Colin S. Smith's Blog, page 95

“Readers and Writers” Episode 7 with Erik Raymond

Hell is for judgment upon those who’ve sinned against God, not simply for those who’ve heard the gospel or not heard the gospel. (Erik Raymond)

http://unlockingthebible.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/ErikRaymondMixed.mp3

Unlocking the Bible continues to release weekly episodes of Readers and Writers with Colin Smith, a podcast recorded live at The Gospel Coalition’s 2017 National Conference.

Our next guest is Erik Raymond, who shares about his writing and newest book from The Good Book Company, Is Hell for real? And other questions about judgment, eternity and the God of love. 

Here’s a summary of the book’s content:

The word hell conjures up all kinds of nightmares in people’s minds, but also presents a difficulty for many Christians. How can a God who the Bible says literally “is love” condemn anyone to an eternity of torment? Will punishment be eternal? Is hell for real?

In this short, accessible book, pastor and author Erik Raymond reviews this important subject for everyone with pastoral warmth and biblical clarity.

Listen to Pastor Colin’s interview with Erik! (You can also subscribe to the iTunes podcast.)

The post “Readers and Writers” Episode 7 with Erik Raymond appeared first on Unlocking the Bible.

Three Ways Hospitality Pictures the Gospel

I pulled up to my driveway and sighed, seeing all the kids gathered there. If this sight was something I’d prayed for, why was I so frustrated?

I used to tell everybody that I wanted my house to be “the Kool-Aid house,” the one where all the kids played and there was commotion and excitement and fun everywhere you looked. When my kids were younger, that was my life. As a stay-at-home mom, I prided myself in having the house where lemonade was given out and snacks were close at hand.

So when had my heart changed?

Practicing the Gospel

Actually, it hadn’t. Even when I thought I was being hospitable, my heart was not in the right place. I was being friendly, but I wasn’t experiencing or practicing the gospel in hospitality. Pridefully, I wanted my home perfect, the snacks perfect, and for there to be perfect purpose in every gathering – but I was missing the mark.

I had forgotten that true hospitality pictures the gospel as we open our home to others. For it was by the Master’s invitation – not by anything we did – that we were welcomed into his family and given a seat at his table.

Picturing the Gospel

Biblical hospitality means I can extend my home, family, and gifts as an offering to the One who gave each of those gifts to me. I can look at time with others not as something I can gain from, but as a way to serve.

A Bridge to the Broken

For the Son of man has come to save that which was lost. (Matthew 18:11)

Jesus Christ came to save us. He traveled with sinners, talked to sinners, and healed sinners. He didn’t spend time with those who “had it all together” because no one does but him. He spent time with the lonely, the hurt, the dying. And he healed them, both physically and spiritually. He came and saved people, transforming their lives to glorify his Father in heaven.

If we believe hospitality is about entertaining, then we’re always putting on a show. We’ll never let people into the chaos of our lives – even though the mess is where God’s message rings loud and clear. He’s the God who saves and uses imperfect people.

I had to be reminded that hospitality goes beyond entertainment. It’s one of the key ways we bring the gospel to a needy, broken world.

A Bench for the Weary

Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)

The story of Christ seems easy enough to share with our friends or people with whom we feel comfortable. To give our friends a place to feel welcome is easy enough. But when we share the hope of Christ with those we don’t know well, or who may be different than us? That’s when we rely most heavily on God’s power through his Holy Spirit.

It’s in the times of relative discomfort and unease that we aren’t serving our own desires or by our power, but looking to Christ for his love and strength. Only he can give us words and wisdom in our conversations and actions to reach the weary and needy, especially strangers or difficult people.

This is hard. Jesus bids us to come and die, and there’s nothing easy about that. But at the heart of hospitality is the heart of the gospel – sacrifice, love, and humility.

A Door to the Lost

Hospitality means making room in our lives and our homes for others to come and see the gospel of Christ. It’s an open door to the Door, himself (John 10:9). Whether around the dinner table, while eating s’mores, at soccer practice, or in the driveway, we seek opportunities – open doors – to invite people to Christ and his church.

Hospitality beams throughout the Bible, from the Old to the New Testament. We read about Abraham greeting angels. We see God command Israel to make room for refugees and nomads as they travel through their land. We behold Jesus eating and drinking with sinners, tax collectors, and outcasts.

Proclaiming the Gospel

Gospel-centered hospitality isn’t a suggestion, but a biblical command:

Therefore welcome one another, as Jesus has welcomed you. (Romans 15:7)

And when we seek to connect with those around us, forming relationships to glorify God and grow his kingdom, he will do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine from every sacrifice we give him. He will use our bridges to connect generations of people; he’ll take our simple benches and turn them into stadiums of followers; and he’ll take our open doors and welcome more of his people into a life of freedom and joy through Christ.

To proclaim the hope we have in Jesus through hospitality is a treasure and an honor. The next time I see a lot of kids in my driveway or piles of shoes in the hall, I’ll thank God for the opportunity to be a picture of the gospel for his glory!

RELATED POSTS:

Glorify God in the Kitchen
10 Things Christ Promises to Reward
Five Keys to Perseverance When You Are Weary in Serving

The post Three Ways Hospitality Pictures the Gospel appeared first on Unlocking the Bible.

Key Connections (August 2, 2017)

The Spiritual Power of Giving Thanks  (Kevin Halloran, Anchored in Christ)

Something usually fills the void in our souls when thankfulness is absent…Thankfulness is a spiritual discipline to develop in good times and bad. A redwood tree never grows overnight; it grows slowly: day by day, year by year. Here are some practices for cultivating a thankful heart.

The Holy Spirit Is Not an “It” (Erik Raymond, The Gospel Coalition)

There are times when precision is needed and there are other times when it is not. When we are talking about God then we must always be in the first category. This is because God is the being who is worthy of the highest regard. He is infinitely more valuable than anything we give careful attention to. What’s more, he has revealed himself with precision in the Scriptures.

Complaining God’s Way: Helping People Give Voice to Their Suffering (Andrew Rogers, Association of Certified Biblical Counselors)

The Psalms are wonderful expressions of praise, thanksgiving and yes, even complaints. The psalms of lament give us a voice for expressing ourselves as we walk through this perverse world. With the psalms of lament we can teach people how to complain God’s way.

What to Do While You’re Waiting on God (Linda Green, Unlocking the Bible) 

Waiting strategically can cultivate good fruit in in our lives such as patience, perseverance, and endurance. It also draws us closer to our Savior and points those who are watching us to the gospel. To that end, here are ten things to do while you wait.

Unlocking the Riches of Scripture  (John Piper, Desiring God)

Whenever we read, we want to know what an author intended us to see and experience. This conviction has huge implications for why and how we read…I may or may not be able get at his intention (because I am weak reader, or he was a weak writer, or some other reason). But believing the author’s intention is there, and is worth finding, profoundly affects the way we read.

The post Key Connections (August 2, 2017) appeared first on Unlocking the Bible.

Is Hope Perched In Your Soul?

Which Old Testament character had the most to say about hope? Job. Surprised? Me too – at first. But the more I study Job’s story, the more I realize that hope enabled Job’s faith to soar above adversity.

American poet Emily Dickinson described hope this way:

Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,

And sings the tune—without the words,

And never stops at all.

Her perspective on hope always makes me think of Job. Because hope was perched in his soul, he could sing faith’s tune when everyone around him – including his wife and four less-than-helpful friends – was chanting a dirge of doom.

Job’s Song of Hope

The Bible says Job was “blameless – a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil” (Job 1:1, NLT). Even as he mourned the death of all his children, along with the destruction of all his crops and cattle, even as he scraped his sores with pottery fragments, he composed these lyrics for his song of hope: “I know that my redeemer lives…and after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God” (19:25-26).

Job didn’t capture that hope on his own. It lived in Job’s soul because he walked with God. In 23:12, Job says, “I have not departed from the commands of [God’s] lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.” His hope lyrics sprang from knowledge of God and devotion to him.

But keeping hope on its perch wasn’t easy. Other verses reveal Job’s internal battle:

“Why did I not perish at birth?” (3:11).
“What strength do I have, that I should still hope?” (6:11).
“My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and they come to an end without hope” (7:6).
“Who can see any hope for me?” (17:15).

Nevertheless, Job didn’t allow the hawk of despair to drive away the songbird of hope. In chapter 14 he asks, “If someone dies, will they live again?” He then adds these lyrics to his song of hope: “All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come” (v. 14).

That confidence in eternal life is one reason Job didn’t follow his wife’s advice to “curse God and die” (1:9). Hope triumphed because Job believed that earthly suffering would pale in comparison when he saw God with his own eyes (19:27).

Joni’s Song of Hope

Joni Eareckson Tada is a contemporary example of someone whose suffering hasn’t pushed her hope off its perch. At age 18, she became a quadriplegic after a diving accident. Like Job, she asked God tough questions:

Do you toss the dice and paralyze people along the way? Or throw in a little cancer?
What God of compassion wouldn’t want to heal a young person in a wheelchair?¹

The hawk of despair attacked, but the songbird of hope triumphed in Joni’s heart:

How could I doubt the one who gave his life up for me?…How could I not believe him?

Lord, your no answer to physical healing meant yes to a deeper healing—a better one. Your answer has bound me to other believers and taught me so much about myself. It’s purged sin from my life, it’s strengthened my commitment to you, forced me to depend on your grace. Your wiser, deeper answer has stretched my hope, refined my faith, and helped me to know you better. And you are good. You are so good.²

Joni added those hope-filled lyrics to faith’s tune. She pushed aside unanswerable questions and relied on God’s promises to her:

We will be conformed to the image of Jesus (Romans 8:29).
Our current troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all (2 Corinthians 4:17).
The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds (Philippians 4:7).
One day we will see God’s face, and we will reign forever and ever (Revelation 22:4-5).

Our Song of Hope

Like Job and Joni, the severity of suffering needn’t make us doubt God’s love or his ability to restore what has been lost.

Trying to explain suffering will inevitably lead us into more suffering: anxiety, anger, depression, bitterness. But the God who loves us has not designed us to live that way. He longs for us to choose hope and trust in him.

Where do we find such a hope? Jesus told the twelve disciples, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33, emphasis mine).

Through Jesus, God gives us the opportunity to know him intimately and trust him confidently.
Click To Tweet

Jesus triumphed over the worst suffering of all – eternal destruction – so we would never experience it:

…that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you…what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. (Ephesians 1:18-21, emphasis mine)

Add those words to your song of hope. In Jesus, you can have peace, eternal peace that enables you to rest in spite of your temporary, though painful, circumstances. You can rest in Jesus’ victory over all sin, suffering, and death. That’s the rest he promises in Matthew 11:28: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Ask him for that rest.

Through his Son, God gives each of us the opportunity to know him intimately and trust him confidently.

Is this hope perched in your soul?

¹ Joni Eareckson Tada, The God I Love: A Lifetime of Walking with Jesus, EPub Reader Version, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003. ² Tada, The God I Love. [Photo Credit: Lightstock]

RELATED POSTS:

Eight Reasons to Cling to Scripture in Suffering
Suffer Well by Trusting God
Jesus Is Stronger Than Your Fear

The post Is Hope Perched In Your Soul? appeared first on Unlocking the Bible.

The Glory of Repetitive Tasks

“Do you think we’ll wash dishes in heaven?”

My feet ached from standing, and I winced as I dipped my already-dry hands into the dishwater. The plastic containers had gathered by the sink, and as I worked my way through the pile, I looked for hope as I asked my wife this question.

“Probably, but I don’t think we’ll mind it,” she said.

Accurate, gentle, and with just a hint of rebuke. You can tell I married up, as they say.

The Weight of Repetition

We all feel the weight of repetition. We need to wash our clothes, cook our food, cut the grass, and brush our teeth. We finish a job…and put it right at the top of our list again! (With feedings and changings, mothers of young children feel this weight acutely.)

Some repetition happens because of the curse, and some is made more difficult by the curse. But there’s no denying that our sin affects the way we respond to and carry out our duties.

God created the world and gave us his Word so that what we see would remind us of eternal truths.
Click To Tweet

If we chafe at repetition, think of the Levites and priests in the Old Testament. Think of the sacrifices they carried out on an annual, monthly, or daily basis. Some of these offerings were matters of bread and oil, but many more involved the blood, fat, skin, and organs of animals.

These sacrifices were messy, smelly, expensive, labor intensive, and numerous. I imagine that as soon as one sacrifice was complete, the Levites were anticipating the next. This cycle, needed only because of sin, spun round and round and round. How would it be resolved? Would it be resolved?

The End of Repetition

The sacrificial system pointed to a need for something permanent, one sacrifice to end the cycle. One decisive offering to bring about a cosmic change.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6)

Through his Son, God accomplished what the law could not. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ was once-for-all. The author of Hebrews meditates on this glorious fact:

For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. (Hebrews 10:1–4)

The sacrifices would have ceased if the law could make God’s people perfect. Instead, the sacrifices reminded the people of sin.

But look at what Christ has accomplished:

And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. (Hebrews 10:11–14)

Jesus is the only priest who could sit down, because his was the only sacrifice that needed no sequel. His offering perfected God’s people, who now are being sanctified.

Imagine an Old Testament Levite longing for a one-time sacrifice! Think of the relief, the lifted burden! As a comparison, suppose you had only one load of laundry to do, or that the next time mowing the grass would be your last. Imagine changing only one diaper!

The Repetition Remains

While the sacrifice for sins is complete, Jesus’ work for us continues.

Instead of an ongoing offering for sin, Jesus intercedes (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25) and advocates (1 John 2:1) for us before his Father. This perpetual work of our High Priest is exactly what we need!

Because we are weak and needy, we need Jesus’ prayers. We don’t know how to pray as we should, so we need the Holy Spirit to intercede with “groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26).

Because we continue to sin, we need Jesus’ advocacy. He is our righteous defense attorney, pleading his blood as the reason for peace with the Father.

Repetition for God’s People

Our spiritual disciplines and good works are shaped by Jesus’ work. While the repetition in the Old Testament flowed toward Jesus’ sacrifice, our repetition flows from it.

We now have the joyful calling and freedom to worship weekly, celebrate communion, confess our sins, pray, hear and read God’s Word, and do good to our neighbors. These tasks are repeated because we are not yet home. We are frail and need strength; we are ignorant and need instruction; we are scared and need encouragement. We – and so many around us – need the Spirit to work within us.

See Glory in Repetition

God has created this world and written his Word so that what we see and experience would remind us of eternal truths:

The rainbow is a sign of God’s promise to Noah.
Trumpets and clouds remind us of Jesus’ second coming.
A bird with a worm in its mouth points to God’s provision for his children.

Let’s see repetitive tasks in the same way:

When you cringe at the thought of another load of laundry, think of Christ’s singular work to wash you clean.
When it’s time to clean the gutters or shop for food yet again, remember his one-time, effectual sacrifice.
When you need to change the light bulb, re-paint the walls, or replace the tires, consider the Holy Spirit’s ongoing work of sanctification within you.

Let your thoughts bounce from your frustrations to these magnificent, eternal truths. Embrace the contrast between your ongoing work and the completed work of Jesus. Build your longing for heaven, where the curse will be no more and all repetition, even washing dishes, will be free from the stain of sin.

[Photo Credit: Lightstock]

RELATED POSTS:

Four Steps to Get Your Work Done Well
The Heart of a Servant
The Most Important Motivation for Spiritual Discipline

The post The Glory of Repetitive Tasks appeared first on Unlocking the Bible.

Where Should the Poor Fall on Your “To-Do” List?

I don’t know about your “Christian to-do list,” but mine’s getting long. I’m supposed to pray and read my Bible and be in a small group and serve and be a well-informed voter and protest abortion and lead family devotions and understand culture and read the latest Christian books and evangelize my neighbors and help the poor and grow some cool facial hair and…you get the idea.

So we throw our hands up and say, “I just can’t do all this.” That’s when we realize we need to prioritize.

Do You Prioritize the Poor?

I’m not writing to give you the official, canonized Christian priority list. It probably varies for each of us depending on our calling and gifting. But one item has been climbing my priority list lately: helping the poor.

If someone asked you to list the items I mentioned in the opening paragraph in priority order, where would helping the poor be? For most of us, my guess is that it would be toward the bottom. We know it’s a good thing to help the poor, but something’s got to give, right?

I recently read a sermon by Jonathan Edwards that challenges this mentality. Edwards has gotten a bad rap because he’s known for his sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, but he equally preached about love. In one sermon called Christian Charity, Edwards spoke about the priority of helping the poor:

Where have we any command in the Bible laid down in stronger terms and in a more peremptory urgent manner than the command of giving to the poor? It is mentioned in Scripture, not only as a duty, but a great duty. Indeed, it is generally acknowledged to be a duty to be kind to the needy. But by many it seems not to be looked upon as a duty of great importance. However, it is mentioned in Scripture as one of the greater and more essential duties of religion:

“He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.” (Micah 6:8)

Here to love mercy is mentioned as one of the three great things that are the sum of all religion.

So, it is mentioned by the apostle James as one of the two things wherein pure and undefiled religion consists:

“Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” (James 1:27)

So, Christ tells us, it is one of the weightier matters of the law:

“Ye…have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith.” (Matthew 23:23)

I know of scarce any duty which is so much insisted on, so pressed and urged upon us, both in the Old Testament and New as this duty of charity to the poor.

Six Ways to Prioritize the Poor

In Bible language, mercy is a loving and compassionate response to those in need, and it deserves to be a priority on our to-do list. But how? How can we add compassion for the poor without upending the apple cart?

1. Start with the gospel.

First of all, begin with the gospel. That makes helping the poor a joy rather than a burden. As we reflect on how Christ stooped down to help us when we were helpless, undeserving, and in great spiritual need, we will be spurred on to reach out to others who are also in great need.

2. Get the right perspective.

Make sure you’re adding the right thing to your to-do list. God is not asking us to solve world poverty or restore creation to its original order. He can take care of that. He’s simply asking us to respond with compassion when we encounter the poor.

3. Prioritize Christians.

Give Christians priority. Scripture gives clear priority to helping Christian brothers and sisters in need:

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. (Galatians 6:10)

4. Look around you.

Keep your eyes open. People in need are all around you. You don’t need to make a trip to the inner city. Watch for people in your normal routines who might need some encouragement and assistance.

5. Give the gospel.

Compassion ministry opens opportunities for the gospel. We’re not just here to give people a smoother ride to spiritual disaster. John Piper said at the 2010 Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization, “Could the evangelical church say, ‘We Christians care about all suffering, especially eternal suffering?’” We’re called to alleviate suffering both in this world and eternity. So give the gospel, too.

6. Sponsor a child.

Children often take the brunt of the evil in this world. When parents die of AIDS, the children are orphaned. When the sex trade flourishes, children are the victims. We know that our Lord has a soft spot in his heart for children. So when we care for them, we are expressing the heart of Christ.

We’ll probably continue to wrestle with proper priorities until the Lord’s return—but may we wrestle with Scripture in our hands. If we do, I suspect helping the poor will rise on the to-do list for us all.

[Photo Credit: Lightstock]

 

The post Where Should the Poor Fall on Your “To-Do” List? appeared first on Unlocking the Bible.

Key Connections (July 27, 2017)

The Danger of Drifting Away (John Piper, Precept Ministries)

One mark of Christian authenticity is discontentment with anything less than “all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19). Coasting is not discipleship. Drifting in self-contentment is not like basking in the pool of security, but like floating, fast asleep, toward the falls.

Put Your Sin To Death (Matt Chandler, The Village Church)

At The Village, we often speak about grace-driven effort—the idea that once our hearts are made new by the gospel, we see sin as something not just to be resisted or avoided, but as something to war against.

Theological Primer: Limited Atonement (Kevin DeYoung, DeYoung, Restless, and Reformed)

The doctrine of limited atonement–the L in TULIP–teaches that Christ effectively redeems from every people “only those who were chosen from eternity to salvation” (Canons of Dort, II.8)…The doctrine of particular redemption is worth defining and defending because it gets to the heart of the gospel.

Four Keys to Reading and Teaching the Psalms (David Schrock, Southern Equip) 

How do we read the Psalms in their historical context? What is their historical context? And how do we sing them today, knowing that at least some of them were first written and sung in Solomon’s temple (cp. 2 Chronicles 5:13 and Psalm 136)?

Seven Habits to Help You Fight Comparison  (Jaquelle Crowe, Unlocking the Bible)

We’re on a quest for acceptance and joy, but are paralyzed by the pressure to look, do, and be better than the people around us. Because of this, we are distracted from our purpose, mission, and need to pursue holiness. This is why comparison is so deadly.

The post Key Connections (July 27, 2017) appeared first on Unlocking the Bible.

“Readers and Writers” Episode 6 with Paul David Tripp

If all our children needed was a set of rules…Jesus would’ve never had to come. (Paul David Tripp)

http://unlockingthebible.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/PaulTrippMixed.mp3

Unlocking the Bible continues to release weekly episodes of Readers and Writers with Colin Smith, a podcast recorded live at The Gospel Coalition’s 2017 National Conference.

Our next guest is Paul David Tripp, who shares about his writing and newest book from Crossway, Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family. 

Here’s a summary of the book’s content:

What is your calling as a parent?

In the midst of folding laundry, coordinating carpool schedules, and breaking up fights, many parents get lost. Feeling pressure to do everything “right” and raise up “good” children, it’s easy to lose sight of our ultimate purpose as parents in the quest for practical tips and guaranteed formulas.

In this life-giving book, Paul Tripp offers parents much more than a to-do list. Instead, he presents us with a big-picture view of God’s plan for us as parents. Outlining fourteen foundational principles centered on the gospel, he shows that we need more than the latest parenting strategy or list of techniques. Rather, we need the rescuing grace of God—grace that has the power to shape how we view everything we do as parents.

Freed from the burden of trying to manufacture life-change in our children’s hearts, we can embrace a grand perspective of parenting overflowing with vision, purpose, and joy.

Listen to Pastor Colin’s interview with Paul! (You can also subscribe to the iTunes podcast.)

The post “Readers and Writers” Episode 6 with Paul David Tripp appeared first on Unlocking the Bible.

Why Every Person Should Attend a Funeral Once a Year

Every person should attend a funeral at least once a year.

Going to a wedding reminds you that the marriage bond is sacred. Going to a funeral reminds you that life is a vapor, that one day yours will be gone. When it is announced in church that someone has died, I try to remember that one day someone will make that announcement about me.

Even Christians commonly say, “She passed away,” which neatly avoids using the “D-word.” There’s nothing wrong with that, but I prefer to look this enemy in the face and name it. Death is the great reality towards which all of us are moving, but we live knowing that Christ has conquered it.

Face the Ultimate Reality of Death

Our culture has devised many ways to keep us from thinking seriously about death. People make a spoof of it at Halloween. Hollywood sentimentalizes it with weepy movies, and the card companies follow suit with empty slogans.

Some time ago, I came across a message by Martyn Lloyd-Jones on John 8. The year was 1960, and the whole world was in fear at the prospect of nuclear holocaust. This was just before the Cuban missile crisis. There were many marches in major cities around the world on the theme of “banning the bomb” and so forth.

Lloyd-Jones made this observation: Here are thousands of people on the streets protesting about the danger of death coming through a nuclear bomb. They’re concerned about this mode of death: “We cannot have people dying through a bomb.”¹

Christ carried your sins into his death, so you won’t carry them into yours. (Colin Smith)
Click To Tweet

The point is well made, but here’s the problem: Many of the people who were rightly and passionately concerned about the mode of death seemed to give little thought to the unavoidable reality of death itself. They’re worried about how people might die, but they had nothing to say about the reality that all of us eventually will die.

People die in many ways—some die in war or through an act of violence. Some die through an illness, a heart attack or cancer, and others die from old age. Some die early in life, while others live a long time. These things are important, but they’re not the ultimate things.

However I die, and whenever it happens, when I close my eyes I will awaken in a world of light, love, peace and joy—in the presence of Jesus. Here’s what matters most: Whatever the mode of death and whatever its timing, every person dies in one of two ways: in their sins, or in the Lord.

Follow the Light from Heaven

Jesus says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Imagine we’re all in a dark tunnel. One man has a light, and he is coming toward us, walking through the tunnel. If we walk with him, we walk in his light. But if we refuse to follow him, his light will get further and further away from us, and eventually we will be left in darkness.

That is true in this life, and of course, it is true in the world to come. Beyond this world, there is a place where Christ is. Because Christ is there, it is a world of light and love and peace and joy. But beyond this world, there is also a place where Christ is not. Because Christ is not there, it is a world of darkness and hate and turmoil and misery.

There is nothing more tragic than this—to die in your sins. How can I make sure this does not happen to me? I know I will die. How can I be sure I will not die in my sins?

How to Be Sure You Won’t Die in Your Sins

“You will die in your sin.” (John 8:21)

Unbelief toward Jesus Christ is the one sin that leaves you taking all your other sins into your death with you. Unless you believe…you will die in your sins. Turn that round and you have the hope of the gospel. Unbelief toward Christ leaves you to die in your sins; but if you believe that Jesus is the Christ, you will not die in your sins.

Why is this believing so important? Because faith is the bond of a living union in which you give yourself to Christ and Christ gives himself to you. Christ becomes your Savior and your friend. Christ becomes your Lord and master, and when you belong to him, his home is yours.

There’s more: Jesus lived a sinless life. He is the only person who has ever done that, or ever could do that. He lived and died without sin. The Bible tells us that “he bore our sins in his body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). “The Lord has laid on [Jesus] the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).

Here is the marvelous thing that is true for every person who has faith in Jesus Christ: Christ carried your sins into his death, so you won’t carry them into yours. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, embrace him, receive him, follow him, and you will not die in your sins. You will die in the Lord!

As the Bible says, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord” (Revelation 14:13).

[1] D. M. Lloyd-Jones on John 8:21-24, Westminster Chapel June 6th 1960. Photo Credit: Lightstock.

The post Why Every Person Should Attend a Funeral Once a Year appeared first on Unlocking the Bible.

Five Keys for Making Prayer a Habit

Prayer is hard work. It’s not something that comes naturally.

We go about our days, engaged in the home or workplace, distracted by good things that would keep us from prayer if we let them. Our hearts are prone to wander from God in self-reliance toward temporary pleasures, rather than running to him in dependence for the lasting joy and satisfaction only he can provide.

No relationship will flourish without intention—and this takes work! Perhaps you feel your need for communion with God, and you want to grow in forming a habit of prayer, but you don’t know where to start…

Five Keys for Making Prayer a Habit

Maybe prayer seems daunting, like a high mountain to climb; or perhaps the pace of your day doesn’t seem to allow for this time. Yet, the growth of any relationship won’t fall into our laps; we need to be intentional, trusting God will meet and help us in this time of sought communion.

So here’s a start! The following are five keys to help you form a habit of prayer:

1. Choose it.

Forming any habit requires action. Unless I choose to rebuild my strength through physical therapy exercises, it won’t happen. Unless I choose to show up on time by leaving early, it won’t happen. Similarly, we won’t pray unless we choose to pray, despite the obstacles (and there are always obstacles!).

So choose to pray. Choose a location. Choose a time of day that works best. Choose a context that will become familiar over time. Our living room couch is my chosen, consistent spot, the place I go each morning to read my Bible and pray.

Of course, certain times require flexibility in our communion with God—and there’s grace for these seasons! A newborn baby, a relocation, a new job and schedule, a decline in health—these circumstances may change our context for prayer, but they needn’t change our choice to pray. We press on, no matter the season, and we choose prayer by the strength God supplies.

2. Ask God for help.

Because prayer doesn’t come naturally, our hearts are wayward, and our circumstances change, we desperately need God to help us pray—and this means we need him to transform our hearts, the seat of our deepest desires. If prayer is merely something we add to our “spiritual checklist,” a joyless obligation, then we’ll pray for all the wrong reasons and never be transformed. But if God were to change our hearts, then we’d yearn for prayer because we first and foremost desire him. 

So we ask God for help! We ask him to change our fickle, self-interested, apathetic, and easily distracted hearts. John Piper says,

Too many of us are passive when it comes to our spiritual affections. We are practical atheists. We think there is nothing we can do….This is not the way the psalmists thought or acted. It is not the way the great saints of church history have acted either. Life is war. And the main battles are fought at the level of desires, not deeds.

If you’ve been discouraged by your apathy toward prayer, hear this good news: Jesus lived and died and resurrected so your heart would be made new and your desires changed! He gave his life for your apathy and wayward desires, bearing your sin, and now he lives to intercede for you when you ask God to change your heart. So ask for his help today. He delights to give it.

3. Read your Bible.

God has graciously spoken to us through his precious Word, and we can open our Bibles to hear from him each day. What an incredible thing, to hear from the God of the universe through words and phrases and sentences and chapters and books! What a wonder that the almighty, holy God would speak to undeserving, sinful humans like us.

If prayer is responding to God’s words (he speaks; we listen, consider, and respond), then before prayer can become a habit, we need Scripture reading to become a habit. As in the last point, we can ask God for his help where Bible reading is concerned: God, give me the desire to hear from you in your Word!

Our prayers will also be more focused and clear when they’re rooted in biblical truths we know we can trust because God, himself, has said so. The more we read our Bibles, the more inclined our hearts will be to pray in response (Psalm 119:36).

4. Establish a pattern.

Prayer can feel overwhelming. How do I know where to begin?, we ask. Choosing patterns for prayer has helped me pray more consistently and with greater intentionality.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication (ACTS)
The Lord’s Prayer (see Matthew 6:9-13)
Word-centered prayer (pray through a Scripture passage, verse by verse)
Concentric circles (start with self and move outward to family, friends, church, local, global, etc.)
Daily themes (eg. Ministry on Mondays, Unbelievers on Tuesdays, Friends on Wednesdays, Missions/Evangelism on Thursdays, Work/Coworkers on Fridays, etc.)
John Piper’s I.O.U.S. (a helpful prayer pattern for Bible reading)
Small group prayer
Family prayer
Church/corporate prayer

5. Ask for accountability.

Is anyone currently asking you about your prayer life? If you want to make prayer a habit, ask a trusted, believing friend to hold you accountable by checking in with you on a weekly basis: “How has your prayer time been? How can I pray for you in that regard?” See if you might hold them accountable as well.

You’re Never Too Late

At this point, some of you might be feeling discouraged because you haven’t sought to make a habit of prayer. Friends, because of Christ, you can lift your drooping heads and strengthen your weak knees—it’s never too late to start! God delights to provide for us the desire, motivation, and ability to commune with him in prayer, and he has secured this high privilege for you to draw near through the sacrifice of his Son.

You’re never too late, nor is God ever too far away. Prayer is a gift and, through his strength, it can become a habit for you.

Reading the Bible Supernaturally, p. 256.  Ibid. [Photo Credit: Lightstock]

RELATED POSTS:

When Prayer Is Difficult
Four Things That Happen When You Don’t Read Your Bible
Fresh Fuel for Your Prayer Life

The post Five Keys for Making Prayer a Habit appeared first on Unlocking the Bible.