Editor’s Note: March 2013

by Stephen Rodgers

Many of you have noticed by now, but we’re dealing with a couple of minor technical issues while Kyle and crew finish the update for all the LBC San Diego websites.  If you haven’t checked out the new website and/or member’s area, you should give it a whirl. They’ve done an incredible job.

Here at the Beacon we’re about 99% up and running, but you may see the occasional glitch while resolve the few remaining issues.  So if a post appears at an odd time, or the verse pop-ups look a little funny, please keep calm and carry on.  We’re working on it.

Thanks!

Pro Rege

She Called His Name Ben-Oni, But His Father Called Him Benjamin

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

From Genesis 35:18

To every matter there is a bright as well as a dark side. Rachel was overwhelmed with the sorrow of her own travail and death; Jacob, though weeping the mother’s loss, could see the mercy of the child’s birth. It is well for us if, while the flesh mourns over trials, our faith triumphs in divine faithfulness. Samson’s lion yielded honey, and so will our adversities, if rightly considered. The stormy sea feeds multitudes with its fishes; the wild wood blooms with beauteous flowerets; the stormy wind sweeps away the pestilence, and the biting frost loosens the soil. Dark clouds distil bright drops, and black earth grows gay flowers. A vein of good is to be found in every mine of evil.

Sad hearts have peculiar skill in discovering the most disadvantageous point of view from which to gaze upon a trial; if there were only one slough in the world, they would soon be up to their necks in it, and if there were only one lion in the desert they would hear it roar. About us all there is a tinge of this wretched folly, and we are apt, at times, like Jacob, to cry, ‘All these things are against me.’

Faith’s way of walking is to cast all care upon the Lord, and then to anticipate good results from the worst calamities. Like Gideon’s men, she does not fret over the broken pitcher, but rejoices that the lamp blazes forth the more. Out of the rough oyster-shell of difficulty she extracts the rare pearl of honour, and from the deep ocean-caves of distress she uplifts the priceless coral of experience. When her flood of prosperity ebbs, she finds treasures hid in the sands; and when her sun of delight goes down, she turns her telescope of hope to the starry promises of heaven. When death itself appears, faith points to the light of resurrection beyond the grave, thus making our dying Benoni to be our living Benjamin.

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Weekly Links (3/15/2013)

The true Christian is the only happy man, because his conscience is at peace. That mysterious witness for God, which is so mercifully placed within us, is fully satisfied and at rest.

It sees in the blood of Christ a complete cleansing away of all its guilt. It sees in the priesthood and mediation of Christ a complete answer to all its fears. It sees that through the sacrifice and death of Christ, God can now be just, and the justifier of the ungodly. It no longer bites and stings, and makes its possessor afraid of himself.

The Lord Jesus Christ has amply met all its requirements. Conscience is no longer the enemy of the true Christian, but his friend and advisor. Therefore he is happy. (J. C. Ryle)

by Richard Shin

Read, read, read!

  • Jeremy Walker has an ongoing, beast of a series on engaging in social media. If you read the Beacon, chances are you are engaged in it as well. If you don’t read anything else in today’s Weekly Links, read this series. Here are what’s available now: part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4.
  • Marshall Segal has a few helpful suggestions for those who are not yet married. You can find them here.
  • Fighter Verse Songs collected a list of Old Testament stories that were recounted in the New Testament. You can find that list here.
  • Art Lindsley at the the Gospel Coalition blog shares a compilation of quotes of C.S. Lewis’ thoughts on the difference between selfishness and self-interest. This is an important distinction to make in the life of the believer.
  • Controversy is all around us, even in the church. And most of us will fall in between engaging in every debate and no debate. Burk Parsons shares a list of ten questions one should ask oneself before deciding to do either one.
  • And when you do find yourself arguing with another, you might want to pay attention to this list of 15 common logical fallacies. Don’t do them.
  • Kevin DeYoung has a 2-parter on revival. He first shares what revival isn’t here and shares what it is through the example of Josiah here.

Pray for us as many of the singles will be away at retreat. For the rest of you, enjoy your weekend doing what you do.

Coram Deo

Single Life Update

by Chris Tang

For many people this year, Valentine’s Day was a very painful day, reminding them of past relational failures and bringing to surface countless thoughts of unhappiness, inadequacy, and loneliness. Thoughts like, “I would be perfectly happy, if only…

  • If only a certain person noticed me.
  • If only I had a girlfriend or boyfriend.
  • If only I had done things differently.
  • If only we were still together.
  • If only I was married by now.
  • If only my spouse tried harder this year.
  • If only I had someone to love.

If only then I could be happy. God is powerful. He could make it happen! Why not? Maybe next year…”

Others experienced a lot of happiness, whether it was in the form of chocolate and flowers from a boyfriend, having a special dinner with someone, or having time away from the kids with the spouse. Being treated in a special way on a special day fulfills a desire in us to know that somebody cares. The gifts aren’t very important, except they mean something: I am valuable. Somebody loves me.

February 13th happened to fall on the day of one of our Single Life Bible studies. Pastor Patrick took a break from our study of Colossians and took this opportunity to speak on love from Matthew 22:37-40, where Jesus discusses the two greatest commandments. I was very thankful for this message, especially since it looked to God’s word to define what love is. After all, God is love (1 John 4:7-8), so He is the foremost authority on love, and He is the one who defines what it is. Through His word we can know the true love which comes only from God (Romans 10:17). It is only through a genuine, saving knowledge of God that we can be equipped to love people. As Peter writes, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3). If Scripture was not sufficient to teach everything about love, we would be hopelessly struggling in the futility of human wisdom to figure out what love is. Thankfully, God shows us what it means, and teaches us how to love in every situation, whether in friendship, dating, marriage, parenthood, when it is easy and when it is hard.

The first part of Pastor Patrick’s message was spent on how we are to obey the greatest commandment: to love God. If there is any question as to why the teaching at Lighthouse places such a great emphasis on doctrine, it is because we desire everyone to be true worshipers of God, who worship God in truth (John 4:23). How to love God is the single fundamental question which defines everything we do as Christians, including how we love others, so this was a very important point. Pastor Patrick started in the place where all behavior begins: in the heart. Philippians 4:8 makes it clear that even the very smallest of our thoughts are to be pleasing to God, for it is in the heart that sin is conceived (Mark 7:21-23, James 1:14-15) . This means that loving God does not involve a list of external behaviors, of things to do or to not do. Jesus himself warns against the dangers of this kind of moralism in Matthew 12:43-45. Without God as Lord, attempts to put one’s own heart “in order” can only make things worse. It’s scary to think that our efforts at self-improvement could make us more abhorrent in the eyes of God. Instead we must first be committed in our hearts to God, clothed in the righteousness of Christ, and only then can we begin to do anything good. Without salvation, all of our “good” deeds are like polluted garments before God (Isaiah 64:6). On the other hand, our new life after repentance should bring about a corresponding transformation in the way we think (Romans 12:2). This was a good reminder for me to examine my own “thought life” (not a phrase that thrills me) and examine what I dwell on.

  • Are these thoughts pleasing to God, or do they reveal idols in my heart?
  • Am I stressed at work out of fear of my boss?
  • Is my enjoyment of fellowship due to a desire to be accepted, or thankfulness to God for giving me a body of like-minded believers?
  • What is the real reason that I am happy about that promotion?
  • Should I be spending so much time reading about new gadgets?
  • What am I excited to talk about?
  • What fills my mind each hour of the day?

That is what I love, and it is depressingly rare that it is God.

If you read the first two paragraphs of this article again, you’ll notice how selfish and man-centered each of those scenarios is. Even a “good” Valentine’s Day can reveal the selfishness and idolatry in our hearts. For those who know God it is a comforting truth that His love has been poured out abundantly upon us in spite of our depravity (Romans 5:5, 8). Some days it may not feel like it, but truly the love of God is better than any Valentine’s Day celebration, either real or hoped for. It is more precious than life itself (Psalm 63:3). It is my sincere hope that we would all strive and fight to grow in our love for God. I barely scratched the surface of Pastor Patrick’s message, so if you have any questions about how these Biblical truths might apply to your existing relationship with God or with people, there are plenty of people at Lighthouse who would love to answer your questions. Thank God for His gracious love for us, and thank you Pastor Patrick for your very timely reminder of what true love is.

The Great Peace of the Christian Life

by Elder Mike Chon

As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are coming to a close with our troops returning, we are reminded that we live in a world that is constantly in turmoil. Many of us have read in our history classes about the numerous wars that this world has experienced. There are countless lives that have been lost or affected by these wars. Presently, our world is not any better even after what it has gone through. We continue to see tragedy upon tragedy of lives being taken or affected by others. The one thing that many of us would want is “peace on earth.” On a personal level, many of us are living lives that are so hectic and busy that we are barely hanging on with our own sanity. Stress has become an epidemic in our country affecting millions of people and causing them to seek medical help to cope. For so many of us our one desire is to experience “peace in my life.” Unfortunately many seek help through psychology, therapy, vacations, money, medication, alcohol, and illegal drugs, while for some their search for peace ends in suicide. The one problem that all of us have in common is sin. That is the one reason that none of us can experience true lasting peace in this world without a relationship with Jesus Christ. Scripture teaches us that when we love the world more than God we choose to become an enemy of God (James 4:4). Therefore Scripture teaches us that we are children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3) and that God will judge the evildoer (Psalm 5:5). Fortunately for us, God did not leave us in this state but gave us an opportunity to experience true peace in this life.

Peace begins with Jesus Christ. Scripture even calls Christ by the name Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). Only if we repent and believe in Jesus Christ will we be justified. And only if we are justified can we be at peace with God (Romans 5:1). If you are looking for peace in this world apart from Jesus Christ, you will never find true lasting peace. It is only through Jesus Christ that anyone can find true peace. For those that believe and are justified, we are able to live in this world in peace no matter what the circumstances might be. We are called not to be anxious (or stressed) about anything but instead we are to come before God in prayer with a heart of thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6).

How can we be thankful in the midst of our circumstances and stress?

  1. We need to be reminded of is that we have been saved through the work of the cross. When we were once the children of wrath, now we are adopted sons of our God. Instead of being God’s enemy we have become one of his children of blessing (Romans 8:14-17).
  2. We need to remember our salvation is secure. There is nothing that can take us away from God’s care for us (Romans 8:38-39). We can be thankful that there is nothing in this world that can ever separate us from the love of Christ, even those circumstances in life that cause us to be anxious.
  3. We need to be reminded of the fact that God is sovereign. So many of us give lip service to the sovereignty of God, but when difficult circumstances come into our lives we seem to have amnesia in the fact that God is sovereign. This one attribute of God should help us be thankful even in times when we are anxious or stressed. Since God is completely in control we are reassured that what is happening in our life is meant to happen for our good and for His glory (Gen. 50:20; 1 Cor. 10:13).

What is the result of praying to God with a thankful heart when we become anxious or stressed? Does God take away the circumstances? Does God provide a vacation? Do I receive a divine timeout in life that lasts as long as I need? Does God miraculously shut the mouth of my boss like He did to Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father? Instead of changing our circumstances or even taking us out of our circumstance, God changes us. In Philippians 4:7, God promises that His peace will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. What is amazing is that no matter what the circumstance is in your life, no matter how difficult life might become, God promises to provide peace that surpasses all understanding. Have you ever seen a believer that has gone through a tremendous trial or tragedy in their life and they respond with peace? Have you heard of those being tortured standing firm in their faith? Have you seen the mother who has to raise her kids by herself who is always joyful and thankful? Have you seen the person that has to work three jobs to make ends meet but is always willing to pay for lunch? Have you seen the parents forgiving the murderer who took away their son from them? This is the peace that surpasses all understanding. This is supernatural miraculous peace that God provides in our time of need when we come before Him with a thankful heart. This is true peace. Before turning to other means to cope with anxiety or stress, may we turn to the source of peace, and come before Him with a thankful heart letting our requests be known to God. And He promises that He will provide peace that surpasses all understanding to guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

We Must Through Much Tribulation Enter Into The Kingdom Of God

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

From Acts 14:22

God’s people have their trials. It was never designed by God, when He chose His people, that they should be an untried people. They were chosen in the furnace of affliction; they were never chosen to worldly peace and earthly joy. Freedom from sickness and the pains of mortality was never promised them; but when their Lord drew up the charter of privileges, He included chastisements amongst the things to which they should inevitably be heirs. Trials are a part of our lot; they were predestinated for us in Christ’s last legacy. So surely as the stars are fashioned by his hands, and their orbits fixed by Him, so surely are our trials allotted to us: He has ordained their season and their place, their intensity and the effect they shall have upon us.

Good men must never expect to escape troubles; if they do, they will be disappointed, for none of their predecessors have been without them. Mark the patience of Job; remember Abraham, for he had his trials, and by his faith under them, he became the ‘Father of the faithful.’ Note well the biographies of all the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, and you shall discover none of those whom God made vessels of mercy, who were not made to pass through the fire of affliction. It is ordained of old that the cross of trouble should be engraved on every vessel of mercy, as the royal mark whereby the King’s vessels of honour are distinguished. But although tribulation is thus the path of God’s children, they have the comfort of knowing that their Master has traversed it before them; they have His presence and sympathy to cheer them, His grace to support them, and His example to teach them how to endure; and when they reach ‘the kingdom,’ it will more than make amends for the ‘much tribulation’ through which they passed to enter it.

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Weekly Links (3/8/2013)

by Stephen Rodgers

Greetings from the Shepherds’ Conference.  It’s been a wonderful time up here, and if you’re interested, they’ve been livestreaming the sessions, and the audio for everything should be up shortly.

So briefly, here are a few articles and updates that you’ll want to know about:

  • Tim Challies is continuing his series on essential doctrines, and he’s now added Hell and Worship to the list.
  • The new edition of Tabletalk is out, and it deals with a topic that is of significant to the church right now: Youth-Driven Culture.
  • I’m not personally familiar with either resource, but the free christianaudio.com resource of the month is Choose Joy by Kay Warren, and the free logos.com resource of the month is Life in a Risen Savior by Robert S. Candish.
  • And if you like modern renditions of hymns, then you’ll want to know that Page CXVI is giving away all their albums for this month only.

See you Sunday!

Pro Rege

Successful Ministry

by Justin Li

What is “successful” ministry? Is it running a VBS with well-behaved children, going out to campus evangelism with a conversion resulting every time, and reading our Bibles every day? All those examples above are good but not necessarily how God would define success. The world evaluates success and worth by what they have or say they can accomplish. Even as Christians this type of thinking is pervasive. As we delve in God’s Word we see this type of thinking stems from a lack of fear of God and His Word.

“Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Joshua 1:7-8)

Joshua lived a life of obedience, faith and dependence on God proving that a life of obedience to God and His Word bears great rewards and blessings. Of the 12 spies sent to Canaan, only Joshua and Caleb trusted God, returned and were the only two to enter the promised land. Furthermore, Joshua served as a faithful aide to Moses for 40 years and he was the one to ultimately lead the Israelites to the promised land, not Moses. Joshua trusted in the strength and promises of God despite the uncertainty of the challenging paths to come. But no more clearly do we see Joshua’s faithfulness than at the end of the book where he urges the people to forsake their idols and remain faithful in the covenant that God made with them at Sinai, saying, “And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods of your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).

We see from the example of Joshua that God’s definition of success is not necessarily defined by the direct fruits that you see from your work, but in our FAITHFULNESS in what we have been called to do.

Oftentimes we focus on how well we measure up to the world’s standards of success and forget to concern ourselves with our ability to stay faithful to God’s Word in everything that we do, regardless of the outcome. In The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) we see that both the man that was given five talents and the man with two received exactly the same reward, indicating that the master’s grading system is based on faithfulness and NOT results (v23). However, we see that the unfaithful servant was dealt with harshly and called wicked and slothful. This means as students it does not matter whether we have a 2.0 or a 4.0 GPA if we were faithful in the stewardship of what we have been called to do. What good is the slothful student with a 4.0 to God if he spent the entire time studying while ignoring his quiet times with God and church events, while constantly being anxious the entire time? Rather, God is pleased with the faithful student who truly values what the Word of God has to say. The world demands results. What God demands is faithfulness. Whose grading system will you use today?

This flows into every other area in our life as well. For campus evangelism, what matters is our faithfulness in proclaiming the power of the Gospel boldly, not conversion (Romans 1:16). For parenting, what matters is faithfully teaching our children the Word of God every opportunity that you get, not necessarily salvation. For the upcoming Mission Bowl tournament, what matters is faithfully being ambassadors of Christ on the football field. Like the Hebrew midwives who feared God, what God has to say should take precedence over whatever anyone else says (Exodus 1). God looks at the one who trembles at His Word (Isaiah 66:2-3).

“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecc 1:13-14)

At the end of the day, what are we most concerned with? Take some time to think about it. We see God defines success in our faithfulness in what we have been called to do. I can’t wait until the day when we can see Him as he is and hope to hear “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.”

We can do no more. We must do no less.

Worship: The Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How

by Abe Kim

I grew up going to church my entire life. In high school, I started getting involved with the praise team and learned how to play guitar. Through the years, I have been involved with music ministry in the church in various capacities. There are many titles used to describe the guy leading the music and singing time during the church service. The title most often used, in my experience, was worship leader. But this title never sat well with me because my understanding of worship from the Bible refers to much more than the music time during a church service or the weekly Sunday gatherings. Certainly there seemed to be a special feeling to the music time, especially at some of my previous church experiences. But God graciously gave me an understanding early on in my faith that worship was more than music or church time.

After becoming a member at LBC, one of the first ministries I joined was the music ministry. Playing music was something I was decently good at, and I enjoyed playing and being part of a team that might produce excellent and beautiful music for the benefit of the church. What I appreciated about the music ministry at LBC was its emphasis on truth. You hear emphasis on truth preached and taught a lot because John 4:24 is a verse many turn to define worship biblically. But in my previous church experiences, truth was often taken for granted and took a back seat to spirit. But at LBC, reading through several books together really helped me cement basic and fundamental truths pertaining to the concept of worship that was biblical and comprehensive. The first, and most impactful, book the Sunday praise team read was John MacArthur’s Ultimate Priority. The re-release of this book in 2012 (titled, Worship: The Ultimate Priority) combined with my desire to address this issue prompted this article. I pray it will correct your understanding of worship where needed, and above all, deepen your worship of the one true God.

My goal with this article is not to be comprehensive. This is not a graduate level thesis on worship. This won’t be a summary of John MacArthur’s book, though all the quotes below are from the 2012 release of Worship: The Ultimate Priority, unless otherwise noted. My ultimate goal is to broaden the view that worship is relegated only to music or Sunday mornings. I intend to show from Scripture a deeper, broader, and fuller definition of worship. But I say this knowing that I can’t address every question or argument. I am just skimming the surface here, but I pray it will be helpful. So let’s ask the basic questions about worship.

WHAT

Worship is the most fundamental purpose of all Christians. The Old Testament often associates worship with bowing down in humility and reverence (Genesis 24:26, Exodus 12:27, Joshua 5:14, Nehemiah 8:6, Job 1:20, Psalm 95:6), ascribing to the Lord His due praise (1 Chronicles 16:29, Psalm 29:2, ), and sacrificing animals at the altar (Genesis 22:5, 1 Samuel 1:3, Isaiah 19:21). The Magi who came to visit the baby Jesus also bowed down to worship the incarnate Son of God (Matthew 2:11). The twenty-four elders sitting around God’s throne worshiped by bowing down (Revelations 11:16).

The general sense in the Bible is that worship testifies to the character of God, particularly His perfect holiness. The only proper response to this testimony in light of our sinful state, and the most common display of worship, is to bow in humility and reverence. MacArthur’s basic definition is stated like this: worship is honor and adoration directed to God (p. 43). Simply put, worship is to give worth and honor to the one deserving of it, to God alone. Other ways it is often phrased in Scripture (and therefore, in church) is to glorify God, to love God, and to treasure God.

WHO

Since worship is defined so broadly, all who love and believe in God must worship God. Jesus, when he talked with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4, said Jews and Samaritans worship God, though Jews worship out of their knowledge and Samaritans worship out of their ignorance (John 4:22).

From King David in the palace of Jerusalem to the lowly shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem, from Jews to Gentiles, from male to female, from slave to free, from the high life of New York City to the remote jungles of the Amazon to the villages in China to the plains of Africa, all types and walks of life must worship God. Worship is not reserved for the elite Christians. It is not a task for the music leader. It is the lifestyle that all Christians are called to live.

WHEN

Elkanah and his family, including Hannah, worshiped God early in the morning before leaving the temple (1 Samuel 1:19a). The patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) built altars to God after key encounters with God and worshiped. Much of the call to worship from the Psalms appear to be a continual, present-tense idea. So the bottom line is that worship can be done at any time, but it is particularly done as a natural response to an encounter with the living God. So if you are thinking much of God all the time (as Christians ought to be doing), then you are to worship God all the time.

In John 4, Jesus tells the Samaritan woman at the well that a new age or worship is starting. With Jesus’ arrival and His finished work on the cross, no longer did the redeemed need to approach God after a sacrifice at the altar. The people of God no longer had to wait for an atonement act to take place. The tearing of the veil in the Holiest of Holies signified a new era that allowed full access to God at any time. Because of Jesus, we can truly worship God at any time.

WHERE

The Samaritan woman’s original question to Jesus was regarding where the appropriate location of worship is, at Gerizim or Jerusalem. Her people, the Samaritans, said Gerizim was where God must be worshiped, but she also knew that the Jews said Jerusalem was the location where God must be worshiped. Jesus told the Samaritan woman that neither Jerusalem nor Gerizim are the necessary places for worship. The location doesn’t matter, whether you are a Jew or not, whether you are familiar with the Scriptures or not. That means any and all locations are acceptable places to worship God. The how of worship is the significant issue. As long as that is right, the where is irrelevant.

Having said that, there was a clear pattern set from Israel’s inception as a nation to rest and worship God corporately on the Sabbath. That pattern was turned on its head after Jesus, and Christians met weekly on the first day of the week (Sunday) to remember Jesus’ resurrection. Christians still gather on Sunday to worship God corporately. One day, the Bride of Christ (i.e., all the people of God) will be gathered once and for all to worship God for the rest of eternity.

WHY

John Piper writes in the opening pages of Let the Nations Be Glad that the purpose of missions is worship, that missions exists because worship does not. In other words, the purpose of evangelizing is so that unbelievers would become true worshipers who, having been cleansed by Christ’s redeeming work, are able to approach and worship the one true God.

So why worship God? What is the purpose of worship? Simply put, we should worship God because He is worth the worship. His worthiness is rooted in His being. Jesus assumes that Jews and Samaritans alike ought to worship God. The real question Jesus needed to answer in John 4 was how.

HOW

Jesus’ answer in John 4:23-24 is succinct and complete. Worshipers must worship God in spirit and truth. There are no other ways. Both are necessary components to true worship. No other methods are acceptable. Worship is not limited to intellectual assent to the truths of God in Scripture, though it is not void of accurate doctrine. Worship can’t be defined by a Spirit-led life or zeal for God’s glory, though the emotions and passion are necessary. Worship to the true God is characterized by a Holy Spirit led life completely devoted to a passionate pursuit for God’s glory, undergirded by a biblical worldview and correct theology. The Spirit and the Word are the necessary tools for a truly God-glorifying life. This necessitates a Christ-like humility, a dying to self daily kind of attitude, that God would receive all the glory of all the good in our lives and that we are not living for our own glory or kingdom.

I pray this short article, though not comprehensive, helped in providing a more biblical understanding of worship. May our worship continue to mature and increase because God alone deserves any and all worship in the universe.

lt Is Better to Trust in the Lord…

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

From Psalm 118:8

Doubtless the reader has been tried with the temptation to rely upon the things which are seen, instead of resting alone upon the invisible God. Christians often look to man for help and counsel, and mar the noble simplicity of their reliance upon their God. Does this evening’s portion meet the eye of a child of God anxious about temporals, then would we reason with him awhile.

  • You trust in Jesus, and only in Jesus, for your salvation, then why are you troubled? ‘Because of my great care.’ Is it not written, ‘Cast thy burden upon the Lord’? ‘Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication make known your wants unto God.’
  • Cannot you trust God for temporals? ‘Ah! I wish I could.’ If you cannot trust God for temporals, how dare you trust Him for spirituals? Can you trust Him for your soul’s redemption, and not rely upon Him for a few lesser mercies? Is not God enough for thy need, or is His all-sufficiency too narrow for thy wants? Dost thou want another eye beside that of Him who sees every secret thing? Is His heart faint? Is His arm weary? If so, seek another God; but if He be infinite, omnipotent, faithful, true, and all-wise, why gaddest thou abroad so much to seek another confidence? Why dost thou rake the earth to find another foundation, when this is strong enough to bear all the weight which thou canst ever build thereon?

Christian, mix not only thy wine with water, do not alloy thy gold of faith with the dross of human confidence. Wait thou only upon God, and let thine expectation be from Him. Covet not Jonah’s gourd, but rest in Jonah’s God. Let the sandy foundations of terrestrial trust be the choice of fools, but do thou, like one who foresees the storm, build for thyself an abiding place upon the Rock of Ages.

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