Jehoshaphat Made Ships…

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

From 1 Kings 22:48

Solomon’s ships had returned in safety, but Jehoshaphat’s vessels never reached the land of gold. Providence prospers one, and frustrates the desires of another, in the same business and at the same spot, yet the Great Ruler is as good and wise at one time as another. May we have grace to-day, in the remembrance of this text, to bless the Lord for ships broken at Ezion-geber, as well as for vessels freighted with temporal blessings; let us not envy the more successful, nor murmur at our losses as though we were singularly and specially tried. Like Jehoshaphat, we may be precious in the Lord’s sight, although our schemes end in disappointment.

The secret cause of Jehoshaphat’s loss is well worthy of notice, for it is the root of very much of the suffering of the Lord’s people; it was his alliance with a sinful family, his fellowship with sinners. In 2 Chron. 20:37, we are told that the Lord sent a prophet to declare, ‘Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the Lord hath broken thy works.’ This was a fatherly chastisement, which appears to have been blest to him; for in the verse which succeeds our morning’s text we find him refusing to allow his servants to sail in the same vessels with those of the wicked king. Would to God that Jehoshaphat’s experience might be a warning to the rest of the Lord’s people, to avoid being unequally yoked together with unbelievers! A life of misery is usually the lot of those who are united in marriage, or in any other way of their own choosing, with the men of the world. O for such love to Jesus that, like Him, we may be holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners; for if it be not so with us, we may expect to hear it often said, ‘The Lord hath broken thy works.’

1.13a

Weekly Links – Special LBC Edition

by Kyle Grindley

It’s been more than two years since the last re-design of the web site. In that time a lot has happened: we added a member directory, we’ve added affinity group web sites, the photo ministry went online, the online Beacon was launched, the video ministry went online and we planted a church. With all these changes have we outgrown our old design, so we have launched a new one.

The first thing you will notice when you look at the front page is rotating images. This is where the most important announcements of the church are highlighted. It will also alert you when new sermons, videos, and photos have been added.

Since the first thing most people see of our church is the web site, we have tried to make it easier for visitors to find information about our church. We have added an “I’m New Here” link that will take visitors directly to the welcome page with a brief overview of our doctrine, philosophy of ministry and what visitors can expect when they visit on Sunday and links to pages with more detail. For those who would like to make LBC their home but are not sure what the next step is they can check out the “Get Involved” page that explains the different ways you can get plugged into LBC.

For those who have been coming to LBC, the primary interaction with the web site is the Beacon, sermons, the calendar, and the member directory. You will notice that each of these are easily accessible from the top any page on the site. We are also posting the weekly bulletin, so if you missed any of the announcements you can check them there.

Along with the revamped website, we have also redesigned the Media section. Under the banner of the Media page you can now listen to past sermons, catch up on missed videos or relive the activities again through our photo gallery. Like like previous Sermon page, the latest sermon will always be displayed first. However, the newest feature we have added is the ability to search. To begin a search, simply click on the “Show filter” link right below the Sermons tab of the banner and an array of filters will be displayed to help you narrow down your search. You can now search by Preacher, Book of the Bible, Series, what type of service and date.

For example you are doing a personal study on the book of John. Start by clicking on “Show filter” then under Book, select “John”. Now all the sermons with the main passage on the book of John will be shown. If you want to continue and narrow down your search on the book of John but also only the Sunday messages, click “Show filter” again and under Service, select “Sunday Morning” Now you can see your search results are even smaller than previously because it is only showing Sunday morning messages on John. If at anytime you decide you want to delete a filter but do not want to start over, under the “Show filter” link it shows an “Active filter” displaying all the filters you currently have. Clicking on the “x” next to the filter and you will see your search results increase due to a broader search.

Now that you have found the sermon you are looking for, clicking on the title will take you to the individual sermon page. On this page you can listen or download the sermon, follow along the main passage in ESV translation or navigate to sermons that were either preached directly before/after or the same day. We hope that with the addition of these search filters, you will be able to track down any sermon!

We hope that you enjoy the new website.  If you notice anything missing, or you’d like to join the Web Team, please speak to me.

Sonlight

by Abram Kim

LBC’s Sonlight Elementary Ministry is set to resume on October 3rd. The staff is excited and looking forward to a new year to teach the children of our church God’s holy truth. Children Desiring God has provided faithful curricula the past two years, so we will continue with them again this year. Our curriculum this year is called “In the Beginning…Jesus.” We will walk through the Bible to see how it is all about God’s plan from the beginning to save sinners through the death and resurrection of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We will see how God’s plan from the beginning had the cross in mind. We will learn how Adam, Abraham, Moses, the Levitical priesthood, King David, and others from the Old Testament point to the main character of the Bible (and all of history), the Lord Jesus Christ. At this stage in their development, we want to impress to the kids the reality of God, the truthfulness of Scripture, and the seriousness of our sinful state. We look forward to using the curriculum as a tool to teach the Bible and plant the seeds onto, we pray, good soil that will one day bear fruit thirtyfold, sixtyfold, even a hundredfold.

As it was announced on Sunday, starting this fall Sonlight will be dismissed during first hour at the start of the “big” message. The additional Sunday School time will, we pray, provide greater opportunities to instill the lessons from the curriculum into the hearts and minds of the young ones in Sonlight. Each week our staff will prepare for an age-appropriate lesson based on the curriculum. Our time together for 1st and 2nd hours will also include singing songs, small group discussions, snacks, and an activity.

We are experiencing a lot of turnover this year in terms of our staff. Two left this past summer for the San Jose Church Plant (Cindy Chu and David Jung) and two have moved on for graduate school opportunities (Kristen Yee and Susan Kim). However, we are excited for all the new staff that will be joining us in the fall! Our new staff this year are: Catherine Lee, James Lim, Jane Liou, Josh Liu, Ryan McAdams, Tim Paik, Dennis Su, and Grace Yi. Our returning staff are: David Ahn, Abram Kim, Daniel (Diddy) Kim, Emily Kuo, Josh Lee, and Stephanie McAdams.

If you have any questions about Sonlight, please feel free to talk to me anytime.

Living Theology #40 – Union with Christ

by Garrett Glende

We’ve reached the final chapter in this section on the application of redemption, and while the believer’s union with Christ is not traditionally included under this heading, it bears a strong enough significance to study. After all, each of the benefits of salvation and each step in the application of redemption can only occur if there is union with Christ. Grudem defines it as “a phrase used to summarize several different relationships between believers and Christ, through which Christians receive every benefit of salvation. These relationships include the fact that we are in Christ, Christ is in us, we are like Christ, and we are with Christ.”

The first aspect of this doctrine is that all believers are said to be in Christ, but this is played out in different ways. Grudem explains that we are in Christ in the sense of God’s eternal plan, as seen in Ephesians 1:11 where Paul writes, “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.” Elsewhere in Scripture we see that blessings have been given to us in Christ before the foundation of the world (2 Tim 1:9). The Bible also describes us as being in Christ during His life on earth. This is how He is able to be our representative, so that God sees us as having lived Christ’s life and His righteousness is imputed to us. We are treated as having lived Christ’s life because of our union with Him (Rom 5:19). Moreover, we are said to be in Christ during our lives now. The new lives that we live have been given to us in Christ Jesus (1 John 5:11, 2 Tim 1:1). This means that everything that we do can be done in Christ. The new life that is brought about in us should change our actions and motivations, giving us the power to live for His glory.

Another way in which we are united to Christ is that He is in us. Only those connected to the true vine are saved. Jesus says that “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit” (John 15:5). The fact that Christ abides in us should have an external affect on our lives, as we will bear good fruit. Paul also testifies that “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). He says that this is a mystery hidden from the people for ages and generations, but it has now been revealed that this mystery is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:26-27). It is this intimate relationship with Christ that causes us to live our lives in a manner worthy of the gospel.

Additionally, we are said to be like Christ. This goes along with the idea of being connected to Him as the vine and braches in order to bear fruit. John writes that “whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (1 John 2:6). Our likeness to Christ stems from the fact that we are in Him, for if we were not one with Him, then there would be no resemblance to Him in our actions. Throughout Scripture we see commands to live as Jesus lived in the way we love one another, in the way we respond to critics, in the way husbands love their wives, and in the way we handle suffering. All these areas of our lives are influenced by the fact that we are united to Him.

The last way that we are united to Christ is the fact what we are with Christ. When Jesus commissioned His disciples to go out to all the nations there must have been a measure of fear in their hearts. Yet Jesus, being the great comforter, promised that he would be with them always, even to the end of the age (Matt 28:20). Although He is not here physically, we do enjoy the fellowship that comes with the very presence of Christ. Working together with him, knowing him, being comforted by him, being taught by him, and living our lives in his presence are all different ways that Grudem places under the banner of being with Christ.

One of the personal application questions that are at the end of each chapter particularly caught my eye in regards to the church body. Grudem writes, “How can the idea of union with Christ increase your love and fellowship for other Christians, both those in your church and those in other churches?” For one, the reality that each believer is united to Christ also means that we are united together in one body. If the church is united to Christ, should we not also be united to one another? But what is our unity centered on? People are easily united by the things of the world, such as sports or politics, but are these things what the church should find its unity in? Personally, it’s easy for me to strike up a random conversation with any person I see on the street wearing a Giants hat. Why’s that? It’s because we are united in a mutual affection for Giants baseball. But I think many of us would be unable to feel similarly if we encounter a stranger who claims to be a Christian. Could I just as easily and just as passionately have a conversation about our Savior? So what is it that makes you feel united at church? Is it that you go to the same school, share the same interests, or are in the same stage of life? If that’s the case, then it’s necessary to shift the way you think about church unity. Start engaging people on a Christian level and not just a worldly one. Talk about distinctly Christian things. Interact with one another knowing that you are united in Christ. This is the way that we show love towards one another, seeking to encourage our brothers and sisters in their walks with Christ, just as they do the same for us. If we do this as a body, then our church will be bonded together by something truly worthwhile.

God’s Word First?

by Elder Mike Chon

All true believers would affirm that the Bible is the Word of God. We may even affirm that the Bible is authoritative and sufficient for all of life…which actually is becoming much more rare in the current evangelical church. But for those that affirm these truths of God’s Word, we sometimes do not live by them. Especially in the many decisions we make in our life such as, where to go to school? Which career to choose? Which person to date and marry? Whether you want to have children or not? How to parent? Even though we affirm the Bible to be authoritative and sufficient, we usually go to every other source and person before looking at what the Word of God has to say about these things. In the following articles to come, we will evaluate how our worldview affects how we life our lives.

A worldview comprises one’s collection of presuppositions, convictions, and values from which a person tries to understand and make sense out of the world and life. A worldview is, first of all, an explanation and interpretation of the world and second, an application of this view to life. Everyone has one and is usually formed by presuppositions. For the believer, they would have two major presuppositions, “the eternal existence of the personal, transcendent, triune, Creator God. Second, the God of Scripture has revealed His character, purposes, and will in the infallible and inerrant pages of His special revelation, the Bible, which is superior to any other source of revelation or human reason alone.” (MacArthur, Think Biblically!) You would think that with these as the believer’s presupposition that all believers would turn to the pages of Scripture for all decisions in their life. But the reality is that for most believers they don’t believe that the Word of God is truly sufficient for the things of every day life. It is good for someone’s salvation, but in terms of addressing other matters of life, it is insufficient. That is why for many believers, they live their life following everything and anyone else other than the Word of God.

Pragmatism has become the new authority for many believers. Even in a church that holds to a high view of God and a high view of His Word, pragmatism has become king in many people’s lives. Pragmatism is the notion that meaning or worth is determined by practical consequences. As long as it works or the outcome is favorable we believe what we are doing is right. The problem is that far too many of us make decisions in our lives to accomplish our goals even though these goals and decisions are not ultimately consistent with Scripture. Our belief is that “if it works it must be of God”, for after all, the outward blessing of God is the criterion by which we often measure the approval of God. Have you ever wondered if your decision was truly God-glorifying? Do you base that decision on the outcome of your decision. For instance, I really want to date this person, even though he or she is a very immature believer, so I will ask them out and if they say “yes” then it must be God giving approval for this decision. Or give excuses such as if God really didn’t want me to do this He wouldn’t of allowed it to work out in this way. Or this worked for me, so you should try it. All of these pragmatic thoughts are based on secular thinking, and which are inherently relativistic, rejecting the notion of absolute right and wrong, of good and evil, and of truth and error. There is a great danger that has infiltrated the church in this culture and that is of pragmatism. I pray that the following articles to come will help you to examine how you live your life in light of the sufficiency of Scripture. It would do well for us to meditate on the warning found in Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”

to be continued…

Baptism in the Ministry of Peter (part 5)

by Richard Shin

Other than his sermon on the Day of Pentecost (which we looked at a couple weeks ago), there’s another passage in which we see Peter emphasizing the importance of baptism. The passage comes from Peter’s first epistle to the believers who were being persecuted throughout the ancient world:

Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.
1 Peter 3:21-22

At first glance, it seems rather odd, or even heretical, that Peter would teach that baptism saves the sinner from God’s wrath. We know today that the doctrine of baptismal regeneration (salvation through baptism) isn’t uncommon. Incidentally, the two verses most often used to support this heresy are from Peter (Acts 2:38 and 1 Peter 3:21). It definitely seems consistent in that Peter would teach the same doctrine in the beginning and towards the end of his ministry.

But is this really what he was teaching? To understand what Peter was instructing in 1 Peter 3:21, we have to first understand that there are a number of ways the Bible uses symbolic language to portray things which are mediated through for salvation. An example of this was looked at in the series of the Lord’s Supper. Specifically, in Matt. 26:27-28, when Jesus commands His disciples to “drink” His blood, he wasn’t literally telling them to drink His blood. Through a metaphor, Jesus called the wine His blood, which needed to be poured out in order for God to forgive us of our sins. When we eat the bread and drink the wine, we call to mind that He alone is the true bread and His blood is the true drink, and it is only by them that we have eternal life. Metaphorically, the cup and the bread procure eternal life. Likewise, Peter’s teaching in 1 Peter 3:21 metaphorically speaks the power of our salvation through the ordinance of baptism.

We also have to understand the context in which Peter wrote this epistle. As mentioned above, Peter was writing to those who were being persecuted for their faith (1 Peter 1:1-2). As such, the epistle is replete with references to suffering (e.g. 1 Peter 2:19-25; 3:14, 17-18; 4:13, 16, 19) and the hope we have in Christ (e.g. 1 Peter 1:3, 13, 21; 3:15). He even exhorts fellow brethren to rejoice in their suffering, that they ought to consider it a privilege to suffer for the sake of the gospel (1 Peter 4:16-19). Given this broader context, we can understand a little better why Peter wrote that baptism “saves.”

We have to first understand that Christ bore all our sins when He hung on that cross. The text in 1 Peter 3:21-22 says that the baptism did not remove “dirt,” or “sin.” Rather, we know that God has dropped His charges of condemnation against us because of Christ. Baptism represents the confident reliance on the judgment that Christ took for us, which judgment becomes our salvation. As a clear symbol of the saving reality, baptism stands as a perpetual witness to the historical substance of salvation and because of that connection is said to save us.

I Have Yet to Speak on God’s Behalf

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

From Job 36:2

We ought not to court publicity for our virtue, or notoriety for our zeal; but, at the same time, it is a sin to be always seeking to hide that which God has bestowed upon us for the good of others. A Christian is not to be a village in a valley, but ‘a city set upon a hill;’ he is not to be a candle under a bushel, but a candle in a candlestick, giving light to all. Retirement may be lovely in its season, and to hide one’s self is doubtless modest, but the hiding of Christ in us can never be justified, and the keeping back of truth which is precious to ourselves is a sin against others and an offence against God.

If you are of a nervous temperament and of retiring disposition, take care that you do not too much indulge this trembling propensity, lest you should be useless to the church. Seek in the name of Him who was not ashamed of you to do some little violence to your feelings, and tell to others what Christ has told to you. If thou canst not speak with trumpet tongue, use the still small voice. If the pulpit must not be thy tribune, if the press may not carry on its wings thy words, yet say with Peter and John, ‘Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee.’ By Sychar’s well talk to the Samaritan woman, if thou canst not on the mountain preach a sermon; utter the praises of Jesus in the house, if not in the temple; in the field, if not upon the exchange; in the midst of thine own household, if thou canst not in the midst of the great family of man. From the hidden springs within let sweetly flowing rivulets of testimony flow forth, giving drink to every passer-by. Hide not thy talent; trade with it; and thou shalt bring in good interest to thy Lord and Master.

To speak for God will be refreshing to ourselves, cheering to saints, useful to sinners, and honouring to the Saviour. Dumb children are an affliction to their parents. Lord, unloose all Thy children’s tongue.

1.12p

Editor’s Note: October 2010

by Stephen Rodgers

Hey everyone,

We’ve mentioned this was coming for a while, but today we are officially launching the LBC Beacon on Facebook. I know some of you found it already because we turned it on yesterday to make sure all the settings were correct. For those of you who didn’t know about it until now, here’s what you need to know:

  1. First of all, there won’t be any “new” or “exclusive” content on Facebook.  If you’re in the habit of visiting us everyday, then nothing will change.  This is just a way for us to alert Facebook users to new content, and possibly introduce some new people to our church.
  2. You may have noticed that there’s no way to leave comments on Facebook.  This is intentional.  There’s also no way to leave comments on the Beacon.  My personal experience with comment sections has been that they tend to produce far more heat than light.  If you want to discuss the articles with the author, then I would encourage you to actually discuss the articles with the author.  As in face to face.  Preferably over food (if I’m the author, I know that’s my preference!)
  3. Also, this will enable us to separate the LBC Beacon from my personal Facebook page.  Since I might not always be the editor, and since I’d like to leave a working system for whoever replaces me someday, this is important.  For the next 10 days (10/01 to 10/10), we will be posting to both my personal page and the official one.  Starting 10/11 however, we will only be using the official Beacon page on Facebook.

So that’s pretty much it!  If you have a Facebook account and you’d like to receive posts when there are new articles here at the Beacon, then please take a second to click the little icon to the right, and then click the “LIKE” button at the top of the page.  And feel free to spread the word to other people who might be interested as well.

Thank you again for all your support.

Pro Rege

Weekly Links (10/1/2010)

by Stephen Rodgers

Well hello again.  We seem to keep running into each other every Friday, have you noticed that?  Me too!  So, since you’ve come to expect it, here’s some interesting links that I thought you might enjoy this week…

VIDEOS

I thought people might enjoy a passel of videos for a change, so here’s some good ones that showed up this week.

APOLOGETICS

If you’re interested in apologetics, then you might like to know that…

  • David B. Hart has a very well-written critique of the New Atheism in which he laments the passing of the “Old Atheism.”
  • Joe Carter restates a classic argument against Naturalism in his article “Should You Trust the Monkey Mind?”
  • And I only recently discovered this, but a website calling itself Last Seminary has quite the collection of articles.  I haven’t read all of them, but I saw a lot of names from scholars I respect, so this could very well be a good resource for research.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

Whew!  That was more than I usually post, but I tried to break them into categories for you.  See you Sunday!

Pro Rege

Affinity Groups Series

by Stephen Rodgers

Hey there friends! I just wanted to give you a brief announcement of what’s going to be happening on Thursdays going forward.

As you know, we’ve been doing a series on the LBC ministries for almost a year now, culminating last week with our final article in that series, which we hope will be a launching pad for involvement in the church.

Starting next week, we’re going to narrow our focus a little bit. It’s great to know about the various groups at the church, but we want to make sure that we don’t lose sight of the people in doing so. And so, we’re going to focus in on the major affinity groups here at LBC: Children’s, Youth, College, Singles, and Marrieds.

Each week you can expect an article that gives you a peek into that ministry, what they’re doing, and especially who they are. It might be a staff member writing about training, or a member of the group recounting a recent event, or even someone just sharing what they’ve been learning lately as they have participated in that fellowship.

We hope that you’ll enjoy it. And we hope that this glimpse into the other groups and stages of life ultimately displays a common theme. No matter how old we are, how educated we are, or how married we are, we are first and foremost a church, bound together by a common love for Jesus Christ, out of which flows a common love for people.

Pro Rege