Dying to Know Him

by Pastor Patrick Cho

In living the Christian life and pursuing greater growth in faith, it can be easy to lose sight of why we do what we do. Many Christians adopt a performance-based mentality where spiritual maturity is gauged by how many ministries they are involved with or how often they are at church. This is like a person gauging their physical health solely by how much they are exercising. I want to be careful to make sure we understand that ministry is necessary and there should always be activity in the church, just as with the physical body it is important to exercise in order to be healthy. But activity alone doesn’t guarantee that a body is healthy. You can run all you want, but if something’s wrong inside, you need to see a doctor.

When someone is measuring spiritual health with a performance-based mentality, things get complicated when it comes to assessing a person’s spiritual growth. One’s opinion on how they are doing may vary greatly from week to week depending how much they were able to do or be involved with. “I didn’t have a good week because I missed small group.” “Spiritually things are great because we had a chance to go feed the homeless.” “I must be spiritually mature because I haven’t missed a Sunday for years.” Once again, I don’t want us to make the mistake of swinging the pendulum the opposite extreme and to say that none of this matters. Certainly it is helpful to attend small groups. It is great to feed the homeless. Church involvement and attendance is vital for personal growth.

The problem is that spiritual health is not only determined by how much we are exercising our gifts or getting involved in Christian ministry. This is most definitely a crucial part of growing spiritually and something all believers should remain committed to, but it isn’t the only thing. The church at Ephesus was buzzing with all sorts of spiritual activity. From the outside, it looked as though they were a solid church and very healthy. But God, who sees past the external and views the heart, understood that the church at Ephesus was sorely lacking one thing – their first love (Rev. 2:1-4). The church was so busy in all its spiritual activity that it failed to do it all in love. They began well and had love at first, but somehow in the busyness of ministry, they lost it.

A huge factor in determining spiritual health is your love for Christ. Do you love Jesus and do you desire to know Him? Again, it goes back to determining why we do what we do. The Apostle Paul got a taste of what it meant to know Jesus, and he determined that nothing else compared (Phil. 3:7-11). He was willing to give up everything and even consider it loss in order to gain Christ. Wherever Jesus was, that’s where Paul desired to be, even if it meant identifying with Jesus’ suffering and cross. It was all because of his love for Christ.

This love we have for Christ trickles down and fuels the love we have for one another (1 John 4:19). Our ministry must be motivated and driven by this love. This was the commandment of Christ that we love one another as He loved us (John 13:34). This love would serve as the great testimony of God’s work in our lives (John 13:35). The Apostle Paul goes so far as to say that without love, everything we do is nothing and pointless (1 Cor. 13:1-3).

All this is sort of what this year’s theme for Lighthouse is all about. It is about counting everything as loss for the sake of knowing Jesus (Phil. 3:7-8). My great desire for LBC is that as we walk through God’s Word together, as we participate in ministry, as we serve one another and invest in each other, we would not lose sight of why we do all this in the first place. We run the race so that in the end we would gain the prize. We run hard always keeping our eyes on Jesus (Heb. 12:1-2). We are not supposed to just stay busy and fill our lives with activity. While we seek to be obedient to the commands of Scripture and to grow in faith through our involvement in ministry, at the same time we must remember to keep our hearts in the right place pointed in the right direction.

Weekly Links (2/6/2012)

With such a contradiction hanging over his head in a Damoclean fashion, it seemed to me that Mr. Hitchens was ever at risk of being waylaid by the grace he rejected. For while we know from the Apostle John that Heaven rejoices in the just punishment of the guilty, we also know from the Lord Jesus Christ that it rejoices in the salvation of the lost. And while we often associate God’s patience with a forestalling of judgment, it occurs to me that salvation could also be framed (at least poetically), as a divine unwillingness to forestall grace. And as I note elsewhere in this essay, one takeaway from the book of Job is that any attempt to dictate terms to God falls into a category that theologians have historically referred to as “really stupid ideas.” (Stephen Rodgers, “The New Atheism, Fast Company, and the Integrity of Doubt”)

by Stephen Rodgers

I intended to let this pass without comment, but Peter Lim had other ideas.

As someone at our church noticed (Cesar), the most recent issue of the apologetics journal In Antithesis featured a familiar article by yours truly. It’s especially fun to note that the article actually originated here on the Beacon.

  • The original article can be found here.
  • The issue of In Antithesis containing the re-worked article can be found here. (Also, I would recommend to you a previous issue found here).
  • While I have the highest respect for the work that the CH crew does, I thought their formatting left a bit to be desired. If you’re really interested, a .pdf version formatted according to my personal preferences can be downloaded here.

Coram Deo

For as the Sufferings of Christ Abound in Us, so Our Consolation Also Aboundeth by Christ

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

From 2 Corinthians 1:5

There is a blessed proportion. The Ruler of Providence bears a pair of scales-in this side He puts His people’s trials, and in that He puts their consolations. When the scale of trial is nearly empty, you will always find the scale of consolation in nearly the same condition; and when the scale of trials is full, you will find the scale of consolation just as heavy. When the black clouds gather most, the light is the more brightly revealed to us. When the night lowers and the tempest is coming on, the Heavenly Captain is always closest to His crew. It is a blessed thing, that when we are most cast down, then it is that we are most lifted up by the consolations of the Spirit.

One reason is, because trials make more room for consolation. Great hearts can only be made by great troubles. The spade of trouble digs the reservoir of comfort deeper, and makes more room for consolation. God comes into our heart-He finds it full-He begins to break our comforts and to make it empty; then there is more room for grace. The humbler a man lies, the more comfort he will always have, because he will be more fitted to receive it.

Another reason why we are often most happy in our troubles, is this-then we have the closest dealings with God. When the barn is full, man can live without God: when the purse is bursting with gold, we try to do without so much prayer. But once take our gourds away, and we want our God; once cleanse the idols out of the house, then we are compelled to honour Jehovah. ‘Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. ‘There is no cry so good as that which comes from the bottom of the mountains; no prayer half so hearty as that which comes up from the depths of the soul, through deep trials and afflictions. Hence they bring us to God, and we are happier; for nearness to God is happiness.

Come, troubled believer, fret not over your heavy troubles, for they are the heralds of weighty mercies.

2.12a

Weekly Links (2/3/2012)

By this rejection of God, agnosticism has embraced complete relativism. Yet this relativism must furnish a basis for the rejection of the absolute. Accordingly, the standard of self-contradiction taken for granted by antitheistic thought presupposes the absolute for its operation. Antitheism presupposes theism. One must stand upon the solid ground of theism to be an effective antitheist. (Cornelius Van Til, A Survey of Christian Epistemology)

by Stephen Rodgers

Hey everyone!  Welcome to Friday; we’ve got a bunch of really good stuff for you this week as you head into the weekend.

News

Resources

  •  It’s a new month, and so christianaudio.com has a new free audio book for you!  This month it’s Trusting God by Jerry Bridges.  You definitely don’t want to miss this one.
  • Truth for Life (the publisher) is now offering a number of resources at wholesale.
  • There’s a new issue of Tabletalk entitled Love Never Fails. I’ve updated the archive.  You do know about the archive right?
  • AIG has been making articles from some of their collections available for free. Given one of my past articles I’m especially excited to see that Contradictions and Contradictions 2 are part of that offering.
  • Also, you should know that Desiring God has made John Piper’s book Bloodlines available for free.

That should keep you busy!

Well, as Frank Turk often says, enjoy the digital delights, but make sure that you’re in the Lord’s house with the Lord’s people on the Lord’s day.

See you there.

You’ve Been Deceived

By Richard Shin

Hi, collegian. I’ll get straight to the point: the world has been tricking us. It throws at us a vast array of reasons for us to be prideful. It’s not only the eclecticism that we should recognize, but the slyness and depth of the message as well. It is neatly packaged for us which is what’s so deceiving. Here is just a small sampling of how this message is presented:

  • TV shows like American Idol and America’s Got Talent that put the spotlight (literally) on one person or one group. And even if it’s for a brief moment, I’m sure we’ve all imagined and secretly wished to be in the contestants’ shoes.
  • Movies of triumph like Rudy and Scarface that glorify the power of the will and its rewards.
  • Internet-powered tools like YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and blogs that let us share our talents, thoughts, opinions and much more, in hopes of being noticed.
  • Sports communities that imply talent, skill, and hard work matter more than character.
  • Music whose lyrics focus around how I feel and what I want that influence how we think.
  • The “Customer is King” mentality that seems to permeate our thoughts when we make purchases or eat at restaurants, as if we deserved the best treatment.
  • Online resources that impart much knowledge, which often only puffs up.

When these things enter our lives, oftentimes some form of pride ensues. We become more willful; we covet the lifestyle of the rich and famous; we want to be noticed by those around us; we become proud in what we know; we try to show others that we’re “all that.” Simply put, these thoughts and actions are all signs of pride, evidence that we have forsaken the primary purpose in God’s gifts: glorifying God.

These things are not inherently bad. In fact, I would categorize them as “neutral.” In the right context, we can enjoy and use the things above. But like all of God’s gifts, they can be abused. The scary thing is we’ve become indifferent to the abuse.

Let me be real with you. We don’t have a fighting chance – we never did. We might have been deceived into thinking that we did (a la examples above), but we’ve fallen for a lie (Rom. 1:25). But don’t think we were sitting helpless like a baby; we are at fault for believing this lie. Let me explain.

We are prideful by nature. We weren’t created this way, but when Adam and Eve decided to question God’s holiness and authority in Genesis 3, they exhibited pride. They thought they were better than they were and decided to step away from what was right, namely God’s law. And because we were all born of Adam and Eve, the prideful tendencies and desires passed on from one generation to the next.

No one born of Adam is an exception; we all think we’re better than we are (Rom. 3:23). We love thinking about ourselves. We love remembering about how great we are, or could be. Because of this natural tendency, we take advantage of every opportunity to be prideful that’s presented before us. And with access to the world at our fingertips, how easy has it become to find more reasons to be prideful? It almost seems hopeless, doesn’t it?

But there’s an answer: we need to lean on Jesus Christ.

You see, Jesus was the only person who has overcome that cultural influence, ever. How did he do this? By singularly focusing on his mission to glorify the Father (John 4:34, 6:38, 8:29). If we truly believe in Romans 11:36, then we have to believe that even neutral activities can glorify God. Here are a few ways we can do this while not being influenced by the world:

  1. Meditate upon the life of Jesus and the gospel. Spiritual growth is a process of becoming more like Jesus (Rom. 8:29). That means from the moment of conversion to the last breath you take, you will have an uncountable number of ways to glorify God. What you can do is remember that Jesus was sent to do the will of his Father. Reflect upon the humility he displayed when being born of man. Imagine the restraint he must have shown when he was being tempted. Dwell upon his showing love and truth, grace and mercy hand-in-hand to everyone whom he ministered. Mimic the dependence he showed in the Garden of Gethsemane. Emulate the discipline he must have shown when carrying his cross. Remember the sense of duty he must have felt when being nailed to that cross. Imagine the sense of satisfaction and anticipation he must have felt when he said, “It is finished,” ready to be received by his Father saying, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”
  2. Take active measures to examine our own hearts. We can check ourselves with biblical truths and principles like
  • Looking out for the interest of others (Phil. 2:4)
  • Not leaning on our own understanding (Jer. 17:9; Prov. 3:5-6)
  • Being mindful of what we say and do (Mark 7:21-23; Titus 2:7-8)
  • Not coveting what we don’t have (Ex. 20:17) because we are content with what God has given us (Heb. 13:5-6)
  1. Pray. For example, we can glorify God by praying while watching the next episode of The Voice. We can. Before we watch it, pray “God, allow me to watch this and marvel at the gifts you grant. Allow me to not be judgmental of those who don’t perform as well. Guard my heart so that I don’t become jealous of the people who do. If they don’t already, please allow them to use those gifts to honor you. I pray others watching be shown a glimpse of your creativity and greatness, and that you would lead them to worship you alone.”

Now I want you to know that while these neutral activites can be used to glorify God, it doesn’t mean it’s always wise to partake in these activities. There will be times when watching that football game or perusing that website will need to take a backseat for other activities to take priority. But what I’m saying is that when you actually do pursue these endeavors, there is a God-glorifying way to do them.

Collegians, we need to draw from that well. Our effectiveness to be the salt and light in this world is not founded upon ourselves, but in God. And He is the only way we will be able to eradicate pride from our lives. When the world presents opportunities for you to think better of yourself, and you truly desire to fight pride, remember that God will always see you through. If you truly believe that Jesus died for you and your sins, then he died for your inflated sense of self-worth as well.

As we go through the series of “Collegians Have Issues,” let us remember that God is the only one that is worthy to be glorified. This decision to actively glorify God in everything we see, hear, and feel is not one of those decide-once-and-be-done-with-it types; it’s a deny-yourself-and-pick-up-your-cross-daily type. You have to commit every day that you will breathe and live to glorify God in everything that you do.

BOB – Resources, References, and Links

by Stephen Rodgers

There’s an old expression about God closing doors and opening windows. I always thought that was both odd and awesome, since it seemed to call upon Christians to execute maneuvers most often associated with catburglers and second-story men. Except in this case, instead of metaphorical doors and windows we’re going to be dealing with actual hyperlinks on the internet.

CLOSED DOOR

At some point last week, Crossway decided to remove the links to most of the content from the ESV Study Bible that was previously available online.  Following the example of other publishers (Thomas Nelson, Zondervon, etc.) they had previously exposed their book introductions (which was fairly standard) as well as their articles and essays (which was exceedingly generous of them).

They have since decided to remove that content.  It hasn’t been deleted, it’s simply been moved behind their paywall.  So if you’ve registered your ESV Study Bible on their website, you can still view the material by logging in to esvbible.org. (Note: I believe that you still get a free code for this with the purchase of any new ESV Study Bible. They also allow you to purchase a digital version of all the content from the MacArthur Study Bible and integrate that as well, which results in you owning a seriously powerful tool for Bible study that can be accessed from any internet connection).

By the way, since I’m about to say some less-than-complimentary things about the results of that decision, let me take a moment to make one thing clear: it was absolutely their right to make that choice.  They paid to develop the material, and if they wish to be more aggressive in monetizing it, they are well within their prerogative as a publisher. Nonetheless, exercising that right several years after it’s been freely available is a bit odd.

Unfortunately, since I can’t hyperlink to your physical book, and since their bible study web interface is fairly non-standard, it’s a pretty big blow to referencing their material online.  (In other words, while the material is there and at least nominally searchable, the techniques and technology that apply to searching, storing, referencing, and indexing a web document are now useless). And as a result of this, quite a few links from previous BOB articles are now broken. So, since I’m going to have to take the time to touch every article to remove those links, I might as well take the opportunity to add quite a few resources that have come to my attention since then.

OPEN WINDOW

As of the publishing of this article, all previous articles in the BOB series have been updated with new and improved reference material.

Briefly, here is a list of the study Bible resources I commonly use that have some corresponding availability online:

  • Apologetics Study Bible – Surprisingly, this Bible is indexed and available on Google Books; you can jump to various books of the Bible by using the pull-down menu
  • Archaeological Study Bible – Very little of this material is available online, but you can poke around their website and see what you can find (for example, they have a .pdf version of Genesis that is worth the download)
  • ESV Study Bible – As mentioned above, most of this content is no longer freely available, however a few features can still be downloaded. The free version is still available at esvbible.org.
  • MacArthur Study Bible – GTY actually makes all their Bible Introductions available online
  • NET Bible – I’ve previously mentioned the NET Bible, so I won’t go into much detail.  Suffice to say this is my go-to reference for translation notes.
  • NIV Study Bible – Biblica.com makes all the book introductions and selected articles available online
  • Reformation Study Bible – Very little of this material is available for free online, but Ligonier recently made the introduction to all four of the Gospels available, and have announced they will be doing the same with the books of the Pentateuch (which will be linked as they become available). (UPDATE: a few sample pages are also available)

I also own and use the Chronological Study Bible, but I haven’t found it particular useful for this series.  I highly recommend having a chronological understanding of the events of the Bible however: which were sequential, which were concurrent, which are disputed, etc. For understanding that, a chronological Bible is a fantastic resource, or you can simply avail yourself to a chronological reading plan (esv.org has a list; the .pdf version of the chronological plan is particularly good).

If anyone wants to talk about Bibles in general or study Bibles in particular, I’d be happy to chat with you; either find me at church or email me directly. Perhaps later in the series we can discuss some other resources as well.

For those of you studying along at home, I hope you find this helpful.

Real Christian Parenting

by Elder Peter Lim

Sometimes, Christians oversimplify the role of parenting as if all parenting problems/concerns can be resolved if only one is spirtual enough or walking right with God or if they did their quiet times that day. Or perhaps if they just knew all the secrets and wisdom contained in Scripture they ought to be able to be the super-parent who is capable of responding perfectly through every twist and turn on the road of life. With sufficient Biblical knowledge, shouldn’t we know how to live adequately and buy a house and feed our children with delicious and nutritious food that’s optimized to be nutritionally balanced at every meal on only $20/week? Let’s be real here. Yes, the Bible contains all the wisdom and principles we need in order to glorify God in our parenting. Yes, God is good and He will take care of us. Yes, we are to be filled with His Spirit as He guides our footsteps. However, the specific way we may desire to be cared for and guided may not be His sovereign will. In reality, God continues to refine us and build our character through various circumstances as we are given opportunities to exercise wisdom-filled decisions and to be patient and even learn through our failures. Children have a way of bringing our weaknesses to light. This is a good thing because it causes us to fall on our knees in prayer because we don’t know what to do. We need to admit that to ourselves and sometimes even to our children. They need to learn that parents are dependent on God as much as they are.

As I teach the parenting class at our church, it soon becomes apparent that the Bible deals more with how we as parents are to be than what methods we are to use to get the desired behavior from our kids. That’s why I appreciate Tedd Tripp’s “Shepherding a Child’s Heart.” The whole emphasis of this book is to make sure that we are dealing with being a real Christian parent who is concerned more about our children’s hearts than their external behavior. It’s easy to slip into a mode where we want to be able to measure their obedience and implement a system of rewarding good behavior and penalizing bad behavior. We must not fall into this trap! This ignores the heart out of which evil thoughts and deeds come. (Mark 7:14-23) Parents, don’t lose hope. It’s amazing how fast children grow and come to understand their own sinfulness. When these moments come, we need to be ready to reiterate the message of hope that comes only through the gospel of Christ which you have been teaching them all along. This is particularly true when our children get older into their teen years. The world would say that these years are hard because their kids turn into rebellious monsters. As Christian parents, we need to take these opportunities to relate the gospel back into their lives, how although they just messed up, forgiveness and the grace of God is their only hope.

At our church, many of you are young and many of you have parents who have struggled to raise you up in these ways. Often they have failed to treat you like the young adult that you are, overreacted or underreacted to your failures, and misunderstood you. But I’m sure that they have also loved you and cared for you, however misguided they may have been. No matter your upbringing, you have an opportunity to learn from them and make Biblical changes if necessary in your parenting skills in order to raise up the next Godly generation. If you never marry or have children, you will still have opportunities to affect the next generation through discipling the younger members of the church.

Abortion – Hub Post

by Stephen Rodgers

This is the hub post for var­i­ous arti­cles and ser­mons on the sub­ject of abortion.

Our church recently took a Sunday to consider what the Bible has to say on the topic of abortion. For anyone who missed it, both the sermon and the follow-up article are still available.

Considering the magnitude of the issue, I was asked to create a repository on the subject, much like we’ve already done with several other topics (such as DTR or Church Discipline). Periodically we may update this page to introduce links to new resources.

All posts in the Abortion series:

All ser­mons in the Abortion series:

In addition, there are a number of excellent books that deal with the topic.

In the interest of keeping this list relatively short, here are four that approach the topic (directly or indirectly) from a variety of angles:

  • The ESV Study Bible contains a series of essays on the subject of Biblical ethics, one of which specifically addresses the issue of abortion
  • The Case for Life: Equipping Christians to Engage the Culture by Scott Klusendorf
  • Abortion: A Rational Look at an Emotional Issue by RC Sproul
  • Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice Questions by Randy Alcorn
  • Safe in the Arms of God by John MacArthur

There are also a great many resources that are freely available on the internet. Given the sheer breadth of those resources, I will initially present a number of topical indexes (please be warned, some are quite large) that you can review and search yourself, and then conclude with a few particular articles of note.

Here are the topical indexes:

And here are the specific articles and series:

Additionally, there have been some relatively recent developments in the field of medical ethics that have begun to examine the question of post-birth abortions as well:

Thou Hast Left Thy First Love

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

From Revelation 2:4

Ever to be remembered is that best and brightest of hours, when first we saw the Lord, lost our burden, received the roll of promise, rejoiced in full salvation, and went on our way in peace. It was spring time in the soul; the winter was past; the mutterings of Sinai’s thunders were hushed; the flashings of its lightnings were no more perceived; God was beheld as reconciled; the law threatened no vengeance, justice demanded no punishment. Then the flowers appeared in our heart; hope, love, peace, and patience sprung from the sod; the hyacinth of repentance, the snowdrop of pure holiness, the crocus of golden faith, the daffodil of early love, all decked the garden of the soul. The time of the singing of birds was come, and we rejoiced with thanksgiving; we magnified the holy name of our forgiving God, and our resolve was, ‘Lord, I am Thine, wholly Thine; all I am, and all I have, I would devote to Thee. Thou hast brought me with Thy blood-let me spend myself and be spent in Thy service. In life and in death let me be consecrated to Thee.’

How have we kept this resolve? Our espousal love burned with a holy flame of devoutedness to Jesus-is it the same now? Might not Jesus well say to us, ‘I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left they first love’? Alas! it is but little we have done for our Master’s glory. Our winter has lasted all too long. We are as cold as ice when we should feel a summer’s glow and bloom with sacred flowers. We give to God pence when He deserveth pounds, nay, deserveth our heart’s blood to be coined in the service of His church and of His truth. But shall we continue thus? O Lord, after Thou hast so richly blessed us, shall we be ungrateful and become indifferent to Thy good cause and work? O quicken us that we may return to our first love, and do our first works! Send us a genial spring, O Sun of Righteousness.

2.11p

Weekly Links (1/26/2012)

All inadequate doctrines of the atonement are due to inadequate doctrines of God and man. If we bring God down to our level and raise ourselves to his, then of course we see no need for a radical salvation, let alone for a radical atonement to secure it. When, on the other hand, we have glimpsed the blinding glory of the holiness of God, and have been so convicted of our sin by the Holy Spirit that we tremble before God and acknowledge what we are, namely ‘hell–deserving sinners’, then and only then does the necessity of the cross appear so obvious that we are astonished we never saw it before. (John Stott, The Cross of Christ)

by Richard Shin

We have a great set of articles for you to read. Here you go:

  • Ray Ortlund talks about what it means to be successful in Jesus.
  • Byron Yawn from the Cripplegate helps us understand from what we were saved when we became Christians. Many of us would say “from our sins,” which isn’t wrong per se, but he explains it doesn’t paint the full picture of what happened.
  • Russel Moore shares why the humanity of Christ matters.
  • Michael Patton from Parchment and Pen responds to an anonymous letter who feels God is so silent in his life. What he says is biblical, both truthful and loving. And on a related note, here he encourages us to continue to wait on the Lord even when it feels like God is not there.
  • Paul Tautges from the Counseling One Another blog shares it is not shameful to hide in God.
  • Jon Bloom from Desiring God encourages us to not be afraid to pray “whatever it takes.”

That’s it for now. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Coram Deo