Signs of Spiritual Maturity #14: Gracious No Matter What

by Elder Peter Lim

One of the most obvious signs of a maturing Christian is graciousness. At the root is the word “grace” which refers to the giving of something that is not necessarily deserved. In our context we are talking about someone who returns kindness when it may be justifiable to retaliate for an unkind deed. All Christians will show grace at least from time to time because we mimic the character of God and it’s at the core of how He treats us, by giving us the gift of forgiveness and salvation through Jesus Christ even though we don’t deserve it. A maturing Christian is consistently characterized by graciousness and shows a pattern of it despite varying degrees of difficult circumstances encountered over time. So what are some of these difficult circumstances? Examples will help.

Gracious in Conflict Situations

Let’s face it. Living in peace with other people, even Christians, is not always easy. Although there are basic processes of peacemaking in the Bible and discussed in many books, the actual making of peace is often complicated by personal pain and perceived wrongs. The key to resolving difficult circumstances is clarity in understanding the issues at hand. But achieving clarity requires many meetings and discussions to clearly understand each party’s perceptions and misperceptions. This is usually a lengthy and time-consuming process and requires a willingness of all parties involved to see it through and see peace as a worthwhile goal. This also means that there will be many opportunities to escalate the situation instead of defusing it. The difference between escalating and defusing is grace. Until the ownership of responsibility is sorted out, each party will feel like it’s the other party’s fault. Therefore an extra measure of grace is necessary to show the other kindness, which you believe the other party doesn’t deserve. The greatest killer of grace is an unwillingness to discuss the issue because then there is no possible way to reach clarity. Someone who uses the excuse that it’s too painful to discuss is obviously not a mature believer. It’s almost like saying that the pain that he’s going through is greater than the pain and humility that Jesus endured in being born as a man and being crucified on the cross.

Gracious Leaders

Being gracious is especially important for leaders. One big way to sow seeds of division within the church is to complain to your spouse and/or other people about dumb decisions that the other leaders make. There is a right way and a wrong way to discuss serious issues that are facing the leaders of the church. Again, grace is the difference.

The gracious way:

  • Consider whether it’s even a good idea to share a particular issue with a spouse since it may cast a fellow leader in a negative light
  • Consider whether it’s an issue of biblical conviction or personal preference
  • Consider whether it’s more of an area of expertise of a fellow leader than oneself
  • Ask your spouse to help you understand the alternatives and consider which biblical principles might apply

The ungracious way:

  • Use your spouse to vent your frustrations
  • Casting a negative light on other leaders, belittling their abilities and decision making

There are no excuses why a leader would be ungracious to a fellow leader. The lack of grace is an obvious disqualification from leadership and evidence of a lack of understanding of one’s own standing before God.

Gracious to other Christians

Sometimes well-meaning Christians make (or support) statements such as, “Christians are hypocrites” or “Christians are so judgmental” trying to identify with those who criticize Christians so that they can see that we acknowledge our faults too. After all, there is truth in those statements. However, these statements are sometimes misunderstood as if it’s better not to be a Christian than to be one. It can also communicate a lack of graciousness toward other believers, and the unbeliever is left thinking that this person just threw his fellow believers under the bus. Instead, we should acknowledge our faults but also share how Christ has changed us to be more gracious and less hypocritical and judgmental. I’ve known a lot of genuine Christians and the more mature Christians are the most unjudgmental and unhypocritical people I know. They aren’t perfect people (no one is!) but the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives is obvious. I strive to be like them.

Summary

No Christian has an excuse not to show grace. God’s grace can raise the deadest sinner from the dead. This includes you, me, Hitler, and [insert here the most-deserving-of-death person you can think of]. Is there anyone that you can think of that you haven’t been showing grace to? Consider this your opportunity to have a “growth moment” and show grace to them even if they don’t deserve it… especially if they don’t deserve it. Be gracious no matter what.

He Was Heard In That He Feared

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

From Hebrews 5:7

Did this fear arise from the infernal suggestion that He was utterly forsaken. There may be sterner trials than this, but surely it is one of the worst to be utterly forsaken? ‘See,’ said Satan, ‘thou hast a friend nowhere! Thy Father hath shut up the bowels of His compassion against thee. Not an angel in His courts will stretch out his hand to help thee. All heaven is alienated from Thee; Thou art left alone. See the companions with whom Thou hast taken sweet counsel, what are they worth? Son of Mary, see there Thy brother James, see there Thy loved disciple John, and Thy bold apostle Peter, how the cowards sleep when Thou art in Thy sufferings! Lo! Thou hast no friend left in heaven or earth. All hell is against Thee. I have stirred up mine infernal den. I have sent my missives throughout all regions summoning every prince of darkness to set upon Thee this night, and we will spare no arrows, we will use all our infernal might to overwhelm Thee: and what wilt Thou do, Thou solitary one?’ It may be, this was the temptation; we think it was, because the appearance of an angel unto Him strengthening Him removed that fear. He was heard in that He feared; He was no more alone, but heaven was with Him. It may be that this is the reason of His coming three times to His disciples-as Hart puts it-

‘Backwards and forwards thrice He ran,
As if He sought some help from man.’

He would see for Himself whether it were really true that all men had forsaken Him; He found them all asleep; but perhaps He gained some faint comfort from the thought that they were sleeping, not from treachery, but from sorrow, the spirit indeed was willing, but the flesh was weak. At any rate, He was heard in that He feared. Jesus was heard in His deepest woe; my soul, thou shalt be heard also.

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Weekly Links (10/18/2013)

Self is the opaque veil that hides the face of God from us. It can be removed only in spiritual experience, never by mere instruction. We may as well try to instruct leprosy out of our system. There must be a work of God in destruction before we are free. We must invite the cross to do its deadly work within us. We must bring our self-sins to the cross for judgment.  (A. W. Tozer)

by Richard Shin

  • First off, we want to make you aware of the free book the Logos is offering: Brothers, We Are Not Professionals by John Piper. There are also some other discounts on the page of which you can take advantage if that’s your cup of tea.
  • The Strange Fire conference is currently being held at Grace Community Church, hosted by Grace to You. You can still follow the last day via live stream here. Or if you prefer, you can follow Tim Challies’ conference notes here. Mike Riccardi from the Cripplegate blog is also writing summaries here.
  • Do you desire to become a missionary overseas? If so, perhaps you should check your reasons. Laura Parker shares ten reasons you shouldn’t become a missionary.
  • Last week, I linked you to an article by Al Mohler on how pornography affects the brain. In the same week, John Piper wrote a similar article on the addictiveness to pornography. And he followed up this week with four observations that give people hope for renewal.
  • Jeremy Walker is doing a series on effective personal evangelism. He gives the introduction here. The first requirement of an effective evangelist here. And the second here.
  • And not for naught, Southern Seminary released a documentary on Al Mohler here. If you don’t know the history behind the Southern Baptist Convention, the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and their rampant liberalism of the past, you would do good to watch this video.

Coram Deo

God Is Awesome

by Pastor Patrick Cho

The word “awesome” is defined by Merriam-Webster as “causing feelings of fear and wonder.” This is undoubtedly a fitting adjective to describe our God. To borrow from the old worship refrain, our God is an awesome God. What is desperately needed in the church today is a greater sense of God’s greatness and majesty. In order to preserve the idea that Jesus is our friend, we have adopted perhaps too casual of an attitude towards God. We treat Him like He is our buddy. This casual attitude is sometimes reflected in our prayers. We talk to God like He is anyone else. Of course, we can come to the Lord honestly and pray to Him candidly, but we would do well to remember that we are speaking with the God of the universe and of our lives.

This casual attitude also manifests itself in our casual approach to Sundays. Our worship services have adopted this casualness. People waltz into church consistently late. Even the way we dress is oftentimes embarrassingly casual. This isn’t to say that church should be stuffy or follow some rigid liturgy. But when someone walks into church on Sunday morning, there should be a sense of passing through a threshold into the presence of God.

One of my favorite passages in Scripture is Exodus 33:18-23 and 34:4-8. This is the account where Moses asks the Lord to show him His glory. God quickly reminded Moses that no one could see His face and live, but He accommodated His servant by promising to walk by and reveal His back. The next day, when Moses ascended Sinai, the Lord hid him in the cleft of a rock and passed by. As He passed by He proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.”

If Christians today could experience the brief encounter Moses had with the Lord on Sinai, perhaps they would be quick to respond the way Moses did immediately after his meeting. The text says, “And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped” (Exod. 34:8). Moses worshiped because this experience all the more helped him to understand what an awesome God he served. He knew it from what he was able to see, but perhaps he knew it more from what he was able to hear. God’s own words revealed to Moses who he was and what He was like.

Considering this, perhaps we have something much closer to Moses than we might have originally suspected. I would argue that we have something even greater in the Bible we possess. We enjoy the incalculable privilege of holding the completed revelation of God’s Word. Everything God has desired to communicate to us is perspicuously written in the Bible. Moses received a couple sentences, but we have received sixty-six books! Moses looked forward to the fulfillment of God’s promises. We get to live on this side of the cross and look back on much of what God fulfilled in Christ.

Living in such privileged position with our access to the God of the Scriptures, we would be remiss to ignore the incredible benefit afforded us. Shouldn’t we be doing all we can to gain more of Him, to know Him more and be more intimately acquainted with God our Savior? This year, our Grace Life family ministry will be walking through a study of God. Our hope is that through this time together we will develop a greater appreciation and deeper worship, that the thought of God would evoke in us feelings of fear and wonder!

Set Free in Christ

by Pastor Patrick Cho

A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to share a devotional with our college ministry at their annual welcoming luau. Each year this proves to be one of my favorite events because of the chance to get to know the new collegians (and see the returning ones, as well!). I decided to share this time about the freedom we receive through the grace of God in Jesus Christ. I was blessed by these thoughts from the first chapter of a book by Sinclair Ferguson entitled By Grace Alone. In this book, Ferguson walks through a contemporary hymn written by an African pastor, E. T. Sibomana. The book covers a variety of themes related to the gospel and the grace of God.

In order to address the topic of freedom, it is necessary biblically to explain the human’s bondage to sin. Every person who walks this earth is in spiritual bondage. There are, of course, many people who have no sense of this bondage, who walk around completely certain that they are free – free to do what they want, free to live as they please. Many people are angered when they are confronted with the idea that they are not in control but are slaves to sin. But Jesus taught quite plainly in John 8:34 that the one who sins is a slave to sin.

The problem is that there is a widespread misunderstanding about what it means that we are sinners. Most people would admit that they are not perfect. Whenever I have a chance to talk to someone about their sinfulness, they are almost always ready to admit that they have done some wrong things. But this admission doesn’t go far enough. Generally, people believe that they are morally good and right but that they stumble from time to time. We are generally good people, they hold, who mess up occasionally. This is even how some professing Christians view their sinfulness. They would confess, “I’m a sinner because I have sinned in my life.”

This perspective doesn’t quite match up with the Bible’s description of the human condition. The Bible proclaims that all men are sinners by nature and are enslaved to their sin (cf. Ps. 51:5; Eph. 2:3). All men are born sinners and are bound to their sinful tendencies. As lovely as my children are and as much as I love them dearly, I understand that even at their young age they are sinners in desperate need of God’s saving grace. The problem isn’t that we are sinners because we have sinned. It is more accurately understood that we sin because we are sinners. This is our nature and our identity apart from Christ.

A person needs to understand and confess this truth in order to fully understand and appreciate the freedom that is offered in Christ. There is a wonderful proclamation of emancipation in John 8:36, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Jesus could set the sinner free because He paid the sinner’s ransom. He would go to the cross and hang in judgment for the sins of the world. As an innocent man, He would die the death in place of guilty sinners. The punishment that was rightfully deserved by sinners He would take upon Himself. He would bear the curse of sin for us that we might be set free.

The ideas of slavery and freedom, though they should be deeply etched in our minds because of our unfortunately history, are terms that are unfamiliar to us experientially. In America, we live in the land of the free. One of the banners of the American Revolution stated emphatically, “We serve no sovereign here.” But the reality is that all people are under the rule of a sovereign. Either they are bound under the despotic tyranny of sin, or they are slaves of a benevolent and righteous Lord. For Christians, we need to remember that we were purchased out of our slavery to sin and made slaves of righteousness (Rom. 6:18). So now, we no longer live for ourselves but for the one who died and was raised again for us (2 Cor. 5:15). Praise God for the freedom we have in Christ. Though we were in bondage to sin with no hope of deliverance or rescue, He made a way for us by sacrificing Himself. He set us free.

…The Stones Would Immediately Cry Out

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

From Luke 19:40

But could the stones cry out? Assuredly they could if He who opens the mouth of the dumb should bid them lift up their voice.

  • Certainly if they were to speak, they would have much to testify in praise of Him who created them by the word of His power; they could extol the wisdom and power of their Maker who called them into being. Shall not we speak well of Him who made us anew, and out of stones raised up children unto Abraham? The old rocks could tell of chaos and order, and the handiwork of God in successive stages of creation’s drama; and cannot we talk of God’s decrees, of God’s great work in ancient times, in all that He did for His church in the days of old?
  • If the stones were to speak, they could tell of their breaker, how he took them from the quarry, and made them fit for the temple, and cannot we tell of our glorious Breaker, who broke our hearts with the hammer of His word, that He might build us into His temple?
  • If the stones should cry out they would magnify their builder, who polished them and fashioned them after the similitude of a palace; and shall not we talk of our Architect and Builder, who has put us in our place in the temple of the living God?
  • If the stones could cry out, they might have a long, long story to tell by way of memorial, for many a time hath a great stone been rolled as a memorial before the Lord; and we too can testify of Ebenezers, stones of help, pillars of remembrance.

The broken stones of the law cry out against us, but Christ Himself, who has rolled away the stone from the door of the sepulchre, speaks for us. Stones might well cry out, but we will not let them: we will hush their noise with ours; we will break forth into sacred song, and bless the majesty of the Most High, all our days glorifying Him who is called by Jacob the Shepherd and Stone of Israel.

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Weekly Links (10/11/2013)

One cannot explain the explosive dynamite, the dunamis, of the early church apart from the fact that they practiced two things simultaneously: orthodoxy of doctrine and orthodoxy of community in the midst of the visible church, a community which the world could see.  By the grace of God, therefore, the church must be known simultaneously for its purity of doctrine and the reality of its community.  Our churches have so often been only preaching points with very little emphasis on community, but exhibition of the love of God in practice is beautiful and must be there. (Francis Schaeffer)

by Richard Shin

Enjoy.

  • “We must not relegate God to those occasions when he is one cause among others that we can see, measure, and test.  We only have direct access to the natural means, but they are God’s ordinary way of working in the world and in our lives.” Michael Horton teaches us that our God is the God of the ordinary.
  • “Though the unpredictable timing of Lefty Gomez must have been a source of frustration for his teammates, as this vignette reveals, that to Lefty a promise was a promise.” Clint Archer writes about the promises of God.
  • “Men seem to be wired in such a way that pornography hijacks the proper functioning of their brains and has a long-lasting effect on their thoughts and lives.” Dr. Al Mohler pens an article on how pornography affects the brain.
  • “I thought she was saying, ‘I sure would like to spend some time with you dad. Why don’t you put me on your lap?’ Now I believe she was saying, ‘You’ll be glad if you put me on your lap.’ And she was right. But there is no Shannon to comfort me in the loss of Shannon.” R.C. Sproul Jr. updates us a year after his daughter’s passing.
  • “For me or any other writer to claim to know what is going on in all those churches is sheer foolishness. Only God attends every church service in America. Unless he gives us some inside scoop, let’s stop claiming to know what only he knows. Otherwise, we are not helping our pet cause, we are merely slandering Christ bride.” Joe Carter writes on the slandering of Christ’s bride.
  • “I said Hill and Allberry’s books have two things in common. The first is that they accept that this biblical evidence is overwhelming that homosexual practice is not God’s will. The second is that they, as men attracted to other males, believe that the biblical view of homosexuality makes great sense and is even liberating when viewed from within joyful belief of the gospel story.” Tim Keller reviews two books on Christianity and homosexuality penned by two Christian men who are attracted to other men.

Coram Deo

Single Life Update

by Julia Chen

I’ve been coming to Lighthouse for about two years now, and it has been a tremendous blessing to be a part of this particular church family. I appreciate the elders for their commitment to preaching God’s Word, and the members for continually seeking to build each other up in Christ. It’s true that there are many joys in life that I can attribute to my “Christian lifestyle” — I belong to a wonderful church community, and I have purpose in life, just to name a couple. But what if, hypothetically, Jesus Christ has not risen? Would the benefits of Christianity, outside of eternal blessing, be enough? These are some of the questions that Alex Ko raised in his sermon on 1 Corinthians 15:19 entitled “Most to be Pitied.”

In the passage, Paul argues that if Christ has not risen, then Christians would, in fact, be the people most to be pitied. In order to reach this conclusion, we must consider the implications of the idea that the dead cannot arise. Paul’s logic goes something like this: If the dead cannot rise, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our faith is worthless, since Christianity revolves around the historical event of Christ’s resurrection. All believers would still be in their sins and would be condemned to eternal punishment because our hope in Christ goes only as far as this life.

So then why are Christians the most to be pitied? In Luke 9:23, Jesus says “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” This is not something to be taken lightly, but it is a complete and perpetual commitment. If we are to proclaim ourselves to be Christians, then we are to be Christ to the world, to bear His name. If Christ has not risen, then wouldn’t our natural response be to avoid suffering and seek out what’s best for us—YOLO, as it were? Conversely, we are called to live a life that is counter-cultural, to invest in heavenly rewards rather than pursue worldly pleasures.

As a young single adult living a relatively comfortable life in sunny San Diego, it’s easy to get lost in worldly pursuits. It’s not that the blessings in my life are bad; moreover, I need to remember the gospel, and my testimony—that I once hated God and was hopelessly lost in my sin. I need to take responsibility for my personal disobedience and acknowledge that it is only by God’s grace that I am saved. As Christians, we have all experienced God’s grace and have been set free by the glorious truth of Christ’s resurrection. Therefore, we should live in a way that reflects this. What we do in this life should bring us closer to God. We should be wholly dependent on our Sovereign Creator, and we should actively seek to glorify Him in all that we do. We are the most to be pitied if Christ has not risen because we have been called to the narrow path—and this is the path that we must strive towards—but we can find comfort in the fact that Christ is indeed risen, and that our hope in Him extends into eternity.

Don’t Worry, Be Holy

by Elder Johnny Kim

Lately, I’ve noticed that the older I get, the more I’m growing in my distaste for shopping malls. Between the packed parking lots, bustling crowds, and walking, for me, whatever I might need to buy hardly ever seems worth all the trouble. Rather, when it comes to shopping I have adopted the personal motto of, “If I can’t get it at Costco, then it either doesn’t exist or I don’t need it.” Of course I would have to assume that the majority of the general population doesn’t hold to my views, or else malls would quickly be going out of business. In fact, quite the opposite is true as it seems like the malls around town are always flourishing and are constantly being remodeled and expanded with increased offerings for shoppers. One thing I’ve noticed though is that whatever size a given mall might be, a quick look at the mall directory reveals what is typically true for all malls: the majority of the stores in a mall are related to the sale of clothing. And also typically true is that in second place are all the various eateries and restaurants to feed the hungry masses who are shopping for said clothing.

Interestingly, and perhaps not so coincidentally, it just so happens that in the Bible we can find that Jesus addressed these two very things: clothing and food. In Matthew 6:19-34 (and mirrored in Luke 12:13-34), Jesus uses the items of clothing and food to address the issue of worrying about earthly and material goods in light of God’s kingdom. Jesus teaches that rather than worrying about such things, Christians should be primarily concerned with seeking God and doing His kingdom work. Even the things that are arguably necessities for life here on Earth are not to be what occupies our thoughts and minds. Biologically speaking, we certainly need food and water to live, and even clothing to protect our bodies from the elements. However, God makes it clear that He desires for us, who He has created to be spiritual beings, to be occupied with Him and His spiritual concerns. Furthermore, God promises to provide for our earthly needs should we be completely engrossed in serving Him and His purposes.

The truth of these passages can certainly serve to bring the Christian some comfort and peace during times of physical need and uncertainty. However, the Christian must ultimately recognize that these passages represent clear commands from God, commands to abstain from such worry and anxiety. In other words, to worry about the physical needs of our life is to be in direct disobedience to God and therefore is sin. It might not seem fair to be caught in sin for “merely” worrying about things that we literally need in order to stay alive. However, the standard has been established by God in His word and a closer look at His word, specifically in Matthew 6:19-34, helps us to understand how the sin of worry can indeed turn us away from seeking after God.

God’s promise to provide for our earthly needs is clear. If we “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness”, God promises to care for our needs. And yet many Christians still live their lives as if God never has and never will come through on His promises. When we worry about the very things God promised He would provide, worrying in our heart is as if we are speaking with our lips, “God, I don’t believe You and I think You are a liar who can’t be trusted”. The sin of worry serves to reveal just how little regard we have for God’s word and His faithfulness. In Matthew 6:32, Jesus offers the reminder that God, the one who created us, certainly knows that we need things such as food and clothing in order to live. Those requirements are not lost on the God who is not only all-knowing, but specifically created us to need those things. So it is God’s role to provide us with those things according to His timing and in the manner in which He ordains. Yet when we worry, we in essence “take things into our own hands” and seek to obtain for ourselves, by our own efforts, those things that God has authority over. We are no less foolish than a naive child rebelling against his parents when through our worrying heart, we tell God, “I know exactly what I need and when I need it and You don’t”.

Worrying is not just a harmless emotion and a natural instinct. Christians who know the truth are to understand that worrying is a sin and an offense to God. God has provided for us through His truth and in the evidence of His faithfulness all that we need to know in order to rely on Him wholeheartedly. Worrying steals away from God’s faithfulness, His authority, and His goodness so that ultimately, God and worry cannot coexist in the Christian life. What worries do you have in your life? Are you more concerned about your earthly needs or your heavenly Father’s desires? In the end, without God, there’s no mall that will be big enough to satisfy the worries of this life.

His Sweat Was As It Were Great Drops Of Blood Falling Down To The Ground

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

From Luke 22:44

The mental pressure arising from our Lord’s struggle with temptation, so forced his frame to an unnatural excitement, that his pores sent forth great drops of blood which fell down to the ground.

  • This proves how tremendous must have been the weight of sin when it was able to crush the Saviour so that he distilled great drops of blood!
  • This demonstrates the mighty power of his love. It is a very pretty observation of old Isaac Ambrose that the gum which exudes from the tree without cutting is always the best. This precious camphire-tree yielded most sweet spices when it was wounded under the knotty whips, and when it was pierced by the nails on the cross; but see, it giveth forth its best spice when there is no whip, no nail, no wound.
  • This sets forth the voluntariness of Christ’s sufferings, since without a lance the blood flowed freely. No need to put on the leech, or apply the knife; it flows spontaneously. No need for the rulers to cry, ‘Spring up, O well;’ of itself it flows in crimson torrents.

If men suffer great pain of mind apparently the blood rushes to the heart. The cheeks are pale; a fainting fit comes on; the blood has gone inward as if to nourish the inner man while passing through its trial. But see our Saviour in His agony; he is so utterly oblivious of self, that instead of his agony driving his blood to the heart to nourish himself, it drives it outward to bedew the earth. The agony of Christ, inasmuch as it pours him out upon the ground, pictures the fulness of the offering which he made for men.

Do we not perceive how intense must have been the wrestling through which he passed, and will we not hear its voice to us? ‘Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.’ Behold the great Apostle and High Priest of our profession, and sweat even to blood rather than yield to the great tempter of your souls.

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