Category: From Your Pastor

From Your Pastor: “Come, Ye Sinners, and Learn to Love Much!”

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“Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven- for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” (ESV Luke 7:47)

What is your estimation of yourself? I’m not speaking in terms of estimating your financial worth or estimating your value to others in this world. What is your estimation of yourself before God? Do you consider yourself “pretty good” or “a decent person” or “righteous compared with others”? Or are you sinful? Are you one who has been greatly forgiven?

We must remember that the Bible teaches us that all fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). We are all conceived and born in sin, and therefore we have no righteousness before God from our very conception (Psa. 51). Not only that, but we have no interest or desire for God in our sinful condition, and so we sin against God in our words, thoughts and deeds (Gen. 6:5; Jeremiah 17:9; Eph. 2:1-3). The Bible tells us that our predicament is so sinful that even our best works of righteousness, our best prayers, our best goodness before God is as filthy rags worthy only of rejection before God’s holy face (Isa. 64:6).

If we are conceived in sin, and we constantly commit actual sins throughout our lives because we resist God and selfishly want to live for ourselves, and our best religious efforts are tainted by sin, and are never acceptable before God, what are we to do? How can we ever love God and others, if we find ourselves in this sinful predicament?!

Look to Jesus Christ who is the very righteousness of God! Jesus Christ is the full revelation of the righteousness God requires of all mankind, and Jesus Christ is the full and gracious revelation of the righteousness God provides for all who believe!

In Christ, by faith alone, we find the love of God and the forgiveness of sins.

“Come, ye sinners, poor and wretched,
Weak and wounded, sick and sore;
Jesus ready stands to save you,
Full of pity joined with pow’r:
He is able,
He is able,
He is able,
He is willing; doubt no more…”[1]

This is why we must learn to estimate ourselves rightly before God. If we are ever to love Christ and others as we should, we need to estimate ourselves rightly. If we are ever to repent daily, in a manner consistent with our sinfulness, we need to estimate ourselves rightly before God. As we understand the great love and mercy and forgiveness of God in Jesus Christ, so we learn how much we are forgiven of our sins in Him and for His sake, and we learn how to love. In our passage from Luke 7 (vv. 36-50), we see Jesus as the Savior of sinners, seeking and saving the lost. Jesus accepts an invitation to go to a Pharisee’s house to reveal his dire need of a Savior from sinful self-righteousness.

A notoriously sinful woman (probably a prostitute) enters into Simon the Pharisee’s home, rushing toward the only person who can and will forgive her, and makes her humble submission to Jesus, showing her faith and love for Christ in her actions. This sinful woman knows that her only hope is found in the mercy of Jesus Christ.

Contrastly, the Pharisee Simon, with pride and prejudice, criticizes Jesus in his mind for not being a good prophet because he thinks Jesus is unaware of her sinful position and actions in the world (v. 39). Simon the Pharisee is unaware of His own need of the righteousness of God found in Christ alone (cf. Rom. 3:21-26). Simon compares himself with this notoriously sinful woman to puff himself up, and to find through comparison with another sinner a (self!) righteousness of his own making. This is how sinners often can deceive themselves. Rather than compare our hearts and thoughts with the perfect righteousness of God revealed in His holy law, we merely compare ourselves to sinners who are worse sinners than ourselves in our own estimation!

…Come, ye weary, heavy laden,
Bruised and broken by the fall;
If you tarry till you’re better,
You will never come at all:
Not the righteous,
Not the righteous,
Not the righteous,
Sinners Jesus came to call…

Yet because of this woman’s humility and right estimation of herself before a holy Christ, her “many sins” are forgiven by Jesus because she recognizes her sinfulness and comes to Jesus for help. The woman is not seeking to compare herself with other sinners who may be more wicked than her. Her attitude is not critical as Simon’s. Rather, she is concerned first with her own heart before God. This demonstrates true faith and repentance in Jesus Christ!

Jesus uses this story to show that all sinners are debtors to God, and if one truly understands their condemnation under God’s holy law, that is if they have a right estimation of themselves before God, then they will be humbled and realize their great debt to God that they cannot pay back, and cry out for “mercy!”

Simon the Pharisee understands that the woman is showing great love for her debt being forgiven, but he doesn’t understand his own debt to God as a Law-breaker- -that he too, is a debtor with a large debt. Because of his pride, Simon doesn’t feel the weight of his need for Jesus. Simon doesn’t rightly estimate the greatness of his debt before God.

…Let not conscience make you linger,
Nor of fitness fondly dream;
All the fitness he requireth
Is to feel your need of him;
This he gives you,
This he gives you,
This he gives you;
‘Tis the Spirit’s rising beam.

It is important to note in Jesus’ story that it is not the love in action that brings the forgiveness from God. It is the cancellation of the sinful woman’s debt, the relief of her sinful burden that brings forth love and gratitude.

Jesus is not teaching that we are saved and forgiven by our love, but that our love shows that we have truly been forgiven!

Our love demonstrated through praise and worship of Christ, and the love of others reveals that we have a right estimation of ourselves before God, and that we realize we have been recipients of God’s grace and mercy- -apart from any works, or anything good that we have done.

The woman does not merit her forgiveness through her loving actions toward Jesus. Rather, she shows that she has been forgiven and because of the forgiveness she has already received by God’s grace through faith in Christ, she shows forth this forgiveness in true love.

Jesus says: “Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven- for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” – v. 47.

Beloved, if we daily remembered how much we have been forgiven by God for our many sins, we would be more loving toward others, more worshipful before God, more humble-hearted, more service-oriented, more forgiving, less proud, less critical of others, less judgmental (Matt. 7:1-5). We would more easily consider others more significant than ourselves (Phil. 2:3ff; Rom. 12:3), and we would experience deeper repentance before God.

Do you find yourself growing in your understanding of just how much you have been forgiven? Do you find yourself seeing Christ as more lovely and beautiful as a Savior as you grow in understanding the depths of your sinful heart? Does this make your heart soar and your affections long to worship and please Christ alone?!

The Christian life is not about becoming more like Simon the Pharisee, full of self-righteousness and self-importance. Rather, the Christian life is about growing in our understanding of the sovereign and amazing grace of God that “saved a wretch like me”, and that helps us to realize that before God we have all been worse than sinful prostitutes in our words, thoughts and evil deeds!

It is important to ask yourself today if you are more like Simon than the sinful woman here in this passage. Do you separate yourself from sinners because you believe you are more righteous, not understanding the forgiveness that you have received from God? Do you engage in constant comparison of yourself with others? Are you always needing to prove your righteousness before others? Or do you worship and serve Christ like the sinful woman, and being humble like Jesus, do you extend a hand of forgiveness to even the most wretched sinner whose sins are many?

Jesus does not say: “For he who has loved little, has only received little forgiveness.” He says: “For he who is forgiven little, loves little,” (v. 47) implying that we must have a right estimation of ourselves before God and understand our great debt, realizing the wickedness of our own sins before we truly show forth genuine Christian charity in our lives for God and our neighbor. We must estimate rightly before God that we have been forgiven much if we are to learn to love much!

The Pharisee in his own presumptuous self-righteousness considered before God that he only needed forgiveness for a few sins in his estimation, and for that reason his love for God was so tiny in demonstration and action. What is your estimate of your own sins? Do you truly realize how desperately wicked your sinful heart is before God (cf. Jeremiah 17:9-10)? Do you consider yourself to be a “pretty good person” and not comparatively as bad as others?

OUR ONLY HOPE IS JESUS CHRIST; THE SAVIOR OF SINNERS. ARE YOU DESPERATELY SINFUL AND WICKED?

Lo! th’incarnate God, ascended,
Pleads the merit of his blood;
Venture on him, venture wholly,
Let no other trust intrude:
None but Jesus,
None but Jesus,
None but Jesus
Can do helpless sinners good.

Come to Jesus; he will give you rest and relieve you from your slavery to sin! And you who are forgiven much will love much! “None but Jesus can do helpless sinners good!”

 

In Christ’s love,

Pastor Biggs

 

[1] “Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy,” Joseph Hart, 1759.

From Your Pastor: “Do You Not Yet Understand?”

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What do you need from Jesus today? Have you forgotten His goodness to give to you out of the riches of His lavish grace? Have you forgotten His power to provide for you above and beyond what you can ask or imagine (Eph. 3:20-21; Phil. 4:19)? Jesus’s compassion never fails (Lam. 3:22-24). His mercies are new every morning, and His steadfast love never ceases! Let us be reminded of Jesus’s willingness and ability to give what we need when we need it. Read Mark 8:1-10, 14-21.

ESV Mark 8:1-10, 14-21: In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, 2 “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” 4 And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” 5 And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” 6 And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. 7 And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. 8 And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 9 And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. 10 And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.

14 Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15 And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” 16 And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. 17 And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18 Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” 20 “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” 21 And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”

Jesus is always full of compassion. As we stand in need, let us be reminded that Jesus always stands to provide for His people as our Great Savior and Mediator. He is always full of compassion, and His compassion towards His own moves Him to act on our behalf. We see this in this miracle of the provision of the loaves. Jesus doesn’t want to see people faint physically or spiritually. He desires for us to come to Him so that He can give us the enduring grace we need both for our bodies and souls (vv. 2-3). As Jesus’ disciples, we must remember it is not our goodness that causes Him to act toward us; it is simply that He is good.

Jesus knows that as weak disciples, we need to be reminded often of His faithfulness. We should remember that this is the second time Jesus has performed this particular miracle of providing bread. He had already proved His willingness and ability to do this back in Mark 6:32-44 where He graciously and powerfully fed over 5,000 folks!! Why would there be another incident of this particular miracle (only two chapters later in Mark’s Gospel)? Why? Because like the disciples, we are slow to believe and trust the Lord’s goodness and grace towards us. Jesus knows it is true that repetition is indeed the “mother of all learning”.

Jesus desires to use us though we are very weak. Jesus uses His disciples as His instruments to provide what is needed for the crowds! He asks the disciples (again!) to serve the needs of the people. This should be a great encouragement particularly for teachers, pastors, moms, dads, counselors, friends, and anyone else who is tasked with the difficult and challenging task of providing for others. Jesus said: “…[He] gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd…” (v. 6). Jesus knows that His disciples do not have the power or the resources to provide for others, but He wants His people to trust in Him for all we need, not only for ourselves but for others. The burden is on Him to provide. He asks for our faith to trust and believe Him for whatever the need (although our faith is often weak and forgetful as the disciples!). What is the need you have today? Stop, go to the throne of grace, where Jesus sits as King in glory and ask for whatever you need, then expectantly wait with faith until you receive  (Heb. 4:15-16). He is a sympathetic Savior who meets all of our needs for mercy and grace! Go to the throne of grace to receive what you need to provide for others; trust Him to give it to you. Let Jesus use you today! Let Him strengthen your weak heart by His Spirit and grace!

Jesus knows that we must feed upon Him by faith first. As Jesus’ disciples, we are quick to forget all that Jesus does for us. But right now, by God’s grace, reflect and meditate upon the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ! Let this picture of Jesus build your faith, and by the Spirit transform you more in His likeness as you gaze upon His kind and gracious face (cf. 2 Cor. 3:18). Yes, we are sinful and undeserving, but He is our Mediator who gave His life for us so that we would not perish, so that we could feed upon Him, the Life-giving Bread of Life, that is always fresh and never perishes. Feed upon Him now by faith through this scripture. Jesus has given Himself. Can we not trust Him to give us all things we need? The Apostle Paul teaches us this in Romans 8:32:

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

The Bible teaches us that “…And they ate and were satisfied” (v. 8). Jesus always satisfies what we need. With Jesus, there are always leftovers (v. 9). With Jesus there is an abundance of power and grace for our every need. Let this encourage you.

But don’t forget His goodness. It is easy to forget so quickly who Jesus is, His constant compassionate kindness and goodness towards us, and to focus once again on the need and NOT ON HIM. This is exactly what the disciples do though they had seen Him provide all that was needed–twice! When they got in their boat, they were worried again how they might have their needs met (vv. 14,17). Instead of encouraging one another with the power and grace of Jesus, they are feeding each other’s doubts! Jesus asks them to ponder their hearts: “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened?” (v. 17). Jesus is teaching us that when we are in need, and we don’t trust Him for our need, there are great dangers. First, we can be contaminated by the “leaven of the Pharisees” (v. 15). Jesus cautions His disciples about this temptation to sin (“Watch out…beware…” v. 15). This leaven is unbelief. Unbelief hardens hearts like nothing else (Heb. 3:12-13). Jesus is serious about confronting unbelief. Secondly, when we have a need, and we are finding it hard to trust Him, this is a good time to repent. This is showing us that our hearts are being hardened by unbelief before Christ. We need the work of the Christ’s Spirit to humble us and tenderize our hearts. These situations are good times to realize of our greater need of more faith—before anything else!!

Jesus will never fail us. Jesus cannot fail us. We as parents can fail our children at times; pastors and elders can sometimes fail their people; friends can fail other friends. But it is not in Jesus’ character to ever fail to grant the lavish grace of God and to provide for our all of needs. Like Jesus who blesses the loaves as He provides for the people (v. 7), so the Father has blessed Jesus as Mediator in His exaltation to provide graciously and compassionately to all of His people! The Father gives Jesus to us for all of our needs.

Jesus gave Himself. He gave His life for us, so that we would know that though our faith is sometimes small, He is great; though doubts can threaten to harden our hearts against God, He is a faithful Savior to make us humble and tender hearted before Him. What we cannot do, He can! Jesus sits enthroned as our Mediator to pray for us, to testify that there is no condemnation for those who believe in Him! His work as Mediator will never fail (Rom. 8:34). Because of this, our faith will never fail us. Though Satan would sift us as wheat, though the world around us would tempt us, and the flesh would war against us, our faith will not fail us (cf. Luke 22:31-32).

Let us ask for more faith from Jesus today—before we ask for anything else! Let us repent of our unbelief and call it what it is: “Hypocritical, sinful, heart-hardening leaven of the Pharisees”! Let us no more think of unbelief and doubts as “respectable sins” and make excuses for them, but let us go to Christ for forgiveness and grace–abundant grace– to grow in Him and know that He is good, and will give us all that we need!

“Do you not yet understand?” (v. 21).

“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32).

What do you need today?

IN Christ’s love,

Pastor Biggs

From Your Pastor: Preparing for Preaching and Worship

Beloved of Christ at KCPC: Remember prayerfully to prepare for worship and to be ready to worship the Living God and to hear His Word as it is read and preached to you.

Our Larger Catechism instructs us helpfully: WLC 160 What is required of those that hear the word preached? A. It is required of those that hear the word preached, that they attend upon it with diligence,(1) preparation,(2) and prayer;(3) examine what they hear by the scriptures;(4) receive the truth with faith,(5) love,(6) meekness,(7) and readiness of mind,(8) as the word of God;(9) meditate,(10) and confer of it;(11) hide it in their hearts,(12) and bring forth the fruit of it in their lives.(13) (1)Prov. 8:34 (2)1 Pet. 2:1,2; Luke 8:18 (3)Ps. 119:18; Eph. 6:18,19 (4)Acts 17:11 (5)Heb. 4:2 (6)2 Thess. 2:10 (7)James 1:21 (8)Acts 17:11 (9)1 Thess. 2:13 (10)Luke 9:44; Heb. 2:1 (11)Luke 24:14; Deut. 6:6,7 (12)Prov. 2:1; Ps. 119:11 (13)Luke 8:15; James 1:2

Pastor Phil Ryken says very insightfully: “Most churchgoers assume that the sermon starts when the pastor opens his mouth on Sunday. However, listening to a sermon actually starts the week before. It starts when we pray for the minister, asking God to bless the time he spends studying the Bible as he prepares to preach. In addition to helping the preaching, our prayers create in us a sense of expectancy for the ministry of God’s Word. This is one of the reasons that when it comes to preaching, congregations generally get what they pray for.”

Are you remembering to pray for the worship and preaching every week? This is so very important. Let me remind you to pray for the worship and preaching as if you were the one to lead worship and to preach! What needs more preparation the hard ground or the farmer who sows the seed? Listen to the wisdom of the great Charles Spurgeon:

“We are told men ought not to preach without preparation. Granted. But we add, men ought not to hear without preparation. Which, do you think needs the most preparation, the sower or the ground? I would have the sower come with clean hands, but I would have the ground well-plowed and harrowed, well-turned over, and the clods broken before the seed comes in. It seems to me that there is more preparation needed by the ground than by the sower, more by the hearer than by the preacher.”

Pastor Ken Ramey in Expository Listening (Kress Press, 2010) writes that Christians can better prepare themselves to hear God’s Word read and preached each Lord’s Day if they will seek to cultivate certain good habits each day (here are his helpful suggestions):

• Read and meditate upon God’s Word every day.
• Pray often throughout the week.
• Confess your sins daily before God.
• Reduce your media intake.
• Plan ahead, and schedule your week around the ministry of the Word: try to be home on Saturday nights; be careful not to watch or listen to anything that might cause lingering distractions in your mind during worship; get things ready on Saturday to avoid the inevitable Sunday morning rush; get a good night’s sleep because you’ll be doing the hard work of listening; get a good breakfast that will hold you over until lunch; as you’re getting ready and traveling as a family to worship seek to sing and pray together; arrive for worship at least 10 minutes early to get everything done (even the unexpected things), and sit down ready to receive.
• Be consistent in worship attendance.
• Go to worship with a humble, teachable, expectant heart (it is not the preacher who is on trial before you; you are on trial before God’s word as to whether you will hear and receive what is spoken if Biblical truth).
• Worship with all you heart: sing enthusiastically because you believe what you’re singing; follow along in Bible when read; listen attentively to prayers when prayed and respond with hearty “amen”; during the sermon follow along in the Bible; take notes).
• Fight off distractions
• Listen with diligent discernment so that you can determine humbly if what you heard was biblical and presented Christ and His Gospel to you and your family.

Let’s remember to pray unceasingly for one another that we will prepare our hearts for worship, and particularly for hearing the Word of God preached, and expect great things from our Great and Faithful God! (1 Thess. 5:18; Ephesians 6:18-20; 3:20-21).

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the LORD!”

In Christ’s love,

Pastor Biggs

From Your Pastor: “At God’s Right Hand” – Psalm 16

“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”- Psalm 16:11

What hope we have as the people of God! We who were by nature wanderers from the fold of God, wanderers from the presence of God, wanderers from the delights and joy that only God can give. But now, because of God’s grace to us in Jesus Christ, He has made known to us the path of life! “You make known to me the path of life,” the Psalmist prays. We haven’t found the path of life on our own, we were not even looking for it (Eph. 2:1-4), but God who is rich in mercy made it known to us in Jesus Christ.  Jesus, our Beloved Lord says to us: “I am the way, the truth, and the life…”

Jesus descended into this world to show you the path of life; Jesus ascended back to heaven to show you the fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore at God’s right hand.

By God’s grace to us in Jesus Christ, we are now made pilgrims who walk by faith expectantly looking for a heavenly city and a heavenly inheritance. The path we are on does not lead to destruction, but to more life, life as it is completed in God. As you travel this path, although times can be difficult and you may at times grow weary, do not give up, do not give in, do not be distracted, nor seek to be satisfied in this world. You were made for Jesus, only in Him can you find ultimately all that you’re are longing for from the depths of your hearts and souls.  Although the journey along the path of life can be difficult, Jesus walks with you and will never leave you nor forsake you. “I am with you always, even unto the end of the age…” (Matthew 28:20).

Knowing that Jesus walks with us, makes the journey satisfying and joyful. In fact, the Psalmist says that in the presence of God is “fullness of joy”! The Spirit of God has united us to Jesus Christ so that as we journey as pilgrims we can enjoy Jesus’ presence and be filled with joy along the way as He promised His disciples (John 14-16; Romans 15:13). As we seek God along our journey on the path of life, so we find our Beloved Savior-Husband-Lord and King of kings and Lord of lords enthroned and exalted at God’s right hand (Hebrews 7:24; Romans 8:34). What is He doing there? Ruling and reigning over heaven and earth, as well as praying for us that though all of hell would break loose upon us, we could find at God’s right hand where Jesus is enthroned, His strength, His power, His mercy, as well as the forgiveness, the help we need by His grace, and all of God’s “pleasures forevermore”!

At God’s right hand in Jesus Christ we find strength in our weariness; grace in our weakness; hope in our struggles; pleasures forevermore in our emptiness here. At God’s right hand we find in Jesus all things we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3-4). All that we long for here, we find at God’s right hand; truly there are “pleasures forevermore” there in Jesus!

What are God’s “pleasures forevermore” in Jesus? Are you hungry? Jesus will fill you; He is the Bread of Life. Are you thirsty? Jesus will quench your thirsts; He is the Fountain of Life. Are you in need of a deeper intimacy and communion with God? Jesus will be your comfort and joy; He is our Heavenly Bridegroom. Are you tired and weary? Jesus will be your rest; He is our rest from our burden of sins, our pains and anxieties, and everything that would distract and/or hinder us along our pilgrimage in this present world.

Let us take refuge in God our Savior (Psalm 16:1). Let us realize that because Jesus is our Lord there is no good apart from him (Psalm 16:2; John 15:5). Let us rejoice that we have a beautiful inheritance in Christ (Psalm 16:6). Let us bless the Lord and let our hearts be glad because Jesus has taken our flesh, and can sympathize with us in our time of need (Hebrews. 4:14-16), because He has tasted the challenges of this path, the sicknesses, the difficulties, the weariness, the loneliness, the abandonment, the cold-hearted hatred; Jesus has taken our sins upon Himself, and tasted the pangs of death and what it means to lose the comfort and power of the presence of God as one forsaken because of sin. And this was for you.

God raised Jesus from the dead after He took upon Himself our sins, after He was crushed for our iniquities, and propitiated God’s wrath in our place. God did not allow Jesus to see corruption in hell, but raised Him in exaltation glory to God’s right hand to experience the fullness of joy and the Father’s love at God’s right hand as King of kings and Lord of lords (Psalm 16:10). And to live for us at God’s right hand so that we would have joy now.

Jesus is a trustworthy Savior, and friend, and Lord, and King, and Shepherd, and Husband. Let us go to him to find in Him the fullness of joy, and the pleasures forevermore this day! Don’t wait another minute seeking in this world or in yourself what only Jesus can give to you. The blessings of God are not found in this world, nor within yourselves, but at God’s right hand!

Seek Jesus there.

In Christ’s love,

Pastor Biggs

From Your Pastor: Hope in the Face of Death

As Christians, we mourn the death of our loved ones, but we mourn as those who have hope. We hope because of Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection. This is what we learn in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. The believers at Thessalonica had written to the Apostle Paul concerning the hope of those who had died. Their main concern: Would they also share in the resurrection? Was there hope for them? They needed God’s knowledge and insight into how to mourn, and what to expect in the future as believers.

“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13)

     As Christians, we mourn, but with hope. Notice in 1 Thessalonians 4:13, the Apostle Paul does not teach us that grieving and mourning are wrong when our loved ones die in the Lord. He does not forbid us to weep, grieve or mourn. Rather, Paul teaches us that we do not have to “grieve as others do who have no hope” (4:13). As Christians who lose our loved ones who were committed to Christ and trusting in His righteousness alone, we can mourn, but with hope.

     What is the hope we have in death? Hope for the Christian is a confident and expectant trust in God’s Word, and in the completed work of Jesus Christ for sinners. “Hope” for the Christian is focused on God alone as He keeps His promises; and we simply believe God (Romans 15:13). By God’s grace we can abound in this hope, or confident and expectant trust in God’s Word to us!

     Why do we still mourn if we believe that our loved ones are safe and sound in Jesus? Death is still a horrid monster and intruder into God’s good creation. Death is the judgment of God for sinful man seeking His own way and will apart from the way and will of God (Gen. 3). For death to be removed, we must have our sins removed (Rev. 21:7-8). We must have a loving Savior to take away our sins and to reconcile us to God; and we have this in Jesus (Romans 5:6-11). Death is not merely “part of life” as some will say without thinking. Death is the opposite of life that God gave mankind at creation in His presence; it is not supposed to be here.

When our loved ones die, and we attend funerals, we should especially be prayerfully considering the “weight” of loss and separation that death brings to all (Eccl. 7:1-3). We have all gone over to the casket somewhat apprehensively to view the body of our loved one; at this moment, prayerfully think about death. We often say at this moment: “He/She is not here; this is so strange.” This is death.

     What does our Lord Jesus think about death? When Jesus our Lord was here in his earthly ministry, even though He possessed the power of life over death; even though He was anointed with the Holy Spirit beyond measure of any man or prophet before or since, he too, mourned death. We are told in John 11 when Jesus goes to visit his dead friend Lazarus’ family after Lazarus had died, he wept (John 11:35). We are also told that Jesus was “deeply moved” in His spirit by the hideous, terrifying specter of death. The word used of Jesus being “deeply moved” is a Greek word that describes the sound of horses “snorting” as in battle. We behold holy outrage in our Lord Jesus. Our Lord Jesus was outraged by death. Yet Jesus came to destroy death (Hebrews. 2:14-18; 1 Cor. 15:26).

This is a  proper response to death. Outrage, but hope and confidence in Jesus’s power alone.

     Why would our Lord Jesus be so outraged by death? Death separates. Death separates men from God; death separates loved from ones from us; death separates our bodies from our spirits (and/or souls). As humans we were created to live in the Life-Giving power and love of our Creator. We were never meant to live apart from this Life-Giving God and lover of our souls.

God the Father sent His Beloved Son into the world to take upon human flesh with the purpose of becoming obedient to the point of death–for us (Phil. 2:5-11). The Son lovingly and willingly came for His own to live perfectly for us, to die under the penalty of God’s judgment for our sins—to defeat and remove the horror of death from us; to give His people hope. Death will not have the final word. Death is Christ’s enemy to be fully vanquished and destroyed when He returns again.

Let us rejoice! God will wipe away every tear from the eyes of those who mourn, and the former things will no longer be remembered. This is our great hope in our grieving and mourning now (Revelation 21:1-7; cf. Isaiah 25:6-9).

“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” …But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” – 1 Cor. 15:55,57-58

Dedicated with love to Edith C. Lambert (1929-2016)

“Therefore encourage one another with these words” (1 Thess. 4:18)

In Christ’s Love,

Pastor Biggs

From Your Pastor: Thoughts on the Assurance of Salvation

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. – ESV 1 John 5:13

As God’s people, we can be grateful that those who truly are believers can never be separated from the love of God in Christ Jesus! NOTHING—absolutely NOTHING can separate you from His love for you!! (Romans 8:31-39; John 10:28-30). As believers, we can truly be joyful and confident in God’s love for us in Christ and so gain assurance of our salvation.

The Bible teaches us that assurance is a fruit of our faith in Jesus Christ, but assurance does not necessarily belong to the essence of faith (Col. 2:2; Heb. 6:11; 10:22). This means that one can possess true and saving faith, but not also possess assurance of one’s salvation. One can be a true believer in Christ with the slightest and smallest faith because she is taking hold of a great Christ, even if she is not fully assured! Salvation is about the greatness of Christ and His saving power, and willingness to save the repentant, not about how much faith we have (“Lord, I believe, help my unbelief”)!

But assurance ought to be sought. The Bible teaches: “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves” (2 Cor. 13:5). “…Be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure…” (2 Pet. 1:10). We can rejoice that assurance of salvation is a fruit of our faith in Jesus, and it grows out of our growing faith as we grow in our understanding of the love of God for us in Christ. Assurance of salvation in Christ comes out of faith growing up and maturing in our walk with God (Eph. 4:11-16). Our Scripture from 1 John 5:13 tells us that the Apostle John wrote His first epistle to the churches so that they would have assurance of God’s love for them in Christ: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.”

     We can know that we know CHRIST, that is, we can have the assurance John tells us about in four important ways (1) Loving Obedience to Jesus: “We know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments” (1 Jo. 2:3). (2) Love to Other Christians: “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love other Christians” (1 Jo. 3:14). (3) Fruit of the Spirit: “By [loving in deed/action and in truth] we are of the truth and reassure our heart before Him” (1 Jo. 3:18). (4) Witness of the Spirit of God: “By this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us” (1 Jo. 3:19, 24). This is how we gain assurance in our faith as believers. Do we possess to some degree these four things? This is an important question for us to ponder.

We must acknowledge that there are many hypocrites and unregenerate persons in the visible church who presume that they are in an estate of salvation although they show no evidence that they have had any work of grace in their hearts. There are those who claim Christ as Savior, but deny Him as Lord in their sinful disobedience and blatant unrepentance. Therefore, because we know that our hearts can deceive us, and that there are truly hypocrites, and that we can easily play the hypocrite, we must seek to examine ourselves as Scripture teaches us (2 Cor. 13:5; cf. Matt. 7:14-24).

     You should never want your pastors or elders, nor anyone else to ever grant you assurance in the faith if you are not living by faith presently. To give assurance to one who is not living like a Christian may be to condemn one to hell. It is like the character Vain-Hope in Bunyan’s ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’ that walked the way with Christian and Hopeful, but who had never truly believed Christ and His Gospel, and ended up being cast into the outer darkness. As Bunyan taught there is even a door to hell at the gates of heaven! If you’re living unrepentantly right now in a sin, it may be that you’re a Christian who has fallen into a trap and you need immediate help through repentance (1 Cor. 10:12-13), but you may also be coming to realize you have never been converted. Seek God prayerfully for help on this.

If, or when you’re in this kind of struggle, you need to hear all of the Gospel promises for believers in Christ, but you do not need anyone to assure you first; God may be convicting you in your conscience to inform you of grieving the Spirit and calling you to repentance (John 16:8-11). You may truly be a Christian, but just have weak faith, and you need to be assured of God’s love. Don’t focus on yourself and your failures, but on Jesus Christ and His promises laid out in Scripture. Remember that all of our works, though weak and tainted with sin, are acceptable to God through faith in Jesus (Rom. 12:1; Phil. 4:18; 1 Pet. 2:5; cf. Westminster Confession, 16.6-7).

Let us all put aside the sins that so easily beset us and run the race with endurance fixing our eyes on Jesus alone to gain our blessed assurance and confidence in our faith (Heb. 12:1-2; cf. 4:14-16). This blessedness of assurance was described by one of our Reformed forefathers in this way:

“Assurance is glory in the bud, it is the suburbs of paradise, it is a cluster of the land of promise, it is a spark of God, it is the joy and crown of a Christian” (Thomas Brooks, Works, Vol. 2, 333).

Seek Christ Jesus through HIs Word to find assurance through the Spirit’s help. Remember it is the Spirit of God who not only regenerates us and unites us with Christ in our new birth, it is the Spirit of God who empowers us to live for Christ and become like Christ, resisting our sins, the flesh and the devil, and growing up into our salvation in Jesus. It is the Spirit of God who witnesses with our Spirit that we are children of God (Romans 8:15-26). If children, then we are heirs, and we should live as in the very suburbs of heaven, rejoicing in Christ no matter what difficulty, trial or tribulation, knowing that it will only strengthen our endurance, hope and assurance (Romans 5:1-5).

“Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of salvation, purchase of love, born of His Spirit, washed in His blood” (F. Crosby, ‘Blessed Assurance’, 1873)

For further study with the family, see Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 18: Of the Assurance of Grace and Salvation.

In Christ’s love,

Pastor Biggs

 

From Your Pastor: Thank You!

Dear KCPC Family,

Thank you for participating in our evangelistic outreach for the 4th of July Parade in Purcellville! Thank you for your prayers and encouragements and invitations to our neighbors. I thought of this Scripture:

“…Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God” (Rom. 15:7)

May the LORD richly bless you for your sacrificial, self-denial, and desire to glorify Him!

Thank you for all who participated in the design of the new fliers, and for being a part of the KCPC float in the parade, especially our dedicated and zealous young folks!! Thank you, thank you, thank you! While walking in the parade, as it was raining, I felt a drop of rain roll down my face onto my nose, and down my chin, and I look around at all involved, and saw deep zeal and joy for Christ our King; there were smiles on every face! I thought of this Scripture:

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the LORD has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.” (Psa. 133).

While it wasn’t oil running down our heads and beards, it certainly did remind me that Christ had unified you (us!) all by His Spirit, and had given you grace and power to endure joyfully. The LORD has commanded blessings on this kind of unity in Christ! Hallelujah! I thought of these Scriptures:

“May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 15:5-6).

“May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy…” (Col. 1:11)

May the LORD richly bless you for your sacrificial, self-denial, and desire to glorify Him!

Our church in the parade displayed for the world to see the following few things (and you may have thought of many more!):

  • The unity of Christ and His Church.
  • The joy of the Spirit even in the rain (Christians can rejoice even when it “rains on our parade”).
  • The glory of being zealous for the worship of God.
  • The hospitality of Jesus in inviting our neighbors to join us for the preaching of the word and for the worship of God.
  • The kindness of God our Savior in being involved in the midst of our community and in the lives of others.

GLORY BE TO GOD! FROM HIM, AND THROUGH HIM, AND TO HIM ARE ALL THINGS, TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

May the LORD richly bless you for your sacrificial, self-denial, and desire to glorify Him!

Thank you for making the invitation part of our evangelistic outreach a success. Now what are you to do?

REJOICE…AND…

PRAY…

PRAY…

PRAY…

PRAY EXPECTANTLY…

PRAY EXCITEDLY…

 

I love you very much (Phil. 1:8),

Pastor Biggs

 

 

 

P.S. See the newest article in NEW HORIZONS on Evangelism in the Local Church, and you will see how you were models of this kind of grace!

From Your Pastor: “You May Not Sin”: Our Aim and Goal as Believers

 

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

(ESV 1 John 2:1)

If you are a Christian, you should rejoice that you are free from slavery to sin! You are free to walk in newness of life because of the love of Christ for you! Sin is a great evil and offensive against our Holy God, and a great and grave danger to our souls. Sin has an enslaving power to make us obey it and so it is wonderful news to find out that in Christ we are free not to sin!

We are called in Jesus Christ to realize that we are dead to sin and alive to God. This means that when Christ died on the cross, taking the wrath of God upon Himself for our sins, believers died with Him (Rom. 6:4-11). When Jesus was raised from the dead, we were also raised to newness of life. The Apostle Paul writes:

“So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

 (ESV Romans 6:11)

 The Apostle John is teaching the same liberating truth in 1 John 2:1.

“Dear Children, I write these things to you that you may not sin…”

(1 John 2:1b).

Notice how John addresses believers as his “dear children”. Like a loving father to a child, so the Apostle John writes to believers so that they may not sin.  But you say: “May not sin?! Certainly, the Bible does not teach perfectionism! Surely you are not saying that the Bible tells me that Christians are to be perfect, are you?!” No, the Bible does not teach perfectionism. In fact, the Apostle John has already addressed this false teaching and misunderstanding in chapter 1 of his letter:

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

(ESV 1 John 1:8-10)

We must never say that we “have no sin” (1 John 1:8), or that we “have not sinned” (1:10). If we say that we have no sin or have not sinned, then we are liars and call God a liar. We have a need for the confession and forgiveness of sins, and to be cleansed from all unrighteousness as we walk by faith in this world (1:9). As long as we live in this world, believers will have a need to confess our sins to Jesus and to be forgiven, and Jesus is more than willing to receive our confession and to forgive us. God is faithful and just to forgive us. What great hope we have as Christians! But John goes on to teach in 1 John 2:1 that he writes his letter so that we “may not sin”. This means that it should be our spiritual aim and goal to seek not to sin against God.

 Because of God’s love for us in Christ, let us no longer make excuses for our sins, but let us hear the truth of God’s word and seek the spiritual goal of not sinning by His grace. I know you are thinking: “But pastor, I will sin, I just know it.” But is this the spiritual aim and goal God has commanded you in the Bible to live out by faith? Yes, indeed you will sin, John says “If anyone does sin…” and then provides all Christians a wonderful Savior to go to, but the point of the passage is that Jesus’ work for us is also to promote our resolve to seek not to sin. We still have the ability to sin as long as we are on this side of eternity, but we desire not to sin and offend our Great God and Heavenly Father!

How should believers live seeking not to sin?

Let us have a deep hatred for our sins. We must have a deep hatred for our sins. We should begin by understanding that all of our sins are first a great offense against a Holy and Just and Kind King and Merciful Father. We offend God when we sin; we grieve God when we sin; we hurt Him in His Holy heart (Gen. 6:5ff), and that is a good start for Christians to understand the Godward offense of our sins so that we will seek not to sin.

Sin was the reason Jesus came to save us. Jesus came to set us free from slavery to sin, to release us from the dominion and rule of sin. Jesus says graciously: “If the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed!” – -Free from sin! (John 8:31ff). In Christ, we are no longer slaves, but dear children (1 John 2:1a). As dear children, we realize that sin crushed our precious Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. “He was crushed for our iniquities” (‘iniquities’ are sins against God’s person and commandments, Isaiah 53:4ff). God crushed Jesus for our sins. “He who knew no sin became the sin-bearer for us that we might be made righteous in our union with Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). Let us hate sin because it is crushed the perfect and holy, meek and gentle Jesus. This will help us seek not to sin.

Let us pray for a holy hatred for our sins against God. Sin is lawlessness. John writes:

“Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.”

(ESV 1 John 3:4)

  Lawlessness is a complete disregard for God and His most Holy Law. Lawlessness is doing what we want to do rather than what God wants us to do. It is foolishness, and it leads to death. There is absolutely no good that comes from sin which is lawlessness. That is a promise from God Himself! The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Lawlessness describes those who will be rejected by Jesus Christ on the last day; it is the character of the anti-christ; it grows and increases into more lawlessness as it is practiced; it is the desperate situation from which God saved us by His grace the Bible teaches us (Matthew 7:23; 23:28; Romans 6:19; 2 Thess. 2; Titus 2:14).

Let us hate sin because it is lawlessness. This will help us seek not to sin.

When we see our sins, let us ask forgiveness from God and deep repentance. Let us see our Advocate before God, Jesus the Righteous One (1 John 2:1b). Where we lack righteousness, Jesus is sufficient as Savior-Advocate (one who pleads our case before God by His blood), to cleanse us. He is also able by His Spirit to keep us from sinning. Jesus’ death takes away our penalty for sin, but also grants us power over sin (1 John 1:7-9).

Let us resolve by God’s grace in Christ by His Spirit that we will not sin. But how can we achieve this? God has provided us some answers in His word. Here are a few ways to seek to do this, although we will fail at times. But what is your main aim, and spiritual goal? To be like Him; to seek not to sin.

Stay far from temptations. If you know something tempts you, or causes you to sin, seek to live far from it. Don’t go near it, even if it is lawful in and of itself. If it causes you to sin and stumble in your walk, then avoid it with all of your heart. If you are tempted to seek satisfaction in something or someone other than God, make sure you don’t fall into a temptation. This will help us seek not to sin.

Live in God’s grace and duty against sins. Go to worship, and hear preaching of God’s Word, take part in the administration of His sacraments; these are all means of God’s grace to communicate His love and power to you as you receive Christ by faith. Pray often all kinds of prayers for yourself and all people (Ephesians 6:18ff). This will help us seek not to sin.

Don’t doubt and distrust God (Romans 4:18-21). Has God ever let you down? Has God ever been unfaithful to you? No, and He never will let you down or be unfaithful to you in Christ. Trust God’s Word to you, believe His promises. Build yourself up in your most holy faith (Jude 24), seeking to believe what God says in true, particularly as He promises you that you may not sin. This will help us seek not to sin.

Be suspicious of carnal self-love. Watch your self-centeredness, and constant focus on yourself rather than on Christ. Be suspicious anytime you become self-aware and wonder why people are treating you in a certain way, or when you are too self-conscious about what others are saying, and you become overly defensive. Carnal self-love will focus you on yourself, rather than on Christ and your service to Him. This will help us seek not to sin.

Kill sin at the root. Know the master sin-roots. Master sins are ignorance of God’s word in general and God’s promises specifically. Unbelief, selfishness, pride, lust, hard-heartedness against God. All of these are master sin-roots that grow all kinds of dangerous and toxic weeds in your garden and the congregational garden of your local church. If you’re not constantly weeding your garden, then the weeds are constantly growing! This will help us seek not to sin.

Keep your conversation and thoughts above focused on Christ (Colossians 3:1-4). You have been raised with Christ, fix your mind on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of your faith (Hebrews 12:1). Watch your negative and cynical and pessimistic conversations and thoughts that you have that are veiled and subtle unbelief against God’s Word. Seek godly companions to talk about God’s goodness and grace. This will help us seek not to sin.

Be watchful and prayerful at all times (Matt. 26:41).  Apart from Christ you are dangerous; your heart is self-deceptive and evil by nature. You do not by nature know how to do anything but sin. You know this experientially in your own life, unless you have learned to self and to God (see 1 John 1:8ff). Remember the importance of asking God to search and know your heart, your thoughts, etc. (Psalm 139:23-24). This will help us seek not to sin.

God’s Word should be your only rule. This will help us seek not to sin.

Seek God’s will each day at the Throne of Grace (Hebrews 4:14-16). Jesus Christ the Righteous One will grant you mercy and give you grace to help you in your time of need. This is a promise. Why would you not seek this Throne of Grace daily? Why would you not start each day at Christ’s feet? This will help us seek not to sin.

Go to Him now, confess your sins, your carelessness, your lack of watchfulness and prayer. Confess to Christ if you have not tried living for Him as dead to sin and alive to God. Confess to Jesus that you have not even tried to make it your spiritual aim not to sin if this be truth. This in itself is a blatant denial of God’s Word, and is usually fueled by one of the mother root-sins such as ignorance that God’s word teaches this, or unbelief that God would give you strength to live in this way. This will help us seek not to sin.

God requires perfect righteousness of all mankind. All mankind must be perfect if they are to ever hope in heaven and being a recipient of eternal life (Matt. 5:48). Because we are conceived and born in sin, we have no righteousness before God, and can never do anything in this life that is not actually tainted by sin (Psalm 51; Romans 3). Our only hope is to find the perfect righteousness that God demands of us and that we so desperately need in Jesus Christ alone. This is why Jesus alone is described as “The Righteous” or “The Righteous One” (1 John 2:1b). Only Jesus who was both God and man has attained a perfect righteousness.

Jesus died for sinners, and he died so that we might live for God. Jesus died for sinners so that we might be set free from slavery from sin and live unto God. The perfect righteousness that God requires of all mankind, God also provides for us in Jesus the Righteous One, and this is received by faith.

Now hate sin. Ask Christ to help you to hate it more. Jesus did not leave you in your sins. He did not allow sin in your life to continue to offend God Almighty, and to destroy your life and soul. He came so that you would have life in Him and to experience abundant life that is without the horrible rule and reign of sin over you, making you a slave with only death as your hope to be set free.

Jesus Christ has overcome sin; he has done for you what you could never do by His power and grace; because of His love for you!

And then go and seek not to sin.

But if (and when!) you do sin, you have an Advocate before the Father, Jesus the Righteous.

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

(ESV 1 John 2:1)

Ponder the love of God for you in Christ.

 

In Christ’s love,

Pastor Biggs

 

 

From Your Pastor: What Is Sanctification? (A Study of the Westminster Shorter Catechism)

Westminster Shorter Catechism

Question 32: What is Sanctification?

Answer: Sanctification is the work of God’s free grace,(1) whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God,(2) and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.(3) (1)2 Thess. 2:13 (2)Eph. 4:23,24 (3)Rom. 6:4,6; Rom. 8:1

Scripture Memory: “…Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4)

An Explanation: Man was created by our good God as upright, holy, and righteous. But man rebelled against our kind king (Ecc. 7:29). Although the fall did not completely destroy the image of God in man, it did great damage of deeply tainting him with sin. In the fall, man lost his original righteousness and communion with God, became spiritually dead in sin, and was defiled in all parts and faculties of soul and body (Gen. 2:17; 3:6-8; Gen. 6:1; Jer. 17:9; Rom. 3:23; Eph. 2:1; see WCF, 6.2). What was holy about man became corrupt, what was righteous became sinful and rebellious what was enlightened and illumined by God’s truth became darkened (Eph. 4:19-24). We are not our former selves; we have been plunged into an estate of sin and misery. Fallen mankind can sing with sadness the popular song: “Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away, now it looks as though they’re here to stay…I’m not half the man I used to be, there’s a shadow hanging over me…”

“…A work of God’s free grace…” But God in His steadfast love and kindness has not left us in an estate of sin and misery (see WSC, Q&A 19-21). He has provided our Lord Jesus as a Savior from the guilt and power of sin. In Christ, we are sanctified and restored (1 Cor. 1:30). Sanctification is a work of the Spirit of God in our union with Christ where the damage done by sin to the image of God is renewed in us.

“…We are renewed in the whole man after the image of God…” When thinking of sanctification, we should be reminded that Christ is the true image of God (Heb. 1:1-2; Col. 1:15). Christ Jesus is what man was created to be and how man was created to live as obedient son to a loving Heavenly Father. Jesus is the ideal son of the perfect Father. Adam as son rebelled ungratefully against his Father, Israel as son rebelled against his Father, we as sons have rebelled against our Father. But Jesus has perfectly lived, died, been raised and exalted as the ideal son and perfect man made in God’s image, who is a willing and able Savior and Sanctifier of sinners (Heb. 2:10-18). Man was created for the worship, service and love of God. Christ Jesus did that with all of his heart, soul, mind and strength for us! (cf. Matt. 22:37-40).

“…Enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousnesss…” In Christ, believers are taught to cooperate with this new nature that has been implanted into us by the precious and powerful Holy Spirit of God, by putting off the old tarnished self, the contaminated self, the poisoned self, the sinful self, and to be renewed by putting on the new self given to us in Christ Jesus!

“…To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (ESV Ephesians 4:22-24).

When we are united to Christ in our union with Him His Spirit not only imputes His perfect righteousness to us, but we begin to be renewed in the likeness of Christ (Phil. 1:6). Conformity to Christ for the glory of God is the ultimate reason for our salvation.

“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son…” (ESV Romans 8:29a; cf. Eph. 1:4).

Conformity to Christ, or holiness is not optional for the Christian. Without holiness, or Christ-likeness, no man shall see the Lord (Heb. 12:14b). Let me be clear: conformity to Christ is holiness. Holiness, or being conformed to Christ’s likeness has two important aspects: mortification and vivification. Mortification is a dying to our old way of doing things through the flesh. Vivification is living a new life in obedience to God. Believers can only mortify flesh and live by the Spirit knowing that in reality they have died and been raised with Christ (see Rom. 6:4-14). The Christian believer is in a constant warfare to do this by God’s grace (Gal. 5:16-25). God is faithful to work in us to will and to do what He commands; this is all for His good pleasure. In Christ, we desire to please our Heavenly Father!

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”( Philippians 2:12-13)

A Prayer: Father, sanctify me through the blood of Jesus Christ, cleansing my heart this day, and fill me with your Spirit that I may do intense and intentional warfare against my flesh, and live by your Holy Spirit, producing much fruit! May I keep my eyes on Jesus, and be conformed to Him more today!

 

In Christ’s Love,

Pastor Biggs

From Your Pastor: Gentleness

Gentleness is having the tone and the touch of Jesus Christ.

When Jesus speaks of himself he’s gentle and lowly in heart. And He calls believers to learn from Him.

Jesus says: “…Learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matt. 11:29; cf. 1 Cor. 10:1). We are called as Christians to be like Christ in our gentleness. To walk worthy of our calling as a follower of Jesus is to walk “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love…” (Eph. 4:2). Gentleness in tone and touch is a visible sign that one’s heart is at rest and calm under the influence of Christ’s grace.

We live in a rude culture of hostility and anger and vindictiveness and general unkindness. Christian gentleness can be an important response to this kind of behavior. In fact, gentleness by Christ’s grace may be our most effective and influential way of bringing change in our culture today.

How could Christians live influentially and effectively in the culture today, particularly in a time of confusion over sexual identity and name-calling in politics? Gentleness.

What could be our answer to aggressive driving? Gentleness.

What could be our response to rushed and rudeness? Gentleness.

What could cause those who perceive that Christians are unloving to listen to our Gospel? Gentleness.

What could be our answer to “pushy”? Gentleness.

What could be our answer to a sarcastic remark? Gentleness.

What could be our answer to those we may disagree with? Gentleness in tone and touch. Specifically, “speaking the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15).

Imagine that we could as Christians say with King David “…Your gentleness made me great” (2 Sam. 22:35-36) in the midst of a hostile and rude culture. This is the godly influence that could be useful to us as the Church.

Gentleness is a fruit of the spirit. The Spirit of God is pleased to rule over our hearts in such a way that our tongues may possess a gentle tone and our hands and bodies may be used as instruments of kindness with a gentle touch.

When we were young we read in our fairy stories about a gentle giant. As we got older and experienced more of the real world we were surprised to find that he’s not so gentle. But Jesus is. What was attractive about the gentle giant was that he was very strong, but in his strength, he treated others kindly. He was powerful, yet kind. Isn’t this story of the gentle giant really a story about our longings for one like Jesus Christ? Gentleness like meekness is strength that is under control and used in tone in touch to be kind and gracious to others?

One of my teachers used to speak of “gentle-ing himself” when he saw that his heart was upset or impassioned by sin or an aggravation of others. This teacher understood that lack of gentleness was a heart problem. It showed a lack of grace and a need for Christ. At times, I find myself thinking of this and seeking to gentle myself in places where there’s potential controversy or conflict, or in crowded places, or in long lines, or in times when I’m running late and there’s traffic, and when I perceive folks are being inconsiderate of my time. These are times to think about “gentle-ing oneself” methinks. By God’s grace…

Sadly, in the church, we can forget to gentle ourselves. Sometimes when we argue (discuss?) theologically, we can forget gentleness. We can so desire that the truth be told, that we forget tone and touch in telling that truth. We forget to “speak the truth in love” even to one another (Eph. 4:15)! Yet gentleness is one of the most important characteristics that should describe us in our engagement with one another, especially when we disagree. The Bible teaches us:

“The servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome, but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil. Correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth…” (2 Tim. 2:24-25).

We see doctrinal positions and personal opinions publicly posted on Facebook and other social media. But what is revealed is often more than truth or a mere opinion. What we see are sinful dispositions and hearts that are in desperate need of Christ-like gentleness. Should we wonder by this kind of online behavior why many distance themselves from us and will not come to hear our Gospel?

Beloved, let us pray for kindness, the ability to teach or persuade others patiently, and to correct with gentleness. For every public display of lack of gentleness that is tweeted and posted on social media, as Christians, let there also be a transparently honest and humble public display of repentance tweeted or posted.

We should remember that like a lot of things in this life, gentleness is “caught” not “taught”. We can have an understanding of what gentleness is, and have an ability to define it, and even be dogmatic about what it’s definition is 🙂 yet we learn it best from seeing it in others. We learn it by imitation. We learn it from being in communion with Christ and learning to be like Him. The glory that will be reflected on us and in us as we are transformed by Christ’s Spirit is the temperament of gentleness toward others (2 Cor. 3:18). As King David, we can possess hands trained for war, living as warriors for Christ in the present cultural battle, and yet gentleness is what will make us great (Psalm 18:34-35). Gentleness is bold because it is God-like, but this does not mean that it’s ever fearful. If we truly want greatness, it must come through godly gentleness.

But gentleness cannot be learned while being rushed and in a hurry all the time. Gentleness cannot be learned in being concerned only about one’s self. Gentleness cannot be learned while seeking to exert one’s opinions without listening, or in seeking to be first (3 John 9). Gentleness cannot be learned as long as one would seek to be right all the time. As our forefather John Calvin wrote convictingly:

“You will never attain true gentleness except by one path: a heart imbued [saturated/permeated] with lowliness and with reverence for others.”

Need gentleness? Embrace Christ, and let him gentle on you through His grace. Then by His Spirit, gentle yourself and go and be influential and effective in your gifts and calling in this world. Let’s cultivate a culture of gentleness in our Christian congregations and in our larger community. Let us tweet and post on social media with gentleness, too.

Let us be a gentle-ing, counter-cultural influence,

by speaking the Gospel and living it out gently.

 

In Christ’s love,

Pastor Biggs