Albert Mohler is the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, as well as occupying an upper-shelf among Baptist scholars these days. Get to know him, grow to love him. Here is an article he posted today about the waning strength of the rabid pro-abortion people. Turns out, the abortion movement has voluntarily eliminated its own stock of younger voters and activists. Who knew?! Conversely, folks actually having babies tend to be pro-life, and guess what? They tend to raise children who share their beliefs. The irony is so thick you can eat it with a fork...but use a spoon to get every drop.
On another, somewhat less hopeful note, my favorite living writer, Doug Wilson, lists 7 Reasons Why Your Taxes Will Go Up in the near future. In another in a long parade of worthy things to read from pastor Wilson, here is why Christianity seems so political all the time these days.
On another completely unrelated note, consider this:
When faced with the Gospel testimonies, skeptics take one of two tacts (and then alternate between them as the situation seems to warrant.)
1. They say that the Gospels cannot be inerrant Scripture, because the writers include different details about the same event, sometimes in a manner that makes reconciliation of the accounts a serious task. Did the Centurion go out to Jesus in Matthew 8, or did he merely send servants? What's the order of the events on the day of Christ's resurrection? Etc.
or
2. They say that when the Gospels put the same events in the same order, and even use the exact same language and word order to describe them, well, then, that obviously means that Luke copied from Mark, or whatever.
At some point, these kinds of complaints begin to sound like what they are: grasping at straws in order to avoid the truth of the matter.
Either the Scripture includes too many disparate details, or it is in too much agreement about the details. Either way is good for the unbeliever. Any port in a storm.
"The Bible isn't inspired because the details vary!"
"The Bible isn't inspired because the details are the same!"
This is throwing every argument like a plate of spaghetti against the wall and desperately hoping something sticks.
How dumb would Matthew and Luke need to be, really, to copy large sections from Mark's gospel (which all the super smart guys think they did) but to then go ahead and leave some accounts of some things different? I mean, if they're copying in the first place, wouldn't that be for the purpose of making sure that they all got their stories straight? So why not go the whole nine and eliminate every instance of variance?
Friday, April 30, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Hey Look! More Stairs!
I have been informed that a Presbyterian Church (USA) in our region is planning a special sort of service this morning.
One of the children of the congregation, a 10 year old girl, will be leading the entire service, including the performance of all the liturgy and preaching the "sermon." When asked what her sermon was going to be about, she responded, "Hugs." About the time you think that Christianity has become as irrelevant and trivial as it possibly could (and voluntarily so, by its own devices) we find more stairs leading downward.
Okay, I want to make it clear that I know this little girl and her family. They are all very likeable, very decent people. You would enjoy being around them.
So please don't hear me saying something overly personal about them in this.
I just want to point out that this incident, if it indeed happens (and I see no reason why it won't,) really shows the depths to which the PC(USA) has sunk. It's not that the little girl is a bad girl: as little girls go, she's quite nice actually. But she has no business in a pulpit, no business leading the corporate worship of God's people, no business preaching.
The sad thing is that the people at this church are ALL really nice folks. You'd enjoy their company.
But if they read or hear of this post, I will likely be a villain and a bad guy for pointing out that this is outrageous evidence that they have all "lost the plot," Biblically speaking. Just because a group of genuinely nice people get together and agree to do something in church, that doesn't make it right.
My issue here is not with who the little girl is, or who her family is: I happen to like all of them, and have been on friendly terms with them. My issue is with a church agreeing that being led in worship by a 10 year old could be a good thing, in any universe. However cute and adorable her talk about hugs will be, this will be true: the Gospel of Jesus Christ will not be preached there. God will not be glorified in it. The Word of God will be denigrated in it.
And all the nice folks will rave and gush about how adorable it was. Not one of them will have any twinge of Scriptural conscience nagging at them, to the effect that maybe something wrong is happening here. Maybe the corporate worship of the Lord Almighty ought to be about something a little more profound. Those thoughts will pass through no one's mind this morning in that place.
That's the tragedy.
One of the children of the congregation, a 10 year old girl, will be leading the entire service, including the performance of all the liturgy and preaching the "sermon." When asked what her sermon was going to be about, she responded, "Hugs." About the time you think that Christianity has become as irrelevant and trivial as it possibly could (and voluntarily so, by its own devices) we find more stairs leading downward.
Okay, I want to make it clear that I know this little girl and her family. They are all very likeable, very decent people. You would enjoy being around them.
So please don't hear me saying something overly personal about them in this.
I just want to point out that this incident, if it indeed happens (and I see no reason why it won't,) really shows the depths to which the PC(USA) has sunk. It's not that the little girl is a bad girl: as little girls go, she's quite nice actually. But she has no business in a pulpit, no business leading the corporate worship of God's people, no business preaching.
The sad thing is that the people at this church are ALL really nice folks. You'd enjoy their company.
But if they read or hear of this post, I will likely be a villain and a bad guy for pointing out that this is outrageous evidence that they have all "lost the plot," Biblically speaking. Just because a group of genuinely nice people get together and agree to do something in church, that doesn't make it right.
My issue here is not with who the little girl is, or who her family is: I happen to like all of them, and have been on friendly terms with them. My issue is with a church agreeing that being led in worship by a 10 year old could be a good thing, in any universe. However cute and adorable her talk about hugs will be, this will be true: the Gospel of Jesus Christ will not be preached there. God will not be glorified in it. The Word of God will be denigrated in it.
And all the nice folks will rave and gush about how adorable it was. Not one of them will have any twinge of Scriptural conscience nagging at them, to the effect that maybe something wrong is happening here. Maybe the corporate worship of the Lord Almighty ought to be about something a little more profound. Those thoughts will pass through no one's mind this morning in that place.
That's the tragedy.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Different Flavors of Faith
The Bible uses a family of fairly similar words to speak of sin: iniquity, transgression, wickedness, lawlessness, perversion, sin, etc. They are roughly equivalent terms, but with enough nuance and slight variation to warrant the separate expressions.
In the same way, the Bible also uses a number of related terms to give full expression to what it means to believe in God. As with the sin family above, these words are very close to one another, and yet varied enough to warrant different expressions.
I have found this a helpful way to think about how "faith" is related to its cousin-words in the Scripture. The different flavors of faith, if you will.
------------
When faith is confronted with the Word of God, it believes what it hears.
When faith hears the promises of God, it trusts.
When faith hears of the absolute holiness of God, it becomes the "fear of the Lord."
When faith hears of God's plans for our future, it hopes.
When faith hears of God's hatred of sin, it repents.
When faith toughs it out over the long haul, it's called perseverance.
When faith is finally confronted with the Object of its longing, it loves eternally.
In the same way, the Bible also uses a number of related terms to give full expression to what it means to believe in God. As with the sin family above, these words are very close to one another, and yet varied enough to warrant different expressions.
I have found this a helpful way to think about how "faith" is related to its cousin-words in the Scripture. The different flavors of faith, if you will.
------------
When faith is confronted with the Word of God, it believes what it hears.
When faith hears the promises of God, it trusts.
When faith hears of the absolute holiness of God, it becomes the "fear of the Lord."
When faith hears of God's plans for our future, it hopes.
When faith hears of God's hatred of sin, it repents.
When faith toughs it out over the long haul, it's called perseverance.
When faith is finally confronted with the Object of its longing, it loves eternally.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Pushing our Doctrine out our Fingertips
As long as I've been preaching, it has not been my practice to publish my sermon notes. There are a lot of reasons for this, maybe the chief being that I can't stand reading other Pastors' blogs out there when they do publish them. YAWN!!
So please forgive me this one exception. I may have gone out of my mind, but I am convinced that you really need to grasp these truths, meditate on them and make them part of you, if you really expect to grow in grace.
Last night's message was titled Four Things You Need to Know to Grow in Grace. The subject was "sanctification," the Christian's practical growth in holiness, his gradual conformity to the image of Christ. The text was the whole of Romans 6, but a few verses in particular.
Specifically, I focused on places where Paul lays stress on certain things that we need to think if we expect to be separated from sin. The battle to be more sanctified day-to-day begins within, in the mind. We have to think like God tells us to think before we can hope to act like He tells us to act.
Here are those four places again, with meager suggestions for how they ought to begin to impact our thought-life.
1. Romans 6:3 "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?"
The next couple of verses stress that in our conversion we have been united to Christ. Without this unity, there is no basis for sanctification. His death is our death. His resurrection is our new life.
Hopefully, you recognize that as solid Christian theology. But know this: you will not progress in daily, real-life sanctification until that particular bit of good theology runs through your veins just as surely as plasma.
The person you used to be is dead. That person was crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20.) This must move from being a confession of faith to becoming the very air you breathe.
2. Romans 6:6 "We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin."
You were a slave to sin. Just as there is a sense in which natural death has the power to "free" a person from a state of slavery, so your death with Christ has freed you from that particular master. You no longer have to serve that old one.
In the same way that Christ walked out of the tomb, proving that death no longer had dominion over him (Romans 6:9) so you have been empowered to walk away from the plantation on which you used to serve.
But none of this will happen if you don't get your mind right, and agree to really think that this is true: Your death with Christ has set you free.
3. Romans 6:11 "So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus."
This is the same sort of language, the language of "imputation," that Paul belabors in chapter 4. It is a matter of what you are willing to write down on your own account balance, in a manner of speaking.
In justification, God has imputed righteousness to you, apart from your works. The perfect righteousness of Christ was laid to your account when you were, in point of fact, a flagrant sinner.
Now, you are commanded to do some reckoning yourself: reckon yourself dead to sin and alive to God.
You must do this in the face, in the very teeth, of how it feels sometimes. You must do it in the face of how you perform at times.
You must do it for one reason: God says it is true. You don't do it because that is what it looks like. You don't do it because that's what your experience seems to tell you. But because the Word says it.
If you can't assimilate this truth, make it part of your DNA, kiss your sanctification good-bye.
4. Romans 6:16 "Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are the slaves of the one whom you obey...?"
Only once the above truths are really comprehended, can you make use of this priniciple.
That is, you must understand and believe your position with Christ, your legal standing in the courts of heaven, before you can make the right practical choices and actions for the right reasons.
If all we grasp in this chapter is this verse, this principle, then we will be left with merely a Christianly sort of moralism, where we strive very hard to use our "members" in the right way, outwardly at least. We will find ourselves right back under the law, where every misdeed and each transgression is a proof of alienation from God.
But, if we'll cling to the truths in 1-3 above, and really get them nailed down in our inner being, then when we come to this principle, it is a liberating joy. It becomes the practical principle of our freedom. I don't serve in God's fields of righteousness out of terror, but in thanksgiving for his inward deliverance (Romans 6:17.) The old taskmaster cannot drive me back into his fields, no matter how loud and threatening the crack of his whip. That guy he used to terrify is dead, and I know exactly where he is buried: I have the baptismal certificate to document it.
What a joy now to present my members as instruments of righteousness to a new and gracious Owner.
So please forgive me this one exception. I may have gone out of my mind, but I am convinced that you really need to grasp these truths, meditate on them and make them part of you, if you really expect to grow in grace.
Last night's message was titled Four Things You Need to Know to Grow in Grace. The subject was "sanctification," the Christian's practical growth in holiness, his gradual conformity to the image of Christ. The text was the whole of Romans 6, but a few verses in particular.
Specifically, I focused on places where Paul lays stress on certain things that we need to think if we expect to be separated from sin. The battle to be more sanctified day-to-day begins within, in the mind. We have to think like God tells us to think before we can hope to act like He tells us to act.
Here are those four places again, with meager suggestions for how they ought to begin to impact our thought-life.
1. Romans 6:3 "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?"
The next couple of verses stress that in our conversion we have been united to Christ. Without this unity, there is no basis for sanctification. His death is our death. His resurrection is our new life.
Hopefully, you recognize that as solid Christian theology. But know this: you will not progress in daily, real-life sanctification until that particular bit of good theology runs through your veins just as surely as plasma.
The person you used to be is dead. That person was crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20.) This must move from being a confession of faith to becoming the very air you breathe.
2. Romans 6:6 "We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin."
You were a slave to sin. Just as there is a sense in which natural death has the power to "free" a person from a state of slavery, so your death with Christ has freed you from that particular master. You no longer have to serve that old one.
In the same way that Christ walked out of the tomb, proving that death no longer had dominion over him (Romans 6:9) so you have been empowered to walk away from the plantation on which you used to serve.
But none of this will happen if you don't get your mind right, and agree to really think that this is true: Your death with Christ has set you free.
3. Romans 6:11 "So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus."
This is the same sort of language, the language of "imputation," that Paul belabors in chapter 4. It is a matter of what you are willing to write down on your own account balance, in a manner of speaking.
In justification, God has imputed righteousness to you, apart from your works. The perfect righteousness of Christ was laid to your account when you were, in point of fact, a flagrant sinner.
Now, you are commanded to do some reckoning yourself: reckon yourself dead to sin and alive to God.
You must do this in the face, in the very teeth, of how it feels sometimes. You must do it in the face of how you perform at times.
You must do it for one reason: God says it is true. You don't do it because that is what it looks like. You don't do it because that's what your experience seems to tell you. But because the Word says it.
If you can't assimilate this truth, make it part of your DNA, kiss your sanctification good-bye.
4. Romans 6:16 "Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are the slaves of the one whom you obey...?"
Only once the above truths are really comprehended, can you make use of this priniciple.
That is, you must understand and believe your position with Christ, your legal standing in the courts of heaven, before you can make the right practical choices and actions for the right reasons.
If all we grasp in this chapter is this verse, this principle, then we will be left with merely a Christianly sort of moralism, where we strive very hard to use our "members" in the right way, outwardly at least. We will find ourselves right back under the law, where every misdeed and each transgression is a proof of alienation from God.
But, if we'll cling to the truths in 1-3 above, and really get them nailed down in our inner being, then when we come to this principle, it is a liberating joy. It becomes the practical principle of our freedom. I don't serve in God's fields of righteousness out of terror, but in thanksgiving for his inward deliverance (Romans 6:17.) The old taskmaster cannot drive me back into his fields, no matter how loud and threatening the crack of his whip. That guy he used to terrify is dead, and I know exactly where he is buried: I have the baptismal certificate to document it.
What a joy now to present my members as instruments of righteousness to a new and gracious Owner.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Why You Christians Should Never Sing "The Battle Hymn..."
Three months from now, The Battle Hymn of the Republic will be sung in churches everywhere.
Most people who sing it are completely unaware of its history (written by an unbeliever) and the horrible, gospel-denying theology that it presents.
Here is some information you need to know about it.
Most people who sing it are completely unaware of its history (written by an unbeliever) and the horrible, gospel-denying theology that it presents.
Here is some information you need to know about it.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
The vase, the servant, and the King
It is pretty common for people to imagine Judgment Day in this way:
You are standing before God. It is time to decide your eternal fate. Will it be Heaven or Hell? He takes, as it were, your good deeds and has some way of measuring them or weighing them in comparison to your bad deeds. Think of a giant, golden, two-pan balance, the original and ultimate Scales of Justice.
You have a lot of bad deeds on that balance, embarrassingly so. But...you also did a lot of good stuff.
It's a tense moment for a while as the scales tip one way and then the other. Finally, it comes to rest and the little pointer is visibly (if only barely) tipping toward the good side. Whew! You made it!
There is a hallelujah chorus sung by myriads of angels as the Pearly Gates open and you are welcomed inside.
That's a happy story, and it ends well. Too bad it's a made-up fantasy. Too bad it is not at all an accurate picture of what the Bible teaches about that Day.
Whether or not you receive eternal blessings or eternal torments has nothing to do with whether your good deeds outweigh your sins. That is a fiction. It is not the teaching of the Bible.
If those imaginary Scales of Justice are not an accurate representation of the situation, what would be?
Try this on for size.
Imagine that you are a servant in a great castle somewhere. The King is fantastically rich and powerful and has a reputation for ruthlessly keeping his word at all costs. Though he is not a person to be trifled with, he is good and kind and generous.
The King decides to go on a journey. Before he leaves, he gives out instructions to the servants. He comes to you and places a marvelous vase in your hands. It is very old, covered with gemstones and hand-painted artwork.
He says to you, "This is your most important charge while I am away: You must watch over this vase and keep it safe. That sounds easy enough, but be sure you understand how I feel about this particular treasure. I like you well enough, but this vase is worth many times your own life. Are we clear about this? Keep it safe until I return, and you will be richly rewarded. However, allow it to come to any harm, and your life will be forfeit. Farewell."
The King departs from the castle.
As you are carrying the vase to the safest place you can imagine, you trip and it slips out of your hands and smashes into a million pieces on the stone floor.
Now, you find yourself in a right bitter pickle.
What will you do? Repairing it is impossible. So is replacing it. You could run, but the King has all the resources he needs to find you. You are stuck and the outcome does not look good at all. Your fellow servants start to treat you as if you have leprosy. They don't want to look at you or talk to you: they know you are a walking dead person.
My dear friend, this little story is a much more accurate illustration of your spiritual situation, if you know right now that you are not saved.
Here is how:
The King, of course, is God.
The vase, though, what is that? It is God's law.
God gave the Ten Commandments and fully expects them to be kept.
When you dropped the vase in the story, that represents the first time you ever sinned.
What? you say, How can that be fair? A single sin and the whole thing is smashed?
I'm afraid so. The Bible says, in James 2:10, that "whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all."
Here's why. The Law of God is a unit, an organic whole. If you break one part of it, one time, the whole is broken.
Further, the Law is a reflection of God's character. His rules are not random, but rather they express His own perfect righteousness. He wants us to follow them, in order to be "godly," to immitate God in our lives. When we break even one law, even one time, what that proves is that we are not like Him, because He would never sin even slightly. We are not like God: we are ungodly. A single sin, even one we think is "minor," is enough to prove that.
Once that deed is done, just like the story of the vase, that which is broken is broken. Period. There is no putting it back together. There is no replacing it with some other Law. There is no paying for it with "good deeds." It's smashed.
And the King is coming back. When He does, He will look for you.
What about you? Are you holding the vase intact, or is it smashed at your feet?
Well, let's see.
The Ninth of the Ten Commandments tells us not to lie (because God is always truthful.) So how many lies do you think you've told in your life? If you're like most of us, you lost count long ago.
The Eighth of the Ten Commandments tells us not to steal (because God is generous and provides for all what He says they need.) So, have you ever stolen anything? It doesn't have to be big or valuable. That candy bar or stick of gum when you were little is enough: it's still stealing.
The Seventh commandment forbids adultery (because God is always faithful and keeps His promises.) Have you committed adultery, or had sex with someone you're not married to? If you said no, that doesn't let you off the hook, because Jesus taught that merely lusting after someone in your heart is a sin against this commandment. It is inward adultery, adultery of the heart. So, have you broken that command?
The Sixth command forbids murder. Even if you haven't physically killed anyone, Jesus also taught that hating your brother is the same sort of sin as murder.
That's four out of the Ten Commandments. If you're like the rest of us, that's more than enough to condemn you right there. Take my word for it: you'd fail the other six as well.
God will judge you for your sins one day. He will judge you for how you kept, or broke, His laws.
He has promised to punish all lawbreakers in the afterlife in a place of eternal torment called Hell. You are a lawbreaker.
You're in a right, bitter pickle, eh?
What will you do?
Stop racking your brain trying to think of a clever answer: There's nothing you can do. You are caught. You are found out. You are guilty. God promises not to let the guilty go unpunished.
And yet... even now there is still hope for you, the one who dropped the vase.
How? Because your King, the Lord God of all creation, is not only righteous and just, but He is also merciful, gracious, and kind.
In the story of the vase, imagine now that the King returns. He wants his vase. He hunts you down. All you can offer him is a sack filled with the tiny pieces.
Just as he is about to have his guards take you away to torture and death, his own Son, the Prince, interrupts.
"Wait, Father!" he says, "Please do this servant of yours no harm. The truth is that I am the criminal here. As soon as you left, I took the vase from this person and smashed it myself. This poor, trembling servant is not the one to punish: I am. Please let this one go free, and do to me as you will.."
You are stunned. Why would the Prince do this for you? At this point it hardly matters: what matters is that you have been set free. The Prince has begged to take the punishment that you deserve.
That is a lot like what the Bible says that God has done for you. You broke His laws. You are the guilty one. You deserve Hell.
But because God is rich in mercy, He sent His only Son (the Prince of Peace,) the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus lived the perfect life you should have lived. He never broke a single law, not even once. And then, having done all the will of God, Jesus gave Himself as a substitute in your place. He was crucified and died, punished by God for your own sins, as if He Himself had committed them. The Bible says that God, "made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21)
On the third day, God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, and He was seen by more than 500 eyewitnesses.
Now, what God commands you, and all men, to do is Repent. That's an old-fashioned word that simply means, do a U-turn in your live. Turn away from your sins, hate them with all your heart, and turn to Christ in faith.
Cry out to this merciful and loving Prince who died in your place, and beg Him to forgive your sins.
Friend, this is truly your only hope. Cling to Christ now and be saved, "For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13)
You are standing before God. It is time to decide your eternal fate. Will it be Heaven or Hell? He takes, as it were, your good deeds and has some way of measuring them or weighing them in comparison to your bad deeds. Think of a giant, golden, two-pan balance, the original and ultimate Scales of Justice.
You have a lot of bad deeds on that balance, embarrassingly so. But...you also did a lot of good stuff.
It's a tense moment for a while as the scales tip one way and then the other. Finally, it comes to rest and the little pointer is visibly (if only barely) tipping toward the good side. Whew! You made it!
There is a hallelujah chorus sung by myriads of angels as the Pearly Gates open and you are welcomed inside.
That's a happy story, and it ends well. Too bad it's a made-up fantasy. Too bad it is not at all an accurate picture of what the Bible teaches about that Day.
Whether or not you receive eternal blessings or eternal torments has nothing to do with whether your good deeds outweigh your sins. That is a fiction. It is not the teaching of the Bible.
If those imaginary Scales of Justice are not an accurate representation of the situation, what would be?
Try this on for size.
Imagine that you are a servant in a great castle somewhere. The King is fantastically rich and powerful and has a reputation for ruthlessly keeping his word at all costs. Though he is not a person to be trifled with, he is good and kind and generous.
The King decides to go on a journey. Before he leaves, he gives out instructions to the servants. He comes to you and places a marvelous vase in your hands. It is very old, covered with gemstones and hand-painted artwork.
He says to you, "This is your most important charge while I am away: You must watch over this vase and keep it safe. That sounds easy enough, but be sure you understand how I feel about this particular treasure. I like you well enough, but this vase is worth many times your own life. Are we clear about this? Keep it safe until I return, and you will be richly rewarded. However, allow it to come to any harm, and your life will be forfeit. Farewell."
The King departs from the castle.
As you are carrying the vase to the safest place you can imagine, you trip and it slips out of your hands and smashes into a million pieces on the stone floor.
Now, you find yourself in a right bitter pickle.
What will you do? Repairing it is impossible. So is replacing it. You could run, but the King has all the resources he needs to find you. You are stuck and the outcome does not look good at all. Your fellow servants start to treat you as if you have leprosy. They don't want to look at you or talk to you: they know you are a walking dead person.
My dear friend, this little story is a much more accurate illustration of your spiritual situation, if you know right now that you are not saved.
Here is how:
The King, of course, is God.
The vase, though, what is that? It is God's law.
God gave the Ten Commandments and fully expects them to be kept.
When you dropped the vase in the story, that represents the first time you ever sinned.
What? you say, How can that be fair? A single sin and the whole thing is smashed?
I'm afraid so. The Bible says, in James 2:10, that "whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all."
Here's why. The Law of God is a unit, an organic whole. If you break one part of it, one time, the whole is broken.
Further, the Law is a reflection of God's character. His rules are not random, but rather they express His own perfect righteousness. He wants us to follow them, in order to be "godly," to immitate God in our lives. When we break even one law, even one time, what that proves is that we are not like Him, because He would never sin even slightly. We are not like God: we are ungodly. A single sin, even one we think is "minor," is enough to prove that.
Once that deed is done, just like the story of the vase, that which is broken is broken. Period. There is no putting it back together. There is no replacing it with some other Law. There is no paying for it with "good deeds." It's smashed.
And the King is coming back. When He does, He will look for you.
What about you? Are you holding the vase intact, or is it smashed at your feet?
Well, let's see.
The Ninth of the Ten Commandments tells us not to lie (because God is always truthful.) So how many lies do you think you've told in your life? If you're like most of us, you lost count long ago.
The Eighth of the Ten Commandments tells us not to steal (because God is generous and provides for all what He says they need.) So, have you ever stolen anything? It doesn't have to be big or valuable. That candy bar or stick of gum when you were little is enough: it's still stealing.
The Seventh commandment forbids adultery (because God is always faithful and keeps His promises.) Have you committed adultery, or had sex with someone you're not married to? If you said no, that doesn't let you off the hook, because Jesus taught that merely lusting after someone in your heart is a sin against this commandment. It is inward adultery, adultery of the heart. So, have you broken that command?
The Sixth command forbids murder. Even if you haven't physically killed anyone, Jesus also taught that hating your brother is the same sort of sin as murder.
That's four out of the Ten Commandments. If you're like the rest of us, that's more than enough to condemn you right there. Take my word for it: you'd fail the other six as well.
God will judge you for your sins one day. He will judge you for how you kept, or broke, His laws.
He has promised to punish all lawbreakers in the afterlife in a place of eternal torment called Hell. You are a lawbreaker.
You're in a right, bitter pickle, eh?
What will you do?
Stop racking your brain trying to think of a clever answer: There's nothing you can do. You are caught. You are found out. You are guilty. God promises not to let the guilty go unpunished.
And yet... even now there is still hope for you, the one who dropped the vase.
How? Because your King, the Lord God of all creation, is not only righteous and just, but He is also merciful, gracious, and kind.
In the story of the vase, imagine now that the King returns. He wants his vase. He hunts you down. All you can offer him is a sack filled with the tiny pieces.
Just as he is about to have his guards take you away to torture and death, his own Son, the Prince, interrupts.
"Wait, Father!" he says, "Please do this servant of yours no harm. The truth is that I am the criminal here. As soon as you left, I took the vase from this person and smashed it myself. This poor, trembling servant is not the one to punish: I am. Please let this one go free, and do to me as you will.."
You are stunned. Why would the Prince do this for you? At this point it hardly matters: what matters is that you have been set free. The Prince has begged to take the punishment that you deserve.
That is a lot like what the Bible says that God has done for you. You broke His laws. You are the guilty one. You deserve Hell.
But because God is rich in mercy, He sent His only Son (the Prince of Peace,) the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus lived the perfect life you should have lived. He never broke a single law, not even once. And then, having done all the will of God, Jesus gave Himself as a substitute in your place. He was crucified and died, punished by God for your own sins, as if He Himself had committed them. The Bible says that God, "made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21)
On the third day, God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, and He was seen by more than 500 eyewitnesses.
Now, what God commands you, and all men, to do is Repent. That's an old-fashioned word that simply means, do a U-turn in your live. Turn away from your sins, hate them with all your heart, and turn to Christ in faith.
Cry out to this merciful and loving Prince who died in your place, and beg Him to forgive your sins.
Friend, this is truly your only hope. Cling to Christ now and be saved, "For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13)
SBC Superstar Caught in Huge Lies
Ergun Caner is the president of Liberty Universty, the school Jerry Falwell founded. That much we know to be factual.
For months now, rumors have flown on the 'net that Caner is not what he claims to be.
Here is some documented evidence that Caner has shamefully lied about his background/conversion story, for the apparent purpose of inflating himself within the Southern Baptist Convention.
It's no happy thing to post this stuff, but it is important for people to see that most Christians think this sort of thing is reprehensible. We want it out in the open, and we hope Dr. Caner will quickly repent and step down from his position. To date, his strategy has been to act like nothing has happened, and to let his friends and supporters demonize everyone who sees a problem with his blatant lies. That needs to change.
For months now, rumors have flown on the 'net that Caner is not what he claims to be.
Here is some documented evidence that Caner has shamefully lied about his background/conversion story, for the apparent purpose of inflating himself within the Southern Baptist Convention.
It's no happy thing to post this stuff, but it is important for people to see that most Christians think this sort of thing is reprehensible. We want it out in the open, and we hope Dr. Caner will quickly repent and step down from his position. To date, his strategy has been to act like nothing has happened, and to let his friends and supporters demonize everyone who sees a problem with his blatant lies. That needs to change.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Provocative Thoughts
Read this Letter to an Obamacare Supporter at the American Vision website.
While you're there, take a moment to bookmark the site and return back there regularly to soak in some quality Bible teaching.
I look forward to seeing you all in church tomorrow. May the Lord be gracious to feed us with His word in profound ways, and may Christ alone be glorified in us. Amen.
While you're there, take a moment to bookmark the site and return back there regularly to soak in some quality Bible teaching.
I look forward to seeing you all in church tomorrow. May the Lord be gracious to feed us with His word in profound ways, and may Christ alone be glorified in us. Amen.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Resisting Messianic Healthcare
I found an article I think most of you will find quite interesting.
It is about Obamacare and tyranny and the Christian's responsibility regarding both of them.
A Brief Ten Point Theology of Resistance to Tyranny.
Especially the first two points we need to grasp.
One, resistance to tyrants is not an option. It is a demand upon the righteous.
Two, therefore the question is not whether or not to resist, but how to resist.
If that makes you nervous....well, that probably means you're wired right. It should make a person nervous. But read through to the end. The last point is really the kicker.
It is about Obamacare and tyranny and the Christian's responsibility regarding both of them.
A Brief Ten Point Theology of Resistance to Tyranny.
Especially the first two points we need to grasp.
One, resistance to tyrants is not an option. It is a demand upon the righteous.
Two, therefore the question is not whether or not to resist, but how to resist.
If that makes you nervous....well, that probably means you're wired right. It should make a person nervous. But read through to the end. The last point is really the kicker.
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