That Henceforth We Should Not Serve Sin

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Romans 6:6

Christian, what hast thou to do with sin? Hath it not cost thee enough already? Burnt child, wilt thou play with the fire? What! when thou hast already been between the jaws of the lion, wilt thou step a second time into his den? Hast thou not had enough of the old serpent? Did he not poison all thy veins once, and wilt thou play upon the hole of the asp, and put thy hand upon the cockatrice’s den a second time? Oh, be not so mad! so foolish! Did sin ever yield thee real pleasure? Didst thou find solid satisfaction in it? If so, go back to thine old drudgery, and wear the chain again, if it delight thee. But inasmuch as sin did never give thee what it promised to bestow, but deluded thee with lies, be not a second time snared by the old fowler-be free, and let the remembrance of thy ancient bondage forbid thee to enter the net again!

  • It is contrary to the designs of eternal love, which all have an eye to thy purity and holiness; therefore run not counter to the purposes of thy Lord. Another thought should restrain thee from sin.
  • Christians can never sin cheaply; they pay a heavy price for iniquity. Transgression destroys peace of mind, obscures fellowship with Jesus, hinders prayer, brings darkness over the soul; therefore be not the serf and bondman of sin.
  • There is yet a higher argument: each time you ‘serve sin’ you have ‘Crucified the Lord afresh, and put Him to an open shame.’ Can you bear that thought?

Oh! if you have fallen into any special sin during this day, it may be my Master has sent this admonition this evening, to bring you back before you have backslidden very far. Turn thee to Jesus anew; He has not forgotten His love to thee; His grace is still the same. With weeping and repentance, come thou to His footstool, and thou shalt be once more received into His heart; thou shalt be set upon a rock again, and thy goings shall be established.

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Weekly Links (10/14/2016)

“No suffering, affliction, or evil is inflicted on us by God as punishment. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ (Rom. 8:31–39). God’s children may experience pain and suffering because we still live in a fallen world that God controls, but he redeems our pain and suffering for his glory and our good. Sometimes he takes our pain away, and at other times he asks us to endure it. But he never brings it upon us capriciously or for some ill purpose.” (Scott Christensen, What about Free Will?: Reconciling Our Choices with God’s Sovereignty)

by Cesar Vigil-Ruiz

Feliz Friday! Praise God for another week of sustaining us! Amongst many other things to be thankful for, let’s thank Him for this week’s links!

  • Over the years, Jay Adams, pioneer of the biblical counseling movement, has been asked multiple times how to counsel an unbeliever. Hopefully, this video will be a great resource in your witness to those who are in need of Christ as Lord and Savior.
  • In case you may have missed some of the links from the summer, there was a discussion amongst theologians about how to understand the eternal relationship between the Father and the Son. Over at the Alliance of Comfessing Evangelicals blog is a “best-of” post that links to the relevant articles on the subject. Hopefully, this discussion will be of service to the church.
  • Kevin DeYoung has some clear thoughts concerning the upcoming election, and we would do well to listen to wisdom from this pastor.
  • What is the future of Christian hedonism, as articulated in the writings of John Piper? Well, Piper himself, along with others, held a conference recently that focused on this issue. If you wonder what the term means, and what Piper hopes this will lead the church toward, check out what they have to say.
  • Sadly, Planned Parenthood is celebrating their 100th anniversary this Sunday. Genevieve Wood nails it on the head with this sentence: “It’s and odd, and frankly grotesque, commemoration for an organization that is responsible itself for ensuring over 7 million babies will never have the opportunity to celebrate even one birthday.”
  • How do we evaluate claims of supernatural events in other religions? Dominic Tennant gives a quick but very informative response.
  • Have you ever wanted to take a short course on the New Testament? Well, Dr. Keith Essex, from The Master’s Seminary, taught a ten-part series surveying the New Testament that would be of great benefit to the believer. Check it out!
  • How do we make sense of the media narrative that there are no differences between same-sex households and opposite-sex households? Sociologist Mark Regnerus provides a brief, but helpful, analysis that provides clarity on the issue.
  • What would be some danger signs of an unhealthy dating relationship? Tim Challies gives some much-needed wisdom in this area.

That’s all for this week! Please be in prayer for Lumos and College Life, who meet tonight at church. See you all on Sunday!

Soli Deo Gloria

The Rules of Sparklers

by Paul Chen

  1. Obey the first time
  2. Be kind to everyone
  3. Do your best work
  4. HAVE FUN!

Throughout my five years as part of Sparklers staff, these four rules have been the backbone of how we structure the classroom and instruct the children. Before joining Sparklers, I did not have any experience interacting with kids, let alone leading a classroom full of 3-4 year-olds. When I started, the class was quite smaller than it is these Sundays. We used to meet in what is now the 2nd nursery room and typically had less than 10 kids. Our staff size was smaller with only 2-3 teachers per class. Today, we’re now in a new room and an “easy” Sunday consists of anything less than 20 children and five teachers. While the size of the room, children and staff have greatly increased, one thing that has always been consistent for as long as I have been in Sparklers is the importance of accurately handling and teaching God’s word.

Obey the first time

When you have a room full of 3-4 year-olds, chances are there will be a select few who are misbehaving. Whether it is asking a child to sit still and pay attention to the lesson or trying to encourage a child to participate in the activities, the instruction is not always followed. We try and reinforce that since their parents are listening to the adult lesson, they need to stay in here. We communicate to the kids that sometimes it is hard to obey because we want to do what we want, and we call that a “my way” heart. With a “my way” heart, God is not pleased and instead wants us to trust Him. God promises that for those who trust in Him, He will always help us when it is hard to obey.

Be kind to everyone

For the most part, the kids are pretty well behaved. There are however instances when the children do not get along. This usually happens during free time when we allow the children to play at different stations we have set up in the room. Inevitably, the boys will usually rush towards the wooden trains and gather as many as they can. Due to the limited number of trains and the desire to amass as many as each can, there will be crying and tattletaling about how so and so has more trains. We would try and get the two boys to talk it out with one asking if he can play with the trains and the other being kind enough to share. We remind the kids about the Passion Statement of our church, “to love God and people,” and sharing is an example of how we can love one another.

Do your best work

After the lesson, we usually get into small groups to go over the lesson and answer some follow-up discussion questions. During small group time we will have coloring sheets, memory verse tracing, or crafts. Some of the younger kids will usually take one crayon and color the entire page scribbling everywhere and say, “I’m done!” We go over with the kids that when we’re coloring or tracing, we want to do our best and stay inside the lines and not just “scribble scrabble.” We explain that God wants us to do our best in everything that we do because He is a perfect God. We may not be able to do everything perfectly, but we have to try to do our best.

HAVE FUN!

We try and make the environment as exciting and engaging as possible through the use of props, skits, crafts and games. The biggest challenge when preparing for a lesson is how do I make the presentation interactive that will hold their attention and at the same time simple enough that 3-4 year-olds will understand? One great example is from the flocks worksheet: “If a child were to ask you what you learned from this Sunday’s sermon, how would you explain it to them?” Even through these challenges, the times I have spent in Sparklers have been rewarding. The staff has been able to come alongside the parents and be able to invest in the younger generation.

Men Hold Opinions, But Convictions Hold the Man

by Pastor James Lee

As a junior at UCLA, I read Roland Bainton’s classic biography on the life of Martin Luther. It affected me deeply, and it still does. My favorite entry describes April 1521 when a humble, yet fearful monk named Martin Luther when ordered to recant replied, “This touches God and His Word. This affects the salvation of souls. Of this Christ said, ‘He who denies me before men, him will I deny before my Father.’ To say too little or too much would be dangerous. I beg you, give me time to think it over.” Granted a clemency by the emperor, he was given one more day to think it over. With the anguish that only true integrity can bring, Luther famously responded the next day, as it has been passed down to us, to the command to recant by replying, “Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason – I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other – my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against my conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen.” What about us? Are our minds captive to the Word of God today? Is our response to our Lord’s will, promises, and commands, “Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise?”

Luther was a man of conviction! And because he was a man of conviction, he was also a man of great humility, passion, zeal, energy, and impact. Eric Liddell, whose story was told in the movie Chariots of Fire, was the real-life Scottish runner who distinguished himself by refusing to race on the Lord’s Day during the Olympics. He was a man of conviction. When the martyr Chrystodom was brought before the Roman emperor, the pontiff threatened him with banishment if he remained a Christian. Chrystodom replied, “Thou canst not banish me, for this world is my Father’s house.”“But I will slay thee,” said the emperor. “Nay, thou canst not,” said the noble champion of the faith, “for my life is hid with Christ in God.” “I will take thy treasures.” “Nay, but thou canst not, for my treasure is in heaven and my heart is there.” “But I will drive thee away from man, and thou shalt have no friend left.” “Nay, thou canst not, for I have a friend in heaven from whom thou canst not separate me. I defy thee, for there is nothing that thou canst do to hurt me.” These men held and lived the truths they proclaimed with deep personal conviction. They are the truths for which Christians would die. Conviction is what they had. Conviction was the difference.

Webster’s dictionary defines “conviction” as, “the state of being convinced; firm belief; convincing, as of a truth.” It’s been accurately said, “Men hold opinions, but convictions hold the man.” Dr. Alex Montoya said, “Convictions are spiritual instincts that drive us to action regardless of the circumstances.”

Are you and I, men or women, of conviction? Do we really believe, own, and obey what God’s Word says? How does the imminent return of Christ positively affect us? Is our identity joyfully grounded in Christ? Do we embrace our spiritual responsibility to disciple our children and remember His grace in that very role? Is the grid and lens in which we view our studies, our problems, our workplace, our weaknesses, and our churches in line with what we claim to hope for and who we profess to worship? What real convictions are functionally displayed by our testimonies as husbands, wives, in-laws, etc? How does our “wisdom” reflect the Lord’s revelation? Do we believe every false word, careless word, hurtful word is dangerous to the soul, and that every encouragement, kindness, and correction are wonderful opportunities to build up?

History is replete with examples of men and women, ordinary, weak, and sinful like you and me, who stood for what they believed, who were willing when called upon, to suffer unspeakable harm for their convictions, even to die for what they believed was pleasing to the Lord. God powerfully used them:

  • The conviction of Joshua – “Choose for yourselves today whom you will serve… but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)
  • The conviction of restored Samson – “Let me die with the Philistines!” (Judges 16:30)
  • The conviction of Ruth in relation to Naomi – “Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.” (Ruth 1:17)
  • The conviction of Samuel – “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord?… Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king.” (1 Samuel 15:22-23)
  • The conviction of Nathan the prophet – who had to rebuke David even at the risk of execution, proclaiming, “You are the man!” (2 Sam 12:7)
  • The conviction of Elijah, battling the prophets of Baal – “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” (1 Kings 18:21)
  • The conviction of Esther – “… and if I perish, I perish.” (Esther 4:16)
  • The conviction of Job even after great loss and Satan’s attacks – “Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” (Job 2:10)
  • The conviction of Daniel – “Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself” (Daniel 1:8)
  • The conviction of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (or Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah) in being thrown into the fiery furnace rather than bow down to an idol – “But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” (Daniel 3:18)
  • The conviction of John the Baptist – “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matthew 3:7) and “It is not lawful for you to have her” (speaking to Herod about his incestuous marriage; Matthew 14:4)
  • The conviction of the apostles – “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19-20) and later in Acts 5:29, “We must obey God rather than men.”
  • The conviction of Stephen – “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just what your fathers did.” (Acts 7:51) and later as he was being stoned by those he confronted, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” (Acts 7:60)
  • The conviction of Paul – “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21)
  • The conviction of John – “I… was on the island called Patmos, because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.” (Rev 1:9)
  • The conviction of Jesus – “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.” (Luke 9:22)

These are godly examples for us, not just to admire from a distance, but for us to be encouraged by and live out in the allotment that God has assigned each of us. Conviction involves far more than the content of our belief, it involves the crucial question if we really believe what we claim to believe and if we really trust Him who is Faithful. Hebrews 12:1-3 exhorts us, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.” Let us hear our Lord’s oft repeated and loving call, “Be strong and courageous!”

The Little Foxes That Spoil The Vines

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Song of Solomon 2:15

A little thorn may cause much suffering. A little cloud may hide the sun. Little foxes spoil the vines; and little sins do mischief to the tender heart. These little sins burrow in the soul, and make it so full of that which is hateful to Christ, that He will hold no comfortable fellowship and communion with us. A great sin cannot destroy a Christian, but a little sin can make him miserable. Jesus will not walk with His people unless they drive out every known sin. He says, ‘If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love, even as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.’

Some Christians very seldom enjoy their Saviour’s presence. How is this? Surely it must be an affliction for a tender child to be separated from his father. Art thou a child of God, and yet satisfied to go on without seeing thy Father’s face? What! thou the spouse of Christ, and yet content without His company! Surely, thou hast fallen into a sad state, for the chaste spouse of Christ mourns like a dove without her mate, when he has left her. Ask, then, the question, what has driven Christ from thee? He hides His face behind the wall of thy sins. That wall may be built up of little pebbles, as easily as of great stones. The sea is made of drops; the rocks are made of grains: and the sea which divides thee from Christ may be filled with the drops of thy little sins; and the rock which has well nigh wrecked thy barque, may have been made by the daily working of the coral insects of thy little sins. If thou wouldst live with Christ, and walk with Christ, and see Christ, and have fellowship with Christ, take heed of ‘the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes.’ Jesus invites you to go with Him and take them. He will surely, like Samson, take the foxes at once and easily. Go with Him to the hunting.

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Weekly Links (10/7/2016)

by Stephen Rodgers

Hey everyone! As per our custom, the first Friday of the month is dedicated to free resources, and we’ve got some great ones today. Italicized text is the marketing blurbs for these items, not my writing.

So let’s get to it…

The Poverty of Nations (audio book)

The whole world has a stake in the war against poverty and leaders across the globe are looking for a permanent solution. That’s why economist Barry Asmus and theologian Wayne Grudem have teamed up to outline a robust proposal for fighting poverty on a national level. Speaking to the importance of personal freedom, the rule of law, private property, moral virtue, and education, this book offers a clear path for promoting economic prosperity and safeguarding a country’s long-term stability—a sustainable solution for a world looking for the way forward.

New Covenant Commentary: Romans (Logos book)

Craig S. Keener’s Romans is a helpfully concise commentary on Paul’s letter to the early Christians in Rome, which the Apostle wrote just a few years before the outbreak of Nero’s persecution. Keener examines each paragraph for its function in the letter as a whole, helping the reader follow Paul’s argument.

The 16th Century (October Tabletalk)

The October issue of Tabletalk looks at the sixteenth century. In particular, the goal of this issue is to introduce readers to the key events, people, publications, and ideas that shaped the Protestant Reformation. After explaining the necessity of the Reformation and the history of the sixteenth century, it will consider how the Reformation addressed a variety of topics such as theology (Scripture and justification), the church (worship and sacraments), the home (family and piety), and society (vocation and education). The issue will consider the vast scope of the Reformation in order to give a greater appreciation not only of its history but also of the need to continue the work of the Reformation today.

Doctrine Matters (Credo Magazine)

In this issue of Credo Magazine, several pastors and theologians help us understand just how much doctrine matters for the Christian life and for the church. We will discover that doctrine infiltrates the songs we sing, the sermons we preach, and the way we counsel each other as disciples of Christ. We will learn that nothing could be more critical to a right relationship with God and others than sound doctrine. Whether we realize it or not, doctrine is a way of life. The Christian life depends entirely upon sound doctrine. In short, doctrine matters.

Cursed Be The Man Before The Lord, That Riseth Up And Buildeth This City Jericho

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Joshua 6:26

Since he was cursed who rebuilt Jericho, I much more the man who labours to restore Popery among us. In our fathers’ days the gigantic walls of Popery fell by the power of their faith, the perseverance of their efforts, and the blast of their gospel trumpets; and now there are some who would rebuild that accursed system upon its old foundation. O Lord, be pleased to thwart their unrighteous endeavours, and pull down every stone which they build. It should be a serious business with us to be thoroughly purged of every error which may have a tendency to foster the spirit of Popery, and when we have made a clean sweep at home we should seek in every way to oppose its all too rapid spread abroad in the church and in the world. This last can be done in secret by fervent prayer, and in public by decided testimony. We must warn with judicious boldness those who are inclined towards the errors of Rome; we must instruct the young in gospel truth, and tell them of the black doings of Popery in the olden times. We must aid in spreading the light more thoroughly through the land, for priests, like owls, hate daylight.

Are we doing all we can for Jesus and the gospel? If not, our negligence plays into the hands of the priestcraft. What are we doing to spread the Bible, which is the Pope’s bane and poison? Are we casting abroad good, sound gospel writings? Luther once said, ‘The devil hates goose quills’ and, doubtless, he has good reason, for ready writers, by the Holy Spirit’s blessing, have done his kingdom much damage. If the thousands who will read this short word this night will do all they can to hinder the rebuilding of this accursed Jericho, the Lord’s glory shall speed among the sons of men. Reader, what can you do? What will you do?

5.29p

Weekly Links (9/30/2016)

“The upshot is that Christianity is founded on the Bible, and so the Christian worldview is none other than the worldview of the Bible, which is a worldview centered on Jesus Christ.” (James Anderson, Why Should I Believe Christianity?)

by Cesar Vigil-Ruiz

Feliz Friday! Another week comes and goes, but the links (tentatively) stay! Here are some of this week’s links!

That’s all for this week! Tonight Lumos and College Life will be meeting, so make it out if you can, but always keep them in prayer. See you next time!

Soli Deo Gloria