Tidbits Tuesday (24 April 2012)

I try to take stock of my own ministry in this way. Every year at our church we have a “Missions Week.” I preach on missions; we have guest speakers. The challenge is given. People move toward missions, make commitments, and join the pre-missions nurture program. And every year I reexamine my life as a pastor at this church. I look at what I am doing in the light of God’s global purpose, and in view of the incredible spiritual darkness and misery of the unreached peoples of this earth. I ask myself, Is this the most strategic investment of my life for the sake of God’s purpose to make the nations glad in him? I ask my wife, “Noël, are you sensing any tugs to move closer to the front lines of the unreached peoples?”

Our church mission statement puts the world “spread” in the dominant position: “We exist to spread a passion for God’s supremacy in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ.” So I ask, Am I fulfilling this mission best in the role I now have? When the Lord calls me to give an account of my ministry in the last day, will I be able to say, “Lord, I stayed at Bethlehem because I believed I could be most instrumental there in accomplishing your purpose to make a name for yourself among the nations, and to gather your sheep from all the peoples of the earth”? When I can no longer say yes to that question, then my leadership here will be finished.

- John Piper (Don’t Waste Your Life)

 

Theology Thursday- Soli Deo Gloria

Soli Deo Gloria

            Soli Deo Gloria! To God alone be the glory! This was the cry of the reformation, may it be our cry today. This cry is a declaration that God’s glory is the chief end of everything in the universe. To believe and affirm Soli Deo Gloria is to admit and delight in the fact that the universe is not centered around man. Contrary to popular Evangelical belief, God did not create humans so that he could have fellowship with them. The Scriptures are replete with texts that teach us the doctrine of the all-sufficiency of God. God enjoys perfect harmony within the trinity. He did not need us to fill a void in His being; He did not make man because he was lonely. To think otherwise is blasphemous.

God will not be served by human hands. God will not be counseled. God will not be patronized. God will not be mocked. God is completely and utterly sovereign over the affairs of man. God is sovereign over weather. God is sovereign over diseases. God is sovereign over religious authority. God is sovereign over governments. God is sovereign over demonic powers. God is sovereign over natural disasters. God is sovereign over wars. God is sovereign over science. God is sovereign over planets. God is sovereign over every plant and animal. God is sovereign over every man, woman, and child who ever lived, is living, or will live. God is sovereign over Satan. God is sovereign over death itself, even the death of his Son, Jesus. The death of Jesus did not take God by surprise because He planned it. (Acts 2:23) In short, the universe exists by the good pleasure of God. It is upheld by God’s sheer desire that it be so. (Job 34:14-15)

The Scriptures are clear that God is the center of all things. God acts for one reason: namely, the glory of His name. This shocks the heart of American Christianity because we are used to being the center of our universe. We are used to democracy. Let it be understood clearly, we have no rights! God has rights! (see David Platt’s message on the Sovereignty of God and global mission) The Bible is not our “roadmap to life.” It is not a trite book of sayings to turn to when we need wisdom. It does give wisdom, but it is so much more. It is first and foremost a book about God. When we open its pages we ought to tremble before the self-revelation of God. When we read its words we should be asking the Spirit to guide us into a right knowledge of God in Christ. Then, in accord with what we are shown about God we ought to respond humbly and obediently. When the truth of the supremacy of Christ and the God-centeredness of God take root in our hearts so that we begin to glory in them we will find the pleasures of sin growing ever dim. Let us find rest here. Let us glory in the beauty, majesty, and supremacy of God. Then our hearts will cry, “Soli Deo Gloria”

In order to help us see the God-centeredness of God I have compiled just a handful of the most explicit texts that put God’s glory on display as both root and result of all that God does.

God’s plan is to fill the earth with the knowledge of His glory:

For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the

sea. Habakkuk 2:14

God is passionate about His own glory.

For my names sakes I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I praise it for you, that I may not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not like silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another. Isaiah 48:9-11

God created us for His own glory:

Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory. Isaiah 43:6-7

God called Israel for His glory:

You are my servant Israel in whom I will be glorified. Isaiah 49:3

I made the whole house of Israel and whole house of Judah cling to me, says the Lord, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory. Jeremiah 13:11

God defeated Pharaoh at the Red Sea to show his glory:

And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host; and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord…And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen. Exodus 14:4; 17,18

God raised Pharaoh up to show His own power and glorify His own name:

For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. Romans 9:17

God spared Israel in the wilderness for the glory of his name:

But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. Ezekiel 20:14

God restored Israel from exile for the glory of His name:

Thus says the Lord God, It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for

the sake of my holy name….And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name…and the nations

will know that I am the Lord. Ezekiel 36:22-23, 32

Jesus said that he answers prayer so that God would be glorified:

Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it that the Father may be glorified in the Son. John 14:13

Jesus endured his final hours of suffering for God’s glory:

 Now is my soul troubled, And what shall I say? Father save me from this hour? No for this purpose I have

come to this hour. Father glorify Thy name. The a voice came from heaven, I have glorified it, and I will

glorify it again. John 12:27,28

God forgives our sins for His sake:

“I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your

sins. Isaiah 43:25

For thy name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great. Psalm 25:11

God instructs us to do everything for his glory:

So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. I Cor 10:31

All are under judgment for dishonoring God’s glory:

They became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images. Romans 1:23

For all have fallen short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23

Herod is struck dead because he did not give glory to God:

Immediately an angel of the Lord smote him because he did not give glory to God. Acts 12:23

Even in wrath God’s aim is to make known the wealth of his glory:

 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much

patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his

glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—Romans 9:22-23

Jesus’ ultimate aim for us is that we see and enjoy His glory:

Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my

glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. John

17:24

Everything that happens will redound to God’s glory:

From him, to him and through him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen

Romans 11:36

 

Tidbits Tuesday (17 April 2012)

By faith our fathers roamed the earth
With the power of His promise in their hearts
Of a holy city built by God’s own hand
A place where peace and justice reign

We will stand as children of the promise
We will fix our eyes on Him our soul’s reward
Till the race is finished and the work is done
We’ll walk by faith and not by sight

- By Faith, by Keith and Kristyn Getty

 

Tidbits Tuesday (10 April)

Trinity and Incarnation belong together. The doctrine of the Trinity declares that the man Jesus is truly divine; that of the Incarnation declares that the divine Jesus is truly human. Together they proclaim the full reality of the Savior whom the New Testament sets forth, the Son who came from the Father’s side at the Father’s will to become the sinner’s substitute on the cross (Matt. 20:28; 26:36–46; John 1:29; 3:13–17; Rom. 5:8; 8:32; 2 Cor. 5:19–21; 8:9; Phil. 2:5–8).

- J. I. Packer

 

Tidbits Tuesday (3 April 2012)

Christ came chiefly for this reason: that we might learn how much God loves us, and might learn this to the end that we begin to glow with love of him by whom we were first loved, and so might love our neighbor at the bidding and after the example of him who made himself our neighbor by loving us.

- Augustine

 

Tidbits Tuesday (27 March 2011)

The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not the X-rated video but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night.

For all the ill that Satan can do, when God describes what keeps us from the banquet table of His love, it is a piece of land, a yoke of oxen, and a wife (Luke 14:18-20). The greatest adversaries of love to God are not His enemies but His gifts. And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil but for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replace an appetite for God Himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable and almost incurable.

Jesus said some people hear the Word of God, and a desire for God is awakened in their hearts. But then, ‘as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of life’ (Luke 8:14). In another place He said, ‘The desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful” (Mark 4:19).

‘The pleasures of life’ and ‘the desires for other things’ are not evil in themselves. They are not vices. They are gifts of God. They are your basic meat and potatoes, coffee and gardening, reading and decorating, traveling and investing, TV watching and Internet surfing, shopping and exercising, collecting and talking. Any of these can become deadly substitutes for God.”

- John Piper (‘Awakening Your Appetite for God’, ‘Revive’, Winter 2012, Vol. 43, Issue 1)

 

Galatians Hitting Home

Sometimes the eye-opening truths of Scripture come to us in strange and unexpected ways. The false teaching at Galatia was coupled with a fear of man that caused the church to be in danger of turning away from the gospel. In my own preaching yesterday I found that my own fear of man, pride, and selfishness were hindrances to the message. Let me explain.

Sometimes sermons don’t go as expected, and yesterday was one of those days for me. I came away feeling that my communication had been 45 minutes of rambling that made little sense. Even in the middle of preaching, I had the gut-wrenching realization that it just wasn’t working the way I had envisioned. My best option might have been to duck behind the curtain behind me and escape out the back door.

While there are any number of reasons for the flaws in my own communication yesterday, I was convicted later in the day about my attitude as I finished reading a book I had been working through. When People Are Big and God Is Small presents a challenging look at how we often fear man more than we fear God and the problems that result. At the heart of my own frustration with my sermon on Galatians 4 was a prideful desire to be appreciated and to impress others. In the words of Ed Welch, the author of When People Are Big, I was seeking my own glory, at least enough glory to make me feel good about myself. Respect from others had overtaken the purity of serving God for God’s glory.

In the church life of Galatia the fear of man must have played a significant role in the challenges the believers faced as they dealt with whether to listen to those who advocated keeping certain parts of the law as a way of being right with God. To say otherwise may have excluded them from the acceptance by others they desired. To fear God and hold to the truth of the gospel was likely not a popular stance to take.

As believers, we can convince ourselves that we do not care what others think about us, but the real test of whether we fear God more than we fear man often comes unexpectedly in situations we had not planned for or thought through. In the face of the unexpected, the true attitude of the heart comes out in real time before we can collect our thoughts and correct our perspective. Thus, we must be prepared by knowing God well; we have to be convinced to fear only God as a matter of the heart that is prepared to weather whatever comes our way.

 

Jesus as the True Israel

In lieu of our studies in Galatians and Romans 8 I thought it fitting to link this blog post by Justin Taylor. Let us know what you think. I hope this generates some thoughtful discussion. More than that; I hope these ideas bring us to our knees in humble adoration of our all wise God. Grace and peace.

 

Tidbits Tuesday (20 March 2012)

Since taking this job things have happened. I’ve been spending my free time studying the Word. Each night the Lord seemed to get hold of me a little more. Night before last I was reading in Nehemiah. I finished the book, and read it through again. Here was a man who left everything as far as position was concerned to go do a job nobody else could handle. And because he went the whole remnant back in Jerusalem got right with the Lord. Obstacles and hindrances fell away and a great work was done. Jim, I couldn’t get away from it. The Lord was dealing with me. On the way home yesterday morning I took a long walk and came to a decision which I know is of the Lord. In all honesty before the Lord I say that no one or nothing beyond Himself and the Word has any bearing upon what I’ve decided to do. I have one desire now–to live a life of reckless abandon for the Lord, putting all my energy into it.

- Ed McCulley in a letter to Jim Elliot, roughly five years before their death in Ecuador

 

Tidbits Tuesday (13 March 2012)

What was shameful, even odious, to the critics of Christ, was in the eyes of his followers most glorious.… There is no greater cleavage between faith and unbelief than in their respective attitudes to the cross. Where faith sees glory, unbelief sees only disgrace. What was foolishness to Greeks, and continues to be to modern intellectuals who trust in their own wisdom, is nevertheless the wisdom of God. And what remains a stumbling-block to those who trust in their own righteousness, like the Jews of the first century, proves to be the saving power of God (1 Cor. 1:18–25).

- John Stott