Monthly Archives: July 2009

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you will appear with him in glory.

Near the end of Colossians 2 (specifically verse 20), Paul poses a question to the believers in the church at Colosse. He asks,

‘ If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world do you submit to regulations”

The believers in the Colossian Church were being confronted by false teachers who were out to impose on them standards and means of spiritual growth and fullness that were not centered on Jesus Christ. Part of Paul’s appeal to them to not buy into this sort of stuff was this reminder of their identity and part of it’s implications (v. 20) Paul reminds us that believers, by virtue of being united to Christ, have died to things like legalistic rituals and rules, and asceticism as a means of spiritual growth. These things, Paul says, “…are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.” (verse 23)

The question then lingers….”How DO we stop the indulgence of the flesh”. And undoubtedly, even many believers when asking this question, will expect an answer that begins with a list of things to “do“, but in answering this question, Paul directs us to first engage our minds, wills, and affections. He says, “If then you’ve been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is…” (3:1).

The implication is that a huge part of successfully stopping the indulgence of the flesh is having a mind that lingers on and is captivated by the glory and majesty of the risen Christ. Paul says, “…seek the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God”. Believers are exhorted to begin the battle against the flesh by having minds and hearts that are captivated by an Exalted Savior.

This perhaps seems a bit escapist to many people (even some Christians), but the reality is THIS IS THE ULTIMATE REALITY. When we set our minds on Jesus, our glorious, exalted savior and remember that we have been united to Him by faith, we are aligning ourselves with what is ultimately true. Not only that, if we heed the exhortation that Paul gives here, I’m convinced (as is Paul I believe) that the pleasures offered by sin will lose much of their appeal. As the hymn writer Helen H. Lemmel wrote in the hymn “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”,

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.

Grace and Peace,

Psalm 119:130- The unfolding of your words give light; it imparts understanding to the simple.

Psalm 119 is full of reasons why the word’s of God are precious and valuable beyond comparison. The word of God stored in a person’s heart is a powerful preventive against sin (v. 11). The word of God is a comfort in the midst of intense affliction (v.50,52). The precepts of the LORD revive weary souls (v.93).

Today’s verse describes the word of God’s ability to give wisdom to even the simplest of people. James Montgomery Boice, a pastor/ theologian (1938-2000) records the following words about Psalm 119: 130 in his commentary on the psalms:

“Reading the Bible throws light on life, on all its problems and trials, on the confusing behavior of other people, on what is important and what is not, on right behavior, right goals, and right priorities. If you have not found this to be true, it is because either you are not really studying the Bible or you are approaching it in a superior or vain frame of mind, judging it by your own limited views rather than allowing it to judge you”

[James Montgomery Boice, An Expositional Commentary: Psalms Vol. 3 (Psalm 107-150); p.1041)]

The scriptures give incredible insight into life and its issues, because they come from the Author of Life. But, much more than being a mere means of making us more up to speed on how the world works, the scriptures make us wise regarding the things of God. It’s in the scriptures that we find the gospel of Jesus Christ. The scriptures clearly teach that the world counts the gospel as foolishness, but to those whose eyes are graciously opened by God, we see the gospel for what it really is. We see Christ for who he really is. We see him as “…the power and wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24).

The scriptures are able to make us wise most importantly because they point to Jesus. Jesus is the only way for men to be saved, and the only way for men to be made wise unto salvation is through the scriptures.

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” Galatians 6:9-10

Paul speaks the words found above in the context of talking about believers living and relating to one another as a community of redeemed people. He speaks about restoring (gently I might add) fellow believers who are caught in sin, bearing one another’s burdens, and sharing good things with those who faithfully labor to teach the Word. It seems as if Paul is suggesting that these things (among others), should be a regular part of what goes on in the life of local churches.

The unfortunate reality is that this is often a far cry from what actually goes on in many churches. We exist more like social clubs that gathers on occasion, more than a community or a household. We mercilessly rake brothers and sisters who are caught in sin over the coals instead of gently restoring them. We couldn’t care less about other people’s burdens much less bearing them because our own are too many and too important. Rather than sharing good things with those who teach us, we often deride them.

Now…let me be clear…I don’t want to be one of those guys who gets all down on the church and starts spittin’ venom about all her problems. I love The Church (universal) and I love the local body of believers of which I am a part. I just get excited and a bit saddened when I read of what the Church is meant to be. Excited because, the LORD has done a marvelous thing in saving tons of people and making them a part of a Body. No doubt, the Church is the display of “the manifold wisdom of God” (Ephesians 3:10). But, I’m also sadden by gross “fallings-short” of what our LORD has called us to be.

The truth is, living as a community of redeemed people is hard work and it can get messy, BUT, I do not think that because this is the case, we should throw up our hands or make up a slew of excuses for why we don’t endeavor by God’s grace and with the strength that he supplies to really live as a body; a bona fide community. I can assure you that if this is what we are laboring for, we will better understand why Paul issues the exhortation he does in Galatians 6:9-10.

Brothers and sisters -living in community with each other in a way that honors the LORD is taxing stuff, but we can rest assured that Church life as explained in the scriptures is designed the way it is for the glory of God and for our good.

I love Psalm 119 for it’s glorious depiction of the value of the Word of God. David goes on for what seems like days talking about the benefits and worth of God’s Word.

Three of my favorite verses of the 176 that are found in the Psalm are verses 9-11. In them David writes,

“How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

Upon reading this text, you can’t help but immediately notice the connection that David makes between purity of living and being permeated with the Word of God. Doubtless much falling into sin is directly related to a failure to read, meditate on and guard one’s life by the Word of God.

My prayer for myself and for those of you who read this post is that we would find the Word of God to be an indispensable part of our daily lives (can‘t live without it…EVERY DAY), and that as we, by God’s grace ,are conformed by his Word increasingly into the image and likeness of Jesus, we will find being saturated with the Word to be a powerful preventive against sin.

Amos 7:1-9 (ESV)

This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, he was forming locusts when the latter growth was just beginning to sprout, and behold, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings. [2] When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said,

“O Lord God, please forgive!

How can Jacob stand?

He is so small!”

[3] The Lord relented concerning this;

“It shall not be,” said the Lord.

[4] This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, the Lord God was calling for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land. [5] Then I said,

“O Lord God, please cease!

How can Jacob stand?

He is so small!”

[6] The Lord relented concerning this;

“This also shall not be,” said the Lord God.

[7] This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. [8] And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,

“Behold, I am setting a plumb line

in the midst of my people Israel;

I will never again pass by them;

[9] the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate,

and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste,

and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”

It is very easy for people to think they are doing well when they compare themselves to others, or set up a standard of behaviour of their own. For instance, if my goal today is to behave better than a terrorist or a murderer or even better than my neighbour, I may have a very successful day. I may be able to go to bed tonight knowing that I have achieved the goal I set.

Unfortunately, I do not get to set the goals of behaviour for my life. God sets them. And they are very high. In fact they are unreachably high. They are so high that not only do I not reach them, I cannot reach them. To make matters worse He demands absolute perfect adherence to the standards that He shows me. This is a no win situation. It is the situation that God and Israel were in when Amos was receiving messages from God to record as his prophetic book.

God had determined to judge Israel. When Amos sees how devastating the plague of locusts is upon Israel, he prays for God to relent from it and God graciously answers his prayer. When God decides to judge Israel with a fire that was to consume the land, again Amos prayed out of concern for Israel and God heard and did as Amos prayed. Then God showed Amos a wall and a plumb line. By itself the wall seemed to be straight and sound. Next to the plumb line however Amos could see that the wall was far from what it needed to be and was going to fall.

The plumb line is God’s standard. The wall is Israel’s behaviour and the two were far from the same. Amos does not pray. He now knows that Israel is not just a little bit off. They are not the least bit close to what God has called them to.

The wall is going to fall, not because God destroys it but because whatever we build without the guidance of the plumbline of God’s word and grace cannot stand.

Two lessons: 1) We are far more crooked than we realize. We need to compare ourselves, not with a wicked world but with the Word of God. Then, and only then, will we realize just how crooked we are. 2) The only One who ever walked the plumbline that God measures us with was Jesus Christ. He and He alone was perfect and fit for heaven. He died as a penalty for us because only He had no sin of his own to pay for. Only His perfect righteousness can stand the test of the scrutiny of God and if we don’t have His life counted as ours we cannot measure up.

Today, look at what God says His standards are as recorded in the Scriptures. Then see how the Bible points out to us how only Christ can meet them and only through faith can we hope to be accepted by God. Jesus Christ is as straight as the plumbline of God. And that is how God will see you if you trust in His Son.

Amos 6:1-6 (ESV)

“Woe to those who are at ease in Zion,

and to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria,

the notable men of the first of the nations,

to whom the house of Israel comes!

[2] Pass over to Calneh, and see,

and from there go to Hamath the great;

then go down to Gath of the Philistines.

Are you better than these kingdoms?

Or is their territory greater than your territory,

[3] O you who put far away the day of disaster

and bring near the seat of violence?

[4] “Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory

and stretch themselves out on their couches,

and eat lambs from the flock

and calves from the midst of the stall,

[5] who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp

and like David invent for themselves instruments of music,

[6] who drink wine in bowls

and anoint themselves with the finest oils,

but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!

Comfort is the enemy of righteousness. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. While Israel is being punished for its sins Judah enjoys its luxury and peace and gives no thought to its own ways. They seem to believe that because what happened to Israel did not happen to them then they are safe indefinitely. It never occurs to them that because they commit the same sins as those who are being punished that they are going to suffer as well. Presumption.

We are so prone to the exact same sin and ignorance. From a personal to a community to a national level, we are prone to regard our ease as the default position that cannot be disturbed. Such thinking is foolish. God is no respecter of persons. The greed, immorality, materialism, idolatry that marks our culture and far too often our churches, cannot escape the judgement of God. It is time now to awake from our slumber and know that we are going to reap what we sow. We are saved by grace, but it is the absence of grace that can leave us believing that our sin will be ignored by God while He deals with the same sin severely in others.

The lifestyle we live as believers in this part of the world while many Christians suffer in other parts is surely a mercy from God. But it is not due to our spirituality. Comfort is no sign of maturity or approval from God. In fact, it might be safer to say that our comfort is due more to our immaturity than to our faithfulness. God knows that we cannot handle the pressure and would flee from it. If that makes us want to stay immature for the sake of safety then maybe the problem is not immaturity. Perhaps it is a matter of being unregenerate. The judgement that came upon Judah was severe. We have no reason to believe that God will treat us less severely than He did them. We need to wake up.

Then there is the whole matter of Judah not grieving over what happened to their brothers in the north. They are not grieved over the sin of Joseph. Their selfishness is not just a matter of thinking that they will not suffer like others have. What God is more concerned about is that the sin that brought Israel under God’s judgement does not break the hearts of those in the south.

Sin should break the hearts of those who are redeemed. No grief over sin is an indication of very serious spiritual sickness and may be an indication that there is no saving faith present. Believers are those who rejoice in God and have their hearts broken over what breaks His. To not grieve over sin is to have no heart for God. Judah’s real problem is that they do not know God. And if we are not grieved for the glory of God over the sin all around us and far too often in us, then we don’t know Him either.

Amos 5:1-6 (ESV)

Hear this word that I take up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel:

[2] “Fallen, no more to rise,

is the virgin Israel;

forsaken on her land,

with none to raise her up.”

[3] For thus says the Lord God:

“The city that went out a thousand

shall have a hundred left,

and that which went out a hundred

shall have ten left

to the house of Israel.”

[4] For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel:

“Seek me and live;

[5] but do not seek Bethel,

and do not enter into Gilgal

or cross over to Beersheba;

for Gilgal shall surely go into exile,

and Bethel shall come to nothing.”

[6] Seek the Lord and live,

lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,

and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel,

The nation of Israel has forsaken God for idols and religion of their own choosing. God promises punishment but in the midst of that He still holds out His hand to the ones who have abandoned Him for idols. If they will seek Him they will find life. There is still hope. Mercy is still available. The ball is in the court of those who have abandoned their God. This is an opportunity they do not deserve. But our God is the God of great mercy. He is long suffering and even those who have committed the sin of turning their backs on God He still is ready to forgive and restore.

God reminds them who it is that they are rebelling against. He is the God who made the constellations, who causes the earth to turn on its axis and who creates the water cycle for the continual sustenance of the plants that He made. It is a brazen thing indeed to challenge one’s maker. It is a vast act of self righteousness and self aggrandizement. Puny little creatures vaunting themselves up against the One who is larger than the whole created order. This is what those who pit God against science and logic and ethics do all the time. They have no fear but it is a fearful thing to push God off the throne and suppose to be able to run the world on one’s own.

The fact that they are not consumed is a testimony to God’s great mercy. What an incentive this is to give the Gospel to people! We can bemoan the state of the world we live in. We can complain and gossip about the immorality and selfishness and godlessness of our communities. We can worry about what is going to happen to the church and our children and our freedom. But the better response would be to give the Gospel to people.

God’s mercy is not limitless and there are times when God’s patience runs out and the opportunities for repentance cease. But God has not told us if that is the case with us and we would do well not to behave as if He had. The doors of our churches are open because, among other things, God is not done using us yet. Waking up in the morning is a testimony that there is still something that God wants us to do as an act of worship to Him.

Until our churches are permanently closed and it is impossible for us to leave our homes to interact with others, we can give the Gospel. “Seek the Lord and live”. What a message for a dying people and a dying culture. Look out at your communities today and see that God has yet been patient with sinners and here is still hope for them to find God and live.

Amos 4:4-5 (ESV)

“Come to Bethel, and transgress;

to Gilgal, and multiply transgression;

bring your sacrifices every morning,

your tithes every three days;

[5] offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened,

and proclaim freewill offerings, publish them;

for so you love to do, O people of Israel!”

God is not giving commandments here to do the things listed. We know that because the things listed are sinful. He is mocking the people for their hypocritical worship, their self righteousness. In verse 5 God says that the people offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened. That is, the people come to offer a thank offering to God for blessings He has bestowed and they break the Law in doing so. They decide how they are going to approach God.

Leaven was forbidden (Leviticus 2:11) in the offering because leaven is a symbol of sin (See I Corinthians 5:6) They come without repentance to thank God. They want to worship but they are not willing to come the way that God says they should. They are not willing to turn from sin. They bring their sin with them into the presence of God.

This is no small matter. The trouble with many people even today however, is that while they read this and agree that what was going on in Amos’ day was horrible, they do not see that they are doing the very same thing. Until the leaven is removed we cannot worship.

This means, first of all, that outside of Jesus Christ it is impossible to worship God at all. He and He alone is able to remove the leaven. We must trust Him to remove our sin and guilt. He is the only way to God and as worship is coming into the presence of God then we must have our sin dealt with first.

Secondly, even true believers are able to commit the sin of bringing leaven into the worship. We come to God with gossip still fresh. We approach God with unrepentant hearts. We come with an attitude of superiority over those who do not believe. There are other believers we will not talk to while we expect God to talk to us. We come into the place of worship thinking we know the Bible better than others. We see someone who will not sing and we think we know why – because they are lacking spirituality. We come to critique the sermon, the singing, the hearts of others who come in, the preaching. We come with bitterness against God. We come hoping to be entertained. We give very little money, time, prayer and effort into cultivating true spirituality. We have little or no concern for the lost, the welfare of others, the heartaches of those who worship with us. We hate Muslims, Hindus, evolutionists and atheists. We come with a Bible that has hardly been open since the last time we participated in corporate worship and our knees are in no danger of being calloused from prayer. We think we know the solution to the church’s woes and we know that the reason the woes continue is that no one listens to me. Leaven.

There is no shortage of leaven. To bring our leaven into the place of worship and expect God to accept the worship is no small wickedness. It needs to be excised and it needs to be done now. The first act of worship is repentance. The second is to come with rejoicing that He has forgiven because of Christ. The third is humility and gratitude. We are not able to worship because of any righteousness in us. It is all because of Him. It should make us worship with great gratitude and humility.

O Lord, please come and help us.