Colin S. Smith's Blog, page 68

The Joy of Mourning Sin

One of the great struggles of the Christian life is falling into sin. We profess to follow Jesus, but our moment-to-moment behavior contradicts us. The awareness of our sin can rob us of much of the joy of Jesus, or paralyze us in guilt, even going as far as to cause us to doubt our salvation.

But often our perceptions aren’t accurate. We only see the sin we’ve fallen into; we don’t see the meaning of the conviction and sorrow in the face of it.

Becoming Like Christ

…The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians 4:4)

When I finally put on glasses for the first time, I was shocked. Everything past my fingertips became clear—people’s faces became detailed, I could stop bringing books in close, and I could read signs down the street.

Before we knew Christ, our perceptions of the world were far more twisted, and our ability to discern proper action was tainted and broken. But Christ’s death means our innermost being is cleansed from sin and filled with the Holy Spirit. Through the finished work of Christ and the continuing work of the Holy Spirit, we are no longer blinded to Christ’s glory. The Spirit brings us sight through knowledge of God’s holiness and teaches us how to be conformed to that holiness—conformed to the likeness of Jesus:

And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds.” (Hebrews 10:15-16)

This should be an encouragement to our faith and bolster our hope, that conviction of sin is proof that the Spirit is working: giving us sight to see the glory of Christ, writing the law of God on our hearts and minds, and propelling our stumbling progress toward Christ-likeness.

New Hearts

The birth of my first child was the beginning of a great breaking up of my surprisingly hard heart. The arrival of this tiny, floppy person started the first few cracks, but the majority of the change came from a new viewpoint of my sin—there was a new, defenseless person my sin could hurt.

Now, as I see my children grow, I am increasingly convicted of this as I see their sin as something they have learned from me. I hate my sin now in a way I never had before.

A hard heart will not hate sin. Conviction of sin means that are growing to hate it and, therefore, that your heart is softening to the work of the Holy Spirit.

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules…Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations. (Ezekiel 36:26-27, 31)

Proof of Love for God

My wife enjoys coffee—large, iced coffee with whole milk and simple syrup. If I stop on the way home to get myself coffee, I usually remember to get some for her. On the occasions that I have forgotten, I regret it as soon as I get home and see her face. I could have easily served her and loved her in this, but missed the opportunity to do so.

When we love Christ, we want to do the things that bring him joy. Jesus desires our obedience and holiness: “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word” (John 14:23).

Many who do not understand the gospel see the things Jesus asks of his people as burdensome, but the opposite is true: “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3).

When we are following Christ and are full of the Spirit, following his commands are a pleasure, a joy. It is when we fail that we feel burdened—we have let down him whom we love.

Conviction of sin is the love we have for God in Christ crying out against unloving thoughts or actions. While it shows us a failure in the moment, it also shows that we still love him and want to please him.

Proof of God’s Love

I remember sitting on my Star Wars comforter, waiting for my Dad to come and talk to me about some wrong I had done. I remember knowing I’d messed up and was afraid of the consequences.

I’m not sure what I was so worried about. I knew that my Dad loved me, and I now know that his discipline taught me how members of our family are expected to act.

Similarly, conviction of sin shows us how God is our Father:

And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? (Hebrews 12:5-6)

He convicts us of sin because we are his children. He is teaching us how members of his family act in order that we might grow to reflect his holiness.

There is often an argument that a loving God would not require such high standards from the people he loves. But we only have to look at an earthly child who has not received proper discipline to see that this argument is without merit. Undisciplined children grow up into entitled, spoiled, stubborn, and selfish adults.

God is growing up for himself a holy and glorious people to live with him in a perfect place. How then can we expect that he would not discipline us according to the standards of the life to which he has called us? Would we expect him to leave us unprepared for the life to come?

A Pointer to Hope

Therefore, we should not dread the mourning of sin. Such conviction means that God loves us, that Jesus has saved us and made us clean, and that the Holy Spirit is within us. The gospel tells us that our sin has been dealt with fully and finally through the finished work of Christ—his perfect life, his atoning death, his victorious resurrection—so that we may be presented blameless before God.

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

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How Sin Leaves Us Needing the Intervention of God
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Give Your Kids Something Better Than Youth Sports

You’re a good mom. You’re a good dad. You want what’s best for your kids. You sacrifice to provide for them. You forego vacations and skimp on retirement savings to give them good gifts.

In the affluent West in 2018, those good gifts often take the form of youth sports. In fact, 63% of American families spend $100 to $500 per month, per kid, on youth sports (USA Today). There’s an unspoken rule among us that says, The more we invest in our kids’ sports, the better childhood they will have, and the more successful adults they will be.

We sign them up for t-ball, baseball, and softball as early as allowed. We shop around for the best soccer team, and then drive across town multiple nights a week for practice. And we commit every summer weekend to swim meets.

We want them to be good teammates, to have a good work ethic, to get good exercise. We want them to be socialized, and not indoors in front of screens. We even see the opportunity for a future college scholarship.

The youth sports season forms the rhythm of life for good American parents who are doing their best.

We Want to Give Good Gifts

Our hearts are in the right place. Even though we are fallen, we are still like our Father in heaven, so it’s our intuition as moms and dads to give good gifts to our children. That has always been true across cultures and throughout time.

Jesus referenced this in the Sermon on the Mount when he asked, “Which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?…If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:9, 11).

But what if, in our effort to equip our children for a lifetime of success, we’re actually setting them up to hear the final, terrible words, “I never knew you; depart from me” (Matthew 7:23)?

As we strive to be good parents and give good gifts to our kids, is it possible that we’re instead showing them how to gain the whole world and lose their souls?

The Best Gift

We can’t miss Jesus’ words on this. He said,

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:24-26)

If we want our children to find life, they must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Jesus. He is actually the best gift. He said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).

If we’re truly dedicated to giving our kids good gifts, we must give them the good news about Jesus.
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Indeed, traveling with the hockey team will impart lifelong lessons. And rising through the ranks of youth tennis will yield great confidence. These gifts are not sinful, or immoral, or even necessarily unwise. But Jesus calls us to put them in their proper place. They are good gifts, but they are not the best gift—and they might even have to be lost for the sake of gaining Christ.

Taking Jesus’ warning to heart, we moms and dads must ask ourselves if we’re exerting as much enthusiasm and effort and energy on our kids’ spiritual lives as we are on their athletic achievements.

If we are truly dedicated to giving our kids good gifts, we must give them the good news about Jesus.

How to Present the Best Gift

A recent survey asked Christian adults who were raised in Christian homes about the spiritual disciplines present in their homes while growing up (Lifeway Research). Researchers wanted to find out what their parents had done to raise kids who continued to follow Christ long after they left home.

Here are the five most common activities reported as being practiced in the homes of these Christian adults:

The child regularly read the Bible.
The child regularly spent time in prayer.
The child regularly spent time serving in the church.
The child regularly listened to Christian music.  
The child participated in church mission trips or projects.

Rather than shaping our lives around youth sports, let’s consider shaping our lives around these abundant-life-giving activities. Let’s consider, as families, how we might be in the Word, pray, serve, worship through music, and pursue missions. These practices will lead all of us into a deeper and more joyful walk with Jesus (John 15:10-11).

Of course, we know that our salvation and our children’s salvation from the penalty, power, and (one day) presence of sin is not dependent on us. Only God can reconcile each of us to himself. Paul says in Ephesians,

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not the result of works, so that no one may boast. (2:8-9)

Though Christ alone accomplished the work of salvation—through his suffering, death on the cross, and resurrection—we still toil with all his energy that his Spirit powerfully works in us to proclaim Jesus to our kids (Colossians 1:29). May we obediently present Jesus over and over to them (Matthew 28:19), and then trust in him alone to do his good and perfect will.

Is Presenting This Gift Your Priority?

Parents, let’s ask ourselves: Do we really believe that Jesus is the best gift we can present to our kids? Do our schedules and homes reflect these values? Do our words and lives and hearts profess that he alone is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6)?

For what will it profit a child if he gains the traveling team and forfeits his soul? Or if she gains Junior Olympics and forfeits her soul?

As we strive and sacrifice to give our children the good gifts of this world, may we not lead them to forfeit their souls. May we teach them to lose their lives for Jesus’ sake. May we show them abundant life in him.

We want to be the best parents we can be, so let’s present our kids the best gift we can offer.

[Photo Credit: Unsplash]

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Five Dangers of Reading Christian Biographies

Reading Christian biographies has been a major source of growth for me. They inspire me in a way unlike other literary genres because they blend Christian living, theology, and history in a way that stirs both my soul and my imagination.

Much like Hebrews 11’s listing of biblical figures who lived by faith, Christian biographies give me a special glimpse into the cloud of witnesses. They encourage me to lay aside every weight and sin and run the Christian race with endurance (Hebrews 12:1-2).

Even so, sin can corrupt anything, including the great gift of learning from saints who have gone before us.

In my experience, my sinful mind can produce harmful ways of thinking when entering back into the real world after soaring through the clouds of a great biography.

As you read biographies or hear great testimonies, take these dangers to heart.

Five Dangers of Reading Christian Biographies
1. You can read Christian biographies strictly for entertainment and neglect their devotional value.

Reading biographies like Keith Green‘s No Compromise, or Jim Elliot‘s Through the Gates of Splendor, greatly impacted me by showing me men of bold faith who went against the stream of culture (even Christian culture) to follow Christ’s call.

A danger for all of us when reading about great examples is to pursue the entertainment value of great biographies while neglecting the devotional value. These books shouldn’t only entertain, but should grow our faith in Christ, stir our affections for him, and fuel our service to him. Everything is to be done in his name for his glory (Colossians 3:17).

When you read, pause and pray. We need the Lord to grow our faith and motivate us to obey and seek him more. Let’s ask him to keep us from turning a great opportunity to worship into pure entertainment.

2. You can be inspired to become great yourself rather than to make Christ’s name great.

To want to do something great for Christ is noble; to do so strictly to make your name great is idolatrous. For me, this urge comes subtly. Instead of desiring to build Christ’s kingdom, I may desire to build my own kingdom.

We should desire to become great in “Kingdom” terms, which means living in sacrificial service for Christ’s sake—no matter who gets credit (cf. Mark 10:43–45). In short: take God’s view of greatness over the world’s view.

3. You can forget that you too can make Christ’s name great.

While we don’t want to serve God with selfish motives, we also don’t want to forget that we have the same potential to do Kingdom-advancing things as the many inspiring people we read about.

We may not have the same opportunities or platform as others, but God can use our faithful acts of service—no matter how small—to do great things in his kingdom for his glory, even if we only hear about it in heaven. God promises eternal reward for things you can do everyday like sharing the gospel, teaching a Sunday school class, prayer, giving to gospel-proclaiming ministries, or even sharing a cup of water in Jesus’ name (Matthew 10:42).

4. You can value people with certain gifts over others.

After reading a great biography of someone like D.L. Moody or Hudson Taylor, it can be tempting to think the “flashy” gifts of leadership, evangelism, and preaching are the greatest gifts.

We must thank God for those in church history to whom he gave impressive gifts, but must not downplay the more everyday or behind-the-scenes gifts of others. We cannot all be Charles Spurgeon; if we were, the church would lack a host of other gifts we need for the building up of the body and the glorifying of Christ. “If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose…the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable” (1 Corinthians 12:17–18, 22).

5. You can over-exalt your heroes.

Technically, all who believe in Christ are “saints” (Romans 1:7). Don’t over-exalt our heroes by forgetting that they are also imperfect and fallible, sinners in need of a Savior. (I hate to break it to you, but Bunyan and Edwards were sinful people in desperate need of God’s grace just like you and me.)

Christ: The Hero of Our Faith

When we admire brothers and sisters of the past, let’s admire their faithful service, but let’s also see them as recipients and channels of God’s grace. Listen to the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:10:

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

Only by God’s grace are we saved. Only by God’s grace can we do anything for him. When we stand before his presence on the last day, we will not focus on our great efforts but rather on his amazing grace in saving us from sin and separation from him and choosing to use us for his glory.

As our souls are encouraged and stirred afresh to “seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness” through great Christian biographies, may we avoid these dangers and seek to serve God with our gifts in our day and age (Matthew 6:33).

[Photo Credit: Unsplash]

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The post Five Dangers of Reading Christian Biographies appeared first on Unlocking the Bible.

Key Connections (August 3, 2018)

4 Ways to Love Your Pastor (Amy DiMarcangelo, The Gospel Coalition)

If we’re honest, we can often demand grace from them but extend little to them. With regular access to podcasts and social media, it’s tempting to compare our pastors unfavorably with those we admire from afar. We can subconsciously expect them to supersede the qualifications defined in Scripture (1 Tim. 3:1–7, Titus 1:5–9)—and judge them when they don’t.

The Resurrection: “According to the Scriptures”? (Herald Gandi, The Master’s Seminary)

Considering the theological weight that it carries in the New Testament, one might expect a clear prophecy concerning the Messiah’s resurrection on the third day in the Old Testament. But, was the resurrection of Christ really “according to the Scriptures” as the Apostle Paul claimed? (1 Cor 15:4 cf. Lk 24:45–46).

9 Ways to Build Prayer into a Worship Service (Chuck Lawless, ChuckLawless.com)

I suspect that God has answered many of our prayers, but we’ve told very few people about it—and we’ve missed an opportunity to glorify Him. Our churches will pray more if their faith is increased by hearing about God’s response to us.

Why I Admire Pastors and You Should Too (Jason K. Allen, JasonKAllen.com)

In our age of constant news, social media, and the world’s attentiveness to pastors who have stumbled, it is easy to forget all that pastors do for the church. Sure, we have all heard of a pastor who has not acted admirably, but they are the exception, not the rule. Most of the pastors I know garner my trust and respect and deserve my prayers and support. That, and given my own years serving churches, makes me admire pastors. You should too. Here is why.

When You Have Lost Hope (Colin Smith, Unlocking The Bible)

The fulfillment of God’s ultimate purpose is very wonderful, and every Christian needs to know it. But it may seem a long way from the painful realities that a grieving person is facing now. Heaven may be wonderful for the person who has died, but it may seem very distant from the one who grieves their loss, especially if that loss was sudden and unexpected. The immediate question for the one who grieves is, “How am I going to get through today?”

The post Key Connections (August 3, 2018) appeared first on Unlocking the Bible.

Have You Made the “Ask” of Jesus Christ?

A man with leprosy came to [Jesus] and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured. (Mark 1:40-42, NIV)

This man received what Jesus Christ offered to do for him, and his interaction with Jesus shows how you can receive what Christ offers to you.

How to Make “the Ask” of Jesus Christ
1. Faith: You must believe in Christ.

“You can make me clean.” (v. 40)

This man has confidence in the ability of Christ: “You can make me clean.” Faith is not your ability to trust. Faith is recognizing that Christ is trustworthy. Faith is like a hand open to receive what God promises. Without faith you do not receive anything from God.

Faith involves trusting Christ for yourself: “You can make me clean.” His faith was more than a general belief that Christ can heal people. He believed Christ could cleanse him.

Maybe you have seen Christ change someone else’s life. You’ve seen it, so you know that Christ can change people. But faith is believing that Christ can do the same for you.

2. Desire: You must want to be clean.

This is a story of a man who was healed of leprosy. But there’s much more. The word “clean” is of significance. The man does not say, “If you are willing, you can heal me.” He says, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”  

Lepers were excluded from the community because their disease was so highly infectious. They were also excluded from the worship of God. So this man is living his life cut off from God and his people.

Leprosy in the Bible is a powerful picture of our sinful condition. Sin causes a loss of feeling and a loss of function to the soul, as leprosy causes a loss of feeling and function to the body. Sin wastes the soul as leprosy wastes the body.

Faith is not your ability to trust. Faith is recognizing that Christ is trustworthy.
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When this man says, “You can make me clean,” he is saying, “You can deliver me from this alienation from God. You can give me a place among God’s people. Jesus, you can save me from this body of death. You can give new strength to these wasting limbs. You can make me a new man. And you can give me a new life.”

This is a marvelous picture of what God promises in the gospel.

If you are to receive what Christ promises, you must come to him with faith, and with a desire to be clean. Spurgeon says:

There are some folks who want to be saved from hell but not from the sin that is the cause of it. Christ’s salvation is cleansing from sin, and if we love sin we are not saved from it. We cannot have justification without sanctification. There’s nothing to quibble about; there must be a change, a radical change, a change of heart, or else we are not saved. I put it to you now, ‘Do you desire a moral and a spiritual change, a change of life, thought and motive?’ This is what Jesus gives. (C. H. Spurgeon, The Lord and the Leper)

3. Humility: You must come and ask.  

A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” (v. 40)

There was only one question in this man’s mind when he came to Jesus: “Are you willing?” He knows Christ has the ability, but does he have the will?

So he came to Christ and asked—he begged him. There’s humility here. This man isn’t trying to negotiate. He isn’t saying, “Jesus you owe me. Look at my life—why did you let this happen to me?” He isn’t saying, “Jesus, if you do this for me, I’ll do that for you.” The man came to Christ and begged him on his knees!

What does the Son of God need that anyone can give to him? Some people are so absorbed with themselves that they are always asking, “Why should I be interested in Christ?” This man sees the real question: “Why should Christ be interested in me?”   

Becoming a Christian is not about you doing something great for Christ. It’s about Christ doing something great for you. If you come to Christ thinking you’re offering him something special, you will never receive anything from him.

Get to the point with Jesus Christ today. Cut through the fog of a vague faith that makes little difference. Bring Christ to the point of your need. Get to “the ask.” Ask him to give you what you do not have. Ask him to make you clean. And when you ask, believe in him. Trust him to change you.

Are You Ready?

Are you ready to come to Christ like that today?

When you come to him, believing in his ability to change your life, with a desire to be clean, and when you ask him to do what he has promised, he will have compassion on you (v. 41); he will reach out to you, as he did the leper (v. 41); and he will speak to you.

“I am willing. Be clean!” (v. 41)

Mark records: “Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured” (v. 42). When Christ speaks to you, the promise becomes yours. When he says, “Be forgiven,” you are forgiven. And when he says, “Be clean,” you are clean.

I invite you to make this promise yours today.

[This article is an excerpt from Pastor Colin’s Sermon, “Jesus Is Willing,” from the series Rock Solid: Seven Promises Christ Makes to You.] [Photo Credit: Unsplash]

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Cleanse Yourself
Jesus Cleanses the Hearts of His People, Part 1
Forgiveness Begins Here

The post Have You Made the “Ask” of Jesus Christ? appeared first on Unlocking the Bible.

Momentary Afflictions That Last a Lifetime

“This affliction is light and momentary.”

How do you say that to a young wife who just traumatically lost her husband? To a woman suffering through infertility? To the children who lost their father? Or to the man with a deadly diagnosis?

Afflictions like these don’t feel momentary. No. Instead, such trials make their mark on our lives. People are forever changed by suffering like this. While many around them will carry on, those who suffer great loss will sometimes bear questions, scars, and grief for as long as they live.

And yet, this statement must be true since it’s found in God’s Word:

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)

We Groan and Grieve…

We don’t feel like our affliction is momentary. And this is where we fail in our human capacity to understand just how beautiful and long-lasting eternity will be for those who have believed in Jesus Christ. Every monstrous tear will be wiped away, every pain healed, and we will be with Jesus, the Comforter of our soul, forevermore.

We cannot fathom such a relief because we are here, surrounded by heartbreak and destruction on every side. Our loved ones die, mass shootings increase, chronic illness persists, unborn babies are murdered, and cancer destroys. Even worse, the sin found within our own bones haunts us. The ghost of our past, that is, our flesh, continues to shame us for previous sins while seeking to tempt us anew.

And with the burden of this weighty pain upon our hearts, we’re groaning with all creation: “Come soon, Lord. Come soon.”

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8:22-23)

1. With Hope

Yes, we groan and grieve. But we groan and grieve with hope.

For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. (Romans 8:24-26)

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. (1 Thessalonians 4:13)

Do you grieve as if your hope is lost? When everything crumbles around you, upon what (or who, rather) do you stand? If you see beneath your feet anything other than Jesus Christ, you will not survive the chaos of this life. Momentary afflictions will drag  your soul down to the depths of despair.

2. With Joy

We must place our hope in the life, death, and resurrection of the Savior, Jesus Christ. Only then will we endure through the storms of this life.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:3-7, emphasis added)

We who have put our faith in Jesus Christ can indeed rejoice, though now for a little while we are grieved by various trials. Peter gives us permission to grieve the trials we face, but he also reminds us our time on earth is brief. Each hardship we experience is a mere blink of an eye when compared to eternity.

Can you imagine a life free from the sorrow, disease, and sin that plagues us? What about a life that continues on and on, forever, without a single trouble? Eternity feels foreign to us; it seems impossible at times, if we’re honest. But in the blink of an eye, eternal joy in the presence of God will be our reality.

Amidst the harsh valleys of this life, we have so many reasons to rejoice! Those who’ve been “born again” receive not only salvation, but also an incorruptible inheritance. This inheritance includes not just heaven, but more importantly, Jesus himself. Furthermore, we know everything we face is being used for our sanctification. None of our pain is wasted. And lastly, rejoicing is ours because we too will be raised to life.

3. With Victory

Grieving with hope is possible because Jesus has conquered sin and death. Because Jesus died the death we deserved for our sin and was raised to life by the Holy Spirit, those who put their faith in him will one day rise as well. Death no more has dominion over us!

We will shout together for all eternity, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55). And death will return no answer.

Jesus crushed the serpent—he conquered the curse—by his work on the cross, just as it was prophesied of him from the beginning (Genesis 3:15). We live in the “already, not yet” of redemption history. The work of redemption is already finished, and yet, the reality is not fully realized. Though we’re forgiven and restored to right relationship with God, sin still wages war within our hearts. But the victory is sealed.

They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful. (Revelation 17:14)

We Await Glory

Many times, our afflictions don’t feel momentary, do they? And I think that’s okay. Maybe our groaning is meant to draw us near to the only One who can bring joy and peace in the midst of the storm.

Let’s cling to this truth: One day, we will be raised to life with Christ. On that day, our tears will be no more and we will see just how momentary each affliction—even the hardest to fathom—truly was.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. (Romans 8:18)

Right now, this may not feel like it could possibly be true, but it is true. May God give us grace to groan and grieve with hope even when our momentary afflictions don’t feel so momentary.

[Photo Credit: Unsplash]

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Counting on Mercy in Suffering
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If Today Was Your Last Day

We’ve all heard some version of the question, “If today was your last day on earth, what would you do?” The question is designed to get us thinking about what truly matters and what doesn’t.

There is a helpfulness to this question, I suppose. I certainly don’t want to spend my last day before seeing Jesus perfecting my yo-yo technique or binge-watching Dora the Explorer.

But to be frank, I find the “last day” question paralyzing. It’s overwhelming to consider all the things that could possibly be done. How does one decide what’s the most effective, impactful, God-honoring thing to do when your toes are on the precipice of eternity? How could I know if it’s better to sneak into North Korea—should it even be possible—and preach the gospel, or to track down all my unsaved friends and family so I can preach the gospel to them? Maybe I should also drain my life savings so I can give it away—but who should I give it to?

I have no idea how to answer these questions. Besides, thinking about the most effective thing to do on your last day seems to me like the silly meme that gets shared online: “Jesus is coming; look busy.”

Does being prepared for the second coming of Christ merely involve some extraordinary acts of obedience moments before he returns?

According to Jesus, it doesn’t.

What Does It Mean to Be Ready for Jesus’ Return?

In the Gospels, Jesus frequently charges his followers to stay ready for his return. One such place is Luke 12:35-48. Through a couple short parables about different kinds of servants, Jesus illustrates for his disciples what it means to be ready.

Stay Dressed for Action

In this passage—contra the logic of the “last day” question—being prepared for Jesus’ return means doing the kinds of things appropriate for your context, however ordinary and mundane they might seem. If you’re a teacher, be found grading midterms to the glory of God. If you’re a Christian who works in a factory, be found working until the whistle blows.

Jesus commands, “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning” (v. 35). The literal rendering of the phrase “stay dressed for action” is, “let your loins stay girded.” Back in the day, to have your loins girded meant that a man was ready to work because he had pulled his long, flowing robe around to the front and tied it tight so that it wouldn’t interfere with action.

These commands of Jesus, then, are pretty straightforward. Just do the kinds of things that a servant should do: Have your lamps burning, belt pulled tight, and be ready for work. Grade the midterms; work hard at your job. And if you are ready for the work God has put in front of you today, then you’re ready for the return of Jesus.

Stay Faithful

As the passage continues, Jesus underscores this idea again:

And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.” (vv. 42-43)

Note why Jesus calls a manager “faithful and wise.” If when the boss returns, the manager is feeding those under his charge, he’s considered faithful and wise. That’s not so extraordinary, is it?

Have your lamps burning, belt pulled tight, and be ready for work.
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If your job is feeding people, and when Jesus comes back you’re found feeding those people, he’ll call you faithful and wise. Or take for example a mother who is nursing her baby in the middle of the night: Although this is not impressive in the eyes of the world, she is more ready for her last day than if she were doing a hundred radical last-minute tasks.

While the “last day” question is paralyzing, the simple obedience Jesus calls us to is freeing. Whether you’re single or married, a mother or father, a student or business owner, getting ready for Jesus’ return will probably look an awful lot like your other days—that is, if you’re living for Jesus on those other days.

Love the Master

Not everyone in these parables is ready for the master’s return:

But if that servant says to himself, “My master is delayed in coming,” and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. (vv. 45-46)

Apparently, when the master is away, some servants play. They eat the master’s food, drink the master’s wine, and abuse the master’s servants. To say they did this merely because they believed their master was delayed, does not probe deep enough. They did what they did because what they loved most was being their own master (Luke 16:13).

In this example of unreadiness, we gain insight. We learn that the engine that drives all our service is what we most love. What we love in our hearts always bubbles up in our actions—whether our love for the Master, or our love for playing the master. Since the Garden of Eden, all people have the desire to play their own master. But when we repent of our sins and trust in Christ, he gives us new affections, new loves. We have the desire to serve him rather than ourselves.

Because Jesus first loved us, we Christians love him; and we eagerly anticipate his return. This means that the crucial task for Christians to cultivate readiness for God will involve—to a great extent—cultivating love for our Master, Jesus Christ.

Wait Eagerly

There’s one final detail that we must see from Luke 12. It’s too good to miss. Not only does Jesus tell us how to be ready for his return, he also tells us good news about what happens when he does return. We read,

Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. (v.  37)

The master’s servants were awake and ready to serve him. But that’s not what happens. There’s a beautiful reversal. The master dresses himself for service, sits them at his table, and serves them.

These instructions in Luke 12 about being ready don’t explicitly mention the crucifixion of Christ and his resurrection, but the entirety of Luke’s Gospel certainly makes the point that these were the redemptive works that make the second coming of Christ something Christians should not fear, but wait for with eagerness.

And because he is most certainly coming again, and in light of the great love Jesus has for us now and will show us then, while we wait for his return, let’s not just look busy, but be busy with whatever he’s called us to do, no matter how seemingly insignificant the work.

[Photo Credit: Unsplash]

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The Lord Jesus Christ: Coming in Glory
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My Yoke Is Easy, My Burden Is Light

During a recent visit to western New York, I laced up my running shoes and joyfully revisited its pastoral landscapes. I scanned the vast, piercing blue horizon to behold farm after farm of crops growing slowly under the attentive eye of the Almighty.

I didn’t see any oxen on the farms as the miles unfolded, but I started pondering a fitting word from Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:29-30).

Like me, you’ve probably read this passage many times—but can we agree that this teaching is confounding? Why did Jesus say his yoke is easy and his burden is light?

A Deathly Yoke

Jesus recognized that his listeners would know how a yoke keeps two oxen together as they plow the fields for a new season of crop planting. The stronger ox leads the weaker ox, one row at a time toward the completion of their arduous task.

Humans are unquestionably the weaker ox in this illustration, as we stumble and sin, which raises the provoking question, What am I yoking my life to? Greed? Lust? Judgment? Selfishness? Anger? Pride? The list is lengthy, but ultimately, the decisions we make reveal the presence of competing yokes: the yoke of sin, or the yoke of Christ.

The yoke of sin feels deceitfully light at first, even invisible. It feels good (Hebrews 11:25). But this yoke exacts a heavy toll in time. Paul wrote that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23)—and he could’ve easily substituted “wages” with “yoke.”  

To put it another way, the yoke of sin leads to death.

A Free Yoke

Thankfully, Romans 6:23 doesn’t end with death—death doesn’t have the last word. “But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord,” Paul adds. The yoke that Jesus speaks of in Matthew 11 is a “free gift” to us that requires a willing submission on our part. It leads us to a posture of surrender and trust. “It is to obey the gospel of Christ, to yield ourselves to the Lord,” says Matthew Henry in his commentary.

The yoke of sin feels deceitfully light at first, even invisible.
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What does it mean to obey the gospel? What does it mean to yield to the Lord? It means liberation from the yoke of death as we entrust ourselves to Jesus’ good and perfect yoke of life and freedom. The yoke of Christ is liberating, as the apostle Paul makes clear in Romans 10:5-17: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved,” he says. Calling on the name of the Lord (v. 13) means rescue from the yoke of death.

A Lovely Yoke

Along with being easy and light, the yoke of Christ is finally and fully replete with an otherworldly love from God to his people:

Such is the nature of all Christ’s commands, so reasonable in themselves, so profitable to us, and all summed up in one word, and that a sweet word, love. (Matthew Henry)

With respect to Henry, I wholeheartedly agree that the teachings of Jesus are immensely profitable to our spiritual health, but we often see them as unreasonable or difficult. However, liberation from the yoke of death means that his teachings are no longer burdens but blessings as they move us toward the life God always intended for us. “Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways!” (Psalm 119:2-3).

Rest for the Soul

You might say that repeatedly vacationing in Western New York has spoiled me. There’s a restfulness about Erie County, and I love to fall back on that calmness after running fast on the roads each morning.

We are a hurried people, always about our business in a frenzied manner. But Jesus invites both you and me to find rest for our weary souls by embracing his death-defeating, freeing, and lovely yoke.

[Photo Credit: Unsplash]

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Key Connections (July 27, 2018)

Perfect Peace for Anxious Souls (John Piper, Desiring God)

…On his [Jesus] mind is: “You look troubled. Your faces look trouble. I love you. I don’t like it when you look that way. I don’t want to leave you that way.” It’s that simple. It’s that precious. It’s that personal. It is. He says, “Heart — don’t let your heart be troubled. Not your globe, but don’t let your heart be troubled.”

“What Ever Happened to Evangelism?” (Reagan Rose, The Master’s Seminary)

Evangelism doesn’t need to be entirely ignored to be sidelined. It can be displaced more subtly. If churches champion less controversial causes as equal with gospel proclamation, honest biblical evangelism will always be the loser. If it’s just as important for Christians to feed the hungry as it is for them to spread the good news, I’m going to pick the one that gets me a pat on the back by society, not the one that gets me spat on.

Break Free from Bite-Sized Bible Study (Zach Barnhart, Gospel-Centered Discipleship)

The “microscopic” view of the text is necessary. But microscopes don’t help us see in the same way telescopes do. We need both views of Scripture; one that examines and investigates and determines, and another that searches and finds and marvels.

Adulting Is God’s Will for You (Shar Walker, The Gospel Coalition)

So let’s not despise our normal, everyday responsibilities—those unglamorous tasks we think of as “adulting.” Though we may desire to do great things for the Lord, it’s easy to forget that the greatest work has already been finished for us at the cross, and that God wants to be faithful where he’s intentionally placed us.

What is the Gospel? (Burk Parsons, Ligonier Ministries)

It is the victorious announcement that God saves sinners. And even though the call of Jesus to “take up your cross and follow me,” “repent and believe,” “deny yourself,” and “keep my commandments” are necessary commands that directly follow the proclamation of the gospel, they are not in themselves the good news of what Jesus has accomplished. The gospel is not a summons to work harder to reach God— it’s the grand message of how God worked all things together for good to reach us.

Amplify the Power of Sermon in Your Life (Ryan Higginbottom, Unlocking the Bible)

For disciples of Jesus, hearing him is only our first step. What happens after hearing makes all the difference. What produces an unshakable life that stands on a rock-solid foundation is hearing followed by obedience. Without obedience, we will be washed away in the storm.

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When You Have Lost Hope

Video Transcript:

The fulfillment of God’s ultimate purpose is very wonderful, and every Christian needs to know it. But it may seem a long way from the painful realities that a grieving person is facing now. Heaven may be wonderful for the person who has died, but it may seem very distant from the one who grieves their loss, especially if that loss was sudden and unexpected.

The immediate question for the one who grieves is, “How am I going to get through today?” The New Jerusalem is not the answer to that question. Look again at what the grieving person in Lamentations is dealing with—“My soul is bereft of peace!” (3:17). “I have forgotten what happiness is!” (3:17).

He says, “My endurance has perished” (3:18). In other words, “I am just so tired. I don’t have any energy. Everything seems like an enormous effort to me. I have lost interest in doing things. I don’t have the heart for it anymore.”

Then he says, “My hope from the Lord [has perished]” (3:18). He is saying, “I don’t feel the presence of God with me. I don’t feel that I can pray. The hope I once had and the comfort I once found in God seems to have deserted me.”

“My soul continually remembers [my affliction]” (3:20). Anyone who has experienced trauma or suffered violence knows what this is like. Your memory replays the horror of what happened again and again. You can’t get it out of your mind. It comes back to you when you are in the car, in the shower, and most of all, when you are in bed at night.

God’s mercies are new every morning. Your Redeemer is faithful. He is true.
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“My soul continually remembers it!” (3:20). Christopher Wright gives the sense of this verse: “I vividly, frequently, painfully, wretchedly, continually remember until my soul sinks down into misery and depression.”[1] That’s where these people were.

Then we have these extraordinary words: “But this I call to mind and therefore I have hope” (3:21). What in the world could a person call to mind—when their soul has no peace, when they have forgotten what happiness is, when their endurance has perished, and their hope is gone—that would make it possible to say, “This I call to mind and therefore I have hope”?

Here it is: “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23).

One member of our grief group said that the early days of her grief after her son was killed in a terrible accident were like being in a pit. She felt that she was sinking. She could feel herself going down. How could she get out?

She said, “I learned to thank God for the smallest things. I thanked him that the sky was blue and that the sun was shining. If I heard a bird sing, I would say, ‘Thank you, Lord.’ Every time I thanked God for something, it was as if I was taking another tiny step toward climbing out of the pit.”

The focus of hope for the person in the depth of sorrow, trying to put life together in the ruins and rubble of loss, is not the hope of God’s ultimate purpose, wonderful and glorious though that is.

The focus of that hope is God’s immediate presence. God’s mercies are new every morning. Your Redeemer is faithful. He is true. He is with you. He is for you and he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5).

[Christopher Wright, The Message of Lamentations, p. 110, IVP Academic, 2015.]
[This sermon clip is taken from Pastor Colin’s sermon, “ Hope and Healing ,” found in the series, For All Who Grieve: Light and Hope in Lamentations]

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“Made Under Pressure”: Staying Strong Under Trial
Counting on Mercy in Suffering
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