Getting Out - Tim Keller - TGC 2011 from The Gospel Coalition on Vimeo.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Confession and Petition - Puritan Prayers
Holy Lord, I have sinned times without number, and been guilty of pride and unbelief, of failure to find Thy mind in Thy Word, of neglect to seek Thee in my daily life. My transgressions and short-comings present me with a list of accusations, but I bless Thee that they will not stand against me, for all have been laid on Christ. Go on to subdue my corruptions, and grant me grace to live above them. Let not the passions of the flesh nor lustings of the mind bring my spirit into subjection, but do Thou rule over me in liberty and power.
I thank Thee that many of my prayers have been refused. I have asked amiss and do not have, I have prayed from lusts and been rejected, I have longed for Egypt and been given a wilderness. Go on with Thy patient work, answering 'no' to my wrongful prayers, and fitting me to accept it. Purge me from every false desire, every base aspiration, everything contrary to Thy rule. I thank Thee for Thy wisdom and Thy love, for all the acts of discipline to which I am subject, for sometimes putting me into the furnace to refine my gold and remove my dross.
No trial is so hard to bear as a sense of sin. If Thou shouldst give me choice to live in pleasure and keep my sins, or to have them burnt away with trial, give me sanctified affliction. Deliver me from every evil habit, every accretion of former sins, everything that dims the brightness of Thy grace in me, everything that prevents me taking delight in Thee. Then I shall bless Thee, God of jeshurun, for helping me to be upright.
I thank Thee that many of my prayers have been refused. I have asked amiss and do not have, I have prayed from lusts and been rejected, I have longed for Egypt and been given a wilderness. Go on with Thy patient work, answering 'no' to my wrongful prayers, and fitting me to accept it. Purge me from every false desire, every base aspiration, everything contrary to Thy rule. I thank Thee for Thy wisdom and Thy love, for all the acts of discipline to which I am subject, for sometimes putting me into the furnace to refine my gold and remove my dross.
No trial is so hard to bear as a sense of sin. If Thou shouldst give me choice to live in pleasure and keep my sins, or to have them burnt away with trial, give me sanctified affliction. Deliver me from every evil habit, every accretion of former sins, everything that dims the brightness of Thy grace in me, everything that prevents me taking delight in Thee. Then I shall bless Thee, God of jeshurun, for helping me to be upright.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Sermonette on Rock of Ages
I was recently given an opportunity at the church I attend to give a sermonette on the content of a verse from the song "Rock of Ages". I have also embedded the song 'Rock of Ages' that the Redemption Hill band recently recorded below. The audio for the sermonette can be heard here
Rock of Ages by RedemptionHill
My thoughts are below:
Nothing in my hand I bring
Simply to the cross I cling
Naked, come to Thee for dress
Helpless look to Thee for grace
Foul, I to the fountain fly
Wash me, Savior, or I die
Three words immediately stand out in reading this verse: Naked, Helpless, and Foul. These words describe who we are apart from God’s grace, and they display why our need for grace is so great. While we may look at our own lives and hesitate to identify ourselves by any of these words, the Bible clearly states that because of our sin we have become depraved, willfully and actively plunging ourselves into darkness, away from the presence of a Holy God. We may compare ourselves to others, make a resume’s worth of good deeds that we have done, or we may even sweep our dirt under the rug of our own justification, but all of these actions only serve to confirm the reality that apart from grace we are naked, helpless, foul and destitute.
In our nakedness, we become like our first parents, stricken with guilt because of our sinfulness, ashamed because we fail to meet the required standards of God’s law, and condemned because we feel the weight of the judgment we deserve. In vanity, we attempt to hide from the light, blame others for our transgressions, and we seek to cover ourselves with fig leaves of self-justification and pride. We become Laodiceans, deceiving ourselves by thinking that we are rich, prosperous, and in need of nothing, when the truth is that we are wretched, pitiable, poor blind and naked. We need covering.
In our helplessness, we are weak, enslaved by sin, and steadily stumbling over the sin that so easily besets us. We are powerless, like the invalid man at the pool of Siloam, unable to help ourselves after so many years of inability. No amount of labor, efforts, or emotion can save us. Apart from grace, we are guilty in a courtroom where all the evidence is stacked against us and the victim is the Judge: helpless. We need strength.
In our foulness, we are like Lazarus, dead – in our sins and transgressions, lying in the tomb we have made for ourselves, and everyday without Life is a day that we become more soiled and polluted. Our attempt to wash ourselves with the rags of our own righteousness only ends in failure because our rags are soiled too. We need cleansing.
The sum of the state of our nakedness, helplessness, and foulness equals to nothing, and therefore there is nothing that we can bring to The Most High to atone for our sins. Our hands are as dirty as they are empty and in the realization of this there remains only one thing to say: Wash me Savior or I die! At the cross we find cleansing and fullness.
At the cross we have clothing for our nakedness, garments of skins for our fig leaves, righteousness for our sinfulness. At the cross we have grace for our helplessness, strength in our weakness, and an Advocate for our trial. At the cross we have a fountain of cleansing from our filth, beauty for our ashes, and resurrection at our funerals. Wash me Savior, or I die! Wash me Savior or I die! Wash me Savior or I die!
Rock of Ages by RedemptionHill
My thoughts are below:
Nothing in my hand I bring
Simply to the cross I cling
Naked, come to Thee for dress
Helpless look to Thee for grace
Foul, I to the fountain fly
Wash me, Savior, or I die
Three words immediately stand out in reading this verse: Naked, Helpless, and Foul. These words describe who we are apart from God’s grace, and they display why our need for grace is so great. While we may look at our own lives and hesitate to identify ourselves by any of these words, the Bible clearly states that because of our sin we have become depraved, willfully and actively plunging ourselves into darkness, away from the presence of a Holy God. We may compare ourselves to others, make a resume’s worth of good deeds that we have done, or we may even sweep our dirt under the rug of our own justification, but all of these actions only serve to confirm the reality that apart from grace we are naked, helpless, foul and destitute.
In our nakedness, we become like our first parents, stricken with guilt because of our sinfulness, ashamed because we fail to meet the required standards of God’s law, and condemned because we feel the weight of the judgment we deserve. In vanity, we attempt to hide from the light, blame others for our transgressions, and we seek to cover ourselves with fig leaves of self-justification and pride. We become Laodiceans, deceiving ourselves by thinking that we are rich, prosperous, and in need of nothing, when the truth is that we are wretched, pitiable, poor blind and naked. We need covering.
In our helplessness, we are weak, enslaved by sin, and steadily stumbling over the sin that so easily besets us. We are powerless, like the invalid man at the pool of Siloam, unable to help ourselves after so many years of inability. No amount of labor, efforts, or emotion can save us. Apart from grace, we are guilty in a courtroom where all the evidence is stacked against us and the victim is the Judge: helpless. We need strength.
In our foulness, we are like Lazarus, dead – in our sins and transgressions, lying in the tomb we have made for ourselves, and everyday without Life is a day that we become more soiled and polluted. Our attempt to wash ourselves with the rags of our own righteousness only ends in failure because our rags are soiled too. We need cleansing.
The sum of the state of our nakedness, helplessness, and foulness equals to nothing, and therefore there is nothing that we can bring to The Most High to atone for our sins. Our hands are as dirty as they are empty and in the realization of this there remains only one thing to say: Wash me Savior or I die! At the cross we find cleansing and fullness.
At the cross we have clothing for our nakedness, garments of skins for our fig leaves, righteousness for our sinfulness. At the cross we have grace for our helplessness, strength in our weakness, and an Advocate for our trial. At the cross we have a fountain of cleansing from our filth, beauty for our ashes, and resurrection at our funerals. Wash me Savior, or I die! Wash me Savior or I die! Wash me Savior or I die!
Monday, May 9, 2011
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
How Can I Tell if I Know God?....
Do we worship the one true God in truth? Or are ideas of God such that in reality we do not believe in the Christian God, but in some other, just as the Muslim or Jew or Jehovah's Witness does not believe in the Christian God, but in some other?
You may say, how can I tell? Well, the test is this. The God of the Bible has spoken in his Son. The light of the knowledge of his glory is given to us in the face of Jesus Christ. Do I look habitually to the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ as showing me the final truth about the nature and the grace of God? Do I see all the purposes of God as centering upon him?
If I have been enabled to see this, and in mind and heart to go to Calvary and lay hold of the Calvary solution, then I can know that I truly worship the true God, and that he is my God, and that I am even now enjoying eternal life, according to our Lord's own definition, "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent"(John 17:3)
-J.I. Packer "Knowing God"
You may say, how can I tell? Well, the test is this. The God of the Bible has spoken in his Son. The light of the knowledge of his glory is given to us in the face of Jesus Christ. Do I look habitually to the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ as showing me the final truth about the nature and the grace of God? Do I see all the purposes of God as centering upon him?
If I have been enabled to see this, and in mind and heart to go to Calvary and lay hold of the Calvary solution, then I can know that I truly worship the true God, and that he is my God, and that I am even now enjoying eternal life, according to our Lord's own definition, "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent"(John 17:3)
-J.I. Packer "Knowing God"
Saturday, April 16, 2011
What is the stigmatic animosity toward the term "religion"? Is it a wrong to say that Christianity is a religion. The book of James uses it. Do you think it's fair to start making a distinction TRUE religion and FALSE religion?
I’ll start from the scripture in James. James 1:26-27 says “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” The word for religious/religion in verses 26 and 27 is the greek word θρησκεια (* yes, I copied and pasted…I do not know Greek) which can be used interchangeably with worhip/worshipping. Colossians 2:18 uses the same word when it says “Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels…” So, if we were to use the word worship in James 1:26-27 rather than religion, it seems to clarify what James really thinks about religion or worship. “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this person’s (worship) is worthless. (Worship) that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this….” With this understanding, I don’t think it’s wrong to say that Christianity is a religion, and I do. Saying Christianity is a religion is no different than saying basketball is a religion, or shopping is a religion, or stockbroking. Sinful humans religion (used as a verb) anything and everything. We worship things and people. We talk about them with the utmost delight, we spend serious amounts of time with them, and we devote and sacrifice for the things we worship – thereby making the objects of our affections our religion. I’m guilty of making basketball a religion; Lust a religion; People’s opinions of me a religion. I really did nothing different than a Bhuddist or a Muslim. I sought to please a god, namely, myself and I was doing everything I could to appease that god. I think religion is worship and true religion is true worship of God: Father, Son and Spirit. Jesus says that true worshippers worship God in Spirit and in truth (John 4:23). The only TRUE religion and TRUE worship is centered on God: Father, Son and Spirit. Any other religion is false in the sense that its worship is centered on something or someone other than God. It’s really worship, it’s just really false. It is possible for people to even worship Christianity and not worship God. Worship of going to church, getting into community, and worship of doing what Christians do is all worship of Christianity, and a person may do these things and not be worshipping God at all. This is why I think it is wrong in a sense to say Christianity is a religion. If people do "Christianity" on the grounds of trying to appease a deity, either themselves or God, then “Christianity” becomes like every other system – a false “religion” or worship. Also, when I hear people say “It’s not religion, its relationship.”, I sort of scratch my head. True, Christianity is firstly and foremost a relationship with God, but if we leave it here, then it is left where any other relationship is, just a correlation between friends. But Christianity is a religion because it involves worship. It involves devotion and submission and obedience (although not dead ritualistic practices), and these things are all grounded on a relational factor: love and grace. So my answer to the question “Is Christianity a religion or a relationship?” is …Its both.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
"But the one who endures to the end will be saved." Matthew 24:13 "By your endurance you will gain your lives." Luke 21:19 -- Although objectively justified, are an individual's efforts the source of his/her endurance to the end?
Great question! Through scripture, I’m convinced that the answer is yes. Yes, our individual efforts are the source of our endurance to the end. It’s what’s behind our individual effort that really matters. The Christian will be saved and will be brought to final salvation in the end only because of the merit of Jesus Christ. Because of His life, death, and resurrection, all who believe and trust in Jesus and His work on the cross will be saved and kept by His power. John 10:27-29 states “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” Jesus saves His sheep. Jesus gives His sheep eternal life. Jesus keeps His sheep to the end. The Father gives these sheep to Jesus. The Father makes sure that His sheep are kept unto the end. Therefore, the credit for our arriving justified on the last day goes only to God and His Christ. There is a human part to endurance though. Although our efforts are not the grounds on which we are saved, they do matter and what Matthew says is true “the one who endures to the end will be saved.” Every day the Christian must fight, he must war with sin, temptation and the flesh. Here is the connection between God’s part in keeping His sheep and our part in fighting as sheep; the only reason that the Christian can fight is because God is keeping Him and enabling him to fight. The only reason the Christian has the strength to endure is because God is keeping him and giving him strength to endure. I think Paul deals very well with this topic of endurance in Philippians. Philippians 1:6 states “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Paul is basically saying God began the initial work of salvation. God will finish the work of salvation. Hebrews 12:1-2 states that Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith. What God begins He finishes. Salvation and the keeping of it belongs to God and there is rest for the Christian when he realizes that God is the Savior and Protector of his soul. Based on this knowledge of God as Savior and Protector, Author and Finisher, the believer has all the provisions and strength to fight and endure in the Christian life because he already knows God is protecting him and keeping him. In Philippians 2:12, Paul encourages the Philippian believers to “work out” their salvation with fear and trembling. “Work out” means to literally “get it done” concerning their salvation. Now, to the person who reads this and discards the fact that God keeps His sheep primarily, it would sound like “I keep my salvation” and “My working out is the reason I am saved”. But one does not need to go too much further in Paul’s writing to see that much more is going on in this “working out” than merely our human efforts. Paul says in the next verse that the ground for our working is “for (because) it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” God is responsible for our working. We run the race of endurance because God is moving our muscles in the stride. We fight the good fight of faith because God is working AND willing in us to fight. To use the illustration of sports, it is God who works in the team to play the game, its God who causes the team to win the game and it is God who is the arena for the team to play in. We are called to suit up and play – and play hard. We are called to go teach, make disciples, war with sin, examine ourselves, kill the flesh, and resist the devil but God is at work both in keeping us so that we can do all these things and in working through us, willing and working for His glory. Endure to the end means just that: endure to the end.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
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