Colin S. Smith's Blog, page 20

Your Beliefs About Sin Shape Your Evangelism

Someone told me a few weeks ago that he was witnessing to a colleague at work. He said, “You know, Colin, this guy lives like the devil, but he is good at heart.” I said, “Well now, wait a minute. How can he be good at heart if he lives like the devil? Surely if he lives like the devil, there must be something wrong with his heart!” After all, Jesus said,

Out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality… greed, malice… envy… arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean’ (Mk. 7:21-23).

What you believe about sin will shape your convictions about missions and evangelism. How we engage in this work, and what we think needs to be done, will in large measure be shaped by what we believe the human problem really is. Sin is a secret power, mysteriously at work in the soul of an unbeliever.

Three Ways to Use the Truth About Sin

Use it to mature beyond naïve optimism.

Years ago, back in England, Karen and I were enjoying an evening with some good friends who served alongside us in the church.  We were playing a game where one person secretly answers a question, and then the rest of the group has to try and guess their answer.

The question was, “By nature, are people good at heart, bad at heart, or somewhere in between?” The answer our friend chose was, “By nature, people are good at heart.” We had some good conversation about it, but I still remember how distressed I was driving home.

I’d been preaching the Bible in this church for 10 years and one of our closest friends, who loves Christ, attends church every week, is deeply engaged in ministry, and reads the Bible, believes that by nature people are good at heart. How is this possible?

Many Christians are utterly unrealistic about what we are up against when it comes to missions and evangelism. That may be one reason why we are often weak on prayer.

Use it to shape your convictions about missions and evangelism.

People who have an optimistic view of human nature tend to have an unrealistic view of missions and evangelism. There’s the informational view: “All we need to do is tell them.” There’s the friendship view: “All we need to do is love them.” There’s the environmental view: “All we need to do is connect them.” If Johnny has good friends, Johnny will be a good boy. All these things are necessary, but none of them are sufficient.

The fruits of sin are such that the salvation of your son or daughter, your colleague or neighbor, can only be accomplished by a miracle of grace. The breath of Christ, the splendor of Christ is the only thing that’s going to overwhelm this spirit that’s at work in him or her.

And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming (2 Thess. 2:8).

This is why missions and evangelism must have at its center proclaiming Christ’s splendor and praying for Christ’s breath. This is why the Apostles said that whatever else goes on in the church, we must give ourselves to the ministry of the Word and to prayer (Acts 6:4).

Proclaiming Christ’s splendor! Praying for His breath! That has to be the priority for every pastor, every missionary, every evangelist, and every Christian who wants to see sinners won to Jesus Christ. I do not say that it is the only thing; it is the central thing.

This is what I have to do in my preaching, and it’s what you have to do in your witnessing: Try to explain why Jesus Christ is compelling to you. Jesus said, “When I am lifted up, I will draw all men to myself” (Jn. 12:32), so lift Him up!

Don’t attack another person’s lifestyle. That’s not the way to do it. Lift up Jesus. Exalt Him. Commend Him. Tell people what you have found in Him. The way to overcome the mystery of sin is to proclaim the mystery of Christ.

God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. (Col. 1:27-28).

As you proclaim Him, pray for His breath. Pray that Christ will give life to this person, that He will breathe the breath of His life into them.

Proclaiming Christ’s splendor, praying for Christ’s breath—that’s the heart of New Testament missions and evangelism. Anything less would be like treating cancer with an aspirin.

Use it to deepen your gratitude for the miracle of your salvation.

Do you see yourself as a person in whom a miracle of grace has taken place?  If you truly love Christ today, that is true of you.

Your story may be very simple. Mine is. I asked Christ to be my Savior at the age of six. I began to love Him and trust Him then, and with all my faults and failings, I love and trust Him today. That is a miracle of grace.

Where would the secret power of sin have taken me if it were not for His grace?  Where would you be today? With all the contradictions that are in you still, why do you still love the truth and why do you believe the truth?

Answer: Christ has breathed His life into you. Christ opened your eyes to see His splendor. That is why you follow Him. This is a miracle of grace, and it has happened in you! Never underestimate it.

If you are reading this and thinking, “That hasn’t happened to me”, then you need a miracle of grace. You need a new heart. You need a work of the Holy Spirit in your soul that will change what you love and open your eyes to see the glory of Christ.

Having Christian friends won’t do this for you. Reading and learning about Christianity won’t do that for you. You need Christ to breathe His life into your soul and to open your eyes to the glory of His splendor. You need Him to bring you to the place where, like the first disciples, you can say, “The best thing I can do with my life is to follow Him.”

Come to Christ today. Don’t push Him away.

Tell Him, “I need you, Jesus, to do for me what I now know I cannot do for myself.”

Ask Him, “Lord, will You breathe Your life into me? Will You open my eyes to Your glory? Will you change this heart that loves sin and resists you? Do this miracle of grace in me!”

And I give you this promise from Jesus Himself. He said,

Whoever comes to me, I will never drive away (Jn. 6:37).

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1. “Partial Solar Eclipse Clouded Over in UK,” BBC News, January 4, 2011, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12109329
2. A solar eclipse (the moon passes between the sun and the earth so that all or part of the sun is hidden from our view) is different from a lunar eclipse (when the earth passes between the sun and the moon, blocking the sun’s light from reaching the moon). http://www.mreclipse.com/Special/LEprimer.html.
3. “Solar Eclipse Warning,” London Times, January 3, 2011.

Photo: Unsplash
This article is an adaptation of Pastor Colin’s sermon, “The Lord Jesus Christ: Coming in Glory”, from his series, Staying the Course (When You’re Tired of the Battle .

 

Draw Near to Discern

I can’t remember the last time I experienced a season of life that demanded as many decisions as this one.

Local and national government elections compelled decisive action. Families have been choosing (from less-than-ideal options) how their children should be educated during a pandemic. Some people are considering new job opportunities; others are struggling to develop new budgets with less income. Many are facing difficult tensions in close relationships.

The decisions have been relentless, and I have felt desperate for discernment.

At the beginning of 2020, I had not planned to read through the book of Ecclesiastes at this time, but God, in his providence, had planned for me to read it. The book begins with a wise admonition about how we are to approach God in our worship. Before we make decisions (even sacrificially, for the Lord), we can adopt this same humble posture as we wait for God’s guidance:

To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools… (Ecc. 1:1).

Thankfully, God faithfully provides exactly what we need through his word. As we draw near to him through the regular reading of Scripture, he instructs us directly and personally. By listening to God’s word, fearing him, and keeping his commandments, we can gain the wisdom we lack for today’s difficult decisions. The writer of Ecclesiastes summarizes the book with three instructions to guide us in this pursuit.

The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh… Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil (Ecc. 12:11-14).

On the Way to Wisdom

1. God’s word guides us according to his own wisdom (Ecc. 12:11).

The words of the wise are like goads…

A goad is a stick used to prod and guide animals along the right path for their work. Much like oxen, I am prone to venture away from God’s good and right way. God is faithful to steer me back through the wisdom of Scripture.   

…like firmly fixed nails are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd.

The words “firmly fixed nails” bring to mind the image of Christ’s hands and feet, fixed on the cross. His sacrifice secures our salvation by grace and through faith. And his wise words collected in the Bible are utterly dependable. They are given by the Good Shepherd who was faithful, even unto death. He is fully able to provide the good direction and right stability that we crave.

2. The world’s voices will make us weary (Ecc. 12:12).

My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

We can become victims of our own analysis-paralysis when we primarily look outside of God’s word for wisdom. We don’t want to be like children “tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, human cunning, craftiness or deceitful schemes” (Eph. 4:14). Instead, God’s word offers us a firm tether in a sea of confusion.

We have the hope of the gospel as a “sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever” (Heb. 6:19-20). We may feel like we’re lost at sea, but Jesus Himself is the anchor of our souls.

It’s not our job to know everything that’s going on in the world, to fix every problem, or to have a right answer for every question. Instead, believers have the duty and freedom to fear God and keep His commands. In the end, that’s all that really matters.

3. Fear God, and rest in his justice (Ecc. 12:14).

Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

The fear of the Lord is our motivation to keep his commands. This kind of fear is the reverent, awe-filled belief that God has the power to give and take life as he chooses. His act of saving us is his choice to give us undeserved, new life. Though we deserve punishment for our many sins, the gavel has landed with the miraculous declaration: “Not guilty!” Not only is our debt paid in full, but we are credited the perfect righteousness of Christ. This good news fuels our gratitude that manifests in joyful, obedience.

For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Obeying God’s commands is important because he is a just judge. He will deal with every human decision, whether known or secret, whether good or evil. He will judge perfectly and finally. All things are ultimately in his hands. We do not control the final outcomes. This is a fearsome warning for those who do not know God. But what a relief for the believer! We are in right standing with God, not because of our decisions, but because of his decision to claim us as his own for all eternity. What relief that brings when we feel the weight of responsibility to make wise decisions in our temporary, earthly days.

Brother and sister, be encouraged in these days of decision-making. In his word, God has given everything we need to wisely discern his will. He gives us his own fatherly wisdom, collected in the pages of Scripture. He gives us his son, Jesus Christ, whose decisive sacrifice on the cross makes him the perfect Shepherd, able to guide us. And he gives us his Spirit, who still speaks into our decisions—if we are willing to draw near and discern, with an open Bible.

 

Photo: Pixabay

The Power of Sin in the Life of an Unbeliever

The unbelieving person does not see anything of the splendor of Christ and does not yet have the life of Christ in his or her soul. So, what does the secret power of sin look like in the life of your unbelieving friend, relative, or neighbor?

Sin is a secret power, working in the soul. 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 gives us a devastating analysis of its power and effect. Sin produces bitter fruit in a person’s life. This is what sin does.

[Satan] will use…every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

Seven Bitter Fruits of Sin 
1. Deception

…every sort of evil that deceives…  (2 Thess. 2:10).

Notice that the Scripture says, “evil… deceives.” Satan makes sin look attractive. This is the nature of sin; it always does that.

Some sin will disgust you. You will wonder to yourself, “How could anyone do that?” But some forms of sin will be attractive to you. That is where Satan deceives, and it goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden.

2. Perishing

… evil that deceives those who are perishing. (2 Thess. 2:10).

Notice the present tense. There is a theme that runs right through the life of a person who is without Jesus Christ. There is an unraveling of life that is going on now, a taking down, a becoming less. This is a process that has already begun. By nature, we are perishing.

3. Refusal to love the truth

They perish because they refused to love the truth… (2 Thess. 2:10).

These people heard the truth and refused to believe it. But the real issue here is that they refused to love it. The heart governs the life more than the head. The greatest barrier to faith lies not in the doubts of the mind but in the desires of the heart.

4. Delight in wickedness

…all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness (2 Thess. 2:12).

“Delight[ing] in wickedness” is the explanation of “not believ[ing] the truth.” Where the heart loves wickedness, the mind cannot embrace the truth. It’s impossible! Jesus said, “How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from… God?” (John 5:44).

5. Powerful delusion

For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion… (2 Thess. 2:11).

The reason is that they refused to love the truth. This is looking down the line of what happens when a person persists in resisting and pushing Christ away. Here are folks who’ve heard the truth and they’ve refused it.

You cannot get away from God’s activity here: God sends. God gives them what they desire. They do not want the truth, and so now they’re unable to receive it.

I want to press home on all who’ve not yet received Christ, the danger of continuing to refuse Him.  As you hear the Word, some of you are putting off a response to Jesus, “I’ll become a Christian later.  I’ll respond to God in my own time.”  Even right now you would push away Jesus Christ.

You say, “I can become a Christian later,” but you may not be able to. The secret power of sin is at work in you. That’s why the Bible says repeatedly, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Heb. 3:15).  Warren Wiersbe says it well:

“The human heart becomes harder each time the sinner rejects God’s truth.” [1]

You feel Him reaching out to you and you’re pushing him away. Every time you hear the Word of God something happens in your soul. The Word of God that you are hearing today will make you softer or it will make you more resistant to Christ.  It never leaves you the same.

Jesus said, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer.  Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you” (John 12:35).  Sinners refuse to love the truth, and down the line they end up with a delusion. They can no longer see what they used to see.

This is how God’s judgment works in this world. God gives sinners what they want. That is why a life of resisting God and running from God ends up in an eternity apart from God—in the darkness, with the God-haters, outside the light and the joy of His presence.

6. Faith in the lie

God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie” (2 Thess. 2:11).

“The lie” goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden when Satan said, “You will be like God” (Gen. 3:5). “You’re a good person. You don’t need Christ’s sacrifice. You can work it out yourself.”

When a man feels that he is the captain and commander of his own life, that he is his own god, his own law and that he can stand on the merits of his own goodness, you know that he has swallowed the lie. He is living under a powerful delusion.

7. Condemnation

…all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness (2 Thess. 2:12).

“Condemnation” is a terrible word. Don’t you shudder when you hear it? We rejoice in Romans 8:1 that says, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”, but the reason that has meaning for us is found right here in 2 Thessalonians 2:12.

To those who have resisted the claims of the Savior, who have not loved the truth but have believed the lie, Christ will say, “I never knew you. Depart from me!” (Matt. 7:3). Then, there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 8:12, 13:42, 13:50, 22:13, 24:51, 25:30). Did you know that Jesus said that phrase seven times? I do not want that for you. Those who pray for you do not want that for you.

These seven bitter fruits of sin show us why we need a Savior. Jesus Christ has come into the world because we need saving from the mystery of sin that is at work in every human life.

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This article is an adaptation of Pastor Colin’s sermon, “The Lord Jesus Christ: Coming in Glory”, from his series, Staying the Course (When You’re Tired of the Battle .
1. Warren Wiersbe, Be Ready: Living in the Light of Christ’s Return (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 1979), 153.
Photo: Pixabay

Lose Your Life to Save It

A paradox is a statement that seems to contradict itself, but actually proves true. Jesus uses such a statement in Luke 9:23-24 to explain the necessity of self-denial for those who would follow him:

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”

Jesus requires a radical condition for his followers: to enjoy the crown of life, we must first endure the cross of death. Not many would respond enthusiastically to this counter-intuitive claim. While it’s tempting to think that Jesus is speaking only to some elite class of cross-bearing disciples, the words “anyone” and “whoever” don’t allow for any exceptions. This is the call for all who claim the name of Christ: Deny yourself. Take up your cross each day. Lose your life if you want to save it! This way of thinking does not come naturally, does it?

The Unnatural Cost of Following Christ

It is in our nature to protect and preserve our lives and livelihoods at all costs. By nature, we insulate ourselves against pain, hardship, and loss. It’s why we buy insurance or put a little extra money aside in “emergency funds.” It’s why we look at crime rates in neighborhoods before buying a house and settling our family in a given community. It’s why we lock our doors at night. And that natural inclination is not inherently bad. Jesus says, “whoever loses his life for my sake” (Lk. 9:24), so we are called to sacrifice on account of Christ, not carelessness. Yet, Jesus’ radical call does stretch us to think beyond our natural instinct to selfishly pursue comfort and avoid sacrifice.

Jesus’ words “let him deny himself” (Lk. 9:23) make it clear that his followers are to reject mere self-interest (Phil. 2:4). This is an extremely countercultural statement in our world that is naturally saturated with self-absorption. Our culture advises: “do what’s best for you.” But Jesus’ vision for our good and his glory requires us, at least temporarily, to deny ourselves of various comforts for the sake of faithfully following him.

Practically, this may mean giving up good things—like discretionary income or time watching TV—for the sake of helping others in need. It could mean forgoing the security that comes from living in a “good” part of town in order to have a gospel presence in a dangerous neighborhood. It could mean leaving the comfort of our home town, state, or country to share the good news of Jesus with those who haven’t heard. In these situations, self-denial is motivated by a supreme love for God and others, the very heartbeat of what it means to be a Christian (Mk. 12:28-34).

If that’s not hard enough, Jesus goes a step further. Not only must Christians be willing to lose earthly comforts, but we are to pick up our crosses “daily and follow [him]” (Lk. 9:23). That is to say, we must regularly embrace the suffering and loss that may come on account of following Jesus. Submitting to Jesus’ lordship over every sphere of our lives might mean that we lose relationships, social status, career advancement, or certain freedoms. Sustaining the seemingly-impossible commitment to sacrifice comfort and bear a cross takes a supernatural strength.

Thankfully, we serve a God who works in supernatural ways to make the impossible possible. We serve the God who miraculously spoke our vast universe into existence (Gen. 1, Heb. 11:3). This God fulfilled his promise of a miraculous birth to parents well beyond child-bearing age (Gen.17:15-21, 21:1-7; Heb. 11:11-12). God miraculously delivered his chosen people from servitude to one of the ancient world’s greatest superpowers (Ex. 1-12; 12:33-42) and preserved their lives in a wilderness through humanly-impossible means (Ps. 78:12-16). The list goes on and on throughout Scripture; indeed, all things are possible for Almighty God (Matt. 19:26).

Grasping the magnitude of God’s supernatural power and his faithfulness to completely fulfill his promises gives us courage to heed Jesus’ hard words in Luke 9:23-24. With God’s help, we can joyfully deny ourselves and bear our crosses daily. This is a truly supernatural view of self-denial, suffering, and loss.

Suffering Saints

Whether you are giving up good things or going through bad times for the sake of Jesus, you are not alone in doing so. Church history includes a long list of Christians who, by God’s grace, willingly suffered for the sake of Christ.

In the earliest days of the church, Christians suffered public insult and the seizure of their property (Heb. 10:32-34). There is historical evidence that some willfully sold themselves into slavery to free others or feed the poor with the proceeds! [1]  By God’s grace, early Christians endured persecution with joy, knowing that they had a better, abiding possession (Heb. 10:34).

The list goes on. Polycarp was publicly executed for his commitment to Christ as Lord. Medieval Christians like Francis of Assisi committed themselves to lives of poverty and preaching the gospel in obedience to Matthew 10:5-15. English Reformers Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, and Thomas Cranmer were executed for their commitment to the gospel. Moravian missionaries Johann Leonhard Dober and David Nitschmann were willing to become slaves in order to preach the gospel to African slaves on the islands of St. Thomas and St. Croix. Adoniram Judson suffered decades of family loss and physical pain to share the gospel and translate the Bible for the people of Burma. American missionary Jim Elliot and four of his companions were killed in an attempt to evangelize the Huaorani people of Ecuador. These Christians stand in a long line of people who lost much for the sake of Christ.

Whether you are moving your family into an undesirable neighborhood to be a gospel witness, alienating yourself from unbelieving friends and family by your new-found faith, leaving behind a well-paying job to pursue vocational ministry, or suffering public reproach for your faith, you are in good company with history’s long line of self-deniers and cross-bearers. And of course, Jesus has never asked anything of his followers that he himself has not already done.

The Gospel Pattern of Salvation Through Loss

Jesus’ death and resurrection embody the radical call of self-denial and suffering (Lk. 9:23) while illustrating the gospel pattern of loss before gain (Lk. 9:24). The cross precedes the crown, and paradoxically, life comes through death.

Imagine the paradoxical headlines if Jesus’ life and ministry were published in today’s news! All Powerful God Takes Helpless, Human Form –  All-Knowing Man Exercises Perfect Humility – Master Serves His Servants – Sinless Savior Stands Trial for Sin – Miraculous Healer Is Mortally Wounded – Dead Man Brings Others Life!

Though these headlines might seem absurd, the truth of the gospel promises us life through Jesus’ loss of his own. And no matter what earthly losses we may experience for his sake, our lives will ultimately be saved for all of eternity (Rom. 8:16-17, 35-39). Our faithful sacrifices for Christ will not go unrewarded, for there is an imperishable crown of life (1 Cor. 9:24-25) waiting for those who bear the cross of Christ! Today’s loss is eternity’s glorious gain.

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1. J.B. Lightfoot and J.R. Harmer, The Apostolic Fathers: Revised Greek Texts, 1 Clement 55:2, AFL-E (Macmillan, 1891).
Photo: Pixabay

God is Just: Six Helps from this Hard Truth

Persecution is always a terrible thing.  A particular group of people are picked on and attacked viciously and repeatedly.

The obvious questions for people who are experiencing this kind of thing are: Where is God in all this? How are we supposed to stand up under it? This is the kind of thing the people in Thessalonica were experiencing, and 2 Thessalonians gives the answer.

God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord… (2 Thess. 1:6-9, NIV).

Difficult Doctrine

The justice of God will often not be obvious in this world. People who do good often suffer, and people who do evil often prosper. But God is just, and even though His justice may be hidden now, it will become obvious when Jesus Christ is revealed (2 Thess. 1:7).

No one will escape from the justice of God. God knows all things, and nothing is hidden from Him. No one intimidates Him or has leverage against Him. Power and wealth count for nothing with Him. That means you can have confidence in the absolute justice of God.

2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 give us two ways that God, in his perfect justice, will punish those who do not know Him and do not obey the gospel. The words “everlasting destruction” are terrifying, but the meaning is clear—this is a destruction without end. “It is to always be dying and never to die.”[1] And to be “shut out from the presence of the Lord” means to be without hope and without love, forever. This is one of the hardest truths in the Bible. But here is something I’ve discovered: the hardest truths can produce the most tender hearts.

Useful Truth

If you grasp this most difficult of doctrines and place yourself under this truth, God will use it to soften your heart today. He will use it to:

1. …sustain your faith in a suffering world. 

If you have suffered at the hands of other people, or if someone you love has suffered as these Christians in Thessalonica did, you will wonder: How can I really believe that God is loving and just when, so often, good people suffer and those who do evil prosper?

This doctrine helps. It tells you that you have not yet seen the end of the story. God says to suffering believers, “There is a day coming when Jesus Christ will be revealed. Then you will see the full measure of my justice. Then you will see the full measure of my love.”

2. …restrain your desire to even the score.

When someone hurts you, your immediate and natural instinct will be to want to hurt them back. How do you restrain the desire to even the score?

Romans 12:18-20 says that God will “avenge” sin, so leave room for His wrath. You don’t need to take it into your hands when you know it is in His. God will deal with this. You can leave it to him.

3. …increase your compassion for people who harm you. 

If the people who harmed you were to repent, you might find it in your heart to forgive them. But if they just go on, with no awareness of what they have done, or worse, if they continue doing the same thing, it is very hard to have compassion.

Where do you begin in loving your enemies? When you think about everlasting destruction, and what it would mean to be shut out of the presence of the Lord forever, you would not wish that on your worst enemy. A deep grasp of this truth will help you to pray for those who’ve harmed you. Bitterness cannot survive for long when you begin to pray. You will be amazed at the way compassion sneaks in the back door of your heart.

4. …help you understand what happened at the cross.

Jesus Christ came into the world because there is a future catastrophe that you need saving from. He died as a sacrifice, and in the great love and mercy of God, the “Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Is. 53:6). Bearing our sins means that Jesus bore our punishment for sin. This is what was happening at the cross. Isaiah says, “The punishment that brought us peace was on Him” (53:5).

On the cross, Christ was shut out from the presence of God. That’s why he cried out, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46). Christ endured hell on the cross so that you would never know what it is like. How can one man bear the sins of many? How can His hell on the cross remove our everlasting destruction? The weight of our sin is measured by the One we offended. The value of Christ’s sacrifice is measured by the One who is offered: this is the Son of God! What He suffered on the cross is able to atone for all our sins, forever.

5. …motivate your obedience to the Gospel .

What does it mean to obey the Gospel?

a. Repent

Your life can no longer be about you. It has to be about Jesus Christ, who loved you and gave Himself for you. God commands repentance (Acts 17:30)—a decisive turning from all that God calls sin in order to offer yourself to Christ.

b. Believe

In order to repent, you have to trust that Jesus is the Son of God. You trust His death on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins, and you trust that His resurrection power is sufficient for everything you face in life and death. You trust Christ because he is altogether worthy of it.

c. Follow

James Denney says, “Salvation is not only a gift, but a vocation; we enter into it as we obey the voice of Jesus, ‘Follow Me.’2 Christ laid down his life for you and now he lays claim to your life for him—your gifts, talents, time, money, the strength of your body, and the affections of your heart.

Maybe you have been saying to yourself, “I’ll think about Christianity someday.” Think about it today. Turn to Christ in repentance, believe in Him, and follow Him. Eternity hangs on this.

6. …deepen your joy in the mercy of God. 

Think about the man writing 2 Thessalonians. He once persecuted Christians himself! Saul of Tarsus was the terror of the early church. Breathing fire and slaughter, he was on his way to Damascus on a campaign of violence. Christ stopped him in his tracks with a blinding light and an audible voice: “Saul, Saul why do you persecute me!” (Acts 9:4). Right there in the dust, this violent man repents, believes, and is transformed. Saul the persecutor becomes Paul the Apostle, with the Spirit of God giving him these words to write to the church.

That’s the power of the Gospel that we believe and proclaim. This is the Gospel by which we are saved and by which all who come to the Lord will be saved. The truth that God will bring justice for you is good news for anyone suffering persecution today.

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1. Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible (Hendrickson, 1991), https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/mhm/2-thessalonians-1.html.
2. James Denney, The Epistles to the Thessalonians, (General Books, LLC, 2010), 298.

 

Photo: Pixabay

This article was adapted from Pastor Colin’s sermon, “God Will Bring Justice for You”, from his series, Staying the Course (When You’re Tired of the Battle).

 

How are We Training Our Kids?

In August, my husband and I drove our oldest child to college for the first time and dropped him off. And then I spent the next week crying. While processing my feelings and reflections about my son’s life, the command of Proverbs 22:6 kept coming to my mind:

Train up a child in the way he should go…

While I know my son needs to “go” in this new direction of independence, it has been so hard for me to send him. It’s not that I’m worried about any academic deficits or social deficiencies. After all, our society places a high value on parents and schools readying children to transition to life after high school with success in these two areas. What I do find myself evaluating is much longer-lasting than worldly achievements and earthly relationships: my son’s eternal relationship with Jesus Christ. Along with my husband, I’m looking back to the past and considering these questions:

How did we train our son?
How did we encourage his dependence on God and desire to pursue godliness?
Did we help him cultivate a love for reading the Bible and a healthy prayer life?
Is joining a new community of believers a priority for him now?

Parents, as I’m looking backward about these things, I encourage you to look forward. How are you training up your child with the future in mind? Now is the time to consider the way you want your child to go and how you can train him along the way.

Consider Where Your Child Can Go  

Christian parents have a deep desire for their kids to hear the gospel and put their faith in Christ at a young age. Ultimately, eternity in heaven is the way we want them to go. Holiness is the path we pray they’ll pursue on the way. Yet, our training cannot make our kids holy. Only the saving work of Jesus’ death on the cross can give them “the right to become children of God” (Jn. 1:12-13). So, we pray that God would draw our children to himself—that a personal relationship with Christ would begin early and continue to grow. And we consider what to teach our children that will help them to “grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18).

It can be so hard to think of the end goals when you are in the thick of here-and-now household messes, sibling squabbles, and ever-present fatigue. But it’s important to carve out some time to look forward, prayerfully considering the way your own children can go. Believing that “…with God, all things are possible” (Mt. 19:26), what desires and habits do you want your children to have? A love for God’s word and commitment to prayer? The ability to notice God’s good gifts and walk joyfully—even through difficult circumstances? What qualities of godliness do you hope your child will display? If you are a list person, consider making one. But first spend time in prayer: Heavenly Father, how can I help my children to know and love you before they leave my home?

Consider How Your Child Can Get There 

The “where” and “how to” of training up a child go hand-in-hand. Maybe because my children are athletes, the word “train” makes me think of people who progress through athletic training with the help of a coach. With this metaphor in mind, think of yourself as a coach, setting goals and choosing methods. How can you coach your child to read his Bible? How can you coach your child to pray? To faithfully build community with other believers?

The overall goal of any good coaching plan is broken down into smaller objectives. So, start small. Simply begin with building a habit of daily prayer (perhaps at bedtime), and thank God for his good gifts in that day. Sing songs filled with biblical truth. Help your child begin to read the Bible by learning single verses together. Those verses will become a light for your child’s path (Ps. 119:105).

Let your kids catch their “coach” modeling these spiritual disciplines. Let them find you reading your Bible and spending time in prayer. Let them join you in loving others from the overflow of Christ’s love in your own heart. Your kids will pick up more than you realize.

Consider also how your local church wants to partner with you in training your children. Make it a priority to bring your children into “big church” so they can see other families worshiping God together and watch how their parents sing, pray, and submit to the preaching of God’s word. Regularly bring them to Sunday School, where they can learn biblical truth at their developmental level. Help them to establish friendships at church, so they can learn how to be in community with the body of Christ.

Above all, persevere in the training! Don’t give up, even if you don’t see immediate fruit. Commit to an eternal perspective, and remember that holiness is God’s desire for both you and your children in the training process. Adjust your objectives as you see how God is producing growth. Coach faithfully, believing the promise found in Philippians 1:6: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

Rest in Christ

The command of Proverbs 22:26—“Train up your child in the way he should go…”—includes that daunting word, “should.” Of course, we all should obey God’s law all the time. But that’s impossible! Your children and my children are sinners, and so are you and I. We won’t always train our kids the right way, and they won’t always respond well—even when we do get it right! We’ve all experienced the feeling of defeat in the process of training.

As we persevere in prayer, we can rest in Christ. We pray for reliance—theirs and ours—on Jesus Christ to do his will in our families. Since Jesus completed the work his father gave him to do on the cross, he is able to complete the training of our children. We can also pray for opportunities to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ in our homes, knowing that Christ will equip us to apply it in the training of our children.

As my kids are getting older, they are increasing in dependence on Christ and decreasing in dependence on my husband and me. We find that they need our “coaching” skills less and less, but we are praying more and more. We find so much comfort in the truth that we are not training our kids alone! Jesus Christ is the perfect trainer, and he will faithfully bring them the way he has planned for them to go.

 

Photo: Pixabay

 

When You’re Tired of the Battle, Persevere in Prayer

Most people can put up with trouble for a while. But when the problems keep coming, they begin to wear you down. You start to wonder, “How long will this continue?”

Maybe you’re fighting to hold your marriage together, or you have a rebellious son or daughter who is bringing you pain. You’ve been dealing with family issues for some time, and it’s not easy to keep going.

Maybe you’re battling a particular sin. You think you are making progress. Then suddenly that old sin rears its ugly head. The battle just goes on and on. You’re tired of it.

Maybe you work in an environment where everything is affirmed, except faith in Christ and the pursuit of a godly life. You are facing the ongoing erosion of an increasingly hostile culture. You’re different and, over time, it is beginning to wear you down.

Maybe you have been called to serve in extraordinary circumstances. You’re facing the struggle of sustaining ministry. Anyone who serves God wholeheartedly will know what it is to come to the place of saying, “I don’t know how much longer I can do this. How much more can I take?”

How can I have more patience with my children? How can I persevere in ministry? How can I build stability and endurance into my life? How can I be the kind of person who goes the distance as a Christian in this hostile world?

Everyone has a battle to face, and there will be times when you get tired of yours. The obvious question is, “How can I get more perseverance?”

Perseverance is the Fruit of Faith and Love

We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing (2 Thess. 1:3).

These are the words God spoke through the apostle Paul to a community of believers in a town called Thessalonica. This church was born in great difficulties (Act 17). Paul spent three weeks in this town proclaiming that Jesus is the Christ, and many people came to faith in Christ through his preaching. But as soon as the church was established, the new believers experienced opposition. Paul wrote these words to encourage them by the fruit he saw in their lives.

Faith Growing

Paul told the Thessalonians, “Your faith is growing.” It is a wonderful thing to have faith in Christ. But what is happening to your faith? Is it growing?

When the disciples found themselves in a storm, they panicked. And Jesus said, “Where is your faith?” He wasn’t saying, “You haven’t got it.” Clearly, they had faith. They were his followers. He was saying, “You aren’t using it!”

What about you? Are you exercising faith by applying it to the particular battles that you are facing?

Faith is confidence in the ultimate triumph of God. That’s what you need when you are struggling with difficult relationships, stubborn sins, discouragement in ministry, and the hostility of an unbelieving world.

Love Increasing

Jesus tells us that the one who has been forgiven little, loves little; and the one who has been forgiven much, loves much (Luke 7:47). In 2 Thessalonians 1:3, Paul is thanking God that the love among believers is increasing. Growing faith and increasing love are God’s work in the hearts of these believers.

How does it happen that faith can grow and love can increase, even when a believer is under pressure? It is irrefutable evidence that God is at work in your life. Just as it is in the nature of grass to grow, in the same way it is in the nature of love to be patient and faith to persevere. Christ causes His people to persevere by growing their faith and increasing their love. Patience, steadfastness, stability, and endurance are nourished by the deep roots of faith and love.

Perseverance Changes the Way You Pray

How should you pray when you are worn out, discouraged, and weary of the battle? You could pray, “Lord, give me patience.” That would be good. But a better way to pray is to ask God to increase your love and to renew your confidence in his ultimate triumph.

You can pray about the surface issue, but you will pray better if your prayer touches the root of the problem. Underneath all your struggles with patience and perseverance, you will find a faith that is losing heart and a love that is growing cold.

Maybe you’ve been praying for an unbelieving loved one for years and nothing has happened. You’re getting discouraged. You can say to the Lord, “Help me to persevere in prayer.” But a better way to pray would be to ask God to increase your faith in His ability to change this person and to increase your love for this person with whom you are probably now feeling very impatient.

Suppose you are caring for young children. The demands on you are constant, and as time has gone on you find that you are getting short tempered and impatient. You see what’s happening and you want to change. So, how do you pray? You can ask the Lord to help you be more patient with your children. But when you know that patience is the fruit of faith and love, a better way to pray is to ask God to fill your heart with His love for these children and to give you a new confidence in what He can make of their lives.

Maybe you are battling again with the same old sin. You are discouraged by your many failures, and you are tired of the battle. Ask the Lord to increase your faith in His power to overcome this evil in your life. Ask God to help you love Him more than you love the sin that besets you.

God is the One who makes faith and love grow, so ask Him to do it specifically in relation to your battle. God will use the hardest things in your life to make you like Christ.

Jesus endured what he suffered by exercising faith. “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he trusted himself to him who judges justly” (1 Pet. 2:23). That’s faith! Jesus was surrounded by darkness, but He put his faith in the ultimate triumph of God!

Jesus also endured through love. How could he stay on that cross? People were shouting for Him to come down. What made Him stay there? “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for His friends” (John 15:13).

Christ persevered through faith and He endured through love. When others see you enduring great trials because your faith is growing and your love is increasing, they will also see a reflection of Jesus Christ in you.

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Photo: Pixabay
This article is adapted from Pastor Colin’s sermon, “God is Working Through You”, from his series, Staying the Course (When You’re Tired of the Battle).

Unity and Diversity in Gospel Community

Meetup is an app designed to build communities based on shared interests. Graveyard tours. Bat watching. Train spotting. Whatever floats your boat, you can find others with a shared interest. It’s a great tool for meeting people—for building community in a culture where loneliness is almost as dangerous a pandemic as Coronavirus.

In a surprising turn of events, while the pandemic ravages the lives of individuals, local communities across Europe are thriving. Neighbors are reaching out to support one another. People are singing on balconies, spontaneously performing concerts in the street for their neighbours, fetching shopping, and offering up their time to phone lonely neighbours for a chat.

In Scandinavia, very strong communities exist based on tight knit friendship groups. Almost impossible to infiltrate, these communities are the building block not just for a happy society, but a healthy one, with a strong economy. The lack of interaction between these tightly-knit groups is probably responsible in some way for the remarkably low rates of coronavirus transmission recorded in Scandinavia.

In Acts 2:42-47, we read about the community God is building. And at a glance, it can seem remarkably similar to the communities described above. Close-knit, local, based on a shared interest in teaching, prayer, and fellowship.

But context is key. Just a few paragraphs earlier, Acts 2:5-11 describes one key distinctive about this gospel community:

Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”

God-given Unity

The gospel community described in Acts 2 is utterly unique—set apart from any other community on earth. Verse 5 describes the crowd as being ‘”from every nation under heaven.” They have more differences than similarities.

How on earth is there such a community? This community is joined supernaturally by the Lord, not by shared experience, locality, or family ties.

The Danish “Hygge” communities of family and friends are devoted to same-time and same-place meetings. But they are not church. In one of the books I read about Hygge, the author describes such groups as so very close and tight-knit so as to make it extremely hard for an outsider to join the group. They are not growing; they are exclusive, unchanging, closed to outsiders.

Church is always growing and welcoming outsiders because that is the heartbeat of the one who saves us. The heart of Christ is to welcome sinners. Church is close but not closed.

Meetup can form wonderful communities, built around shared interests. But it is not church. Church is united, not around a shared interest, but around the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Local community is a huge blessing. Indeed, it’s part of God’s good design for how his creation would be ruled, cared for, and protected. But even local community is not church. Church is local, but it is also wonderfully global. This is why I can write an article about Christ that is as meaningful to people in the United States as it is to Canadians, Chinese, Koreans, Africans, British, and in fact, every nation under the sun.

God-given Diversity

It’s interesting to realise that, when God created the world, humans all spoke the same language. It was due to a great act of rebellion (Gen. 11), when humans united to build a tower that reached to heaven (Babel), that God scattered them all over the earth and confused their languages.

But his plan is not to bring everyone back to conformity. No, in Revelation 7:9-10, we get a glimpse of heaven where John sees a vision:

… a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

God’s plan is one people made up of all tribes, peoples, and languages. Not united by a common language, family group, geographical location or a shared interest in bat watching. Instead, they are united in a common anthem: “Salvation belongs to our God!”

Acts 2:23 records that God’s definite plan for Jesus’ crucifixion was actually achieved by the means of man’s sinful actions: “…this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.”

I find it exciting to learn that exactly the same principle was in action in Genesis 11, when lawless men built a tower up to heaven. God used even their rebellion to accomplish his plan for creating diversity.

Love Unity, Love Diversity

When we meet up with other believers, where do we find our unity? Our calendars, our message stream, our newsfeed, our conversations, our podcasts, our role models all reveal this. Do we love what our God loves—finding unity in Christ through diversity in the church?

The gospel community in Acts 2 was built not by human hands, but by God. The community of the church was formed from the rallying call of salvation, which rang out to all peoples. It is not our responsibility to be like the others in our church. It is our responsibility to love Christ and find our unity with others based primarily on our shared salvation stories. Geography, family, and shared interests are merely secondary.

Hygge, Meetup, locality. What is it that unites our church? The community that God builds draws all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds and unites them by a common cry: “Salvation belongs to our God!” Let’s have a heart after God’s own heart and extend that gospel indiscriminately to people from every tribe, language, nation, and tongue.

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Photo: Pixabay

 

Christian, This is How You Can Stand Firm in Dark Days

There is a view of the world that looks at currents events and says, “It all comes down to you, Christian. You’re the last line of defense. So, you’d better not mess up.” There’s a kind of preaching that rolls the weight of the world onto the shoulders of Christian believers. It places people under an intolerable burden—a burden you cannot possibly bear.

But Scripture does not leave us with an intolerable burden. Instead, it gives us wonderful confidence in Almighty God and wisdom for discerning how to stand firm in the darkest days of our lives.

What can you do when you see the world getting darker and evil getting stronger? Like the Apostle Paul, you can thank God for what Christ is doing in His people and for who you are in Him.

Remember Who You are in Christ

But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm… (2 Thess. 2:13-15).

1. Loved (v 13)

Slow down and try to take in this greatest of truths. No matter how dark the world around you becomes, the Lord loves you. This is more than pity, compassion, and benevolence.

The quality of love you experience in life is determined by the capacity of the people who love you. Some people have the capacity to love more deeply than others. To be loved is good, but to be loved deeply is a great blessing. Think about the capacity of Almighty God to love deeply. You will spend eternity trying to take in the wonder of His love, so start now!

2. Chosen (v 13)

Paul was writing to ordinary people who knew that they had been chosen. How did they know that? Their belief in the truth was the sign that they had been chosen. This truth is given to believers precisely because we need it to stand firm in the darkest days.

When you lay hold of Christ by faith, it will not be long before you know that he has laid hold of you. You’ll begin to experience what Jesus said to his disciples, “You did not choose me, but I chose you” (John 15:16). My little faith holding on to him isn’t enough in the dark days of life. I need to know that his mighty hand is holding onto me.

3. Saved (v 13)

The world is deceived, perishing, refusing to love the truth, delighting in wickedness, under a powerful delusion, believing lies, and ultimately condemned. God loves you and chose you to be saved from that!

4. Sanctified (v 13)

When we come across this word “sanctified”, many Christians immediately think to themselves, “This is one thing that I am not!” We associate the word “sanctified” with being saintly or holy or pure. But the word “sanctified” can have two different meanings: “made holy” or “set apart.”

Imagine that you have a bag of candy. You take some out for yourself, and then hand out the rest to someone else, saying, “These ones are mine. The rest you can have.” Do you know what you just did? You “sanctified” the candies. You laid hold of them for yourself, you claimed them. You set them apart from the others.

That is what God has done for you in Christ. He has said, “I claim you for my own. I am going to reproduce the very image of My Son in you.” What greater privilege could there be than that? Who has God sanctified?” Those who have believed the truth.

5. Believing (v 13)

Acts 16:31 says, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). How do people come to believe the truth about the Lord Jesus? Paul says that believers are loved by God, chosen from the beginning to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.

6. Called (v 14)

The gospel is the good news that Jesus died as the sacrifice for our sins, and that he rose from the dead to bring us new life. God calls people through the gospel. That is why the gospel must always be central to the ministry of the church. As you believe the gospel, you will find that you are loved, chosen, saved, and sanctified. It is through the gospel that God lays hold of you.

7. Glorified (v 14)

The ultimate outcome of God’s redeeming purpose is not only that you will see Christ’s glory, but that you will share Christ’s glory. You will be glorified in Christ forever.

Receive What You Need from Christ 

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word (2 Thess. 2:16-17).

After Paul reminds believers who they are in Christ (v 13-15), he prays. You, too, can pray for comfort and strength. And remember who you’re asking! The Lord Jesus is the one who gave “eternal comfort and good hope” (v 17). How did he do that? On the cross and through his resurrection.

Do you need comfort? Lift up your eyes and look at the cross. The Son of God is hanging there. The voices of hell mock him. People laugh at him in scorn. He is the man of sorrows, well acquainted with grief. He knows what it is to suffer and to face darkness. Do you need hope? Lift up your eyes and look at the empty tomb. Jesus Christ has endured, conquered, and risen. Think what comfort and hope you could find in him!

Brothers and sisters, you live in a dark world. The battle is intense for you, and you may feel overwhelmed. Drink in the truth of who you are in Christ. In this reality, nourish your soul and find strength for the battle. You are loved by the Lord. God chose you from the beginning. You are saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and by believing the truth. God has called you through the gospel. Your future is to share the everlasting glory of Christ. So, now: stand firm!

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Photo: Pixabay
This article is adapted from Pastor Colin’s sermon, “The Family of God: Standing Firm”, from his series, Staying the Course (When You’re Tired of the Battle).

Parents, the Bible is God-Breathed for Your Teen

Do you remember when you got your first Bible? I received mine in kindergarten, at church. It was a big deal. But by the time I reached my teen years, the Bible had lost some of its luster. I knew I was supposed to read it, but it just felt overwhelming and confusing. It was more exciting to play a video game than to read a book I barely understood.

Parents, does this sound like the teenager living in your home? Teens need help with their questions and understanding of the Bible. Yet, the Bible can come alive for them, and parents can lead the way.

Key Questions to Help Your Teen Find Life in Scripture

 

1. What is the Bible?

Your teen may have questions about the Bible. This comes with growing and maturing. They have to learn for themselves that the Bible is God’s word—not just a book of stories. Scripture is God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

Strike up a conversation with your teen about how we can know God without the Bible. God is invisible, and we don’t hear his audible voice. We can catch glimpses of his glory in nature, but only through the Bible can we know who he is or what he is like. God chose to reveal himself to us through the Bible. This is how we can know him.

Teens also may wonder if they can really trust the Bible. The answer is key. In addition to archeological and historical evidence that continues to support the Bible, believing that the Bible is God-breathed helps us gain trust in its words. 2 Peter 1:20-21 tells us that God spoke through human authors as they were “carried along by the Holy Spirit.” God worked through human authors to reveal himself. As we read the Bible, it is like reading no other book. It is God’s words to us.

As teens grow and develop, they need to make their faith and beliefs their own. Parents, you can help them in this process by initiating conversations about the Bible as the primary way to know and trust God.

2. Why is the Bible important?

The “Why?” question is critical for teens.  Why does the Bible matter? Just as they might ask “when am I ever going to use this in real life” as they study algebraic equations, they also want to know why reading the Bible is worth their time.

Many teens know the Bible is a source of truth about right and wrong—and that is important in our age of relative truth. However, your teen needs to know the Bible is far more than a rulebook.

The Bible teaches us how to know God personally and how to be with him for eternity. Paul says the Holy Scriptures can make us “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 3:15). The Bible is able to lead your teen to eternal life through faith in Jesus.

Have you ever read a passage of the Bible and found God was speaking directly to you in that moment? The words leapt off the page and penetrated your heart. Maybe you had read the same verse a hundred times before, but on this day God spoke to you. Hebrews 4:12 reminds us that “the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

God speaks to teens today, through his word. Teens not only need to hear this, but they need to see it. So, don’t just talk about it generally. Get specific about what you are learning about God from his word. Share how you are being changed by reading the Bible. If teens see fruit in their parents’ lives, they will be motivated to pursue that for themselves. Teens want to hear God’s voice, and it will be helpful for them to see, in your life, that the Bible is God’s primary way of communicating to us.

Teens and parents often ask me, “How do I know what God wants me to do?” To really hear God’s voice, we have to read his word. Of course, God can use other people as a means of speaking to us what he wants us to know or think about. And God uses his Spirit to instruct us as we pray. Yet, how do we know if what we learn from other people or from prayer is truly in line with God’s will for our lives? We can only know by measuring it against his word. God will never contradict his own, eternal word. Your teens want to hear from God, so help them understand the Bible’s importance as the primary way that God speaks today.

3. How can I understand the Bible?

My wife recently ordered a table on the internet. It came in a small, well-packaged box. Inside were dozens of parts and a single instruction page, with sketchy pictures and poorly-worded steps of assembly. It didn’t take long before I wanted to give up, box it up, and send it back to Amazon! Sometimes the Bible can feel like this. Teens will struggle to read the Bible if they don’t feel like they can understand it. Here are three simple ways you can help your teen persevere in reading the Bible.

a. Remind your teen of the purpose. Reading the Bible isn’t an assignment to check off. The goal is to hear from God. There is no need to rush through it. The Psalmist says, “I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds” (Ps. 77:12). It is more fruitful to ponder one verse, meditate on it, and let God speak to you personally than to read a whole chapter and forget everything you read. Teens are learning to hear God’s voice, and this takes time.

b. Encourage your teen to make a commitment. Help your teens approach Bible reading with a goal. Maybe they commit to reading and meditating on God’s word each day before school. Maybe your family decides to read through a certain book of the Bible at the same time. Parents and teens can hold each other accountable by talking about what God is saying to each of you through his word.

c. Guide your teen in making a plan. It can be helpful to adopt some structure in reading God’s word. While read-the-Bible-in-a-year plans are well organized, they are often overwhelming for teens. It may be more helpful to focus on one particular book of the Bible that is easily accessible, such as Proverbs, Philippians, Acts, or one of the gospels. If your teen has specific questions or needs, you can guide them to additional passages of Scripture that address these areas.

It is not uncommon for teens to struggle with reading the Bible. Yet, with a parent’s gentle instruction and active modeling, they can move past some of the common roadblocks that hold them back from finding life in the word of God. The Bible can be a light for their path through the challenging teen years.

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Photo: Pixabay