Much of my conversations with Christians are centered on pressing them deeper into the sovereignty of God.  I spend more time on that, perhaps, because it is so seldom preached fully from the pulpit.  I tend to focus mostly on the God’s sovereignty over all of creation, over sin, over suffering, and over salvation.  Today, however, I want to focus in on how God’s sovereignty rules to establish joy in the heart of a believer.  This joy, the joy that existed before all of creation within God Himself in fullness, is where our fight for faith begins and ends anew, each day.  How great news is it then, that through the gospel of Jesus Christ, God has sovereignly ordained that we would conquer sin.  This sovereign conquering is not through the law, that is behavior modification, like the pharisees who Jesus called “whitewashed tombs”, but we conquer sin with regenerate hearts as a new creation, a new heart that burns for one thing, joy in the glory of God.

So, we’re going to start with the gospel, and then look at three ways, God has sovereignly ordained a joy that conquers sin; a joy that is true, a joy that is everlasting, and a joy that is full.

1 Corinthians 15:1-11 – “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you— unless you believed in vain.  For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.  Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.  Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.  For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.  But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.  Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.”

If you love God, if there is a desire in your heart for Him where you are continually turning from the world, and are embracing the Sovereign God of Creation, the gospel is your foundation.  What is the gospel?  It is the good news that while we were and are today, sinners, Christ died for our sins; that in Him, through Him, by Him, we might become the righteousness of God.  Now, everything, even our desire to pursue God, to work will all our might as Paul says above, is not of ourselves – it is the grace of God.  If you love God today, praise the Lord, that is not from you it is the grace of God.  If you want to kill sin in your life to the glory of God, praise the Lord, that is not from you it is the grace of God.  If God is revealing more of Himself to you through the Spirit over meditation on God from His Word, praise the Lord, that is not from you it is the grace of God.  If you are beginning to know what it means that the Joy of the Lord is your strength (Neh 8:10), praise the Lord, that is not from you it is the grace of God.  The gospel is for us who are being saved, the joy in knowing that we have no hope in ourselves, no good in ourselves, no right to salvation in ourselves, but that God in His mercy according to His sovereign plan for His glory, has saved us.  He has made righteous the unrighteous.  We have been justified through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ.  And this is good news – Romans 8:29-31 – “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” 

The gospel, the hope of the glory of God, is the source of our joy – and it is unshakable only if it rests in the hands of a sovereign God.  It does.  Therefore, with a firm foundation for our joy in the finished work of Christ, we are able to move forward to look at the first way the sovereign joy of God is supreme – it is true.  A quick side note here, is that when I use the words joy and happiness, I do not make a differentiation between them.  Some have said that happiness is temporal, and joy is eternal, but the Bible doesn’t seem to make that differentiation, so I will use the words interchangeably to mean the same thing.

Every perceived joy that the world offers is a lie – money, fame, power, sex, all of these things promise happiness.  Money promises happiness, but what about when the economy tanks, and creditors start calling, or a house is repossessed.  What happens when all of the “free time” you had previously is spent managing the wealth you have accumulated.  If you talk to some investment bankers sometime, yes they’ll make an enormous salary, but they also work 90 hours a week and never see their family.  Is that true happiness?  Fame – as quickly as it comes it fades.  That personal time and space previously enjoyed is now ever absent.  You cannot go anywhere without being accosted by a fan or critic.  You try to spend time alone with your family, only to see pictures show up everywhere in magazines.  Is that true happiness?  Power will bring happiness right?  The ability to control your surroundings to your liking… only with power you are never sure of the affection of others.  Are those around you there because they want to be, or simply because you cause them to be, or because they want the power you currently hold?  Constantly you are at risk of those around you seeking to seize the power you have, you are constantly having to work to try to hold things together.  Is that true happiness?  Sex is happiness right?  Setting aside physical dangers, what is the emotional impact of sex idolized?  What happens when the one gift, that was meant to unite two people together is constantly thrown away with people you are not married to?  When one craving can only give rise to another, and there is no end, no true lasting satisfaction, is that happiness?  Is that joy?  The whole book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible was written by Solomon, who had more money, more fame, more power, and more sex, than you can possibly imagine.  After indulging in all the world could offer, you would think that Solomon would be the happiest person in the world, right?  No, in the end He said it was all vanity – there was no substantive happiness to be had.

There is only one joy, that is true, that delivers what is promised and more.  Knowing God.  Delighting in God for God.  There will never be an instance in which one pursues delight in God, obtains happiness in knowing Him, and then is no longer happy in that intimacy/knowledge of God.  The joy of God always delivers, His joy is true.  Put another way, all other joy and happiness in the world, is only true, insomuch as it draws us into a closer intimacy with the one true joy – the joy that has existed eternally in the triune God.

The second way the sovereign joy of God is supreme is that it is an everlasting joy.  I won’t go through the same exercise as above to point out the fallacies (lies) that our sin tells us about how happiness can be found apart from God.  We all know that tomorrow is not guaranteed.  Fame, money, power, sex, health, intelligence, even life itself can all be stripped away at a moment’s notice, and their “joy” with them.  The joy of God is everlasting.

Matthew 6:19 – “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”

Isaiah 51:11 – “And the ransomed of the LORD shall returnand come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;they shall obtain gladness and joy,and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

The third way the sovereign joy of God is supreme is that it is a fullness of joy.  We cannot fathom what great joy exists within God.

Just as how Isaiah, a mighty prophet of God, was overcome to see the glory of the righteousness of Jesus Christ enthroned in Heaven in Isaiah 6:1-5 – “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:  “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”  and the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”  Isaiah literally called for God to curse Him (called for Christ’s woe) for being unrighteous – He was undone by the sight of God.  Whatever idea of righteousness Isaiah had previously, He now realized that his very best righteousness was filthy compared the righteousness of God.  He writes later in Isaiah 64:6-7 – “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.  We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.  There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.”

Just as Isaiah was able to see the fullness of the righteousness of God, and was undone by it, we were created to know the fullness of the joy of God.  What a joy it is!  The joy of God is unlike anything we can imagine, infinitely greater than whatever can be conceived.  Jesus Christ is a treasure worth crucifying the world over – worth leaving everything behind, and consider it loss for the joy of knowing Christ Jesus as Lord.  Jesus spoke His Word to us, that His joy, the fullness of joy, might be manifested in us.

John 15:9-11 – “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.  If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.  These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” 

Immediately before, Jesus gave the grounding for the fullness of joy – John 15:3 – “Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.”  Following the commandments of God is not a separate work to gain more joy, following the commandments of God are a fruit of a heart that delights in God, is joyful in God, is resting Christ’s atoning work on the cross. 

Therefore, my encouragement to you for your joy is the same.  Press the gospel into your heart continually – you are clean because of the faith given to you by God in the Word of Jesus Christ – the gospel.  Know that the same God who is all powerful and sovereign over creation and salvation, is sovereign and all powerful to work in your heart to increase your joy in Him.  It would seem unnecessary that I should encourage you to pray for your own joy, but that is my encouragement.  Pray, study, and do everything in your power to push hard after the joy of God.  Christianity is not about moving away from joy, but to pursue the One where true joy can be found – God.  

Psalm 37:4 – “delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart” – true joy, everlasting joy, and the fullness of joy. 

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Why is there such disagreement over what is good?  How can one culture see the flying of a plane into a building as “good”, while another condemns it as pure evil?  How would you define “good”?

The Bible tells us that “good” is not merely an idea, or one person’s moral convictions; the essence of good is God Himself.  Therefore, it should not be surprising at Jesus’ response to “the rich young ruler” in Mark 10:18 – “Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”  It’s important to differentiate between “relative good” and “absolute good”, or the “essence of good”.  Now, we all know some people who do things worse than us, thus relative to them we might call ourselves “good”.  Jesus, however, is holy.  He is absolutely the essence of good.  1 John 1:5 – “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”  Therefore, while we may be good relative to one another, none of us approaches the “goodness” of God.  When the prophet Isaiah is confronted with a vision of Christ on His throne, He describes two angels circling Christ crying out – “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”  In Hebrew, when a word is repeated twice, it’s like our use of the word “very”, but when a word is repeated three times, it is meant to describe the very essence of a thing.  Even the word holy means to be separate.  God, as the very essence of holiness, is good in a way none of us can fully fathom, because we are all sinners.  There will be a day when we will be without sin, and able to delight fully in the holiness of God, but that is another topic for another day.  So God alone is good.

Where does this leave us?  As fallen sinners, we begin with acknowledging that our definition of “good” is deficient, and that only God is truly good.  Therefore, we cannot sit in judgment of the “goodness” of God who is eternal, omnipotent, all-knowing, and the very essence of good, when we don’t even know the meaning of the word.  He is good.  If you want to know what is truly good, look to the One who is good, Jesus Christ.  What do you see?  You see a man who lived to the glory of God in all things.   You see this plainly from the High Priestly prayer of Christ in John 17

Vs 3-6 – “this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.  “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world.”

Therefore, only what is done to the glory of God can be viewed as good.  How does this redefine “good” for us?  The God who created all things, who holds all things in His power, guides the steps of man to accomplish His glory in all things.

Proverbs 16:9 – “The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps” 

James 4:13-15 – “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.”

In this way, even what is evil to us, is good to God, in that it will be used for His glory.  Let me explain this another way, when I sin, my sin will ultimately be used to the glory of God, either through the mercy extended through Christ to me as a believer, or through the display of the righteous judgment of our holy God against my sin.  Sin, suffering, the entirety of God’s plan of judgment and redemption through Christ from the dawn of time until its close will all have worked together perfectly for the glory of God.  After Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, and they feared his retribution, his response was full of the knowledge of the goodness of God – Genesis 50:20 – “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” God purposed Joseph’s brothers to sell him into slavery, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that he would not allow the Israelites free from Egypt (Exodus 9:12, Romans 9), God led Adam to fall – why?  Because He was looking towards the glory of the Jesus Christ crucified!   Is that hard to take in?

Isaiah 55:8-10 – “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Some will say then, well I will continue in sin, since all will be used for the glory of God, to which I would respond, yes, God will be glorified in your judgment…  Hope you brought your SPF 1,000,000 sunscreen! No, that response is ridiculous.  No one who has tasted the goodness of the glory of God can continue in sin – we see that sin separates us from God, our delight, and that Jesus died to reconcile us to a holy God. Why would we forgo a treasure to run back to garbage?  Why would we turn from joy back to bondage to death?

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 – “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”

2 Peter 2:20-22 – “For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”

Romans 6:1-6 – “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?  May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?  Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;”

My exhortation is to purpose yourself to know the Lord.  Press on to know the Lord, that you may not hear the words “I never knew you”, but rather “well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master!”  It is for your joy that these hard truths are pressed into you, let your joy be rooted in the fullness of the glory of God.  God’s ways are higher than our ways, He is sovereign over all, He is altogether good and loving.

Grace and Peace,

Adam

Christian,

As you walk with the Lord through this life, there will be times when the darkness of sin and this world produces a weight on your soul that feels unmanageable.  Where is the delight in the Lord that had previously sustained you? The joy-filled fuel that carried you forward in faith feels so absent now, that you begin to wonder if it ever existed at all.  What do you do?  Who do you turn to?  Where do go?

If this sounds foreign to you, or if you have not experienced that kind of spiritual longing, know that you will as a Christian – those days are coming, and soon.  For those you have tasted the glory of God, to then feel His absence is difficult to bear.  Know that you are not alone; all Christians will endure times of spiritual depression from sin, a lack of spiritual disciplines, or simply by the providence of God.  We have an enemy in Satan, and he would love nothing more than to keep a Christian in spiritual darkness forever, if only to limit his/her effectiveness for the ministry of Christ.  I want to encourage you, and exhort you to prepare yourself for those times before they come upon you.  Let me share with you, how I fight the fight of faith, when I feel hopelessly lost.

First, I remind myself of the gospel, namely that Christ did not come to save the righteous, but he died to save sinners.  Moreover, He died, while we were sinners – none of my past sins, present sins, or future sins will “catch Jesus off guard”; He foreknew them all, and nailed every bit of my sin to the cross.  My salvation is secure in our Lord, Jesus Christ, and He loves me today, right where I am.

Romans 5:8 – “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

I remind myself of the character of God, and the promises of God.  God will not forsake a broken sinner, pleading for Him.  God may break us, He may feel apart for a time, but all this is to draw us closer to Him for our good.

Psalm 51:7 – “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

Matthew 5:3-6 – “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

Romans 8:28 – “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Lastly, I remind myself that no matter what I may feel, God is always with me and for me.  When I feel hopeless and powerless to fight the fight of faith, I remember that the fight is not mine, but His.  Our Savior, Jesus Christ, goes before us, and fights for us, so I place my trust in Him.

Deuteronomy 31:8 – “It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

The Lord is with you and for you.  Therefore, be encouraged to hope in Him.  Press these verses into your heart, and memorize them if you can. Prepare so that in those days to come when it feels as if the darkness will not lift, there will be a Light of the glory of God that is unshakable, immoveable and will overwhelm the darkness of your soul with joy.

Lamentations 3:22-24 – “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.””

Grace and Peace,

Adam

What is the first picture that comes to mind when you hear the word “missions”?  If you’re like me, I think about someone over in a third world country, with little food or clothing, preaching the gospel of Christ where it has not been heard.  That is true, that is one type of missions, but it certainly is not an exhaustive definition of what missions is meant to be Biblically.

In Acts 1:8 Jesus gives what is known as the great commission – “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”   That is, the gospel of Jesus was to go out, beginning in the local area, then the surrounding, and lastly to all the ends of the earth.  This charge was not given to a specific group of believers, but this ministry was given to every believer.  Therefore, each one of us is a missionary, and is responsible for entering into God’s plan to spread the gospel.

2 Corinthians 5:17-20 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.  Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

If you are a missionary, an ambassador for Christ, a good question to ask is, “what is my mission”?  Let me encourage you, that you do not need to look far to find it.  Often times, people are encouraged to go on “mission trips” to foreign countries.  Now, I do not want to discourage that practice altogether; it certainly has merit to encourage one’s faith by seeing Christ at work around the world, but we should understand that it is not really a “mission trip”.  That is not missions.

If you want to see a Biblical representation of Biblical missions, look at the apostle Paul.  Paul was called to be a missionary “to the ends of the earth”, which carried him far away from his native Israel.  That said, Paul’s mission efforts always resulted in the establishment/strengthening of a church as well as his physically being there for an extended period of time, often years.  Look at how Paul spoke to the church at Thessolonica:  1 Thessalonians 2:8-9 – “So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.  For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.”  Paul didn’t just go to Thessolonica, preach the gospel and leave; Paul formed relationships, such that you couldn’t separate his ministry of the gospel from all other parts of his life. Look again at Paul’s exhortation above to a local church at Corinth.  He was not calling the members of that church to join Him by leaving Corinth to join him, but rather, exhorting them to know that wherever God has them – they should know that they are part of God’s mission of reconciliation through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Let me put this in a 21st century context.  If you are a business person, that is your mission field.  Do everything in your power at work, to exalt the name of Jesus Christ – preaching the gospel to all who would listen.  If you are a teacher, that is your mission field.  Do everything in your power at work, to exalt the name of Jesus Christ – preaching the gospel to all who would listen.  If you are a construction worker, that is your mission field.  Do everything in your power at work, to exalt the name of Jesus Christ – preaching the gospel to all who would listen.  This holds true for every job you could think of.  God has people around you already, where you have an enduring relationship with them, who need the gospel of Christ.  God has a plan for you at work, your neighbors around your home, your family – that is your mission field.  I would be remiss if I did not also note here that if you are not called to spend your life preaching “to the ends of the Earth” you ought to be stewarding your resources to support those who do.  In every part of your life, God has people He wants to redeem, to reconcile to Himself through Christ in you.

So the question now is not “what is my mission” but how is your mission field being transformed by you?  How is the gospel transforming your life and the lives of those around you?  How often do you pray for those around you?  How are you intentionally sharing your life with others for the gospel?  God has uniquely placed you where you are for a mission that only you could accomplish; don’t minimize your mission.  Each of us has the same amount of minutes each day to spend in a ministry of reconciliation to God through Jesus Christ.

Matthew 9:36-37 – “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; thereforepray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Grace and Peace,
Adam

John 15:19-21 – “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.  Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.  But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.”

I read the warning of Jesus above and wonder; in a culture that is broken, even in the opinion of pagans, why we do not see more persecution of the church in our country?  I’ve wrestled through that question for a while, and in the end, my fear is that the reason we are largely not being persecuted, is that we are not being faithful to the Word of God.  We spoon feed people “Jesus loves you just the way you are” and portray God as being worried sick, anxious over whether or not you will be saved, hoping, just hoping that you will make a confession.  We say, oh God was just as surprised as we were when those planes flew into a building.  Really?  We push for confessions of faith, and tell people, unrepentant, mired in sin, that if they made a confession, they are saved.  This is heresy, this is blasphemy, and if we do not war against the God of American Culture, we may find that upon seeing the Lord, not only will we have lost everyone else, we too may have been deceived to believe a “different gospel”.

Galatians 1:8-10 – “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.  As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.  For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

If I’m honest with myself, I’m guilty of this too.  I have soft peddled the gospel of Christ, I have put forth a different Jesus than the God I know of the Bible because I thought people “weren’t ready” or would reject Him if I did… as if I could TRICK someone into being a true believer of Christ!  So my repentance and resolve is to preach the gospel of Christ fully, expecting persecution ahead because the Jesus I will preach will not be accepted by most.  Here we go.

Acts 17:25-26 – “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.”

God does not need you.  There isn’t some part of you, in your flesh, that God is jealous for.  God doesn’t look down on you and say, oh what a good person, I REALLY want them to know me.  At your very core, you’re a sinner.  Oh, you may be less of a sinner than your neighbor, but that’s like you throwing two scoops of kitty litter into dinner, and me only putting one… No one wants to eat that.  Even God’s desire for you is rooted in His own glory.  If God loved Adam for something aside from Himself, that would be idolatry.  Think about it.  Why does God love us?  Because we are in His Son, we manifest the love of God in Christ Jesus.  A good start to a feel good Friday message, right!

Psalm 135:6 – “Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.”
Proverbs 16:9 – “The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.”
Romans 9:9-16 – “For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”  As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”  What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!  For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”  So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.”
John 1:12-14 – “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

God is sovereign, fully in control over all His creation, and especially salvation.  Man is separate from God, and has a will, but God guides that will towards His purposes.  We experience evil, good, natural disasters, famine, war, peace.  There is a time for everything, but to God it is always good, fulfilling His purpose for His glory.  Yes, that means in ways that I do not understand, 9/11, the holocaust, all war has, is, and will be used for God’s glory in a way that God wanted those things to happen, and indeed sovereignly ordained that they did.  HE IS GOD, HE IS LORD.  Now many here, will say, well we deserve better than that.  No you don’t.  Two reasons why.

First, God is your creator.  He has a right to do whatever He wants to do, just as an artist has a right over their canvas to paint whatever they want for their joy.

Romans 9:19-24 – “You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”  Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?  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— even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?”

Second, The only thing you deserve from God from your birth is righteous wrath.  You’re a sinner.  You were a sinner from birth, and as such, the real question isn’t, why did 9/11 happen or why did the holocaust happen.  The real question is why isn’t that happening ever day, when ever breath taken by a sinner, is an affront to a holy God.  And the reality is, not only are you a sinner, you know you’re a sinner, you know that God is holy, and still you reject Him.

Romans 1:18-23 – “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.  For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.  For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.  For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”

God is not responsive, He always acts out of fullness for His glory.  He does not see time like you and I do, He is outside of time, therefore, His plan for His glory is already fulfilled.  He is not surprised by anything, nor does He want for anything.  HE IS GOD, HE IS LORD.  God is the most joyful being in all of the universe.

2 Peter 3:8 – “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”

Exodus 3:13-14 – “Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.”

God simply Is.  He is the alpha and the omega, without beginning or end.  Even time was created by Him and for Him.  Colossians 1:15-17 – “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

John 1:1 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

God is everywhere.  We are seperate from Him, but we are contained within Him.

Acts 17:27 – “‘In him we live and move and have our being’;”

Are you seeing a picture yet of who God is?  He is God, and we are not – we either reckon with Him as He is, as we are, or we perish.  None of us have any hope within ourselves.  This sovereign, all powerful, ever-present God has an infinite passion for His glory, and every moment of every day from the day you were born, you have sought to rob the glory of God, to exalt yourself.

Matthew 23:12 – “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” 

If you reject this God, for a “feel-good” God of your own making, two things will happen.  1)  You will rob yourself of the peace and joy that God means for you to have in intimate fellowship with Him  2)  You will hear these words from the Living God one day – Matthew 7:23 – “‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'” 

Oh that we would not be a generation that seeks to have our ears tickled by “funny pastors” or seek “our best life now”, but that we would be marked by our joy in knowing the One True God, Jesus Christ.  I guarantee you, Jesus is not the Jesus you’ve seen pictures of, I guarantee you Jesus isn’t the Jesus that is preached at most churches on Sundays, but the Truth of who He is, while terrifying, is more glorious, more capable of producing awe-inspired joy, than any Jesus substitutes.  My exhortation to you is this, commit to know the Lord.  Stop resting on a “confession”, resist the apathy of “becoming a better you”, and press on to know the risen Lord, Jesus Christ from the Bible.

Philippians 3:12-16 – “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.  Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do:forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.  Only let us hold true to what we have attained.”

Know that I love you all.  My hope and prayer is that we would all be of the same Spirit, pursuing the glory of God in Jesus Christ, preaching the gospel to all, and running the race well that has be set before us.  Expect persecution, but press on towards the goal, Christ is a treasure worth whatever the cost.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Why is there more hope for a thief than a pharisee?  One knows they are a broken, sinner.

Mark 2:17 – “And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”  

When you meet God in His Word, and you see the holiness of God, you can respond in a few different ways.  One is to ignore Him, and continue on about your life.  (These are non-believers)  Another is to acknowledge that God is holy, you are not, and call Him savior, but continue on with your life largely unaffected.  (These are non-believing Cultural Christians)  Another is to work with all your might to try to make yourself holy like God is holy.  (These are non-believing pharisees)   Finally, the last way one can respond is to see their sinful depravity (hopelessness) before a holy God, and call on the name of the Lord to save them.  These then pursue God’s holiness not in their own strength, but in the strength provided by their savior, through faith in His finished work on the cross.  (These are Christians)

Luke 18:10-14 – “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’  But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

You must be broken to be healed.  Put another way, you have to feel the weight of sin, before Christ can remove it.  If you do not feel the weight of your own sin, what is Christ saving you from?  Until you lose all hope, you cannot find hope in Christ.  You must be broken.  This is why Jesus began His beatitudes with “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3)  If you read Paul’s letter to the Church at Rome, the first 3 chapters are intended to accomplish 1 goal – to establish that all men are sinners from birth, and without any hope in themselves to be spared the wrath of God.

Do you mourn your sin?  Are you broken over it?  I fear that the primary reason many people are “broken” over their sin is primary due to the consequences it brings.  If that is the extent of brokenness over your sin, something is very wrong.  Either you need to be reminded of the gospel, that your sins were not forgiven, they were placed on Christ on the cross, or you have to ask yourself a hard question about whether you love your sin more than God.  My hope and prayer is that your love for God, from His Word, is greater than that.

For those whose hope is found in Christ, know that your entire life will be a cycle of sin and repentance (you will never be sinless, but you should sin less).  They more you see and understand of the holiness of God, the more of your own failings will be exposed.  Know that Christ is only a hope for those who reckognize their need to be forgiven, and even that is a gift from God.  Pray for conviction, pray to be broken that God might heal you.  Be encouraged by the prophet Hosea 6:1-3 – “Come, let us return to the LORD For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.  “He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him.  “So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD His going forth is as certain as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain watering the earth.”  

Grace and Peace,
Adam

So last night I was reading through the book of Joshua, and was just blown away by how rich that text is with gospel allegory.  I was so encouraged, that it was difficult for me to stop reading.  I even woke up early this morning, excited about how God would continue His revelation there.  It’s amazing the gift we have to be on this side of the cross in time.  We can read the Old Testament books, and see how everything was pointing to Christ.  The Old Testament depictions of God are so very helpful, because they display vividly God’s holiness and justice, but also his mercy and love.

I have to say, my own emotions ran the gambit as I read through Joshua 3-4 (the main text for today’s WFTD) and then onward through Joshua; at times, frozen in the fear of the Lord, our God, who is an all consuming fire, who in perfect holiness, unleashes holy wrath against sin, and at other times, amazed with joy that given the sin of man, God has made a way for us to be reconciled to Him to enjoy Him forever.  Although I am not a vocational preacher, this is one time where I wish I could preach this, rather that write, because it is that good; it has that much richness to produce brokeness from sin, and joy in Christ.  I will settle, however, to by God’s grace lift Christ up to you from His Word, and exhort you to make your own study of this text.  I have an eager expectation that God will work in you through this text as He has done in me.

What is the gospel?  The Gospel is that man through the sin of Adam, was separated from God, dead in our trespasses; but God, being rich in love and mercy, made a way for us to be reconciled to Him, through faith alone in the righteousness of His son, the work of Jesus Christ on the cross to bear our sins, and the power of His resurrection.  Now, let’s look at Joshua.

A quick background on where we enter into Joshua 3.  Moses has lead the people of Israel out of Egypt, through the wilderness (40 years), and Moses has now died.  Joshua, has been appointed by God to lead the people of Israel across the Jordan into the promised land, and now is giving instruction to the people from the Lord.

Joshua 3:1-5 – “Then Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out from Shittim. And they came to the Jordan, he and all the people of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over.  At the end of three days the officers went through the camp and commanded the people, “As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it.  Yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about 2,000 cubits in length. Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.”  Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.”

I’ve got about a hundred different things I would love to point out here, but my first and primary task is to show you the gospel of Christ here.

1)  The people of Israel represent those who would place their faith in Christ – believers, who are saved by grace alone through faith alone, in Christ alone.  Romans 9:6-8 – “For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.”

2)  The people waited for 3 days before crossing over the river.  Jesus Christ was crucified, dead and buried for 3 days, before He rose from the grave, giving the hope of salvation to all who would believe on Him.  Mark 8:31 – “And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.”

3)  The people would had to look on the ark to know how they were to cross into the promised land.  The ark was made of acacia wood, overlain with gold symbolizing the God-man Christ.  It contained the Word of God, the 10 commandments, just as Jesus Christ is the Living Word.  (John 1)

4)  A new way was made for the people of Israel into the promised land, a way that none had ever been before; a way that none of them could have gone before.  John 14:5-6 – “Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” 

Now Joshua continued to give instructions to the people of Israel:

Joshua 3:9-17 – “And Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God.” And Joshua said, “Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites.  Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan.  Now therefore take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe a man.  And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.”  So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho. Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.”

5)  In explaining this last (most important) piece of the gospel, my encouragement is to read slowly, and pray fervently, that God would guide you into all truth.  That’s my way of saying I hope you’re hungry, cause this is gonna be meaty.  When it says that the waters of the Jordan rose up in a heap at Adam, cutting off all the water beyond, that is a picture of Christ, the second Adam, heaping up all of the sin from Adam to us forever, and taking it upon Himself.  Whereas Adam sinned, and all mankind was judged guilty in Him, everyone found in Christ is declared righteous, as He is righteous.  There will be no unrighteous people in Heaven, and God’s righteousness is perfect, unlike any that fallen man could ever muster.

Romans 5:12-17 – “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.  But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.  And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.  For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.”

Each of us, are born into iniquity.  Psalm 51:5 – “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,and in sin did my mother conceive me.”  None of us does good, or seeks after God.  Romans 3:10-12 – “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.  All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”  Our sin, and God’s righteous wrath against us is set from our birth; we are not sinners primarily because we sin (actions) we are sinners because, as descendents of Adam, we are sinners (being).  Thus we are born cut off from God, without any hope, with only the fearful expectation of the wrath of an all powerful God who we have offended infinitely every moment of our life.  It is only when one feels the weight of their lostness, that they will know the weight of the glory of God in Jesus Christ and all that He is for us.

Let me say it this way; if I tried to cross the Jordan, my feet would be wet.  The ground that all of Israel walked across on was completely dry.  God did, for Israel, what they could not do on their own.  They would not even have been able to begin, they can only boast in the Lord.  My “righteousness” is like filthy rags before a holy God.  If you have no fear of God, you do not know Him.  He is an all consuming fire.  If you do know the fear of the Lord, then you can fully delight in our risen Savior Christ.  Matthew 7:13-14 – “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, andthose who find it are few.”  Jesus is the way, a way you have not passed before, but He is the way to truth and life. 

Grace and Peace,
Adam

When people are defending the deity of Christ, usually they will point to one of two things; either His miracles or His resurrection from the dead.  (usually the latter)  What has been pressing on me though lately, is how unbelievable the love of God is.  How about the love of Christ as evidence for His deity?  It’s easy for me to understand the wrath of God – I know my own wickedness, I see the wickedness of others, and God is holy.  How can God love like He does?  Have you ever stopped to think about what it meant for Christ to know all throughout His ministry that He would be betrayed by Judas, yet at no time did He strike out against him.  Every one of the other 11 disciples fled from Jesus when He was arrested, yet Jesus at every moment lovingly cared for them.  No fallen man could act this way.

Romans 5:6-8 – “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

God didn’t die for a better version of you, Christ died for you, the sinner, the mocker in the crowd as they led Him to be crucified.  Do you realize how much you’ve sinned in the last 6 months, 1 month, 1 day, 5 minutes?  You are covered in Christ’s blood.  When Christ died for you, He took with Him your yesterday, today, and tomorrow sins, that you would be reconciled to God.  What depth of love is this?

If Christ is in you, as the Holy Spirit, His love will manifest through you.  This is why it can be said that the whole of the law is to love the Lord God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul, and all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself – and then turn around in 1 John 5 and say that the commandments of God are not burdensome.  The love of Christ is for you, with you, and in you.  No one could love like this Man.  This love is greater than we can know completely; but what we know in part now, we will know fully one day.

Romans 8:38-39 – “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Grace and Peace,
Adam

As I write this, I’m eyeing a mini bag of skittles that have been tempting me from a shelf on my desk for some time now.  The shiny red wrapper alludes to the sugary deliciousness within.  Now I realize that these Skittles are horrible for my body.  In truth, I cannot imagine any edible item that would be much worse for me from a health perspective.  So I am in a quandary.  Do I shun my carnal craving for sugar, or do I indulge in this sumptuous sugary snack?

Some would be quick to point me to 1 Cor 6:19 that says our body is a temple, and thus I should do everything within my power to steward it well.  Others would point me to Galatians 5, that it was for freedom that Christ set us free, enjoy!  Setting aside, that I would say both those scriptures would be largely taken out of context if applied to my Skittles dilemma, (1 Cor is largely referring to abstaining from sexual immorality, and Gal 5 is speaking against legalism, but not wisdom)  neither scripture by itself is sufficient to give me a peace about what God would have me do.  So where do I turn?

Thankfully I have the whole counsel of God’s Word to reach into.  My purpose in life is to love God by knowing Him, and making Him known in my life for my joy and God’s glory.  So what does the whole counsel/revelation of God have to say on this? After all you never want to form an entire theology around one or two verses.

Colossians 2:20-23 – “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— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” ( referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings?  These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.”

So I can have my skittles now, right?  Well let’s continue, lest we be hasty.

1 Corinthians 6:12 – “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be enslaved by anything.”

So the first question to ask myself, is, does my craving for Skittles rise to the level of slavery?  Can I deny myself Skittles, or is there a bondage developing?  If the good news of the gospel is reconciliation to God through Jesus Christ, are my skittles a means of affection for God, or robbing affection away from Him?  If not an idol, it would seem from this one text permissible to enjoy my tasty treat, as all things are lawful.

Romans 14:1-3 – “As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.  One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.  Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.”

It’s important to note here, that a cross reference would be Daniel 1, where Daniel and his believer friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah chose not to eat the food and wine given to them by the King Nebuchadnezzar, who had conquered them in Jerusalem.  Instead they ate only vegetables and water.  Likewise people (1 Cor 8) in the New Testament were not eating meat that was seen as “unclean” due to the type of food or from its being sacrificed to an idol.  What Romans 14 and 1 Cor 8 are saying is that it is not by the act that one is defiled (sinning), but the heart is where one sins.  Therefore, one could be sinning by eating (a glutton, etc.) or one could be sinning by not eating (self-righteous, seeking to merit favor with God).  Ultimately, the heart is the real question.

Romans 14:13,17 – “Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.” “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

Do you know that someone is an alcoholic?  Do not allow your freedom to be a stumbling block for him/her by downing 3 beers in their face.  Do you know someone who pursues joy in food rather than the Lord?  Don’t invite them out for ice cream.  This is loving your neighbor as yourself, and is in pursuit of peace and joy.  If I know my friend is a recovering Skittle-holic, I should refrain from telling them about how delicious they are as I finish off my bag in front of them.

Romans 14:20-23 – “Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats.  It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.  The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves.  But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.”

So where does this leave us?

1)  All things are permissible, but we are called to be wise, always seeking the glory of God
2)  We should not quarrel with one another over actions, rather question the heart that produces it
3)  We should resolve not to be a stumbling block to the faith of another (here is for the individual to come to a peace about what this means with God, such that they can take joy in their actions to the glory of God)
4)  Whatever decision we have a peace with from 1-3, we should do in faith, trusting that our hope is in Christ alone.

Where does this leave me?

I’m enjoying my delicious pack of Skittles – taste the rainbow.

Grace, Peace, and Joy,
Adam

There is one truth that has been continually present in my own life as I pursue God in His Word – I am confronted with how wicked I truly am.  Some of you who know me might be saying “I could’ve told him that”, but let’s just give one example – The Bible tells me I should love my neighbor as myself.  The problem is, I don’t.  I would question the honesty of anyone who said they truly did all the time.  We see in how we spend our time and money that we value our own comfort above those around us.  How did we get to be so selfish?  Was this something we were taught?  Is it televisions fault?  Was it our parents fault?

The reality for anyone who has children or has been around children for any amount of time, is that you can see this behavior from the earliest of age.  While it’s true that society, parents, friends, and others may have a negative influence over us, they are not establishing our bent toward selfishness, only reinforcing it.  They may plant seeds, but the soil of our soul was already sinful.

Professing Christians even want to inject themselves into salvation by saying “I accepted Jesus Christ as my savior” or “I put my trust in Jesus”.  Now, if they are talking about their experience, then ok, but if they mean that they believe they actually did something in themselves to “effectualize” salvation for themselves, I would want to ask them a question.  Can an orange come from an apple tree?  Can a leopard change his spots?  How then could you, being a sinner, awaken yourself to see the glory of God in Jesus Christ, and follow Him?  You couldn’t.  Can’t happen.  Some people say that Jesus died for every sin, except for the sin of unbelief.  Well if that’s true, we’re all in big trouble, we’re all going to hell.  Why?

Genesis 6:5 – “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Romans 3:10-12 – “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.  All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

If we as man, are left alone to “choose to believe”, then no one will.  The good news of the gospel is that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  There is NOTHING good in you, that is in your flesh.  Why is this good news?  When Christ died on the cross, He ACTUALLY saved you.  In that moment, every one of your sins past, present, and future (most importantly your unbelief) were crucified on a cross, that our boast before God would not be that “we chose right”, but that Jesus Christ has saved us.

So why evangelize?  God has chosen to sanctify us, and glorify Himself, through using us as ambassadors for Christ.  We are the means  by which God will call many to Himself.  It means that when I preach the gospel, I am not anxious over my word choice, to wonder if someone will make a “decision”, but I am wholly confident that from beginning to end, God is the author of salvation.

Philippians 1:6 – ^“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” 

God began the work of salvation, and He will complete it in the presence of the Lord.  When you see Him, you will be like Him.

1 Corinthians 13:12 – “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”

Philippians 3:20-21 – “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”

So if we die, and we find ourselves in hell, whose fault is that?  Our fault.  If we die and find ourselves in the presence of the Lord for eternity, whose fault is it that?  God’s fault.   No one comes to the Lord willingly; He (she) is ripped from the bondage of sin, given a new heart with new affections for the risen Lord, Jesus Christ, to delight in obedience to Him and fellowship with Him.  Even the words spoken to confess Jesus Christ as Lord are given to a person, not by the flesh, but by the Spirit that now indwells him (her).  1 Corinthians 12:3 – “Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.”

My hope is for your hearts to be encouraged, that from beginning to end, God is the author of salvation, 100%.  Let your assurance rest solely in the work of Christ.  Let your boast be not in a confession, but the finished work of Jesus Christ.  Dwell on His finished work, and let your love for Him be manifested to those around you.  “It is Finished”.  God did not die to make us saveable, but He actually saved us.  Let us each, be eager for all those around us to know the Lord, and trust in the goodness of God in salvation.  10 people will hear the gospel, to 9 it will be foolishness, to 1 it will be the means God uses to lift the veil from their eyes to know their God.

Grace and Peace,
Adam