My Grace Is Sufficient for Thee

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

From 2 Corinthians 12:9

If none of God’s saints were poor and tried, we should not know half so well the consolations of divine grace. When we find the wanderer who has not where to lay his head, who yet can say, ‘Still will I trust in the Lord,’ or when we see the pauper starving on bread and water, who still glories in Jesus; when we see the bereaved widow overwhelmed in affliction, and yet having faith in Christ, oh! what honour it reflects on the gospel. God’s grace is illustrated and magnified in the poverty and trials of believers. Saints bear up under every discouragement, believing that all things work together for their good, and that out of apparent evils a real blessing shall ultimately spring-that their God will either work a deliverance for them speedily, or most assuredly support them in the trouble, as long as He is pleased to keep them in it. This patience of the saints proves the power of divine grace.

There is a lighthouse out at sea: it is a calm night-I cannot tell whether the edifice is firm; the tempest must rage about it, and then I shall know whether it will stand. So with the Spirit’s work: if it were not on many occasions surrounded with tempestuous waters, we should not know that it was true and strong; if the winds did not blow upon it, we should not know how firm and secure it was. The master-works of God are those men who stand in the midst of difficulties, stedfast, unmoveable,-

‘Calm mid the bewildering cry,
Confident of victory.’

He who would glorify his God must set his account upon meeting with many trials. No man can be illustrious before the Lord unless his conflicts be many. If then, yours be a much-tried path, rejoice in it, because you will the better show forth the all-sufficient grace of God. As for His failing you, never dream of it-hate the thought. The God who has been sufficient until now, should be trusted to the end.

3.4a

Weekly Links (1/11/2013)

 “People ask me, ‘Why pray if God is Sovereign?’

I respond, ‘Why pray if He isn’t?'”

(Michael Horton)

by Stephen Rodgers

Welcome back for the first weekly links of 2013!

January Updates & Releases

Free Resources

Other Articles of Note

  • Tim Challies has been busy, continuing his series on essential doctrines of the Christian faith and penning posts on adoption, sanctification, incarnation, idolatry, and church.
  • I normally don’t care much for “top 10” posts (yes, I know, the hypocrisy is rampant), but I’d make an exception anyway for the Top Tabletalk of 2012 kind.
  • Last but not least, there a couple sales that you should be aware of. I’m particularly pointing out the ESV Module Sale, since I’ve written before that having digital versions of the ESV Study Bible and the MacArthur Study Bible in the same place is a potent combination…which can now be yours for $12.  It’s something to think about.

Pro Rege

Marriage Is Hard Work!

by Pastor Patrick Cho

When I was engaged to Christine, we used to discuss what to expect in marriage with the older married couples of the church. Surprisingly and without fail, every couple warned us about the hardships and strains that come with marriage. We received almost no positive feedback or encouragement. Instead, the consistent report was that marriage was difficult. I remember growing a little disillusioned and even embittered by this at the time. I wondered, “Why did you get married at all if it’s so bad? Maybe it’s better to stay single since that’s so much easier!” I remember telling Christine that if other engaged couples talked to us about marriage, we were only going to speak positively to affirm how wonderful it is. They could get the discouraging news from everyone else!

Now that I have been married for over seven years, I understand better where those other couples were coming from and I agree with them that marriage is hard work. That isn’t all it is (it is wonderful, too!), but it certainly is that. I can see that those couples were lovingly trying to prepare us for the worst trials and experiences so that we would not be unnecessarily caught off guard or unprepared. The truth is that marriage is hard and it requires intense devotion, constant vigilance, and self-sacrifice. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that wives are to submit to their husbands, and husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church (Eph. 5:22, 25). These are not easy instructions! They are extremely difficult and even impossible apart from Christ.

There is a romantic tendency in many engaged Christian couples to think it won’t be as difficult for them. They reason, “We will never fight, and even if we do, we will reconcile quickly” or “Think about how great we get along! After all, how could marriage be all that different than dating?” Older, more experienced couples sometimes smile (scoff?) at the naivete and foolishness of young love. It is essential that young couples be prepared for the difficulties that come with marriage while still believing that it is a wonderful institution created by God for our good.

Does it have to be difficult? It depends on what you mean by “difficult.” Does it have to be exasperating and frustrating? I suppose not. But does it have to require hard work? Absolutely. This is because we are not naturally inclined to pursue God’s glory with our lives and relationships. We are not naturally inclined to love Him and others. Our sin stands in the way of our having ideal marriages, and unfortunately we deal with our sin (not to mention the sin of our spouses) every day. Too often we struggle with self-centeredness, pride, anger, jealousy, and discontentment. We struggle because our natural bent is merely to care for ourselves and satisfy our own desires.

Many marriages struggle today in particular because couples have failed at putting in the work to make their relationships strong and successful. Couples don’t spend quality time together but instead allow precious time to go wasted. Hundreds of opportunities to have meaningful conversations are averted. Too often the only times families pray together is before meals. Husbands come home from work with a sense of entitlement to rest and relaxation instead of investing in their marriages. TVs, computers, and gaming systems are flipped on and wives are neglected because of the desire to satisfy “me time.” I am particularly calling out husbands because the Bible teaches that the burden of responsibility to lead spiritually in the home rests on them.

Whose interests are most important in the home? Is it the interests of the husband who provides the leadership and direction? Is it the interests of the wife whom the husband serves and loves sacrificially? The answer is neither. Ultimately, both husband and wife need to think about God’s interests for their lives. The husband needs to consider what kind of man God wants him to be, and the wife needs to consider what kind of woman God wants her to be. It is ultimately about having a relationship that is honoring and glorifying to Him. But again, this takes work. It isn’t simply going to happen because both husband and wife are Christian. Spiritual health doesn’t just occur in a vacuum. They need to work at it in faith by being obedient to Scriptures commands and principles in full dependence on the Lord.

Ask yourself these questions to help gauge the spiritual quality of your marriage. Do you and your spouse regularly pray for and with one another? Do you and your spouse regularly talk about spiritual issues and concerns? Do you and your spouse read and study God’s Word together? Do you and your spouse actively love and serve others in the church? These are spiritual investments that will reap tremendous spiritual benefits for your marriage. But more so, working at spiritually strengthening your marriage will bring glory to God.

Besides focusing on spiritual concerns, practical steps can be taken to further strengthen the marriage bond. Do you and your spouse regularly and frequently affirm each other emotionally and physically? Do you make time for one another to have meaningful conversations? Do you have fun together and cultivate your friendship? Do you listen to each other’s requests, desires, and opinions? Do you endeavor to further learn about each other and deepen your relationship?

If you are solely focused on satisfying personal desires, if you believe you rightfully deserve “me time” at the expense of working at marriage, you shouldn’t be surprised that your marriage lacks the strength God intends it to have. Too many couples seek counseling when their relationship is all falling apart knowing that they haven’t done much to build up and sharpen each other (cf. Prov. 27:17). Sadly, most couples have some sense of what they need to do, but they simply don’t do it. This is one vital area where good intentions fall short and talk is cheap. Especially in prayer and dependence upon the Spirit of God, let’s work to build strong marriages for the glory of God.

Reading Your Bible in 2013

“…it is a sin and a shame not to know our own book or to understand the speech and words of our God…” (Martin Luther, from “To the Councilmen of All Cities in Germany That They Establish and Maintain Christian Schools”)

by Stephen Rodgers

As we begin a new year, many of us will once again embark upon that familiar adventure: the Bible reading plan. It’s something of a sad cliche in Christian circles that going solely by the state of our reading faithfulness (or lack thereof), by the time we die, we’ll have read Genesis to Exodus 20-ish about 50 times…and not much else.

I once had the opportunity to ask a bodybuilder who had trained for decades what the “best” workout was…and with a smile, he told me that “it’s the one that you actually do.”  In some ways, that’s a lot like reading the Bible.  Ultimately what matters is not the sophistication or particular structure of our Bible-reading plan, it’s that we actually are taking the time to daily immerse ourselves in the very word of God.

To make our shame even greater, we live in a time with unprecedented access to the Scriptures.  Consider this:

  • Unlike the Christians of apostolic and early patristic eras, we have the complete canon of Scripture, and not just whatever collection of NT books we were fortunate enough to gather.
  • Unlike the Christians of the medieval era, we don’t have to study foreign or dead languages just to be able to read the Bible. (To say nothing of the fact that we aren’t actively persecuted for daring to own a Bible in our native language either).
  • Unlike the Christians of the reformation period (and even the recent past), we don’t even have to rely solely on the Bible in bound and printed form.

The word of God has never been more available, which only compounds our guilt if we fail to take advantage of the riches that we’ve been given. Here at the Beacon, we’ve actually made a point of collecting a lot of material on the subject of Bible-reading plans. But if the prospect of digging through all that material to find one that’s the “best” for you gives you a headache…let me help you narrow it down and make it simple.  Just head on over to the ESV Reading Plans page and pick one.  They’ve got 10 to choose from, and they’ll even let you choose the format for delivery: RSS, iCal (format for calendars), a website, a printed index, or emailing it directly to you. Surely there’s some format there that can accommodate your schedule?

Like I said before…of all Christians throughout history, we are most without excuse.

Editor’s Note: January 2013

by Stephen Rodgers

And…we’re back!

So the good news is that you’re reading this on the new and improved Beacon!  We’re now simpler and sleeker than ever, and regardless of what the resolution is on your device, you should have a truer reading experience now that the upgrade is complete.  So take a moment to poke around and enjoy the new theme. If you notice anything not working correctly, please drop me a line and we’ll get it fixed.

There’s never quite enough time to finish everything, so we’ll be wrapping up some of the other projects that I mentioned back in December in the weeks to come.  To celebrate the new year and the new theme however, I thought you might enjoy a quick look back on the most popular posts of 2012.  If you missed any the first time around, now’s a great chance to catch up.

The most popular page by far was just people landing on the home page, but once you get past that we quickly get into the top ten posts:

  1. LBC Ministry Overview – A list of the various ministries that you can get involved in here at LBC. If you’re new to the church and wondering where you can serve, this list is a great place to start!
  2. DTR – Hub Post -The hub post for various articles and sermons on the subject of dating.
  3. Mission: LBC Los Angeles – Pastor Patrick’s article announcing the LBC LA church plant.
  4. Hub Post Directory – The collection of all the various hub posts available here on the Beacon.
  5. Signs of Spiritual Maturity #5: Changes in Friendship – The fifth post in Elder Peter Lim’s ongoing series on spiritual maturity.
  6. Recommended Resources – Our collection of external resources that we hope will be edifying, encouraging, and challenging.
  7. Gray Issues – Hub Post -The hub post for Elder Peter Lim’s seven-part series on understanding so-called “gray issues” (or “wisdom issues”) in the life of a Christian
  8. Caution – Hub Post – The hub post for Elder Mike Chon’s three-part series on humility and pride.
  9. Encouragement – Hub Post –  The hub post for Elder Mike Chon’s seven-part series on encouragement.
  10. Signs of Spiritual Maturity #6: Conservative Decision Making Motivated By a Hatred of Sin – The sixth post in Elder Peter Lim’s ongoing series on spiritual maturity.

Thanks for reading in 2012, and we look forward to picking up where we left off in 2013!

Pro Rege

Editor’s Note: December 2012

by Stephen Rodgers

Just to let you all know, the Beacon will be on its traditional Christmas hiatus for the next couple weeks.  If all goes well, we’ll be back the second week of January.

I say “if” simply because we’re also planning on doing some fairly important upgrades to the blog, so on the off-chance that we encounter some unexpected downtime, don’t panic.  I think you’ll agree that the end result is worth it.  Spoiler alert: our smart phone and tablet users should be much happier with us after the changes.

We’ve also got a small pile of awesomeness planned to go live around the same time we return, including more illustrations for some of the article series, one more pass to make the BOB articles inter-relate to one another to a greater extent, and a secret project that should enable you to conduct theological research much more easily.

Merry Christmas!

Pro Rege

He Saw The Spirit Of God Descending Like A Dove

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

From Matthew 3:16

As the Spirit of God descended upon the Lord Jesus, the head, so He also, in measure, descends upon the members of the mystical body. His descent is to us after the same fashion as that in which it fell upon our Lord.

  • There is often a singular rapidity about it; or ever we are aware, we are impelled onward and heavenward beyond all expectation. Yet is there none of the hurry of earthly haste, for the wings of the dove are as soft as they are swift.
  • Quietness seems essential to many spiritual operations; the Lord is in the still small voice, and like the dew, His grace is distilled in silence.
  • The dove has ever been the chosen type of purity, and the Holy Spirit is holiness itself. Where He cometh, everything that is pure and lovely, and of good report, is made to abound, and sin and uncleanness depart.
  • Peace reigns also where the Holy Dove comes with power; He bears the olive branch which shows that the waters of divine wrath are assuaged.
  • Gentleness is a sure result of the Sacred Dove’s transforming power: hearts touched by His benign influence are meek and lowly henceforth and for ever.
  • Harmlessness follows, as a matter of course; eagles and ravens may hunt their prey-the turtledove can endure wrong, but cannot inflict it. We must be harmless as doves.
  • The dove is an apt picture of love, the voice of the turtle is full of affection; and so, the soul visited by the blessed Spirit, abounds in love to God, in love to the brethren, and in love to sinners; and above all, in love to Jesus.
  • The brooding of the Spirit of God upon the face of the deep, first produced order and life, and in our hearts, He causes and fosters new life and light.

Blessed Spirit, as Thou didst rest upon our dear Redeemer, even so rest upon us from this time forward and forever.

3.3p

Weekly Links (12/21/2012) – Christmas Edition

“To an open house in the evening
Home shall all men come,
To an older place than Eden
And a taller town than Rome.
To the end of the way of the wandering star,
To the things that cannot be and that are,
To the place where God was homeless
And all men are at home.”
(From “Christmas Poem,” by GK Chesterton)

by Stephen Rodgers

Long-time readers of the Beacon…and anyone with halfway-decent search-fu…will know that every year around this time we do a special Christmas-themed edition of the weekly links.  We’ve done it before in 2009, 2010, and 2011, and it’s that time once again here in 2012.

APOLOGETICS

One site that has done yeoman’s work on the issue of “Christmas apologetics” is the (in)famous Triablogue.  They have their own overview of annual post on the subject going back several years, along with an entire category dedicated to the subject of Christmas.  Here are a few specific examples:

SANTA CLAUS

Ah yes, the ever controversial man in the red suit. No, not that one; I’m talking about Santa Claus.

THEOLOGY & CULTURE

Again, I’d encourage you to review the posts from previous years, since you’ll find a host of related information there as well.  This year, we wanted to highlight:

Merry Christmas everyone.

Pro Rege

Single Life Update

“Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.” (Colossians 3:20-22)

by Joseph Ho

The single life kicked off the fall quarter with a bonfire night filled with food, fun, and fellowship! In our regular Wednesday night Bible studies, Pastor Patrick continued in the book of Colossians. In the past four studies, we dived into Colossians 3:20-22, learning about the instruction regarding the relationship between parents and children and the relationship between slaves and masters.

First, regarding the relationship between parents and children, we learned that the Greek word for “children” in Colossians 3:20 can mean both little children and adult children. We are reminded that as adult children, we are called to continue to honor our parents through our acts of love and acts of obedience (1 Timothy 5:8; Exodus 20:12). This is definitely an area of struggle for most of us because as adult children, we desire independence. But God calls us to obey our parents so that we can benefit from the wise counsel that comes from their years of life experience (Proverbs 6:20-23, 23:22). Certainly with exceptions, there may be times where our parents command us to sin, then we are to obey God and not men (Acts 5:29). During the Q&A time, Patrick addressed some specific situations including dating, career choices, and our faith in Christ, where our desire may be in conflict with our parents’ desire. While our parents may not always be right and ready to offer biblical advice, we learned that as believers, we can glorify God in resolving these conflicts by being Christ-like in our words and attitudes (Proverbs 15:1; Colossians 4:6).

Next, regarding the relationship between slaves and masters, how do we apply these instructions in today’s world? While that particular slave/master relationship was only unique to the homes in the first century Roman society, we can certainly apply the principles behind the passage towards our relationship with our employers at work. We learn that in all things lawful, we are to pursue diligence and excellence in our work because ultimately we report to God. For most of us at work, we all have experienced the temptation where we are a little too liberal with our break time or just simply wasting time surfing the internet instead of working. It is certainly a good reminder for us that while our earthly boss may not be watching us, God is watching us all the time. It matters not whether we are a teacher, an engineer, a doctor, a lawyer, or a soldier, we need to develop a healthy fear towards God and a singleness of focus to earn His approval and reward.

Now as we are getting ready to enter the last chapter of Colossians, I just realized that we have been studying Colossians for over two years! I am grateful to Pastor Patrick for slowly unpacking the truths in this book for us. I pray that as singles, we will continue to implant these truths in our hearts so that we may shine as lights in our workplace and in our homes.

Our annual Christmas party is coming up next. I look forward to some friendly fun as we play the white elephant gift exchange!

FOF #8: Prayer and the Believer

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

by Pastor Patrick Cho

Prayer is one of the greatest blessings God has bestowed on men. Growing up in San Diego, I always appreciated the friendships that were developed over the years. This is especially true of the relationships I have built at Lighthouse. One of my favorite things to do is just to sit around and chat with my friends, sometimes talking about nothing significant at all. It’s the company that is so enjoyable, the time spent together. That is the great thing about prayer. There are many things we do to direct our attention and service to God, but prayer is God’s way for us to enjoy intimate communion with Him. How awesome is it that we can talk with the God of the universe without dread (cf. Heb. 4:16)!

I love to teach God’s Word. There are few things that exhilarate me more than to open up the Bible with others and dive into its depths. I know that I should also have this same excitement for prayer, but sadly for whatever reason it isn’t always there. I know that many believers struggle with the same thing. While our times of prayer should be the most precious moments of our day, too often we as Christians struggle in our prayer lives and only have sporadic times alone with God.

I’m certain Satan is pleased with the believer’s struggle to pray. There are all sorts of reasons for our failure in this. Sometimes we don’t pray because we don’t feel like we need to. A sense of self-sufficiency guides our thinking and we believe we can handle things on our own. Because of this, we only go to God when our circumstances become extremely dire. Of course, we would never admit that we don’t need God, but our actions betray us and bring this attitude of self-sufficiency to light.

There are other times we fail to pray because of our lack of faith. We simply don’t believe it will accomplish anything. Perhaps we have been too discouraged by what we would perceive is a lack of response from God. Maybe we have asked for things in the past only to be disappointed. We know from what we read in Scripture that God is eager to answer prayer. Jesus taught His disciples to ask, seek, and knock (Matt. 7:7), and though we would perhaps never admit it, we sometimes wonder, “What good will it do?”

These attitudes truly reveal the sinfulness of our hearts. Not only does this demonstrate how little at times we trust God, but it also reveals our general lack of true wisdom. Like Christ’s disciples, we need to ask God to teach us to pray (Luke 11:1). The Apostle James makes it clear that we don’t have because we don’t ask, and that we ask and don’t receive because our motives are wrong (James 4:2-3).

The Bible promises us that God works through the prayers of His people. Certainly our prayers don’t change God (cf. Num. 23:19; Mal. 3:7), but our prayers do change things (cf. James 5:17). Perhaps more importantly, our prayers help change us, molding and shaping us to think more like Christ (cf. Phil. 4:6-7) and make His desires our own (cf. Ps. 37:4). Because of how important prayer is for the believer, God instructs us not to cease in it but to persevere (Eph. 6:18; 1 Thess. 5:17).

Our struggle to see prayer accomplish much in our lives usually comes from our lack of understanding God’s will. God answers our prayers according to His purposes for our lives. This is why the Apostle Paul draws a close relationship between Scripture and prayer (Eph. 6:17-18). We are to take the Word of God praying, because it is through God’s Word that we can understand what He desires for us. When we pray according to the will of God as Jesus did (Mark 14:35-36), God is sure to hear and answer us.

Think of what an awesome resource is at our disposal that we can talk to God and that He desires to hear from us! Especially when we consider our sinfulness and from what Jesus saved us, how comforting to know that God is eager to hear from us (cf. Ps. 8:4). Prayer needs to be our constant lifeline to the Father. We must not grow weary in it. Is it any wonder we fail and falter in our walks of faith as often as we do when we do not pray as often as we should?