This week, we're going to seize on just one small portion of Mark's message on Jesus' message, the command of the Messiah to "follow me." And we're going to flesh that out very quickly and directly. So what exactly does the command to "follow me" entail?
I. A Decisive Break
Luke 9:57-62 - "As they were going along the road, someone said to him, 'I will follow you wherever you go.' And Jesus said to him, 'Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.' To another he said, 'Follow me.' But he said, 'Lord, let me first go and bury my father.' And Jesus said to him, 'Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.' Yet another said, 'I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.' Jesus said to him, 'No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.'"
There is no following Jesus and holding on to one's old way of life. If we are to attain heaven, we must not retain any souvenirs of hell. The old man cannot be given sway, it must be put away (Col. 3:9-10). Following Jesus means a decisive break with the ways of the world and the sins of one's life.
II. A Daily Denial
Luke 9:23 - "And he said to all, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."
Denying self is crucifying self. It is a daily mindset that puts aside the selfish desires and motives to instead work for the benefit of others to the glory of God.
III. A Determined Imitation
Eph. 5:1 - "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."
Christ left us an example to follow (1 Peter 2:21). His life, His kindness, His forgiveness, His compassion, and His perfections are all attributes to be pursued.
So then,
Where does your old self still have dominance in your life? What thoughts, words or actions still resemble your unsaved self? Where can you become more like Christ? What passages should you read? What, specifically, can you change?
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Seasons
This is a leadership post from Matt Round.
I love fall in the SCV. Weather changes, I can wake up without already sweating, and I get to wear turtle-necks again. Lately, I have been reading through the book of Ecclesiastes, specifically chapter 3, and it got me thinking. It seems like we are always waiting for that next major step in life. When we are in high school, we can’t wait to drive. Once we drive, we look forward to graduation and college. College brings a desire for a “real” job, marriage, children, and the list goes on and on. To some extent, the desire for what comes next can be a good thing. But we all know that there is a fine line between looking forward to something and being discontent with where the Lord has us for the moment.
Don’t worry; the rest of this post isn’t about how you should just be content with where God has you for the moment. Well, it is and it isn’t. Of course you should be content with where God has you, and that goes without saying. Sometimes though, it can be hard to get from what we know to what we should be doing. After all, how do you just decide one day to be happy with where you are, and what does this have to do with Ecclesiastes 3?
I happen to be at a point in my life where I can look back on some of the things that a lot of people look forward to. I can drive, I have a degree and a job, and I have been blessed with marriage and children. I also know that even after you reach these things, there will always be something else. For me, that next big thing was finishing seminary. I couldn’t wait to be out of class and into “real” ministry. However, I have had to put school on hold for now. Suddenly, contentment with working toward a goal turned into questioning why I was so close and not allowed to finish.
The point is that contentment comes from doing what God has called you to do in whatever circumstance you find yourself in. As a single person, my role was to develop my spiritual gifting and be a productive member of the body. When I got married, my role expanded to being a shepherd of my wife. As a father with an ever filling quiver, my role is now to lead my children in their spiritual development. One of the best things that I heard regarding children was that arrows must be given direction. If I do not take an active role in my kid’s development, they will be like arrows aimed at nothing. And now, my role includes all of those things plus a full time job. When I questioned why I was being held out of ministry, I neglected the fact that I was already in ministry. I am to have an active and vibrant ministry toward my wife and my children. I am to pour every bit of spiritual gifting that I have into the body that Christ died for. And that is what every believer is called to do.
Discontent comes from losing perspective. Every stage in life comes with opportunities and constraints. Look for the opportunities that are yours now. God does not wait to equip you until you are graduated, working, married, or a parent. God has granted every member of the body the ability to function well. My encouragement to you when you feel like your life is just static, just waiting for something to happen before you can be complete, is to read through Romans 12. Right thinking is the recognition that you have a role to play…. right now. At this moment, you can be used. Pray. Get involved. I think that you will be pleasantly surprised at how God opens doors for you to have an impact; every season has a purpose.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Wednesday Night Follow-Up (10-13-10)
Pushing the theme of application in post-preaching living, we continue our series of Wednesday night follow up posts. So strap in for some heavy handed conviction smack-down. Sackcloth and ashes are recommended clothing for this post.
Matt Round did another fantastic job bringing the Word from Matthew 3:1-17 (i.e. the whole chapter). His three point outline was as follows:
I. The voice of the fore-runner (v. 1-12)
II. The voice of the King (v. 13-15)
III. The voice of God (v. 16-17)
The focus of today's post is the message delivered by both John the Baptist and Jesus, summarized in the singular word, "Repent." These are the first recorded words of John the Baptist's ministry as well as Jesus' public ministry, and repentance plays a major role in any believer's life. As such, it is good to know what it is, and what it is not.*
REPENTANCE IS NOT
Let's start with the latter. Each of the following may be present in repentance, but they may also deceive the sinner and the onlooker both into thinking repentance has occurred. Repentance is not:
i. Legal terror over sin. It is no virtue to be timorous because of sin's consequences. Ahab felt remorse over sin and it's consequences, but salvation was not his. Judas, wickedest of men, felt deep attrition, but which led to no contrition.
ii. Resolution against sin. This one is tricky, because true repentance certainly involves such resolution, but by itself, it is not enough. Repentance is more than such resolution, but it is not less. After receiving the law at Mt. Sinai, Israel declared with one voice "All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do" (Ex. 24:3). Yet their resolution against sin and towards godliness is ill-executed, as is testified to by the rest of the Old Testament.
iii. Merely the abandonment of sinful ways. It is very important and very difficult to abandon sin. Yet there may be instances where this is confused with true repentance.
REPENTANCE IS
That leaves us with the former category. That which defines repentance. It is characterized by six things:
I. Sight of sin - simple enough, as you cannot repent of a sin you do not recognize.
II. Sorrow for sin - Ps. 38:18 says "I am sorry for my sin." It is not a superficial sorrow, but is described biblically as a breaking of the heart (Ps. 51:17; Joel 2:13). Superficial sorrow would be concerned with how one is viewed by others, or sorrow in only one's outer actions, or merely sorrow over consequences. But real sorrow is from the heart, over sins of the heart and produces change in the heart.
III. Confession of sin - Sorrow must have vent, and the genuine confession of sin is voluntary, particular in naming the sin and its circumstances, and resolute in determining not to sin again.
IV. Shame for sin - related to sorrow, shame for sin means knowing one is in the wrong, and wronging God. It is the shame felt by Adam and Even upon finding they were naked. It is the shame felt for defiling the Savior's name. It is the shame over the very nature we are fighting.
V. Hatred of sin - There can be no repentance without a revulsion towards sin. Though sin may entice and appeal momentarily, hatred for sin must be implacable, developed by biblical saturation, and active in opposition against sin.
VI. Turning from sin - finally, one must inevitably reform. One must stop the evil action, and put on the good nemesis to that evil. The thief must no longer steal, but rather work so that he may give to others in need (Eph. 4:28). One must not turn from only one sin, but from all sin. One must turn from sin, and turn to God. And one must begin practicing the righteousness for which God prepared our salvation (Eph. 2:9-10)
So, with all this mind-probing, Puritan rambling about repentance, we come to the application.
What sins are you not repentant of? What sins are you only faking repentance on, and how are you going to change that? Have you confessed your sins lately, to God and to others? Since you are repenting, how are you going to ensure your heart is trained on God?
As John Owen said, "Be killing sin, or it will be killing you."
*Material extracted and paraphrased from Thomas Watson's book The Doctrine of Repentance
Matt Round did another fantastic job bringing the Word from Matthew 3:1-17 (i.e. the whole chapter). His three point outline was as follows:
I. The voice of the fore-runner (v. 1-12)
II. The voice of the King (v. 13-15)
III. The voice of God (v. 16-17)
The focus of today's post is the message delivered by both John the Baptist and Jesus, summarized in the singular word, "Repent." These are the first recorded words of John the Baptist's ministry as well as Jesus' public ministry, and repentance plays a major role in any believer's life. As such, it is good to know what it is, and what it is not.*
REPENTANCE IS NOT
Let's start with the latter. Each of the following may be present in repentance, but they may also deceive the sinner and the onlooker both into thinking repentance has occurred. Repentance is not:
i. Legal terror over sin. It is no virtue to be timorous because of sin's consequences. Ahab felt remorse over sin and it's consequences, but salvation was not his. Judas, wickedest of men, felt deep attrition, but which led to no contrition.
ii. Resolution against sin. This one is tricky, because true repentance certainly involves such resolution, but by itself, it is not enough. Repentance is more than such resolution, but it is not less. After receiving the law at Mt. Sinai, Israel declared with one voice "All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do" (Ex. 24:3). Yet their resolution against sin and towards godliness is ill-executed, as is testified to by the rest of the Old Testament.
iii. Merely the abandonment of sinful ways. It is very important and very difficult to abandon sin. Yet there may be instances where this is confused with true repentance.
- A man may part with some sins and retain others. A partial repentance is no repentance. In Acts 8, Simon the magician gave up his craft and was baptized, but could not give up his lust for power or his bitterness (v. 23). Peter, in fact, commands him to repent (v. 22), revealing his former confession was not genuine.
- An old sin may be discarded so that a new one may be put on.
- A sin may no longer be in a person's immediate interest, so for prudential reasons, one may abandon it. The business man's greed may have driven him to pay his employees less than they're due, but he will not cheat on his taxes for fear of I.R.S. crackdown.
REPENTANCE IS
That leaves us with the former category. That which defines repentance. It is characterized by six things:
I. Sight of sin - simple enough, as you cannot repent of a sin you do not recognize.
II. Sorrow for sin - Ps. 38:18 says "I am sorry for my sin." It is not a superficial sorrow, but is described biblically as a breaking of the heart (Ps. 51:17; Joel 2:13). Superficial sorrow would be concerned with how one is viewed by others, or sorrow in only one's outer actions, or merely sorrow over consequences. But real sorrow is from the heart, over sins of the heart and produces change in the heart.
III. Confession of sin - Sorrow must have vent, and the genuine confession of sin is voluntary, particular in naming the sin and its circumstances, and resolute in determining not to sin again.
IV. Shame for sin - related to sorrow, shame for sin means knowing one is in the wrong, and wronging God. It is the shame felt by Adam and Even upon finding they were naked. It is the shame felt for defiling the Savior's name. It is the shame over the very nature we are fighting.
V. Hatred of sin - There can be no repentance without a revulsion towards sin. Though sin may entice and appeal momentarily, hatred for sin must be implacable, developed by biblical saturation, and active in opposition against sin.
VI. Turning from sin - finally, one must inevitably reform. One must stop the evil action, and put on the good nemesis to that evil. The thief must no longer steal, but rather work so that he may give to others in need (Eph. 4:28). One must not turn from only one sin, but from all sin. One must turn from sin, and turn to God. And one must begin practicing the righteousness for which God prepared our salvation (Eph. 2:9-10)
So, with all this mind-probing, Puritan rambling about repentance, we come to the application.
What sins are you not repentant of? What sins are you only faking repentance on, and how are you going to change that? Have you confessed your sins lately, to God and to others? Since you are repenting, how are you going to ensure your heart is trained on God?
As John Owen said, "Be killing sin, or it will be killing you."
*Material extracted and paraphrased from Thomas Watson's book The Doctrine of Repentance
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Wednesday Night Follow-Up
The Word of God is a not a book meant only to be read. It is a book meant to be lived. The process of studying Scripture contains three steps: observing the text, interpreting its original meaning, and applying the principles therein to personal life. And so, in an effort to connect the theological training of the mind received on Wednesday night to the life lived on Thursday afternoon, we have started a series meant to follow after the teaching during Bible Study and show how to apply it specifically to one's life.
Matt Round, our beloved father of three and local soda peddler, taught last Wednesday (9-29) on Matthew 2:13-23. His main outline was:
I. The King's Hiding (v. 13-15)
II. A King's Hatred (v. 16-18)
III. The King's Home (v. 18-23)
The point of this post is not to re-hash the entirety of his material, but rather to give some take-away thoughts. Matt dealt with the difficult issue of how prophecy is handled by New Testament authors, and in particular, how Matthew (the tax collector, not the soda peddler) utilized the O.T. references in this passage. He boiled down the options to four.
Matthew could either:
1. be wrong in how he interpreted the O.T. scriptures (a solution to be rejected due to the belief in the verbal-plenary inspiration of biblical authors by the Holy Spirit and the infallibility and inerrancy of Scripture)
2. have "corrected" Hosea (and Jeremiah) by showing what the prophets should have meant (rejected for the same reason as the first, except that this position assumes the prophets, as opposed to Matthew, were wrong).
3. have used typology to explain how Christ's life fulfilled these O.T. references (a strong evangelical view, with many godly men supporting it)
4. or been quoting a verse to remind his Jewish readers of a specific idea in a specific context from the O.T. (also a well-supported view of orthodoxy)
In summation, Matt (soda peddler) showed us how the fourth option was the means by which Matthew (tax collector) handled the O.T. texts. And the idea-in-context that Matthew sought to remind his readers of was God's faithfulness to them despite their rejection of Him.
The reference in Hosea calls to mind the living analogy God required Hosea to live (and the theme of Hosea). Hosea married an adulteress and was required to take her back after her adultery, much like Israel's rejection of God and God's loving-kindness to faithfully call Israel back.
The reference in Jeremiah uses Rachel's sons as metaphors for Israel, with Rachel weeping over their deportation. And in the next verse (31:16) God promises return from exile, for He will be faithful.
The prophecy of the Messiah being a Nazarene in verse 23 foreshadows Jesus' fulfillment as the one rejected by Israel (c.f. John 1:45-46) seen in passages like Psalm 22:6-7; Isaiah 59:7, 53:3; and Daniel 9:26.
All of the passages refer to God's faithfulness despite the people's rejection of Him. And how does that connect to you? Well, whether you are in a dorm room or a grocery store or a soccer game, I'm betting you sinned against God today. Which means, in your own little kingdom, you rejected God for something inferior. You played the role of Israel and rejected the King. And yet, God will still remain faithful to you.
So you sinned, and what matters now is your response to your sin. Confess the sin, turn from it, and practice a better, holier action. God is faithful to forgive your sin.
There is something to be deeply thankful for in God's faithfulness.
And there is much more to apply here, so if you want, answer these questions in the comments section:
How are you going to apply the concept of God's faithfulness?
How has God been faithful to you: in your lifetime, in the past year, in the past week, in the past hour?
What is/should be your response to the faithfulness of God?
Matt Round, our beloved father of three and local soda peddler, taught last Wednesday (9-29) on Matthew 2:13-23. His main outline was:
I. The King's Hiding (v. 13-15)
II. A King's Hatred (v. 16-18)
III. The King's Home (v. 18-23)
The point of this post is not to re-hash the entirety of his material, but rather to give some take-away thoughts. Matt dealt with the difficult issue of how prophecy is handled by New Testament authors, and in particular, how Matthew (the tax collector, not the soda peddler) utilized the O.T. references in this passage. He boiled down the options to four.
Matthew could either:
1. be wrong in how he interpreted the O.T. scriptures (a solution to be rejected due to the belief in the verbal-plenary inspiration of biblical authors by the Holy Spirit and the infallibility and inerrancy of Scripture)
2. have "corrected" Hosea (and Jeremiah) by showing what the prophets should have meant (rejected for the same reason as the first, except that this position assumes the prophets, as opposed to Matthew, were wrong).
3. have used typology to explain how Christ's life fulfilled these O.T. references (a strong evangelical view, with many godly men supporting it)
4. or been quoting a verse to remind his Jewish readers of a specific idea in a specific context from the O.T. (also a well-supported view of orthodoxy)
In summation, Matt (soda peddler) showed us how the fourth option was the means by which Matthew (tax collector) handled the O.T. texts. And the idea-in-context that Matthew sought to remind his readers of was God's faithfulness to them despite their rejection of Him.
The reference in Hosea calls to mind the living analogy God required Hosea to live (and the theme of Hosea). Hosea married an adulteress and was required to take her back after her adultery, much like Israel's rejection of God and God's loving-kindness to faithfully call Israel back.
The reference in Jeremiah uses Rachel's sons as metaphors for Israel, with Rachel weeping over their deportation. And in the next verse (31:16) God promises return from exile, for He will be faithful.
The prophecy of the Messiah being a Nazarene in verse 23 foreshadows Jesus' fulfillment as the one rejected by Israel (c.f. John 1:45-46) seen in passages like Psalm 22:6-7; Isaiah 59:7, 53:3; and Daniel 9:26.
All of the passages refer to God's faithfulness despite the people's rejection of Him. And how does that connect to you? Well, whether you are in a dorm room or a grocery store or a soccer game, I'm betting you sinned against God today. Which means, in your own little kingdom, you rejected God for something inferior. You played the role of Israel and rejected the King. And yet, God will still remain faithful to you.
So you sinned, and what matters now is your response to your sin. Confess the sin, turn from it, and practice a better, holier action. God is faithful to forgive your sin.
There is something to be deeply thankful for in God's faithfulness.
And there is much more to apply here, so if you want, answer these questions in the comments section:
How are you going to apply the concept of God's faithfulness?
How has God been faithful to you: in your lifetime, in the past year, in the past week, in the past hour?
What is/should be your response to the faithfulness of God?
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