When Obedience is Hard

On Thursday last week, my brother-in-law bought our kids a trampoline. It was a surprise to them, they had no idea it was coming. They went off to school that morning with only a swing set in the back yard and they came home to it all set up and ready to go.

The ritual for my kids driving home from school is to snack on what they did not eat for lunch. It is Pavlovian. We pack Cooper and Mia a little extra in their lunch boxes so they can have a snack on the way home. On the way from the door to the car on this day, I asked them if they had homework. Cooper did but Mia did not. I told Cooper to work on his homework instead of eating his leftovers from lunch. This did not sit well with him. "But dad I am hungry...I am starving", Coop whined from the back seat. I told him to trust me, that when we got home he would be glad that his homework was finished. But he was focused on those left over Doritos.

After a couple of minutes of convincing Cooper to trust me, he finally relented and worked on his homework in the car. About a block from home he got it finished. Because his work was done he got to enjoy the new tramp immediately instead of sitting at the kitchen table while his sisters jumped.

As Dave preached yesterday, I thought of this story in relation to our obedience. He talked about Abraham and how hard obedience was for him. Romans 4:20-21 is talking about Abraham. The words "fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised" are beautiful.

The point is that when God calls us to some sort of obedience, He is not trying to rob from us; He is trying to give to us. In the car ride home from school, I was not trying to deprive Cooper of his snack, I was trying to allow him to jump on his trampoline as soon as he got home. I was trying to make him happy.

So many times we end up there. We are distrusting of God. We distrust His motives, we think we are better and getting joy for ourselves than God is. We focus on the thing He is calling us away from (Cooper and his snack) rather than the thing that he is calling us to(the trampoline, which is always better.

Failure to obey almost always is a failure to believe God.

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

God's Noahic covenant of grace depicted through the rainbow

The following us a powerful explanation of God's covenant of grace enacted through Noah and depicted through the rainbow. It comes from a portion of the writing of Theologian A.W. Pink in his book on The Divine Covenants, (http://www.pbministries.org/books/pink/Divine_Covenants/divine_covenants_03.htm), which I commend to you in full. It's powerful stuff!!!

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FROM A.W. PINK::

But God’s bow in the clouds was not only an assurance unto men at large that no more would the world be destroyed by a flood, it was also the seal of confirmation of the covenant which God had made with the elect seed, the children of faith. Blessed it is to know that, not only our eyes, but His too are upon the bow; and thus this gives us fellowship with Himself in that which tells of the storm being over, of peace displacing turmoil, of the dark gloom now being irradiated by the shining of the sun. It was the rain which broke up the light into its separate rays, now reflected in the bow: the blue or heavenly ray, the yellow or golden ray, the crimson ray of atonement. Thus it is in the everlasting covenant that God is fully revealed as light and as love, as righteous yet merciful, merciful yet righteous. The covenant of grace is beautifully expressed in the rainbow. For the following nine points on this covenant we are indebted to a sermon by Ebenezer Erskine, preached about 1730.

1. It is of God’s ordering: "I have set my bow in the clouds." So the covenant of grace is of God’s ordering: "I have made a covenant with my chosen" (Ps. 89). Though it be our duty to "take hold of" the covenant (Isa. 56:4), and to come under engagements through the grace thereof, yet we have no part in appointing or ordering it. The covenant of grace could no more have been made by man, than he can form a bow in the clouds.

2. The bow was set in the clouds upon God’s smelling a sweet savor in Noah’s sacrifice; so that the covenant of grace is founded upon and sealed with the blood of the Lamb—a reminder thereof being set before us every time we sit down to partake of the Lord’s Supper.

3. The rainbow is a divine security that the waters should return no more to destroy the earth; so the covenant of grace guarantees against the deluge of God’s wrath, that it shall never return again to destroy any soul that by faith flees to Christ (Isa. 54:9).

4. It is the sun which gives being to the rainbow. Remove it from the firmament and there could not be its glorious reflection in the clouds. So Christ, the Sun of righteousness, gives being to the covenant of grace. He is its very life and substance: "I will preserve thee and give thee for a covenant of the people" (Isa. 49:8).

5. Although the arch of the bow is high above us, reaching to the heaven, yet the ends of it stoop down and reach to the earth. Just so it is with the covenant of grace: although the great covenant Head be in heaven, yet, through the gospel, He stoops down to men upon earth "The word is nigh thee" (Rom. 10:6-8).

6. God’s bow in the clouds is very extensive, reaching from one end of heaven to the other; so His covenant of grace is wide in its reach, stretching back to eternity past and reaching forward to eternity future, embracing some out of every nation and kindred, and tribe and tongue.

7. As the rainbow is a security against a universal deluge, so it is also a prognostic of refreshing showers of rain to the thirsty earth. So the bow of the covenant which encircles the throne of God (Rev. 4:3) not only secures against vindictive wrath, but gives assurance of the rain—the Spirit’s influences.

8. The visible appearance of the rainbow is but of a short continuance, for usually it appears only for a few minutes and then vanishes. So the sensible and lively views which the believer gets of the covenant of grace are usually of brief duration.

9. Although the rainbow disappears, and that for a long while together, yet we do not conclude therefrom that God’s covenant is broken or that a flood will come and destroy the earth. So too the saint may not now be favored with a sensible sight of the covenant of grace; yet the remembrance of former views thereof will keep the soul from fears of wrath.

The following paragraph is quoted from our work Gleanings in Genesis. "There are many parallels between the rainbow and God’s grace. As the rainbow is the joint-product of storm and sunshine, so grace is the unmerited favor of God appearing on the dark background of the creature’s sin. As the rainbow is the effect of the sun shining on the drops of rain in a cloud, so Divine grace is manifested by God’s love shining through the blood shed by our blessed Redeemer. As the rainbow is the telling out of the varied hues of the white light, so the ‘manifold grace of God’ (1 Pet. 4:10) is the ultimate expression of God’s heart. As nature knows nothing more exquisitely beautiful than the rainbow, so heaven itself knows nothing that surpasses in loveliness the wondrous grace of God. As the rainbow is the union of heaven and earth-spanning the sky and reaching down to the ground—so grace in the one Mediator has brought together God and man. As the rainbow is a public sign of God hung out in the heavens that all may see it, so ‘the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men’ (Titus 2:11). Finally, as the rainbow has been displayed throughout all the past forty centuries, so in the ages to come God will show forth ‘the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus’ (Eph. 2:7)."

New series starting tomorrow

There is an element to our pursuit of the Lord and call to obedience that is always difficult and even, at times, seems impossible. But that perceived impossibility is never to negate our response. So how do we, as believers, actually walk out the things Christ calls us to? I think that more often than not our perception of the Lord up in Heaven looks something like this:

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THE LORD: "Hey Joe, I want you to go over and share the gospel with Melissa." (laughing under his breath)

JOE: "But Lord, isn't she an atheist?"

THE LORD: "Yeah she is, but that's ok." (under his breath: "good luck with that one - haha")

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While we wouldn't actually say it like that, I think that's how we really see it. As if the Lord enjoys burdening us with impossible tasks and watching, from a distance, as we suffer.

This series will begin to show us how active and present the Lord is in engaging us in our call to obedience -- that he isn't distant in the things he calls us to, but rather is actually the very one that enables us to live for him.

Over the next 6 weeks, We will look at the stories of Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Gideon and Hosea. We will see the gospel portrayed through the Lord's covenant relationship with each of these Old Testament characters.

I want to challenge us to begin preparing our hearts and giving permission to Christ to address our obedience to him, or lack there of. Will you join me in praying Psalm 139:23–24?

"Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!"

Journeying to better obedience with you,
Dave

Worship

Here is a quick excerpt and a quote I will use in the sermon on Sunday.

“Gratitude exclaims, very properly, 'How good of God to give me this.' Adoration says, 'What must be the quality of that Being whose far-off and momentary coruscations are like this!, One’s mind runs back up the sunbeam to the sun.” C S Lewis

One’s mind runs back up the sunbeam to the sun. God intends for us to have joy and contentment. When we encounter gifts that he has given to us and engage them as gifts from him and enjoy them, we worship.

Hope to see you Sunday at 10:00 at 660 Charbonier.

Sleepless night thoughts

A couple of thoughts that come together...

There is a song that is written by a youth pastor who had a close friend and fellow youth pastor die in an accident. The two were very close. The surviving friend wrote a song called "How He Loves Us" that David Crowder covered. There are a lot of great lines in that song. My favorite is, "I don’t have time to maintain these regrets, when I think about, the way He loves us…"

Many times I, and I suspect you, get caught in this ridiculous self centered trap of regret or anxiety or feeling sorry for our situations. But my heart yearns for the truth of the sentiment of this line in this song to ring deep in the darkest corner of my soul. That I would not waste time on self centered pity parties, and instead rest and bask in the overcoming knowledge of the love of Jesus.

It is not that I am loved and I have my health and wonderful kids and friends and family and as a result count my blessings and thank God for them. It is that the love of a savior that is compelling me to worship and breath in deep the contented exuberance that His love leaves me with has made me forget about the momentary difficulties that are results of living in a fallen world.

Uncertainty of future, strained relationships, physical pain, struggle with sin, broken relationship, idiotic people, financial struggle and so much more are so very small.

The second thought comes from Hebrews 12:3. I am begging God tonight to give me a grace gift of endurance and strength. I am asking God to allow me to consider Jesus and all that he endured until I receive and God granted resolve and strength that Jesus left the Garden of Gethsemane with.

Theology Thursday :: The Holy Spirit

A Theology of the Holy Spirit

We believe the biblical teaching that a Christian receives the Holy Spirit at the moment of their conversion. It is not something that they have to strive for or beg for in any way, but rather the means by which God does his regenerative work in conversion and continued sanctification in the life of a believer is through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

In Romans 7, the Apostle Paul expresses his deep and continued struggle with life as a Christian. He continually finds that no matter how hard he tries to live right before God, he fails. His conclusion is found in the very next chapter that the answer to his failure as a believer isn’t in him simply trying harder, as that has proved to fail continually (Rom 7:18), but rather through the Holy Spirit’s work in his life, he is able to live a life of continued growth and sanctification.

In the midst of such a powerful chapter (Rom 8) on the work and role of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christ, Paul makes some profoundly important statements that shape how we view the Holy Spirit. Paul makes it clear in the first few verses of chapter 8, that the only means a believer has to “success” as a Christian is through the Spirit and to the extent a believer tries to fulfill the law, he has and will utterly fail (vv. 3-8).

Romans 8:9 says, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him” (ESV). What Paul is teaching here very clearly is that a person who does not have the Holy Spirit, is not a Christian. The Apostle John affirms this in 1 John 4:13 when he writes, “By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit” (ESV).

The Holy Spirit is given to a believer at the moment of their conversion and Paul continues in Romans 8 to warn against living in opposition to the Spirit’s power when he says, “So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. ¹³ 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. ¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God” (Rom 8:12–14). So Paul is showing us that the leading of the Spirit is a defining mark of all true believers, and in fact is the means by which a believer is adopted into the family of God and whereby the work of Christ—in His death, burial and resurrection—takes root in the believer’s heart. - “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” (Rom 8:15)

And God’s Spirit is continually revealing to us the reality of our acceptance as sons and daughters of the Living God. “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Rom 8:16).

What about Acts 2 and the believers at Pentecost?

Jesus made it very clear to his disciples that he would not leave them as orphans on this earth, despite the fact that he was going to physically leave them (John 14:18-19). Be he continually told them that the Helper (the Holy Spirit) was going to come and live within them (John 14:15-17, 25-31). But that would not happen, and didn’t need to happen, as long as he was still with them (John 16:7).

Then in the book of Acts we have the account of Jesus ascending into heaven, as he promised, and sending the Helper to indwell the believers. Acts 2:1-12 records the Holy Spirit descending and indwelling the New Testament Church for the first time. Those who had been Christians for a while, later received the Holy Spirit, because they had to wait until Jesus ascended to Heaven so that he could send the Spirit. This is really the only New Testament instance where believers did not receive the Spirit at the moment of their conversion, because he wasn’t “available” yet. These believers at Pentecost were dwelling in a different period of redemptive history than we are today and at the arrival of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost we see a shift in redemptive history which will be expressed beginning in Acts 2:37.

After Peter then preached his sermon at Pentecost, the people were “cut to the heart” and wanted to know what they should do (Acts 2:37). Peter’s response was “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Here we see this shift in redemptive history where Peter makes it clear that receiving the Holy Spirit happens at the moment of conversion. This shift becomes a picture of what Baptism of the Spirit looks like in the life of a Christian, and is one indication that the initial account in Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit first indwelled believers, was a unique situation in Christian history, as are a few other situations with the early church in Acts.

Questioning the Church...Gifts

We talked last week in the sermon about gifts. We were going to talk in the sermon this week about specific gifts. I think that blog posts are a better vehicle for that discussion that a sermon. So read through this passage and the Greek word definitions and then take a look at the questions and statement that follow.

You are encouraged to interact here.

Romans 12:4-11

Service- execute the commands of another. Service is a great English translation for this word in this context.

Teaching- Exposing truth, instructing, deliver didactic truth.

Exhortation- Language intended to incite or encourage. In scripture this is a very pastoral gift, to deepen or give practical application to teaching. Teachers are very professor like dispensing of truth, exhorters are encouragers and motivators of truth.

Giving- To impart, to give.

Leadership- Protector, guardian, to set over, to preside over.

Mercy- To help one who is afflicted.


Who do you know that personifies each of these gifts?

Where do you see your two strongest gifts and you two weakest gifts?

Encourage someone today by telling them you see these gifts in them. There may even be a good chance that the person you encourage has no idea they even have this gift.

How are you/can you serve North Church and the Global Church with these gifts?