The Prosperity Gospel is Another Gospel

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel – not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.  But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:6-8).

Consider these two short videos that display and expose the false gospel known as the prosperity gospel.  It is no gospel at all.  It rejects Christ as the true gift of the gospel and doesn’t even consider heaven the ultimate gift, it is something less.  The prosperity gospel wants heaven now, not Christ.

You can find the first one here.

And here is the second:

Baptizing Children and Baptism In General

Recently I was reading some sermons from Dr. W. A. Criswell, the former Pastor of First Baptist Church Dallas, when I came upon a sermon on the subject of baptizing children.  I found his confession and his solution to be refreshing given that the sermon was preached in May of 1969.  I want to provide a link to that sermon here.

I would also like to provide the text of a sermon that I wrote and delivered some time back on baptism and spoke directly to this very controversial subject. 

New From Head to Toe

 If we are to view baptism in the correct way it will have to be through the lens of Scripture.  Look with me at Ephesians 2:1-5, “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)”.  Did you hear that?  Let me read you that last section out of the English Standard Version this morning.  Paul writes, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved”.  Now did you see it?  Paul says that by the powerful grace of God, though previously we were spiritually dead which was seen in our love for and devotion to the world, the devil, and our own lusts, our own flesh, now, this merciful God has given us new life as a result of His deep love for us and it has come to us through and in Christ Jesus.  We call this the new birth.  Jesus told Nicodemus, that though he was seemingly an expert in the Old Testament law, and by all outward appearances a very godly man, that he had to be born again, implying that he was spiritually dead.  Paul says here that we, through God’s saving grace have been made alive in Christ.  See, the Christian life is not a new set of rules, or not a new set of practices, or even a new sense of understanding, no it is an experience, it is a change, a change of heart, a change of nature, it is an experience with God whereby we are changed from head to toe.  That is the new birth.  And baptism is a way in which we picture that change which in fact affects our spirit, our mind and our body.  Baptism is a way in which we preach it, we proclaim it, and we essentially display it for others to see.  New birth comes first, and then baptism, follows gloriously testifying to the new birth that has been wrought in us, not just to a decision that we have made or a prayer that we have prayed.  Baptism is dependent upon experiencing the new birth.

            Baptism has never been a magical act that brings actual physical or spiritual change to a person’s condition.  Rather it has always been and will always be an outward sign, symbol, or representation of an inward change.  In the Old Testament we find an early outward symbol of an inward truth in the account of the healing of Naaman the captain of the host of the king of Syria.  He was a very powerful man, yet he was a leper.  In 2 Kings 5 we find him seeking healing from God at the hands of Elisha the prophet who told him to go down to the Jordan and wash seven times.  Naaman was furious at first for he expected God to heal him right there on the spot, but Elisha knew that he needed to be humbled and to learn about true faith.  In that case, when he did go down to the Jordan and did wash in the waters seven times and was healed, it wasn’t the waters that healed, it was God that did it when Naaman believed.  In that case, his willingness to go down into the waters was the outward proof of his inward faith.  That then brings us to John’s baptism in the same river roughly a thousand years later.  The Bible says, “In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”.  John was calling Jews to repent, to accept that the old covenant symbol of circumcision was not enough; that they had to make an individual commitment to God based on true repentance and faith.  Before this time only Gentiles that wanted to become Jews were baptized, but John came preaching powerfully about the wrath of God and the coming kingdom that required individual repentance and faith regardless of nationality.  Those that submitted to John’s baptism were merely making their personal decision and faith known, the baptism itself was just the means of making the decision they had already made public.  Baptism is more like the diploma than the education, it is more like the ring then the marriage, it is more like the award then the performance, and it is more like the “I Ate the Ole 96er” T-Shirt then the steak itself.  And this passage will make that plain to us this morning.

Interrogative: What can we learn about the essence of Christian baptism from this passage?

Transition: The Ethiopian Eunuch’s baptism reveals three distinct results of believer’s baptism. 

In Baptism We Practice Our New Walk

Text: Acts 8:35-36, “Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.  And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized”?

Explanation:  Christian baptism is not an option, it is not some sort of a “spiritual upgrade” for the super spiritual crowd; rather it is an absolute essential for those that have come to Christ in repentance and faith.  Yes, you can be saved without it, but no, you can’t be obedient to God without it.  Yes, you can get to heaven without being baptized, but no, you can’t live a life pleasing to God by ignoring or rejecting it.  The Scriptures are clear on this point, God commands all believers to be Biblically baptized on the right side of the cross.

            Here we find a layman, a Deacon by the name of Philip following God’s leading down an old desert road.  There he came across what the Bible calls, “A man of Ethiopia, an eunuch o great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship”.  This was a very powerful, no doubt highly educated, and highly respected wealthy man.  He had come to Jerusalem, which was a very long distance from Africa, south of Egypt, to worship, which indicates that he must have been a Gentile covert to Judaism.  There he was studying and reading through the book of Isaiah, no doubt from a scroll he had purchased while in Jerusalem.  He was reading Isaiah 53 when Philip ran up to his chariot and asked him if he understood what he was reading.  The powerful man was having trouble with the text, no doubt why God directed Philip to this road, and was glad to receive Philip’s help.  The Bible says, “Philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus”.  Obviously, the man began at that point to understand his own sin and his own need for an atoning sacrifice for that sin, of his own need of a Savior, for the passage he read from was Isaiah’ prophecy of Christ’s death for the sins of the world.  That must have been followed by repentance and faith in this one that the prophet had written about and about whom Philip had no doubt preached to him.  That leads us to the next verse, “And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized”?  So how did he know that he had to be baptized?  Well, the text just said that Philip preached the Gospel to him, and in the New Testament the Gospel and baptism go together.  And so as they traveled, the eunuch became convicted and knew he had to make his decision public.  So then where did Philip hear it, and where can we read it to know that it is a commanded step?

            First, we find it back in Matthew chapter three when Jesus came to John to be baptized in the Jordan.  John recognized that Jesus didn’t need to confess or repent of any sins, and that Jesus didn’t need to die to the old life, and signify a new commitment to God, so he declined our Lord’s first request to be baptized. But then Jesus said something important, He said, “Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness”.  In one aspect His baptism was to be a way for Him to identify with those that would be saved, and in another aspect His baptism was an example for all believers to follow, in another aspect it was highly symbolic of His own death and resurrection but that can’t be all, the text won’t allow it.  For Jesus to “fulfill all righteousness”, He had to be baptized, He had to be obedient to the Father’s will, which in this case included baptism.  So for us “fulfilling all righteousness”, must include baptism.  And if you look into the gospels you will find Jesus living this out and requiring it of those that would follow Him.  John 4:1-2, “When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, (though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples)”.  This was a practice that He began and commanded to keep going in the Great Commission in Mt.28:19.  And Peter followed Christ’s example on Pentecost when he preached, “repent and be baptized”.  And then we see it continued on through the many that were saved and baptized immediately in the early church.      

Illustration:  Sometimes at school or work we ask, “What is the least amount of work that I can do and still get by”?  That thinking has come over into our spiritual life, and has caused us to ask the same thing of God as if Christ has a list of requirements and preferences. 

Application:   Christ’s command to be baptized is just as meaningful and just as powerful as His command to repent and believe the gospel.  If you are a believer in Christ then this command is for you to hear today.    

In Baptism We Present Our New Heart

Text: Acts 8:37, “And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God”.

Explanation:  Now many of you are looking up at me wondering where I am going to find this verse to preach it.  If you are using the New International Version, then this verse doesn’t exist in your Bible.  If you have the New American Standard Version, then this verse is in the text with brackets and a note indicating that, “Early mss do not contain this verse”.  If you have the English Standard Version, then the verse is missing as well, with a small footnote in the margin.  And if you have the New King James Version, then the verse is there, but with a marginal note defending its placement.  Why all the confusion?  Well, the Greek text that underlies both the King James and New King James versions is slightly different from the text that underlies the other modern versions.  The argument is that the Greek text behind the modern versions is much more reliable and much older, and therefore least likely to be corrupted.  In either case though, in this instance we can be confident that this verse is accurate in what it teaches.  Certainly the early church had some way of questioning candidates for baptism, just as we do today.  I don’t know how many people that I have talked to that are living for the world, living in sin, angry with God and really against the cross and God’s grace, yet they will tell you that when they were young, someone baptized them.  Here we learn the truth about when someone is supposed to be baptized and the priority of it in a believer’s life. 

            Luke records these words, “And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest”.  Now right away that language should sound very familiar as it is the essence of Romans 10:9; “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved”.  Philip was asking him if he had come to repentance and faith yet, and if it was genuine, for God knows and sees the heart.  Then the eunuch answered, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God”.  He made his confession public, and he was now ready to follow the Lord’s command in believer’s baptism.  Now it’s called believer’s baptism because it is for believers only.  In fact the New Testament does not record a single instance of a person being baptized in Jesus’ name before being saved.  Just a few verses before this passage we read, “(8:12) But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women”.  And we read that Paul was baptized after he believed in Acts 9:18, Lydia was baptized after she belived in Acts 16:15, as was the Philippian jailer, and Crispus. 

Notice that these are all adults.  Now some of you may have been baptized in some fashion as children, as many segments of the church believe to this day.  If so, it was more than likely a covenant baptism, meaning you were born to Christian parents and as the Jews would enter into the covenant with God through circumcision, you were baptized into the New Covenant.  But the Scriptures stand against that tradition, in fact, John removed that possibility two thousand years ago as he stood on the banks of the Jordan and commanded all the covenant children of God, who became so through circumcision, to repent of their sins and come to God by faith individually, for no covenant act can bring atonement for your sins.  And this text also stands against that tradition as we find the New Testament consistently teaching that baptism is for believers in Christ alone.       

Illustration:  Just as a union worker would boldly cross the picket line in order to go to work, we as believers in Christ are called to cross the picket line of the world and of sin figuratively by standing before the church and before the world and identifying publicly with Christ through baptism. 

Application:  In the Bible, baptism is always the first step following the new birth.  Yet, if you think about is each example of believer’s baptism is that of an adult, no examples of children are given.  Now, as Southern Baptist’s we believe that the practice of baptizing babies is unbiblical, yet at the same time, a study done in 1995 reported that the only age group of baptisms in our denomination that was growing was among the “under five” category.  How is that different from infant baptism?  Paige Patterson, President of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and former President of the Convention, was discussing this with a prominent Pastor in Washington D.C. and this is how the conversation went.    

Dever: I heard about one church recently, and I don’t know if you know about churches like this or not, in order to encourage baptisms among children the baptistery is shaped like a fire truck and they’ve got confetti cannons that go off whenever a kid is baptized.  Do you know about any of this?

Patterson: This is my first time to hear this.  This is blasphemous!

Dever: Anyway, it’s a church in America.  It’s an evangelical church and they mean to preach the gospel so I want to be real quick to say their intentions are good.  That’s going to get kids off course, because they want to come forward, get in the fire truck and make the confetti cannons go off.

Patterson:  I do not view positively the huge number of child baptisms that Baptists are now guilty of.  Baptists are some of the worst paedo baptizers there are.

Dever: I know the average age of baptism has dropped, I think, about 10 years in the last 100 years.  When you read biographies from the 19^th century, they’re always getting baptized at 17, 18, 19, 20.  J.R. Graves was baptized when he was 19.  John Gill was that way.  John A. Broadus was that way.

Patterson:  It’s out of hand in our churches.

Now, of course they were not saying, and I am not saying that children cannot get saved.  No, what they were saying, and what I am saying is that the ordinance of baptism was always designed, or should I say intended to follow true conversion. And so as was the practice of men like Charles Spurgeon, they found great wisdom in allowing their children to mature enough to begin to give evidence that they have in fact experienced the new birth.  Of course you can’t really set an age, but you can set a standard.  That standard should say that we will not just baptize every little child that stands up and raises a hand, or repeats a prayer, but rather we will pour the gospel into their hearts and walk with them and sit down with them, and sit down with their parents and help them to disciple them.  Of course we don’t know who is saved and who is not.  And this question, that wells up in people is the very reason why so many little children are baptized in the first place.  We have misunderstood the ordinance of baptism and when it is not given to children immediately upon their single outward act of praying a prayer, folks often feel that means that the church doesn’t think their children are saved, or can be saved.  But remember, it is always the first step in the Word of God adults that could easily give evidence outwardly of the new birth, which is purpose of the baptismal confession in the first place.  And consider the dangers of baptizing these little children right away.  A study in 1994 by our convention revealed that 60% of reported baptisms are actually re-baptisms of some sort.  That is due to the thousands of little children that are baptized upon their repeating a prayer, or raising a hand.  Consider again the great problem of our Convention’s inflated membership roles as compared to church attendance.  Many of them were added as little itty bitty children that we baptized, only to see them leave the church for the rest of their lives.

 In Baptism We Proclaim The New Birth 

Text: Acts 8:38-39, “And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.  And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing”.

Explanation:  And finally we turn to the nuts and bolts of baptism, we turn to the biblical explanation of what it actually is, and we do so by closely examining this passage.  If we turn back to verse 36 we hear him ask Philip, “See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized”?  Of course that request is important, that word is critical, what does it mean to be “baptized”?  Well, the Greek word here is simple, in fact the English translators chose to transliterate it rather than translate it for it is such a technical term.  The term in this verse is “baptisthenai”, which is a form of the verb “baptizo”.  Now there are actually two Greek verbs used in the New Testament concerning baptism, “baptizo”, and “bapto”. Now “bapto” literally means to “dip”, or “to dip into”.  It was a word used to describe the process of “dyeing” clothes, as one would immerse a shirt into a bucket of dye.  The other word, “baptizo”, is an intensified version of the first word and means to “dip completely”.  It is the Greek word used to describe drowning, which shows how complete the idea of dipping really is.  Simply put then, Christian baptism, by definition, is always by immersion, or by going under the water.  We find much biblical support for this even outside of the word used to define it, in our passage this morning.  Luke writes, “and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.  And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip”.  There we find them both “going down into” the water, and “coming up out of the water”.  In Matthew 3:6 John was baptizing people “in” the Jordan, and in Matthew 3:16 after Jesus was baptized the Bible says he, “went up straightway out of the water”.  In John 3:23 John was baptizing people in Aenon near to Salim, “because there was much water there”.  When we find a text in the New Testament describing baptism, immersion into and under water is the only possible meaning, given the terms, verb tenses, and the context surrounding their use. 

            So what does it mean to be baptized, what kind of a public statement does it make?  Well, there is symbolism in almost every part of the act.  John came preaching that the “kingdom of heaven is at hand”, and that the “wrath of God” was coming, and so we stand in the waters as a man standing in waters of judgment, just as we did before we received Christ by faith, and just as God sent to the world in the flood of the days of Noah and in the judgment of the Egyptians.  The minister will place his hand upon us to signify that it is not something that we can do, we can’t save ourselves, we can’t forgive our own sins and we can’t earn or create new life.  And then he lowers us down into the waters where we identify with the death of Christ and signify the death of the old man, and the death of sin in our lives and the burial of Christ.  Then the minister lifts us back out of the waters, as Christ does in salvation and will do in the resurrection and we stand to walk in new life, in the new life that Christ’s death made possible.  When we go into the waters we are signifying the very literal immersion that has already taken place by faith.  Paul wrote in Galatians 3:27, “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ”.  It is a picture, but is a reality; we have become partakers of Christ in His death and in his resurrection by faith!                

 

    

 

The Tension Between Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility

As Judgment House is coming closer, and as the church begins to pray for the salvation of the lost through the proclamation of the Gospel, I feel compelled to call attention to this tension.  God saves lost people.  We would all say amen to that I’m sure, but in practice for many years many have affirmed the opposite.  They have lived as if man ultimately saves himself by making a personal decision apart from the work of God to “invite Jesus into their hearts”, mainly to go to heaven when they die.  This is not how the Bible describes the conversion of the sinner.  The Bible doesn’t completely remove however, the responsibility of man in salvation, and that tension between the fact of God’s control in salvation (divine election) and the fact of man’s responsibility (repentance and faith) in salvation are nothing short of mysterious.  At the same time, they are both Biblically true. 

So in Judgment House are we little more than Sam’s Club employees offering little samples of heaven to lost folks hoping that they will buy based on what they see and experience?  Will we be reduced to Gospel salemen trying to close a deal?  Or, will we go into it with little hope that our efforts will be of any eternal effect knowing that God does it all in salvation and lost folks don’t have any control in the matter?  Or, is there a middle, Biblical ground upon which to stand? 

Well, there certainly is, and if you know my soteriology well, then you know that I embrace that tension and teach both sides.  I would like to add someone else to the discussion at this point and offer up a very clear presentation of what I beleive to be true about this tension.  Dr. Danny Akin, President of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary wrote on this subject a few years ago, and I find it to be very helpful.  I pray it will be helpful to you as well.  You can find it here.

The Fuel of The Resurrection

 One day, all the graves will open, and we will all be raised from the dead.  This truth rests upon the authority of the Scriptures and the historicity of the resurrection of our Lord as Paul argues to the church at Corinth.  Thinking of that day is not all that easy.  Can you imagine that all of our manicured cemeteries will one day look like a hurricane, a tornado, an earthquake, and a tsunami hit them all at once?  That day is coming and this doctrine is not new.

I remember the day that one of my college professors, Dr. Reese, was teaching through the Gospels, and made this statement, “The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the dead.  They were “sad you see”!  That stuck with me.  And though they didn’t believe, the testimony of the Scriptures is that the rest of God’s people did.  

Without getting into a discussion concerning the timing of the resurrection, and whether or not there will be two resurrections, or only one, let’s look at the Scriptures briefly and consider the overwhelming support for this glorious doctrine.    

Old Testament Teaches the Resurrection of the Dead

Job 19:25-27, “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me”.

Psalm 17:15, “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness”.

Daniel 12:2, “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt”.

 

New Testament Teaches the Resurrection of the Dead

John 5:25-29, “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.  For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.  And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.  Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment”.

John 6:44, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day”.

John 11:25, “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live”.

1 Corinthians 15:20, “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept”.

2 Corinthians 4:14, “Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you”.

1 Thessalonians 4:16, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first”.

 

 

Doing Judgment House Right

It’s that time of year again.  The humidity is starting to slide south for the winter, the spiders are coming out, and the Jaguars are making their way to the bottom of the division.  That’s right, it’s fall.  For Gray Gables, fall is Judgment House season.  Every year we spend countless hours transforming the education and fellowship spaces into mini proclamation points.  And no, I don’t think that it is a coincidence that the place where we gather to eat fried chicken is the same place where we portray heaven.  And every year, with workers in place, guides at the ready, and the cup overflowing with goodies, God sends us people, lot’s and lot’s of people.  In fact, each year we see over 1000 people walk the halls and listen to what we have to say.  That is a gift of God.  And with this gift comes a great responsibility.  What we say is critical.  The Gospel that they hear must be right. 

Did you know that there is a false Gospel?  Of course, we have talked about this many times in church.  The false Gospel doesn’t need Christ, because it doesn’t really deal with sin.  The false Gospel is really a religious Gospel.  The false Gospel says that God doesn’t love you and you will go to hell unless you do something.  Religious people love to do something, they love to work, and they love rules, boy do they love rules.  The false Gospel comes with its very own religious entrance ritual.  It says, repeat this prayer after me and you will go to heaven no matter what.  The false Gospel focuses on what God can do for you.  It is most concerned with heaven and hell.  The problem, is that the false Gospel says nothing of the depravity of man, nothing of the sinfulness of man, nothing of the holiness of God, nothing of the just wrath of God, nothing of the grace of God, nothing of the righteousness of Christ, nothing of the substitution of Christ, nothing of the punishment and death of Christ on the cross, nothing of the blood, nothing of the necessity of repentance, and nothing of faith.  In fact, the false Gospel doesn’t even need God, just His heaven and just His rules. 

If we are not careful, Judgment House can be that way.  Last year, Baptist Press published an article by Dr. Russell Moore, Dean of Southern Baptist Seminary in KY, concerning Judgment House evangelism.  It is a harsh review, yet it is true.  At one point he argues that very few people, if any ever get truly converted as a direct result of Judgment House alone.  Well, we have seen folks saved, truly converted here, but we have also seen many people run through the mill, given a prayer to pray, and then go on to live Godless unconverted lives.  I thank God for our Judgment House ministry, and I believe that we can do it right, and get the Gospel right.  Remember, Jesus came to seek and to save the lost.  He does the seeking.  He does the saving.  All we do is proclaim the Gospel and pray.  He does the rest.  Judgment House is not an opportunity to convince people that Jesus is better and heaven is nice.  It is an opportunity to proclaim the truth and urge people to repent and flee the wrath to come.  May God be glorified through our efforts!  You can read Moore’s article here.

John MacArthur on Spurgeon’s Passion For True Biblical Preaching

This morning, as I was studying and preparing for the upcoming three expository sermons that I will deliver God willing over the next five days, I was reminded of the critical importance of expository (word for word preaching what the author originally intended to the reader) preaching and the growing intolerance of it in the world.  John MacArthur, reflecting on the drift away from a true hunger for the Word of God in the church dating back to Spurgeon’s day, once again reminded me of where my priorities need to be.  I pray that this little historical clip will be a blessing to you.

More From Powlison on Marital Intimacy

Well, we are almost finished with the marriage series on Sunday mornings and with the Paul Tripp video conference during the discipleship hour.  I have certainly been blessed by the study and I am so thankful to God for all that He is doing in my heart and in my own marriage. 

Please pray for me as I put together the last message entitled, “The Charge of Marriage”; “Fill the Earth with Disciples”.  My text will be 2 Timothy 3:14-15, “But as for you,continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus“.  This text takes us back into the childhood of Timothy.  It takes us back into the biblical training that he received from his mother and grandmother.  It takes us into the process of intentional discipleship that Timothy was in.  Of course in the book of Acts we learn that his father was an unbelieving Gentile, but his mother and grandmother were believers.  Their commitment to making a disciple out of Timothy is the focus of the message.  Simply put, marriage is for making disciples.  We are to make them out of our kids if and when we have them, and out of those kids and people that we can influence with our lives.  Marriage is a disciple making mechanism. 

To continue to provide helpful resources, I want to make available the next two videos from David Powlison in this little series.

Some Great Insights on Marriage

Well, we are one week into the marriage series entitled, “Rediscovering a Biblical Vision of Marriage”.  Last Sunday morning we looked at the creation of marriage on the sixth day of creation and saw how our theology will influence our marriage.  That is, we learned that when we have a wrong view of marriage, we tend to see that view work itself out within the marriage (wrong expectations, wrong understanding of roles, wrong or sinful attitudes, and even wrong or sinful practices).  On Sunday night we began the vidoe conference with Dr. Paul David Tripp and learned that true God honoring marriage is not rooted in romance, but in worship.  Ultimately, the two ideas went together providing a foundation for the rest of the series.  It cannot be said enough, that what we beleive to be true about God, about sin, about grace, and about ourselves, will have a significant impact on our marriage.  Simply put, if the theology isn’t right, the marriage won’t be right.

This week, as we move ahead to the nature of marriage, I wanted to offer another resource that will be helpful.  Lord willing, on Sunday morning I will be speaking about the Covenant of Marriage.  We will be looking specifically at some of the characteristics of the biblical covenant of marriage and dispelling some of the more common myths about romantic love and its place in God honoring marriage.  While no God honoring marriage can exist without romantic (feeling) love, as in the case of Jacob and Rachel in Genesis 28-31, that love is not the foundation but the effect of the right foundation; covenant.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer said it this way, “It is not your love that sustains the marriage, but from now on, the marriage that sustains your love”! 

Until then, I wanted to provide you an opportunity to hear from another “expert”.   This video is from Dr. David Powlison of the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation.  He is a noted speaker and seminary professor.  Here in this clip, he offers some of the more common roadblocks to marital intimacy. 

One Position; Faithful Service in God’s Church

Believe it or not, the year is rapidly coming to an end.  If you remember, we began the year, with a series of sermons intended to clarify our focus both individually and corporately as a church for 2009.  In a shorter, online version of that series, I want to go back over those critical themes and reemphasize their importance.  First, I want to consider the sermon, One Position.  Below, I provided the text of that sermon in its original form.

Text: Joshua 14:6-15

Title / Textual Idea: One Position / Faithful Service / This passage describes the faithfulness of God’s servant Caleb as he approached Joshua to obtain his inheritance from God.

Dominating Theme: God calls every Christian to a life of faithful service.

Introduction / Burden:  I will never forget the man that taught me what it meant to be a true servant of the Lord and others.  I could hear it in his preaching, I could see it in his ministry, and I could certainly see it and even enjoy it to some degree in his interactions with my family and me.  One night, however, it really all came together and I really saw what it meant to be a servant of God.  That church took the actions of Christ and the disciples in the upper room as recorded in John chapter thirteen, and put them into real life.  See, that is the story of when, in an effort to encourage, and to teach the disciples, shortly before the cross, our Savior picked up a wash basin and a towel and approached those men on His knees to wash their feet.  He took upon Himself the place of the lowliest servant and He did it for a purpose.  He wanted the disciples to know and to understand the great love that He had for them, and so He demonstrated it by taking the place of a servant, cleaning the dirty filthy feet of the disciples.  After He was finished He said, “Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.  If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.  For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.  Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.   If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them” (John 13:13-17).  Jesus was teaching them the importance of humbly serving one another by doing it Himself.  If Christ, the very creator, sustainer, and Savior is willing to get down on his knees and to take the place of the lowliest servant and wash the filthy feet of His men, then it should be a reasonable expectation, that they would be willing to do it themselves.  He is teaching them about humble service.  Well, that night my Pastor, and some other men from the church got together and washed each other’s feet in an expression of humility, and service.  That might sound weird to you, and even a little stinky, but I want to tell you this morning, that it was at that point that I understood what it meant to be a servant. 

            In the New Testament the authors of many of the epistles began their letters by identifying themselves as servants of the Lord.  Paul did it, Peter did it, James did it, and Jude did it as well.  When you go through the concordance you will find that there are ten different Greek words that are used in the New Testament that are translated with this one word servant.  If you add all of their uses up, it comes to something like 550 or more times in the KJV.  So obviously this idea of being God’s servant, and the servant of others is a pretty critical aspect of our faith.  And when we look back on the lives of the men that give themselves this title in the New Testament, specifically on their ministries we get an idea of what they really mean.  Remember, a servant, a “doulos”, is really a slave.  Now a slave does whatever His master calls him to do without question.  When you look at these men, this is what you see, an unhindered obedience to God and willingness to serve Him any way that they could.  That means there is a difference between serving, and being a servant.  I guess you could use the word volunteer.  To be a volunteer, or to merely serve is to pick and to choose what you want to do, for as long as you want to do it.  But that is not what a “doulos” does.  A true servant of the Lord, serves Him without question wherever He asks as long as they live, there is no retirement when it comes to serving God.  He serves out of love and to give glory to God. 

            In the New Testament we will find that this is what each and every blood washed believer is supposed to be.  In fact, Peter says that it is the will of God that we serve Him in 1 Peter 2:15-16, “For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God”.  And the Apostle Paul declares that we were created in Christ Jesus, that we were saved to serve Him in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them”.  And if you consider the bigger picture, that we are talking about making the church an essential part of every member’s life, as it was all throughout the New Testament, this idea of service has to be a major part of the equation, that is, it has to be a major part of our lives. 

Interrogative: What does the story of Caleb teach us about living a life of faithful service?

Transition: When we look at the life of Caleb we can see a few characteristics of faithful service.

The Purpose Bridge: To encourage the church to commit to a life of faithful service in the church.

Point # 1: Know the Word of God and Live by It

Text: Joshua 14:6, “Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the LORD said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadeshbarnea”.

Explanation:  The first characteristic of a faithful servant that we see in Caleb is that he knows the Word of God and he lives by it.  Now that might sound pretty simplistic to you this morning, but I can assure you of this.  If you and I were to be described this way in every area of our own lives, we would not have half of the problems that we have today. 

            Well, let’s take a quick look back and figure out the context of this story.  If you remember some time ago when we went through a series in the book of Numbers we were introduced to Caleb in chapter thirteen.  He was among the twelve men, the twelve representatives of the tribes of Israel that were called to leave the wilderness of Paran and go and spy out the land of Canaan and return with a report.  They were commanded to go into the valley and up into the hill country and make a report on the land and the people.  And so you will remember that they went out and were gone for forty days, for more than a solid month they went out undercover among their enemies getting a peak at the land that God had already given to them.  And you will also remember how things started to go downhill when they returned back to camp and began to share with the people what all they had encountered, as well as what they thought about it.  They had brought back some fruit of the land along with some disturbing news.  While the land did in fact flow with “milk and honey”, the spies were not convinced that it was God’s will.  They reported that the people were strong, the cities were fortified, and very large, and the big giant descendents of Anak were there.  Caleb, however, and Joshua, disagreed, and encouraged the people that they should follow God and go and take their inheritance.  The other spies responded by making their story even worse, frightening the people even more by saying, “all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature”.  And there was a great uprising and God was not happy.  In fact He was going to destroy them all for their rebellion, for their deceit, and for their constant lack of faith, in spite of his continual blessings.  Moses then interceded on behalf of the people, and God determined to prevent the people from entering their promised inheritance.  Joshua and Caleb would be the only two adults that would see the land.  Now, as we come into Joshua chapter fourteen, we find the Israelites have come over the Jordan and began to take the land that God had already given to them.  In this section specifically, Caleb comes to Joshua, the leader of Israel and reminds him of God’s promises.

            The author writes, “Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal”.  Gilgal was the city near Jericho were the Israelites had set up a base camp after crossing over the Jordan.  It was at Gilgal that they had set up the twelve stones as a memorial to all that God had done in delivering them from bondage and getting them over the Jordan to come into their land.  Well, it is here that we meet back up with Caleb, whom we haven’t heard from since the conquest in the book of Numbers.  He writes, “Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the LORD said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadeshbarnea”.  So Caleb approaches his old friend Joshua and reminds him of something that he was very familiar with.  He takes him back to that terrible day in the history of Israel when the people were more than eager to rebel against God.  He takes him back to the way that God responded to their rebellion in believing the majority report.  He takes him back to some very important and very unique words of God spoken about him specifically.  Now when God speaks about you by name, you need to remember it, and Caleb certainly wasn’t going to forget what God had said.  We can find it in Numbers 14:22-24, “Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it”.  While the rest of the nation was in rebellion, Caleb was faithful as a servant of God.   He had a different spirit in him that led him to trust and obey God. 

            What was different about his spirit, what does that mean?  Well, did you notice what God called Caleb?  He said, “But my servant Caleb”.  Caleb was God’s servant; he had a servant’s spirit.  The particular Hebrew word used here, and in 800 other places in the Old Testament refers to a slave, to one that is owned and ruled by another.  Caleb was in the complete control of God and that is what set him apart from the others.  And as a servant of God, he was very well aware of the Words of God.  He was committed to the Word of God when it came to obedience.  He was changed by the Word of God when it came to his own desires.  He was charged by the Word of God when it came to motivation.  Simply put, he knew the Word of God that God had spoken about him all of these years and he held on to it, he lived by it.  

 

Illustration:  “The story is told of a man who rode in his car as it was being towed to be repaired.  When they arrived at the repair shop, the tow truck driver told him, “I didn’t think I was going to make it up that big hill”.  The man replied, “I didn’t either.  That’s why I kept the brakes on so we wouldn’t roll backwards”.  To live without total dedication to Christ is the same as trying to go forward and to hold back at the same time”.

 

Application:  As Christians we are all slaves of Christ, and as such we are to be under His complete control.  1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s”.  If we are going to know what that is, if we are going to know what it is that God wants us to do, and the way that God wants us to live, then we are going to not only know His Word, but we are going to have to make it the ultimate authority in our lives.  It is when we turn to the Word of God that we can learn and understand the purpose of our service.  What is the ultimate purpose of our service?  To glorify God: Matthew 25:40, “And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me”.

Point # 2: Know the Way of God and Follow It

Text: Joshua 14:7-9, “Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadeshbarnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart.  Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the LORD my God.  And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children’s for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the LORD my God”.

Explanation:  If the first characteristic of a life of faithful service has to do with knowing the Word of God and living by it, then we can se here that the second characteristic has to do with what we really do with what we know.  It is one thing to say that we know what the Bible says about life, and even another thing to say that we try to live by it.  But it is a completely different thing to say that we in fact do follow God in all things.  Now many of us can say that we follow God in some things, or even in a lot of things, but how many of us can say that we follow God in all things?  See, we have wicked self centered hearts that desire nothing more than to please self and to fulfill our own desires.  Pleasing, and serving, and helping others, does not come natural and really is not something that we really want to do.  But, when we look into God’s Word and when we hear Him command us to serve, and we hear that it is God’s will that we serve, and when we hear that we were saved to serve, and then when we recognize that we need to serve and to be served in order to grow, then we are faced with a challenge; will God’s will prevail, or will ours?

            Notice this morning what it looks like to be completely committed to doing God’s will and to following His Word in all things.  He writes, “Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadeshbarnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart.  Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the LORD my God”.  When I read his words I almost feel a little uncomfortable.  I mean do you know anyone that can say with complete honesty before the Lord what he just said?  Can you stand up this morning and declare before the church that you have “wholly followed the Lord”?  Now before we all start to get really discouraged this morning, let’s take a close look at what he was saying.  See, remember that God had ordained that they go out on this great reconnaissance mission and Caleb was one of the chosen ones.  I can imagine there must have been some degree of fear that would have been in their hearts as there were only twelve of them and they were on enemy territory without their armies to protect them.  But Caleb went out and we know nothing of any complaining on his part.  And when they were in the Negev and when they were in the hill country, they found that the land was everything that God had said it was, and there must have been some element of excitement in their hearts.  But when they came home, that is when Caleb’s servant spirit really came out.  Caleb said that the ten men that gave a negative report, that said it would not be possible to take the land, he said that they brought upon fear in the hearts of the people.  That means they destroyed faith and they led others to rebel against God.  But Caleb understood something.  Slaves don’t rebel, they don’t have fears and they don’t have their own agendas, they live and die to please their master.  And so Caleb knew nothing other than to call the people to faith and to follow their God.  His heart was pure.  Caleb declared it about himself, Moses agreed, and we even heard God say the same thing.  I must have been true.  God said go, and Caleb was ready to go.  He didn’t do as the others did and begin to argue with God and complain about his assignment, no he was simply ready to go.              

Illustration:  During World War II, England needed to increase its production of coal. Winston Churchill called together labor leaders to enlist their support. At the end of his presentation he asked them to picture in their minds a parade, which he knew would be held in Piccadilly Circus after the war.  First, he said, would come the sailors who had kept the vital sea-lanes open. Then would come the soldiers who had come home from Dunkirk and then gone on to defeat Rommel in Africa. Then would come the pilots who had driven the Luftwaffe from the sky.  Last of all, he said, would come a long line of sweat-stained, soot-streaked men in miner’s caps. Someone would cry from the crowd, ‘And where were you during the critical days of our struggle?’ And from ten thousand throats would come the answer, ‘We were deep in the earth with our faces to the coal.’”  Not all the jobs in a church are prominent and glamorous. But it is often the people with their “face to the coal” who help the church accomplish its mission.  Don McCullough, Waking from the American Dream.

Application:   Some people are digging coal and others are flying planes, but all in all the kingdom of God is the focus.  The church staff is not here to all of the work, we can’t possibly do it all.   In fact we couldn’t afford to hire enough people to do all of the work that needs to get done.  Instead, the leaders are to help equip each member to join in God’s work at the church and in the community.  God’s Word describes the path of our service as well as the purpose of service.  It might not spell out whether or not you are supposed to sign up as a nursery worker, or join the bus workers, or join the ushers or not, but it does describe what it looks like to have a servant spirit and to be willing to serve wherever the need arises and God calls.  Remember that each and every believer has been given a spiritual gift to be used in the church.  It is to be used in some kind of service for the Lord.  Peter said it in 1 Peter 4:10, “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God”.  That is why I can say that every member should be serving in one position in the church.  It isn’t just because we could accomplish so much more if we did.  It is that we are being disobedient to God when we aren’t.  

Point # 3: Know the Work of God and Do It

Text: Joshua 14:10-16, “And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the LORD spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old.  As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.  Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said.  And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance.  Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite unto this day, because that he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel.  And the name of Hebron before was Kirjatharba; which Arba was a great man among the Anakims. And the land had rest from war”.

Explanation:  Finally we see that the third characteristic of a life of faithful service is that of actually getting your hands dirty and doing the work of God until you go home.  In the work world we have this category of retirement, where you put in your time, and then you stop when you are done so you can kind of sit back and relax and enjoy life while others cater to you.  Well that is not what happens in the church.  That is not what Christians do, we never retire from serving God, it is a life long appointment and if anyone had a problem believing that we have a perfect example right here in Caleb.  Now this point isn’t just aimed at the seniors, no Caleb’s example is just as much aimed at everyone.  In church you have people that will serve from time to time, but sooner or later they will call the office and resign for one reason or another and then say that God told them to take a break or something.  Well, this example is aimed at showing them that serving God is a lifestyle, not a position, or something you do when it is convenient, or while there is a position available that you want.

            He writes, “And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the LORD spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old”.  First, notice that Caleb was very well aware who was in charge of his life.  It was God who had kept him alive all of these years and he knew it.  We can see just how long he had been serving God in this text if we look close.  Now he was obviously serving God before he was chosen to go on the mission, but since then, if we only count the time since then, he says that it had been 45 years.  Remember he was forty when he went out on this mission, and now he was 85 years old.  But even at this age, listen to how he was not only clear as to what the work of God was, but that he was ready to do it.  He writes, “As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.  Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said”.  He was strong because God gave him strength.  He was willing to go to battle to get his inheritance because that was his Master’s will.  He was dependent upon God’s presence and His help to get him through.  And even in all of this, he was still dependent upon the Word of God.  He said, “if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said”.  Time wasn’t the issue, God’s will was. 

Illustration:  Fred Craddock, in a message to ministers, once said: “To give my life for Christ appears glorious. To pour myself out for others…to pay the ultimate price of martyrdom – I’ll do it. I’m ready, Lord, to go out in a blaze of glory…it would be easy to go out in a flash of glory; it’s harder to live the Christian life little by little over the long haul.” He then tells a story about a wealthy man who handed his pastor a check for fifty thousand dollars. The pastor looked at it and then handed it back to the man and said: “Go cash it in for quarters or dollars and spend fifty cents or a dollar at a time doing the Lord’s work.” The man was flustered and said, “But that will take the rest of my life!” “Precisely,” replied the pastor. “That’s the point.” Incidentally, now that I’ve made the point, if you have a check for $50,000 we’d gladly accept it to help pay off the Family Life Center!

Application:  We have to be like Caleb and have a servant’s spirit.  A servant is looking for the end, he is looking to please his master and to fulfill his will.  In the church, God has called us to a life of service.  Paul calls the church a body, and describes the church working together like a body.  Just as a body is affected when one part stops working, so the church body is affected when one part stops working.  Now bodies don’t start and stop, they start and they keep going to the end.  Many of you this morning have been serving God in the church since you got saved.  You are like Caleb and you have persevered.  The question this morning though is why are you doing it?  Do you do it with a servant’s spirit?  You say Brother Mark how will I know if I am doing it with a servant’s spirit?  Does your service bring you joy?

Conclusion / Invitation:  As we move forward into 2009 we are considering those things that need to be at the center of our focus on a church level, on a family level, and really on an individual level.  We want to follow the pattern of the bible and make sure that church is in fact an essential part of our lives, and not just something extra.  Remember church should be more like a heart and less like a kidney in our lives.  You can live without a kidney, but not without a heart.  This morning we have looked at one of the critical aspects of our focus, and that is serving God with our lives.  Right now there are openings all over the place.  If you are physically able, and if you are a believer that has been changed by God’s grace, then you should be serving.  Not to please me, or others, but because that is God’s design, and God’s will for your life and for the life and health of His church.

September Is Marriage Month

September is marriage month.  What does that mean?  Well, it means that on Sunday mornings I will be preaching four consecutive sermons on the Biblical picture of marriage.  This is a series for everyone, whether married, single, or otherwise.  I intend to take a little less traditional approach, and to focus more on the spiritual side of the marriage relationship as it is described in the Word of God.  That means it won’t be a series on how to fix your wife, or your husband, or even how to do marriage better.  In fact, I will take care of that assumption right away.  Instead, I will be preaching about the four most critical aspects of Christian marriage.

• Sermon #1 is entitled, “The Command of Marriage”.  We will be looking at just how God designed marriage in the first place.  That will take us to Genesis chapter two.
• Sermon #2 is entitled, “The Covenant of Marriage”.  The working subtitle is, “Marriage is not about being or staying in love”.  We will be going to Ephesians chapter five and looking at the covenant design of marriage.
• Sermon #3 is entitled, “The Challenge of Marriage”.  The working subtitle is, “When sinners say “I Do”.  We will be going to 1 Timothy chapter one and looking at a very important statement that Paul made to Timothy and considering how it applies to the marriage relationship.
• Sermon #4 is entitled, “The Charge of Marriage”.  Here will will be looking at the productive purpose of marriage.  This will take us to the Old Testament where we will look at God’s spiritual plan for the family.

In the evenings, during the discipleship hour, we will be watching a video conference on marriage from one of the best biblical counselors around today.  The series will cause us to reflect upon the morning sermons and to reevaluate some things that we have assumed and taken for granted for a long time.  I believe that this series will be VERY helpful for everyone. 

And finally, on Sunday October 4th, in the pm service, we will be having a renewal of vows ceremony!  It wil be open to all married couples and it should be a special time.  Please keep your eye out for more information to come as we put the final details together. 

My prayer is that our church would be filled with God honoring, Christ exalting, disciple producing marriages that closely match the Biblical model.