“The LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”  – Deut 4:24

“Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all around.  His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles.  The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.” – Psalm 97:2-5

“The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty.  His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.  He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; he dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither; the bloom of Lebanon withers.  The mountains quake before him; the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who dwell in it.  Who can stand before his indignation?  Who can endure the heat of his anger?  His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.”  – Nahum 1:2-6

There is nothing that God hates more than sin and you have been a sinner from the moment you were born.  In Nahum we are told that the LORD will by no means clear the guilty, and every one of you are guilty.  Every waking moment of every one of your days has only served to increase your guilty before a holy and righteous God.  His judgments are true, there is no injustice in Him, therefore all should tremble.  If all of creation is but the fringes of God’s power, imagine every ounce of God’s power being poured out in wrath against the unrighteousness of sinners… sinners like you… sinners like me, for eternity.  That is the weight of God’s glory.  If that scares you, it should, it does me.  We should all fear God, but we should not live in fear.  We have an advocate in God’s courtroom.  His name is Jesus Christ, and for those who trust Him, we have a greater hope than we could imagine. 

In Christ, we have a righteousness that is not our own.  Your righteousness is not within you, your righteousness is Christ.  It is an amazing thing to truly rest in the peace of Jesus Christ crucified.  The joy found in Him can only be understood by those who truly understand the wrath of God, the atonement of our sins by the righteous One – Christ, and the imputation (gift) of Christ’s righteousness to all who believe on Him. 

John Bunyan wrote a book in the 1600’s called “The Pilgrim’s Progress”.  It has sold more copies of any book in history except for the Bible.  In it Bunyan describes a point in time where the burdens of questioning his salvation were loosed from him:

One day as I was passing into the field . . . this sentence fell upon my
soul. Thy righteousness is in heaven. And . . . I saw with the eyes of
my soul Jesus Christ at God’s right hand; there, I say, was my righteousness;
so that wherever I was, or whatever I was doing, God
could not say of me, he [lacks] my righteousness, for that was just
before him. I also saw, moreover, that it was not my good frame of
heart that made my righteousness better, nor yet my bad frame that
made my righteousness worse, for my righteousness was Jesus Christ
himself, “The same yesterday, today, and forever.” Heb. 13:8. Now
did my chains fall off my legs indeed. I was loosed from my afflictions
and irons; my temptations also fled away; so that from that
time those dreadful scriptures of God [about the unforgivable sin]
left off to trouble me; now went I also home rejoicing for the grace
and love of God


Some will hear this gospel of salvation to all who believe on Christ, and reject it outright.  Others will acknowledge it casually and move on with their lives.  But for those who believe, our faith is credited to us as righteousness and we will never be the same.  We are a new creation in Christ.  We have forgotten what lies behind, to press on to know Him more.  We have died to ourselves so that Christ might live in us.  What a salvation!  Our hunger to know this great savior and Lord that is insatiable.  There is no end to His glory to know and delight in.  This is what He offers all who follow Him.   
 
Jesus died, that we might live.  God raised Him, so that we would know the hope of eternal life in Christ Jesus.  Our salvation is not an idea, it is a fact.  We have been saved; 2000 years ago, on a cross Jesus Christ died and rose again securing salvation.  He became sin (our sin), bore the full wrath of God, and died in our place… but the grave could not hold Him!  His righteousness was greater than our sin.  God raised Him, accepting His sacrifice, and he sat down at the right hand of God.  No more sacrifices needed to be made, it was finished.  These words cannot express the glory of God in salvation, but as you read, taste and see that the Lord is good with the eyes of your heart.   
 
As you walk today, and you are tempted to recall past failures or today’s struggles, when Satan would even try to convince you that your works could separate you from the love of God, speak this truth to yourself – my righteousness is not my own, my righteousness sits at the right hand of God.  Run to Him.  Wait for Him.  Wherever you are, in His presence is where you need to be.  God loves you, and knows the horrors sin will bring.  Therefore, the grace of God through Christ Jesus does not save us from the rebuke of God when we sin, anymore than a loving father would refrain from punishing a young child when he insisted on running into traffic.  But even as we bear the consequence of sin, know that our Salvation is secure in Heaven.   His name is Jesus. 

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Philippians 3:8-14 – “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.  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.”

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 – “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.  Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”

Have you ever competed in sports, or other competition?  How much time did you spend preparing?  What drove you persevere in practicing when maybe you didn’t feel like it that day?  Hopefully it wasn’t an overbearing parent.  Hopefully you know what it is like to persevere in pursuit a personal goal.  The same discipline that you had in pursuing those goals is the same discipline with which we must pursue our salvation, as we seek to conform our lives into the image of Christ. 

If you want to get in better physical shape, what do you do?  Do you sit back and hope that you have good genes to magically stay in shape regardless of your effort?  Obviously, no.  Why then do some Christians take that approach with their spirituality?  Sometimes it’s helpful to see pictures, but since I’m limited in that regard through email, I’ll simply give an example of two Christians side by side.

Christian A:
Chooses to wake up an hour earlier each day to read His/Her Bible and pray
Chooses to get involved in an evangelistic/service ministry that is near to his/her heart
Chooses to get a spiritual mentor / be held accountable
Chooses to spend 1-2 hours at night in study of God’s word or other Christian (Biblical expository) books
Chooses to memorize scripture even though it might not be easy
Chooses to identify current sin struggles, how temptation strikes, and seeks to proactively defend against (or run from) temptation and kill sin
Chooses to get into Christian community with people who are different from him/her and take the risk of being known fully
Chooses a church (and actually becomes a member/active) where they are challenged spiritually from God’s Word
Chooses to earnestly seek after God in prayer daily

Christian B:
Goes to Church
Prays sometimes
Reads their Bible on occasion

Does this mean that Christian B isn’t saved?  Maybe, maybe not.  I can give you a 100% guarantee, however, that Christian A over time is going to be increasingly conformed into the image of Christ.  I could not give that same assurance to Christian B.  This makes sense right?  What do you think these two people are going to look like down the road after 1 year, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, 20 years?  Can you see that gap growing and growing over time?  I can. 

We are those who have trusted on our Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.  We are those who have been granted grace through his shed blood, not to continue as we were, but to pursue Him in holiness.  Is the glory of God, through your transformed life, a goal for you?  Are you seeking to be valuable to God as a worker?  Don’t allow your career, or other pursuits to draw you away from joy in God.  Pursue God with even greater vigor and discipline, knowing that our reward is eternal. 

You may be looking at the list of actions I put up there under Christian A saying “I can’t do that”.  I’ve got this, and this, and that, which keep me from having the time.  Let me say this.  If you have children, hopefully you are rearing them in the Word of God, and they are your ministry.  If you do not have children, then whatever is taking up your time, however good it may seem, is nothing more than an idol.  For me, that used to be my career; my job.  I worked in consulting, which required me to travel constantly, working sometimes until 12am, 1am even pulling an all nighter once or twice.  You know what?  I found another job.  I realize that may not be easy, especially in the current economy, but complacency will kill the heart of a Christian.  Do you know that even in pursuing a different job… during that time, it drove me closer to God?  I knew God wanted me to have that time with Him, and time for ministry, therefore even my pursuit of those things were growing my faith.  Let’s always be seeking to raise the bar for ourselves, not lower it. 

Jesus never called mere converts, Jesus called disciples.  Less of us, is more of Him.  Therefore, let each of us exercise our great freedom in Christ to discipline ourselves for Godliness.  Where do you hope to be spiritually 1 year from now?  2 years from now?  5 years from now?  10 years from now?  We all have the same ultimate goal – Jesus.  He is our treasure. He is our prize.  You will fall, it will be hard, it will be messy, but the prize is worth your perseverance.  Each day is a new day in the Lord.  Instead of looking back at days already lost, let’s ask ourselves how we are going to live today for eternity.  Work hard, and rest in the grace extended to you by the blood of Christ. 

Grace be with you,
Adam

What profit is it to know the Truth, but to be unmoved?  It is better that one never knew, than to hear, and be unchanged.  On the one hand, a person is rejecting what they do not know through their sin.  How much more then is the insult of the rejection for the person who knows God?

My exhortation for today is a call to move beyond being mere hearers of the Word, and to become doers.  Here is what you see all throughout the New Testament:  Faith alone saves you (Ephesians 2:8-9), and authentic faith is always accompanied by works that bear witness to what you believe (James 2).  This is why Jesus asks people why they call Him Lord and do not do what He says. (Luke 6:46)  If they truly believed He was Lord, they would.  That was true for the people following Christ during His earthly ministry, and it is true for those who claim to be following Him today.

Matthew 21:28-32 – “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went.  And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go.  Which of the two did the will of his father?”

John 6:27-29 – “Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doingthe works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

Matthew 28:18 – “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

What have you purposed yourself to do?  Are you driven by work, the accumulation of things, the pursuit of happiness in relationships?  These things will all pass away, and none of them will profit you eternally.  Instead, labor for those things that will bear fruit into eternity.  Pursue the Lord, and labor to be an effective minister of reconciliation.  Share the gospel.  Love the Word of God and apply it to yourself and others.  Seek not simply to make converts or gather “church buddies”, but make disciples of Christ.

When you were of the world, you sought after the things of the world, but now you are a new creation in Christ.  Those things no longer own you as they once did, but you have found a new treasure in Christ.  Therefore, let your life give rise to praise to the One who is in you by faith, Jesus Christ.  As a new creation, in Him, plow the earth of others’ hearts, that God might grant repentance and faith to some.  Make your and my joy complete, to know the surpassing worth of Christ through losing our lives to gain Him.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Romans 10:1-4 – “Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.  For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.  For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”

I have to admit, I read the above passage, and it scares me.  It makes me fearful for a large body of professing believers.  There are three main points that I want to highlight about the people Paul is talking about above.

1)  They seemingly have a passionate outward affection for God.
2)  They are seeking to be righteous
3)  They are not saved

I look at the number of church dwellers on Sunday, and I’m not even sure if many have made it as far as the people Paul is describing above.  I know a great many Christians who simply believe that because Jesus died for their sins, they can go on living in their sin and Jesus will forgive them.  That is NOT Biblical.

Hebrews 10:26-27 – “if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.” 

But we’re not talking about that group of people, we’re looking at the type of people Paul talked about above.  These were seemingly “good” and “nice” people.  These were people who showed up at church every Sunday.  These were people who held tightly to their moral convictions.  These were people who remained under the wrath of God, just as lost as the greatest sinner walking the streets.

Christianity is not about finding a better you.  Christianity is not about being a better more moral person.  Someone who believes that is missing the WHOLE point of the cross.  The point of the cross of Christ is that you aren’t a good person, you never would be, you never could be.  When you understand that not just your bad deeds, but even your best deeds are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6) in front of the righteousness of God, THEN you by God’s grace may have eyes to see your need for a savior.  I am a Christian, and when I am in front of God, should He ask me what good thing I have done, I will kneel and say meekly – nothing, but by your grace and mercy I have trusted and followed the One who is Good, Jesus, Who has ransomed me with His blood.

My exhortation is the goal of Paul above; trust only in Jesus Christ’s righteousness, not your own.  Submit fully to Him in every way, especially from His Word.  There is a right way, a wrong way, and God’s way to live life.  Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him.   Let us commit ourselves to Him, for His glory, to be a people who joyfully are led by Him into His righteousness, not our own.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

So for you following along with me for a while you’ll know that I had to take a break for a bit as I healed up from a injury to my wrist I had a couple months back playing tennis.  Well today I went to the doctor for a follow up appointment to find out that I’m going to need surgery.  This was a surprise as until today my comments from my doctor were highly favorable that surgery would be unnecessary.  The reality is that while this is extremely inconvenient to lose the use of my dominant hand for a month or two, and there are always risks associated with surgery / anesthesia, this is a very small matter compared to many people are dealing with.

I didn’t want to lose this opportunity however, to encourage you all in your faith, through my circumstance.  Here are the two things that I cling to whenever life throws me a curveball.  God is good, and He is sovereign.  I know the goodness of God from Romans 5:8, which tells me that while I was yet a sinner, Christ died for me.  While there was nothing good for me to offer God, God in His mercy humbled Himself, at great cost to Himself, and bore the wrath of God due my sin.  God is sovereign.  Even the hairs on my head have been numbered (Matt:10:30); God numbered the stars in the sky and knows each by their name (Psalm 174:4).

So it is that I can agree with the prophet Habakkuk, Habakkuk 3:17-19 – “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.  GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.”

How can I be downtrodden when the God of my salvation reigns?  Our joy does not rest in this world, but in our inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven.  When everything else is counted as loss to know the glory of God in Jesus Christ, even my sufferings will be made subservient to glorify Him for my joy.  In that I will rejoice, and my hope is that you each feels the weight of that joy as well.

Grace be with you,
Adam

Today is the last in a short series on called “Gaining through Giving”.  We’ve already answer the question of whether or not it is wrong to pursue gain through giving, by saying that it is never wrong to pursue joy in God, which is what we are doing when we are obedient to Him.  We also have looked at what it means to gain through giving up control, money, and time.  Today’s message is really the culmination of all of those things.  We are going to look at what it means to gain through giving your life.  How do you live well, and die well to the glory of God?

Mark 8:34-35 – If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.”

There is a remarkable difference between Christian martyrs and the martyrs of other religions.  In the religion of Islam, for example, the motive of their martyrs is ultimately to be accepted by their God, and the reward they will receive in heaven.  Some Christians, too, need to ask themselves some hard questions about their own desires for Heaven.  Would they be happy in Heaven with unlimited health, wealth, and being reunited with relatives if God were not there?  That’s another discussion for another day, but Christian martyrs do not die to be accepted by God, as do Muslim martyrs.  Christian Martyrs die because they are accepted by God already, and they die in trying to reconcile others to Him through the gospel.

While not all of us will be called to give up our physical lives for the gospel, we should all be willing to do so, even eager should the need arise.  Moreover we should ask ourselves how every aspect of our life is bringing glory to God through reconciling others to Him through the gospel & making disciples of Christ.  Paul isn’t being idealistic in Philippians 1:21-23 when he says “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.  If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.  I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.”  At that moment, Paul was literally jailed and there was always the possibility of His being killed for His faith.  Yet he spent that time in jail to share the gospel with his jailers, and to encourage other churches through his writing.  Even jailed Paul was still joyful in seeing the gospel proclaimed.

What is the burning center of Paul’s faith that enables Him to feel this way, and empowers Him to continue joyfully in ministry even at the risk of death?  The answer, I believe, can be found in another letter written by Paul to the church at Rome.  Romans 8:23-25 – “we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”

So for Paul, His eagerness to live for Christ, and even die to that end, is rooted in His hope for His “adoption as a son, the redemption of his body”.  What does that mean though?  Well it doesn’t mean that Paul isn’t already adopted as a son through Christ.  If Paul was talking about that, He would not use the past sense when talking about salvation – “in this hope we were saved”.  So Paul’s eagerness is not about earning or meriting salvation.  Paul is talking here about the fullness of a salvation that has already been accomplished.  We were saved by Jesus Christ on a cross 2,000 years ago, but who we are in Christ is not yet fulfilled.  We are still in bodies diseased with sin.  We are not yet holy as God is holy, but we will be.  We know God in part now through His Word, but then, we will no longer need words because we will see Him as He is.  Then we will have a fullness of knowledge.

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.”

This is what it’s all about.  A life lived in obedience to Christ, being transformed into his image, looking forward to the day when our sanctification will be complete; when our joy will be infinite in seeing and savoring the glory of God in Jesus Christ for all eternity.

Look forward a few verses to Romans 8:29-30 – “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.”

2 Corinthians 4:6 – “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

Jesus Himself prayed that we would know the glory of God through Him, for our joy.  John 17:24 – ^“Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”

Well, I wish I could continue, but again that’s probably more than enough to chew on for one day.  I hope that you’re piecing some of these things together on your own from God’s Word.  I hope that maybe you’ve gotten a taste of the joy of the knowledge of the glory of God in Jesus Christ.  If you have, dig deep there.  Everything else is a means to that end.  Everything lost will be gain if it is given up to accomplish that.  Lose your life.  Listen to God’s call on your life at work, at home, at church, among friends.  He has a call on each of us individually, that will result in our greatest joy and His glory.  Let joy in God lead you to live mightily for His name.

Nehemiah 8:10 – “do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

Grace and Peace,
Adam

If you live to be 80, you’ll have lived roughly 2.5 Billion seconds.  That sounds like a lot doesn’t it?  It becomes a smaller number when you realize that you burn through 90,000 seconds a day, or about 32 million every year.  By the time you finish reading this, another 60-600 will have flown by.  These are the moments that make up our lives.  Our most precious resource is not any material possession or money, but our time.  No matter how many pills you take, or how good of shape you’re in, your days are numbered.  So are mine, so are everyones.  Wisdom is gained through calling this to mind as you choose how you will spend the time you have.

Psalm 90:10-12 – “The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.  Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you?  So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”

It is because of the very precious nature of time, that how we spend it is immensely important.  I’ve always found personally that a gauge of a person’s convictions were not measured by the amount he/she was willing to give financially, but what amount of their time they committed to a cause.  Now the series I’ve been running through the past few times has been called “gaining through giving”.  Therefore, today I want to look at how and what we gain through giving up our time.

First I want to encourage you with two things.  You are already seeking after the Lord, otherwise nothing I have to say from the Bible would be of interest to you.  In this way you have at least apportioned some of your time to seek after Him and His will.  Secondly, none of us (except for maybe John MacArthur, I don’t think that man sleeps) submits our time to the Lord like we should.  So we’re all in this together.  Our goal is not that we would become task masters, but that we would be treasure seekers.  We don’t want to merely replace our tasks for the day, but to transform them into joy-filled duties of delight for the glory of God.

How do we get there?  Ironically the first and hardest step for most people is to simply stop for a moment.  Will you stop, even for just 30 minutes in the next week to seriously consider how you are spending your time?  It may be helpful to try to map out how much time you are spending on various things in your life, like sports, TV, work, going out with friends, etc.  Looking back on what you have written you will likely fall into one of two camps.  One, you will see a lot of empty time from watching TV, etc.  Alternatively, you will see a week that is so jammed packed, that you wonder if you should schedule your trip to the ER now when you collapse… you know, so it doesn’t conflict with everything else you have to get that day.

Here I’ll have to stop myself from wanting to exhort you to not make yourself “busy to death”, but that’s another topic.  Just know that God wants for you to have peace in your life, and it’s ok to say “no”, even to ministry opportunities.  So here is my challenge and hopefully encouragement.  You’ve stopped for a moment, you’ve got an idea of how you spend your time throughout the week; now match your time up to the Bible and the life of Jesus.  Jesus worked as a carpenter, Jesus ate and drank, and enjoyed the company of friends.  These are the things that we all share in our life, but Jesus was balanced and singular in purpose.  Moreover, Jesus lived to serve others and was at the same time the most infinitely joyful person.  Why was that?

I wish I had the time to unpack this next section of scripture more, but I can already tell I’m running long, so I’m trusting the Spirit in you to do heavy lifting.

Philippians 2:1-11 “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

3 quick things to get from the above passage

1)  Joy was the author (Paul’s) ultimate goal through exhorting the Philippians to service
2)  That singular purpose to serve towards the glory of God that was in Christ, is in every believer because Christ in the Holy Spirit is in every believer
3)  Pursuing the glory of God, even at the cost of His life was “gain” to Christ, therefore the glory of God, at any cost of time is gain to us as well (because our joy in Heaven for eternity will be enjoying, in awe, the glory of God, to which there is no end)

If you are asking yourself, well Jesus didn’t seem very joyful on the cross, did He?  Was joy in the glory of God on His mind when He went to die?  Yes.

Hebrews 12:2 – “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross”

Paul says it this way earlier in Philippians 1:21 – ^“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

My exhortation is simple, live to pursue joy in God through dying to yourself, and serving others.  Let your life sing to the glory of God, and know that your inheritance in Heaven is greater than you could imagine.  For you, maybe you need to let go of some things, and make time to serve others.  Others, you may need to trade in some time in front of the TV, for some time serving the poor.  Two things will happen when you life becomes about serving others instead of serving yourself.  One, you will find out just how selfish we all are, and God will begin to grow you.  Second you will find out how rich the glory of God is, when you lose some time, but you gain a brother or sister in Christ for eternity.

Grace be with you,
Adam

One of the great things about not being paid for ministry is that I have free reign to talk about money.  It’s amazing, few subjects compare to money at potential iliiciting a negative response, even from Christians.  You can talk about pride all day long, a lack of patience, lack of spiritual disciplines, but once you start talking to a Christian about his/her money, watch out!

Here’s the problem.  It’s not your money.  Most Christians pay lip service to that idea, but it hasn’t taken root in their lives.  When you claim that you have worked hard for your money (I hope you have), ask yourself a few questions.  Who gave you your brain?  You may have studied hard, but who gave you the ability to learn?  Who gave you your hands?  Your eyes.  Who surrounded you with opportunities so that your gifts could be put to use?

Looked at another way, if the Earth and all that it contains was created by God, how are you going to claim “ownership” of it?  Did you make the Earth?  Where were you when God molded it with His hands that you now want to lay claim to a piece of it?  God never made us owners, we are stewards.  This is the tragedy behind legalistic tithing.  People believe they’re buying off God with 10% of their money so they can be greedy and selfish with the other 90%.  That was never God’s intention.  How do you treat your money?  Do you treat it as if you own it, or how would you say you are stewarding your resources for the glory of God?

What I want to help you move beyond is seeing giving monetarily as something that is merely an act of obedience.  If you cannot give your money away joyfully, ask yourself whether your heart truly desires God.  God has given you money, not so that it would terminate on yourself, but that you have an opportunity in giving it away to reveal the worth of the glory of God, and take part in the Kingdom of Heaven.  When you give it away, be encouraged; the inheritance you’re receiving is the glory of God, which will be revealed to you when you see God fully in Heaven.

Matthew 6:24 – “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

My exhortation is to not let your pleasures be simple and small.  Do not be satisfied merely with what you can see in front of you, but seek the higher things of God.  Set your mind on growing your affections for the glory of God through giving, and at the close of your life you will not look back at rusted, deteriorated things with regret, but your eyes will be as they always have been; looking forward to the infinite glory of God.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Ephesians 5:17-18 – “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.  And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit” (also reads, do not be controlled by wine, but by the Spirit)

Romans 8:13-14 – “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”

Today’s message is about giving up control.  It’s a relatively new idea that one can accept Christ’s salvation without submitting to His will as Lord.  The reason that it is new is that you have to throw the Bible completely out the window to be able to believe such a fallacy.  When Christ calls you to Himself, He calls you to die.  This is the core of the gospel.  Before one can receive salvation, one must recognize they are a sinner, therefore under the wrath of God, and in need of salvation.  That salvation comes through Christ alone.  It is a free gift, but it is not without cost.  The cost is your flesh’s desires.  You put those to death to seek a greater treasure in Christ.  The good news of the gospel isn’t merely that you get out of hell.  God’s plans for you are infinitely greater than merely where you exist.  No, God has freed you from sin through the cross, so that you can no longer live for yourself – leading to death, but live for God leading to eternal life and peace. 

This new life that we have in Christ should be marked by a continual dying to ourselves, to gain more of Christ in us.  This was Paul’s proclamation about His own life from Galatians 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”  Paul had completely given up control of His own life, to where he no longer gave Himself any credit, but all glory was given to Christ in Him.  That is more than a statement of position through salvation, but a description of how Paul lived daily. 

I don’t think any of us truly understands the depth of our own depravity (sinful nature – to break down the Christianese).  It’s not merely that we act sinful, or do sinful things, but it’s who we are from birth.  We see this throughout scripture:

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.”

Psalm 51:5 – “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.”

Jeremiah 17:9 – “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”

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.”
We do not merely sin, we are sinners.  When we are saved, we are not merely forgiven, we are a new creation in Christ (2 Cor 5:17). It’s important to see that the “control” we perceive ourselves to have is illusory.  From birth we are controlled by sin and our fleshly desires.  The truth is, we are slaves.  We are either slaves to our sin, or we are slaves to Christ. (Rom 6:16)  Whatever we are obedient to evidences our allegiance.  Therefore, my exhortation is to submit yourselves to God daily.  Through Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit, we have freedom to pursue joy in God, a joy that lasts eternally.  Prayerfully ask God to kill all fleshly desires within you, and replace them with Himself.  The God you meet in those prayers will give rest to your soul, and is gracious and merciful. 

In the end, I could make a pile of every bad thing in my life, and every good thing in my life, and I would leave them both behind and take Christ.  There is a right way, and a wrong way to live your life, but there is a more excellent way still, and His name is Jesus Christ.  Leave your own life behind, and follow Him. 

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Acts 20:35 – “remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’“

I don’t know yet how many parts this is going to be.  My guess would be somewhere between 3 and 5, but ultimately God will work that out.  At the end, my hope is not that anyone would necessarily give all of their material possessions away or quit their job to go into vocational ministry.  My hope, rather, is that in every possession, in every moment of every day, your joy would not terminate on those earthly things themselves, but in seeing and taking part in the fulfillment of God’s will for His glory and the Kingdom of Heaven.

I hope and pray that God will transform us by His Word that in the end, we will know – we will taste the joy that is behind Paul’s words in Philippians 3:8 – “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” 

Today, however, I need to set a foundation first by answering the question – “Is it selfish of us, and therefore a sin, to give in a way that gaining is our goal?”  Put another way, if my purpose in serving others and giving financially is not merely for their good, but to further my own joy, is that sinful?

I believe the Bible would say no.  It is not selfish because I do not pursue my joy at the expense of God’s glory; rather, pursuing God’s glory is my joy.  My joy and God’s glory are not at odds with each other, but are one and the same if my treasure is Jesus.  Our inheritance – what waits for all believers who die in Christ, is standing in awe of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ for all eternity.  Therefore, whatever else I do in this world, my motive is singular – to do everything to expand the renown and reveal the glory of God.  Whatever gain I have in that regard is what awaits me and every other believer in Heaven.

Matthew 13:44 – “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” 

Jesus when using the parable in Matthew 13 of finding a hidden treasure, does not fault the man for delighting in the treasure, but explains that all who understand the Kingdom of Heaven and God will respond this way.

John Piper says it this way – “God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him”.

So whatever is done with a heart to increase the name of Jesus Christ and reveal His glory is never sinful.  Ultimately, my hope in teaching isn’t that I would make professing converts.  If all I have is professing converts, I will be very sad looking back on my life.  I want our hearts to be lit ablaze by the glory of God in Jesus – for us to savor and delight in Him from His Word.  I want us to see the glory of God, as He Is, so infinitely valuable that everything else that would seemingly offer temporary joy is counted as loss to us.

When I serve and love others, it is not because I am a good person.  There is nothing good in me, save Jesus Christ.  When I serve and love others, it is not merely an act of obedience to God because He tells me I should do this or that.  That is bordering on legalism.  No, I only know love because God first loved us.  I see, and taste, and savor the infinite worth of God from scripture and root my joy in Him.  As I do so, I find this to be true – obedience to God means less of me and more of Him.  My service and my joy are all about gaining more of Christ.  Not joy in God for any other end, like prosperity or health; things that are passing away, but joy in God Himself who is our treasure for all eternity.  As humans, our appetite for pleasure is insatiable, therefore, may we all increasingly have and pursue the One Joy that is infinite; that never ends.

Grace and Peace,
Adam