthy. We will stand tall and firm, with our roots sunk deep into the promises of God from which we cannot be moved.
Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Rom. 7:24) Why is the Christian life so difficult? Why is doing the right thing, living a life that is pleasing to God, so incredibly hard? Sin. The old person dies hard. And sin, temptation, is a powerful attraction. I am not just referring to the big grievous sins, but to the subtle sins we battle with, the emotions and thoughts we struggle with that cause us to treat people in ways we inevitably regret. Why is it so hard to not be selfish, to not be self-centered, to not think what we want is more important than what others want? Why is it so difficult to place ourselves in other people’s shoes and see things from their perspective? Sin is blinding. It is debilitating, paralyzing, and causes us to think and behave irrationally. This is what Paul describes in Romans 7:15-19. “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” How many believers experience this almost constantly? The very thing they don’t want to do, the way they no longer want to treat people, the very thoughts they no longer want to entertain, are the very things, behavior, and thoughts they keep on doing. They want to live for God and yet they keep doing the very things they do not want to do. So what do we do about this? We keep doing all we can to mortify the sin that indwells us and we remember the words of Paul: “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (vv.24-25). In the end, we thank and praise God that Christ has done it all for us! He earned the perfect righteousness for us which God’s law demands and he died as the perfect sacrifice for our sins which God’s justice demands. And in that we find great comfort and peace.
And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. (Luke 18:1) Praying consistently and fervently can be difficult for many Christians. We can sometimes wonder if our prayers ever reach beyond the ceiling. But in Luke 18, Jesus provides us with a parable designed to encourage us and to spur us on in our prayer life. In fact, Luke introduces the parable by saying that Jesus “told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” He then relates how Jesus goes on to tell the story of a persistent widow who goes to a judge “who neither feared God nor respected man.” Thus, this judge is a wicked person who cares only about himself. And so, this widow knows that if she is ever going to get this judge to respond to her pleas, it is not going to be by appealing to his mercy or sense of justice. Thus, she keeps hounding him and bothering him and asking for justice. Finally, after a while, the judge says to himself, “Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.” This wicked judge who cares nothing about anyone or God gives her what she wants because of her persistent asking. Then Jesus says, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily.” In other words, if an unrighteous and wicked judge is willing to grant this woman’s request because of her continual asking, how much more will God, who is righteous and just and holy, grant the request of those who come to him consistently and persistently? Keep praying. Never give up.
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