Weekly Links (7/5/2013)

“Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.” (GK Chesterton)

by Stephen Rodgers

Here’s another batch of resources to get you through the weekend:

That’s it for this week.  See you Sunday!

I Am A Stranger With Thee

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

From Psalm 39:12

Yes, O Lord, with Thee, but not to Thee. All my natural alienation from Thee, Thy grace has effectually removed; and now, in fellowship with Thyself, I walk through this sinful world as a pilgrim in a foreign country. Thou art a stranger in Thine own world. Man forgets Thee, dishonours Thee, sets up new laws and alien customs, and knows Thee not. When Thy dear Son came unto His own, His own received Him not. He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. Never was foreigner so speckled a bird among the denizens of any land as Thy beloved Son among His mother’s brethren. It is no marvel, then, if I who live the life of Jesus, should be unknown and a stranger here below.

Lord, I would not be a citizen where Jesus was an alien. His pierced hand has loosened the cords which once bound my soul to earth, and now I find myself a stranger in the land. My speech seems to these Babylonians among whom I dwell an outlandish tongue, my manners are singular, and my actions are strange. A Tartar would be more at home in Cheapside than I could ever be in the haunts of sinners. But here is the sweetness of my lot: I am a stranger with Thee. Thou art my fellow-sufferer, my fellow-pilgrim. Oh, what joy to wander in such blessed society! My heart burns within me by the way when thou dost speak to me, and though I be a sojourner, I am far more blest than those who sit on thrones, and far more at home than those who dwell in their ceiled houses.

‘To me remains nor place, nor time:
My country is in every clime;
I can be calm and free from care
On any shore, since God is there.

While place we seek, or place we shun,
The soul finds happiness in none:
But with a God to guide our way,
‘Tis equal joy to go or stay.’

3.16a

Weekly Links (6/28/2013)

God certainly desires to save us not through our own righteousness, but through the righteousness and wisdom of someone else or by means of a righteousness which does not originate on earth, but comes down from heaven. So, then, we must teach a righteousness which in every way comes from without and is entirely foreign to us.

Christ desires to have our hearts so free and divested (of our own righteousness and wisdom) that for our sins we fear no denial of grace and for our virtues we seek no glory and vain satisfaction. We even should not boast before men of the righteousness which is ours from Christ; nor should we allow ourselves to be cast down by the sufferings and afflictions which are sent to us by Him.

A true Christian should renounce all things — (all righteousness and wisdom) — that in honor and dishonor he always remains the same, assured that whatever honor comes to him belongs to Christ, whose righteousness and gifts of grace shine forth from Him, and that whatever reproach he endures is inflicted on Christ, (who is in him). (Martin Luther)

by Richard Shin

There seems to be innumerable articles talking about the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on DOMA. I would like to point you to a few that I think are well worth reading:

And a few more to top off an already-full Weekly Links post:

That should be good for now. Have a great weekend, everyone.

Coram Deo

Single Life Update

by Brenda Hom

After almost two years, Single Life has concluded our study in the book of Colossians. Pastor Patrick’s last message from Colossians described “Team Paul”, which consisted of eight of Paul’s companions in ministry. From Paul’s final greetings in chapter 4 of Colossians, we see that “Team Paul” consisted of beloved brothers, faithful ministers and fellow servants in the Lord (Colossians 4:7). I am amazed at how much God has taught us through studying the life of Paul and his ministry. Thank you, Pastor Patrick, for faithfully walking us through the book of Colossians every Wednesday night.

The next topic we looked at after Colossians was on the topic of pride. In the Old Testament we see the Hebrew word “gobah”, which can be translated into “haughtiness”. Also in Isaiah 9:9 and Psalm 31:18, we see another word for pride “gaavah”, which means “swelling”. In the New Testament, Pastor Patrick gave many more biblical examples where pride is mentioned. One example is in Mark 7:22, where pride, or “huperephania” is when you are holding yourself above other people, trying to make yourself look bigger and better.

The topic of pride hit home for many of the singles, especially in our stage of life. I was reminded that Jesus Christ did not choose me to represent Him because I am wonderful, skilled or smart. “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God…so that it is written, ’Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’” (1 Corinthians 1:27-31) Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6)

We learned that every sin is ultimately rooted in pride. Pride can be expressed through self-exaltation, when we believe that we are the source of our own accomplishments, or even the benefactor of what we think we deserve in this life. Self-pity is also a form of pride, because you are still consumed with thoughts of yourself. While it has been really challenging listening to messages on the topic of pride, I am grateful that Pastor Patrick has taken the time to help the Singles examine our own hearts and thoughts with Scripture. Even questions such as “Why are they getting married and I am not?”, or “Why am I still working at this job?” reveal a sinful pride in my own heart.

At Singles’ bible study, we were able to look at and examine different manifestations of pride through selected Scriptures. Some reflecting questions to ask yourself are “Can you be happy for others when they are recognized or receive something that you want?” and “How often do you question God about your life?” Manifestations of pride can be very subtle in your heart. For example, a lack of biblical prayer in your life and a lack of gratitude towards God is a form of pride. More practically, do you voice your preferences or opinions when not asked? Are you impatient or irritable with others? Do you get annoyed easily? Ask yourself these questions and you will feel small and worthless compared to God ‘s perfect glory. You will see that you deserve death as a punishment for your wretched sins.

However, God in His greatness and mercy did not leave us to die in our sins. We as Christians are dependent on Him to deliver us from our sin of pride. God has given us help to move away from pride and move towards humility. He even commands it in Scripture to “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” (James 4:10) How do we as believers pursue humility? Pastor Patrick shares with us some ways that Christians can pursue and cultivate humility.

  1. PRAY that God would help you move away from pride and towards humility.
  2. READ the book of Psalms or any of the Old Testament prophets. A really great Psalm to read and meditate on is Psalm 139.
  3. STUDY the life of Jesus Christ because His life is an example of perfect humility. Once you study the life of Jesus, you will come to understand what sin is and learn to hate it.
  4. GET accountability. Ask others if you come across proud in any way.
  5. WORSHIP God all the time. Practically, fill your mind and thoughts of God.
  6. PRACTICE the “one anothers” by focusing on other people. How can you be a blessing to others? Do you live a “one another” life?
  7. WORK to put off pride and put on humility in your thought life, your speech, and with your deeds. (1 Peter 2:1)

With this in-depth study of pride and humility, we can take heart that there is hope in Jesus Christ to change wretched prideful sinners into humble God-fearing men and women who desire to magnify God and make Him big.

Signs of Spiritual Maturity #12: Difficult to Offend, Slow to Anger

By Elder Peter Lim

A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city,
And contentions are like the bars of a citadel. (Prov. 18:19)

The book of Proverbs doesn’t tell us that this is the way things ought to be but rather It gives us wisdom to understand that this is the way it is. We can all agree that this warning is true and that contentions and being offended are nearly impossible to overcome. Therefore we must take care to make it our top priority not to offend and not to be offended. Much has already been written regarding how we should avoid offending people. After all, no Christian that I know actually tries to offend people. We all try not to offend each other. Instead I wanted to focus on something that we can control, the topic of not being offended. Of course this can be difficult and no one tries to be offended either. I wonder though whether those who are often offended consider some of these thoughts:

A mature believer is difficult to offend because:

  1. Factually, we are all sinners deserving of death anyway.
  2. Maturity implies an additional capacity or ability to tolerate offensive remarks or situations.
  3. Mature believers take the focus off of themselves and their own pain and compassionately focuses on the fact that the offender needs God’s grace too.

There are multiple passages in the Bible that describe God as one who is slow to anger. (Ex. 34:6, Num. 14:18, Neh. 9:17, Ps. 86:15, etc.) Prov. 15:18 describes a man who is slow to anger as one who calms a dispute rather than making things worse. This means that when we are tempted to be offended, we must slow down and consider the above list so that we would be a calming influence on the situation which would set the stage for true peacemaking. Being offended and responding sinfully against another is an immature response. I understand that there was pain and hurt. These are not good reasons to respond sinfully. Jesus had plenty of reasons to be offended for the way He was treated by His own creation, but He never responded sinfully. Instead He showed mankind the greatest kind of love possible: by dying for their sins in order to pay the price for them to be redeemed.

This is not to say that weak people who get offended nor those who get angry are useless. There is a real sense that we are all weak to some degree and that God chooses to use us to accomplish His will anyway, warts and all. However we shouldn’t be content to stay weak. We need to grow stronger in order to be effective ministers of His people. Any time we work with people who are sinners, we have the potential to be offended. I often say that it’s a good thing that we are mortal beings… because if we were immortal while we are still sinners, we all would find some way to offend each other eventually. It’s far better to serve God during our useful lives and then die and be in His presence forever in a state of sinlessness. What a glorious day that will be!

He Did It With All His Heart And Prospered

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

From 2 Chronicles 31:21

This is no unusual occurrence; it is the general rule of the moral universe that those men prosper who do their work with all their hearts, while those are almost certain to fail who go to their labour leaving half their hearts behind them. God does not give harvests to idle men except harvests of thistles, nor is He pleased to send wealth to those who will not dig in the field to find its hid treasure. It is universally confessed that if a man would prosper, he must be diligent in business. It is the same in religion as it is in other things. If you would prosper in your work for Jesus, let it be heart work, and let it be done with all your heart. Put as much force, energy, heartiness, and earnestness into religion as ever you do into business, for it deserves far more.

The Holy Spirit helps our infirmities, but He does not encourage our idleness; He loves active believers. Who are the most useful men in the Christian church? The men who do what they undertake for God with all their hearts. Who are the most successful Sabbath-school teachers? The most talented? No; the most zealous; the men whose hearts are on fire, those are the men who see their Lord riding forth prosperously in the majesty of His salvation.

Whole-heartedness shows itself in perseverance; there may be failure at first, but the earnest worker will say, ‘It is the Lord’s work, and it must be done; my Lord has bidden me do it, and in His strength I will accomplish it.’ Christian, art thou thus ‘with all thine heart’ serving thy Master? Remember the earnestness of Jesus! Think what heart-work was His! He could say, ‘The zeal of Thine house hath eaten Me up.‘ When He sweat great drops of blood, it was no light burden He had to carry upon those blessed shoulders; and when He poured out His heart, it was no weak effort He was making for the salvation of His people. Was Jesus in earnest, and are we lukewarm?

3.15p

Weekly Links (6/21/2013)

“Modern masters of science are much impressed with the need of beginning all inquiry with a fact. The ancient masters of religion were quite equally impressed with that necessity. They began with the fact of sin—a fact as practical as potatoes. Whether or no man could be washed in miraculous waters, there was no doubt at any rate that he wanted washing. But certain religious leaders in London, not mere materialists, have begun in our day not to deny the highly disputable water, but to deny the indisputable dirt. Certain new theologians dispute original sin, which is the only part of Christian theology which can really be proved. Some followers of the Reverend R. J. Campbell, in their almost too fastidious spirituality, admit divine sinlessness, which they cannot see even in their dreams. But they essentially deny human sin, which they can see in the street. The strongest saints and the strongest sceptics alike took positive evil as the starting-point of their argument. If it be true (as it certainly is) that a man can feel exquisite happiness in skinning a cat, then the religious philosopher can only draw one of two deductions. He must either deny the existence of God, as all atheists do; or he must deny the present union between God and man, as all Christians do. The new theologians seem to think it a highly rationalistic solution to deny the cat.” (GK Chesterton, Orthodoxy)

by Stephen Rodgers

Richard is on vacation today, so I’ll be filling in for him. You know what that means? Of course you know what that means…giant pile of resources!

That’s it!

Pro Rege

FOF #10: Spiritual Gifts (Part 1)

“To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” (1 Corinthians 12:7)

by Pastor Patrick Cho

There are few theological issues that have confused Christians more than the doctrine of spiritual gifts. A clear line of demarcation can be seen between the two sides of the issue. There are many good and well-intentioned churches who teach that God still bestows miraculous sign gifts upon individuals today, and many Christians practice what they perceive to be miraculous sign gifts. On the other hand, there are many Christians who understand that these miraculous sign gifts have ceased and are no longer truly practiced today. They would argue that these gifts ceased at the latest with the ministry of the Apostles.

There are several terms used to describe spiritual gifts in Scripture. All of these terms can be found in the opening verses of 1 Corinthians 12.

  • The first is “spiritual gift” (1 Cor. 12:1; Gr. pneumatikos). This expression has at its root in the word for “Spirit.” It signifies that spiritual gifts were indeed spiritual as opposed to natural. The exercise of spiritual gifts is not just enhanced natural ability.
  • The second term is “gift” (1 Cor. 12:4; Gr. charisma). This word shares the same root as “grace.” In other words, the gifts God bestows upon believers are demonstrations of His grace. No spiritual gift is earned or deserved. God gives gifts to show His kindness and grace.
  • A third term is “ministries” (1 Cor. 12:5; Gr. diakonia). This is related to the word “deacon” or “servant.” By identifying spiritual gifts as “ministries,” the Apostle Paul helps to denote their purpose. The gifts were intentionally given to believers to serve one another and edify the church (cf. 1 Cor. 12:4-7; 14:4-5, 12, 17, 26).
  • A fourth term for spiritual gifts is “activities” (1 Cor. 12:6; Gr. energēma). This is a word that connotes work. God is ultimately the one who works in and through believers, thus “energizing” their gifts.
  • A fifth term is “manifestation” (1 Cor. 12:7; Gr. phanerōsis). To manifest something is to bring it to light or reveal it. The gifts were never intended to be an end in themselves, but a means to an end. They were signs, and as signs do, they pointed to something. One of the purposes of the spiritual gifts was to authenticate the messengers of God. Jesus had ascended to the Father from the Mount of Olives, but He left His Apostles behind to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. The “signs of a true Apostle” were given to authenticate these Apostles and their message as truly of God. This is why Paul defends his apostleship by claiming his ability to perform signs of a true Apostle (2 Cor. 12:12).

There was a high frequency of spiritual, supernatural activity during the time of Moses when he spoke on behalf of the Lord. There was likewise great spiritual, supernatural activity during the ministries of the prophets Elijah and Elisha. It is no surprise that the Bible also shows heightened spiritual, supernatural, miraculous activity during the time of Christ and the Apostles. In these periods of special revelation, signs, wonders, and miracles were performed to authenticate the ones delivering God’s Word.

Be Strong In The Grace That Is In Christ Jesus

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

From 2 Timothy 2:1

Christ has grace without measure in Himself, but He hath not retained it for Himself. As the reservoir empties itself into the pipes, so hath Christ emptied out His grace for His people. ‘Of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.’ He seems only to have in order to dispense to us. He stands like the fountain, always flowing, but only running in order to supply the empty pitchers and the thirsty lips which draw nigh unto it. Like a tree, He bears sweet fruit, not to hang on boughs, but to be gathered by those who need. Grace, whether its work be to pardon, to cleanse, to preserve, to strengthen, to enlighten, to quicken, or to restore, is ever to be had from Him freely and without price; nor is there one form of the work of grace which He has not bestowed upon His people.

As the blood of the body, though flowing from the heart, belongs equally to every member, so the influences of grace are the inheritance of every saint united to the Lamb; and herein there is a sweet communion between Christ and His Church, inasmuch as they both receive the same grace. Christ is the head upon which the oil is first poured; but the same oil runs to the very skirts of the garments, so that the meanest saint has an unction of the same costly moisture as that which fell upon the head. This is true communion when the sap of grace flows from the stem to the branch, and when it is perceived that the stem itself is sustained by the very nourishment which feeds the branch. As we day by day receive grace from Jesus, and more constantly recognize it as coming from Him, we shall behold Him in communion with us, and enjoy the felicity of communion with Him. Let us make daily use of our riches, and ever repair to Him as to our own Lord in covenant, taking from Him the supply of all we need with as much boldness as men take money from their own purse.

3.15a

Weekly Links (6/14/2013)

We know a little of Christ as our Savior, but Oh! how small a portion have we seen of the fulness that is in Him!  Believe me, if we did but realize the blessedness of free and full forgiveness in Him, we should be men of a different stamp.

The man who feels the blood of atonement sprinkled on his conscience — the man who enjoys assurance that he is washed, and justified, and accepted in the Beloved, this is the man who will be holy indeed, this is the man who will bear much fruit. He will labor cheerfully — he will suffer patiently — he will witness confidently — he will press on unflinchingly — he will love warmly. Redemption is ever fresh upon his mind, and his thought is, “What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits?”

(J.C. Ryle)

by Richard Shin

  • I’m recycling a bit here (in that this was published in Tabletalk), but it’s worth resharing. R.C. Sproul on the Desiring God blog shares how our theological errors are rooted in the sin of idolatry. Click here to read more.
  • I’d feel guilty about another recycle had this article on the sufficiency of Scripture not been so good. Carl Trueman explains in the 9Marks Journal what this crucial doctrine means to us.
  • Marshall Segal on the Desiring God blog has a longer-than-your-typical-blog-post-but-shorter-than-a-how-to-manual primer on dating to display Jesus. Click through to read what he says.
  • Russell Moore comments on the Southern Baptist Convention’s decision to release a joint statement on the unity between Calvinists and Arminians within the denomination. It is well worth reading. Denny Burk comments here as well.
  • Over at the Gospel Coalition, Collin Hansen, Kevin DeYoung and Trevin Wax discuss whether Christians should try to legislate their morality. The video is less than 10 minutes long, but it packs a punch. On that note, read Denny Burk’s answer to “How will gay ‘marriage’ impact your marriage?”
  • Erik Raymond guest posts for R.C. Sproul, Jr. on praying terrifying prayers. We know we must do this, but do we?
  • If we are honest with ourselves, we have been in this position before: we plan to sin again. Ed welch writes for CCEF on how to to respond when confronted with this decision.

That’s it, folks. Happy Father’s Day!

Coram Deo