KCPC Blog

“At Your Right Hand”- Psalm 16:11

Word of Encouragement

 

“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…”

 

In Jesus we find this path that is characterized by life in God, and that takes us to God Himself. In God’s mercy, Jesus, who seeks and saves the lost, sought us out and found us and now we walk on the path that leads to Heaven. Your hope, Beloved, is a celestial city, a heavenly city, the New Jerusalem that will never be shaken (Heb. 11:13-16; 12:27-29)- -the Eternal City of God!

 

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 look for a heavenly city and a heavenly inheritance. The path we are on does not lead to destruction, but to more life, life as complete in God. In this celestial city we await, that we journey toward on this path of life, we find the full communion with God that we were all created to enjoy.

 

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.

 

This is the foretaste of Life Eternal and Heavenly Hope that you can have now by God’s Spirit in Jesus. This foretaste will be complete when we see Him face to face, when we behold the king in His beauty and see Him face to face, and we shall be like Him! As we walk with Him may a sense of His fullness of joy and an increase of the pleasures forevermore be ours because we trust in Him as the Psalmist.

 

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 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.

 

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

08/31/11

Communion with God in Christ

 Word of Encouragement

We as Christians walk with God now in union and communion with Jesus Christ by faith. The Bible teaches us that even though we still live here in this world, we are really already translated, raised, taken and resurrected to live with God.

 

Notice this truth in Colossians 3:1-4:

 

ESV Colossians 3:1-4: If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

 

This teaches us people of God that no matter how short your life may be, no matter how insignificant you think you and your life may be, you are united to Jesus Christ by faith and already you have died with Christ and been raised up with him! Your life is greatly significant and you can be one who is defined in Christ as one who walks with God and enjoy sweet communion with this great God!

 

Colossians 3:1-4 teaches that believers “have been raised with Christ” now (v. 1a), and that because of this we are to live in communion with God “seeking the things that are above” (v. 1b).

 

So secure is our present existence in union with Jesus that our lives are “hidden with Christ in God” and that Christ is our life (vv. 3-4a). Although we remain here, our union with Christ is so very **INTIMATE** that we live in Him and move in Him and have our very being in Him- -we are His holy temple, the special people in which He dwells by His Spirit.

 

Can it be said of you that you “walk with God”?

 

Do you realize more of your union with God through communion with God? We should understand the distinction in our relationship to God between our union with Him and our communion with Him. Do you make this important distinction?

 

Our union with God in Jesus Christ by faith can never be broken. Our union will never fluctuate; no one, nothing can snatch us out of Jesus’ grip, and nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (John 10:28ff; Romans 8:31-39). If God is for us, who can be against us?

 

But our communion with Christ because of our union must be developed; we grow into our communion just like getting to know a friend better or a parent if we are adopted into a family. In our communion with God, He is always near and promises that if we draw near to Him, he will draw near to us to commune with us (James 4:4ff).

 

We should understand that it is not that God withdraws from us who are in union with Jesus, but that we have a tendency to withdraw from him and not walk with him as we are called to do in Jesus Christ. God doesn’t move away from us, but we do and we often wander away from God from our hearts, although we are in union with him.

 

In other words, while living already translated in Jesus Christ, we can live as if we are still part of this world and not seek communion with Him as we should.

 

As we realize what Christ has done for us and how he has pleased God on our behalf, and we know how we are saved from our sinful condition, so we learn to develop our communion with the Triune God.

 

Let us remember these things as part of developing our communion with God.

 

Meditate on these things this week (especially in light of today’s sermon), and by God’s grace and Spirit, you will find that you will please God more in your obedience (not in order to be saved, but as a manifestation of your gratitude for salvation), and you will find more joy in your journey here (see John 15:11):

 

ESV John 15:11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

 

 

***Developing our Communion with God:  Remind yourself daily…***

 

(1)   Remind yourself of the distinction between union with Christ that is unbreakable and will not fluctuate, and the communion with God that must be sought and developed.

 

(2)   Remind yourself daily that you were not seeking God, but this glorious and self-existent and wonderful God who you had lived sinning against, sought you out and initiated a relationship with you in Jesus Christ for the sake that you might know Him better.

 

(3)   Remind yourself of the interaction that should be happening in your life as you grow in the knowledge of the Triune God. Our communion with God is interactive: God works in us by His Spirit, we respond with joyful obedience; God speaks to us through His Word, we respond with thankful gratitude and walking according to His commandments; God tell us how much He loves us, we love him back by living for him and seeking to please Him.

 

(4)   Remind yourself that because God is your Father, you are a child of the living God and heir to all that Christ is heir to, and that God will lead and guide you and even chastise you because you are a dear child whom he loves and he knows better than any earthly parent what you most need.

 

(5)   Remind yourself that because Jesus is your Savior, you have a Shepherd who will never leave you nor forsake you but guard and guide you to the promised land of eternity. Because Jesus is your Savior, you have a loving Husband-Bridegroom, who has given his life for you, and has betrothed himself to you, so be faithful to you Heavenly Husband. Because Jesus is your Savior, you have a great and mighty King who is with you and will strengthen, help and uphold you in your day to day struggles. Because Jesus is your Savior, you have a dear friend who has laid down his life for you and lives to make you joyful (see John 15:11-15). Jesus calls us friends, will you not seek him, this Heavenly friend who only longs to rejoice over you and to be with you. Won’t you just be with Jesus sometimes, leaning confidently on his bosom, letting him know that you love him?!

 

(6)   Remind yourself that because the Spirit of God is with you, you may have as much of Christ as you seek in Him! The Spirit loves to talk about Jesus, minister Jesus and lead us into all the truths of Scripture about Jesus! We have the Spirit to war against our sinful flesh; we have the Spirit to comfort and console us, and to help us to pray. Won’t you seek His power to enable you to die more and more to sin, to realize the union you have with Christ and the communion with him you need to develop. Won’t you seek Him for the power to desire Him more?

 

(7)   Remind yourself to delight yourself in the LORD daily (Psa. 37:4)! The Bible says “Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Is the LORD **THE** desire of your heart?! You can have more of Him the Bible says- -you can walk closer in communion with him. Can you say with the Psalmist: “Who have I in heaven but you, and what on earth do I desire but you?” (Psalm 73:23ff). You can have this kind of response to your union with Jesus and grow in your communion. Remember that what enlists a person’s affections, rules the person. This means that if God is what gets you excited, then God will rule over you. If someone or something else is loved or delighted more in and gets you excited than God, this/these things will rule you. There is no way to live for God if your affections are not given over to him and this is the urgent practical need of communion with him!

 

(8)   Remind yourself to please God in Jesus Christ in response to the Gospel message that you have died and already been seated with Christ in the Heavenlies. You no longer need the things of this world. Seek the things of Christ that are above, and beware of prosperity that tempts you to have a weak relationship with such a glorious God!

 

(9)   Remind yourself daily that God is a consuming fire and worthy to be reverenced, feared and worshipped according to His Word. Although He has been gracious in Christ, may we never presume upon His grace and the blood of Jesus, thinking that if we do, we will not be judged with great and painful consequences! Remind yourself that although God has stooped to be gracious in Christ, He is still the living God and you are to approach Him in Christ with fear and trembling (Heb. 12:25-29). May we seek never to grieve our God because of our sins- -may we never live as those who are trusting in Christ’s precious blood and living blatantly sinfully thinking that Christ’s blood can be excuses for sin and freedom to live as we please!

 

(10)                       Remind yourself daily to develop your prayer life as never before now that you know that you have already been raised, translated, and resurrected with Christ. Because your life has been hidden with Christ in God, develop your relationship with God by talking to Him all the time. Talk to God through prayer in the precious Name of Jesus in formal prayer times in your closet, on the way to work, during difficult circumstances and times during your day, and as often as you possibly can. Pray for yourself, pray for others, delight yourself in talking to the Triune God who has saved you in Jesus!

 

We all can walk with God in union and communion with Jesus Christ by faith. All who are listed in Hebrews 11 are simple sinners like you and me who had both good and bad times in their lives. What set them apart from the rest of the world was their faith in God and His promises. They believed that God existed and that God rewards those who seek him.

 

Do you believe in God? Do you believe God? Do you believe God rewards those who seek Him?

 

Look to Jesus Christ and see your life!

 

Then go and live a life worth living—one that is pleasing to God as you more effectively and accurately walk with God as His child.

 

In Christ’s love,

 

Pastor Biggs

08/07/11

“Walking with God”- Do You Walk with God in Union with Christ?

Word of Encouragement

 

ESV Genesis 5:22-24: Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. ESV Hebrews 11:5-6: By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

 

Beloved, are you characterized by “walking with God”? Is your life an example to others of what it means to walk with God? Are you satisfied with your walk before God in Christ today? Is your life lived well?

 

Today I want to talk with you about union and communion with God. I want us to better and more effectively to know how to walk with God in Christ in a way that perhaps you have never dreamed possible! God can do immeasurably above all that we ask or imagine- -and so let us trust God to teach us to better realize our union with Him in Jesus, and to seek to develop our communion with Him.

 

In Genesis 5, we are told of a unique man named Enoch. He is described a one who “walked with God” (Gen. 5:22, 24). Very rarely in the Bible is this used of men in their relationship to God. Noah is described as one who walked with God, and the priests who walked before God’s special presence in the Holy of Holies are described as men who walk with God (Gen. 6:9; Mal. 2:6). Enoch’s relationship was special, and Hebrews 11:5-6 tells us more specifically of what it means that Enoch walked with God.

 

Enoch was commended as one who walked with God because he lived as one who “pleased God” (Heb. 11:5). In Genesis 5, Enoch is unique in that his life does not end in death, but God takes him, or translates him to God’s special presence without undergoing the curse of death that he deserved. Genesis 5:24 teaches: “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.”

 

Enoch’s being taken by God without seeing death reminds us of two important truths: (1) Although death is a curse upon mankind for sin (Gen. 2:17; 3:19- “You shall surely die”), God has the power over death and so there is hope in God for all who believe His promises that death is not the final word; and (2) Enoch may have lived a brief life (in comparison to the other people who lived during his time very long lives), nevertheless, his life was lived well, pleasing God and then continuing in communion in his life with God forever. Enoch lived well in communion with God.

 

We should understand right away that Enoch ultimately points us to his greater Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of Adam, the Son of Seth, the Son of Enoch…and the Son of God (Luke 3:23, 37-38). Enoch’s short life (of ‘only’ 365 years!) was characterized by walking with God, pleasing God, and eternal life without seeing death, yet this life could only be possibly by faith in Jesus Christ.

 

Although Enoch did not know as much as we know today about the Lord Jesus because we live in the fullness of God’s revelation of Jesus Christ (Heb. 1:1-2; Gal. 4:4ff), nevertheless, he trusted God’s promises to him that were given at that particular time in redemptive history, and he lived by faith in knowing God was faithful to his promises that he had made to Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:15). Enoch believed the gospel good news as he knew it at his time in history, and walked by faith before the living God pleasing God with his faith.

 

God blessed Enoch and he did not see death. God favored Enoch and so he was privileged to be taken, or translated to live in eternal communion with God without seeing death.  But death was a reality for all other men in Adam (notice the phrase “…And he died” in Genesis 5 that describes the effects of the curse and heightens the contrast with Enoch’s life).

 

Although Enoch would not see death, he could not have solved the problem of death as a curse upon man. Enoch could not take away the problem of the curse of death upon mankind. Even Enoch was born into Adam’s image (Gen. 5:1-3), which means that he was conceived in sin with a sinful nature, and so he could not have died for himself or for others in order to take away the death curse that hung over mankind because of Adam’s transgression against God (Rom. 5:12, 14). As a sinner, Enoch’s life was lived by God’s grace alone; Enoch’s translation into eternal communion with God was by grace alone.

 

Even though Enoch did not see death, death was still a problem for mankind, especially in the realization of God’s gospel promises to undo the curse of sin caused by the serpent, and destroy the serpent and what he had done to Adam and His seed in his diabolical death-works (Gen. 3:15). How would death be abolished and the serpent’s work destroyed?

 

Enoch’s sinfulness in Adam, and inability to abolish death himself points to another, to the Lord Jesus Christ, Enoch’s greater son, because death could only be abolished by one who was perfect, untainted by sin and the curse of Adam, and could die under God’s condemning wrath as a sacrifice for all who believe.

 

Jesus Christ came in the fullness of time, born of a woman, born under the condemnation of the law that threatened death, in order to abolish death. Jesus who knew no sin became sin for us, so that we might be the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21). Jesus entered into Adam’s genealogy (Luke 3:23-38) without the taint of sin (because he was conceived by the Holy Spirit of the substance of Mary), to do away with the curse of death by taking the curse upon Himself!

 

Jesus died, and was raised from the dead! Death could not hold him; Jesus abolished death; Jesus’s death was the death of death! We can rejoice that death that threatens all mankind in Adam has been abolished, and the sting and threat of death has been removed from the viper’s poison.

 

ESV Hebrews 2:14-15: Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

 

Jesus in his death for sinners, as the son greater than Enoch “destroyed the one who had the power of death”!

 

The Apostle Paul exults in the Gospel good news that death has been abolished not by our works, but by Christ’s work on our behalf that is received by grace alone through faith:

 

ESV 2 Timothy 1:9-10: …[God] saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel…

 

Jesus abolished death in his death so that life and immortality might be brought to all who believe. This is the great promise of life that Enoch’s translation and being taken to be with God was pointing forward to! Enoch could be taken by God and not see death, but Enoch could not take away the curse of death.

 

Praise God that we live not in a time of types and shadows as Enoch before the flood and the incarnation, but in the fullness of the time and the bright light of God’s realities in Jesus Christ! Let us rejoice in Christ’s victory over death. Although we may see death, and walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we shall fear no evil, for our death is now as merely going to sleep to awake to eternal life and communion with God for all eternity (Psalm 23:4-6; 1 Thess. 4:13-19). Some Christians will not see death when the Lord returns, but will be immediately translated as their brother Enoch before them!

 

God indeed has the power over death and this is what Enoch’s life and translation points toward in Jesus Christ. But Enoch’s life also points us to a life that is pleasing to God and one that has of communion with God not only in this present life but also in the life to come.

 

Enoch’s life points us to eternal life with God, but an eternal life with God that begins right now as we believe! Enoch’s life point us not merely to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but more fully and exhaustively and extensively to the believers’ union with Jesus Christ!

 

Now you may say to me: “Pastor, Enoch was a great man, I am an average man or woman, etc.” But I would remind you that we live on the other side of the death and resurrection and ascension of Christ Jesus! No matter how “average” a man or woman you are, you are extraordinary in God’s sight compared to Enoch and the time in which He lived.

 

Enoch lived a life in union and communion with God, but Enoch could have never dreamed (unless revealed to him outside of Scripture) of the close union and communion with God that we have because of our Lord Jesus Christ!

 

Enoch pleased God by walking with him by faith and believing God’s promises only imperfectly in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. Jesus Christ, one greater than Enoch, and Enoch’s greater Son, walked with God perfectly and he came under the curse of death and was raised from the dead in resurrection power, not only for himself, but for all who believe both in the Old and the New Covenants!

 

Jesus Christ is a life greater than Enoch’s that gives us more than an example of what it means to walk with God, but one who walked with God and pleased God on our behalf.

 

Jesus walked with God and pleased him for us. Jesus secured our salvation and our union and communion with him. Enoch’s life points forward not merely to Christ’s resurrection, but union with Jesus Christ and all the benefits of that union! In Jesus Christ, we have one who has pleased God perfectly on our behalf. Jesus’ perfect righteousness before God that he earned in walking with God is imputed to us by faith as we receive it. God’s work in Jesus Christ is received by grace alone and we are reckoned or considered perfectly righteous in God’s sight because of Christ’s perfect life (Romans 4).

 

Christ lived perfectly walking with God and therefore in Christ we have walked perfectly with God and pleased Him in a way we could never have done as sinners. Enoch was a sinner and God imputed the righteousness of Christ to him through types and shadows that God gave to His believing people at that time in redemptive-history. We live in the fullness of the times as Christians and we can live gratefully knowing that Christ has pleased God by walking with God perfectly on our behalf.

 

Jesus has overcome and abolished death, and he has been translated, he has been raised, he has been taken, he has been resurrected to live with God in eternal communion for all eternity with the living God. In fact, Jesus is ruling and reigning at God’s right hand as King of kings and Lord of lords, and the last enemy to be conquered by him is death (1 Cor. 15:23ff- although it is already a present reality, it has yet to be fully manifested).

 

We as Christians walk with God now in union and communion with Jesus Christ by faith. The Bible teaches us that even though we still live here in this world, we are really already translated, raised, taken and resurrected to live with God.

 

Notice this truth in Colossians 3:1-4:

 

ESV Colossians 3:1-4: If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

 

The Bible teaches us that as Christians we live in union and communion with God, walking with God now, and even having been translated to be with God now, in a way that Enoch would have never imagined in his “short” life! This teaches us people of God that no matter how short your life may be, no matter how insignificant you think you and your life may be, you are united to Jesus Christ by faith and already you have died with Christ and been raised up with him! Your life is greatly significant and you can be one who is defined in Christ as one who walks with God and enjoy sweet communion with this great God!

 

Colossians 3:1-4 teaches that believers like Enoch before (but much better) “have been raised with Christ” now (v. 1a), and that because of this we are to live in communion with God “seeking the things that are above” (v. 1b). Although we live in this world now, we are to live as if already translated like Enoch, because we have been translated and raised with Christ.

 

So secure is our present existence in union with Jesus that our lives are “hidden with Christ in God” and that Christ is our life (vv. 3-4a). Although we remain here, our union with Christ is so very **INTIMATE** that we live in Him and move in Him and have our very being in Him- -we are His holy temple, the special people in which He dwells by His Spirit.

 

Although we await the full realization of the abolition and destruction of death, and the full manifestation of the everlasting glory that Enoch was able to experience. Nevertheless, we are already partakers of it now in our union with Jesus.

 

As Christians, we must understand that we now live by faith in all of God’s promises in Jesus, knowing that as we live by faith in our union with Jesus, we will always please God. We are reminded in Hebrews 11:6:

 

“Without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

 

Let us live by faith in Christ Jesus, and live in light of God’s promises in Scripture, let us live as if God exists and rewards those who seek Him as He has promised!

 

Like Enoch, but so much better, we can live pleasing God, and knowing that already we have been taken to be with God in a very special and unique way!

 

It can be said of believer who seeks God and lives by faith in God’s promises fully revealed in Jesus that they are “not” or “no more” “for God has taken them”. We can especially no longer be friends of this world, the world that is enmity with God (James 4:4ff), because we live in the Heavenly Places in Jesus (see also Ephesians 2:5-10).  Like Enoch, but in a way that Enoch never fully could have imagined at his time in history, we are dead in Christ and raised with Christ in our union with him, and we already live and move in the Heavenly Places by God’s Spirit here and now.

 

Can it be said of you that you “walk with God”?

 

Do you realize more of your union with God through communion with God? We should understand the distinction in our relationship to God between our union with Him and our communion with Him. Do you make this important distinction?

 

Our union with God in Jesus Christ by faith can never be broken. Our union will never fluctuate; no one, nothing can snatch us out of Jesus’ grip, and nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (John 10:28ff; Romans 8:31-39). If God is for us, who can be against us?

 

But our communion with Christ because of our union must be developed; we grow into our communion just like getting to know a friend better or a parent if we are adopted into a family. In our communion with God, He is always near and promises that if we draw near to Him, he will draw near to us to commune with us (James 4:4ff).

 

We should understand that it is not that God withdraws from us who are in union with Jesus, but that we have a tendency to withdraw from him and not walk with him as we are called to do in Jesus Christ. God doesn’t move away from us, but we do and we often wander away from God from our hearts, although we are in union with him.

 

In other words, while living already translated in Jesus Christ, we can live as if we are still part of this world and not seek communion with Him as we should.

 

As we realize what Christ has done for us and how he has pleased God on our behalf, and we know how we are saved from our sinful condition, so we learn to develop our communion with the Triune God.

 

Let us remember these things as part of developing our communion with God. Meditate on these things this week, and by God’s grace and Spirit, you will find that you will please God more in your obedience (not in order to be saved, but as a manifestation of your gratitude for salvation), and you will find more joy in your journey here, just because you are already translated and are “not” because you have “been taken, like Enoch, but so much better.

 

Developing our Communion with God:  Remind yourself daily…

 

(1)   Remind yourself of the distinction between union with Christ that is unbreakable and will not fluctuate, and the communion with God that must be sought and developed.

 

(2)   Remind yourself daily that you were not seeking God, but this glorious and self-existent and wonderful God who you had lived sinning against, sought you out and initiated a relationship with you in Jesus Christ for the sake that you might know Him better.

 

(3)   Remind yourself of the interaction that should be happening in your life as you grow in the knowledge of the Triune God. Our communion with God is interactive: God works in us by His Spirit, we respond with joyful obedience; God speaks to us through His Word, we respond with thankful gratitude and walking according to His commandments; God tell us how much He loves us, we love him back by living for him and seeking to please Him.

 

(4)   Remind yourself that because God is your Father, you are a child of the living God and heir to all that Christ is heir to, and that God will lead and guide you and even chastise you because you are a dear child whom he loves and he knows better than any earthly parent what you most need.

 

(5)   Remind yourself that because Jesus is your Savior, you have a Shepherd who will never leave you nor forsake you but guard and guide you to the promised land of eternity. Because Jesus is your Savior, you have a loving Husband-Bridegroom, who has given his life for you, and has betrothed himself to you, so be faithful to you Heavenly Husband. Because Jesus is your Savior, you have a great and mighty King who is with you and will strengthen, help and uphold you in your day to day struggles. Because Jesus is your Savior, you have a dear friend who has laid down his life for you and lives to make you joyful (see John 15:11-15). Jesus calls us friends, will you not seek him, this Heavenly friend who only longs to rejoice over you and to be with you. Won’t you just be with Jesus sometimes, leaning confidently on his bosom, letting him know that you love him?!

 

(6)   Remind yourself that because the Spirit of God is with you, you may have as much of Christ as you seek in Him! The Spirit loves to talk about Jesus, minister Jesus and lead us into all the truths of Scripture about Jesus! We have the Spirit to war against our sinful flesh; we have the Spirit to comfort and console us, and to help us to pray. Won’t you seek His power to enable you to die more and more to sin, to realize the union you have with Christ and the communion with him you need to develop. Won’t you seek Him for the power to desire Him more?

 

(7)   Remind yourself to delight yourself in the LORD daily (Psa. 37:4)! The Bible says “Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Is the LORD **THE** desire of your heart?! You can have more of Him the Bible says- -you can walk closer in communion with him. Can you say with the Psalmist: “Who have I in heaven but you, and what on earth do I desire but you?” (Psalm 73:23ff). You can have this kind of response to your union with Jesus and grow in your communion. Remember that what enlists a person’s affections, rules the person. This means that if God is what gets you excited, then God will rule over you. If someone or something else is loved or delighted more in and gets you excited than God, this/these things will rule you. There is no way to live for God if your affections are not given over to him and this is the urgent practical need of communion with him!

 

(8)   Remind yourself to please God in Jesus Christ in response to the Gospel message that you have died and already been seated with Christ in the Heavenlies. You no longer need the things of this world. Seek the things of Christ that are above, and beware of prosperity that tempts you to have a weak relationship with such a glorious God!

 

(9)   Remind yourself daily that God is a consuming fire and worthy to be reverenced, feared and worshipped according to His Word. Although He has been gracious in Christ, may we never presume upon His grace and the blood of Jesus, thinking that if we do, we will not be judged with great and painful consequences! Remind yourself that although God has stooped to be gracious in Christ, He is still the living God and you are to approach Him in Christ with fear and trembling (Heb. 12:25-29). May we seek never to grieve our God because of our sins- -may we never live as those who are trusting in Christ’s precious blood and living blatantly sinfully thinking that Christ’s blood can be excuses for sin and freedom to live as we please!

 

(10)                       Remind yourself daily to develop your prayer life as never before now that you know that you have already been raised, translated, and resurrected with Christ. Because your life has been hidden with Christ in God, develop your relationship with God by talking to Him all the time. Talk to God through prayer in the precious Name of Jesus in formal prayer times in your closet, on the way to work, during difficult circumstances and times during your day, and as often as you possibly can. Pray for yourself, pray for others, delight yourself in talking to the Triune God who has saved you in Jesus!

 

IN Christ, we realize that Enoch’s life of pleasing God as he “walked with God” teaches Christians today that we can all be Enochs!

 

We all can walk with God in union and communion with Jesus Christ by faith. All who are listed in Hebrews 11 are simple sinners like you and me who had both good and bad times in their lives. What set them apart from the rest of the world was their faith in God and His promises. They believed that God existed and that God rewards those who seek him.

 

Do you believe in God? Do you believe God? Do you believe God rewards those who seek Him?

 

Look to Jesus Christ and see your life!

 

Then go and live a life worth living—one that is pleasing to God as you more effectively and accurately walk with God as His child.

 

In Christ’s love,

 

Pastor Biggs

08/02/11

True Repentance: “Against You Have I Sinned, O God”

Word of Encouragement

 

Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment….For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. – Psalm 51:4; 2 Corinthians 7:10

 

True repentance is godly sorrow for our sins against God that is a gracious work of the Holy Spirit in us. True repentance is a gospel grace of God given to believers as a gift from the Lord Jesus Christ as one of the fruits of His life, death, resurrection and ascension for us.  True repentance is not what saves a person any more than faith is what saves, but Christ saves us through faith and true repentance. We do not put our hope in our repentance, but in Christ alone that grants to believers repentance. The focus of our salvation is always the grace of God to sinners received by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

 

But are you truly repentant? Many confessing Christians are not truly repentant. Many confessing Christians may be sorry for being troubled for their sins, but are not so sorry for troubling God with their sins, and offending His Holy character by their sins. We must be aware that there is still a self-centered focus that characterizes our lives, even when it comes to repenting before God. If we are not repentant, if repentance is not what defines us, then how can we say we are true Christian? The fullness of the Gospel era in the full revelation of the New Covenant in Jesus Christ begins with this proclamation:

 

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”- ESV Mark 1:15

 

How do we know and recognize true repentance in us? Notice the Psalmist in Psalm 51 in our scripture above; when repenting of sin, the Psalmist knows that the offense if first a sinful offense against a Holy God: “Against, you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight…” Repentance is produced by “godly grief” according to the Apostle Paul.  In Psalm 51, David had sinned against others when he sinned with Bathsheba. He had both committed adultery and he had murdered. But his sin was first against God.

 

The Apostle Paul had written a letter to the Corinthians for their conduct and behavior that was unbecoming to the gospel of Jesus and their response was a realization that they had sinned against God first, even though they had also sinned against the Apostle Paul and others in the congregation.  The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 7 contrasts true godly repentance produced by godly grief and what he describes as “worldly grief” that produces NOT repentance, but death.

 

What is worldly grief? Simply, it is being sorry for having to suffer the consequences for sin, but it is not godly grief that leads to repentance. True repentance is sorry for offending our Creator and God.

 

Every sin strikes at the honor of God, the being of God, the glory of God, the heart of Christ, the joy of the Spirit, and the peace of a man’s conscience. A truly repentant person strikes against all sin by the power of the Spirit, as the Spirit wars against the flesh, so the repentant person allies himself daily with the Spirit’s work to kill sin by drawing strength from a crucified Christ to crucify all (not merely sins in general, but sins in particular!). Christ has not only paid the penalty of our sins, but in our union with Him by faith, he has granted us power over our sins.

 

When you sin are you first sorry for offending God? Are you saddened first NOT with the fact that this sin could cause others to disrespect you, or that you might be found out, or that you might have some consequences to suffer, or that it would really hurt your family if they knew what you had done, or that the sin has made you feel guilty and like you’re not a good person, etc.? If this is your first concern, it is usually your only concern.

 

Sadly, this is what is called repentance many times in Christian churches. But the Bible teaches very clearly throughout redemptive-history, that repentance is first sorrow for grieving God; repentance is sorrow for sinning against God your Creator, and Lord who redeemed you.

 

This is why the Reformers, particularly Luther and Calvin spoke of repentance being a daily activity as a Christian and what should characterize the true Christian each and every day. As the Psalmist wrote: ESV “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me” (Psalm 51:3). Repentance is to “know your transgressions against God” and that daily you sin is ever “before you”. To truly know the saving work and power of Jesus Christ, one must know from the sinful depths which they have been saved. Repentance is a continual turning from sin and folly to the grace of God found in Christ alone.

 

True daily repentance should be some of our first words out of our mouths to God when we get out of bed each morning. A truly repentant person can never content themselves with one act of repentance any more than they can be content with one act of faith or one act of love in the Christian life (Thomas Brooks). If you want to learn to pray more, then ask God to help you to have a deeper repentance, a deeper knowledge of how much you offend Him in words, thoughts and deeds that sin against Him and are abhorrent to Him in both your committing of certain sins and the omission of certain duties.

 

True repentance can make you pray more, and it can help you to be filled more with Christ’s joy. Why? Because you will more deeply realize the truth of what Jesus says: “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5), and so you will seek the grace from Christ alone to live for God. As you learn to depend upon Christ more, you will more and more realize that He is your Savior from sin and your closest friend who teaches you to be obedient to His commands, and fills you with His joy: “My joy may be in you, and your joy may be full” (John 15:11b).

 

But don’t get too confident in your own self to repent. Repentance is not something you do first, it is something God does in you; repentance is a gift from Jesus Christ. Repentance is something that God gives to you by the working of His Spirit. This is another reason boldly to approach the throne of grace to find help in your time of need (Heb. 4:14-16). You need to be repentant in order to grow, you need repentance in order to be full of joy and walking with God, but you can’t produce repentance on your own. Call out to God for a greater repentance! This too, will keep you in your prayer closet seeking God as he has promised to reward you (Matt. 6).

 

Jesus gives repentance: ESV “God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.”- Acts 5:32. Jesus grants repentance. Do you seek Him for it?

 

Our forefather in the faith, Thomas Brooks reminds us of the fact that we should never fool ourselves into believing that repentance is an act of our own ability: “There is no power below that power that raised Christ from the dead, and that made the world, that can break the heart of a sinner or turn the heart of a sinner to God. You are as well able to melt hard metal like adamant as to melt your own heart; you are as able to raise the dead and to create a world, as to repent….Repentance is a gift that comes down from above….It is not in the power of any mortal to repent at pleasure” (Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices).”

 

How do you know that you’re truly repentant and that Jesus has granted you repentance? There are a few main ingredients of true repentance: A sight of one’s own sin, sorrow for sin, confession of sin, hatred of sin, and turning from sin.

 

A sight of one’s own sins before God. As we learned above, we are to have a sight of our own sinful condition before God, as well as our specific sins we commit against God (this is one important use of the Law of God and the Ten Commandments for the Christian life; the Law is never to be used as a way of gaining salvation, because it only aggravates sin and makes one hopelessly realize their sinful helplessness and need of grace to do anything good for God, but as commands in the Christian life, it helps us to see more clearly our own sins and our need for constant repentance and grace). Many of us are good at spying the sinful faults in others, but we can see no faults in ourselves. Our own sins are veiled with ignorance of our sins due to pride and self-love.

 

A sorrow for your sin. Godly sorrow is sorry for one’s sin against God. It is not first concerned with the trouble that the sin has brought to the sinner, but the pain that it has brought to the heart of our loving Savior. Remember the penitent tax collector before God; this should be our daily prayer of repentant and act; he “beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ (Luke 18:13). Psalm 38 (various verses) says: “There is no health in my bones because of my sin…My iniquities have gone over my head, they are a burden to me, they are too heavy for me…But for you, O LORD, do I wait; O Lord my God, you will answer.” Anyone who can repent without sorrow must suspect if he is truly repentant. Notice in Psalm 51:17: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

 

What characterizes true repentance is a broken heart, and deep sorrow for sin because as a Christian particularly your sins have been against grievous to God who loves you in Jesus. Our Lord Jesus tells us that the Christian is characterized by repentance and “blessed” as he teaches in the sermon on the mount: ESV “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” The Christian is repentant and sorry for sin because the Christian is poor in spirit before God, mournful for one’s own sins as well as the sins of others, and meek.”

 

Remember the promise of Psalm 126:5: “Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy!”

 

Confession of sin. As our sins are ever before God, so God’s promise must be ever before us: ESV “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” (1 John 1:8-9). An unrepentant person is basically living a lie because they are living as if they have no sin; a unrepentant person is calling God a liar as well (1 Jo. 1:10). But a truly repentant person knows not only our sins before God, but knows that when they confess, God is faithful to His promises, and He is just in that He will never demand another payment for sin, when Jesus Christ has already borne your curse, your sins and your sorrows on the cross for you (Isaiah 53; 1 Peter. 2:22-25).

 

Confession is self-accusing. Confession brings a sinner before God as one’s own accuser to find a Savior ready and willing to forgive and to cleanse from all unrighteousness. By self-accusing we prevent Satan’s accusations against us. This is what the Apostle John means when He reminds us in confession of our sins to God that we have an Advocate, or a Mediator, or a “Defense Attorney” to stand for us against any Accuser (1 Jo. 2:1-2; Rev. 12:10). Confession should be voluntary and immediate once Jesus has given repentance. As the prodigal son was quick to come to his father and say: “I have sinned against heaven and before you” (Luke 15:18). Remember that if you draw near to God in repentance, he will draw near to you in forgiving mercies and loving grace.

 

Hatred of sin and turning from sin. This is a recognition that Christ is your Savior from sin, and that the struggle in the Christian life is what the Apostle Paul wrote in seventh of Romans: “What I want to do , I do not do…That which I do not want to do, that I keep on doing.” The Apostle Paul’s hope and our hope is found in the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 7:25), but we no longer love sin as we once did, now we hate sin. When you realize that although you are guilty and culpable for your sins before God, but in some mysterious way you hate them so much before God that you can say with Paul that it is “not I but sin living within me” then you know that you have a true hatred of your sins. Paul wrote: ESV “Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.” A sinful, unrepentant person cannot agree with God’s law and believe it is holy, righteous and good. A truly repentant person can love the law of God and hate their own sins in such a way that they (although are culpable) feel like that it is not them doing the sin, but sin dwelling within. This proves that there is no more enmity against God (Romans 8:7-9) because the Spirit of God is at work in the believer’s heart. Our confession (Westminster Confession of Faith, Chap. 15) states this clearly:

 

“…Upon the apprehension of God’s mercy in Christ to such as are penitent, so grieves for, and hates his sins, as to turn from them all unto God, purposing and endeavoring to walk with Him in all the ways of His commandments.”

 

If you still love your sins, you are not repentant, and you cannot claim assurance of faith. You should really seek God in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to examine yourself to see if you be in the faith; if you love your sins, you should seek to make your calling and election sure (see 2 Corinthians 13:5; 2 Peter 3:9-11). If you sin, and hate your sins, that is one thing; but to sin, and love your sins, that is another. Be careful here that you keep your focus on the dying Savior on the cross and that in your self-examination you don’t get lost within your own bosom and belly! Your hope, our Gospel hope is held out to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. Run to Jesus, run to Jesus, run to Jesus and find in Him forgiveness- -tell Him you love your sins, and need repentance and call upon His name for grace.

 

Also, be careful with forms of pseudo-repentance, like when you do something really sinful and heinous and you just feel guilty about it because it was such a thing that you should have never done. Watching certain films, listening to certain music, and looking at certain images on the internet can make you feel after the fact guilty for doing such a thing, but there is also a bit of a thrill. You must understand that this is NOT repentance, but a pseudo-repentance. This is more of a shame and guilt because you know that what you have watched, listened to, or done was wrong, but it doesn’t mean you have truly repented and that you are sorry for your sins because you sinned against God’s great holiness, Jesus’ love and the grieved the Holy Spirit. Be warned.

 

In your hatred of sin, you also turn from your sins. The Christian life is a constant turning from our sins, folly and idolatries to God; the Christian life is a constant, prayerfully watchful turning from flesh to the Spirit of God, to walk by the Spirit and not gratify the flesh (Gal. 5:16-26); the Christian life is a constant turning from worldliness to godliness to live the way you were created in Christ Jesus to live (Eph. 2:10). Is your life described as the Apostle Paul describes the repentance of the Thessalonian Christians?

 

ESV 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10: For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

 

Do you know the sweetness of Christ in His forgiving love for you? Do you know that if you confess your sins, He is faithful to forgive you and to cleanse you from all of your sins.

 

Be not unbelieving. Be not unbelieving in your accepting the righteousness that God requires of every man by faith alone in Christ alone. Be not believing in accepting God’s forgiveness as you confess and abhor your sins because of your love for Him; be not believing in that you continue in your sins thinking that there are no consequences. For the repentant, there is grace and love and mercy found in Jesus Christ; for the unrepentant there is only condemnation and the wrath of God. And remember, do not think that repentance is something like your allowance that you “save for a rainy day” later on in life, as if you could repent when you desired to repent. Like Cain, Pharaoh, and Esau before you, don’t kid yourself into believing that you will somehow repent “one day”; your ongoing unrepentant heart before God is actually hardening you, and will eventually damn you as those unrepentant souls before you. Beware.

 

Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand…Seek the LORD while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Today is the day of salvation; today is the day of repentance; repent and believe the good news. Jesus says: “Come to me all of you who labor and are heavy-laden with your sins, and I will give you rest; my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

 

GRACE.

 

Prayer of John Calvin: “Now let us bow before the majesty of our gracious God in acknowledgement of our faults, praying that He will make us more sensitive to them. And as long as we have to walk in this world, let us learn to grieve daily over the weaknesses we are subject to. And after we ask him for forgiveness and pray that He will accept us in His infinite mercy, may He, despite our unworthiness, be pleased to strip us so completely of all our fleshly corruption and so renew us by His Holy Spirit that we will bear His mark and image. And may we be strengthened in the hope of life in heaven, and may we, illuminated by the mind and spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ, learn to bear patiently the reproaches of this world and scorn all the arrogance and pride of those who have contempt for God and would seduce us and turn us from the right path.”

 

For further reading: Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 15: ‘Repentance unto Life’

 

In Christ’s love,

 

Pastor Biggs

07/30/11

“To Live is Christ!”

Word of Encouragement

ESV Philippians 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

As Christians we must learn not merely to live for Christ, but to realize that Christ is our life.

If we have Christ, we have everything we need and we can lose nothing. Even death will be our gain, not a loss. Having the mindset “Christ is my life” will help us to make progress in our faith and grow in our joy (Phil. 1:25). Christ teaches us in “Discipleship 101” that we are to love and serve Christ more than we love and serve our most beloved persons and things, including our very lives (Luke 14:26).

Don’t merely live for Christ, but realize that Christ is your life.

This means not merely living for Jesus, but living in a way that shows that Jesus is what defines your life!

Think about the Apostle Paul who was writing this letter to Philippians to encourage Christians. Paul is imprisoned, in chains for Christ and His Kingdom. Yet the Gospel is advancing- -many are being en-couraged– -the Gospel is advancing and the brethren are boldly preaching without fear the good news of Jesus Christ as a Savior from sin, even though they are threatened with persecution. Paul can rejoice because He knows that whatever happens to him, he interprets the circumstances from God’s perspective and He knows that what may seem like “hindrances become by God’s grace high-speed highways for the advancement of the Gospel (Phil. 1:3-11).”

For Paul, to live is Christ.

Paul has nothing to lose- -HE HAS EVERYTHING IN JESUS.

Whatever place he finds himself, it is for Jesus; it is with Jesus; it is in Jesus! Nothing to lose and everything to gain! (v. 21) – -REJOICE!!

Paul lives his life in a moment-by-moment “win-win” situation; there are not good times and bad times- -every moment is a good moment where Christ can enter in by virtue of Paul’s real and Holy-Spiritual union with Him and be transformed- -made more like him- -and to become more and more fruitful as he progresses in his faith.

 

Do you have this kind of ability to rejoice? All Christians can know this both theologically and practically!

For the Apostle Paul, “to live is Christ” is THEOLOGICAL and very PRACTICAL.

 

THEOLOGICALLY Paul is in union with Jesus Christ.

Paul is: “Buried with Christ” (Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12); “United with Christ” (Rom. 6:5); “Crucified with Christ” (Rom. 6:6; Gal. 2:20); Alive with Christ” (Rom. 6:7); “Heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8:17); “Suffers with Christ” (Rom. 8:17); “Glorified with Christ” (Rom. 8:17); “Have the same form as Christ- -be like him” (Rom. 8:29; Phil. 3:21); “Be conformed with Christ” in every way: life, death, and resurrection (Phil. 3:10ff).

“The foundation, center, purpose, direction, power and meaning of Paul’s life is Christ” (see Hansen, PNTC, Philippians).

  “The central soteriological reality is union with the exalted Christ by Spirit-created faith. That is the nub, the essence, of the way or order of salvation for Paul.” -Richard B. Gaffin, By Faith, Not By Sight: Paul and the Order of Salvation

Our union with Jesus Christ is a glorious reality, where we can withdraw from the Risen-Ascended-Exalted Jesus all the power we need for life and godliness!

 

PRACTICALLY (theology lived out), Paul knows that Christ is the most important person, thing, possession and reality in his life. Period.

All of Paul’s “meaning of life” or what it means to live for Paul is about Christ.

Paul cannot fathom a life that is truly a life being without Jesus Christ.

 

CHRIST IS HIS LIFE.

What about your life?

Is Christ your life concerning the BIG Questions of life? Can you say with the Apostle Paul to live is Christ? Ask yourself:

“Who am I?” Can you answer: “I was created for Christ.”

“What is my purpose?” Can you answer: “Christ.”

“Why am I here?” Can you answer: “Christ.”

 

Paul’s mind, affections, and will are filled and directed by Christ; Jesus defines Paul’s person and mission and is his purpose.

What defines you? What brings you the greatest joy? Honestly. Getting at what brings you the greatest joy (which is often just happiness that changes with circumstances, but what is it that makes you happy most of the time), will help you to know what defines your life.

What is your heart’s greatest longing?

What’s most important to you? Right now.

What is your most important goal?

What could you never live without?

What fills your daydreams and captures your imagination?

What possesses you? (We often says what “possesses that person to do that?!”)

What is your most valuable asset? What is most precious and “worthy” to you?

 

Does Jesus bring you the greatest joy? When you say the name JESUS does your heart beat harder within you? Do you sense his presence and think of His goodness towards you?

Can you say with the Psalmist:

ESV Psalm 16:2 I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”

ESV Psalm 73:25-26: Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

What do you long for the most? What causes you most to rejoice now? This will help you to find what matters most to you. “To live is ___________.”

 

Is it Christ Jesus who died for you?

“Let your soul be filled with a heart-ravishing sense of the sweetness and excellency of Christ and all that is in Him. Let the Holy Spirit fill every chamber of your heart; and so there will be no room for folly, or the world, or Satan, or the flesh.” – Robert Murray M’Cheyne.

Christ Jesus is the chief end of our lives. We are to glorify and enjoy God forever. We can only do this when Christ Jesus is the chief end, aim, and/or hope of our lives.

No true joy is possible UNLESS JESUS CHRIST is everything (as the hymn we sing reminds us):

“When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride…

…Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the death of Christ my God: all the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to his blood…

…Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.”

 

We will never be able to rejoice always like the Apostle Paul (see also Phil. 4:4ff) until we know what it means “to live is Christ” or “To live—CHRIST!”

Jesus Christ must be our life! Jesus must be dearer to us than our richest gain; Jesus Christ must be more dear to us than our jobs, our careers, our families, friends, reputations, finances, homes…

Our Gospel promise is that God who began the Gospel work in us, will complete it (Phil. 1:6). As God has sought us, and redeemed us by the blood of Jesus, so let us seek for Christ to be our life. As Christ has laid down His life for us so that we can be God’s children (although we do not deserve such mercy!), let us learn to live for Him and Him alone!

 

Let us learn to pray for one another for the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ to fill us and that we might be overflowing with God’s joy and hope in Him!  Let us pray to know Christ better- -his love, his work for us, his priestly intercession, his sufferings for and with us- -and to know Christ more intimately, closely, adoringly, affectionately. Let us at KCPC come to Christ more and by your grace, O Father, let us leave with more of Christ. Grant that we might be a congregation characterized by “TO LIVE IS CHRIST.” For Christ’s sake and His glory alone! Amen.

 

In Christ’s love,

 

Pastor Biggs

07/29/11

From the Blogosphere: “Scared of Sin” and “Tickling Ears”

Two excellent short blog articles to read:

 

“Scared of Sin” by Ed Welch:

http://www.ccef.org/blog/scared-sin

 

“You Might Be An Ear-Tickling Preacher if…”- By Trevin Wax

http://trevinwax.com/2011/07/11/our-ears-still-itch/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wordpress%2Ftrevinwax+%28Kingdom+People%29

 

Love in Christ,

 

Pastor Biggs

“Fear Not, for I am with You.”

Word of Encouragement

 

“…Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand…For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”- ESV Isaiah 41:10, 13

 

Beloved congregation of God, remember the promises of our great God to us! We grow in our faith as we trust in and believe God’s promises.

 

The battle can be difficult and hard and we grow weary so easily. In fact, we are often surprised by how weak we actually are and this can contribute to our frailties and fears, drawing the life out of our prayers and good intentions to live for Christ.

 

Yet God is faithful and comes to us and says multiple times in Scripture: “Fear not!” This is the most frequent command of God found in Scripture: “fear not” usually followed by some form of “I am with you.”  “Fear not” is God’s covenantal greeting to His people from the very beginning to Abram (Gen. 15:1). “Fear not” is a covenantal greeting because it is from our God of grace and mercy to needy and weak sinners. God knows we are timid and by nature fearful (since the fall we have been running in fear from the presence of God: “Where are you?!” asks your God!).

 

Yet God pursues us and seeks we after those who are so prone to wander, and God is graciously and convenantally committed to us through the Lord Jesus Christ in calling us, in saving us, in making us like Himself.

 

This is our hope. We have nothing to fear.

 

Why do we fear? Many different reasons, but the fountain of fear is unbelief. Fear is our failure to believe God’s promises to us in Jesus Christ.

 

Puritan John Flavel wisely wrote: “To the extent that our souls are empty of faith, they are filled with fear….If people would dig to the root of their fears they would find unbelief.” Fear weakens the act of faith in God and His promises and we must endure in this life “seeing Him who is invisible” (Heb. 11:27). Fear through unbelief severs the soul from its refuge in the divine promises. Unbelief can leave our dearest interests and concerns in our own hands (and no matter how much we boast, we know we’re weak creatures). So we by faith must commit to God all that is precious and valuable to Him alone.

 

We must confess our unbelief before God. Often we realize we are sinfully fearful, but we don’t recognize the fount of unbelief from which our fears are flowing. As teacher Jerry Bridges says, unbelief is a “respectable sin” so it is often not easily recognized (as is bitterness, unforgiveness, stealing, malice, gossip, etc.). Let us seek to find our unbelief in God’s promises, confess our unbelief as sin to God, then we will see our fears diminish and our faith grow.

 

God is the one who helps our faith grow. God promises to His believing people in this passage from Isaiah 41 that he will “strengthen us” “help us” and “uphold us”.  God promises to strengthen us in our battle, to teach us as we trust in Him that we can have trust in Him and confidence in His power and goodness. God promises to help us in that He wages war with us in our battles; he is alongside us, fighting with us, never leaving us nor forsaking us. God promises to uphold us and this is very good news for the tired, achy, and weary of heart. He will uphold us so that we will endure to the end; so that during the struggle and the wrestling we will not give up, but continue to fight the good fight by His grace.

 

Our Savior, Jesus Christ knew these words of promise from Isaiah 41 and believed them on behalf of His people.

 

Jesus during His earthly ministry on our behalf had to be tempted and tried in the wilderness, He endured the torments and anguish of Gethsemane, He experienced the disappointment of weak-hearted, selfish followers who denied Him in His time of need, and He had to go the way of the heinous and abominable cross to secure our redemption and salvation.

 

Jesus needed to hear the words “Fear not” often; Jesus had to trust in His Heavenly Father for our sakes and for our salvation! Jesus needed to know that His dear Heavenly Father would strengthen, help and uphold him as He endured all of the forces of hell, and the wrath of God for our sins, so that we could be saved- -and endure, too!

 

And He overcame through God’s promises, as we can overcome in Him!

 

Do not grow weary in the battle today. God has met you with His promises.

 

“Fear not” and know that God is with you in Christ to help you to endure and grow in grace.  You are united to Jesus Christ who has already believed God’s promises and overcome the threats and torments of the enemies of God by His grace on your behalf. He is now safely in heaven at God’s right hand, fully secure and strong in might to ever be with you and to strengthen, help and uphold you by His Spirit and His prayers (Heb. 7:24-29; Romans 8:31-34).

 

Christ is with you; He is your Savior and loves you dearly. Believe.

 

Jesus says to you: “Fear not, I am the One who helps you.”

 

Pray for one another: Father, by your strength in Christ, by the power of our union with Him, grant us courage as your people to have trust and confidence in Christ and your promises. By your help we are thankful you come along side of us and fight the good fight with us. We thank you that by your righteous right hand you uphold us and prevent us daily from sinking under the difficulty of the conflict, and to endure to the end. We are more than conquerors in Jesus who loved us and gave His life for us. We are not to fear- -but will have courage and hope in Jesus. Amen.

 

Love in Christ,

 

Pastor Biggs

07/21/11

Growing in and Praying God’s Precious Promises

Word of Encouragement

 

Earlier this week, we considered the assurance of our salvation in our W*O*E. One of the ways that we grow in our faith and so in our assurance of salvation is through believing the precious and very great promises of God (as we considered in 2 Peter 1:3-11). Let us look at a few of the precious and very great promises of God from the Apostle Peter’s first letter.

 

I encourage you to pray these to God this morning (or in a time that you might have later), confessing who you are in in Jesus and then I will challenge you to pray with me, as you pray for yourself, your family and our congregation according to how we are to live in light of it in the conclusion below. I truly believe as your pastor that if we would pray these truths for ourselves, our families, and our congregation at KCPC, we would continue to see the glory of God in Christ. Let us pray together always (Eph. 6:18-20).

 

Who are you in Jesus?

 

  • I am an elect exile (1 Peter 1:1-2). I have been chosen by grace before I was born from eternity past; I am a pilgrim-exile here who longs for a Heavenly Home where Jesus is and prepares a place for me (Heb. 11:13-16; John 14:1ff; Revelation 21:3, 7).
  • I have been born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus (1:3). As Jesus has been raised from the dead, so I will be raised from the dead (and am already seated with Christ in the Heavenly Places now, Col. 3:1ff; Eph. 2:5-8).
  • I have a great inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading (1:4). My inheritance no person can steal, nothing can destroy, no one can take from me. It is kept with Jesus and is one of my greatest hopes and should be the content of my most fervent prayers (see Eph. 1:15-23).
  • Although I live by faith, I believe Jesus and His words to me and so I am filled with a joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory (1:8).
  • I have been born again, not of perishable seed, but imperishable (1:23). God has acted on me by His power and Spirit so that I am who I am because of grace alone!
  • I am a spiritual house where the Spirit of God lives (2:5); I am part of a chosen race, a royal priesthood and holy nation (2:9); I was formerly under God’s wrath, now I have received mercy (2:10). I am the temple of the Spirit of God, and part of a family of those privileged to know Jesus, and one for whom Christ died; I am part of a priesthood of people who make God known to the world, and have the privilege of entering the Most Holy Place where Jesus is (Heb. 4:14-16).
  • I am one for whom Christ died, and thankful that Jesus bore my sins in His body on the tree, that I might die and live to righteousness; by His wounds I have been spiritually healed, though privileged to suffer physically with him (2:22-25).

 

How should I live and pray today?

 

ESV 1 Peter 3:8-12: Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. 10 For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; 11 let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

 

Lord, let me and others in my family and congregation at KCPC…

  • Lord, let me and others in my family and congregation at KCPC have unity of mind. Let us all be like-minded in our knowledge of the Savior, and know that you love us. Let us be committed to one purpose (1 Peter 3:8).
  • Lord, let me and others in my family and congregation at KCPC be sympathetic (3:8) with each other and with our neighbors. Let us have a sympathy with each other like Christ has, and give us strength to grow in sympathy because of His Spirit and our union with Christ.
  • Lord, let me and others in my family and congregation at KCPC possess deep brotherly love and affection (3:8) for one another (also 2 Peter 1:5-7). Let us grow in this and so allow our faith to mature into assurance and deepen our joy in Jesus.
  • Grant us a tender heart (3:8). Let us be humble before you, resisting the world, the flesh and the devil, drawing near to you, standing firm in our faith (1 Peter 5:6-10; James 4:6-10).
  • Lord, grant us humble minds (3:8). May we learn from one another; may we learn from others who we least expect to teach us. Grant that we humble our minds before you and be teachable.
  • Help us never to repay evil for evil, but let us bless others (3:9).
  • Let us take part in your promised blessing of Psalm 34:12-16 (Quoted in 1 Peter 3:10-12): (1) Let us keep our tongues from speaking evil and telling lies so that we can enjoy life and see pleasant days for ourselves, our family and our congregation (3:10); (2) Let us seek peace and pursue it, turning away from evil, and doing good (3:11). Let us not merely live with one another, but be actively seeking peace and pursuing it as a family and a congregation at KCPC. (3) We know that you will hear us, O Lord as you have promised:

 

“For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayer” (3:12).

 

As Peter taught men earlier to live with their wives so that they might not be hindered in their prayers (3:7). So Peter here teaches all of the saints who make up the congregation to live righteously in light of who we are in Jesus, so that our prayers will not be hindered (3:12)>

 

I leave you with the blessed promise that if we know who we are in Jesus, and we live like it, then we can confidently believe God’s precious and very great promises to us in Christ, and we can grow in our faith and thus grow in our assurance of the love of Christ for us; as we grow in faith and then assurance, so we will grow more in our faith and so on, and so on, and so on, forever and ever. Amen!

 

Love in Christ,

 

Pastor Biggs

07/14/11

Assurance of Salvation: Are You Sure?

Word of Encouragement- Pastor Charles’ Thoughts on Assurance of Salvation

 

ESV 1 John 5:13 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.

 

As God’s people, we can be grateful that we can have confidence that we have eternal life in Christ Jesus! We can be grateful that those who are truly believers will 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. Those who have an assurance of salvation through believing God’s promises in His Word, and through the work of the Holy Spirit can live with “joy in expressible and full of glory!” (1 Peter 1:8).

 

Our Reformed forefather, Thomas Brooks said of assurance of salvation: “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” (Heaven on Earth; a favorite book by many Reformed Christians!).

 

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. One can be a believer with a little smidgen of faith; one can be a true believer in Christ with the slightest and smallest faith because they are taking hold of a great Christ! 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 a true Christian must expect to grow up in their faith through believing, and through trials and temptations be tested, and because of this, they sometimes may have to wait a long time to be fully convinced and assured of their salvation. One who does not have assurance of salvation might still be a Christian, but they cannot experience the fullness of joy and confidence of one who does have assurance.

 

Assurance of salvation is a fruit of our faith in Jesus, and it grows out of our faith. Assurance of salvation in Christ comes out of faith growing up and maturing in our walk with God (notice the goal of biblical teaching and preaching is to grow up in Ephesians 4:11-16 so that a Christian will not be tossed around).

 

As pastor, you may have heard me say that if you’re living in sin you may be a Christian who has fallen into temptation and sin, but you cannot be assured that you are a Christian. It is important to make this distinction between our faith in Christ as we confess and profess, and the assurance that we can gain in Christ as we grow in Him through our obedience.

 

Obedience in the Christian life is in no way meritorious, but it is a concrete manifestation of the faith that we claim to have in Christ. As Paul says we are saved by faith alone, but not a faith that is alone; we are saved by God through faith alone, but it is a faith that works (compare the works that are forbidden for salvation, and the works that are necessary for salvation in Ephesians 2:9-10. Paul says that we are saved by grace apart from works in Eph. 2:9, and then He tells us that we are created in Christ Jesus to do good works as an outworking of this salvation).  James says that if you have faith, show it in your obedient works (James 2:19ff; essentially James says, “If you truly believe, then prove it by showing Christ’s power in your life”).

 

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.”

 

But how do we know? How do we get assurance of God’s love? How can you have assurance and the joy and confidence in Christ that comes from it?

 

The Apostle John tells us in the same letter (and we will be going through the Epistles of John seeking to better understand assurance of salvation in our evening services beginning in the fall). Notice what John writes before this statement of assurance in chapter 5. In this passage, John says we can know that we KNOW HIM. But how do we know that we KNOW HIM??!!.

 

ESV 1 John 2:3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandment.

 

ESV 1 John 3:14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.

 

ESV 1 John 3:18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. 19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him…

 

ESV 1 John 3:24 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in him, and he in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

 

We can know that we know HIM, but how do we know that we know HIM? John tells us four important ways (1) Loving Obedience to Jesus: “We know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandment.” Jesus said: “If you love me, keep my commandments.” (2) Love to Our Brothers: “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love other Christians.” (3) Fruit of the Spirit: “By [loving in deed/action and in truth] we are of the truth and reassure our heart before Him.” (4) Witness of the Spirit of God: “By this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.”

 

We must acknowledge that there are lots of hypocrites and unregenerate persons in the 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; this is true of the visible churches of Christ for all time (see the visible Church of Jesus’ day, and how Jesus’ rebukes the Pharisees and scribes for horrible hypocrisy, Matthew 23)!!  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:

 

ESV 2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?- unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

 

You should never want me as your pastor, nor anyone else to ever grant you assurance in the faith if you are not living by faith. To give assurance to one who may not be a Christian is to condemn them to hell. What might be just a weak and tender conscience having trouble believing God could love them, could also be an unregenerate person being moved by the Spirit to believe. Because we can’t be sure, we must go on what the Bible teaches as true evidence. Again, notice the Apostle John’s teaching of how you know that you know HIM, or how you know that you truly know Jesus: (1) Obedience to Jesus; (2) Love to Our Brothers; (3) Fruit of the Spirit; (4) Witness of the Spirit of God (also Romans 8:13-26).

 

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, but you are not one who can be joyful and confident that you are in Christ because you’re living contrary to the clear teaching of Scripture, and contrary to the reality that you have died to sin as believers have according to Romans 6-8 (this is not the work of the Spirit, why would you have assurance from the Spirit?). You do not need anyone to assure you first; God may be making you feel guilty in your conscience to inform you of grieving the Spirit and calling you to repentance. It may be that you need to be told to examine yourself to see if you be in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5; 2 Peter 1:10; every approach to the Lord’s Table each worship service is an opportunity provided for you to examine: “Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.”– 1 Corinthians 11:28).

 

One is to examine themselves often to see if they have faith, as the Apostle Peter teaches us from not only the inspiration of the Spirit of God, but also from his own experience of losing his own assurance of God’s love in Christ when he denied his loving Lord. I encourage you to read carefully 2 Peter 1:3-10. Notice how God has provided all that we need for life and godliness as Christians in Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 1:3-4). In light of this reality, we are to believe God’s promises and so add to our faith, allowing it to grow up and mature into more assurance (2 Pet. 1:5-7). If we do this, living by faith in God’s promises and the Spirit’s power, then we will be prevented from “ineffectiveness” and “unfruitfulness” in our knowledge of the Lord Jesus (2 Pet. 1:8). Whoever does not have these qualities is as if they are blind, and has not been cleansed from sin (as if, that is they may be Christians, but they live inconsistently), and so it is important in order to reach assurance of our salvation the great joy and confidence in Christ that comes with it, to be “more diligent to make our calling and election sure” (2 Pet. 1:9-11).

 

ESV 2 Peter 1:3-10: His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 

It is true that you can truly be a Christian, but if you are living in sin, you may not have assurance. In fact, if you are living in sin, the first step towards growing in your faith, and gaining assurance of salvation and the joy and confidence in Jesus that comes with it, is to first confess your sins to God, knowing God is faithful and just to forgive you and cleanse you from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:8-2:2). Now turn from your sins by the grace and power of Christ; believe God’s promises that in Jesus you can and will bear good fruit that will last (John 15:1ff; Gal. 5:19ff). As confessing Christians seeking assurance, we need to daily repent of our sins, turning from the sins that we see in our thoughts, actions, behavior, and turning to God for forgiveness, strength and the grace and power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Believers have been united to Jesus Christ by faith (Romans 6), and therefore we are to live for him and we are to live like him in this world.

 

Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Assurance can be hard work. It is the hard and agonizing work of working out our salvation with fear and trembling, yet knowing that anything we accomplish is because of God’s working in us (Philippians 2:12-13). Let us seek to have the faith of Hebrews 11 as believers, growing up in our faith to assurance!

 

Assurance was described by our Reformed forefathers this way: “Assurance is the beauty and top of a Christian’s glory in this life. It is usually attended with the strongest joy, with the sweetest comforts, and with the greatest peace. It is a crown that few wear” (Thomas Brooks, Works, Vol. 2, 333). “Assurance comes as a reward of faith….A man’s faith must fight first, and have a conquest, and then assurance is the crown, the triumph of faith…and what tries faith more than temptation, and fears, and doubts, and reasonings against a man’s own estate? That triumphing assurance, Romans 8:37-39…comes after a trial, as none are crowned till they have striven” (Thomas Goodwin, Works, Vol. 8, 346).

 

Seek Christ Jesus and you will 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 births, 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).

 

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

 

Love in Christ,

 

Pastor Biggs

 

CRB

07/12/11

“Knowledge of Ourselves, Knowledge of Our Savior”

Word of Encouragement

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.- 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

How discouraging it can be to see what evil still dwells in our hearts! How we pray and long to be more like Christ, and to see more of Him in us. What weaknesses we feel within us, particularly in our hearts that are so slow to love, to pray, to follow Christ obediently.

 

What are the purposes of the LORD in allowing our sins to remain within us (although they do not reign over us)? Why does He not remove every ounce of the poison and venom of indwelling sin all at once? The LORD wills that we feel our depravity and weakness, so that we would know Christ better.

 

“They would not have known so much of Christ, if they had not known so much of themselves.” Hear the very wise John Newton:

 

“If the evils we feel [within our hearts] were not capable of being over-ruled for good (Rom. 8:28), God would not permit them to remain in us. This we may infer from His hatred of sin, and the love which He bears to His people…But God has gracious purposes in giving us a sense of our sinful weaknesses, so that when we feel our depravity, we may also see the power, wisdom and faithfulness of Christ, our Savior.

 

Hereby the Lord Jesus Christ is more endeared to the soul; all boasting is effectually excluded, and the glory of a full and free salvation is ascribed to Him alone!

 

The righteous are said to be scarcely saved, not with respect to the certainty of the event, for the purpose of God in their favor cannot be disappointed, but in respect of their own apprehensions, and the great difficulties they are brought through.

 

When, after a long experience of their own deceitful hearts, after repeated proofs of their weakness, willfulness, ingratitude, and insensitivity to others, they find that none of these things can separate them from the love of God in Christ, Jesus becomes more and more precious to their souls.

 

They love much, because much has been forgiven them.

 

They dare not, they will not ascribe anything to themselves, but are glad to acknowledge, that they must have perished (if possible) a thousand times over, if JESUS had not been their Savior, their Shepherd, and their Shield.

 

When they were wandering, he brought them back; when fallen he raised them; when wounded he healed them; when fainting he revived them. By Him, out of weakness they have been made strong: He has taught their hands to war, and covered their heads in the day of battle. In a word, some of the clearest proofs they have had of His excellence, have been occasioned by the mortifying proofs they have had of their own vileness and sinfulness. They would not have known so much of Him, if they had not known so much of themselves!” – John Newton

 

As we recognize what we are as people from the heart, it is humbling. The humbling that we understand, experience and feel is good because God is particularly close to the broken and contrite in spirit (Isaiah 57:15; Matthew 5:3).  God is pleased to humble us so that we will depend more on Christ.  Our experiences are the Lord’s school to us where we learn wisdom. Even the sinful mistakes we make, and the folly that we find in our poor decisions, are part of the “all things” that work out for good for us, that also glorifies God (Romans 8:28).

 

When we are humbled, we truly understand that apart from Christ we can do NOTHING (John 15:5), and so we seek Him more, and want to learn of Him more, and we realize we have more of a need for Him. We realize that He loves us more than we at first understood, because he loves unconditionally and contra-conditionally wicked sinners by nature who have lived to offend God.

 

As we understand our need, so we may come boldly (and quickly!) to the Throne of Grace, and find help for us in every step of our Christian lives. Because of Christ Jesus, we are forgiven, loved, accepted in the Beloved, and nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:31-39). Amen.

 

ESV Hebrews 4:15-16: For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

 

Love in Christ,

 

Pastor Biggs

07/09/11